“Ahh, this potato smells so good!” Zhang Xiaoman retrieved a charred potato from the campfire with a tree branch. Before it even cooled down, he had already opened his mouth and bit into the potato. Instantly, the entire makeshift campsite was filled with a unique aroma of roasted potatoes.
At this moment, they were situated at the edge of the Zong Consortium’s territory. The reconnaissance battalion that was pursuing them was probably still around 200 kilometers away, so they did not have to worry about enemy troops for now.
For the next few days, they could finally eat some fresh rations. The moment everyone bit into the potatoes, it felt like their life was complete.
“How exciting it is to be fighting a war alongside Ren Xiaosu.” Zhang Xiaoman sighed and said, “In the past, I’ve never thought that our Razor Sharp Company would actually kill so many enemies. I was still expecting that half of our troops would get sacrificed in the Battle of Shichuan Village.”
“Oh, where’s Ren Xiaosu?” Fu Rao asked.
“He said he was going to catch some fish,” Jiao Xiaochen answered. “I’ve realized something. With Ren Xiaosu around, it wasn’t even necessary to bring our rations. We’ll never starve since he can find food at any place.”
As they chatted, the company of soldiers removed their shoes and leaned back against the rocks next to them in contentment.
The soldiers of the Razor Sharp Company were all thinking they were probably the most leisurely fighting force on the battlefield right now with the most freedom to do whatever they wanted.
Hiding behind enemy lines, they did not have to listen to anyone’s orders and did as they liked.
“Do you think we’ll be awarded a second-class decoration when we return this time?” Fu Rao asked, “Will we be given some rare medal for our achievements?”
Someone said, “You’re trying to ask if there’ll be a more valuable medal given out, right? Haha!”
Fu Rao was from a poor family, so he always felt a little inferior around others. There was a woman he liked but did not dare confess to, and in the end, he could only watch as someone from the armored brigade snatched her away from him.
In the beginning, the Razor Sharp Company did not actually have the practice of selling their medals. After all, it was a badge of honor that was bestowed to them for their contributions. But there was one time when Fu Rao asked that if he was the only one to sell off his medal, would that make him look like he did not have a collective sense of honor? His mother had fallen sick and he needed the money urgently. Although medical allowances were a thing in the stronghold, his mother needed a controlled substance for her illness, which was more expensive.
In the end, Zhang Xiaoman asked him why he did not sell off his medal when the rest of them had already sold theirs.
With that, Fu Rao started to feel more at ease, and selling war medals became common practice within the Razor Sharp Company.
Back when Fu Rao wanted to turn around to search for the medal he lost, Zhang Xiaoman and the others agreed to do so without a second thought. As for the medal they found, that was actually Zhang Xiaoman’s.
After all, how could it be that easy to find a thumb-sized medal out in the wilderness?
At this moment, Zhang Xiaoman analyzed, “Look, our military’s most impressive award is the Nebula Medal that buyers in the black market offer 200,000 yuan for. However, we don’t stand much of a chance of getting that since it’s only awarded to the most outstanding soldiers with the greatest contributions in war. But I think we can try to aim for the Star Medal instead. That medal can still fetch over 50,000 yuan on the black market!”
Fu Rao’s eyes lit up. “That much?”
“You had better believe it!.” Zhang Xiaoman chuckled and said, “Once you receive the Star Medal, you can pay off the debts incurred from your mother’s medical treatment.”
“Hehe.” Fu Rao said with a silly smile, “Then what kinds of contributions do we need to make to get that award?”
“We should’ve already earned enough battle achievements. Since we don’t have that many people in our unit and were made to fight this battle by ourselves, the standards could probably be lowered a little. We were lucky to take advantage of our enemies in the rear to stand out with our contributions.” Zhang Xiaoman thought for a moment before saying, “We’ve already wiped out at least six companies, but that’s probably only enough to earn us the Star Medal. If we can add a few more kills involving the more important Zong Consortium officers, we’ll definitely qualify for the Nebula Medal.”
“More important officers? What rank would those officers have to be?”
“They would have to be regimental commanders at least.”
“Then how can we possibly achieve that? For someone like a regimental infantry commander, they’ll surely be heavily protected.” Fu Rao shook his head in disappointment.
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu returned with several dozen fish strung up through their gills on a straw rope. He said, “If y’all want to earn a medal, then earn the best one there is. Let’s aim for the Nebula Medal with our achievements. Y’all have yet to count the three factories that we destroyed, and who knows what else we can achieve later.”
Zhang Xiaoman’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t we take the fight to Stronghold 144? That stronghold is the Zong Consortium’s granary, so if we can cut off the food supply to the Zong troops, it would definitely be a great achievement from us. With so many of Stronghold 144’s troops already wiped out by us, their defenses must be quite empty.”
“As if it would be that easy. We might’ve been successful in our attacks on the Zong combat troops in the wilderness, but for a small unit like us to break into a stronghold, that’s nothing more than a death wish,” Ren Xiaosu said testily as he skillfully skewered the gutted fish onto the branches.
Jiao Xiaochen came up with a bad idea. “Why don’t we poison Stronghold 144’s water source at the river? We can either throw some animal carcasses in to spoil the water. That’ll cause a lot of misery to Stronghold 144.”
But Zhang Xiaoman retorted, “Then wouldn’t the stronghold residents suffer as well?”
“Well, that’s true….”
Ren Xiaosu did not say anything. After a while, the aroma of roasted fish drifted into the air. He spoke up, “Let’s have fish for the next few days. They’re really easy to catch. It feels like there’s too many of them in the river.”
Zhang Xiaoman came over. “Xiaosu, skip the fish talk for now. Do you have any good ideas? What should we do next?”
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and answered, “We can at most pull off another attack in the vicinity of Stronghold 144 before we leave again. Think, is there anything other than food that requires a constant supply in wartime?”
Zhang Xiaoman clapped his hands. “I’ve got it! Let’s destroy their garment factories so their soldiers on the front line have no uniforms to wear!”
The entire Razor Sharp Company looked at Zhang Xiaoman in silence as the sight of Zong Consortium soldiers fighting naked in battle appeared in their mind’s eye. It was an awful sight that made their eyes bleed!“Uniforms aren’t a necessity.” Ren Xiaosu shook his head with a dark look. “Even if new uniforms can’t be sent to the front line, they can still wear their old and tattered ones. It wouldn’t cause much of an impact.”
Zhang Xiaoman gave it some more thought. “Then let’s attack their footwear factories! Boots wear out very quickly in war, so it would surely cause a huge impact if they don’t get new ones to wear, right? It’ll hurt their feet if they don’t have boots to wear.”
The Razor Sharp Company continued looking at Zhang Xiaoman in silence. This time, Ren Xiaosu ignored him.
Ren Xiaosu thought about all the effort they had put in so far to deal with the enemy, and all that was just so they could make the Zong Consortium soldiers have no boots to wear?
It actually felt quite good thinking about it, but the problem was that there were too many footwear factories around. Something like that did not require much technical know-how to make, and some of the factories were even located inside the strongholds.
Jiao Xiaochen piped up, “There’s one thing the Zong Consortium really can’t do without. If its supply is stopped, they can’t fight anymore.”
“What is it?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“Their oil supply! Gas and diesel! The Zong Consortium has many mechanized troops that can cause a lot of trouble for our forces. But without oil, their mechanized troops are as good as scrap metal.”
