Zhang Jinglin said slowly, "Everyone's considerations are not wrong. On one hand, the Soong Clan is entrenched in the north of the trade route. As long as they're still there, we can forget about opening the trade route with the Central Plains. Actually, their intention of controlling the front lines in Dingyuan and Mt. Guanshan is also very clear."
Zhang Jinglin continued, "On the other hand, the enemies from the west could come over at any time. If we split up our forces to attack the Soong Clan, we might not be able to defeat them. Or even if they don't come so coincidentally, we'll definitely suffer losses in our fight against the Soong Clan. We might not be able to defeat the enemies from the west at that time."
At the end of the day, they only spent the entire afternoon arguing about these two things. Zhang Jinglin summed them all up. He thought for a moment and said, "There are risks, but if we don't open up the trade route, Fortress 178 will only get weaker and weaker. As you all know, we've sent some people to the west to pretend to be refugees. That place is getting more and more prosperous, while we're stuck here. We don't have any resources, technology, or new talents, and we're almost out of clothes to wear."
"We control a lot of mines, but these mines can't be turned into our strength." Zhang Jinglin said, "If this goes on, Fortress 178 might not be able to hold off the enemies from the west in another decade. So we have no choice but to make changes now. We have to survive this crisis before we can talk about the future."
Zhang Jinglin made himself very clear. It was not that he had not considered the risks, but that fighting the Soong Clan and opening up the trade route was their best option given the risks.
Rather than waiting for death, they might as well take a gamble.
Zhang Jinglin knew that Fortress 178 was stronger and more resolute than the rumors made it out to be. However, their current situation was also more dangerous than the outside world imagined.
But Zhou Yinglong and the others did not care about what Commander Zhang was thinking. As long as Zhang Jinglin said to fight, they would fight.
Victory or defeat could be discussed later. They could just fight and be done with it.
Fortress 178 might not be as good as others in other areas, but their execution was the strongest.
But at this moment, Zhang Jinglin said, "We'll have a meeting on time tomorrow to discuss our strategy. Those who are late will be punished to stand outside and listen. You have no right to speak."
When the others heard this, they hurriedly promised that no one would be late and that they would not drink tonight.
Zhang Jinglin suddenly said, "Zhou Yinglong, assign that young man named Ren Xiaosu to your Razor Sharp Company. He'll start as a soldier."
As soon as he said that, the entire conference room became even quieter than before. It was as if even the sound of breathing could not be heard.
They wanted to ask Zhang Jinglin something, but they saw that Zhang Jinglin did not intend to give them a chance to ask and walked out of the conference room.
The moment Zhang Jinglin stepped out, the officers around the sand table exploded. "Is that the Razor Sharp Company that the commander used to be in?"
"I heard that the previous two commanders were also from that Razor Sharp Company. Is our commander treating that kid as a candidate? Old Zhou, you're the one who brought that kid in. What's going on with him? "
The Razor Sharp Company was a very special existence, and no one had ever explicitly stated that the candidate for commander of Fortress 178's stronghold had to join the Razor Sharp Company.
But in reality, every commander came from there. They were all thrown into the most dangerous places by the previous commander for training before being promoted bit by bit.
As the name suggested, the Razor Sharp Company was the most dangerous fighting force in the stronghold. They had to fight their way through wherever they went. Only those who could survive in the Razor Sharp Company could gain the respect of the masses in Fortress 178.
It was not that the Razor Sharp Company was very powerful, but that the work they did was the most dangerous.
You had to be in the most dangerous places to know what kind of fate your every order would bring to the soldiers at the bottom.
Slowly, after several commanders, the Razor Sharp Company became an even more special existence. Although no one said anything, everyone knew that the person who was suddenly thrown into the Razor Sharp Company was someone the commander valued.
As long as this person could survive and gain the respect of the masses, he would basically become the next commander.
Sixteen years ago, Zhang Jinglin had also thrown someone into the Razor Sharp Company, but that person died in the war.
But now, no one knew who Ren Xiaosu was!
Zhou Yinglong felt like he was about to pee when everyone's burning gazes landed on him. "Why are you all looking at me? I've only been with him for a few days. That kid is also a refugee and has even stayed in the valley before. He looks weak and has injuries on his body, but I'm not sure how he got injured. But he doesn't look like he's very good at fighting. How did he manage to get into the Razor Sharp Company? "
Someone answered, "The commander couldn't fight back then either. That's not a big problem as long as he's ruthless enough."
Someone laughed. "The commander was a medic at that time. He wasn't even willing to fire a gun, so how can it be the same? Why don't you mention how many people the commander saved back then?"
Xu Xianchu said unhappily, "How can you say that about my bro? How is my bro weak? We were challenging the Jing Mountains together back then, and it was all thanks to him that we managed to get through it safely. "
Zhou Yinglong was stunned for a moment before saying, "That's right, that's right. That Ren Xiaosu is Old Xu's bro. You can ask him about the details."
"Xu Xianchu, you're not being nice. Why didn't you tell us about what happened?" A burly man chuckled and said, "Hurry up and tell us what happened."
"Back then, he was a refugee in the town outside Stronghold 113. Some people from the stronghold wanted to go to the Jing Mountains and went to town to look for a guide. However, the townspeople all said that only Ren Xiaosu could lead the way to the Jing Mountains." Xu Xianchu recalled, "That team looked for him at first, but he pretended to be dumb and refused to go. Later, it seemed that they made some sort of deal, so he went. By the way, he was also Commander Zhang's student, right? At that time, Commander Zhang was a teacher at the school in town. He appointed him as a substitute teacher because he wanted him to take over the school. "
Everyone looked at one another. At that time, he was supposed to take over the school. But now, he was planning to let Ren Xiaosu take over Fortress 178?
Although no one would go against Zhang Jinglin's wishes, if this kid named Ren Xiaosu wanted to take over Fortress 178, he would have to see if he was qualified enough. If he could not convince everyone, even Zhang Jinglin would not force him to take over Fortress 178. This was the usual practice of Fortress 178.
If you were given a herd of ferocious beasts, you had to be able to handle them. This was the principle.
Everyone felt that Zhang Jinglin's arrangement was very sudden. That was because Ren Xiaosu was an outsider, and no one knew anything about him.
Someone asked Xu Xianchu, "What kind of person is Ren Xiaosu?"
"His character is definitely good." Xu Xianchu said, "In any case, I trust him."
Someone asked Xu Xianchu again, "Is this bro of yours also a supernatural being? What power does he have? "
Xu Xianchu was stumped by this question. "Back in the Jing Mountains, he could lift an adult man with just one arm, so he's definitely a supernatural being. But I really don't know what his power is."
The group of burly men from the Northwest in the meeting room were stunned. You're his bro, but you don't know what his power is? How could that be justified?
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