Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Having retreated to a place out of the range of the crossbows, the commander of the Holy Arrow Battalion looked towards the Tiger Battle Group in anger.
He said, “Did you do that intentionally? You didn’t inform us of your retreat. You made us suffer for your fault!”
“How dare you!”
The commander of the Tiger Troop strode over to slap him.
Pah!
However, his hand was grasped by another hand. Zhao Wenhao was staring at him with a cold look, wearing a grim expression.
The commander of the Tiger Troop was panic-stricken. He pulled his arm back and went back into the formation of the Tiger Troop.
“It was an emergency. If we had spent more time speaking, there could have been more casualties. Besides, aren’t you all right?” the commander of the North Mansion Battalion argued. When he had finished speaking, a complacent look flashed across his eyes.
The Bright Moon Battle Group wasn’t convinced, but given that no one had died or been wounded, they managed to hold their temper.
“We’d better think of how to destroy this wall!” The commander of the Tiger Troop gave the commander of the Holy Arrow Battalion a stare, still angry.
Jiang Chen watched all this happen in silence. Then he went up to Zhao Wenhao.
“General Zhao…”
“Just call me corps commander,” said Zhao Wenhao.
“Okay.”
Jiang Chen didn’t pay too much attention to that. He said, “I saw the Bright Moon Troop’s cannons. How many do you have?”
“It won’t work.” Zhao Wenhao didn’t tell Jiang Chen, as if he had anticipated what the latter was going to say. He said, “The Holy Moon Cannon is powerful, but it can’t reach very far. Its range is only a third of the crossbows’ range. It means we have to advance two-thirds of the distance ourselves. We’ll have to pay a big price to do that.”
“What if I told you I could make those cannonballs reach a third or even two-thirds farther than their current range?” said Jiang Chen.
Zhao Wenhao was struck dumb. Then he said, “If it’s true, the 100,000 war merit points would all be yours.”
“Great!”
One thousand war merit points could help Jiang Chen break through to Venerable, not to mention 100,000.
The Bright Moon Troop had eight Holy Moon Cannons. They were usually used for close attacks instead of working with the troop’s tactical formation.
“If the warship could travel here, as long as we send the message over, it will come here immediately to blow this wall down,” the commander of the North Mansion Battalion said unhappily.
Then he suddenly noticed something after complaining. He walked towards the Bright Moon Battle Group.
“What are you doing here?”
His question attracted the Tiger Battle Group’s attention. They all looked towards Jiang Chen, who was pushing eight Holy Moon Cannons.
“Your Holy Moon Cannons can’t reach that far,” the commander of the Tiger Troop said.
“Jiang Chen said he could make them reach farther,” Zhao Wenhao said directly.
It created an uproar among the two battle groups.
Needless to say, this technique of Jiang Chen’s was beyond their imagination.
It was especially unimaginable for those who knew the cannons well. They didn’t think it was even possible.
The commander of the North Mansion Battalion didn’t let a chance for revenge slip away. Watching Jiang Chen working on the Holy Moon Cannons, he scorned, “Should we camp here for three whole days and then go to bury the dead of the Shadow Pursuing Troop?”
His word provoked anger in the Red Flame Battalion. Their reaction stunned the commander of the North Mansion Battalion.
Jiang Chen had joined the Red Flame Battalion only ten days ago. This was his first battle, but he had won respect in his battalion. This wasn’t something an average man could achieve.
The commander of the Tiger Troop walked over and asked, “How long will you need?” He asked Zhao Wenhao instead of Jiang Chen.
Zhao Wenhao didn’t know the answer, but he was calm. He asked, “Do you have another way?”
“Let’s charge again. The Tiger Troop will break the wall down for sure, but we’ll need the Bright Moon Battle Group to open a path for us,” said the commander of the Tiger Troop. He sounded like he was reluctant to accept defeat.
“What are the chances?” Zhao Wenhao asked, frowning.
“Seventy percent,” the commander of the Tiger Troop said.
“Are you sure?” Zhao Wenhao asked. He didn’t believe the commander of the Tiger Troop right away. His look pressured the latter.
Under his gaze, the commander of the Tiger Troop curled his lips. His expression had answered Zhao Wenhao’s question.
“We should at least try it, no matter how low the chances are. Although our men will die or ve injured, that’s normal in wars,” said the commander of the North Mansion Battalion.
He was unhappy that Zhao Wenhao had stood on Jiang Chen’s side so that he had been punished, but he didn’t dare oppose to Zhao Wenhao publicly, so he chose to take advantage of the Tiger Troop to get his revenge.
“So the Red Flame Battalion deserve to die again?” Qiu Yan said. She couldn’t take it anymore.
“We open a path for you? We get shot at by the arrows and you take the credit?” the commander of the Holy Arrow Battalion said furiously.
The commander of the North Mansion Battalion said, “Huh, your Red Flame Battalion just boasted that you’d saved us. If you’re so great, of course you should be charging at the front.”
“General Zhao, between the Bright Moon Battle Group and the Tiger Battle Group, who’s more suitable for fighting in the back? I’m guessing you would know. I took the whole situation into account to make this decision,” the commander of the Tiger Troop said.
It was the Tiger Troop’s job to fight in the back. What he said wasn’t wrong.
But after so many things had happened, no one from the Bright Moon Battle Group was willing to be cannon fodder.
Zhao Wenhao didn’t speak. He kept silent.
“General Zhao, if we can’t reach a consensus, and we can’t order each other, since we’re both rank four of the standard class, let’s ask for our superior’s instructions.”
The commander of the Tiger Troop reported the current situation to the warship through his token right away without waiting for Zhao Wenhao’s response.
“The wall isn’t down yet? Take effective measures to break it, no matter what cost! Send reinforcements!”
A response from the warship came soon. Gazing at Zhao Wenhao, the commander of the Tiger Troop raised his token high, as if he had received an imperial edict.
Zhao Wenhao took out his token as well to report that Jiang Chen was going to improve the Holy Moon Cannons.
A new order came.
“Fifteen minutes. If in 15 minutes he doesn’t do it, attack right away.”
The commander of the Tiger Troop snorted. “General Zhao, hopefully you won’t regret it. When it’s time to claim responsibility, all of the Shadow Pursuing Troop’s soldiers who die in these 15 minutes will be on you.”
“The Shadow Pursuing Troop’s soldiers shouldn’t die, nor should ours,” said Zhao Wenhao.
The commander of the Tiger Troop gnashed his teeth. He said through holy awareness, “The Shadow Pursuing Troop is formed by elite soldiers of the dynasty. Do you think these temporary soldiers are the same as them? The Holy Arrow Battalion and the Red Flame Battalion are nothing but trash that were enlisted temporarily.”
“That’s your personal opinion,” Zhao Wenhao said calmly without confronting him directly.
“Huh, start the timer!”
The commander of the Tiger Troop was angry, too. He waved his hand and didn’t bother to waste his breath anymore.
The commander of the North Mansion was laughing coldly to himself. Maybe the commander of the Tiger Troop hadn’t been aware of it, but this was actually what he had wanted.
Everyone paying attention to the Red Flame Battalion that Jiang Chen was a member of was like letting them take responsibility.
If they came to the rescue too late, the Red Flame Battalion would be the scapegoat.
He could use the excuse that he had wanted to fight, but Zhao Wenhao had stopped him.
Even if Jiang Chen made it, he would get credit, too.
This was the way of survival that he had figured out on battlefields, and he was proud of it. He had won quite a few war merit points this way.
“Done.”
However, when the others had finally quieted down, Jiang Chen declared he had finished. Eight Holy Moon Cannons were pushed out under numerous gazes.
