Death was the eternal main theme of war. The screams of being shot and the cries of discovering one's disability were just background noises. As for words like sacrifice and dedication, they were just unremarkable side notes.
Through Xiong Linquan's narration, Xu Le learned about those who had left in the past few years of war. What was even more chilling was that, in this bloody battle in the southwest mines, of the twenty or so former Team 7 members of the 17th Division's NTR unit, less than ten people were still alive.
"Why were you guys transferred to NTR?" Xu Le spat out the wet tobacco in his mouth and asked with a frown, "You've already been promoted to lieutenant colonel. At least this means that you haven't violated military discipline in the past three years. You said that Old Gu abandoned himself and went to the cookhouse, so there's even less reason to send him to the suicide squad."
"It was a temporary order from the General Staff before the war. For some reason, the higher-ups suddenly remembered us old Team 7 members. With a single order, they sent everyone to NTR. He Lei brought Hua Xiaosi to the base to cause trouble once, but it didn't have any effect. We all knew that there was definitely something wrong with this matter. "
Thinking about the Gray Hawk fighter in the rainy sky during the day, Xiong Linquan's expression was very ugly. He continued in a low voice, "But we never would have thought that just this alone wasn't enough. They actually wanted to kill us directly."
"There must have been a problem somewhere." Xu Le narrowed his eyes and looked over at the abandoned mines, at the cranes that were faintly discernible against the background of weak artillery fire. His voice was slightly cold as he said, "But no matter what the problem was, the Federal military transferred you guys to NTR. This matter is unforgivable."
"If this is the intention of the highest level of the military, then they don't need our forgiveness at all. Because no one can do anything to them, including you, boss. Right now, you're a citizen of the Empire, not a hero of the Federation. You're not the successor personally chosen by the War God, the destined commander of the 17th division. "
Xiong Linquan looked at Xu Le in silence for a moment before calmly changing the topic. "As per your request, I pacified that imperial captive and promised to let him go once he entered the safe zone."
After a slight pause, he said self-deprecatingly, "But my imperial language is terrible, and I don't know if he understands … Besides, I remember who Paul is. You mentioned him twice after you came back from the empire last time. Maybe he and that imperial aunt are really good people, but when I think about how that guy might have killed his comrades on the battlefield, I feel very uncomfortable."
Xiong Linquan's sentiments about the upper echelons of the Federal military and the changes in the camp ended there. He began to seriously report to Xu Le the intelligence the troops were currently facing and discuss what they should do next.
This was a real soldier. No matter what kind of unexpected situation they encountered on the battlefield, even if it was the ugliest, dirtiest, disgusting, and shameless thing, they could accept reality as quickly as possible, get used to it, and then resist it until they finally defeated it.
"According to the current route, we will be able to reach the outermost edge of the southwest theater of operations in a dozen hours. There is no protection from the lead clouds and high-density electron turbulence. The signal relay stations outside the atmosphere, as well as the military satellites of the Federation, can easily capture our whereabouts and then complete a fatal positioning attack. This is my biggest worry right now."
Xu Le frowned and was silent for a moment before saying, "Staying in the southwest theater of operations means that we may encounter troops far stronger than us at any time and anywhere. It is equally dangerous. Let's go out first. If The Glory Of The Charter sprinkles down, I'll find a way to deal with it. "
In the minds of the people of the Federation, no one could resist The Glory Of The Charter, even in the Imperium where the glory was dim and incomplete. But after hearing Xu Le's words, Xiong Linquan did not show any emotional reaction of shock.
After the storm, the brawny man accepted the return of the boss from the bottom of his heart. Then, he naturally returned to the mindset of the past and firmly believed that the boss was omnipotent.
A cigarette was lit in the abandoned graphite pit, vaguely emitting a faint red light. Frowning, Xiong Linquan lifted the dark curtain and looked forward. Surprisingly, he did not scold him in a low voice. On the contrary, his left hand that lifted the curtain was somewhat stiff.
Xu Le glanced into the pit through the gap. In that extremely short instant when the light of the fire illuminated the walls of the pit, he saw Dongfang Yu on the stretcher. The cigarette in his mouth was slowly burning, and the middle-aged officer's white hair was tangled together, revealing his severely damaged ear.
"Abandoned, deceived, and hunted down — we of the Seven Division have seen too much of the dark side of the Federation in the past, so we can be a little calmer. But Dongfang Yu is different. He has been following Du Shaoqing ever since he left the military academy, and his whole mind is filled with loyalty. Right now, he should be in a very bad mood."
Xiong Linquan lowered the heavy curtain and said to Xu Le in a low voice, "You should still remember that his ear was cut off by Old Bai with a knife. Now that he's disabled, he can't really listen to human speech. Also, he's spent three whole years in the Abyss Division like NTR, so it's inevitable that his mentality is somewhat distorted. Don't mind his attitude during the day."
"I didn't think that you would speak up for Dongfang. You know that I've never had a good impression of those maniacs from the Iron Seven Division."
Xu Le frowned, looked at Xiong Linquan, and said in a low voice, "His ear was cut off by Old Bai, so it's only right that he pay the price. I won't forget what he did on Planet Yellow Doom just because of this. Our Seven Division only has a pair of twin brothers. Jie Si died by that stupid stream in 3320 years ago. Jie Wen can be said to have died by this guy's hands. "
Xiong Linquan was silent for a very long time. He stroked the light spikes on his head and said, "If you want to survive in this damned place on the front lines, and live with a normal mind, you have to forget too many scenes of death. This time, so many of our brothers died in the Southwest War Zone, but Monkey and the others can still smile so happily when they see you. That's why."
He looked at Xu Le and said, "I'm not trying to defend Dongfang or anything. I just feel that this guy has been living quite a miserable life. We've only been in NTR for less than three months, and we're already on the verge of going crazy. He's been here for three whole years."
Xu Le gently moved his right foot and slowly stepped on a rock. After a moment of silence, he said, "That's true. People have to look forward."
…
…
At 3: 30 in the morning, before leaving the abandoned graphite mine camp, this lonely Federation team held a pre-battle meeting. Everyone was clear about the dangerous situation they were in, so the main purpose of this meeting was not to unify their thoughts or mobilize them, but to simply come up with a conclusion: where everyone should go.
The upper echelons of the Federal military wanted to eliminate them for certain reasons, so now there was a sad and indignant truth. The areas where the Empire's troops held the advantage were actually safer for these Federation soldiers.
However, they could not wander around the Empire's controlled areas forever. Apart from facing the test of raising ammunition, they could also be surrounded and annihilated by the Empire's troops at any time.
"The image of a lone army fighting is very tragic and powerful, but this kind of thing will always have a tragic ending. It's better to avoid it if possible."
Xu Le put down the canned food in his hand and passed it to Mountain Pao beside him. He looked at the people in the tunnel and said with a smile, "I suggest that we go around the Liangshan area, shake off the pursuit of the upper echelons of the military, and actively and quickly approach the ground troops of the Federation. There's no conspiracy that can make the millions of Federal troops of Mo Hua move together. As long as we don't get killed on the spot, then we'll have a chance to explain the truth.
"The key is which ground troops are trustworthy. If we just go over like this and find out that the ground troops are Hu Lian's direct subordinates and are chasing us everywhere, then it'll be like sending white meat to an orphan's mouth. It'll be a horrible death."
The people in the tunnel used the dim light to stare at the electronic military map and began to seriously consider the direction of their breakout. They had been hiding in Feire City for two months, and they had no information at all, so they did not know what to do.
"The war in the southwest has started, and the 11th Division has moved to the North Liangshan area. According to the calculations made in the past two months, this division is now stationed here."
A cold and tired voice suddenly rang out in the quiet tunnel. On the stretcher in the corner, Dongfang Yu struggled to prop up half of her body. Expressionlessly, she pointed at a corner of the map and said, "We should approach there immediately."
"Why?" someone asked.
"The 11th Division and the 3rd Division are the main forces of the southwest war zone, and they're the direct subordinates of the division. Even if Hu Lian can order them around, he definitely won't dare to order these two divisions to kill us. Besides, I used to have a good relationship with those two division commanders."
Dongfang Yu coldly explained, "The 3rd Division's main attack range is in the northwest basin, too far from here, so we can only choose to approach the 11th Division."
Mountain Pao looked at him and sneered. "Wake up. Even if you used to be friends with those two division commanders, when was that? Now they're the division commanders of the Federation's main forces, and you're just a pitiful guy like us who's counting the days in the NTR unit. Who would remember you? "
Dongfang Yu's haggard cheeks suddenly flushed red. He stared coldly at Mountain Pao, wanting to scold him, but for some reason, he just shut his mouth and refused to speak again.
"I agree with Dongfang's opinion. Use the fastest speed to approach the 11th Division."
Right at this moment, out of everyone's expectations, Xu Le expressed his agreement. He looked at Dongfang Yu and said, "I don't think highly of your relationship with the 11th Division commanders, but I believe that the troops and officers brought by Du Shaoqing won't all be as f * cked up as you were in the past."
Dongfang Yu frowned slightly and looked at him. It was rare that he did not retort.
…
…
Mount Pingliang was not that dangerous, but because all of the roads had long been destroyed in the war, and because of the sudden appearance of a great fog, it immediately became exceptionally rugged and difficult to traverse.
However, this was definitely a good thing for them. Under the cover of the thick fog, the team quietly passed through the two remaining lines of the Empire's firepower blockade. By nightfall, they arrived outside a hidden valley at the northern foot of Mount Pingliang with great difficulty.
Xiong Linquan slowly lowered the binoculars in his hand and looked at the fog in the valley. He could not hide the disappointment on his face and said self-deprecatingly, "Where did those guys run off to? Could it be that they were swallowed up by this strange fog?"
They had come to the simulated 11th Division's garrison area with hope, but who knew how many days ago, Du Shaoqing's direct troops had already left the northern foot of Mount Pingliang. Now, they had no idea where they had gone.
Xu Le led a few team members into the valley to search for possible remnants of the 11th Division's supplies. However, when they returned, other than a broken communication station, they did not even manage to pick up two standard Federal military caliber bullets.
They temporarily rested in a dark and gloomy cave. The team members were so disappointed and tired that they did not have the energy to talk. Only Xiong Linquan and Dongfang Yu noticed that Xu Le was hugging the broken communication station and fiddling with something at the entrance of the cave.
"The electronic shield pseudo-overflow code can still be used for half an hour. The self-starting chip will release fragments of the 11th Division's information. We don't have to worry about the base discovering our existence. This is a good opportunity. At least we can hear what the Federal forces have charged us with."
An NTR soldier looked at the communication station Xu Le was hugging and stared at the two bullet holes in the exposed metal wreckage. He said in shock, "This thing can be repaired?"
"Back in the day, when our Group 7 went to the frontlines, we were always the team that expended the least resources. Why? Because what our boss is best at is collecting and repairing junk. "
Mountain Pao sat beside him with a cigarette in his mouth and said mockingly, "What's the big deal about a communication station? Just now, if you wanted to pick up two broken mechas in the valley, the boss could have gotten you a good mecha. Even if it couldn't fight, it could at least run. "
"Is that a compliment or a mockery?"
Xu Le used his fingers to deftly connect the two wires and said, "But if there's a chance along the way, you guys can keep an eye out for broken mechas."
Through this broken communication station, the people in the cave finally heard the voice of the Federal military's upper echelons for the first time since the silence of yesterday's communication. Then, silence.
In the secret message sent by the Federation base to the various troops at the frontlines, their NTR unit was confirmed to have colluded with the Empire and betrayed the Federation. The request was for all divisions to eliminate them as soon as they discovered their tracks.
Xiong Linquan slapped the wet wall of the cave and said angrily, "They actually accused us of betrayal! Those people are so shameless! "
After a moment of silence, Dongfang Yu suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "This is really too damn interesting. The base isn't wrong. Accusing us of betrayal is also reasonable."
He pointed at Xu Le and said, "Isn't this just an Empire person? It's just that you guys haven't had the time to collude with him and betray the Federation yet. "
Dongfang Yu's tone was very absurd, but it was hard to tell whether it was sarcasm or the crazy words of someone who had suffered a mental blow. None of the team members were in the mood to argue with him. Leaning towards the 11th division was the most conservative and also the most reasonable choice. Now that this path was cut off, the orders from the base had brought them into an even more fatal situation.
Right now, no one knew where to go. The despair of the end of the road was just like the strange fog that filled the air of the southwest war zone, blocking off all paths ahead.
Suddenly, the fog at the northern foot of Mount Pingliang dispersed. Even the thick clouds in the sky seemed to magically open up a gap, letting in clear sunlight.
A hail of bullets came from the mountainside!
"Enemy attack!"
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