On the seventh day of the countdown.
The 6th Field Division led by P5092 arrived at the defensive line as scheduled.
When he arrived, he felt many people were looking at him a little strangely.
There seemed to be scrutiny and envy in their gazes.
Ren Xiaosu welcomed him outside the GHQ. He got straight to the point and said, "Commander Zhang has already conveyed his intentions to all the generals. You'll be in charge of the defense of this defensive line. Therefore, from the moment you arrived at the defensive line, you'll be the de facto supreme commander of the Northwest Army."
P5092 was taken aback. He finally understood why everyone was looking at him like that.
He wondered, "Is this in line with procedure? I don't even have an actual position in the Northwest Army yet. Wouldn't it be a little difficult for an outsider like me to be the supreme commander?"
But at this moment, Zhang Jinglin walked out of the command tent. "Human civilization is in danger. If we still adhere to the old rules at a time like this, we'd be being irresponsible to everyone. The facts have proven that you're the most suitable person for this position. I believe you're up to the task. "
P5092 only stayed silent for a few seconds before suddenly saying to Wang Yun, "Come and gather the information on the various fighting forces and give it to me. You know what I need."
With that, P5092 walked straight to the command tent. "All combat staff officers, report to me. After that, report to Wang Yun about your work so that he can keep track of your progress."
After he entered the command tent, he took off his dirty and tattered coat and sat at the head of the table in the conference room.
It was as though he had been sitting here for decades. It was extremely natural.
P5092 did not decline, act pretentious, or dawdle. It only took him a few seconds to get into character.
The others in the command tent looked at one another and did not know how to react. It was not that they did not want to cooperate, but that P5092 had gotten into character so quickly that they were at a loss.
P5092 looked up coldly at the combat staff officers. "What are you all standing around for?"
With that, all of the combat staff officers hurriedly organized the information P5092 needed and handed it over to Wang Yun for him to organize.
To P5092, nothing was more important than winning this war. Since Zhang Jinglin was willing to make him the highest-ranking military commander, and he was also the most suitable for this position, there was no need for him to decline anymore.
Perhaps this unyielding attitude would make some people uncomfortable, but it did not matter. P5092 believed the Young Marshal would help him solve these problems.
Outside the command tent, quite a few people were quietly looking at Zhang Jinglin. They wanted to see how he would react after P5092 unceremoniously "usurped" his authority.
In the end, Zhang Jinglin smiled and said, "You are indeed the most suitable candidate."
Right now, the Northwest Army needed someone who only wanted to win to lead them to victory.
Apart from that, there should be no distractions.
At this time, Wang Yun quickly summarized the data of each combat unit, the ratio of veterans, the ratio of new recruits, the ratio of age, the ratio of military equipment.
Wang Yun even got the combat staff officers to go to the military affairs office to get the combat reports of these combat units. He recorded how much ammunition a particular unit had expended, how many enemy casualties they had inflicted, and how many casualties they had suffered.
With all of this, he could quickly compare which combat units were the best at fighting, which could overcome difficulties, and which could be placed in specific positions.
Wang Yun only needed a glance at the vast sea of data before he could quickly categorize it in his mind's memory palace.
And all of this was what P5092 needed the most.
The Northwest Army did not have the powerful computing power of the artificial intelligence. Even Wang Yun could not do it. However, he could still try to make up for it.
When Qing Zhen, Luo Lan, and the others heard P5092 take over the military command, they also went over to the command tent to watch the show.
When they entered the command tent, they happened to hear P5092 ask Wang Yun, "What was the weather like at this time in the first ten years of history?"
Wang Yun answered, "For the next seven days, the first day was sunny without any rain, the second day was sunny out of eight, and the third day was sunny out of seven … It seems like we're about to enter the autumn rainy season. A cold front from the north is moving south, and heavy rain is imminent."
P5092 nodded. "We have to be prepared for a rainy battle. How long will the rain last?"
"It's most likely three days," Wang Yun said.
P5092's commanding style was actually a little similar to the artificial intelligence. They both focused on the details and were equally calm and cold-blooded.
When Qing Zhen heard Wang Yun summarize the information to P5092, he suddenly said to Luo Lan, "If I had such a talent by my side back then, the Li Consortium and the Yang Clan would probably have been destroyed even faster."
At some point, Qing Zhen was even a little envious of P5092 for having such a helper.
Suddenly, P5092 looked up at Ji Zi 'ang and said, "Zi' ang, I need you to go to the 129 Engineer Battalion and lay mines at Position 314. That place is very important. We must make sure that the enemy troops passing through suffer heavy losses. "
The artificial intelligence had the ability to identify mines. It could tell where the mines had been dug just by looking at the soil on the ground.
But with Ji Zi 'ang around, things would be different. On one hand, he did not even need to dig the mines himself to lay them, so he was extremely efficient. On the other hand, Ji Zi' ang was fully capable of disguising the mined ground as it was before.
Position 314 was the main route leading to the core of the defensive line. If the Wang Clan's mechanized troops arrived, they would have to pass through there before they could bring the defensive support points at the rear of the defensive line into their firing range.
But if Ji Zi 'ang were to lay anti-tank mines there, it would probably be very difficult for the mechanized troops to get over for the time being.
There was no need for P5092 to completely seal off that route. All he needed was to stall for time.
Ji Zi 'ang replied, "Alright, I'll report to the Engineer Battalion right away. I guarantee I'll complete the mission."
After Ji Zi 'ang's arrival, even the construction of the defensive line sped up a lot.
Ji Zi 'ang had not slept for 19 hours. However, when P5092 gave the order, he still perked up and went to carry out the mission.
After Ji Zi 'ang left, P5092 suddenly said to Zhou Qi, "I've heard about your abilities from Young Marshal. Please make a trip to Position 141 and wait for an opportunity there."
Zhou Qi raised an eyebrow. "Are you ordering me around? I'm not a member of your Northwest Army …. "
"Is that a problem?" P5092 asked.
Zhou Qi curled his lips and said in a weaker tone, "Fine … but you have to tell me what I'm going there for, right?"
"I'm just being prepared." P5092 said, "I also don't want you to be of any use. As for what I want you to do there, you'll know when the time comes."
Zhou Qi shouted, "Wait a minute, where's Position 141?"
Then Zhou Qi took a look at the sand table and said unhappily, "Position 141 is on the second echelon's defensive line. Based on the AI's attack speed, it'll probably take them less than two days to get there. Why are you asking me to go to such a dangerous place?"
P5092 said seriously, "I naturally have my reasons for asking you to go."
Luo Lan smiled and said, "Come on, Zhou Qi, I'll go with you."
"That's more like it. Even if I die, I have to drag someone down with me, right?" Only then did Zhou Qi agree.
A moment later, P5092 said to another staff officer, "The construction of the defensive line has been completed. Immediately relay my orders to force the civilians at the defensive line to evacuate. We have to leave this place before tonight. Otherwise, when the defensive line collapses, we'll have to slow down our retreat. "
"Can't we defend this place?" Big Bluff asked.
"Mhm." P5092 nodded. "But if our goal is just to hold out for seven days, I think there's a chance."
At this moment, no one doubted P5092. Everyone was thinking that if even P5092 said they could not defend this place, it would definitely be impossible to defend it.
P5092 said, "The biggest problem we're facing right now is that we still don't know the enemy's fighting style …."
Before he could finish, Qing Zhen got Xu Man to deliver a thick stack of battle reports. "This is the information that the Kyung Clan troops at the Tri-Mountain Defense Line exchanged their lives for. Every word is extremely precious."
If they wanted to win the war, they would naturally have to know themselves and their enemy. Qing Zhen knew the Northwest was the last line of defense for human civilization. So even if the Tri-Mountain Defense Line collapsed, he still had to gather enough data in advance and bring it to the Northwest without missing a single word.
During the battle at the Tri-Mountain Defense Line, no matter how busy he was, he would still ask Qing Yi to organize the battle reports. Everything he did at that time was for this moment.
This way, the Northwest Army would be able to avoid taking unnecessary detours.
At this moment, an officer ran over to Ren Xiaosu. "Young Marshal, there's an old man outside who arrived at the defensive line with the escapees. He says he's an old friend of yours and wants to see you. But the strange thing is that he's also bringing a large group of teenagers with him. "
Ren Xiaosu, who had been listening in on P5092's battle deployment, was stunned. "An old friend of mine?"
"Yes, he says his name is Nonsense, and he has something very important to tell you," the officer said.
"Hurry up and tell him to come over," Ren Xiaosu said.
Ever since Nonsense left Luoyang City, very few people knew what he was up to.
Soon after, Nonsense strode over. He got straight to the point and said, "I've gathered some information here that might be useful to you all. The Kyung Clan in the Southwest has been completely defeated, and the artificial intelligences are rushing over here in two batches. The enemies from the Central Plains have also split into two batches. One batch is currently dealing with the Northwest Army, while the other batch is heading straight for the defensive line. Xiaosu, we can't beat them. It'll only take a few days for the sea of people to overwhelm this defensive line. "
P5092's eyes lit up. Nonsense had brought him very useful information. At the very least, he now knew from which direction the enemy troops would arrive and how many routes there were.
"By the way, where's Li Shentan?" Ren Xiaosu asked Nonsense.
Nonsense muttered, "It's not bad that you remembered him. He did not treat you as a friend in vain. He went to the Zhou Clan's rainforest further south. I met him a few days ago, but he did not come to the Northwest with me. "
"Where did he go then?" Ren Xiaosu was puzzled.
Nonsense said, "I don't know where he's going either. He only said that he should be able to fulfill his promise to you this time."
…
The Northwest Army's defensive line was built with Mt. Linxia, Mt. Jishi, Mt. Yongjing, and Mt. Xigu as its support points. Due to the lack of time, no one had even given the defensive line a name.
While P5092 was busy deploying the troops, Zhang Jinglin and Ren Xiaosu discussed this matter.
"Let's call it Dawn," Ren Xiaosu said.
This was the darkest moment for human civilization, but they had to wait here for the light.
Zhang Jinglin immediately understood what Ren Xiaosu meant. The night before dawn was the darkest, but as long as they could survive this moment, it would be dawn.
"Let's call it the Dawn Defense Line then." Zhang Jinglin nodded.
The civilians at the Dawn Defense Line were forcibly evacuated. The Northwest refugees who had stayed behind were all shouting that they would live and die with the defensive line and were unwilling to leave. In the end, it was Zhang Xiaoman who led his men to drive them away.
By 10 PM that night, there were almost no civilians left at the entire defensive line. Only the Northwest Army was left fighting there.
In the darkness, the enemy seemed to be getting closer and closer. Everyone's breathing started to turn heavy.
At this moment, a unit had just arrived at the first echelon of the defensive line, Position 317, after receiving P5092's order to change defenses.
The 1st Division stationed at the position had already received the order in the afternoon to silently open the rear gate to welcome the friendly troops.
"Welcome." The brigade commander of the 1st Division's 124th Infantry Brigade said, "The notice we received was a little hasty. It only said that y 'all would be coming and that you'd need our cooperation, but it didn't say why y' all were coming."
The officer who was ordered to assist in the defense thought for a moment and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."
What was surprising was that there was an eagle circling above the formation, hunting down unknown birds from time to time.
The sky above Position 317 had become a restricted area for flying.
Just before dawn, a mortar suddenly fell from the sky on Position 317. When the shell struck, it made a shrill sound in the air, like a siren.
A moment later, a machine gun position at Position 317 was blasted away.
There were bunkers and trenches all around the machine gun position. However, the shell fell in a parabola from the sky and avoided all the bunkers.
The accuracy of the mortar strike was inexplicably awe-inspiring.
But just as the shell exploded, the troops who had just arrived at Position 317 immediately got into action.
They set up the mortars at the back of the position and carried out the first round of bombardment on the forest outside Position 317.
There was no need to aim. All they had to do was adjust the mortars to their maximum firing range.
Before coming here, Wang Yun had relayed an order to them on behalf of P5092. "The AI is extremely good at firing mortars at their maximum firing range. But this also means that the distance between us and them is actually fixed."
One mortar shell after another was fired. However, this time, the shells were white phosphorus bombs.
When the white phosphorus bombs exploded, the pale yellow phosphorus quickly ignited, and the temperature instantly reached 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Moreover, it was very difficult to extinguish the white phosphorus. Ignoring the fact that the AI troops did not have any means to extinguish the fire, even if they did, they would not be able to deal with a terrifying weapon like the white phosphorus bombs.
With a loud boom, a huge wildfire ignited in the forest and quickly spread eastward.
After the second round of mortar fire, the troops retracted their mortars and turned around to retreat.
The wildfire five kilometers away kept spreading and formed a natural flame barrier around Position 317.
If there were no rain, the wildfire would probably burn for another ten days or so before it was extinguished.
Meanwhile, it would probably be very difficult for the first batch of AI troops in the forest to survive.
The defensive reinforcements had come here because P5092 had said that if the AI chose to attack with the most optimal strategy, then taking down Position 317 would be the place to benefit the most. That was because Position 317 was in the first echelon and would have the greatest impact on the entire rear defensive line.
Therefore, P5092 was currently standing from Zero's point of view to figure out where the weakness of this position was and then turn it into an advantage.
If he were Zero, he would definitely choose to attack Position 317 first.
Of course, this method could only be used once.
But when it came to games, one should always try to gain an advantage if they could.
As for whether it would be too cruel to use the white phosphorus bombs, that was not within P5092's consideration.
Since the forest outside Position 317 was suitable for the white phosphorus bombs to cause the most damage, they should be using the white phosphorus bombs to form a burning barrier.
At this moment, P5092 was standing in the command tent. When he heard the report of victory from Position 317, he looked at the sand table in silence.
What he wanted to do was not to share his joy with the others but to think about what Zero would do now.
The final battle had begun.
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