After a great victory, the soldiers could rest for a short while, but the officers could not.
Before everyone could digest the food in their stomachs, P5092 called for an emergency, last-minute battle conference.
The small command tent was filled with officers of all ranks and combat staff officers.
Everyone did not know why P5092 had gathered everyone here at this moment. Didn't they just achieve a great victory?
P5092 scanned the officers of all ranks in front of him and said, "Although we've just won a battle, everyone must understand that we're going to have to face an even more brutal battle from now on. Time is of the essence, so I won't discuss anything else with you. I'll get straight to the deployment of our defenses. "
Everyone looked at one another. Suddenly, everyone felt a sense of urgency. It was as though P5092 felt a great disaster was about to befall the defensive position. This made them even more puzzled.
P5092 looked at the 1st Regiment and said, "The 1st Regiment has always been a mobile force, so it's relatively easy for us to take turns defending. But starting tonight, it'll be different. From 12 AM to 6 AM, I want the 1st Regiment to enter a level 1 combat readiness state and hold the line at Defense Line 3."
Qian Yiwen, the regimental commander of the 1st Regiment, was stunned. "Sir, the barbarians have never attacked during the early hours of the morning."
P5092 glanced at him. "It's precisely because they've never attacked during this period of time that it's too easy to conclude this pattern. That's why we have to be even more vigilant. Also, you must do your homework with the soldiers. From today onward, y 'all will take on the most important task of the entire defensive position. "
Everyone looked at one another. According to P5092, if the barbarians were to launch their fiercest attack, they would definitely choose to attack at dawn?
P5092 said, "The Central Plains people need vision to shoot with their firearms, but the barbarians have a relatively lower requirement for vision when launching a surprise attack. Even if we only consider the advantages of both sides, the expeditionary army should still choose to launch a surprise attack at night instead of specifically avoiding this period of time. So that's where the problem lies. I'll only explain this once. From now on, 2nd Regiment, your side will have to prepare what I've asked you to. "
The regimental commander of the 2nd Regiment, Kong Sheng, stood up straight and said, "Understood."
"If I'm not mistaken," P5092 said, "the expeditionary army's general attack will start tonight, or tomorrow night at the latest. Everyone, it's up to you whether we can hold our defensive positions or not. Perhaps we'll all die here in a few days. The barbarians have more troops than us. Even though we've just achieved a great victory, they still have ten times more troops than us. "
"You should also understand that in my battle plan, I'm going to trade one for ten with the expeditionary army. So, the most optimistic scenario is that we perish together with the barbarians. In the next few days, you might not even have time to sleep. Some of you will be injured, and some of you will be exhausted, but I hope that before that moment arrives, you will always understand why you're standing here. Alright, meeting adjourned. "
After saying that, all the officers walked out of the command tent. Wang Yun asked, "Aren't you afraid of affecting morale by deliberately making the situation sound so bad?"
"If I don't say it, won't they think of it?" P5092 said calmly, "Actually, everyone understands what we're going to face now. What we should be doing is putting our lives on the line. I want them to remember clearly during the battle that they'll only be able to recoup their losses if they kill 10 barbarians. If they kill one more barbarian, their comrades might just survive. This is the courage to cut off all means of retreat. It's the strength of despair in the face of adversity. "
"Then why did you speculate that the barbarians would launch an attack?" Wang Yun wondered.
But P5092 did not answer this question.
…
In the dark of the night, the Zuoyun Mount was nestled in the wilderness. Amidst the mountain peaks, the defensive position looked extremely small and powerless.
But in reality, the defensive position was crisscrossed with hundreds of defensive bunkers. When the soldiers passed through them, the bunkers were as high as their chests.
And this was because the expeditionary army did not use firearms and explosives. If they did, they would have to dig trenches and air-raid shelters that could only be climbed up with ladders. They would even have to use periscopes that were specially erected in the trenches to see what was happening outside. It was just like being in a submarine.
At the defensive position, the crisscrossed bunkers were like rows of houses. P5092 even gave each of the main paths a name, such as Zhenxing Road, Barbarian Slaying Road, and so on.
This was not to boost morale, but to make it easier for orders to be conveyed quickly during chaotic battles.
Actually, this was a very common and ancient method of communication in war. Ever since humans developed other means of communication, some people started to gradually abandon this method. But now that the 6th Combat Brigade's communications equipment had been discontinued, P5092 picked up this method.
At this moment, a veteran was leaning against a bunker next to him on Zhenxing Road. He was carving words on the bunker with a discarded cartridge case in his hand. A recruit went over to take a look and was surprised to see the words "Zhenxing Road."
But just as the recruit was about to say something, the veteran suddenly stood up straight and looked out of the bunker. He picked up the military binoculars beside him.
In the distance, black figures were rushing over at high speed. The sight of the dense, tide-like flow of people made the veteran's scalp tingle. "Enemy attack! Quick, inform HQ that the barbarians are here! "
Before this, everyone was curious if Commander P5092's orders were correct since the barbarians had never launched an attack during this period of time.
But now, everyone knew the answer. P5092 was right.
When the command tent received news of the enemy attack, Wang Yun turned to P5092. "How did you guess the expeditionary army was coming? You didn't answer me before. "
"Because I checked the supplies Young Marshal brought back." P5092 said, "There's a lot of supplies, but a quarter of them are rye bread. You've also tasted that rye bread. It's sour, astringent, and bitter. Even the barbarians probably don't like to eat something like that, right?"
"Yes." Wang Yun said, "I don't think that's something humans can eat."
"This means they were already in a very tight supply of supplies. Perhaps the environment in the North was too harsh, so they had to head south because they could not eat their fill." P5092 analyzed, "But now, they've just broken through the Pyro Company's defensive line and found a new source of supplies. However, most of their supplies have been wiped out by Young Marshal. Even their own supplies and the Pyro Company's supplies were not spared by Young Marshal at all. "
"So their plan to use war to sustain war was disrupted by Young Marshal," Wang Yun said in a daze.
"That's right." P5092 said, "Now that their supplies have been wiped out, if they don't stake it all on a final attack, they'll probably starve before they can even defeat the Central Plains. Although it sounds a little awkward, the barbarians are no longer in control. You might not believe it, but they might think they're fighting back in a desperate situation. "
To be honest, Ren Xiaosu had never expected that robbing a few supply troops would have such a huge impact on the overall situation.
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