North of the front line of Mt. Daniu, the expeditionary army had left behind most of their troops to hold the Wang Consortium at the defensive line. Meanwhile, the remaining expeditionary army troops started retreating northwards. It looked like they were planning to retreat directly north of the grasslands.
The expeditionary army troops who stayed behind to guard the rear of the formation did not become disheartened and fight passively just because the main forces had retreated. Instead, they fought even more ferociously.
In the expeditionary army, if a pair of brothers served together at the same time, the younger brother would withdraw with the retreating troops.
If it was a father and son serving together, the son would withdraw with the retreating troops.
It was very rare to see a father-son pair serving together in the military in the Central Plains, but this was very common within the expeditionary army.
Therefore, when the expeditionary army’s main forces retreated, those who remained behind did not surrender immediately. Instead, they became even more determined than before as they wanted to buy time for their family and friends to escape.
The expeditionary army troops were not the cold-blooded villains that featured in the stories told at teahouses. They were also people of flesh and blood. As the environment in the Far North had become too harsh, they headed south in search of a better environment. Actually, the expeditionary army was not in the wrong either.
Perhaps there was no such thing as objective right in the world. Wolves eating sheep was just natural selection.
But no matter what, the next time that the expeditionary army tried to invade the Central Plains, the people here would still pick up their weapons and drive away all foreign enemies. This was the justice of a nation.
However, the expeditionary army would probably not have that chance anymore, because Yan Liuyuan was going to use this opportunity to become the new ruler of the North. He was not only going to become the ruler of the steppe but the entire North.
At this moment, the retreating expeditionary army camped and rested. They set up simple fires and started to cook.
The general of the expeditionary army was draped in a black cloak and held his huge axe with both hands, supporting it upright on the ground.
He stood quietly at the edge of the camp and looked south. He could imagine how tragic of a battle his soldiers were putting up at Mt. Daniu. If he were still a rank-and-file soldier, he would also be willing to stay there and die fighting for his comrades.
But he was a general, so he had no choice.
An aide next to him said, “General, the food is ready. Please go and eat.”
Before the expeditionary army came to the South, they had sun-dried a large quantity of mutton and ground it into powder, which they placed into enclosed bags.
As they marched south, the dried mutton would expand to ten times its original size once it was cooked in a pot. A bag of mutton powder the size of a soccer ball was enough to feed ten soldiers for up to a month.
But now, they had finished consuming the meat and only had some coarse grains left.
The expeditionary army had paid a far greater price in this war than they had bargained for.
Seeing that the general did not say anything, his aide said again, “General…”
The general suddenly said, “We’ll come back. I know how strong the Central Plains people are now, but they aren’t united. When we come back…”
As he spoke, a steam locomotive suddenly whistled in the distance.
The general stopped talking. He saw a steam locomotive approaching quickly from the horizon in the distance. In the vast wilderness, the steam locomotive looked a little solitary. It was like a lone horseman charging into the enemy camp.
Black smoke spewed out of the chimney of the steam locomotive. It showed no intention of retreating in the face of the expeditionary army’s tens of thousands of troops and seemed like it was about to charge straight into them.
That whistling of the train was like a melodious horn.
The aide hurriedly said, “General, why don’t you take cover?”
However, the general shook his head and said calmly, “The Central Plains people can’t hurt me yet. Go and tell the soldiers to prepare for a counterattack.”
The Wang Consortium’s main forces had to still be held back at Mt. Daniu. Therefore, even if Central Plains people were pursuing them, it would be a small number.
On such flat terrain, their expeditionary army would not be intimidated by a small group of Central Plains people. This was their pride as soldiers of the expeditionary army.
Although they had been defeated, they could not lose their last bit of courage just because of some Central Plains people.
The general stood in front of the camp and waited for the soldiers behind him to assemble.
When the steam locomotive got a little closer, the general could even hear the commotion inside the train with his keen hearing. It was as though thousands of soldiers had squeezed into the narrow train body.
Moreover, someone in the train even shouted, “That guy standing at the edge of the camp posturing, yes, aim right at him!”
“That’s right, he’s still standing so righteously after losing the battle and isn’t hiding despite seeing us approaching. Let’s kill him!”
“Kill him and we’re done!”
“Focus our fire!”
“Get him! He’s acting like he’s so great! He didn’t even run away when he saw us coming!?”
The general had a grim expression. He gripped the huge axe in his hands tightly, ready to use it to slash through the steam locomotive that was approaching!
But all of a sudden, the steam locomotive that was heading straight for the expeditionary army turned west when it was about 400 meters away.
The general was stunned. He was waiting for the steam locomotive to charge, but he did not expect it to look like it was trying to flee instead.
Initially, the expeditionary army could only see the front of the train. But now, it was as though the entire steam locomotive was moving horizontally right in front of them.
Right afterwards, they saw black muzzles poking out of the train windows one by one. The guns were mounted on the windows and extended outwards, making the entire train look like a hedgehog.
Behind those black muzzles were the crouched figures of the Northwest Army’s soldiers. The entire train was filled with people, and from the outside, it looked like the carriages were stuffed.
Someone on the train even shouted, “Do you see that person standing still there? Get him!”
This also surprised the general a little. He had thought the other party was going to charge into their formation, but he did not expect that they did not intend to fight the expeditionary army head on right from the beginning and use guerilla tactics instead.
All of a sudden, the impressive mobility of the steam locomotive was put on vivid display. The huge body of the steam locomotive moved freely on the battlefield like cavalry, executing fire and maneuver tactics in front of the expeditionary army’s formation.
Bullets poured down like heavy rain, washing away all the targets they could hit.
A soldier from the expeditionary army immediately raised his shield in front of the general to prevent him from getting shot.
But P5092 suddenly ordered the 2nd Regiment to take out the remaining 12 thermobaric bombs.
Amid the loud explosions, huge bursts of smoke exploded from the man-portable launchers. In the blink of an eye, 12 thermobaric bombs fell onto the expeditionary army’s camp.
When the thermobaric bombs reached their targets, red-orange flashes could be seen, closely followed by a surge of black smoke from the explosions that came after. The high temperature and pressure were capable of almost destroying everything.
The man-portable thermobaric bomb was an epoch-making individual weapon in itself. Even Fortress 178, which was known for its military engineering, might not be able to achieve the power it had before The Cataclysm.
However, it was still enough to kill the barbarians.
In the carriages, everyone started coughing due to the smoke released when launching the thermobaric bombs. “Fuck, I’m choking to death!”
“Cut the shit and quickly finish firing your ammo!”
The 6th Combat Brigade drove past the expeditionary army’s camp from more than 400 meters away. This time around, everyone was ready to retreat after firing off all their ammunition.
But before they could retreat far, they heard a shout erupt from the expeditionary army’s camp. “The general! They blew up the general! We need to take revenge for him!”
When they heard this loud shout, even Ren Xiaosu, who was on the steam locomotive, was stunned. “That’s so evil. Did Liuyuan make a wish again, or do I have some passive skill that enables me to kill commanders without fail?”
