Chapter 26: Troop Deployment
At this stage, without the capability to produce hot weapons, cold weapons are the only type of weapon that can rapidly enhance one’s combat power and be produced quickly.
He needed to rely on cold weapons to protect the 10 important bases, the Main Base, and the railway lines, and to buy time to develop hot weapons!
Against so many Monster Birds, only hot weapons offered a chance of victory!
Under Tom’s command, the next moment, all the steel produced from the Steel Plant, which had high hardness and toughness suitable for making cold weapons, was diverted and urgently transported to the metal processing plant.
Thousands of Clones, who were originally performing other tasks, all ran forward, their faces solemn, rushing into the metal casting plant and directly to their workstations.
Production began immediately.
A large number of metal processing equipment started to operate. Amidst the piercing sounds of cutting and grinding, in just one hour, the first long saber was produced.
This long saber was about 70 centimeters long, 6 centimeters wide, slightly curved, with a sharp blade, suitable for chopping.
As the first long saber appeared, as if a switch had been flipped, this production line began to churn out long saber after long saber, like a flowing stream.
An hour later, 200 long sabers were completed.
Small trucks specifically for transport drove over, swiftly delivering these long sabers to the front lines.
200 Clones threw away the steel pipes in their hands and immediately took up these long sabers.
Tom felt a slight relaxation in his heart.
At least they had formal weapons now.
But this alone was clearly not enough.
It didn’t matter; at this moment, more factories were producing more types of weapons.
In a factory that had urgently switched to producing shields, hundreds of Clones stood solemnly before various pieces of equipment, operating them non-stop.
The moment steel was heated to the right temperature, the forging and shaping equipment immediately followed, and then it moved to the subsequent processing stage.
At this moment, these hundreds of Clones seemed to become one person. This production line, under their operation, also seemed to gain sentience, operating extremely smoothly.
Thus, a large number of shields were continuously produced, and again, in just one hour, 200 shields were completed and directly sent to the front lines.
Then there were factories producing long spears, short knives, kneepads, elbow pads, gloves, and armor, all operating at full capacity.
At this stage, it was clearly too late to produce spacesuits with sufficient protective capabilities. Since that was the case, they could only produce some external protective gear for temporary use.
At this moment, hundreds of factories within the Main Base were all linked together. Tens of thousands of Clones, as if directed by an arm, were all under Tom’s control, fully dedicating themselves to their work, with extremely coordinated cooperation and maximum efficiency.
In just two days, a total of 4,000 sets of combat equipment, enough to equip all combat personnel of the Main Base, were transported to the front lines and worn by every combat Clone.
Subsequent production continued without any pause.
Producing only 4,000 sets was not enough. Tom still needed to produce ten thousand sets, twenty thousand sets, to arm the Clones in other bases as well.
Even that was not enough. Tom still needed to produce one hundred thousand sets, one hundred fifty thousand sets, so that all backup Clones, once activated, would immediately have equipment to use.
In addition, the wear and tear and replenishment of equipment also needed to be accounted for.
Given that, then produce two hundred thousand sets!
Hundreds of massive factories roared day and night, tens of thousands of Clones busily moved between workstations and collective dormitories, the Steel Plant, power plants, chemical plants, agricultural bases...
Every factory that made up the Main Base was fully mobilized by Tom and joined in this preparation for war.
After completing the equipment needed by the Main Base’s combat personnel, trains roared, beginning to transport this equipment to the 10 core mineral bases.
In addition to cold weapons, there was also a small amount of explosives.
They were originally intended for industrial construction, but now, there was no time to consider that; they had to be used first.
Under these circumstances, in just four days, 8,000 Clones were armed.
And it was at this moment that the Clones who had been dispatched as scouts, closely monitoring the nearby Monster Birds clusters, finally brought bad news.
These Monster Birds groups were slowly moving, foraging as they advanced. Unfortunately, their direction of movement was towards his base cluster.
Or perhaps, the large amount of complex organic matter present in the base cluster attracted them?
Tom didn’t know the specifics. But it didn’t matter; they were coming anyway.
And, the total number of these Monster Birds groups combined was probably well over 70,000. Furthermore, they were coming from all directions, and it was estimated that after some time, all 11 important bases, including the Main Base, would face the impact of the Monster Birds.
Especially Copper Mine Base No. 1, located on the outermost perimeter of the base cluster, it was estimated that Monster Birds groups would arrive in just five hours!
"Five hours? That’s enough!"
Having received this latest intelligence, Tom once again began to deploy his troops.
At present, Copper Mine Base No. 1 had only 500 fully armed Clones. Facing over ten thousand Monster Birds from this direction, it was clearly not enough.
At this moment, there were many, many Clones in the Main Base, but only 5,000 sets of complete equipment.
Tom directly dispatched 3,000 Clones by train, carrying supplies such as food, oxygen, and water, heading straight for Copper Mine Base No. 1.
At the same time, Tom, having completed the initial urgent production and finally having a little more energy, also specifically allocated half of the remaining armed Clones from the Main Base, which was 1,000 Clones, to engage in one-on-one combat on the desolate and lifeless land of Loshen Star.
This was, of course, not real combat, but merely a drill. If a Clone truly threatened an opponent’s life, he would immediately stop.
In these 500 pairs of Clones fighting, Tom tested various fighting styles and defensive methods, including the attacker’s chops, slashes, and stabs, the defender’s blocks, shield raises, and the seamless transitions between various movements, and so on.
As a result, a vast amount of combat techniques were rapidly generated and aggregated into Tom’s mind, and then, through Tom’s control, instantly disseminated to every Clone.
Simultaneously, Tom also mobilized the remaining one thousand Clones, dividing them into teams of 500 each, and began collective combat.
He also began to experiment with various fighting styles during this process, such as one team specializing in defense and another team specializing in offense.