P5092 did not think he had any selfish motives when he spoke to the other party. He was not interested in the so-called position of supreme commander either.
In the end, just as he had said, where there were people, there would be politics. A mere P4 deputy commander actually dared to mock him and think he was envious of him because the 6th Division had taken all the credit for the victory.
Even a calm person like P5092 got a little angry when he encountered such a foolish colleague.
Next to him, Ren Xiaosu asked, "Have they confirmed that the person they captured is the supreme commander of the forward lines?"
"Yes, they've confirmed it." P5092 explained, "They said they found out about it through interrogation."
"Interrogation?" Ren Xiaosu wondered, "Is it that easy to interrogate a high-ranking barbarian commander? They probably haven't captured him for long, right? Yet they're already telling the truth?"
"I suspect there's a problem." P5092 said, "I suspect that the person they captured is not the commander of the forward lines at all but a trap. The barbarians who are retreating north are clearly trying to lure the Pyro Company troops there. "
"Then why don't you tell them not to go?" Ren Xiaosu said matter-of-factly, "Isn't it better to fight steadily? Aren't you P5s supposed to be very rational? Why would you get carried away by victory?"
P5092 looked helplessly at Ren Xiaosu. "We can't stop them anymore. Do you think we're all tools carved out of the same mold? That's not the case. All the P5s also have their own family backgrounds and environments they grew up in. It's just that the company thinks they're suitable to be commanders. "
"Oh, I see." Ren Xiaosu nodded. "Then you're much better than them. At the very least, you can still think seriously right now."
Just as P5092 had guessed, due to the fact that the position of supreme commander was still up for grabs, the various P5 commanders started reaping the credit without restraint when they saw that the barbarians had been defeated.
In the process of pursuing the northern barbarians, the 7th Division and 1st Division even fought over the credit.
P5092's so-called temporary supreme commander could not control these people at all.
A temporary commander without any official documents would lack too much prestige. Moreover, a lot of people treated P5092 as a potential competitor to begin with, so they were more than willing to go against him at this moment.
P5092 said, "I can't dissuade them anymore now. Because of my identity, dissuading them might even backfire and arouse their competitiveness."
"Then what do you plan to do?" Ren Xiaosu asked.
P5092 turned around and said to his adjutant, "Inform the artillery troops at the rear to immediately leave the city and rendezvous with us. All members of the infantry brigade, dig trenches here. We have to quickly build a defensive line here!"
P5092 was really decisive. He only took a moment to decide to set up a temporary defensive line here.
P5092 explained to Ren Xiaosu, "If there's no barbarian trap in the north, there's nothing wrong with us building a defensive line here. After all, we're only facing the advance guard now. There's still a war to be fought in the future, so we'll have to push our defensive line northward sooner or later."
"If there's really a barbarian trap in the north, we can receive the Pyro Company's defeated troops here and reorganize our forces to defend the Great Wall again." P5092 said, "Half of the Pyro Company's troops were deployed this time. Although it looks like there's still half of them remaining at the Great Wall and they're very strong, only we know internally that the soldiers of the remaining six divisions are all rookies. Some of them haven't even been on the battlefield before. So I have to do my best to protect some of the veterans for the Pyro Company."
What P5092 was doing now was to try his best to preserve some of the "kindred spirits" for the Pyro Company.
At this moment, the rest of the Pyro Company's troops were already heading north. P5092 quickly spread out a map on the ground. He took out a red pen and started drawing on the map. "I've figured it out now. It's late at night now. At first, there were no elderly barbarians when we encountered them. But when night fell, elderly people started appearing among the barbarian troops. However, the proportion of them was relatively small because they were afraid we'd discover something in advance.
"After that, the proportion of elderly people grew higher and higher. By the time that 'Valentin' was about to be captured, the barbarian troops had all been replaced with elderly people. These people were not here to kill the enemy but to die!
"Only when enough barbarians died would the other commanders believe the barbarians had really been defeated. Our Pyro Company estimated the number of barbarian expeditionary army to be 150,000. Based on the battle reports, we've already killed more than 50,000 of them in this forest. The Wang Clan's troops must still be holding back another group of barbarians. It's said that they're also fighting very fiercely. Therefore, many of the P5 commanders thought the barbarians were about to be wiped out. That's why they dared to chase after us so recklessly.
"But out of the 50,000 people we killed, more than 30,000 of them were killed before and after Valentin was captured. So I suspect the Pyro Company's troops must have slaughtered the elderly among the 30,000 barbarians."
"Those barbarians are so ruthless." P5092 sighed and said, "When the northern tribes migrated south, the elderly couldn't fight and didn't have any production capabilities. It would also be difficult for them to withstand the long journey and battles, and they would also consume a lot of food if they stayed with their troops. So they decided to send the elderly of their tribe onto the battlefield as bait in exchange for the final victory. But the scariest thing is that these elderly people seem to be doing it willingly! "
When Ren Xiaosu heard P5092 say so much, he suddenly looked to the north. "If the barbarians are willing to sacrifice the lives of tens of thousands of elderly humans in exchange for a victory in the war, then they must be very confident in their ambush in the north. I suggest that the 3rd Division retreat to the south of the Great Wall right now because no one will be able to escape the barbarians' encirclement."
Since the other party had paid such a huge price, how could they possibly release the Pyro Company to return?
However, P5092 shook his head. "No, even if only one division manages to escape, I have to stay here to provide support. If all six divisions are wiped out, the Pyro Company will really be finished."
"What if only one brigade manages to escape and return? Or what if none of them manage to escape? "Ren Xiaosu asked.
"That won't happen." P5092 said, "Although I don't understand the barbarians as well as you do, I understand war. Now that we've sent out five main forces to pursue them, there might be some who are more aggressive, but there will still be some who will wait and see. If some people rush to the front, there will naturally be others who will stay behind. No matter how many barbarians there are, they won't be able to wipe out all of them. I've just checked the terrain in the north, and there's no place where they can wipe out more than 40,000 people. So the barbarians are probably planning to chase after them all the way back to this forest. They'll slowly nibble away at all the troops that escape the encirclement along the way. That way, the losses of the barbarians' main forces will be minimized. "
Ren Xiaosu nodded. "Since you're so confident, I'll help you scout the north."
"Please." P5092 gave a solemn military salute. "The Pyro Company's success or failure will depend on this battle. This battle might affect the future of humanity in the Central Plains."
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