When Wang Zhen and the rest of the team in charge of guarding the northbound twenty kilometers away from the walls of Baiquan Camp arrived back at the base, they immediately noticed how the armed soldiers, soul evolvers, armored vehicles and even the tank team were moving in an agitated manner.
On the outside of Baiquan Camp there was a large part of the city that had been destroyed during the first days of the apocalypse so it had been left outside the walls. On the rooftops, hidden behind the walls, camouflaged in the shadows; armed soldiers, police officers, and soul evolvers were waiting for the moment when they would receive the order to attack the enemy.
On the main streets they had used large rubble as shelter while type 78 machine guns were placed on both sides while in the center was an iron giant.
The giant type 69 and 79 war tanks pointed their 105 mm caliber cannons rifled. Although the type 69s were considerably weaker than the type 79s, they still could not be ignored. Even if the tanks type 69 performed rather poorly for the People's Liberation Army, these war machines were mysteriously the best defensive performers because although they lacked greater mobility and armament compared to the type 79, the type 69 made up for it with its superior defense.
In addition, dozens of IFVs of different models were mobilized along with more than a hundred military vehicles mounted with type 77 machine guns not only inside the ruined city but also on the flanks of the forest where more than two thousand camouflaged soldiers awaited the arrival of the enemy to riddle them with bullets using numerical superiority and knowledge of the terrain.
In the command center, far from the front lines and protected by more than twenty defensive lines, Mayor Bai Yong together with Commander Jin Shun had gathered under the custody of two soul evolvers each, because although they were cooperating at the moment, the reality was that no one of them trusted the other.
Protecting Bai Yong were his two most powerful soul evolvers, who at the same time also seemed to be the two strongest in the entire Baiquan Camp. These two were Mo Zan and Shen Mei.
As for the two soul evolvers protecting Jin Shun, they were both level 39 and 40 soul evolvers respectively. Although the overall strength of each of these two sturdy men was inferior to the overall strength of Mo Zan and Shen Mei, they were both equipped with heavy weaponry to the teeth along with a set of active skills that could not be ignored. When these two soul evolvers worked together, even Shen Mei and Mo Zan had to be careful as the skills of the two complemented each other exceedingly well.
"Mayor Bai, I don't see your sister present. I wonder what's wrong?" Jin Shun asked as he looked at the various monitors before him. He looked quite relaxed as he crossed one leg over the other and enjoyed a warm snack.
Several cameras had been placed throughout the forest and in different parts of the ruined city outside Baiquan Camp to observe in detail the war about to break out. That way, the commanders in control could take charge to give quick orders and cover the places the enemy managed to break through as well as devise plans to slowly wipe out the opposing forces.
"My sister Bai Wei temporarily handed over control of the police forces to me. You don't need to worry about her, Commander Jin." Bai Yong replied insipidly while cursing Jin Shun in his heart.
Jin Shun was like a little pig in heat; anything that moved was a latent target for him. Bai Yong's younger sister, despite her age, could still be counted as a beauty; it was no secret that Jin Shun had tried to take her to his bed on several occasions.
Of course, Bai Wei refused without even hesitation. Not only was she only interested in handsome young men while Jin Shun was like a pregnant woman about to give birth, but Bai Wei was also aware that Bai Yong would send assassins after her head even if she was his blood sister. After all, if Bai Wei were to become the lover of the commander that Bai Yong was secretly competing with, having her close to him would be no different from having a time bomb attached to his body.
"I see…" Jin Shun simply nodded seemingly not caring too much about Bai Yong's words. However, he was a bit disappointed as he had hoped to lure the mature woman into his bed through showing her his greatness.
Jin Shun was self-conscious. He was not good at fighting and the courage he once had in his youth had deteriorated over the years to the point where he hardly dared to lift a weapon. However, he was really good at strategizing based on his military knowledge.
Bai Yong was also aware of this fact. Therefore, after finishing all the preparations based on receiving the notice from Wang Zhen's group, he looked at the man beside him and said in a deep voice: "Commander Jin, I hope you will inform me of your plans. That way I will be able to relay orders to my troops to coordinate with your men."
Jin Shun sighed and said regretfully, "If Mayor Bai were willing to temporarily hand over command of his troops to me, the odds of victory would be much higher…. Why don't you consider it better?"
Bai Yong scoffed in his heart. How could he not understand what a treacherous old fox like Jin Shun had in mind? If Bai Yong really handed over temporary control of his troops, Jin Shun would most likely use his men as cannon fodder! By the time this war was over, even if the Baiquan Camp defeated the enemy faction Bai Yong himself would have lost everything!
Jin Shun even betrayed his comrades with whom he had gone through countless hardships in the past. Who dared to deposit even a hint of trust in such a person? Whoever did so would definitely not live another day to see the sunlight.
However, Bai Yong was a smart man who had seen wind and rain throughout his life as the mayor of a large subdistrict such as Baiquan Subdistrict so he did not let his emotions show in his expression and said straightforwardly:
"As one of the leaders in charge of protecting the safety of the citizens of the motherland, I naturally cannot allow Commander Jin to carry this great burden alone. We will definitely eradicate the usurpers and regain peace again as high officials of the great China."
'High officials my ass.' Jin Shun thought secretly.
"Then, let's repeat the plan one more time." Bai Yong changed the subject immediately and said slowly, "First, we will lure the enemy by making use of several soul evolvers and armed troops all the way inside the ruined city. Although it is a pity to lose brave warriors there, the mines planted in the area should take a good part of the enemy numbers. Then, we'll use heavy fire to decimate as many as possible after launching concentrated fire at strategic points, and finally, we'll use the overwhelming numbers of our combined forces to wipe out the remnants."
"Mhm." Jin Shun nodded indifferently and said somewhat complacently, "According to reports, the enemy commander is so arrogant that he only brought around 700 men with him. Our troops total in excess of 7000 and our weaponry far exceeds the few vehicles the counterpart brought. Even if the other side is powerful and has experts capable of fighting 1 vs 10, the difference in armament is simply immeasurable…. This battle is over without even beginning."
The plan set by Jin Shun and tactically approved by Bai Yong was really cruel. They were going to use the lives of hundreds of men to lure the enemy into a trap. The worst part of it was that the allied troops would not necessarily be killed by the enemy but would be sent to their deaths by their own allies without knowing it.
Shen Mei's heart grew cold and her gaze became slightly spine-chilling as she unconsciously clutched a small bronze bell in the fist of her hand. She had no intentions of completely betraying the Baiquan Camp, she would simply try to stay out of this whole mess as far as possible. However, what she had just heard caused her already low confidence in the higher-ups of the base to plummet to historically low levels.
"Hey, hey… You've got to be kidding right?!" Mo Zan suddenly shouted loudly as he took a step forward and looked at the monitors.
Everyone inside the command room was startled at the sudden outburst. However, Shen Mei noticed something that made her guard go up even higher; only this time she was protecting herself from Mo Zan so without anyone noticing she took a step to the side to make some distance between the two.
Then, like everyone else, she looked at the monitors… and what she saw made her face twitch several times.
On the giant screen, in color and in high definition, a little girl could be seen running wildly on a completely black panther. The little girl was wearing deep purple leather armor and in her right hand was a serrated sword that was even larger than her own body.
The girl's body as well as her hair tied in a long ponytail jumped up and down due to the sudden movements of the black panther. The funniest thing was that despite having the face of an innocent baby, the girl had a serious expression as she charged towards the ruined city after leaving the cover of the forest.
"Hahahahahaha!" Mo Zan couldn't help but burst out laughing as he pointed forward and said disdainfully, "That idiot surnamed Bai! The really stupid guy actually sent a little girl to break through the defensive lines!"
The corner of Bai Yong's mouth trembled and his expression turned slightly ugly as he heard Mo Zan's words. Wasn't his surname Bai as well? Even though Bai Yong knew that Mo Zan was referring to Bai Zemin and not him, he still couldn't help but feel unhappy in his heart.
On the other hand, Shen Mei's expression also sank slightly at the sight of the little girl. Her expression only got worse when she realized that what the little girl was riding was not a panther but a big black cat!
Was she wrong? Did she misjudge the leader of the enemy faction? Did this Bai Zemin really believe that just because he had sent a little girl, the wolves would take pity on her?
Indeed. Shen Mei's concerns proved to be true immediately.
Jin Shun picked up the intercom and pressed a number before saying in a deep voice, "Xiao Li, kill that damn brat and the cat."
Shen Mei sighed in her heart and unconsciously shook her head after hearing Commander Jin Shun's command.
Xiao Li was one of the best snipers in the battalion under the direct command of Jin Shun himself. He was a veteran with excellent records where 89% of his shots always hit the target regardless of distance and weather conditions; an ability that had been further enhanced after becoming an evolver soul focused on ranged combat.
…
On the north wall of the Baiquan Camp, Xiao Li received Jin Shun's instruction and immediately got into position as he focused the tip of his precious Barrett with the sight directly pointing at the enemy's head.
His expression was as hard as stone, unperturbed by the fact that his target was a nine-year-old girl. For people like him who had dedicated his life to the army, his family was the soldiers while the commander's orders were similar to his parents' orders when he was still young.
Xiao Li narrowed his eyes and his index finger gently stroked the trigger, preparing to fire in just seconds.
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