The First Order

Just as the crowd was slowly breaching the southwestern forest, the Qing Consortium's main forces started setting up a defensive line at the edge of the forest.

The front lines at Mt. Xuan'en, Mt. Laifeng, and Mt. Yongshun had already been constructed to resemble a monolithic structure.

At the rear of the front line, hundreds of forward operating bases were connected to form a huge logistical supply network.

After the unification of the Southwest, the Qing Consortium restructured all of its troops and reorganized them into three army corps, two Alpha Corps and a Bravo Corps, with a total strength of 230,000 troops.

The Alpha Corps were made up of fully manned units with sufficient ammunition to go into battle at any moment.

Meanwhile, units in the Bravo Corps were not fully manned and required reinforcements.

But now, be it the Alpha Corps or the Bravo Corps, regardless of whether their units were fully manned or not, the cruelest war was about to begin.

There were 46 strongholds in the entire Southwest. After the initial census, the total population, including the refugees, was 9.6 million.

Actually, there were originally more people in the Southwest. But similar to the situation in the Central Plains, they had also experienced intense wars.

When Stronghold 112 and Stronghold 113 collapsed, the residents were attacked by the Experimentals, with the death rate exceeding 80%.

Although the strongholds had been rebuilt, there were only about a 100,000 people residing in these two newly rebuilt strongholds.

It was even harder to track the number of casualties in the war between the Li Consortium, the Yang Consortium, and the Qing Consortium back then. Many civilian refugees had also fled to the Central Plains and the Northwest, causing a large decline in population.

As such, there were only several tens of thousands of people in some of the Li Consortium's strongholds.

Qing Yi had already gone back to the front lines. As the highest-ranking military commander, the commanders of the three army corps had to report directly to him.

The soldiers and officers below might not know what they were about to face, but Qing Yi was well aware.

Fortunately, Qing Zhen had instructed him back then to remove the missiles from their vehicle launchers. Otherwise, the Qing Consortium's missiles would probably have landed on him after the artificial intelligence's attack on the missile troops' military bases.

Over the past few days, the Qing Consortium's troops had attempted to send more than a dozen reconnaissance platoons deeper into the forest in an attempt to assess the enemy's numbers and advance rate.

However, all of the reconnaissance troops were lost like stones thrown into the sea.

In the command center at the rear, Qing Yi stopped this meaningless move after learning that all of the reconnaissance platoons had been lost.

Just like when Military Base 12 was invaded, the enemies they faced were not only humans but also the sparrows in the sky.

Normal reconnaissance plans were no longer effective. No matter how many people they sent in to investigate, it could all end up as meaningless sacrifices.

In the command center at the rear, all of the generals and staff officers were speaking in hushed tones. It was as though a low-pressure zone had suddenly formed around this place.

Qing Yi stood in front of the huge sand table and looked at it in silence.

Qing Zhen had placed him in this position not because they were close relatives, nor was it to repay the indebtedness owed to Qing Yi's uncle back then.

Rather, it was because Qing Yi had the qualities of an outstanding commander to begin with. He might not be the visionary that Qing Zhen was, but very few people could stay on top of the situation when they were in the hot seat of command.

Suddenly, Qing Yi said, "Set up screening outposts[1] 45 kilometers outside the defensive line at the company level. Pass down the order."

When the chief of staff in the command center heard this, he immediately knew the purpose of these outposts.

With all the reconnaissance methods proven ineffective, the mountain range outside the defensive line would have these crude makeshift outposts protruding out like they were nails jutting out from a plank.

Their purpose was to provide early warning to the main defensive line at the rear through their portable radio sets upon the enemy's arrival.

In war, it would be a completely different outcome if they could get intel about the enemy an hour or two in advance.

Even if the defensive position was at Level 1 combat readiness, most of the soldiers would still be on rotational break. If everyone was constantly kept on guard, the soldiers would collapse before the enemy arrived.

Therefore, these two hours would provide the biggest buffer they could get.

However, this also meant the soldiers at the outposts would become the first casualties of the war. None of them would survive.

These two hours were exchanged with the lives of all the soldiers at the outposts.

There would always be sacrifices in war. What Qing Yi needed to do was to ensure that every sacrifice was worth it.

The chief of staff asked in a low voice, "Sir, can we win this war?"

Qing Yi glanced at the chief of staff and replied, "That's not something we need to consider right now."

The chief of staff was clearly taken aback by this answer. Actually, this sentence itself meant that Qing Yi was not confident about this battle. "Sir, what should we be considering?"

"We should consider how much time we can buy for the troops at the rear," Qing Yi said.

Other than being busy with coordinating the military's deployment, the Qing Consortium's various key branches at the rear were kept mostly busy with the burning of confidential documents.

Everything was carried out in secret. All of the classified units involved were placed under strict supervision and lockdown by Xu Man's secret forces.

Many of those who were highly aware could sense that this was the precursor to a retreat.

Some people tried their best to get this information out, but Xu Man's secret forces were much more elite than they imagined, and they were also better at carrying out such classified missions.

…

At the border between the Northwest and the Central Plains, the soldiers of Outpost 218 were standing on a hill at the entrance of the outpost. They were lined up in a long row and preparing to compete to see who could pee farthest.

The one who could pee the farthest would be the winner, while the one who peed the closest would be the loser.

The platoon commander looked at the soldiers around him and could not help but sigh that age was indeed catching up.

At the side, a soldier who peed the farthest said slyly, "Platoon Commander, you're gonna lose this time. Better admit defeat."

The platoon commander said, "Go on, what do you want? I can't give you my assigned gun though."

"I want that medal of yours." The soldier said with a wily smile, "I heard you got it in the war with the Zong Consortium?"

"No way!" the platoon commander refused immediately. "How dare you even ask? I risked my life to exchange for it. I didn't even sell it when someone offered me 50,000 yuan for it. Ask for something else!"

"Then give me your sister's photo," the soldier said.

The platoon commander immediately got angry. "You're not worthy!"

The soldiers next to them laughed heartily as they pulled up their pants. "Kid, you must be thinking of using the photo of our platoon commander's sister to—"

The platoon commander snapped at them, "All of you, back to your physical training, now!"

"By the way, Platoon Commander, have you met the future commander before? I heard he also participated in that war with the Zong Consortium," a soldier asked.

Although the outpost was not particularly far from Stronghold 144 and they would sometimes go there during their rotational breaks, they were not a part of the 6th Field Division. Rather, they were designated as part of the troops commanded by Zhou Yinglong. As such, they did not have any interaction with Ren Xiaosu.

As the future commander of the Northwest, Ren Xiaosu's reputation was already very high. After the 6th Field Division defeated the Kingdom of Sorcerers, Ren Xiaosu's reputation reached a high.

Therefore, anyone who might have interacted with Ren Xiaosu before would be surrounded and asked about the gossip surrounding him.

When the platoon commander at the outpost heard this, he immediately perked up. "When we attacked the Zong Consortium, the future commander and I were in the Forward Strike Battalion under Division Commander Zhou's leadership. He was in the Razor Sharp Company while I was part of the Second Company. At that time, on the very first day of the future commander's arrival at the Forward Strike Battalion, he already caused a ruckus…."

A soldier asked curiously, "Platoon Commander, how far do you think the future commander can pee since he's so strong? Have you ever competed against him before?"

The platoon commander looked at his men angrily. "How would I dare to compare myself to him? Wouldn't it be humiliating myself!"

"Well, that's true…."

"We're so close to Stronghold 144. I wonder if we'll get to see our future commander in the future."

"What are you fantasizing about? This is the border. How can we have a chance to meet a big shot like the future commander?"

The difference between this outpost facing the Central Plains and the ones facing the Kingdom of Sorcerers was that the environment here was not that harsh. They could even grow cabbages, onions, and other vegetables in the vicinity of the outpost.

There were usually 30 soldiers in an outpost. The facilities were complete, with physical training equipment, a small chow hall, a reading section, barracks, toilets, and a burn pit.[2]

A soldier suddenly saw a person running speedily up the mountain. "Someone's approaching. He's not wearing a military uniform, and it's a lone person."

"Prepare for battle." The platoon commander said, "Be careful in case it's a superhuman attack!"

But just as he spoke, the platoon commander felt that something was off. That was because the more he looked at that figure, the more familiar it looked. "Hang on, that's Future Commander!"

Ren Xiaosu ascended the mountain all the way to the outpost. From the moment the sentries discovered him, it only took a few minutes for him to reach their outpost.

In front of the outpost's entrance, all of the soldiers were looking at him excitedly.

However, Ren Xiaosu did not care about that. Instead, he asked the platoon commander, "Which unit are you from?"

"3rd Field Division, 173rd Regiment, Forward Strike Battalion's Zhao Shuai reporting!" the platoon commander answered, snapping to attention.

Ren Xiaosu nodded. "I'm Ren Xiaosu of the 6th Field Division. Are the communications at your outpost still in service?"

"It's operating normally." The platoon commander nodded enthusiastically. "The border outposts are connected by telephone lines, so our communications won't be affected."

"Connect me to Fortress 178's command headquarters," Ren Xiaosu said.

The platoon commander hurriedly ran back to the outpost and made a call. Then he got the operator to relay the call to Fortress 178.

After the call went through, Ren Xiaosu went inside and picked up the phone. The soldiers left the room and waited outside the door.

Such direct calls to the command center were classified as confidential, so normal soldiers were naturally not allowed to listen in.

When Ren Xiaosu heard Zhang Jinglin's familiar voice over the phone, he bluntly said, "The Central Plains have fallen. My preliminary assessment is that the entirety of the Central Plains has already fallen into the hands of the Wang Consortium's artificial intelligence. Their troops are slowly advancing towards the Northwest, and I believe it should be the same situation for the Southwest as well."

Zhang Jinglin was silent for a moment before saying, "Got it."

"I'll wait at this outpost for a day and observe the enemy's movements. If anything happens, you can reach me here," Ren Xiaosu said.

"Mhm." Zhang Jinglin said, "We'll speak again in eight hours. You should get some rest first."

After that, Zhang Jinglin hung up.

There was not much interaction between them. Zhang Jinglin did not doubt whether Ren Xiaosu's judgment was accurate, nor did Ren Xiaosu ask Zhang Jinglin how he was planning to react.

Over the years, both parties had already gotten to know each other very well. Ren Xiaosu believed that as long as this news was relayed back, Zhang Jinglin would definitely make the most correct decision.

When Ren Xiaosu walked out of the outpost, he finally had the time to size up the platoon commander. "Eh, have we met before?"

The platoon commander immediately got excited. Only then did the soldiers at the side confirm that their platoon commander was not bragging to them earlier.

The platoon commander stood to attention and said, "Future Commander, when you were in the Razor Sharp Company, I was a private in the Second Company."

"I see." Ren Xiaosu smiled. "Where's the barracks? I need to get some rest."

Ever since he went to Luo Lan's rescue, Ren Xiaosu had not closed his eyes for nearly 48 hours. He needed to get a good night's sleep before facing this even more dangerous world.

Translated by: Legge

Edited by: weirdo

[1] Screening is a defensive tactic in which a picket or outposts are used to hide the nature and strength of a military force; provide early warning of enemy approach; impede and harass the enemy main body with indirect fire; and report on the activity of the enemy main body. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screening_(tactical)

[2] A burn pit is an area of a military base in which waste is disposed of by burning.

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