The First Order

When Fortress 178 decided to launch a war against the Zong Consortium, the entire place suddenly started bustling with activity.

Most consortiums would usually distribute most of their fighting forces across various strongholds in order to gain complete control over each stronghold. For example, it would be enough for the Qing Consortium to station one brigade in a stronghold during peacetime, while an independent regiment was enough for the weaker strongholds.

Only Stronghold 111 where Qing Zhen was located would have more fighting forces garrisoned there.

But it was different for Fortress 178. Since this was their only base, practically half of the fortress would be garrisoned by troops. Furthermore, the residents of the fortress and those living outside it, as well as some of the scattered settlements in the area, served the military as well.

But unlike other strongholds, there wasn’t a distinction between the refugees and residents of Fortress 178. Those who worked beyond the walls would even receive additional subsidies for being stationed outside.

In winter, those who lived outside the fortress would be allowed to enter the fortress with a valid pass. Of course, approval for these passes was still relatively strict.

The total military strength of Fortress 178 reached up to 80,000 troops, and they were an entirely first-class fighting force as well. Meanwhile, the Zong Consortium’s army claimed to have as many as 200,000 soldiers.

The difference between their military strength was too great. But it was also perhaps because of this significant difference that the Zong Consortium had become so daring in recent years, destroying the main traffic arteries connecting Fortress 178 and the outside world.

But Ren Xiaosu realized the burly men at Fortress 178 did not seem to mind the stark contrast in their military strength.

According to Xu Xianchu, the number of soldiers was no longer the key to victory in modern warfare. The intelligence, technology, courage, and experience of the army was what mattered.

Although the Zong Consortium had many soldiers, they were all recruits who had been drafted into the military, with many of them being refugees. Once they were deployed onto the battlefield, these recruits would be blindsided by their inexperience.

The difference between veterans and recruits was like the distance between the heavens and the earth.

Ren Xiaosu felt that Zhang Jinglin was not a reckless person. Since Zhang Jinglin had decided to start the war, he must be confident he could win it.

By this point, Zhou Yinglong led him to where the Razor Sharp Company’s camp was. The members of the Razor Sharp Company had already been waiting at the entrance for a long time. They all had their arms around each other’s shoulders as they started sizing up Ren Xiaosu.

Ren Xiaosu was also wearing the Razor Sharp Company’s uniform that had been delivered to him by Xu Xianchu. The patch on his arm was a bayonet, representing the Razor Sharp Company.

Zhou Yinglong said softly, “It’s quite different here in the Northwest compared to the South. If this were the South, everyone in the military would probably treat you courteously if Commander Zhang assigned you to the Razor Sharp Company. But here in the Northwest… we’re all curious to see whether you’re really qualified to join us.”

Ren Xiaosu was puzzled. What did he mean? All he wanted was to seek revenge by being assigned to the most dangerous unit. That was it! Could it be that it was extremely difficult to join the Razor Sharp Company?

Zhou Yinglong did not continue speaking. He said to the soldiers of the Razor Sharp Company who had surrounded them, “Why have y’all gathered around instead of packing your stuff? You’ll be the first ones to set out for the battlefield early next morning. I’m hereby giving you half a month to take Mt. Dingyuan.”

“Those bandits at Mt. Dingyuan are nothing. We’ll beat them as soon as we arrive.” Someone asked, “Battalion Commander, is the person next to you Ren Xiaosu?”

“Yes, he is.” Zhou Yinglong said, “Remember, don’t get too carried away.”

When Ren Xiaosu heard Zhou Yinglong say “don’t get too carried away,” he felt like something was wrong. Were they about to put him in his place or something? And why did it seem like he had suddenly become a celebrity here in Fortress 178?

But as soon as Zhou Yinglong finished speaking, he turned around and left, leaving no chance for Ren Xiaosu to ask any questions.

The 180 or so members of the Razor Sharp Company came up to Ren Xiaosu, including the chow squad who were holding kitchen knives. Ren Xiaosu was puzzled. How was this a fucking military camp? Why did it feel like this was a seedy shop operated by bandits?!

But Ren Xiaosu was only here to get his revenge on the Zong Consortium by killing them. All he wanted to do was fight the Zong Consortium on the battlefield, so he didn’t need to establish a good relationship with these soldiers of the Razor Sharp Company.

Ren Xiaosu lifted his shirt and exposed the wound on his right side. He said, “Are y’all gonna hit a wounded person?”

But to Ren Xiaosu’s surprise, these thugs standing across from him just laughed and said, “Don’t worry, we won’t be too heavy-handed.”

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. They were even fucking OK with beating up the wounded?!

A wise man did not fight when the odds were against him. As soon as the voice trailed off, Ren Xiaosu turned around and ran away. If he wasn’t fighting to kill, taking on more than a 100 people proved too much for Ren Xiaosu to handle. Moreover, he still had not recovered from his internal injuries!

The thugs of the Razor Sharp Company roared, “Get him!”

Whenever a recruit joined the company, they would be put in their place by the veterans. If they couldn’t be beaten into submission, what if they disobeyed their orders later on? Of course, this was a hugely pretentious rationale to give. The true reason was that these veterans were bored and had nothing better to do.

As the saying went, no discord, no concord. No one would bear any grudges after joining the company for a while.

However, something odd happened today. This recruit turned tail and ran away?! But where could he run off to? The Forward Strike Battalion’s base was only so big, after all, and surely he had to come back to sleep tonight, right?!

But the crux was that Ren Xiaosu ran away so fast he shook them off in an instant!

As the large group of people chased after Ren Xiaosu, they saw him quickly slipping into the barracks in another area. The men of the Razor Sharp Company dived in right after him.

When Ren Xiaosu entered the barracks, he saw a dozen-odd people drying their blankets in the sun. He rushed up to one of them and punched that person to the ground. “The Razor Sharp Company is invincible!”

The burly Northwestern men who were drying their blankets were all stunned and could not react for several seconds.

One of the men grew angry. “We still haven’t fucking settled the score with the Razor Sharp Company for the previous military exercise, and now they’ve actually picked a fight with us?!”

Then he shouted into the barracks, “Second Company, get out here now! We have a fight on our hands!”

When the thugs of the Razor Sharp Company entered this area, they saw the members of Second Company running out of their barracks. The Razor Sharp Company’s commander shouted, “Old Li, step aside. It’s none of your business…”

But when Second Company’s Commander Li looked at his comrade who had been punched to the ground, he said, “Step aside? Fuck you! Brothers, get them!”

The Razor Sharp Company’s commander also turned furious. “Hey, sore loser!”

When Old Li heard this, he got even angrier and threw a punch.

It only took a few seconds for everything to happen. No one had time to think. But if they had had the time, it would certainly not have ended up like this.

Zhou Yinglong frowned as he watched from a distance. What the fuck was with this?! On the first day of Ren Xiaosu’s arrival, the Razor Sharp Company and Second Company had immediately descended into a mass brawl? More than 300 people were fighting one another, and some of them even had their shirt collars torn off in the scuffle!

It was very common for people to pick a fight with one another within the military bases of Fortress 178. In most situations, the commanding officer would usually let the soldiers fight all they wanted. It was like these tough men in the fortress thought that being a little bloodthirsty was a prerequisite to them becoming soldiers.

But how on earth did this fight escalate into a brawl?!

“This is way too fucking ominous, ” Zhou Yinglong said.

Ren Xiaosu, who was standing next to him, also lamented, “Yeah.”

Zhou Yinglong spun around. “Since when were you standing next to me!”

Reserved, Ren Xiaosu replied, “I just got here a moment ago.”