Chapter 65: | 065 | Operation Hammer of Dawn: Northern Frontier
Fortunately for the November Fleet, the entrance and exit of the cave system only resided in one massive mouth in the northernmost of the plateau.
With this, it would be a lot easier and simpler to corner the magibeasts living inside of it. But a question does perpetuate from this intelligence. How would they handle the magibeasts?
Would they handle the magibeasts through military support of ground and aerial troops? Or will they simply throw warheads and bunker busters into the cave system?
Inside the Combat Information Center of the UNS Light Bringer, Captain Lux was plagued with this thought.
Military ground and aerial support was reliable but risky. While the other one was difficult to pull off since it would need more detailed intelligence, requiring Marines to perhaps enter the cave system.
Naturally, doing so proves dangerous as they weren\'t dealing with mere animals. These creatures were gargantuan, akin to moving and living cars. Agile ones at that.
This made Captain Lux hesitant to even think of sending his men to such a dangerous cave system.
"How should we take care of this precarious circumstance?" Captain Lux muttered under his breath in a questioning tone.
Thoughts and ideas flooded through his mind before they were interrupted by a voice asking for his attention. Such a voice came from a female intelligence officer.
Captain Lux raised an eyebrow and glanced at the intelligence officer, desiring to know what she wanted to report to him.
The intelligence officer saluted first before reporting the transmission from the Forward Operating Base to the commanding officer of the UNS Light Bringer.
"Sir, the eastern operation has concluded. The Echo Fleet and the military forces have achieved complete victory over the magibeasts." The victory of the eastern front made the captain\'s mood rise.
It was a piece of good news that the other side had won against these giant beasts.
"The Vice Admiral is sending reinforcing troops to our frontier. They will be arriving soon, Captain Lux." The intelligence officer stopped for a moment, making the captain think that she had concluded her report.
But it was far from over.
"There\'s also a reinforcing warship from the Echo Fleet. It is commandeered by the highest of command in the United Navy, Fleet Admiral Abraham Shepherd. The warship is the UNS Trinity of Solace."
The last report of the intelligence officer shocked the captain. It wasn\'t within his expectations for the Fleet Admiral\'s capital ship to be reinforcing the November Fleet.
It made him feel honored and gave him some relief.
"It\'s good that the Fleet Admiral will be reinforcing us. The 16-inch guns of the UNS Trinity of Solace will give us better chances against the cave systems." Captain Lux commented since shells were a lot easier to replace than warheads.
At the very least, they wouldn\'t waste dozens of warheads anymore and could simply use the 16-inch guns to punch a hole through the ground.
With this in mind, an idea struck the captain of the UNS Light Bringer. It was an intriguing yet useful idea for their current circumstance.
"Can you mark the parts in the cave system that are within 20 meters close to the ground?" Captain Lux asked the intelligence officers.
They raised their eyebrows and turned their gaze towards the topographic map of the cave system beneath the northernmost of Crescere. It would take some time, but it was possible.
"We can do so, Sir. But it will take time as we have to analyze the topographic data sent by the ground-penetrating radar."
"He is correct, Captain Lux. We also need to understand what kind of rocks and sediments separate the cave system from the ground."
Two of the several intelligence officers in the Combat Information Center responded. Captain Lux merely nodded at them and ordered.
"Well, then. Take your time and mark the areas that could be easily penetrated by our firepower."
Impatience was the root cause of failure, so Lux gave the intelligence officers their needed time to analyze the topographic intelligence brought by the recon task force.
The intelligence officers nodded and swiftly went to do their job. While it was a bit complex, it shouldn\'t take long before they figured it all out.
Captain Lux then turned his attention to the monitor screens where various camera feeds of the cave system\'s mouth were provided.
The plan he had to strategize inside his mind was simple. It was to create designated tangos through explosive means that would open the cave systems to the ground.
Through these various openings, they would be able to launch incendiary missiles toward the target and let the fire take care of the magibeasts.
If the incendiary missiles were proven to be ineffective, the shells and tomahawks of the November Fleet with the UNS Trinity of Solace would bombard them into damnation.
After all, it was better to fight in open grounds than in intricate mazes that could be considered as the adversaries\' home territory.
"This is in the assumption of no variables, but I guess that variables should be easily taken care of with firepower." Captain Lux muttered to himself.
"Sir, a transmission has been received from the UNS Trinity of Solace." Before Lux could continue thinking about the intricacies of his plan, one of the communication operators interrupted him.
Hearing that a transmission from the UNS Trinity of Solace was received, Captain Lux instinctively straightened his back and ordered the communication operator to accept it.
"Open the communication line with the UNS Trinity of Solace."
With his orders, the communication operators immediately opened the transmission to the Combat Information Center. The voice of the Fleet Admiral soon escaped the confines of machines.
"Captain Lux, it\'s been a while."
When Captain Lux heard of the Fleet Admiral\'s words, he immediately saluted and responded with honor.
"The UNS Light Bringer is honored to be reinforced by the Fleet Admiral. We will not waste this opportunity, Fleet Admiral."
He would have wasted minutes from praising the highest of command of the United Navy. However, they didn\'t have time for that as they had to strategize for the northern frontier.
"It should be paramount for me to aid my subordinates in their endeavors. You sound like you have a plan, Captain Lux. How about we discuss it?"
Abraham had his speech already max-leveled from interacting with various subordinates of the United Navy. It was easy to give a response brimming with humbleness.
Though, it\'s not like Abraham was lying about his words. He knew his responsibility to be the foundation of his subordinates and be the backbone of the United Navy.
He had to act the best for his personnel, not only for its excellent political maneuvers but also for the unified morale of the United Navy.
"Affirmative, Fleet Admiral. I shall unveil to you the November Frontier Plan."