Chapter 918: People do change

Actually, P5092, who was far away at the command post on Mt. Zuoyun, was not particularly worried when he received news that the Iron First Company had been ambushed. Instead, he heaved a sigh of relief.

That was because as long as he guessed correctly, Ren Xiaosu would definitely score a brilliant victory in this battle with his combat prowess.

This time, P5092 wanted to prove his worth to everyone.

Ji Zi’ang had proven that not only could he fight battles, but he was also able to quickly set up a defensive position in the middle of a war.

This power to quickly alter the terrain might be a little useless in individual combat as it did not have as much lethality compared to other people’s superpowers, but P5092 knew best what it meant to have someone who could change the environment in a war.

Meanwhile, Wang Yun’s quick analysis ability and comprehensive data organization skills made him as good as a human search engine. On top of that, he was even good at catching clues.

As for Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin, it was unnecessary to talk about how strong their combat prowess was.

On the contrary, it was P5092 who had not displayed any outstanding abilities yet. Although he had done a good job at reorganizing the troops and planning the defensive position, many other veteran commanders could do the same.

These were just the basics that any commander should possess if they wanted to become great military leaders.

Therefore, when P5092 got to work alongside these great colleagues, he felt he should quickly make known his value so he would be worthy of these teammates.

This was a very strange feeling. In the past, P5092 always felt he could not work to the best of his abilities when he was with the Pyro Company. In the tactics he devised, he had to lower a lot of expectations for his officers and soldiers so they could keep up with his rhythm.

This was as good as breaking his arm before getting into a fight. He needed to deliberately lower his standards in order to achieve victory.

Of course, his priority was to secure the final victory, but he could clearly have won those battles more brilliantly.

For example, back at the forward operating base at the rear of Mt. Dashi, he had used the Qinghe University students as bait and left behind a group of special forces led by a T5 combatant.

But a lot of people still died in that battle, and their supplies were also destroyed by the barbarians.

If there were experts like Ren Xiaosu, Wang Yun, and Ji Zi’ang in that plan from the start, how could the supplies possibly get destroyed?

Therefore, P5092 always felt a sense of helplessness when he was with the Pyro Company.

But it was different now. He suddenly felt that everyone here was equally competent. P5092 no longer had to worry if his colleagues were good enough. He only needed to make sure he performed well himself!

What a fantastic feeling this was! He did not want his colleagues to think he was not good enough for the team. As such, before Ren Xiaosu left today, he specifically reminded him that the expeditionary army might set an ambush for them. If that really happened, he would have to make sure they lured the barbarians into the mountains and killed as many of them as possible with the TNT.

Right now, Ren Xiaosu should be on the battlefield taking out the remaining barbarians just as he always did in the past.

Speaking of which, it was also quite strange. Even without heading to the front lines, he would still continue being the future commander of the Northwest. So why did Ren Xiaosu always like going to the front lines?

Just like the chess game Ren Xiaosu played with Jiang Xu previously, Jiang Xu said he had never seen anyone move the general as their first move before.

At that time, Ren Xiaosu replied that since the general was the definite strongest, why should it keep hiding behind the others? Of course it would have to rush to the front lines to fight.

On this current chessboard, the future commander’s general was indeed charging around on the battlefield and slaughtering like what Ren Xiaosu had said.

Once when Ren Xiaosu and Jiang Xu were playing chess, Ren Xiaosu’s general stopped in front of one of Jiang Xu’s pawns. Jiang Xu was delighted and immediately moved his pawn. “Checkmate! You’ve lost!”

However, Ren Xiaosu took that pawn off the chessboard and said to Jiang Xu, “Since that pawn can’t beat my general, isn’t it charging suicidal? You’re so weird.”

Jiang Xu thought to himself at that time, ‘Who’s the weird one here? It’s clearly you, alright!‘

But now, a similar scene to that chess game was happening in the blink of an eye.

Inside a valley in Mt. Zuoyun, a burly barbarian who was not affected by the explosions saw Ren Xiaosu charging at the very front. The barbarian raised his huge axe and slashed at him.

As his muscular arm swung the huge axe down at Ren Xiaosu, the barbarian was delighted when he saw Ren Xiaosu not even raising his gun. But sorrow often succeeded joy. Ren Xiaosu lifted his hand and directly cut off the barbarian’s arm with a black saber that appeared out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, the axe that fell from his grip vanished without a trace after Ren Xiaosu gave a flick of his hand.

When the dozens of barbarians saw that Ren Xiaosu was a superhuman, they shielded their eyes, planning to forcefully surround and kill Ren Xiaosu with the gunfire of the Iron First Company’s soldiers.

But a second later, the sound of a sniper rifle firing came from the distance, away from the battlefield. The bullet had arrived before the gunshot was heard, and it pierced through a barbarian trying to attack Ren Xiaosu, creating an opening for him.

It only took three seconds to blow up the hundreds of barbarians, but it took another half an hour to take out the remaining enemies on the battlefield. All of the remaining enemies could have been killed faster, but as Ren Xiaosu needed to divert his attention to protect the soldiers of the Iron First Company, it delayed him quite a bit.

P5092 was paying full attention to all of this in the command post. However, he did not say anything.

It wasn’t until Ren Xiaosu confirmed that the barbarians lying around were all dead that he asked on the radio, “What do we do next?”

P5092 said calmly, “From the look of things, the barbarians really care about their supply line. Now that Mt. Zuoyun has become a thorn in their side, we should add on to their troubles. Future Commander, have the Iron First Company hang the bodies of these barbarians outside Mt. Zuoyun. Let the barbarians have a good look at what happened to their companions.”

“Sure,” Ren Xiaosu said.

P5092 said, “Also, during the battle at the Pyro Company’s side, we discovered that the right ears of our compatriots in the Central Plains were cut off after they were killed on the battlefield. This might be how the barbarians accumulate their battle achievements, so can you please cut off these barbarians’ ears and throw them next to their corpses? I think it’ll be easier to provoke them that way.”

Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “You want to force the expeditionary army’s main forces to come and attack us?”

“That’s exactly what I have in mind.” P5092 said, “But, Future Commander, aren’t you worried?”

“What’s there to worry about?” Ren Xiaosu asked.

“Aren’t you worried that a lot of the 6th Combat Brigade’s soldiers will die?” P5092 said, “And there will be a lot of casualties for sure.”

Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, “If I’m worried about that, it would be an insult to the soldiers of Fortress 178. They aren’t cowards who’re afraid of death. They’re only worried that their deaths will be in vain. I just hope that there’ll be no unnecessary casualties. I know that people will die in war, and I also know that you’re even willing to sacrifice yourself. I understand all that. That’s why I handed over command of the troops to you. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

However, P5092 said after a long silence, “I’ll try my best to keep them alive. Of course, everything will still be based on achieving victory.”

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “You’ve never cared about the lives of the soldiers before.”

P5092 said, “People do change.”

After that, P5092 ended their communications and sat quietly in the command post. He suddenly felt he would have to spend more time and effort on his battle strategies from now on.