Ren Xiaosu had tasked Li Qingzheng and Chen Wudi with setting up the defenses. The Qing Consortium’s troops would definitely have to construct some basic defensive fortifications first after arriving here and would not attack immediately.
The attackers would need to build up their defensive front as well. After all, retreating soldiers would still have to have someplace to treat their wounds and rest at.
Ren Xiaosu had been observing the three suspicious tents and even had Li Qingzheng bring a pair of binoculars to him. The binoculars thing had come with their newly issued equipment, and Ren Xiaosu found it extremely handy.
After all, a supernatural being’s hearing and vision did not improve significantly after awakening their powers. The change to their vision was mainly in how it processed movement, not the distance they could see up to.
But that general who was so determined to appoint Ren Xiaosu could probably not have expected him to use it to observe their Li Consortium rather than the Qing Consortium.
Suddenly, Ren Xiaosu saw a small group of people emerging from one of those tents. However, these people were keeping a very low profile. They were dressed in the uniforms of normal soldiers and did not interact with anyone.
But Ren Xiaosu was surprised to find he actually knew someone from this group. Wasn’t one of them that posturing Lin Qi who had been to their outpost previously? Wait, so were these three military tents all hiding the nanosoldiers from the Divine Arms Battalion?!
Ren Xiaosu had found it a little regrettable that one of the “legs” of his armor was still missing. However, it looked like it had shown up when he least expected it.
Ren Xiaosu looked around and headed into the mountains alone when he noticed no one was paying attention to him. The soldiers at Position 313 were all avoiding their location like the plague. But it also made it more convenient for Ren Xiaosu to head out.
He had just trekked a kilometer west when someone suddenly whispered from behind a large tree in front of him, “From the north comes a monk.”
Ren Xiaosu said, “From the south comes a mute. Come on out.”
After Ren Xiaosu said that, Tang Zhou emerged from behind the tree.
Tang Zhou asked, “Have you all settled down at Position 313 yet? I can only move around on my own for now. There are scouts patrolling the vicinity, so we’ll get discovered if we move in larger groups.”
“Mhm.” Ren Xiaosu asked, “So are y’all planning to attack Position 313?”
Tang Zhou said frankly, “Actually, it might look like we’re preparing to launch an aggressive attack on this place, but we’re just trying to attract the main forces of the Li Consortium from the front lines of Mt. Shuanglong and Mt. Fengyi to here. We aren’t planning on sacrificing too many of our people here.”
Ren Xiaosu frowned. From the looks of it, the Li Consortium and the Qing Consortium would get caught in a deadlock here for quite a while. Even if they were going to engage in a battle, it wasn’t going to get serious. But why did they want to attract the Li Consortium’s main forces over? He could not understand what was going on.
Qing Zhen had to have some other plans.
Tang Zhou continued, “But we’ll launch an attack on Position 313 and Position 319 at the same time after midnight. The Li Consortium’s main forces at the rear will only come over if we attack more aggressively. Of course, we’ll definitely only be feinting an attack on your Position 313. We’ll be sending some of Qing Yun’s remaining soldiers your way too. They aren’t well-equipped and will not pose any threat to the defensive front you’re guarding.”
Tang Zhou said this in order to dispel Ren Xiaosu’s concerns. After all, they still had opportunities for further cooperation.
But Ren Xiaosu said in a serious tone, “Y’all can just launch an attack on Position 313 without worrying about me. Attack it to your heart’s content. I’ll draw a simple map of our defensive deployment for you, but go easy on our Heroes Battalion when you attack us!”
The defensive deployment map was very crucial. Without it, the Qing Consortium would have to pay the price of an infantry brigade if they wanted to figure out how the heavy firepower was distributed at Position 313.
But Tang Zhou became very confused by this. What had gotten into Ren Xiaosu? He was even requesting a battle now?
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“Did we succeed?” Ma Kai asked as he knitted his eyebrows in the command center.
A combat staff officer said, “We attempted to blow up the temporary bridge they had constructed, but our men were discovered by them before they could even get close to it. As our spies have been thoroughly cleaned out from the Qing Consortium, we can only hold our ground for now. Based on the intel relayed by the scouts, the Qing Consortium has divided their troops to head in separate directions.”
“They’re coming in separately?” Ma Kai asked, “Where are they headed?”
“One of them is headed here to Position 313, while the other is headed to Position 319.” The combat staff officer said, “But we can’t ascertain how their forces are distributed.”
Position 313, where they were located, and Position 319 were the defensive anchor points of the entire battlefield’s front line. These two locations closely supported each other, and as long as they remained standing, the entire battlefront would be stable.
Hence, the Qing Consortium would not be able to avoid these two fronts if they wanted to break through the defensive lines at Mt. Shuanglong.
The combat staff officer said, “The only weakness that Qing Zhen has is that he bears grudges and values the morale of his army too much. That’s also the reason why the higher-ups have sent the fucking Heroes Battalion to Position 313. Therefore, I feel that he will still send his main forces here to Position 313.”
“No.” Colonel Ma Kai shook his head and said, “You’re wrong about that. I’ve studied the intelligence of the battles that Qing Zhen has waged. Although his military strategy on the battlefield might look like it varies a lot, which in turn confuses people, he will never take risks or be greedy for success. A few years ago, Qing Zhen faced the Pyro Company at Mt. Taifu when he was still an inexperienced combat commander. He could obviously chase victory by pursuing his enemies, but he suddenly chose to retreat. It requires a lot of courage and wisdom for a young man in his early twenties to do that. It was also proven later that the Pyro Company indeed had a backup plan at that time, but they couldn’t do anything when the Qing Consortium’s troops started retreating.”
Everyone seemed to think that Qing Zhen’s behavior was unpredictable and full of tricks. He tended to like using unconventional methods to fight his battles. But Ma Kai felt that Qing Zhen was projecting a false image.
The combat staff officer was taken aback for a bit. “What do you mean?”
“I think that it’s very likely they will feint an attack here at Position 313 to throw us off before focusing their attacks on Position 319.” Ma Kai analyzed, “Qing Zhen is not someone who is blinded by hatred. Moreover, he only lost a group of his Special Forces this time, so it shouldn’t even be tantamount to him seeking vengeance.”
The combat staff officer echoed, “Colonel Ma Kai, you’re really discerning of the situation on the battlefield. I’m in agreement with your opinion.”
Ma Kai said, “Tell our fighting forces to get ready. Once we confirm that the Qing Consortium is only faking an attack on Position 313, we’ll have to be ready to support Position 319 at immediate notice.”
The combat staff officer nodded and said, “Any further instructions?”
Ma Kai replied, “The position where the fucking Heroes Battalion is defending is unimportant to the overall situation, so if the Qing Consortium does feign an attack here, I don’t want the other fighting forces to give them any support.”
The combat staff officer was shocked. Was he thinking of just leaving the Heroes Battalion to die?!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
A few consecutive explosions blasted and shook the ground. Everyone in the command center was stunned. That was the sound of artillery fire!
Immediately after, intense gunfire rang out through the night sky as war broke out in an instant!
What was going on? Why did the Qing Consortium suddenly launch an attack?! Had they gone crazy?
A soldier rushed in from outside and shouted, “The Qing Consortium’s main forces are approaching Position 313! Although our vehicle-mounted SHORADs have managed to intercept their mortar shelling, it seems like they’ve gotten their hands on our defensive deployment map and are concentrating their firepower on where our heavy weapons are deployed!”
Ma Kai wore a solemn look. Wasn’t this slap to the face delivered a little too quickly?!