The First Order
chapter-1250

D−8.

When Ren Xiaosu found out there were only nine days left til the end of this war, he did not feel nervous at all.

Regardless of success or failure, and regardless of whether human civilization could survive into the future, the answer would be revealed in nine days.

All he needed to do was to survive the next nine days with everyone.

Ren Xiaosu started patrolling the defensive line. He was surprised to discover that a large number of civilians here were not evacuees who had fled the four strongholds in the east but Fortress 178 residents.

At this moment, it was not only the four strongholds in the east that were being evacuated. Even the remaining nine strongholds had started evacuating to the rear of Fortress 178. That was because the Qing Consortium's troops had been defeated.

If they only had to face the enemy here in the Northwest, the defensive line might be able to hold for a while.

But coupled with the surging horde from the Qing Consortium's side, it would probably be very difficult for the defensive line to stop the enemy's advance.

Therefore, all the stronghold residents aside from those in Fortress 178 started fleeing.

But just as everyone was busy retreating, the Fortress 178 residents actually volunteered to come to the front line to help the Northwest Army construct the defensive line.

For some reason, Ren Xiaosu could sense an aura of greatness from these Fortress 178 residents. It was as though battling through life and death with the Northwest Army was something glorious to them. They dared to do what no one else did.

Of course, this was also due to the culture of the Northwest Army. At Fortress 178, the soldiers there were the guardians of the stronghold. Everyone knew what these soldiers went through to keep them protected.

Ren Xiaosu saw the Fortress 178 residents eating in the chow hall after they were finished working. When they chatted with the other residents, their faces were still full of smiles. There didn't seem to be any hint of fear at all.

Then something wondrous happened.

When the first wave of evacuees arrived at the defensive line, these Fortress 178 residents actually volunteered to assist the Northwest Army. They organized these evacuees to take a short break behind the defensive line before they continued their evacuation.

The Fortress 178 residents would even comfort the evacuees by saying, "The residents of the Northwest are just like family. When y'all get to Fortress 178, we'll still be family. Don't be afraid. After the Northwest Army wins the war, we can fight back for our homes together."

These Fortress 178 residents seemingly got into the role of counselors. Meanwhile, the evacuees, who were initially panicking, became much calmer after being comforted.

However, the evacuees asked if the Northwest could really win the war. If they could, why was there a need to retreat?

Although everyone was still somewhat confident in the Northwest Army, they still felt a lot of anxiety from their evacuation journey.

In the end, a Fortress 178 resident said, "Look, isn't the Northwest Army fine even after clashing with the sorcerers for so many years? Moreover, with the future commander and a large group of superhumans fighting on our side, how can we lose? Tell me how would that be possible?"

These two rhetorical questions left the evacuees dumbfounded. With that said, everyone felt that the Northwest Army could indeed emerge victorious. Although they did not know how they were going to win, they knew the war would be over by just winning.

After the first group of evacuees had been calmed down, the others who arrived later were even more reassured.

Unknowingly, the most troublesome issue of the evacuees was actually the first to be resolved.

Moreover, on the same night, the younger evacuees started discussing among themselves. Then they collectively ran to the officer in charge of constructing the defensive line and said, "We also want to participate in the building of the defensive line."

The officer shook his head and answered bluntly, "Don't cause more trouble here. There's already enough hands working."

The young evacuees were immediately unhappy. They pointed at the Fortress 178 residents and said, "Why is it that they can contribute but not us?"

The officer was puzzled right then and there. Did they think they were missing out on some great deal? Why were they even fighting over something like that?

This matter caused an uproar and even alarmed Zhang Jinglin.

As a result, Zhang Jinglin decided to set some conditions for acceptance. As long as they were young men between the ages of 18 to 28, they could sign up to participate in the construction of the defensive line. However, they would have to ensure they obeyed orders. Furthermore, they could not volunteer on a whim and run away the next day when they felt tired. If they wanted to contribute, they would have to persevere until the end.

Only then did the young people stop making a fuss.

Although it sounded a little unreal, this was still a good thing.

Currently, the Northwest's defensive line was not stable, or there wouldn't be a need for the 6th Field Division to stall for time.

Therefore, the construction of this battlefront would indeed require a lot of manpower.

During the combat meeting that night, Ren Xiaosu sat on Zhang Jinglin's left and listened to the various commanders' reports on the progress of the defensive line's construction.

When it was Wang Fengyuan's turn to speak, he raised a point of suspicion. "Based on our calculations of the enemy's speed of advance, they should be arriving at Outpost 219 by today. However, they didn't discover any signs of the enemy over there. I wonder what's slowing them down."

"What's your opinion?" Zhang Jinglin asked.

"I'm worried that the AI is plotting something again, so I'm planning to send Zhou Yinglong's Forward Strike Battalion to carry out long-range reconnaissance. Although it's very dangerous, it's necessary to gather intel," Wang Fengyuan answered.

But at this moment, a combat staff officer outside reported that Commander Zhang Husheng had arrived at the defensive line with the last group of evacuees and also had something important to report.

Ren Xiaosu asked the combat staff officer, "How about the 6th Field Division? Didn't they arrive together?"

"No, they didn't, Future Commander!" the combat staff officer answered.

Ren Xiaosu immediately tensed up.

Seeing the Great Hoodwinker running into the command center, Ren Xiaosu asked, "Who else came here with you?"

"Ms. Xiaojin, Ms. Zhou Yingxue, Wang Fugui, and the rest," the Great Hoodwinker answered. "The 6th Field Division has gone to harass the enemy troops under P5092's lead. He said that this defensive line will take another two days to complete, so the 6th Field Division needed to buy another two days for the rear. Moreover, he determined that a group of AI-controlled troops had infiltrated the rear. They're likely the nanosoldiers who went to our aid at Mt. Zuoyun. He intends to eliminate this threat."

Ren Xiaosu clenched his fists tightly.

Everyone in the command center who heard the Great Hoodwinker's report gasped. The 6th Field Division only had about 40,000 soldiers. Even if the former Pyro Company troops were highly trained in combat, even if they were led by a genius commander like P5092, and even if the 6th Field Division had the highest number of superhumans, it would still be incredible if they could hold off the enemy for a day with a single division's strength.

However, P5092's goal was to hold them off for two days.

No matter how the 6th Field Division might achieve this objective, everyone would have to admire them for it.

After the battles on Mt. Zuoyun and in the Kingdom of Sorcerers, the 6th Field Division had already become the strongest fighting force in the Northwest Army. When the other fighting forces spoke of this unit, they could only let out an emotional sigh.

Zhang Jinglin looked at Ren Xiaosu and lamented, "You've really recruited quite a few geniuses for the Northwest."

He said that because P5092 could accurately determine the situation at the rear just by reading the defense report. Moreover, P5092 also accurately predicted what kind of ambush Ren Xiaosu would encounter and how the artificial intelligence would infiltrate with its elite troops at the Northwest's rear.

The Northwest had never had a genius like him before.

To be honest, the Northwest Army had always relied on their courage to fight wars. Although Zhang Jinglin's leadership was outstanding, it was still an overstatement to call him a famous leader of his generation.

But P5092 was different from people such as Qing Zhen. He was someone born for war. Meanwhile, Qing Zhen was better at planning ahead for the big picture. Even Qing Zhen could not imagine how long it would take him to determine how much time the rear would need by just reading a defense report.

Therefore, if Qing Zhen, P5092, Wang Shengzhi, and Zhang Jinglin were to be put on the same battlefield and lead the same troops, P5092 might be the one who would end up taking the final victory.

Zhang Jinglin said to Ren Xiaosu, "Go and support P5092. If he survives, it would be more suitable if he took over command of the entire defensive line."

Ren Xiaosu nodded. "I'll go right away."

But at this moment, Wang Fengyuan said, "There's no need to go. I've just received news from Outpost 219 that P5092 is retreating to the defensive line with some of the 6th Field Division. They'll probably get here by tomorrow."

Zhang Jinglin said, "All units, intensify your efforts for the construction of your defensive positions. The defensive positions must be able to hold off the enemy for more than five days. We can't let the efforts of the 6th Field Division go to waste. Additionally, when P5092 arrives at the defensive line, he will temporarily take over command of the Northwest's defense efforts. I hope everyone will give him your most active cooperation."

Under normal circumstances, it would be very complicated to have an "outsider" take command of the defense efforts. However, in the Northwest Army, that only required one word from Zhang Jinglin.

As for whether P5092 was up to the task, hadn't he already proven himself?

Translated by: Legge

Edited by: weirdo