The First Order

Chapter 873: Free pass

As P5092 and his men were having their meeting, Ren Xiaosu casually picked up the paper and started reading. The deputy commander thought to himself, 'You're acting like you're really one of us. Do you think you can listen in on our military secrets as you wish? Shouldn't you take the initiative and excuse yourself?'

But when he remembered P5092 mentioned he wanted to instigate Ren Xiaosu to defect, he kept quiet and did not say anything.

Ren Xiaosu was reading through the newspaper. In the past, Hope Media's newspaper was only 16 pages. But now, its contents had temporarily been increased to 24 pages long. The eight additional pages were for reporting about the war to provide comprehensive coverage to readers.

To Ren Xiaosu's surprise, it was even reported in the paper that Fortress 178 had also sent their troops to the Central Plains. They were expected to arrive in seven days' time. Moreover, Commander Zhang Jinglin of Fortress 178 and Wang Shengzhi had come up with a joint battle plan after holding a conference call together.

In this news article, Ren Xiaosu was surprised to see the mention of a certain Brigade Commander Zhang Xiaoman. He thought to himself, 'Damn, isn't Zhang Xiaoman getting promoted a little too quickly? He became a brigade commander just like that?'

However, the barbarians would not be so easy to deal with. He wondered if this group of Northwestern troops had any good countermeasures to use on the barbarians? To be honest, Ren Xiaosu was even tempted to leave the Pyro Company to join up with the Fortress 178 troops.

How could he be happier fighting alongside the Pyro Company than with his comrades from the Northwest?

Ren Xiaosu got up to leave. He waved to P5092 who was still in the meeting and said, "I'm leaving."

P5092 smiled and said, "Come over whenever you have free time."

This casual exchange sounded like a regular customer saying goodbye to the owner of a noodle shop he often hung out at.

After Ren Xiaosu left, the deputy commander couldn't help but say, "Sir, what makes you regard that kid so highly?"

"Let's carry on with the meeting." P5092 said calmly, "In my opinion, it's absolutely necessary to get him to defect to our side now. Our 3rd Division is lacking in individuals with high combat capability. We can't keep relying on those special forces, can we? I've already requested HQ to send us some T5 combatants. But the problem is that with so many armies, everyone is applying for the T5 reinforcements as well."

It was a different era now. As a high-ranking officer with the wisdom of war, P5092 naturally knew that high combat capability could also play a significant role at the divisional level. That was why he was so eager to get Ren Xiaosu to defect to his side.

He held his meeting in the presence of Ren Xiaosu because he thought that even if he failed to instigate Ren Xiaosu's defection for now, Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin would at least know what the Pyro Company was planning in case they decided to act alone when the battle broke out for real.

One good thing about this war was that there was no need to worry about spies. At the very least, the barbarians did not have time to develop their spies.

On their way back to the field hospital, Ren Xiaosu muttered to Yang Xiaojin, "Do you find that P5092's attitude towards me is a little weird?"

"Yes, I've noticed it." Yang Xiaojin said nonchalantly, "He even let you sit in on the meeting where he and his officers were formulating their battle plans. That was weird no matter how you look at it."

"Moreover, he even gave me his P5 ID which allows me to go anywhere I want in the base," Ren Xiaosu continued muttering.

"Just what're you trying to say?" Yang Xiaojin raised her eyebrows.

Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, "Could it be that he likes me? That won't do. I have to find a chance to tell him that I already have someone I like."

Yang Xiaojin said, "… Is that what you think?"

"Ahem, I was just kidding." Ren Xiaosu said, "What I mean is, could that guy have figured out that we were the ones who helped him back at Mt. Dashi and the FOB?"

"That could be possible." Yang Xiaojin said, "After all, we already aroused their suspicions by leaving the FOB to gather herbs at Mt. Dashi."

"So he's guessed that we're the two snipers." Ren Xiaosu nodded. "And then, he might have also figured out that we're from the Northwest like Wang Yun had guessed?"

Yang Xiaojin frowned. She could not rule out this possibility.

Ren Xiaosu continued, "So by extending his goodwill to us, allowing us to move freely about in the base, and even letting us sit in during the military meeting, is it because he's thinking about… joining the Prosperous Northwest?"

In Ren Xiaosu's opinion, if the other party were showing such a friendly attitude after figuring out their identities, it was as good as telling him, "Recruit me, recruit me already!"

Suddenly, in Ren Xiaosu's opinion, P5092 became a fellow comrade who wanted to take the initiative to join the Prosperous Northwest. He did not even consider that the other party was actually trying to get him to defect to their side instead.

Ren Xiaosu absolutely did not think of this possibility!

What he did not know was that even though P5092 was an excellent commander, his memory was not as good as Wang Yun's. From a different perspective, P5092 was a tactical genius on the macro level, while Wang Yun's strength lay in noticing the details. They were completely different types of people.

Therefore, P5092 was not aware that Ren Xiaosu was from the Northwest. He was just trying to get Ren Xiaosu to defect to his side.

When they returned to the field hospital in the evening, Ren Xiaosu saw a group of students standing around the entrance. They were stopped from going out by a platoon.

Currently, these students were attached to the field hospital to receive basic medical training before the war escalated into total war. Once it fully kicked off, they would become the first line of medical staff responsible for carrying out simple tasks like the cleaning and dressing of wounds.

Although it might seem a little rushed to train them now, the problem was that there were no better options than this. It wasn't like they could continue to sing and dance here at the northern front lines.

At this moment, a Pyro Company soldier explained in a loud voice, "Martial law has been implemented at the field hospital, so you guys can't leave this place after 7 PM. Our military base is located right outside, so we can't make an exception for you since it involves military secrets."

A student shouted, "Why are we being locked in? We just want to visit the Great Wall to have a look."

"I'm sorry, but you can't go outside," the Pyro Company soldier said.

Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin entered the field hospital without saying anything and headed straight for their temporary accommodation. When a student saw them, he asked the Pyro Company soldier, "Didn't the two of them go outside earlier? Why are they allowed outside but not us?"

The Pyro Company soldier replied, "They're friends of our 3rd Division's commander, and they have the black ID with them too. If you also have the black ID, you can move around the base as you wish too."

The students were speechless. They had all traveled here to the north together, so how did the young man suddenly become a friend of the 3rd Division's commander? Also, what the hell was that black ID the soldier was talking about? None of them had even heard of it before.

Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin did not worry about them. When they returned to the entrance of their tents, Yang Xiaojin entered her tent with Ren Xiaosu following behind.

However, Yang Xiaojin turned around and said with an ambiguous smile, "What're you doing in my tent? Your tent is just next door. You're not allowed to enter my tent."

Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment before saying, "I have the black ID, and they said that I can go anywhere I want in the base with it…."

Yang Xiaojin smiled and stared at him without saying anything. In the end, Ren Xiaosu backed off and returned to his own tent.