Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 186 Arakazak's "Efficiency" (Nine Updates)

Detailed battle reports of the Arasaka remnant's suicide attack, along with fragmented footage taken by drones, were transmitted in real time back to the combat command center of the Moguish flagship.

Shintaro Takayama stood in front of the huge holographic tactical sand table, his face expressionless as he scrutinized the red dots representing his own attacking units, which quickly went out one by one like cigarette butts being stubbed out.

Behind him, several senior staff officers held their breath, the air thick with the oppressive feeling of data flowing silently, awaiting the director's judgment.

"Is the data recording complete?" Gao Shan didn't turn around; his voice was calm and unwavering.

“Yes, Director. All engagement data, including the reaction speed of enemy fire positions and preliminary assessments of weapon effectiveness, have been recorded,” a technical officer replied immediately, his tone respectful.

Gao Shan nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the red arrow on the sand table that represented the attack path, now completely faded.

He paused for a few seconds, glanced around at the officers in the command center, and then spoke in a deliberately slow, heavy tone: "Gentlemen, let us observe thirty seconds of silence for these brave soldiers."

Their loyalty and courage deserve recognition. They gave their lives for Arasaka, washing away the shame of defeat.

After saying that, he lowered his head first.

Most of the people in the command center also lowered their heads, and the light of the holographic sand table seemed to dim, creating a solemn and dignified atmosphere.

Arakasaka Yoriyuki, standing a short distance away, watched all of this with a cold eye.

He did not lower his head, but his sharp gaze fell on Shintaro Takayama's back, which seemed to be full of sorrow but whose shoulders had not changed at all.

This procedural moment of silence, this formulaic "affirmation" and "washing away of shame," sounded incredibly jarring to him.

He clearly saw, at the moment the mountain bowed its head, a fleeting look of dissatisfaction with the attack efficiency flash across its eyes as it swept across the tactical sand table.

These people, driven to their doom, are, in the eyes of the mountain, or rather, in the machine that is Arasaka, merely the cost of a trial, a set of quantifiable data, and a sum of money that can be calculated.

This hypocritical mourning disgusted him more than direct coldness.

Thirty seconds later, Shintaro Takayama raised his head precisely on time, the deliberate seriousness on his face vanishing instantly, replaced by his usual coldness.

He turned to Lai Xuan, his brow furrowed, his tone revealing undisguised disappointment and dissatisfaction: "Lord Lai Xuan, the result is far from ideal. We paid such a high price, but apart from confirming that the enemy was indeed there and that their firepower was not weak, we gained almost nothing!"
Their defensive depth, command nodes, and reserve deployments—those crucial details were simply beyond the capabilities of that bunch of incompetents to uncover! This operation was a complete failure at the tactical reconnaissance level!

His words were resolute, forming a stark and cruel contrast to his attitude just minutes earlier, when he praised the victims for their "loyalty and courage" and "washing away their shame." It was as if those souls he had just asked to observe a moment of silence had instantly become the incompetent "worthless trash" in his words.

Arasaka Yorinobu saw all of this, his face still showing no emotion, but the fingers hidden in his sleeves turned slightly white from the force he exerted.

Shintaro Takayama's swift change of attitude, his undisguised pragmatism and ruthlessness, once again confirmed his judgment of the system—that it was fundamentally hypocritical, cold-blooded, and corrupt.

To people like Gao Shan, these lives that are wasted are nothing more than numbers and tools.

"So, Uncle Takayama, what valuable conclusions have we drawn from this 'test of loyalty'?" Lai Xuan asked, his tone calm, but the last syllable slightly drawn out, carrying a subtle pressure to demand substantive answers. Takayama Shintaro turned completely to face Lai Xuan, his brows furrowed tightly, forming a deep frown.

"Frankly, the result is disappointing, Lord Rai Xuan." His voice was lower than before, revealing a suppressed irritation. "We have indeed confirmed that the Netherhound Force is deployed on the front line, and that the squad codenamed 'Mann' is still active and possesses firepower beyond what is expected."

Furthermore, the fact that military technology involves the forward deployment of some powered armor units is also confirmed. However—"

He paused deliberately here, his gaze sweeping over the blank space representing the unknown area on the holographic sand table, his dissatisfaction almost overflowing: "However, we have almost zero intelligence about the enemy's core defensive architecture, the specific configuration and density of its firepower points, the tiered structure of its defensive positions, the precise location of the command center, and even the size and possible deployment direction of the reserve forces."

The opponent's defense system is well-structured, reacts extremely quickly, and its counterattacks are exceptionally precise and ruthless.

The reconnaissance units we dispatched...were limited in their capabilities and failed to breach the enemy's forward defenses, let alone force them to reveal more of their cards.

His discontent was raw and genuine.

The attack, which involved hundreds of armed and even suicidal "suicide squads," only resulted in the reconfirmation of known information. From his perspective of cost-benefit-based military logic, this was an extremely inefficient and failed investment.

Those lives that have been consumed have automatically been classified as "sunk costs" on his value scale at this moment.

“In other words,” Lai Xuan continued, summarizing with an almost indifferent calm, “aside from confirming once again that the enemy is indeed entrenched there and is not easy to deal with, we have gained almost nothing.”

His tone betrayed neither disappointment nor approval, but deep within him, a cold voice echoed: so many lives were lost just to verify a fact that had already been laid bare—this was the efficient war logic that Arasaka believed in.

"That's basically the conclusion," Shintaro Takayama frankly admitted without any embellishment. "The enemy's defenses are tight and efficient, and our probing forces failed to achieve the core reconnaissance objective."

His gaze refocused on Lai Xuan, with the decisiveness of a soldier: "Lord Lai Xuan, the situation is clear. Minor skirmishes will not suffice; we must exert more direct and stronger pressure."

Lai Xuan nodded, a look of seriousness and decisiveness on his face befitting the current situation: "Since small-scale probing cannot shake the enemy, let them witness the true power of Arasaka. Order the power armor units to prepare for a landing assault."

Simultaneously, deploy the air force to conduct the first round of air strikes against the abandoned town area, destroying their surface fortifications and weakening their defenses.

"Understood." Shintaro Takayama immediately turned around and gave the order to the operations staff: "Execute the strike plan as scheduled. Whale Wing, take off immediately!"

The command was instantly transmitted to the flight deck via an encrypted communication chain.

Piercing alarms blared throughout the aircraft carrier, and ground crew scurried about on the deck, guiding carrier-based aircraft, each carrying ground-attack munitions under its belly, into their catapult launch positions.

With a deafening roar from the steam catapults, one after another, fighter-attack aircraft adorned with the Arasaka emblem shot off the deck like arrows, plunged into the clouds, formed formation in the air, and roared off toward the abandoned town.

This tactical concept, which relies on aircraft carrier platforms and uses carrier-based aircraft as the core for long-range precision strikes, originated from Saburo Arasaka's fascination with the glory of the old Imperial Japanese Navy. It was strengthened during the Arasaka Takashi era and is still regarded as a standard procedure for demonstrating Arasaka's military and technological advantages under Yoriyuki Arasaka's leadership.

A massive swarm of aircraft swept across the sea, carrying a mission of destruction, and hurtled toward their target.

(End of this chapter)