Chapter 36: Moving Out
At this moment, the massive expeditionary force had finished assembling.
On a plain near the main base, a total of 40,000 Clones, riding in over 3,000 assorted vehicles, began their advance simultaneously.
For a moment, the ground itself seemed to tremble slightly.
Among these 3,000-plus vehicles were 300 fully-enclosed, double-decker trucks specifically for personnel transport.
These large trucks were 20 meters long and 3 meters wide. They stood 4 meters tall but were divided into two levels, each with a height of two meters.
The interior of one level was 60 square meters and could hold 50 Clones, meaning a double-decker could carry 100.
For a normal person, such a crowded and narrow space would obviously be unbearable. But for the Clones, it didn’t matter.
In any case, Li Qingsong wouldn’t be connecting to their consciousness during transport. They just had to sit there obediently.
The 300 transport trucks carried 30,000 Clones, while the remaining 10,000 were distributed among the other vehicles.
This included 500 tanks, each with a crew of three, for a total of 1,500 personnel.
There were 500 armored vehicles, each with four crew members, totaling 2,000 personnel.
There were 200 Cannon vehicles, each with a crew of three, accounting for 600 personnel.
There were also 1,000 large trucks dedicated to transporting supplies. Each of these could carry 100 tons of cargo, including machine gun ammunition, Cannon Shells, fuel, first-aid supplies, pure oxygen, methane, meat, grains, vegetables, and so on.
That amounted to a total of 100,000 tons of supplies!
In addition, there were various special-purpose vehicles, such as ambulances, mobile kitchens, repair trucks, and lead vehicles.
All told, more than 3,000 vehicles and 40,000 Clones had gathered to set off on the expedition!
Following a pre-scouted route, the main force advanced at an average speed of about 30 kilometers per hour.
A smaller, separate contingent moved faster, reaching approximately 60 kilometers per hour and arriving ahead of the main body.
After driving for just two hours, this advance team came to a halt.
Several thousand logistics Clones in Space Suits jumped down from their vehicles, retrieved numerous crates from the supply trucks, unboxed them, took out the parts inside, and immediately began to set up camp on the desolate, silent landscape of Ceres.
In no time, a massive, fully-enclosed metal tent was already pitched.
Its interior covered 500 square meters, enough for 500 people to dine simultaneously.
The Clones pitched a full 100 of these metal tents in less than an hour.
While the tents were being set up, other tasks were already underway.
Kitchen Clones drove massive mobile kitchens, unloaded basket after basket of ingredients, and began processing them on the spot. Using enormous pots, stoves, and steamers, they quickly cooked the food and portioned it out into individual meals.
Forty thousand meals were fully prepared in less than two hours.
At that moment, the slowly advancing main force arrived at the camp, not a moment too soon or too late.
Parking in pre-designated clearings, the Clones rose in an orderly fashion, disembarked through connected passageways without needing to wear Space Suits, and entered the "dining halls."
Each Clone took a meal, eating as they walked. By the time they reached the edge of the tent, they had finished eating and were right at the entrance to the lavatories.
They went in, were allotted three minutes to relieve themselves, came out, and followed another passageway back to their transport trucks to sit obediently.
Eating and resting were handled in a rapid, assembly-line fashion and completed quickly.
Other Clones, who had already finished their meals, quickly performed safety checks on all the vehicles, looking for any malfunctions that might have occurred during the drive.
Still other Clones pulled over long hoses and refueled the vehicles’ massive tanks with methane and liquid oxygen.
The entire force of 40,000 personnel carried out multiple tasks simultaneously, everything proceeding methodically and without a hint of chaos.
On Earth, leading a force of 40,000 would be an immense challenge. Forget achieving the perfect order Li Qingsong currently commanded; even managing a force half as chaotic would require at least a general, aided by a massive staff of strategists.
The number of variables involved was simply too vast and complex.
When to make camp, when to rest, how to manage water, how to handle bathroom breaks, what to do if a vehicle falls behind, how to fix a breakdown, how to deal with troublemakers...
If even one minor detail went wrong, the entire column could descend into chaos.
An ordinary person could never coordinate it all.
But for Li Qingsong, commanding this enormous force of 40,000 personnel and over 3,000 vehicles was effortless and graceful.
After a total of one and a half hours, all servicing and rest were complete. All Clones in the main force were back in position, and the convoy once again rumbled forward.
The logistics Clones remained behind, quickly dismantling everything, packing it into crates, and loading it back onto the trucks. Aside from some messy tire tracks and footprints, they left no trace of human presence.
Not even the Clones’ excrement was left behind.
That stuff was a valuable component for creating nutrient solutions for hydroponic plants. How could they possibly waste it here?
An hour after the main force departed, the logistics team had finished all their preparations.
This convoy then set off at high speed, eventually overtaking the main force and arriving at the next campsite two hours ahead of them, where the previous scene repeated itself.
The entire force traveled through the night, stopping only for scheduled maintenance every four hours. Although their speed was only 30 kilometers per hour, they still covered a full 600 kilometers in a single day.
Due to a slight detour, the total journey had been extended from the original 1,000 kilometers to the current 1,300.
At their current speed, the expeditionary force would reach the battlefield in less than 30 hours.
Time passed quietly. Reconnaissance Clones at the front reported that their expeditionary force’s movements had not disturbed the strange birds in the slightest.
The small plain was still a tumultuous chaos, filled with flying strange birds. The commotion could be detected from over a hundred kilometers away.
In comparison, the movements of Li Qingsong’s convoy were practically unnoticeable.
The expeditionary force was now about to arrive. The convoy began to disperse, parking in positions surrounding the small plain.
Numerous Cannon vehicles were towed into their designated positions, their muzzles adjusted, ready to begin the bombardment.
A large number of tanks and armored vehicles had their routes planned, prepared to charge the flock of strange birds.
Most important were the machine gun emplacements.
Numerous high-rate-of-fire machine guns were aimed not only at the strange birds on the plain, but a significant number were also pointed toward the sky.
Li Qingsong currently lacked dedicated anti-aircraft forces, so he had to make do with machine guns for now.