Chapter 197: Firepower

Chapter 197: Firepower

After the briefing ended, Noah turned his attention back toward Eldrath.

He now had enough information to tell the goblin military what the first stage of the invasion required. The initial force would enter the Imperial starfortress, descend toward the target planet inside escape pods, regroup after landing, and secure a foothold. Once the foothold was stable, Noah could move the transportation connection onto the planet and begin sending reinforcements directly to the secured position.

Before deciding how many soldiers should take part in that first landing, Noah needed the people responsible for Eldrath’s military to determine what firepower those soldiers could realistically carry and support.

He had no reason to personally inspect weapon stores, count ammunition, or decide how many machine guns should be assigned to individual units. Eldrath already had commanders, supply officers, and specialists responsible for those tasks.

Noah established communication with the senior military leadership and summoned the officers responsible for infantry organization, weapons distribution, and logistics.

When the connection stabilized, the senior commander spoke first.

"We received the notice that Eldrath would be participating in the Imperial war, but we were waiting for the actual mission."

Noah answered without spending time repeating the entire Imperial briefing.

"The Empire has assigned us to invade a surveyed planet. The enemies there are considered ordinary, but the first force will not enter through one of our normal deployments."

One of the officers leaned forward.

"How are we entering the planet?"

"The first force will be brought into an Imperial starfortress. From there, the Empire will use escape pods to airdrop our troops and their equipment onto the surface."

The officers exchanged looks.

The senior commander asked the next question.

"So the units will not arrive together through a single point."

"No. The escape pods will land separately, which means the units will need to regroup after reaching the surface."

Noah continued before the officers began planning around a prolonged dependence on the pods.

"The escape-pod insertion is only for the first stage. Once the landing force secures a foothold, I will move the transportation connection from the starfortress to the planet. After that, reinforcements can arrive directly at the secured position."

One of the officers immediately opened a report.

"Then we need to determine the size of the first force."

"Not yet."

Noah kept the discussion on the subject he wanted settled first.

"Before we decide troop numbers, I want your assessment of the portable firepower that can support the landing."

The senior commander looked toward the officers responsible for infantry and logistics.

Noah continued.

"You know the current weapon stocks, ammunition requirements, crew needs, and distribution better than I do. I want to know what can be issued to the first force without creating supply problems that make the landing harder."

The senior commander nodded.

"We already prepared an initial assessment after the war announcement, but that assumed a conventional deployment."

"Revise it for an airdrop."

The commander turned toward the infantry officer.

"Start with the weapons the infantry can carry and operate immediately after landing."

The officer opened his report.

"Standard rifles remain the basic weapon. We can equip the infantry with those without difficulty. The main decision concerns the amount of supporting firepower attached to each part of the landing force."

Noah already expected rifles to form the bulk of the infantry armament.

"Start with machine guns."

The officer nodded.

"For an airdrop, machine guns become especially useful during the regrouping stage. A rifle squad can defend itself, but a machine-gun team can provide sustained fire while nearby units are still trying to reach the same gathering point."

Another officer added,

"If the pods land across a wide area, some groups may have to secure their own positions before they reconnect with the rest of the force. A machine gun gives those groups enough fire to hold an approach while officers and radio operators coordinate the regrouping."

Noah focused on how the weapon solved a specific problem created by the landing.

"So you are recommending machine guns because some units may have to defend themselves before the full formation is restored."

"Yes."

The infantry officer pointed toward the report.

"If the army entered through a portal, we could place the machine guns where the formation needed them before contact began. With the escape pods, several separated groups may each need supporting fire during the first stage."

Noah then looked toward the logistics officer.

"What does that add to the supply burden?"

The logistics officer answered immediately.

"The machine guns themselves are manageable. Ammunition is the larger concern."

He opened his own report.

"A rifleman fires at a much lower rate during normal engagements. A machine gun can consume ammunition quickly if the crew keeps firing without control."

Noah asked the question that mattered for the operation.

"Can the first force carry enough ammunition to use them properly until the foothold is secure?"

"Yes, as long as commanders control their use."

The logistics officer continued.

"We can send enough ammunition for the landing stage. The problem only appears if units waste it during minor contacts. Machine-gun crews cannot treat continuous fire as the answer to every enemy they see."

The senior commander added,

"That is already part of their training. The crews know they are supposed to fire when the situation requires it, not empty their ammunition simply because they have a target."

Noah accepted the conclusion.

"Then machine guns are practical for the first landing, but their ammunition has to be managed."

"That is our assessment."

Noah moved the discussion to the next level of portable firepower.

"What do the units have when machine-gun fire is not enough?"

The senior commander looked toward another officer.

"For portable weapons, the next option is the RPG."

Noah turned toward that officer.

"Explain how you expect the RPG teams to be used during the landing."

The officer answered without discussing unnecessary technical details.

"The machine gun is meant to keep sustained fire on groups of enemies or an approach. The RPG has a different role. It gives the infantry a way to place greater destructive force against one target."

He continued.

"If a unit encounters a protected position or something that ordinary rifle and machine-gun fire cannot deal with efficiently, an RPG team gives the local commander a heavier option without waiting for artillery or other support."

Noah looked toward the senior commander.

"Would you spread the RPG teams throughout the landing force?"

"Not evenly."

The commander explained his reasoning.

"If we place every RPG team in one section of the force, another group could land several kilometers away and have no heavy portable weapon until everyone regroups."

He glanced toward the logistics officer.

"But if we distribute them too widely, we create unnecessary supply problems. RPG ammunition is heavier and more limited than rifle ammunition."

The logistics officer nodded.

"We need enough RPG teams across the first force that local commanders can reach one when necessary. That does not mean every small unit needs its own team."

Noah agreed with that division of responsibility.

"Determine the distribution after Imperial command gives us the final size of the landing force. I do not need a number before we know how many troops are actually being sent."

The senior commander recorded the instruction.

"That will make the calculation more accurate."

Noah returned to the role of the weapons themselves.

"I do not want anyone treating machine guns and RPGs as competing choices. Explain how you expect them to work together."

The infantry officer answered.

"Rifles remain the standard weapon for most soldiers. Machine guns provide sustained fire when a unit needs to defend an approach or suppress a group of enemies. RPG teams are used when the unit faces a target that needs more destructive force."

He continued.

"If enemies are advancing across open ground, a machine gun is usually the better supporting weapon. If one protected target is stopping the unit from moving, the RPG becomes more useful."

Noah looked toward the senior commander.

"So the recommendation is rifles for the general infantry, machine guns for sustained support, and RPGs for harder individual targets."

"Yes."

The three categories gave the landing force a clear progression of portable firepower without forcing the soldiers to depend immediately on heavier equipment.

Noah then raised the question that extended beyond the first planet.

"What is your assessment if we later encounter Astragoths?"

The officers became more careful with their answers.

Noah continued.

"The target planet contains ordinary enemies, but this operation is part of a war against the Astragoth Empire. Imperial command already warned us that the larger Astragoths are much harder to kill. I want an assessment of whether these weapons remain useful if we meet them later."

The senior commander answered first.

"We can give you an assessment based on the information we have, but we cannot guarantee results against enemies we have never fought."

"That is all I am asking for."

The commander continued.

"Machine guns should remain useful against enemies that can still be damaged by concentrated gunfire. RPGs give us a stronger portable option against tougher targets."

He did not overstate what either weapon could accomplish.

"We do not know how much punishment the larger Astragoths can actually survive. We should not assume an RPG will kill one simply because it is stronger than a rifle."

The infantry officer added,

"If their durability rises sharply with size, portable weapons may eventually stop being sufficient. We need actual combat reports before we know when that happens."

Noah did not ask them to speculate further.

The current mission did not require the first force to prepare as though the largest Astragoths were waiting at the landing site.

"The surveyed planet is still the immediate mission."

The senior commander agreed.

"Then we prepare for the enemies Imperial command expects us to face, while keeping enough heavier portable weapons available in case the situation is worse than the survey suggests."

Noah accepted that approach.

Preparing the landing force for an imaginary worst-case scenario would add unnecessary weight and supply demands before the operation even began.

The logistics officer returned to the issue that would affect every weapon in the first landing.

"There is one more point we need to settle."

Noah looked toward him.

"Go ahead."

"The first force cannot depend on immediate resupply."

He referred to the invasion sequence Noah had explained.

"Until you move the transportation connection onto the planet, everything the landing force needs has to arrive with the initial insertion or through whatever support the Empire provides."

Noah understood why that mattered.

"So the first force has to carry enough ammunition to fight until the foothold is secure."

"Yes."

The officer continued.

"That applies to rifle ammunition, machine-gun ammunition, and RPG rounds. Machine guns and RPG teams require more careful planning because their ammunition is heavier and easier to exhaust."

Noah kept the question at the level he needed to decide.

"Can Eldrath support the first force until the transportation connection is moved?" ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The logistics officer answered confidently.

"As long as Imperial command’s final force limit is reasonable, yes. We can prepare enough ammunition and distribute it among the landing groups."

Noah gave the next instruction.

"Then plan the landing as if no reinforcement will arrive until the foothold is secure. Do not build the first-stage supply plan around help appearing early."

The senior commander nodded.

"We will make that clear to every commander involved."

The officers then began discussing how machine guns and RPG teams should be spread across the landing force.

One officer argued for a larger number of machine guns because separated landing groups might spend more time defending themselves before they regrouped.

Another pointed out that every additional machine-gun crew also increased ammunition needs and reduced the number of ordinary riflemen in the same transport allocation.

The senior commander allowed both officers to finish before giving his own recommendation.

"We should not set the final ratio yet. We do not know the permitted landing strength. What we can decide now is the requirement."

He looked toward Noah.

"Each major landing group should have access to sustained supporting fire, and the force should have RPG teams distributed close enough that a hard target cannot stop one group from moving simply because all the heavier weapons landed somewhere else."

Noah agreed.

"Use that as the planning requirement."

He looked across the assembled officers.

"I am not going to decide how many machine guns or RPGs each unit receives. That is your responsibility. What I want is a first force that can fight immediately after landing, protect its gathering points, reconnect separated units, and secure the foothold."

The senior commander recorded the instruction.

"We can organize the distribution around those requirements."

Noah added another limitation.

"Do not overload the first force simply because Eldrath has the weapons available. The first landing is not the entire invasion."

The officers understood the distinction.

Once the foothold was secure and the transportation connection moved onto the planet, Eldrath could send additional soldiers and heavier equipment directly to the surface. The initial force did not need to carry everything required for a complete planetary campaign.

The logistics officer summarized their current recommendation.

"The first landing uses rifles as the standard infantry weapon. Machine guns provide sustained fire while units regroup and defend gathering points. RPG teams provide heavier portable firepower when gunfire is not enough. We support all three with enough ammunition to operate until the foothold is secure."

Noah gave the order based on that recommendation.

"Prepare the first-stage firepower package around those roles."

The senior commander asked,

"Do you want the final distribution brought to you for approval?"

"I want the completed recommendation, the supply requirement, and the reason for the distribution you choose. I do not need to approve every machine gun or RPG assigned to an individual unit."

The officers responsible for those decisions had more direct knowledge of their formations and supplies than Noah did.

His job was to define the mission requirement and judge whether their plan could meet it.

The senior commander accepted the instruction.

"Then infantry command and logistics will finish the detailed allocation."

Noah looked across the officers once more.

"Keep the target in mind when you make those decisions. Imperial command surveyed the planet and classified the opposition as ordinary. Do not prepare as though every enemy there is a large Astragoth. At the same time, the first landing force must be able to defend itself even if enemies reach the landing area before all of our units regroup."

The senior commander answered with a clear commitment.

"We will prepare the first force to fight from the moment the escape pods reach the surface."

That addressed the requirement Noah had been trying to settle throughout the meeting.

Before ending the discussion, he gave one final instruction.

"Complete the portable firepower plan first. I want the rifle units, machine-gun support, RPG teams, ammunition requirements, and crew distribution organized around the landing and foothold mission. Once your recommendation is finished, we will discuss the heavier parts of Eldrath’s arsenal."

The senior commander began assigning the remaining work between the infantry and logistics officers while Noah stayed connected.

From that point, the calculations belonged to the people responsible for them. They would decide the exact number of machine guns, the placement of RPG teams, the ammunition carried by each landing group, and the crews needed to operate those weapons.

Noah had already given them the requirement they needed to work toward.

When the first escape pods reached the target planet, the goblins inside them had to be able to fight immediately, regroup with nearby units, defend their gathering points, and secure the foothold before the next stage of the invasion could begin.