Black Fox stood at the door of the conference room and looked down at the dust on his body. He was filthy from head to toe as he had just returned from transporting fertilizer.
When a staff officer approached him and told him that Commander P5092 wanted him to go to the conference room, he already knew what he would be facing again.
The cruelest war.
However, Black Fox was not nervous at all. Instead, he suddenly felt a little excited.
He had studied at the Pyro Company Military Academy for four years and served in the 3rd Division for so many years. Everything he had learned and seen was for the sake of war.
Some time ago, P5092 came to him and told him that everyone might be transferred to the logistics force from now on. Black Fox still felt a little regretful.
However, it was a soldier's duty to obey orders. He would do whatever his superior said.
But if he had a chance to pick up his weapon again, Black Fox would actually be happy.
Moreover, he believed the other soldiers of the original Pyro Company would also be as happy as he was. That was because everyone had been waiting for this moment.
Black Fox knew it might be a little wrong for him to think this way. After all, war was war, and there was always a price to pay.
However, this was what they were best at, and it was also what they were willing to give everything for.
P5092 sat in the conference room and looked calmly at Black Fox. "Don't be happy so soon. When you find out what kind of enemy you'll be facing, you'll start feeling the pain."
"I won't." Black Fox smiled. "I've been mentally prepared for this since ten years ago."
"Go and tidy up your appearance. After that, take your men to the armory to collect your equipment," P5092 said.
"Alright." Black Fox was like a recruit who had just entered the military academy. He turned around and ran off, full of energy.
P5092 continued in the quiet conference room, "This time, the 3rd Field Division will not be building a new defensive position. Faced with such a large enemy, the plains won't be able to stop them at all. So we'll have to use guerrilla warfare to delay them."
In fact, the 3rd Field Division could not stop the enemy at all. All they could do was stall for some time to ensure that as many residents in the Northwest could retreat to the rear as much as possible.
Therefore, they did not need to defeat anyone. They just needed to buy time.
"What kind of support do you need?" Ren Xiaosu asked, "I'll join the battle with the 6th Field Division. That way, we can buy more time."
"No." P5092 shook his head and said, "Young Marshal, you have to understand that you're still alive. That's the most important thing right now. Both you and Commander Zhang are the spiritual pillars of the Northwest, so neither of you can fall. If anything were to happen to one of you, how much would that affect the morale of the Northwest? Do you know? "
Of course Ren Xiaosu understood this.
P5092 continued, "This has nothing to do with being afraid of death. It's the same for me as well. A dead commander will be worthless. This world doesn't need unnecessary hot-bloodedness. You and I need to stay calm and live to the end. It's not that we want to live, but this war needs us to live. "
Ren Xiaosu took a deep breath and said, "Then what support do you need?"
"We need vehicles, as well as diesel and gasoline supplies." P5092 said, "Only in this way can we maintain the mobility of guerrilla warfare. Young Marshal, you've also mentioned that the enemy can directly control the Wang Clan's mechanized troops."
The situation in the Northwest was somewhat different from that of the Kyung Clan.
There was no road between the Kyung Clan and the Wang Clan, so it was impossible for the mechanized troops to pass through the southwestern forest.
But the Northwest was different. The Wang Clan had stationed troops at the border a long time ago. There were roads here, and there was also the Wang Clan's forward operating base near the border. Even if the enemy's supply line was not enough to support the advancement of large-scale mechanized troops, there would definitely be a small number of armored vehicles and tanks reaching the Northwest.
Therefore, if he wanted to fight guerrilla warfare with such an army, he had to keep up with his mobility.
But at this moment, Wang Yuexi, who was attending the meeting, hesitated for a moment before saying, "But the problem is that diesel, gasoline, and vehicles are all urgently needed for the residents to evacuate. All the means of transportation in the entire stronghold must be activated to transport the residents away as soon as possible."
The meeting room fell silent. Resources were limited, and Ren Xiaosu had to decide who to distribute them to.
If Wang Yuexi used them to evacuate the residents, P5092 would definitely not be able to maintain high mobility.
You could not have your cake and eat it too.
Ren Xiaosu frowned. He got up and said to Wang Yuexi, "Go and arrange for the evacuation. There's no need to hide it from the stronghold residents anymore. We can't hide something like this. Zhang Xiaoman, lead a brigade into the stronghold to maintain order. If anyone incites the civilians to rebel, arrest them. As for how to evacuate, I'll think of another way. "
At this moment, P5092 suddenly said, "Wang Yun, pick 10 soldiers from the army whose families used to live in Fortress 178 and have them come to see me. Remember, I want those soldiers who still have families in Fortress 178 but are not the only child in the family. Give me all of the Eye of Truth that Young Marshal gave you. I want all those whose passcodes have not been activated yet. "
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. He immediately guessed why P5092 wanted these 10 soldiers.
P5092 thought for a moment before adding, "It's best if they volunteer."
In the 6th Field Infantry Division, there were more than 1,000 people who had come to Stronghold 144 with Zhang Xiaoman. So it was not difficult to find these 10 soldiers.
In the afternoon, P5092 retrieved all of the Eye of Truth that Ren Xiaosu had previously sent out, including every Eye of Truth that was Red-rank and above. There were a total of 10 of them.
There were originally more than 20 of them, but most of them had activated their passcodes recently. If they wanted to activate them, the previous owner of the Eye of Truth would have to die first.
Each Eye of Truth corresponded to one soldier. For example, the red stone in Zhang Xiaoman's hand that had not been activated yet could all be used as the key to this evacuation plan.
Staying at Fortress 178 was a very important matter. Although the passcodes could not be controlled, there was a high chance that the passcodes would be activated at their respective homes if they were away from home for too long.
This was the rule that Ren Xiaosu had in mind when selecting the soldiers.
The width of the red passcode could only allow one person to pass through at a time, while the width of the golden passcode could allow two people to pass through.
Of course, the civilians would not be able to pass through as quickly and orderly as the soldiers. Perhaps it would only take two or three seconds for one person to pass through. However, this timing was not accurate and would have to be calculated again.
But once the soldiers opened up the passageway to Fortress 178, the burden on the entire civilian evacuation plan would be greatly reduced. At the very least, people like children, women, and the elderly who were not suited to travel long distances could leave through the passageway.
There were a total of four strongholds that needed to be evacuated, so Ren Xiaosu had to find a shortcut.
But the soldiers who had activated the passcode would not be spared. They would have to wait for everyone to pass through before turning the Eye of Truth ten times counterclockwise to close the passcode.
This way, everyone who passed through the passcode would not fall back to the other side after the passcode was destroyed.
Based on the countdown timer, there was a high chance that these soldiers would not be able to leave Stronghold 144.
That was why P5092 had instructed that the soldiers who carried out these tasks could not be the only child.
To be honest, Ren Xiaosu was very unwilling to make such a choice, because it would be very unfair to any of the soldiers.
P5092 looked at Ren Xiaosu and asked, "Young Marshal, do you feel bad for us?"
Ren Xiaosu glanced at P5092. "Yes."
P5092 said, "This is something that all of us have to go through. Do you remember the story of the train? There were ten people on one side of the track, while there were hundreds of thousands of people on the other side? The train was supposed to hit hundreds of thousands of people, and you were the one who had the switch. How would you choose?"
Ren Xiaosu shook his head. "No, that's not the right analogy. These ten people did not make any mistakes. They were not standing on the other side of the track in the first place. But now, just because they're soldiers, we have to sacrifice them. We have to make them take the initiative to stand on the other side of the track and exchange their lives for the lives of others? "
P5092 said, "Yes, it's precisely because they're soldiers that every single one of us soldiers is prepared to sacrifice ourselves for hundreds of thousands of civilians."
Ren Xiaosu shook his head again. "I have other ways."
P5092 said, "It's alright, Young Marshal. If you can't bear to do it, I'll speak to them."
"I'll do it," Ren Xiaosu said firmly.
When the ten soldiers came up to Ren Xiaosu, Ren Xiaosu looked at the faces of the soldiers. Everyone was looking at him expectantly. They all knew Young Marshal had something very important for them to do.
"What are your names? How old are you?" Ren Xiaosu asked softly.
"Zhao Wankun, 40 years old!
"Jiang Feifei, 31 years old!
"Zhang Hao, 31 years old!
"Liu Daixu, 25 years old!
"Xing Genfan, 23 years old!
"Cheng Fangwei, 24 years old!
"Xu Penglong, 21 years old!
"Wang Fujun, 21 years old!
"Dai Jinkai, 26 years old!
"Tang Boying, 28 years old!"
Of these ten Northwest Army soldiers, the oldest was 40 years old, while the youngest was 21 years old.
Ren Xiaosu was silent as he thought about how to speak. Instead, Zhao Wankun smiled and said, "Young Marshal, it's fine. Just speak. We're already mentally prepared. We came here of our own accord."
Actually, they knew what was going on. They already knew it when P5092 asked them if they were the only children in the country.
Jiang Feifei said with a smile, "Young Marshal, Commander P5092 has already told us what's going on. We're willing to stay here and wait for everyone to pass through the door of the secret key before closing it. Actually, compared to our comrades who have to fight the enemy, we're already lucky enough. They're the ones who are in the most danger. "
Ren Xiaosu fell silent for a moment before saying, "I'll stay at the front lines with y 'all until the last moment. After that, I'll take y' all away on the steam locomotive."
This was Ren Xiaosu's method. Perhaps as an excellent commander, P5092 was already used to sacrifices and was used to seeing people around him dying for their ideals, but he still found it hard to get used to it.
So he would wait until the last moment with these soldiers.
"Let's begin." Ren Xiaosu said, "You just need to take the stones that were given to y 'all and drip a drop of blood on them. Then spin them clockwise ten times on the wall behind me, and the door of the secret key will open. The candidates for Stronghold 144 are Zhao Wankun, Jiang Feifei, and Zhang Hao. "
A total of four strongholds' residents had to evacuate, so the ten soldiers were evenly distributed to each stronghold, with two or three of them assigned to each stronghold.
As for whether they could open the door of the secret key to Fortress 178, no one knew.
"Young Marshal," someone said hesitantly, "what if the door we open isn't in Fortress 178?"
Ren Xiaosu said, "Don't feel too pressured. This is something you can't be sure of. It could open right next to you, or it could open in a place you've never been to before. Even I'm betting on it. So even if y 'all fail, no one will blame y' all. Don't worry, I'll get other people to try it out later. Y 'all are just the first batch. "
The first candidate was Zhao Wankun. After he dripped his blood and spun it ten times, a ripple spread out on the wall.
He stepped into the door of the secret key and returned to Stronghold 144 in disappointment. Then he said with difficulty, "Young Marshal, there's a snowy mountain behind this door, and the temperature might be below -10 degrees Celsius …."
Ren Xiaosu helped him pat the snow off his shoulder. "It's alright. Go back and get some rest."
Zhao Wankun walked out of the house with his head lowered. Ren Xiaosu felt something was wrong with his expression, so he quietly followed behind him.
The moment Zhao Wankun stepped out of the house, the veteran suddenly pulled out the gun at his waist and tried to shoot himself.
Fortunately, Ren Xiaosu noticed it in time and kicked Zhao Wankun's gun out of his hand.
"What are you doing?" Ren Xiaosu asked coldly.
"Young Marshal, Commander P5092 told us that the door of the secret key can only be opened once. If the host who opened it is still alive, no one can open it a second time." Zhao Wankun said in a low voice, "So, Young Marshal, don't lie to us. We know what to do."
Ren Xiaosu felt like something was stuck in his chest, and he felt a little suffocated.
A few minutes ago, he had only said he would get someone else to try the door of the secret key key to comfort these people.
By saying that, he was worried these people would do something stupid.
However, P5092 had actually thought ahead of him and hinted to these soldiers that if they could not open the door of Fortress 178, they should just commit suicide.
By doing this, P5092 was using human lives to keep making mistakes until all ten of the Eye of Truth's secret key key keys were opened in Fortress 178!
This way, with two or three secret key keys in each stronghold, the evacuation plan would be much more efficient.
Perhaps it would only take ten days for all the residents of the stronghold to evacuate to Fortress 178.
Ren Xiaosu dragged Zhao Wankun to P5092 and said coldly, "You were the one who hinted to them to commit suicide?"
P5092 glanced at Zhao Wankun and said calmly, "That's right."
"Just because it's the right choice?" Ren Xiaosu asked.
"Yes." P5092 nodded and said, "The secret key keys are too unstable. Moreover, Young Marshal, it's impossible for the civilians to get through in just a few seconds. They're not the well-trained soldiers of the 6th Field Division, so there'll be a crowd when they get through. The first batch of people to get through will be the children, the elderly, and women. You've overestimated the speed at which they can get through, especially the elderly."
P5092 continued, "A secret key key that can allow two people to get through can only allow 100,000 to 150,000 people to get through in three days. If there's only one secret key key key that can allow one person to get through, it'll be even fewer. There are 1.1 million people in Stronghold 144, so there won't be enough time to retreat with just one secret key key key key. If these civilians fall into the hands of the artificial intelligence, how much of a threat will it pose to the rear lines? How many soldiers will die when that happens? "
Ren Xiaosu listened quietly. Actually, he knew very well that what P5092 was doing was the optimal solution at the moment.
Without considering human nature, feelings, or morality, he was constantly using human lives to try and make mistakes before activating the ten secret key keys. This was indeed the most efficient plan.
P5092 said calmly, "Young Marshal, I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to be blamed by your conscience. Just pretend you don't know about this and let me bear all the responsibility by myself …. In any case, I'm quite cold-blooded."
Ren Xiaosu looked coldly at P5092 and said, "The problem is that you're not as cold-blooded as you make yourself out to be. You can think that I'm just being loyal or that I'm not mature enough, but the Northwest Army has never needed such sacrifices. If we really have to die, we can die together. "
After that, Ren Xiaosu instructed Wang Yun to send someone to watch over the soldiers who had failed to activate the secret key key key key. Then he returned to the house where the secret key key key key key key was activated.
Next to him, Wang Yun said to P5092, "Young Marshal also knows you're doing this for the good of the Northwest. He understands, but it's just not his style of doing things."
P5092 said calmly, "I understand. This is why a leader is a leader, while I can only be a commander."
In the end, Stronghold 144 tried three times and only managed to activate a secret key key key key key that only allowed one person to pass through.
The other soldiers got into their vehicles and drove off to the other strongholds with their respective Eyes of Truth.
In the evening, Ren Xiaosu went to look for P5092 again and said in a serious tone, "I know what kind of person you are. If you're really cold-blooded enough, you wouldn't have to sit alone in your tent until dawn when your soldiers are sacrificed while protecting the Great Wall of the Pyro Company. So if you make such a decision again next time, remember to let me know in advance. The Northwest belongs to everyone, so you don't have to bear the burden alone. "
P5092 looked at Ren Xiaosu quietly. After a long time, he said, "But sacrifices are always necessary in war. Besides, they're also prepared for it."
Ren Xiaosu said, "You're right, but there's not only right and wrong in this world. There's also the choice we make based on our own conscience."
On the same day, sirens sounded at Strongholds 143, 144, 145, and 146. The announcers from each stronghold announced the decision to retreat over the radio.
The officials did not hide the situation of the battle and openly admitted that everyone had to retreat to a more advantageous terrain in order to win.
For a moment, the four strongholds were in an uproar.
The Northwest Army was already prepared to maintain order, but the chaos they imagined did not happen.
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