CHAPTER 140: CHAPTER 121: SUDDEN PACIFIC THEATER (3.2K)

Fang Ming picked up the documents on the desk, looked at the text, and then glanced at the large map in the command room.

It is indeed the Far East Region.

But the battlefield of Moscow is thousands of miles away, why was he transferred here?

Or is there some connection between this place and Moscow?

Fang Ming spent some time flipping through documents in the command room.

A moment later.

Sitting at his desk, holding a few documents and materials in his hand, he showed them to the live broadcast:

"Brothers, I found the problem."

"Look at this document."

Fang Ming pointed at the orders on the document and said:

"The document states the deployment orders of the Soviet Union’s troops, which are going to Moscow."

"However, it doesn’t seem to be referring to my current troop."

"Because this order is from October, and it’s already mid-November now."

"So perhaps on my side... there will be a follow-up hidden plot triggered?"

"Otherwise, why transfer me to the Far East Region."

Shaking his head, Fang Ming put the document down and took out further information:

"But I’ve found something else interesting."

Fang Ming laid the materials flat on display in the live broadcast.

It documented the analysis and preparedness plans of the Soviet Union. Fang Ming interpreted them:

"The Soviet Union’s troops in the Far East are mainly to guard against Japan, allied with the Axis Powers and the Empire."

"Currently, the Empire and the Soviet Union are in a tug-of-war in Europe."

"And in the Far East, close to the United States of America and Japan. Currently, Japan is aggressively invading other countries in Asia and Southeast Asia. The Soviet side, in the Far East, currently has about... Whoa?!"

"Over a million troops?!"

"Hiss—"

Fang Ming gasped, completely unprepared for the idea that over a million troops in the Far East were unused.

The live channel was also inundated with question marks, bewildered at the analysis and preparedness plans on the documents, as well as the troop deployment details.

[The Empire can’t keep fighting with this. There are just too many people.]

[With over a million reserves unused, it’s more than the forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth before its fall.]

[If these million-plus troops were deployed to the European battlefield, the Empire would collapse.]

[It feels like the Empire has walked into a trap now... Declaring war on the Soviet Union was truly a misjudgment.]

[I was initially worried about the Soviet Union’s situation, but now... the Empire is done for.]

Seeing the amazed barrage comments in the live chat, Fang Ming regained his focus, brought up a real-time map, and looked at it:

"These over a million troops are mainly to guard against Japan."

"But Japan is likely preparing for action in the Pacific, right?"

"They probably don’t plan on attacking the Soviet Union."

"What a pity."

"If the Soviet Union knew, they might redirect the Far East forces to Moscow, possibly pushing back."

Currently, Japan is gathering lots of forces in the Pacific.

It’s clearly targeting the United States of America, but all is done secretly; even the U.S. Pacific Fleet is unaware, let alone the Soviet Union, which is embroiled in a stalemate with the Empire.

So from a third-party perspective, it’s unfortunate for the Soviet Union to not use such a large force array at this opportunity.

However, as a minor brigade leader, his words hold no power, and there needs to be trust. When you say Japan is going to attack the U.S. in the Pacific, will Japan really attack the U.S.?

As long as it hasn’t happened, nothing spoken holds any weight.

After all... who could predict Japan would attack the Pacific?

Fang Ming shook his head and sighed once more:

"What a pity."

This massive troop presence can’t be used, otherwise, the situation on the European battlefield would be much improved.

After saying this.

Fang Ming also looked at Japan’s deployments in the Pacific.

Attempting to consider the positions of various countries in the world.

How to say... No one could imagine Japan would launch an attack on the Pacific. Even the military experts on Blue Star couldn’t analyze the reason, delivering a massive neutral nation to the opposing side.

It’s truly absurd.

Fang Ming introduced the remaining files, mostly various orders issued to the Far East troops by the Soviet Union. Seeing a few of the orders, Fang Ming commented:

"Not all are stationed in the Far East."

"From June to around October, several units redeployed from the Far East by the Soviet Union add up to less than 20,000 troops."

"It’s still relatively conservative."

"This is all the information available in the command room. I’ll head out and take a look."

"I think I’m part of an infantry brigade...."

After finishing the explanation of the collected materials, Fang Ming intended to go out and take a look, standing up and walking outside.

However, as soon as he opened the door.

The howling cold wind hit his face.

Whoosh—

The documents on the table inside were blown everywhere.

Fang Ming took two steps back from the gust, feeling as if icy knives were cutting his face, instantly awakened, he forcefully shut the door and shook his head to gather himself.

"Damn?!"

"It’s colder than Moscow here!"

"I should check for more useful information indoors."

Fang Ming retreated back to the command room and continued to sift through the materials.

....

Meanwhile.

In Xu Jie’s live channel.

It’s the same with sleeping in the morning; Xu Jie, who had caught up on sleep all day,

was now fully refreshed and had entered the game to start streaming.

The story video he uploaded before his morning nap, ’To: Everyone Who’s Gone to the Front Line,’ had already topped the daily video clicks ranking on Celestial Shark Live.

The influx of traffic was obvious; just three minutes into his stream,

over two hundred thousand people had rushed into the livestream room.

Xu Jie was thanking the gifts from viewers while following their tips to check the latest announcements on Polestar Official Website.

"The Hall of Fame effect is like free advertising, forever."

"Whoever gets it will definitely take off."

"Streamer? Aren’t you going to take on the challenge? I’ve also watched those streaming the [Moscow Defenders] medal missions, it’s insane."

"I don’t have that kind of skill; I’d rather just stick to progressing the storyline."

"Let’s start with a round of [Battle of Moscow]."

Xu Jie was chatting with the viewers as he clicked the button for [Battle of Moscow].

The screen flickered and then gradually brightened.

He appeared in a rudimentary command post, and after glancing around, he realized he was still a colonel, but the situation seemed worse than before his morning nap.

Last night he was at least assigned to regular troops; even though they were wiped out overnight, they were still regular troops.

But now....

This seemed like the command post of some militia unit.

It felt quite tragic.

Xu Jie had a bad premonition and walked out of the command post; by now it was dusk outside, with the faint sound of artillery fire in the distance.

Upon exiting the command post, a trench came into Xu Jie’s view.

Obviously, this was a front-line command post.

Seeing Xu Jie emerge, the soldiers in the trench all called out "Sir," but it was in jest, clearly not taking Xu Jie seriously as an officer.

Xu Jie forced a smile, nodded, surveyed the area, and returned to the command post, feeling a shiver run up his spine:

"Most of these NPCs are local militiamen, and over half of them are in their fifties and sixties."

"Fighting the Imperial soldiers with hunting rifles."

This unit was designed to be expendable and might not even last long enough to be fully depleted.

A group of fifty- to sixty-year-old Soviet men, aware they’re marching to their deaths yet doing so with composure, couldn’t be expected to have much respect for Xu Jie as their officer.

These men likely knew what their fate would be.

So Xu Jie didn’t plan on trying to command them, opting for free play instead, hoping for some unexpected surprises.

Xu Jie then found a map in the command room.

He opened Polestar Official Website’s ’real-time map’ in the stream, checking his current location, hoping to find some useful information.

A few days later.

In Xu Jie’s livestream room.

The screen went black; Xu Jie lingered on the main interface and sighed:

"Died again."

"This is too intense."

Although only a week had passed in reality, over half a month had elapsed in the game, during which Xu Jie had died three times.

At the first start,

a squad composed of fifty- to sixty-year-old Soviet men was already challenging.

But luckily, they were all seasoned hunters.

They managed to guerrilla with the Empire for nearly a week.

At the second start,

the age of the Soviet Union NPCs had increased slightly,

and the squad now included many civilians, whose shooting skills were much worse than the veteran hunters, lasting only three days.

By yesterday’s third start,

it was already early December in-game, with colder weather and a squad consisting only of elderly men and some women.

In just three sessions over half a month,

the shifts within this span provided a lot of insights; Xu Jie watched his recent death replay, surrounded by elderly men and women still firing at Imperial soldiers.

A single artillery shell ended it for him.

"Moscow’s forces are almost gone."

Young soldiers were nowhere to be seen; at the initial start, some veteran hunters were present, but after half a month of fighting, even those experienced hunters were gone.

Only civilians and elderly men remained.

Now, a significant number of women were joining the squad.

By Xu Jie’s estimation, at this rate, by the end of December, even the women in Moscow would be wiped out...

"This situation is a bit tough."

"It’s a pity that although there are supposed to be many troops in the Far East, they’re preoccupied with defending against Japan and can’t be reallocated."

Xu Jie opened Polestar Official Website’s real-time map; during this time, he heard about the numerous units in the Far East and several streamers who had restarted there.

But the distance was too great, and Japan had to be guarded against, so they couldn’t be transferred.

Moscow’s predicament couldn’t be resolved.

Xu Jie opened the real-time map and suddenly noticed something amiss:

"Hmm?"

On the miniature real-time large map, a deep red line, representing the Axis Powers, penetrated into the light blue sphere of influence of the United States of America across the Pacific Ocean.

It appeared like a red dagger thrusting into the Pacific.

Moreover, this red dagger was continuously moving, pushing deeper into the Pacific.

Xu Jie and the Blue Star viewers in the stream perked up:

"Is this... happening?!"

They immediately started searching for livestreams in the United States of America area.

Several island names quickly popped up, and Xu Jie noticed the one with the most activity was marked Pearl Harbor.

As Xu Jie watched the real-time map,

Japan’s offensive was directly aimed at Pearl Harbor and was almost there.