Any commander who was smart enough would know of the importance of a supply line. P5092 had been up against the expeditionary army so many times he was very sure their general must be a smart person.
Therefore, why didn’t the expeditionary army retaliate after the 6th Combat Brigade plundered their logistic supplies? This was very unusual.
P5092 said to Ren Xiaosu, “It’s very likely that the battle at Mt. Daniu has gotten so intense that the expeditionary army can’t afford to encircle Mt. Zuoyun for now. All of their forces have been pinned down.”
“Then what should we do now? Should we march to Mt. Daniu to support the Wang Consortium’s efforts?” Ren Xiaosu said seriously with a sense of urgency.
However, P5092 said, “Since the expeditionary army is hard pressed on the main battlefield, we must create enough chaos in their rear to attract their attention! We definitely shouldn’t head to the main battlefield at Mt. Daniu at this time!”
Before this, P5092 had said the 6th Combat Brigade did not have that many soldiers. If they rashly entered the main battlefield, they would be marching to their deaths.
Therefore, they should continue with their plan to disrupt the expeditionary army’s lifeline for now. No matter what was going on over at the Wang Consortium’s side, they should maintain their own rhythm instead of being influenced by random guesses of what others might be doing. This was the universal truth on the battlefield.
P5092 said, “How about this? Take the Iron First Company and make another trip to the expeditionary army’s supply line. This time, kill as many barbarians as you can once you encounter their transportation corps. We must ensure that the expeditionary army can feel the threat coming from their rear.”
“OK.” Ren Xiaosu was then about to depart from the defensive position with the troops.
But at this moment, P5092 thought of another possibility.
…
Ren Xiaosu and the Iron First Company rushed towards the location they had previously plundered the supply column. However, the barbarians might not be taking this route anymore. After all, there were still two other routes to choose from.
P5092 instructed that if they did not manage to see the expeditionary army’s transportation corps on the original route where they encountered them, they should head to the other routes to see if they could discover anything.
The soldiers of the Iron First Company quietly followed Ren Xiaosu without saying a word. They just did whatever Ren Xiaosu told them to do.
The company commander did not even ask Ren Xiaosu where they were headed this time. All they needed to do was follow along.
Ren Xiaosu turned around and looked at them. “There’s no need to hide our tracks along the way. Since we’re here to attract the expeditionary army’s attention to Mt. Zuoyun, we should definitely leave some tracks for them to follow.”
The company commander asked meekly, “Future Commander, why don’t we leave some barbarians alive this time? That way, it’ll be easier for them to find us….”
Ren Xiaosu had become the most ruthless person in the hearts of the Fortress 178 troops. When the barbarian troops encountered him, it would be difficult for them to even have any survivors left.
As they spoke, the troops were about to walk out of Mt. Zuoyun when Ren Xiaosu suddenly stopped in his tracks. The company commander behind him asked, “What’s the matter, Future Commander?”
“Something’s not right!” Ren Xiaosu suddenly roared, “Retreat! The enemy is lying in ambush beyond the mountains!”
There happened to be a mountain blocking their view up ahead. But before setting off, Ren Xiaosu had already unleashed Old Xu to scout ahead for the enemy.
Right now, Ren Xiaosu could clearly see through Old Xu’s vision that over a 1,000 barbarians were lurking beyond the mountains!
In the blink of an eye, they heard a barbarian shouting coarsely on their left.
Ren Xiaosu suddenly looked up and was surprised to see a barbarian in charge of keeping watch hiding on the left side of the slope.
When the barbarian realized Ren Xiaosu and the others were thinking of retreating, he immediately alerted his companions to attack quickly. They vowed to show no mercy to Ren Xiaosu and these 100-odd troops.
The sentry barbarian assessed the situation. Even though the Central Plains troops were still about a kilometer away from their ambush spot, it shouldn’t be difficult for nearly a 1,000 barbarians to annihilate them based on the expeditionary army’s speed.
The Iron First Company’s commander shouted, “Future Commander, what should we do?”
“Run!” Ren Xiaosu shouted, “Run back the other way as quickly as you can!”
A second later, the entire Iron First Company turned around and ran. They darted through the mountain paths with great proficiency.
The expeditionary army behind him angrily roared like a pack of wolves chasing after antelopes in the valley.
Ren Xiaosu thought as he ran. So the reason why the expeditionary army didn’t care about their supply line at the rear was that they had already guessed there was an ambush waiting for them on Mt. Zuoyun. It was not because they were caught up in the intensity of the main battlefield. Therefore, they did not head directly into the mountains to encircle them.
In the end, the barbarians had deliberately chosen not to come and encircle them. This caused P5092 to misjudge the situation. After that, they quietly set an ambush beyond the mountains to catch the Northwest’s troops off guard.
This was a true psychological tactic. The commanders from both sides were playing mind games.
P5092 had wanted to make use of the supply line’s importance to force the expeditionary army to come and encircle Mt. Zuoyun. Meanwhile, the barbarians made use of their enemy’s concern for the main battlefield to entice them to make their next move.
Ren Xiaosu lamented that these tacticians were way too crafty. Their tricks were each more devious than the other.
He quickly ran towards the defensive position with the Iron First Company. The expeditionary army started closing in and gaining on them until they were only dozens of meters away!
The 1,000-strong expeditionary army was giving chase in the mountains like a long snake slithering speedily.
But Ren Xiaosu suddenly took out a remote detonator from his pocket and pressed one of the red buttons on it.
With a loud boom, the long slithering snake was blown apart in the middle. The expeditionary army’s barbarians were stunned. They had not expected to encounter such a situation!
Then Ren Xiaosu pressed the buttons one after another, and the TNT that had been buried along the expeditionary army’s route was detonated in quick succession!
A huge cloud of smoke started spreading in the mountains with a pungent smell so choking that it burned everyone’s senses. Casualties and cries filled the wilderness of the mountains.
After several explosions, only around 300 of the originally 1,000-strong barbarian troops were left. Furthermore, their formation was torn apart by the bombs.
The barbarians were at a loss of what to do as they were unsure if another bomb would go off at any second.
Ren Xiaosu had stopped in his tracks. The soldiers of the Iron First Company also turned around and raised their guns, ready to fight back with their future commander.
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu was extremely happy. It was not because he had killed a lot of barbarians but that P5092 had guessed the expeditionary army’s intentions correctly.
Although P5092 was unsure whether he had guessed correctly, their backup plan caused the expeditionary army, which was preparing the ambush, to suffer heavy losses.
Before setting off, P5092 told Ren Xiaosu that there might be barbarians lying in ambush beyond the mountains. Therefore, he instructed Ren Xiaosu to choose a good spot to bury the TNT before they left the mountains. If they really encountered the expeditionary army, they should lead them back to step on the mines.
From this incident, Ren Xiaosu witnessed P5092’s outstanding leadership on the battlefield.
As expected of someone he had personally recruited to join the Prosperous Northwest!
