GENERALS
WALKTHROUGH

China - Mission 5 'Scorched Earth'

Background
GLA scum have taken over the city of Balykahy, Comrade. Our U.S. ally has agreed to provide air support while we liberate the city.

Mission Objectives

• Objective 1: Destroy the 3 GLA camps.
• Objective 2: Destroy the main GLA base.

The pre-mission video shows a U.S. B-52 Bomber on its way to deliver an air strike. Apparently uninterested in the lives of the people they are supposed to be saving, the B-52 obliterates an entire city block of civilian buildings and GLA units. So much for a surgical strike. But hey, we got a few Technicals and some Rebels, so I guess it was worth it…

The mission opens by giving you control of a large Chinese base on the docks of the city. Build another Supply Truck, as well as a War Factory and Barracks. Also, build another Gattling Cannon on the northern part of your base. For whatever reason, the GLA desperately wants to send a Technical to explore your base, and the extra Gattling Cannon will make sure that never happens. Also, destroying the Arms Dealer north of your base will help slow down the stream of Technicals. Cash can be tight the first couple of minutes in the game, and to ensure a stead supply station some Hackers in the back of your base and have them hack the Internet.

Your first objective is in the Oil Derricks and Oil Refinery in the southwest corner of the map. You should proceed slowly and always bring Troop Crawlers with you, since the GLA has littered the area with Demo Traps. They always come in groups of three, and are powerful enough to even bring down an Overlord that gets too close, to stay cautious. The Troop Crawler radar pulse will make the traps visible, as will the Propaganda Towers on the Overlords later on when you can afford them. There will be a lot of house to house fighting in this mission. Flame Dragons are good for this, since they can clear out infantry instantly from an occupied building. Also, there will be a lot of Stinger Sites around. Your best bet is to take these out ASAP so your Migs fly cover. About midway to the Oil Refinery you should find a poorly guarded GLA Supply Stash. Depending on your situation, you can either capture the building immediately, or have Black Lotus cash hack the building repeatedly. If you do capture the Stash, you can build Workers, and thus start building GLA buildings. Eventually, you will make it to the Oil Refinery. Build a War Factory and Barracks nearby to help reinforce the area. Another Airfield wouldn't hurt either. Now you need to turn north.

In the meantime, you also have a GLA camp sitting almost directly north of your base. Your wing of Migs in your main base should be guarding the area, striking targets of opportunity. To win the mission, you must destroy every GLA building on the map, so forget about the occupied structures for the moment unless they are firing missiles at your planes. I always recommend upgrading the Artillery Strike as well, since it is ideal for helping to take down Stinger Sites. You should be able to destroy the northern GLA camp through a combination of Migs, Carpet Bombing, and Artillery Strikes. Since you might not be able to see, and thus target, specific structures, have your Migs Air Guard an area (unless there are Stinger Sites in the area). Another good way of highlighting an area is to drop Cluster Mines on it. You should be able to see the area for a couple of seconds before the plane comes.

Now lets turn our attention back to your forces in the southwest corner of the map. Slowly move your way up the map, clearing out GLA forces along the way. Another handy unit to have is Gattling Tanks, since the GLA will start to send suicide bombers down as you approach their base. They seem to come out of the Tunnel Network, and destroying the structure will put a stop to them. You won't be facing much armor at this point, mainly Demo Traps and infantry. As a word of caution about sending Migs over to strike the main GLA base from your main base: there are two Stinger Sites in the middle of the map that will bring down your planes as they go to and from their target. Send some units to the middle to destroy these sites before striking the main base from there. Remember to concentrate your fire on GLA created buildings, and use air power whenever possible to destroy structures since the GLA has so many mines littered around the map.

*NOTE*
As the game indicates, there is another Supply Dock north of your base. The problem is that once you have the resources to get it, you won't need more cash. There is also the inherent danger of moving your Dozer over there with all the Demo Traps around. It's best just to leave it alone for this mission.