Zhang Jinglin had given Zhou Yinglong half a month to take Mt. Qiangwan. For this reason, he even sent an additional artillery battalion to provide greater fire support. However, no one expected the Zong Consortium’s troops to abandon their position at Mt. Qiangwan after the Qing Consortium defeated them at the Beiwan River.
If everything went according to plan, they would have escaped and preserved their remaining troops. But unfortunately for them, their ferries were blown up by Ren Xiaosu and company.
The Zong Consortium had already drawn back their defensive lines entirely while Fortress 178’s Engineering Battalion was successful in building a pontoon bridge across Blackstone River. The bridges that were constructed through current engineering technology and mechanical building equipment had no problems supporting mechanized troops crossing on them.
Once Fortress 178 built up their defensive line on the other side of the river, this road leading up north would finally be considered completely opened.
If everything else went smoothly, Fortress 178 would continue northwards to take the front line at Mt. Wuchuan, and there would be no further obstacles hindering them from traveling up north.
However, it could be foreseen that the front line at Mt. Wuchuan would truly turn into a bloody battlefield from here. Countless soldiers of the Zong Consortium and Fortress 178 would get buried there and never return home.
The Qing Consortium’s mechanized infantry had already left and were returning to their own front to continue the fight against the Yang Consortium. It seemed like it was just as Tang Zhou had told Ren Xiaosu, that they did not have any intentions of fighting in the war in the Northlands. They were only here to send him a gift on Luo Lan’s behalf.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yinglong was very satisfied with the outcome of the battle at Mt. Qiangwan. Although they also suffered casualties, it was much fewer than he had expected.
When they gave chase towards the river, the Zong Consortium’s troops on the shore were forced to jump into the river one after another. However, Zhou Yinglong was shocked to see some shadows chasing and biting the Zong Consortium’s troops under the surface. In just a few minutes, the yellowish river turned blood red.
The rivers these days were not safe anymore.
Fortunately, the spring floods that Ren Xiaosu’s group were caught in were only snow melt from the mountains and had no strange creatures mixed in upstream.
Zhou Yinglong stood by the river and gazed at its surface. He attempted to establish communications with the Razor Sharp Company but could not get through at all.
He got his subordinates to check whether any of the Zong Consortium’s troops had relayed the news of Ren Xiaosu’s group back to the Zong Consortium’s headquarters, but they found out it did not happen.
The Zong Consortium knew that someone had taken their ferry away, but they did not know where it was headed.
Logically, anyone who did not want to die would not directly navigate the ferry towards the Zong Consortium’s territory.
Everyone thought the Razor Sharp Company would return and join up with the Forward Strike Battalion soon after seizing the ferry. However, the Razor Sharp Company simply disappeared after that.
After all, no one would have guessed that they would be so unlucky as to have their engine damaged by the enemy.
At this moment, Zhang Xiaoman, Jiao Xiaochen, and the others were lying on the deck and looking up at the starry sky. The view of the vast galaxy in the night sky made them feel a little more relaxed.
However, they were definitely not in the mood for stargazing but were lying on the deck so that it would be more convenient for them to puke into the river. Having puked for the entire afternoon, there was nothing more for them to vomit other than water.
Zhang Xiaoman spoke up feebly, “I think we should’ve stayed on the shore and fought the Zong Consortium soldiers.”
“Yeah, that’s right…” Jiao Xiaochen replied, “I heard from Battalion Commander Zhou that whenever he gets so tired at the military base and goes home on his days off, he immediately recharges once he hears his son call him ‘Daddy.’ Hey, how about this? I feel like I’m dying now, so can you all call me ‘Daddy!’”
Someone shouted, “Fuck you! If I had any strength left now, I would get up and beat you up!”
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Honestly, the members of the Razor Sharp Company would definitely have beat up Jiao Xiaochen if they were not currently seasick.
Next to them, Lin Ping’an asked, “Since y’all are married, you can talk with your wives if you wanna have kids. I don’t even have a girlfriend! Before setting off for our campaign, I wanted to confess to a girl but was too scared to do it in the end.”
“Why didn’t you do it?” Zhang Xiaoman asked.
Lin Ping’an hesitated for a while. “Because an officer from the armored brigade is also wooing her. I feel like I’m inferior to him,”
Lin Ping’an, who was usually unafraid of most things, had turned cowardly in the face of such matters.
Zhang Xiaoman said unhappily, “There’s many others who are a lot more outstanding than you. Who does he think he is!”
Lin Ping’an was speechless. ‘Was I fucking asking you to comfort me?’
“But seriously, Ping’an, it’s possible that you’ll be promoted at least several ranks when we return. Once your rank is higher than his, you won’t be afraid anymore.”
Suddenly, everyone started getting concerned about their futures as well. As a company, they had already wiped out five companies of the enemy forces. Moreover, nobody knew if they might win even more glory with Ren Xiaosu in the future.
But most importantly, everyone felt they would return home alive. This was the faith Ren Xiaosu had instilled in them.
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu walked onto the deck as though he were totally fine and took out a rope with a hook tied to its end.
There was a piece of meat hanging off the metal hook, and Ren Xiaosu cast it out into the water.
Lying on the deck, Zhang Xiaoman said helplessly, “How fucking frustrating. This seasickness is making us all feel like we’re dying, yet he’s in the mood to fish?!”
But surprisingly, a fish immediately took the bait after the makeshift hook was cast into the water.
Ren Xiaosu tugged on the rope as the fish struggled with all its strength in the water to get loose. But Ren Xiaosu was not in a hurry either, so he waited for it to slowly get tired. He was mainly worried that the line would snap if he tried to forcefully pull it in.
After the fish stopped struggling in the water, Ren Xiaosu slowly retrieved the line and was surprised to see a huge black fish hanging from it.
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“Isn’t this a snakehead[1]? But it looks twice as large as what I’ve seen before,” Ren Xiaosu muttered. “And its teeth are sharper as well.”
Suddenly, the snakehead fish slipped out of Ren Xiaosu’s hands and fell onto the deck’s floor.
However, the fish did not stay put in that position. Instead, it flopped over to Zhang Xiaoman with its mouth wide open. Zhang Xiaoman was scared to death. “Hey, hold down that thing! Ren Xiaosu, you did that on purpose, didn’t you? How can you not hold onto a fish with your immense strength?”
Ren Xiaosu sighed as he held the fish tightly in his hands. “We can’t see the underwater world, so we don’t know what changes it’s gone through. Anyway, let’s try not to fall into a river like this. Who knows what might be hiding underneath? But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. After The Cataclysm, humans have not reestablished the fishing industry on a large enough scale. After such a long period of reproduction, the fishes in the river alone might be enough to provide food for all the people in a stronghold.”
With Ren Xiaosu’s fearsome combat strength, people tended to neglect that he was a wilderness survival master as well.
Then Zhang Xiaoman climbed to his feet and grunted, “Look, is that the shore in the distance? The current’s pushing us towards it!”
As the saying goes, shit happens. In the end, they were still pushed towards the Zong Consortium’s territory by the current.