The ground war on Lucerne Planet was fiercely raging, with the Leray Federation, backed by strong logistical support, using the Miloke Binary Stars as a forward base. A total deployment of fifty-one fully mechanized infantry divisions and thirty-six armored divisions amassed a force of over 1.8 million troops. They occupied most of the Western Hemisphere and the Elephant Mountain line in the Eastern Hemisphere of Lucerne. Four army groups totaling one million troops launched attacks on Amayo Mountain, East Valley City, Razi Defense Line’s Luofeng Mountain Pass, and Rotersk City.
The Razi Defense Line was a defensive system established by the Gazalin Empire targeting the western region right at the start of the conflict. After the Leray Federation successfully landed, following the voluntary withdrawal of the Gazalin Empire Army from Western Lucerne under Liebgoet’s command, this defense line was further strengthened. A total of twenty-three infantry divisions and sixteen armored divisions were arranged along this line, spanning a mere four hundred kilometers in depth. Behind the defense line, there were hundreds of missile bases and ground aviation bases, firmly safeguarding the gateway to the eastern interior. Rotersk City, a small city on the flank of this defensive line with a population of less than three million, was the only passageway to circumvent the Razi Defense Line and avoid heavy forces. However, it had already become a heavily guarded military fortress with a defense system even more comprehensive and solid than the Razi Defense Line.
The Leray Federation’s Lucerne Western Front Army chose to have the Third Army Group, consisting of sixteen infantry divisions and ten armored divisions, forcefully attack the Luofeng Mountain Pass line of the Razi Defense Line. Meanwhile, the Fourth Army Group, comprising eight infantry divisions and three armored divisions, wavered between Rotersk and the southern segment of the Razi Defense Line, attacking and resting intermittently, with a clear intent to divert attention.
The eastern regions of Amayo Mountain and East Valley City became the critical focal points of the entire Lucerne Planet campaign. Eighty percent of the Leray Federation’s transport capacity was invested here, consistently delivering reinforcements to support the First Army Group maneuvering towards Amayo and the Second Army Group directly pushing towards East Valley City, intending to open a passage to Wali City. Once this passage was secured, the vast Lavos Plain in the east would become a domain for the Leray Federation Army to traverse freely. Advancing southwest would threaten Rotersk, while moving northwest would penetrate deep into the Gazalin Occupation Zone, allowing unhindered operations and fragmenting the Gazalin defense system dispersed in the east into countless small parts to be systematically eliminated.
The Gazalin Empire Army was not deterred. While the Federation launched its offensive, Gazalin relied on its solid defense system to deplete the Federation’s active forces and used the advantage of its ground-based air force to conduct continuous small-scale parachute counterattacks. In this web spun by the air force, small Gazalin Empire Army units constantly launched strikes. Often, before the Federation could consolidate a recently occupied area, Gazalin’s air force would initiate parachute drops, establishing blockades behind the front lines and coordinating with forward units for encirclement. Both sides frequently descended into chaos, with tens of thousands of soldiers intermixing within dozens of square kilometers of the combat zone, engaging in brutal combat.
This was Lucerne in the New Era 2061. Concurrently, significant events were unfolding in human society. In October, the Binart Empire’s Emperor Keman passed away, and Crown Prince William ascended to the throne as the new Emperor. At the beginning of his reign, this ambitious former high achiever of the First Military Academy issued a series of military restructuring and preparation orders and began initiating the transformation of the national economy to a wartime footing. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NovᴇlFir(e).nᴇt
The Binart Empire’s actions triggered a chain reaction throughout human society. The Western Alliance, a military alliance primarily of imperial countries, was more structurally cohesive and united compared to the Fei Alliance composed mainly of democratic federation countries. Almost simultaneously with Binart Empire’s military preparations, these countries also began similar initiatives.
Consequently, the Fei Alliance countries began shifting from a policy focused on winning three simultaneous local defensive wars within their national territories to preemptive actions aimed at ensuring long-distance deployment capabilities, enabling whole-nation mobilization for a comprehensive war. Maintaining military deterrence had become the primary responsibility for each country; everyone was aware that war was inevitable, and what was needed now was merely a spark.
Superpowers remained inactive while frictions among the major powers continued to be limited to localized skirmishes; none dared to provoke a large-scale war. As the standoff between the two camps intensified, the frictions among the major powers within each camp decreased, as if fearing that the first shot of a world war would be fired because of them. In October of this year, the only all-out, life-and-death struggle was the war between the Leraydemocratic Federation and the Gazalin Empire. Both sides had poured all their forces into the Galileo Star System. Human society increasingly focused on this region. The Human Supreme Council, amidst the standoff between the Western Alliance and Fei Alliance, saw escalating disputes about demanding the Leray Federation to cease military actions and calling for the unconditional withdrawal of the Gazalin Empire from the Galileo Star System and acceptance of sanctions.
All military experts, media commentators, military academies, and even street conversations were drawn to the war between these two relatively small countries. The names of rising military stars and renowned commanders emerging from this war were becoming household names. Among them, there were Admiral Mihailovich, Supreme Commander of the Leray Federation’s Supreme Command Department, Admiral Bernadotte, Chief Commander of the Frontline Command Department, Admiral Brown of the Fourth Fleet, and Admiral Snyder of the First Fleet. On the Gazalin Empire side were temporary military advisor Liebgoet General from the Naga Federation, Admiral Reinhardt of the Mythical Army, and the famously bold Admiral Hailig, among others.