The First Order

After he limped up the hill, Ren Xiaosu hid behind the fortifications while panting. He said with a smile, “I killed the sniper. There were actually two of them out there. Oh, I also wiped out two guerrilla companies.”

Zhang Xiaoman chuckled and said, “Stop bragging!” But when he saw over a 1,000 Zong Consortium soldiers pursuing behind the hounds, he immediately stopped laughing. “Did you really single-handedly kill two companies of guerrillas and two snipers as well?”

The members of the Razor Sharp Company were used to bragging all the time. So when Ren Xiaosu told them this shocking news, everyone thought that Ren Xiaosu was just boasting.

Ren Xiaosu said, “There are many more pursuers. We should retreat immediately.”

“That won’t do.” Zhang Xiaoman laughed. “Since you’re so fearsome, surely our Razor Sharp Company can’t hold you back, right? No matter how many enemies come today, we’ll wipe them all out!”

Ren Xiaosu realized that Zhang Xiaoman and his men had prepared extensively here. It looked like they were fully ready to spring this ambush.

“Captain,” Jiao Xiaochen suddenly said as he looked out into the distance, “I think we better retreat…”

Zhang Xiaoman gazed at the large number of Zong Consortium soldiers in the distance. As they were still very far away, the soldiers looked just like ants.

Zhang Xiaoman realized the Zong Consortium would not have sent so many soldiers to eliminate their enemies in the mountains if Ren Xiaosu had just been talking big. It looked like they were extremely determined to annihilate the advance guard of Fortress 178!

Ren Xiaosu asked, “Why did y’all choose to set up the ambush here?”

Zhang Xiaoman replied, “We were worried the situation would blow up and you would end up being pursued by the enemy, so we set up an ambush here with the intent of coming to your aid. But who would have thought the situation would get this serious!”

“That’s right.” Jiao Xiaochen said, “We were thinking that it would be great if you could kill the sniper. Once you achieved that, the guerrilla companies would definitely come after you. At that time, we would’ve stopped the enemy here at Crow Pass and killed them all. But who would have expected that you’d already kill the guerrilla companies and even managed to attract part of the Zong Consortium’s main forces after you? Haha, you’re too amazing!”

Zhang Xiaoman asked with concern, “How’s your injury?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already applied the black medicine on it.” Ren Xiaosu said, “Let’s make our escape now. There’s too many enemy troops out there.”

By this point, Fu Rao and the others had taken care of all the hounds. The Razor Sharp Company definitely couldn’t handle so many Zong Consortium soldiers. So fleeing was their best option.

However, Zhang Xiaoman changed his mind again and said, “Then what are we still hesitating for? Let’s go… But we can’t just run away like this. We have to pull off a big one against the Zong Consortium soldiers before we leave. Jiao Xiaochen, set your mortars up. Everyone, get ready and prepare for battle!”

Ren Xiaosu frowned. “But there’s too many enemies.”

Zhang Xiaoman said in seriousness, “Do you think they’ll be carrying heavy weapons? They’re just guerrillas, while mechanized infantry can’t enter these mountains. So we’re assured of victory since we’re fighting them from high ground.”

“They’ve already heard our machine guns. They won’t charge up just to die, right?” Ren Xiaosu asked.

“Can’t you see that the commanding officer of those troops has already allowed emotion to rule his head? You’ve frustrated him.” Zhang Xiaoman said with a smile, “Do you think that everyone can become legendary generals? The Zong Consortium has been holing up in the North all these years and never fought a decent battle. Their officers are still far from being able to deal with spontaneity on the battlefield. Don’t think that every officer is a calm and intelligent person. If that were the case, there wouldn’t have been so many stupid battles in history.”

Ren Xiaosu fell silent.

Zhang Xiaoman said in amusement, “Do you think I’m belittling the heroes of the world? No, this is called knowing ourselves and knowing the enemy. If it were the Qing Consortium instead of the Zong Consortium, Commander Zhang might not be so willing to send out troops to open up the trade routes. If these were the Qing Consortium’s veterans, I would turn around right now and flee. But there’s also the strong and the weak among the consortiums. There must be a reason why the Zong Consortium was shoved aside by the Qing Consortium and the Yang Consortium. It’s not that we look down on them, but that they’re incompetent.”

Realized dawned upon Ren Xiaosu that in the minds of these boorish men from Fortress 178, the Qing Consortium’s troops were several times more capable than the Zong Consortium’s troops. To them, only the Qing Consortium was seen as a truly difficult opponent.

As though to confirm Zhang Xiaoman’s assessment, the approaching Zong Consortium soldiers continued to obey their orders and advanced forward using the cover of the valley. They did so even though they knew that their enemy possessed heavy machine guns.

They intended to wipe out the Razor Sharp Company with brute force!

Zhang Xiaoman waited for the enemy to enter their range. Once they did, he immediately issued the order to fire. Together with Jiao Xiaochen’s six mortar units, they mercilessly bombarded the Zong Consortium troops.

Although it was only a single attack wave, they nearly wiped out one of the Zong Consortium’s companies that came charging towards them. Only then was the enemy jolted awake.

The Zong Consortium troops retreated like the tide!

At this moment, Zhang Xiaoman got up and packed his belongings. “Let’s quickly leave this place. The Zong Consortium’s fucking mortars will be coming in soon. They should’ve adjusted the angle of their mortars by now. It’ll be too late if we don’t leave now.”

Ren Xiaosu was stunned by the sight. He had not said anything since Zhang Xiaoman’s decision to stay and fight. But at this moment, Zhang Xiaoman was actually running faster than a rabbit after “pulling off a big one.” There were no signs of that lofty spirit and soaring determination he displayed earlier.

Right after they retreated from the hill, the Zong Consortium’s artillery fire plowed into where they just were.

Zhang Xiaoman breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness we escaped fast enough. If not, we would’ve all died here. This time, we achieved great things. Including the companies Ren Xiaosu took out, we’ve defeated three companies of the Zong Consortium. Haha, that’ll be worth another third-class unit citation after we return. Who knows, we might even be given a second-class unit citation this time!”

Ren Xiaosu asked, “Captain, weren’t you worried that they’d attack us with their mortars first?”

“No, they couldn’t determine our exact location at the start. Besides, they didn’t have enough time to adjust the angle of the mortars, so they couldn’t have hit us accurately.”

But Ren Xiaosu suddenly said in seriousness, “Captain, although I don’t know how well you know the Zong Consortium’s troops, let’s try not to underestimate them again in the future. What if shells rained down before we could make our escape? Wouldn’t all of us have died? I really hope that we can all return alive.”

Everyone looked at Zhang Xiaoman. The Razor Sharp Company had always followed Zhang Xiaoman’s orders as they braved the dangers on the battlefield. Even during their military exercises, he would specifically do the missions in the most dangerous way as a challenge to themselves.

It was precisely such behavior that made outsiders refer to people from Fortress 178 as those “damn fucks.”

Ren Xiaosu continued, “I’m not questioning the Captain’s combat methods, but I just hope that we can exercise a little more caution. After all, we might end up dying if we encounter a brilliant opponent. Even if that’s a one in a million chance, we still can’t afford to take the gamble.”

Zhang Xiaoman remained silent for a moment before saying, “Alright, we’ll do as you say!”

The Razor Sharp Company’s soldiers around him were shocked. Others had tried to persuade Zhang Xiaoman, but he never once heeded their advice.

“What are y’all looking at?” Zhang Xiaoman said unhappily, “Why is everyone staring at me? Am I that handsome? Retreat already!”

Since the Zong Consortium’s mechanized infantry could not enter the mountains, they would not have to be afraid of their continued pursuit. The Razor Sharp Company could run faster than the Zong Consortium.