Yong’s regiment had advanced further into the tunnel after recodering all the kills and casualties of the recent skirmish. Noone of the Independents entrenched in the depot seemed to have gotten away. At least that was the logical conclusion at which Yong arrived. Had there been survivors they’d surely have mined the tunnel or otherwise tried to throw a monkey into their advance. On the other hand, something of the order might still lie ahead. Be that as it may, they had not met any living soul in three hours and had made considerable progress. Only the two or three times they had arrived at points in the tracks they had advanced slower, always expecting an ambush and also quickly getting their bearings as to which turn to take. According to the map Yong’s troops had almost gone two thirds of the way to their ultimate objective, a factory complex in the heart of the Sihnon’s satellite city of Tietam. The idea was to blow it up and thus drive a wedge into the Browncoats’ lines so that the main attack at the centre of their troops would not be exposed to attack on his left flank. It had made a lot of sense in the planning room with generals moving digital pieces over a 3D picture of the Greater Sihnon area. But even the three-dimensional simulation did not account for their underground hold-up, for mined streets, ambushes and drawn-out gun fights, which could all upset the overall schedule of this intricate battle plan. Communication with the command centre was to be kept to a minumum so they wouldn’t give positions or any details of the plans, but if every part of the operation didn’t go according to plan, or too late, the whole thing was in limbo. It could be disastrous. Of course, Yong admitted to himself, where should the generals have any experience for this scenario from. There had not been any street fights of military proportions since the colonisation of this system, as far as he knew. Least of all had there been any scenarios or battle plans for such a battle in Sihnon itself.

Yong tore his thoughts away