Operation Market Garden
In the days that followed, Keanu took up residence in Gutter Area.
After he sold Dracula's blood, Keanu was left with 2239 CP. After buying necessities like a sleeping bag, he had 2000 CP left. He had no use for the wolf fang ring so he decided to sell it to Wyatt for 300 CP.
He spent 1300 CP to add 5 points to his Vitality and 8 to his SP, thus his attributes became Attack 4, Vitality 20, Dexterity 7, SP 30, and WP 10. These stats indicated a combat style that relied heavily on long-range attacks. This was the most practical choice for newcomers in Infinity City. He opted to rely on firearms to complete missions, boosting Vitality in the process until his skills significantly improved.
It didn't take long for Keanu to realize that he was left with just 1000 CP without even purchasing much.
The days that followed saw Keanu wholly engrossed in shooting practice. Gutter Area had a basic training field where you could practice your shooting skills and Battle Skills every day. The entry to this basic training field was free, and it could withstand any attack with damage of 80 or less.
The advantages of having unlimited ammunition manifested themselves here. They are not only useful in battle, but they also significantly enhance training exercises.
Apart from firearm training, Keanu spent most of his time in the training field regularly practicing his spiritual exploration and medical skills.
After nearly a month of practice, Keanu's shooting skills had considerably improved. However, he still had a long way to go before he could step into the advanced level of shooting specialization. But his emphasis on practicing spiritual exploration and despicable healing had paid off, both skills had leveled up.
When his Despicable Healing Skill leveled up, the system presented a prompt, "Despicable Healing - Skill Level 2. Each use drains 2 SP, effectively treating wounds, and bleeding-related damage, restoring 40 HP per use. Mediocre at treating piercing, tearing, and shock damage, healing 24 HP. Slightly effective against missing parts or toxin damage, each use restores 4 HP. Ineffective against special attacks. Cooldown time of 60 seconds."
Spiritual Exploration, on the other hand, improved in skill effect priority, changing from an original 12 to 14.
The so-called skill effect priority was what came into play when two skills clashed, with both skills having contradictory effects. The higher priority skill would be activated, and the higher the skill priority, the better its effects.
The Despicable Healing has no effect priority, and the Spiritual Exploration has a lower effect priority. The vampiric touch, however, had a high effect priority of thirty points, far more than any equipment or skill at the same level could counter. This demonstrated the great value of the weapon. Yet, it was a shame that most of the first difficulty area scenarios relied on gunfights, diminishing the chance for this weapon to showcase its true potential.
Keanu was now left with 1000 CP, his final remaining amount, which would be saved for any last-minute, necessary purchases before the mission came.
While the days of rigorous training swiftly passed, the notification for the next mission had finally come.
Notification: Please proceed to the teleportation zone immediately. Prepare to enter the mission world.
Mission Scene: Operation Market Garden
Preparation Time: 1 hour
This mission is a cooperative attack mode. Damaging a fellow adventurer does not grant one the right to inherit their properties. Friendly fire damage is reduced by 50%.
The Market Garden Operation was a significant airborne operation launched during World War II, making it the largest airborne operation in human history.
The operation was proposed by the famous British general, Montgomery. At this time, the Allies had completed the large-scale Normandy Landing Operation. The German troops started retreating towards Eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
In lighting a spark of ambition, Montgomery proposed a remarkably daring plan - Operation Market Garden - to end the war entirely in 1944. According to Montgomery's plan, following the British 2nd Army's ground offensive towards Antwerp, an army of 35,000 paratroopers from the American 101st Airborne Division, 82nd Airborne Division, British 1st Airborne Division, and Polish Para Brigade would sequentially air-drop at three locations; Eindhoven, Nijmegen, and Arnhem, within the depth of the 63-mile battle zone. This was to capture a series of important bridges over the Rhine River, and the Waal River, allowing the advancement of ground forces deep into Germany's territory.
Therefore, this operation was divided into two parts:
Market operation - the airborne troop's operation Garden operation - the ground forces operation
The initial stages of this war could be said to have gone smoothly. The Operation Market Garden began on September 17th, 1944. At 2:15 PM, the British Second Group Army General, Horrocks, ordered the Irish Guard Armored Division for the first wave of assault. By relying on their substantial firepower, they advanced quickly. Half an hour before that, the US 101st Airborne Division landed in Eindhoven. After a stubborn fight, they managed to seize the nearby South Willem Canal Bridge and occupied the town.
On September 18th, the 30th Army arrived in Eindhoven, joined the 101st Airborne Division, and crossed the South Wilhelms Canal Bridge. On September 20th, the 30th Army made it to Nijmegen and joined up with the 82nd Airborne Division, which had taken the Waal River Bridge.
Nonetheless, the 1st Airborne Division experienced fierce resistance. They failed to capture the critical Arnhem Bridge and suffered heavy casualties. Eventually, under the German Army's crazy counterattack, they lost the last bridge in Arnhem before the 30th Army arrived.
From September 27-29, the British Army made it to the south bank of the Lower Rhine but was forced to turn to defense, unable to secure a landing on the north bank. Until March 1945, the Rhine River remained an insurmountable barrier between the Allies and Germany's mainland.
Operation Market Garden had failed.
The performance of Britain's First Airborne Division was commendable. Despite the slow ground forces, their grit to hold their positions far exceeded the planned time. In one of the battles, the Polish Parachute Brigade suffered nearly 700 casualties out of 1000. The 1st Airborne Division sustained almost 7000 injured or captured men in the 'Market' operation, and only fewer than 2000 managed to break through the German encirclement. A battlefield commander lamented in the view of the Arnhem Bridge that they could never reach, "That bridge is just too far for us!"
Henceforth, the Arnhem Bridge was also known as "A Bridge Too Far."
The narrow grounds combined with the Germans destroying bridges while retreating significantly obstructed the 2nd Army Group's speed, providing a critical reason for the operation plan's failure. Route 69 from Valkenswaard to Nijmegen was later referred to as the "Hell's Highway" by the Americans.
And now, Keanu is about to enter this scenario of Operation Market Garden.
"Wow, off to war years," Keanu thought of this battle and couldn't help but want to whistle.