Back then, when Li Shentan hypnotized the armored brigade, he had instructed them to only kill the Soong Clan soldiers and not the innocent.
Li Shentan's hypnosis was amazing. Unlike Zong Cheng, who turned people into machines that only obeyed orders, Li Shentan hid a command in their subconscious.
The targets hypnotized by Li Shentan even had the ability to think for themselves. Simply put, they could tell who was a Soong Clan soldier and who was not.
Although Ren Xiaosu and the others were driving the Soong Clan's off-road vehicles, they were dressed in refugee clothes.
Therefore, even though the armored brigade was chasing after the Soong Clan's troops, they could not kill the innocent with the Razor Sharp Company blocking their path.
Once the Razor Sharp Company dodged the attack, the artillery would start firing.
How could a group of defeated soldiers be a match for an entire armored brigade?
Or rather, among the Soong Clan's strongholds in the Northwest, the strongest defensive force was only Stronghold 146's Combat Brigade. The rest of them were fighting at the front lines.
Therefore, the 131st Brigade could not find any opponents at the rear.
The soldiers of the 131st Brigade were sitting quietly in the armored vehicles. As they had not rested for a long time, their eyes were sunken and dark.
But they could not sleep. It would only end when they ran out of fuel.
The Razor Sharp Company watched the armored brigade drive off, then looked at Ren Xiaosu. "What's going on?"
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment. "I think someone named Li Shentan might be controlling them."
Actually, Ren Xiaosu did not have any concrete evidence. However, the armored brigade was right behind them, and the Razor Sharp Company was clearly within firing range of them. Yet, they did not open fire. This made Ren Xiaosu feel that something was wrong.
Don't ask. It's just a hunch.
Recalling what he had seen in the Li Consortium's stronghold, the people who had been hypnotized by Li Shentan would exhaust all their potential like crazy. This armored brigade probably wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.
Seeing the armored brigade heading straight for the next stronghold, Ren Xiaosu thought Li Shentan had done Fortress 178 a great favor.
Or perhaps, he had originally intended to help him?
In any case, this armored brigade would definitely bring a huge surprise to the Soong Clan.
Ren Xiaosu asked, "How is Commander Zhang doing in the south?"
"It's going well, but the Soong Clan's will to fight head-on is more tenacious. We'll definitely win, but we'll have to pay a price," Zhang Xiaoman sighed.
"Besides, Xiaosu, you've killed more than half of the Soong Clan's higher-ups. The Soong Clan must be in chaos now," Jiao Xiaochen said.
Upon hearing that Fortress 178 could win, Ren Xiaosu felt relieved. However, he heard the kidnapped deputy commander say, "That might not necessarily be the case. The frontline general, Zong Ying, has quite a good reputation in the troops. Moreover, he's been strengthening his own forces in recent years. It's also because of this that the Soong Clan's higher-ups put him on hold for three years. Now that the Soong Clan's higher-ups are out of control, they might take the opportunity to consolidate the Soong Clan and become the new — "
Before he could finish, Zhang Xiaoman said, "No, we have to inform the commander about this."
He then dialed the satellite phone and repeated the deputy commander's words to Wang Fengyuan. Wang Fengyuan said, "It's fine, Zong Ying won't live past tonight."
After that, Wang Fengyuan hung up the phone.
Zhang Xiaoman and the others looked at one another. Ren Xiaosu said, "It looks like Commander Zhang has already thought of a way to deal with him. He must've prepared a backup plan."
In fact, Fortress 178 did indeed have a backup plan. Ever since Xu Xianchu ambushed the Soong Clan's troops in the Gobi, those backup plans had started to take effect. For example, many survivors of the third Soong Clan branch in Stronghold 146 were trying to escape at this moment. However, they suddenly ran into the fortune-teller who stood in front of them.
For example, at the front lines, Zong Ying was still unaware of the impending danger.
Zhang Jinglin had been in hiding for more than a decade. As soon as he returned to the Northwest, he destroyed the Soong Clan. From then on, Fortress 178 no longer had any opponents in the Northwest. In the entire Southwest and Northwest, only the Kyung Clan and Fortress 178 were left facing each other across the river.
If it were anyone else who asked Wang Fengyuan, he would definitely not say anything. Only the Razor Sharp Company would receive such treatment and be able to get some information out of Wang Fengyuan.
Destroying Stronghold 146 wasn't something that just anyone could do.
When the commanders of Fortress 178 at the front lines heard that Stronghold 146 in the north had been taken by the Razor Sharp Company, their expressions turned sour.
Zhang Xiaoman and the others had already completed their mission. The battle on the battlefield basically had nothing to do with them anymore. The Razor Sharp Company had already received orders to head south and rendezvous with Zhou Yinglong's Forward Strike Battalion before reorganizing on the spot and returning to Fortress 178.
Zhang Xiaoman said happily, "We've definitely earned the Nebula Medal this time. More than half of the Soong Clan's higher-ups were killed by our Razor Sharp Company. The Razor Sharp Company alone has created the momentum of an entire brigade."
"Ptui." Jiao Xiaochen jokingly scolded, "You're really shameless as a company commander. It's clearly all Ren Xiaosu's credit, so what does it have to do with you? Without Ren Xiaosu, we might not even be able to survive until now. "
"Ren Xiaosu is also a member of our Razor Sharp Company." Zhang Xiaoman said unhappily, "We're a team, understand?!"
The exhausted soldiers of the Razor Sharp Company sat in the vehicles and suddenly felt a sense of relief. Everyone knew the war in the Northwest was coming to an end, and the remaining battles had nothing to do with them anymore.
But when they thought about it carefully, it seemed like it was just as Jiao Xiaochen had said. If it weren't for Ren Xiaosu, they would probably have died in this war.
From capturing Mt. Dingyuan and Mt. Guan, to penetrating the Mt. Beiwan mountain range to draw aggro from the main forces, to crossing the river at Mt. Qiangwan, to destroying Stronghold 144's logistical supply line, to destroying the munitions factory, and finally, to destroying Stronghold 146.
It was no wonder the commanders at the front lines were a little jealous. Although the Razor Sharp Company did not really fight in tough battles, they had done more than most other fighting forces. Furthermore, they only had 184 people.
Someone stole a glance at Ren Xiaosu, who was sitting in the vehicle. After this battle, there would probably be no one who would not be convinced by Ren Xiaosu, right?
Of course, Ren Xiaosu was still far from being a commander. Fighting and commanding were two different things.
But there was still a long way to go. They felt this young man would grow up one day and become someone like Zhang Jinglin, the backbone of Fortress 178.
Only Ren Xiaosu remained quietly leaning against the seat of the vehicle. He looked at the dust cloud kicked up by the strong wind in the distance, thinking about something.
When the troops arrived at the rendezvous point, it was already evening. Zhou Yinglong was already waiting for them at the entrance of the camp. Not only Zhou Yinglong, but even Wang Fengyuan, Zhang Jinglin, and the other important commanders were also here.
The rendezvous point was at Fortress 178's Northern Command Center.
When Zhang Xiaoman and the others limped out of the vehicle, Zhou Yinglong went up and kicked him. "You're obviously not injured, so why are you pretending?"
Zhang Xiaoman quickly stood up straight with a cheeky smile on his face. "Doesn't that make us look more heroic?"
With that, the Razor Sharp Company took their positions behind Zhang Xiaoman. Zhang Xiaoman shouted, "Count off!"
“1！”
“2！”
"…"
“182！”
After a series of counts, the Razor Sharp Company's soldiers continued shouting loudly. However, the number stopped at 182. Zhang Xiaoman felt something was amiss. "Why is one person missing?"
Including Zhang Xiaoman, there should be a total of 184 people. But now, one was missing.
Suddenly, Jiao Xiaochen wondered, "Wait a minute, where's Ren Xiaosu?"
"That's right! Where's Ren Xiaosu?! "
Zhang Jinglin stood calmly in front of the troops. Many of the commanders had stayed behind purely to see what the legendary Ren Xiaosu looked like. But in the end, Ren Xiaosu had disappeared?
Zhou Yinglong looked at Zhang Xiaoman. "What's the matter with you? Why did you lose Ren Xiaosu?"
Zhang Xiaoman was also getting anxious. "Did any of you see Ren Xiaosu just now?"
"I saw him. He was still around just now. He was sitting on the outermost side of the truck, but I don't know how he disappeared."
"Yes, I saw him too!"
Zhang Jinglin sighed. "Forget it, let him be."
Zhang Jinglin finally understood. Ren Xiaosu had joined Fortress 178 for a short period because of the Soong Clan, but he had to leave again after the Soong Clan was wiped out. In the end, this place still could not keep him.
Wang Fengyuan whispered, "Could it be because there's really some kind of estrangement between them …?"
Zhang Jinglin shook his head. "It's not important anymore."
After that, Zhang Jinglin looked at Zhang Xiaoman. "Continue."
Zhang Xiaoman stood up straight and waved his arm forcefully to his ear as he saluted, "Commander, the Razor Sharp Company was supposed to have 184 members, but 183 of them have been confirmed …"
As he spoke, Zhang Xiaoman was filled with pride. But after one member of the Razor Sharp Company was gone, Zhang Xiaoman felt empty and miserable.
Ren Xiaosu had left without saying goodbye.
Thinking back on the time they had spent together for more than a month, the difficulties and dangers they had gone through were like a mark.
As he spoke, Zhang Xiaoman suddenly became sad. Zhou Yinglong snapped, "Didn't we already win? What's with that expression?"
"Battalion Commander, we agreed that no one would be missing, but we didn't manage to bring Ren Xiaosu back."
Everyone fell silent. No one had expected that not a single member of the Razor Sharp Company would die.
The setting sun was as red as blood.
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