First Battlefield Commander! - Chapter 172
Chapter 172: Map
Map
Worried about aggravating his eye muscles and stimulating further pain, the soldier kept both eyes tightly shut. Holding his breath, he made no sound, though his fingers trembled slightly.
Lian Sheng pushed open the car door and stepped out, moving to the front seat to assess the soldier's injuries.
The glass fragments were tiny and scattered. Wearing thick protective gear, it was hard to tell exactly where he'd been hit at a glance. Lian Sheng didn't dare touch anything, fearing she might cause additional harm.
Blood continued streaming down his face. Judging by the depth, it had struck a vital spot—and penetrated deeply.
Zhao Zhuoluo clutched his head as he sat up, his mind still foggy from the violent impact. "How is he? Is he okay?"
He crawled toward the front seat and froze at the sight of the soldier. After a beat, he pointed ahead. "There. Emergency medical kit. Give him a hemostatic injection first."
The kit was beneath the control panel. Lian Sheng reached in awkwardly and pulled it out.
Zhao Zhuoluo said, "The syringe."
Lian Sheng obediently retrieved it. "How do I administer it?"
The soldier murmured weakly, "...Just stab it in anywhere."
Lian Sheng: "..."
Zhao Zhuoluo had already climbed down and taken the syringe from her. He exhaled sharply before jabbing it into the soldier's neck.
When Lian Sheng looked up, she found several faces pressed together in the distance, watching them anxiously.
For a moment, they all stared at each other in awkward silence.
Fortunately, they'd been sitting in the back. The front seats had shielded them from most of the impact. Ji Ban, sitting farthest back, only had his hair and clothes disheveled—no visible injuries.
The soldier in the driver's seat seemed to be weakening. Whether from the medication or his wounds, his breathing grew fainter.
Lian Sheng lifted the medical kit. "Any other injections he needs?"
The group collectively recoiled. None of them knew anything about this.
Lian Sheng bent down again. "Are any vital areas hit? How do you feel now? Heart, lungs, throat, neck?"
Gelen's mechs were still engaged in combat with Alliance forces. Occasional bursts of hot wind and debris rained down on them.
They covered their heads, feeling utterly insignificant.
"Our vanguard... landed and charged straight in from the perimeter. The enemy concentrated their forces in the city center. We lost nearly half our men getting through..." The soldier clutched the insignia on his arm, voice breaking. "Will I be buried here too? Just... gone?"
Lian Sheng cleared away glass shards near the door. "No, you won't. Don't be dramatic."
The communicator crackled with urgent static. "Status report! How are the civilians in the vehicle? Evacuate immediately—do not linger! Respond if you copy!"
Lian Sheng took the communicator from the soldier's pocket and answered, "He's injured. Condition unclear, but he can't be moved. Everyone else is fine."
The voice on the other end said, "Perform emergency first aid. Reinforcements are en route. Find cover and stay put!"
The line went dead again.
The group exchanged uneasy glances. None dared look directly at the soldier's injuries, much less attempt treatment. "What counts as emergency first aid? What do we do first? Pull out the glass? Disinfect?"
Ji Ban panicked. "Don't move him! Don't you dare!"
"It's fine. I can handle this." Lian Sheng wiped her face, only to smear blood across it, making her look positively savage. "I have experience. Now—lower him gently."
Ji Ban said, "We'll detach the seat. I'll do it."
Fortunately, the driver's seat was removable.
They laid him flat on the seat and, working together, carried him out.
By now, the nearby attacks had begun tapering off.
The escort team circled back to protect them. Seeing the tide turning, the Gelen forces staged a tactical retreat to regroup with their main forces.
The group turned to Lian Sheng. "Now what?"
Lian Sheng said, "Just don't move him."
The group: "..."
The group: "..."
The group: "..."
Cheng Ze sighed. "This isn't the time for jokes! Stop picking up bad habits from Fang Jianchen."
Uncharacteristically, Fang Jianchen didn't retort. He just stared blankly at the soldier.
"Who here knows how to handle a blade? What if removing the glass makes him bleed out?" Lian Sheng said. "Face it—we're out of our depth. The glass is plugging the wound, which helps slow bleeding. There are other fragments in his body. Moving him carelessly could make it worse. Leave it for the medics."
Zhao Zhuoluo: "I thought you said you knew emergency procedures?"
"I do." Lian Sheng patted the soldier's hand. "There. Now we encourage him."
The soldier's consciousness seemed to drift further away. His body temperature dropped, and he didn't respond to them.
They took turns squeezing his hand, unsure whether to rouse him.
Zhao Zhuoluo said, "This is normal. Conserves energy."
The others nodded.
Lian Sheng's fingers felt weak. Only when her hand emptied did she remember she still held the communicator.
It was military-issue.
An idea struck her. She reactivated it and pressed a random button. The line connected. "Report your ID. State your request."
Lian Sheng said, "We're students. Patch me through to Dr. Lin Shu from Alliance University's medical team. We need professional advice."
A pause. Then: "The university medics might've already pulled out. Let me check with base."
Their spirits lifted at the mention of Dr. Lin. Hope flickered anew.
After three agonizing minutes, the communicator buzzed again. They crowded around the screen.
Dr. Lin appeared, windswept and disheveled—clearly unwashed for days. The usually fastidious man looked downright ragged.
"What's your status?" he asked.
Lian Sheng angled the screen to show the soldier. "What now? How do we stabilize him?"
"Don't touch him. Evacuate him immediately," Dr. Lin said. "You're amateurs. Pulling out glass shards could kill him."
Fang Jianchen exhaled sharply, collapsing to the ground.
Lian Sheng: "So he's not dead yet?"
"Hard to tell through a screen. For all I know, he's already gone," Dr. Lin said sternly. "But if he is, at least leave the body intact. Hands off."
Before they could reply, Ji Ban tugged Lian Sheng's sleeve. "Look! Reinforcements!"
Alliance Fengyi mechs descended, landing nearby.
The mech pilots evacuated the soldier first, instructing Lian Sheng's group to stay put and await transport.
As the mechs disappeared into the distance, they slumped down again.
They didn't want to think about the soldier's fate. But looking down, they saw the dark red staining their palms.
Just moments ago, he'd been cursing the enemy alongside them. Now his life hung by a thread.
He might be lucky—he still had a chance. But so many others never even got that.
Zhao Zhuoluo picked at the dried blood on his hands. Veins bulged as his pulse raced.
They'd outgrown the age of unrestrained tears. Silence now masked their fear.
Zhao Zhuoluo suddenly said, "We stay here, wait for extraction, return to base... then what?"
The others turned to him, confused.
Lian Sheng said quietly, "Then we're safe. We go back to school. The 36th District becomes someone else's problem."
The thought brought both relief and unease.
Part of them wanted to retreat. But that impulse was crushed by something harder to define.
They'd come this far. How could they pretend to be bystanders now?
Lu Mingyuan whispered, "What was it he wanted to do earlier? Restore the signal tower?"
Ji Ban: "I'm pretty good at fixing things."
A horrified voice suddenly crackled through the communicator.
"Don't you dare! Get back here! What are you thinking? Damn kids—give us a break!"
They startled, turning to the device in Lian Sheng's hand.
In their panic, they'd forgotten to end the call. A stranger's face now filled the screen. He turned to Dr. Lin. "Back me up here, Doc! Scare some sense into them!"
Lian Sheng: "Oh. Dr. Lin, you're still there?"
Dr. Lin scowled. "You didn't hang up."
Lian Sheng saluted. "Then I'm going."
The soldier on screen spluttered, "The hell you are! First, names—I'm calling your guardians!"
Dr. Lin: "You don't even know the terrain! How would you get there? This is absurd!"
Lian Sheng pointed behind her. "We can see it. It's not far."
"Ever heard of a mirage? It's kilometers away! The tower's just tall!" the veteran snapped. "How do you plan to get past Gelen's forces? They've pulled back to the city to buy time for their transports. Even we can't break through—what chance do you have?"
Lian Sheng stood at attention. "I know we can't. But I refuse to turn back now. As an Alliance citizen, I volunteer for the 36th District recovery operation. I want to tell its people personally—the Alliance hasn't abandoned them. I won't witness this battle's start only to flee at its climax. My goal is to become a soldier. This outcome is unacceptable."
They were all afraid. But even fear wouldn't make them stand down. Like the soldier before them, they'd made their choice.
The others snapped to attention. "We volunteer too!"
"I can assist with repairs. I'm really good at fixing things," Ji Ban remembered suddenly. "Oh! I have a mech. I can fight!"
Lu Mingyuan: "My modeling skills are decent. I can analyze data at relay points."
Dr. Lin massaged his temples. "Just come back first."
The veteran fumed. "There's protocol! Paperwork! Evaluations! Return now! We're handling the signal issue—it's under control!"
Lian Sheng covered her ears. "Calm down. It's not like we can leave right now anyway."
The veteran's expression shifted. "Wait. Why hasn't extraction arrived yet? Which unit was assigned—Third Army or Sixth?"
Chaos erupted in the command center.
"Report! Gelen reinforcements have secured the entire central district!"
Another wave of Gelen troops poured across the border, heading straight for the central signal tower.
They'd already captured the structure, using it as a communications hub. The defensive perimeter might as well not exist. The district's own security systems lay in ruins, making access laughably easy.
The original 36th District technicians, forced to work on data recovery, felt their blood run cold at the update.
The situation worsened by the minute.
Like locusts, the Gelen forces wouldn't leave until they'd taken their fill—regardless of the devastation left behind.
The technicians clenched their fists, heads bowed over their consoles.
This wasn't what they'd wanted. Disillusioned with the Alliance, they'd sought to protect the 36th District—only to invite something far worse.
They'd caused this tragedy. What could they do now?
"Signal tower units request immediate extraction. Enemy fortifications are strengthening. Delay risks total encirclement."
"Pull them out!"
"Report! Several students evacuated from the shelters are trapped in the central district."
The commander stood. "Location?"
Subordinates relayed the students' coordinates.
The commander measured the distance on the map, then grimaced. "...There's nothing we can do."
The channel fell silent for a full second. The command center's atmosphere turned leaden.
This was war's cruel arithmetic. Every decision demanded sacrifice.
No matter how many times they faced it, the weight never lessened.
And these were students—elite students with bright futures.
The commander closed his eyes. "Show me the list."
Names appeared on-screen.
"Lian Sheng. Zhao Zhuoluo. Ji Ban..."
Someone whispered hoarsely, "They're all..."
Children of martyrs. Children of active-duty soldiers. And the Alliance's sole remaining manual mech pilot.
"Send them the safe zone maps. Tell them to find shelter." The commander exhaled. "...It's up to them now."
The vice-commander paled. "Sir!"
The veteran, meanwhile, was checking on extraction—only to learn of the deteriorating situation.
Lian Sheng, oblivious, gazed at the horizon. "Are there more ships in the sky?"
Ji Ban: "Yep."
Zhao Zhuoluo: "Judging by the colors, those aren't ours. Gelen reinforcements."
The veteran lowered the communicator and turned away. "...The troops are pulling out. Their position's too close to the Gelen landing zone. No way through."
Dr. Lin barked, "Get away from there! Find cover!"
Lian Sheng: "What does 'cover' look like?"
Dr. Lin pressed his lips together.
Against thermal scanners, even buildings offered little concealment.
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