"We have to consider how much time we can buy for the rear," Qing Yi said.
Some people tried to get the message out, but the secret troops under Xu Man's command were more elite than they had imagined. They were also better at carrying out such confidential missions.
Ren Xiaosu climbed the mountain all the way to the outpost. It had only been a few minutes since the sentries discovered him.
Qing Yi stood in front of a huge sand table and looked at it quietly.
"Connect me to Fortress 178's headquarters," Ren Xiaosu said.
Ordinary reconnaissance plans were no longer effective. No matter how many people were sent to investigate, it would probably be a meaningless sacrifice.
Perhaps the soldiers and officers below did not know what they were going to face, but Qing Yi knew very well.
As the Young Marshal of the Northwest, Ren Xiaosu's reputation was already very high. After the 6th Field Division defeated the Warlock Nation, Ren Xiaosu's reputation reached its peak.
This kind of direct call to the headquarters was classified as confidential, so normal soldiers naturally had no right to listen in.
After the Southwest was unified, the Kyung Clan reorganized all of their troops and reorganized them into two Type A armies and one Type B army with a total of 230,000 soldiers.
Actually, there were more soldiers in the Southwest. However, the situation in the Southwest was similar to the Central Plains in that they had also experienced a lot of war.
Although the outpost was not particularly far from Stronghold 144, and they would sometimes go there during their shifts, they did not belong to the 6th Field Division. Instead, they were under Zhou Yinglong's military designation, so they did not have any dealings with Ren Xiaosu.
Just like when Base 012 was invaded, their enemies were not only humans but also sparrows in the sky.
"Mhm." Zhang Jinglin said, "We'll talk again in eight hours. You should get some rest first."
These one or two hours were exchanged for the lives of all the soldiers at the outpost.
Therefore, anyone who might have had dealings with Ren Xiaosu would be surrounded by others and asked for gossip about Ren Xiaosu.
The soldiers around him laughed and pulled up their pants. "You must be thinking of getting your hands on Monitor's sister's photo again …."
"I see." Ren Xiaosu smiled. "Where's the dormitory? I need to rest."
The platoon leader looked at his subordinate unhappily. "How would I dare to compete with him in this? Wouldn't that be asking to be humiliated?"
When the platoon commander at the outpost heard this, he immediately perked up. "When we were fighting the Soong Clan, Young Marshal and I were both in the Forward Strike Battalion under Commander Zhou. He was in the Razor Sharp Company while I was in Second Company. On the first day that the Young Marshal arrived at the Vanguard, he caused a huge ruckus in the Vanguard … "
The platoon leader looked at the soldiers beside him and couldn't help but lament that he was indeed a little old …
"I'll wait at this outpost for another day and observe the enemy's movements. If anything happens, you can call me here," Ren Xiaosu said.
When the chief of staff in the command center heard this, he understood the purpose of these outposts.
All of a sudden, a soldier saw a person running up the mountain from the foot of the mountain. "Someone's coming. He's not wearing a military uniform, and he's alone."
At this moment, the Kyung Clan's various hubs in the rear were busy coordinating with the troops and burning confidential documents.
Ren Xiaosu nodded. "I'm Ren Xiaosu of the 6th Field Combat Division. Is the communications at your outpost open?"
The chief of staff asked in a low voice, "Sir, can we win this war?"
There were usually 30 people at an outpost, and it was equipped with a complete set of basic facilities: physical training equipment, a small canteen, a newspaper area, dormitories, barracks, toilets, and a manure incineration pond.
"It's open." The platoon commander nodded frantically. "The border outposts are connected to the telephone lines, so communication won't be affected."
Suddenly, Qing Yi said, "Set up an emergency outpost outside the line of defense with a company as a unit and a depth of 45 kilometers. Relay my orders."
"Prepare for combat." The platoon commander said, "Be careful of a supernatural being's attack!"
"What are you thinking about? We're at the border, so how can we possibly get a chance to meet a big shot like Young Marshal?"
With all means of reconnaissance rendered useless, these makeshift and crude outposts were like nails that were embedded in the mountains outside the line of defense.
The so-called Type A Army was one that was fully staffed and had sufficient ammunition to head to the battlefield at any time to prepare for battle.
However, Ren Xiaosu did not care about this. Instead, he asked the platoon commander, "Which unit are you from?"
Their role was to use the radio stations they carried to warn the main defensive lines at the rear when the enemy really arrived.
The furthest away was the winner, while the closest one was the loser.
Many people with a keen sense of smell could sense that this was a precursor to a retreat.
When Ren Xiaosu heard Zhang Jinglin's familiar voice over the phone, he said briefly, "The Central Plains has fallen. My preliminary judgment is that the entire Central Plains has fallen into the hands of the Wang Clan's AI. Their troops are slowly advancing towards the Northwest, and I believe it's the same in the Southwest."
When Stronghold 112 and Stronghold 113 collapsed, they were attacked by the Experimentals, and the death rate was over 80%.
The chief of staff was clearly taken aback. Actually, this sentence in itself meant that Qing Yi was not very confident about this battle. "Sir, what should we consider then?"
Over the years, both sides had gotten to know each other very well. Ren Xiaosu believed that as long as this news was passed back, Zhang Jinglin would definitely make the right decision.
"By the way, Platoon Commander, have you met Young Marshal before? I heard that Young Marshal also participated in the battle against the Soong Clan, "the soldier asked.
"That's true …"
After that, Zhang Jinglin hung up.
Over the past few days, the Kyung Clan troops had tried to send more than a dozen reconnaissance squads deeper into the forest. They wanted to try their best to count the number of enemies and their speed of advance.
Everything was carried out in secrecy. All the secretive units were monitored and sealed off by the secret troops under Xu Man's command.
Therefore, these one to two hours were the maximum buffer period.
There was not much communication between them. Zhang Jinglin did not doubt whether Ren Xiaosu's judgment was accurate, and Ren Xiaosu did not ask Zhang Jinglin how he was going to react either.
Although the strongholds had been rebuilt, the total number of people in these two newly rebuilt strongholds was only slightly more than 100,000.
"No way!" The platoon commander immediately denied. "How dare you! I risked my life to get them back. Someone offered 50,000 yuan back then, but I didn't even sell them. You can change your mind!"
"We're so close to Stronghold 144. I wonder if we'll have a chance to meet Young Marshal in the future."
The platoon commander hurriedly ran back to the outpost and made a call. Then the operator transferred the line to Fortress 178.
Meanwhile, the Type B Army was not fully staffed and needed to be replenished.
After the call went through, Ren Xiaosu went into the room and picked up the phone. Everyone else left the room and stood guard outside the door.
There would always be sacrifices in war. What Qing Yi needed to do was to ensure that every sacrifice was meaningful.
In front of the outpost, all the soldiers were looking at him excitedly.
…
Next to him, a soldier who had urinated the furthest away asked furtively, "Platoon Commander, you're going to lose this time. You have to admit that you lost the bet."
Qing Zhen had not placed him in this position just because he was close to him, but also because he wanted to thank his uncle for saving him back then.
The front lines of Mt. Xuan 'en, Mt. Lai Feng, and Mt. Yong Shun had been built into a solid wall.
"I want that medal of yours." The soldier said with a sneaky smile, "I heard you got it during the battle with the Soong Clan?"
Ren Xiaosu walked out of the outpost. Only now did he have the time to size up the platoon commander. "Eh, have we met before?"
Behind the front lines, hundreds of forward operating bases were connected to form a huge logistical supply network.
At the border between the Northwest and the Central Plains, the soldiers of Outpost 218 were standing on a hillside in front of the outpost's entrance. They formed a long line to pee and were about to compete to see who could urinate the furthest.
The platoon commander immediately got excited. Only then did the soldiers around him confirm that their platoon commander had not been bragging to them.
In the rear headquarters, all of the generals and staff officers lowered their voices as they chatted. It was as though a low pressure had suddenly shrouded the area.
Qing Yi had returned to the front lines. As the highest-ranking military commander, the commanders of the three armies had to report directly to him.
In a war, if they could learn about the enemy an hour or two hours in advance, the outcome would be completely different.
As a result, some of the Li Consortium's strongholds only had tens of thousands of people left.
On the other end of the line, Zhang Jinglin was silent for a moment before saying, "Got it."
A soldier asked, "Platoon Commander, how far can the Young Marshal go when he's so strong? Have you ever fought him before? "
During the war between the Li Consortium, the Yang Clan, and the Kyung Clan, the number of casualties was already incalculable. A large number of civilians and refugees had also fled to the Central Plains and the Northwest, resulting in a massive population loss.
However, this also meant that the soldiers at the outpost would become the first casualties of the war. No one would survive.
Fortunately, Qing Zhen had instructed him to separate the missiles from the vehicles. Otherwise, the Kyung Clan's missiles would probably have landed on him if the artificial intelligence had invaded the base.
Qing Yi glanced at the chief of staff and said, "That's not something we should be thinking about right now."
Ren Xiaosu had not slept for nearly 48 hours ever since he rushed to Luo Lan's aid. He needed a good sleep before he could face this even more dangerous world.
"Then give me the photo of your sister," the soldier said.
The platoon commander immediately got angry. "You think you're worthy?!"
Qing Yi himself had the qualities of an excellent commander. He might not be as far-sighted as Qing Zhen, but when it came to commanding on the spot, very few people could match his grasp of the details.
After Qing Yi confirmed that all the reconnaissance platoons had lost contact with them at the rear headquarters, he stopped this meaningless action.
"Commander Zhao of the Forward Strike Battalion of the 3rd Field Combat Division's 173rd Regiment!" the platoon commander answered as he stood up straight.
There were 46 strongholds in the Southwest. After the first census, the total population, including the refugees, totaled to 9.6 million.
Even if the defensive positions were on Level 1 combat readiness, most of the soldiers would still be resting in shifts. If everyone was constantly on edge, the soldiers would collapse before the enemy even arrived.
But now, regardless of whether they were in Proton A or Proton B, the cruelest battle was about to begin.
However, all the reconnaissance platoons had sunk into the sea.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the platoon commander felt something was amiss. The more he looked at that figure, the more familiar he found it. "Wait, it's Young Marshal!"
The platoon commander snapped, "All of you, get lost and train your stamina!"
The difference between this outpost facing the Central Plains and the outpost facing the Sorcerer Nation was that the environment here was not as harsh. Cabbages, onions, and other vegetables could also be grown near the outpost.
While the human tide was slowly breaking through the Southwest Forest, the Kyung Clan's main forces had also started building a defensive line at the edge of the forest.
The platoon commander grumbled, "Tell me, what do you want? I can't give you my gun."
The platoon commander stood at attention and said, "When Young Marshal was in the Razor Sharp Company, I was a third-class soldier in Second Company."
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