Deception City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 5) Read Online Free PDF

explained the conundrum to her. Even with their considerable capabilities, Hydra only had a finite amount of industry they could use at once. It couldn’t just be used to create new weapons, because the alliance required more than that. They needed ammunition for their small arms, shells for their artillery and mortars, replacement parts, new weapons, armored vehicles, and dozens more types of equipment to keep fighting. Most of their industrial capability was geared toward that end, leaving only a small amount for research and development.
    They had a plan for a massive railway gun, for example, but it would never come to fruition. Sure, it could lob massive shells from Indianapolis to Chicago, but they could have two patrol ships or dozens of 155mm guns for the amount of resources they would have to sink into it.
    And that was the reality of World at War: it was all about efficiency, about finding the best ways to fight with the resources you had on hand. Superweapons simply didn’t exist, or if they did they were mostly economic.
    Selene glanced at a collection of crates being loaded onto another river craft for transport into Old Chicago. Sure enough, they had been marked with the overdrive symbol. That brought back a flood of memories to her.
    Black Wolf Company had raided a small bunker in their early days and found the schematic after a tough boss fight. Nora was the first one to truly understand the formula’s true potential. Combat stimulants had been in high demand during those days, and overdrive was the best by far. Black Wolf had made themselves rich by producing it and selling the drug to the highest bidder.
    Ragnarok had been one of the primary users of overdrive, and their war with the Hydra Alliance had hurt them deeply to start. Their newer recruits were especially reliant on the drug to improve their combat performance, and thus had suffered heavily against the more experienced and skilled Hydra troops. They had adapted, though, and now the issue remained nonexistent.
    Combat stimulants had fallen out of favor with the large alliances, but smaller groups still liked to use them to give themselves an edge. The drug itself remained a valuable commodity, even as Hydra’s main source of income had switched from overdrive to ammunition sales. It still made them a good amount of cash every time they put it on the market, and as an unessential item they could sell it without any qualms.
    But that issue was for the quartermasters, for the producers in Hephaestus Company and the logistics officers within each battalion. Selene’s focus was on the combat side of things, and she needed to have her platoon ready for action. They’d be seeing plenty of it soon.
    Reconnaissance sounded like a simple job, but Selene knew it would be no easy task. Information was power in this world, and Ragnarok knew it. They would do everything in their power to deprive Hydra of that knowledge, whether by deception or by brute force.
    Selene worried about running into some of Ragnarok’s light infantry units. She fully believed that Ghost Battalion was the best light infantry in World at War, but Ragnarok’s troops didn’t lag far behind. They could fight any unit from Ghost on relatively even terms, and that wasn’t counting some of their more elite units.
    There were the Valkyries, of course, the longtime foes that had dogged them for months. But now Ragnarok had started to form more elite units, and if their names weren’t famous now they certainly would be in a short time. Ymir. Fenris. Hydra had only tangled with them a few times, but they already noted their combat prowess.
    But then again, that was part of the experience of World at War. Everyone wanted to be the best, everyone wanted to win, and they’d do whatever it took to stay on top. Part of the thrill of the game was going up against tough opposition and seeing if you could come out the winner. Selene certainly relished the challenge. Even they lost, the