The additional units were all completed before the sun came up, but Max had a sneaking suspicion that today was not going to be a much easier day than yesterday. He could sense the thoughts of the Myceloids as they approached and had to resist the urge to laugh when he realized that they had stripped naked in hopes that their green skin would match the grass well enough that the Hunters wouldn't see them coming.
They didn't really seem to grasp advanced technology, though they could make rocket launchers, and the thought of a million naked attackers charging the line was just too amusing for Max to say anything before his shift started.
The enemy was gathering just outside of the bombers' patrol range, avoiding starting the conflict early, but the Artillery had already prepared their sightlines and range settings for the bombardment that would commence as soon as the Myceloid horde moved.
The wisdom of the Hunters said that it was best to let prey make the first move so that you could adjust before taking action yourself. They were doing the same thing here right now, just waiting for the horde to take any sort of action that would give the Hunters an idea of the tactic that they would be facing today.
Max listened to their minds as the front lines of the Myceloid force got into position and then updated the Huntress on their plans.
[They have built catapults and intend to bombard the open field between us to deal with the mines they expect to be there. They haven't decided when to charge yet, but I suspect that it will be the moment that we start to change shifts.]
That was hard logic for the Hunters to argue with, so they started to make a plan for that likely situation. They would start the battle this time, unlike their standard procedure, and begin shelling the enemy with artillery just before the shift change started. But they wouldn't remove the off-duty team from the front lines until the rear line had moved forward to take their place.
Then, the off-duty units could move into the rear lines as planned, and if the Myceloids responded as predicted, they would be just in time for the retaliation.
[I want all the senior Commanders in the rear lines today. The smoke during the battle limits sensor range, and being in the trenches makes it worse. With the commanders further back, we should be able to issue more effective orders to the front line.] Huntress Khan ordered, taking over zone leadership for the Western Front.
The first impacts of the artillery into the Myceloid ranks marked the start of the battle, and the fungal warriors began to rush forward as soon as the first explosion shattered the early morning peace.
As expected, it was a hilarious sight to see so many naked warriors rushing forward with guns and clubs in their hands. But not all were in the nude. Some had gotten creative and stuck leaves and grass into their clothing to create a form of basic ghillie suit camouflage to make themselves blend in.
Those were the ones that Max targeted first.
They might be smarter, or they might be more heavily armed and in need of an additional layer to hide their weapons, but either way, they were a priority target for him.
With so many minds, it was impossible for him to pick out individual thoughts at a distance. Instead, he felt all the thoughts in an area as one and had to focus on picking out individuals. But he could also sense that there was some sort of guiding force or philosophy that was sending them all into battle.
What he couldn't tell was if it was a hidden leader like the Klem Queens or a form of cult dogma that was driving them all to the same thoughts. The way that they synchronized was incredibly efficient, though, and if he didn't know that they were only a few days old, Max would have assumed that these soldiers had trained together for years.
Perhaps he could get a sample of brain matter after the battle and find out what exactly the answer was. If they had such an efficient method of hereditary knowledge transmission, it could possibly make great advances in medicine possible.
Having children start off life with no memories, as he had to before his own started to resurface from a past life, was nothing more than a nuisance. Starting off life with a full set of memories, instincts, and essential knowledge would go a long way to furthering society as a whole.
Those thoughts could wait. He had more important things to do at the moment, like picking off the more cunning-looking ones, while also making sure that the Android Pilots on the front lines didn't miss anything through the haze.
The haze was building much too fast today as well. They had burnt off most of the ground cover last night as they destroyed the bodies, so there shouldn't be much to burn, but the thick black smoke was already blanketing the battlefield.
[They've set fire to a large amount of oil they poured into the southern trenches. That's what's blanketing the battlefield.] One of the Huntress Commanders reported.
None of their gear was really intended for firefighting, but the bombers could drop a foamy chemical mix. Nico switched their weapons in an instant so that the next flight past would douse the trench line in foam and dull the smoke, then returned to her regularly scheduled carnage and adjusted the explosion distance for her Mass Drivers a little to see if she could get better visual effects out of them.
[Bombers have deployed the foam. The smoke has stopped, but visibility is limited.] The Southern Commander informed the camp, followed by startled thoughts from the troops on the line that Max couldn't ignore if he wanted to.
The Myceloids had charged through the foam and were styling themselves new hair and beards out of it as they ran.
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