The First Order

Chapter 916: Flee when you're done

Initially, the soldiers of the 6th Combat Brigade were actually quite nervous when they heard they would be heading to the Central Plains. After all, the wars they had been fighting were all in the Northwest. They were used to the conditions there, so even if they could not defeat the enemy, they still had comrades they could depend on.

But now, they were more than a 1,000 kilometers away from Fortress 178 at Mt. Zuoyun. By the time their reinforcements arrived, they themselves would probably be dead.

Later, everyone heard that some Central Plains people who were part of the Prosperous Northwest would join them, but they did not pay much attention to it. In truth, Wang Yun and the others were not enough to reassure the 6th Combat Brigade.

But ever since Ren Xiaosu got here, they now had P5092 making up for the brigade's lack of strategy while Ren Xiaosu strengthened their combat prowess. Meanwhile, Wang Yun and Ji Zi'ang, who had joined before them, suddenly showed their brilliance as well.

In just two days, all of the 6th Combat Brigade's soldiers could rest easy.

They had never been more reassured than this!

They knew full well that many of them would die when the expeditionary army arrived to encircle Mt. Zuoyun, but so what? The soldiers of Fortress 178 were not afraid of dying. They only worried their deaths would be in vain.

Truly, dying under the lead of Zhang Xiaoman just did not seem worthwhile at all.

On the same night the defensive position was built, Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin quietly led the Iron First Company out of Mt. Zuoyun.

The mission P5092 gave them was to locate the expeditionary army's supply line within three days. After that, they would harass the enemy as much as possible.

Wang Yun and Ji Zi'ang had wanted to tag along, but P5092 said there was no need for that. Ren Xiaosu was more than enough.

In terms of battle strategy, there was no reason to let four superhumans go on a mission together. In P5092's opinion, anyone could get into trouble, but nothing must happen to all four of them at once. Therefore, Wang Yun, Ji Zi'ang, Ren Xiaosu, and Yang Xiaojin would have to work separately.

As P5092 was now the commander of the 6th Combat Brigade, everyone had to listen to him.

After some consideration, Wang Yun and Ji Zi'ang felt it was probably not a big deal anyway. What could possibly happen to Ren Xiaosu when it was the barbarians' transportation corps that he would be facing?

Before leaving, Ren Xiaosu confirmed with P5092, "Is there anything else that you want to tell me?"

P5092 thought for a moment and said, "Flee when you're done. This is the expeditionary army's rear, so retreat as soon as possible."

"Alright, I understand," Ren Xiaosu replied.

11 hours after Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin left, the Iron First Company relayed back the news that they had indeed discovered traces of deep tracks on one of the routes. It seemed that P5092 had correctly guessed where the expeditionary army's supply line was.

This relieved P5092. All Ren Xiaosu needed to do next was to wait for the barbarians' supply column to pass by.

He assumed Ren Xiaosu would just throw some grenades from afar or snipe the enemy's transportation corps when they passed by.

Once the barbarians showed intention to pursue, Ren Xiaosu would lead the Iron First Company and retreat back to their defensive line.

The situation went much more smoothly than expected. Six hours later, the Iron First Company's radio operator relayed back news that they had discovered signs of the enemy, and the supply column was heading south under the escort of 500 barbarians.

P5092 started laughing grimly on Mt. Zuoyun. Previously, the barbarians had harassed the Pyro Company's supply line, and now, it was his turn to get revenge.

The battle began, but just 30 minutes later, a staff officer on Mt. Zuoyun told P5092, "Sir, it's a call from the future commander."

P5092 took the receiver and asked, "Did everything go well? Did you get ambushed by the barbarians?"

"No, there wasn't an ambush. We're retreating now. We'll talk about the other things when we get back," Ren Xiaosu said on the radio.

"Alright then, I'm looking forward to your triumphant return. Great job," P5092 said.

About 10 hours after attacking the barbarians' supply line, Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin returned with the Iron First Company. On top of that, he also brought back the barbarians' supplies and distributed some biscuits to everyone.

At the beginning, everyone was worried that Ren Xiaosu and the others would encounter danger. But from the look of things, they were like tourists returning from an overseas trip and distributing local specialties to their family members.

The supplies were all food items, but they were almost no different from the food found in the Central Plains. Later, everyone realized the food came from Stronghold 176 and were not the barbarians' own rations.

After Stronghold 176 was destroyed, the food supply of several hundred thousand people stored there had become the barbarians' supplies. It was no wonder the expeditionary army was not worried about their supplies at all.

After Ren Xiaosu came back, he intended to wait for the expeditionary army to get here. All the soldiers quietly heightened their readiness in case the enemy came to attack them.

However, the expeditionary army did not come to encircle them even after waiting for an entire day. Puzzled, Ren Xiaosu asked, "What's happening? Why's the expeditionary army taking so long?"

Wang Yun replied, "They're probably mobilizing their troops."

When the expeditionary army still did not come, everyone felt that something was off.

Zhang Xiaoman approached Ren Xiaosu. "Future Commander, what's the matter with those barbarians? Why aren't they here yet?"

Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, "Why don't I make a trip to Mt. Daniu?"

Zhang Xiaoman was startled. "Why would you go to Mt. Daniu?"

Peeved, Ren Xiaosu said, "I'll go and ask the barbarians why they didn't come to Mt. Zuoyun. If they don't come, wouldn't I have fought that battle for nothing?"

Zhang Xiaoman was confused.

Then Ren Xiaosu went to ask P5092 if the expeditionary army was not planning to consider their rear.

However, P5092 explained earnestly, "Don't worry, it takes time to mobilize the troops. We just need to concentrate on our defensive deployment now. They'll definitely come…"

Halfway through his sentence, P5092 suddenly felt that he might have caught onto something when he saw Ren Xiaosu eating some hardtack. "Wait a minute, did you steal the barbarians' supplies?"

"Yeah." Ren Xiaosu said, "All of it!"

"They let you snatch their supplies just like that?" P5092 asked doubtfully.

"They've all been killed anyway, so it's not like their corpses will stand up and stop me," Ren Xiaosu said.

P5092 finally realized what the problem was. He said in seriousness, "If you killed all the barbarians, they won't even know where we're hiding. You've left them without any eyewitnesses. Do you still remember what I told you?"

Ren Xiaosu repeated his words from back then, "Of course I remember. Flee when you're done! This is the expeditionary army's rear, so retreat as soon as possible. That was what you said, so we ran back here after I finished killing them."

This time, it was P5092's turn to be stunned. He finally realized what was going on. Ren Xiaosu's understanding of "flee when you're done" literally meant wiping out this supply column.

P5092 did not know how to react to this. "What I meant was for you to just harass them. For example, you could've fired a shot at them and run away. Of course, that's only an example. If you only fired a shot, the barbarians would suspect that we're deliberately trying to lure them into a trap."

Ren Xiaosu said, "I did consider fleeing after firing a shot, but I was worried the barbarians would catch up and inflict casualties on the Iron First Company, so I had them all killed."

When P5092 heard this, he felt that it sounded somewhat illogical. But when he thought about it carefully, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it as well.

Ren Xiaosu thought for a while and said, "I don't think that's the problem. It must be something else. It has nothing to do with leaving eyewitnesses since I didn't clean up the site when I came back. The barbarians have experienced hunters among them as well, so it should not be difficult for them to track us to Mt. Zuoyun."

P5092 agreed with what he said. "Then something must have happened on the main battlefield."