The First Order
chapter-256

After agreeing on what time to meet the next day, they went their separate ways.

Some people at the private troops’ campsite did not even dare to step out of their tents after seeing how the Divine Arms officers were killed by the Brambles. None of them were willing to go out and look for food even though they were starving.

At this moment, the ground was covered with a thick layer of snow. They did not know whether there were still more of the Brambles buried under it. If they took a wrong step, it would result in their deaths.

But this was exactly what Ren Xiaosu wanted so it would be more convenient for him to act alone.

When Ren Xiaosu went out to meet Tang Zhou the next night, Tang Zhou said ecstatically the moment they met, “Boss Luo and Mr. Qing Zhen have succeeded in seizing command of the military. They’re the ones calling the shots in the military now!”

Ren Xiaosu wondered, “Didn’t you say they were under house arrest at Stronghold 111?”

“It’s like this,” Tang Zhou explained, “Boss Luo and Mr. Qing Zhen were sent to serve as military advisors. When they got there, they killed Qing Yun, and Mr. Qing Zhen took over as commanding officer of the Qing Consortium’s military on the front lines.”

Ren Xiaosu was taken aback. “That can happen? Is no one going to oppose them?”

“If they send someone else to replace Qing Yun at this time, the Qing Consortium would probably not be able to take part in the war anymore,” Tang Zhou analyzed. “If the Yang Consortium and the Li Consortium take advantage of the situation, the entire Qing Consortium will be in grave danger.”

“Alright then.” Ren Xiaosu believed Qing Zhen had probably been eyeing this opportunity before he dared to act so recklessly. But still, Qing Zhen was… really ruthless.

Tang Zhou said, “Mr. Qing Zhen agreed to cooperate with you. Their fighting forces have already gone on ahead to the ambush location to wait for the arrival of the Divine Arms Battalion. Furthermore, Mr. Qing Zhen has expressed that he will not wipe out the Divine Arms Battalion as agreed and hopes that our cooperation will proceed smoothly.”

Ren Xiaosu nodded. Qing Zhen was quite a dependable person. At least he was better than that Qing Yun Tang Zhou had mentioned. However, Ren Xiaosu said, “Don’t just tell me all that. Shouldn’t the Qing Consortium be promising me something more practical?”

Tang Zhou was stunned for a moment. “I didn’t bring that up, but I can tell Mr. Qing Zhen about it. He’s never been petty about such things before.”

“That’s more like it.” Ren Xiaosu broke into a smile.

But Tang Zhou asked in wonder, “Why are you stopping us from killing everyone in the Divine Arms Battalion? After all, there shouldn’t be much of a relationship between you and them since you were conscripted into their military.”

Ren Xiaosu patiently explained, “I want to help the Yang Consortium collect some samples of the Li Consortium’s nanomachines.”

Tang Zhou seemed to figure something out and smiled ambiguously. “Oh, I see. When I left Stronghold 109, I felt like there was something special between you and Yang Xiaojin. She even carried you on her back back then. Say, why didn’t you go to the Yang Consortium then? Although you were conscripted, there should’ve been opportunities for you to leave. Our intel tells us the Li Consortium does not enforce strict controls at the beginning.”

Ren Xiaosu did not explain much and let Tang Zhou assume whatever he wanted…

Tang Zhou would never figure out that the reason he did not go to Stronghold 88 was because he did not know where it was.

…

The next day, the expected time of the Divine Arms Battalion’s surprise raid against the Qing Consortium was coming. Although the roads had been sealed off by the heavy snow, the Divine Arms Battalion was still pushing on with their journey.

In the eyes of the Divine Arms Battalion, their purpose here was to sneak attack their enemies.

People outside did not know how mobile the Divine Arms Battalion was, nor how their soldiers’ physical fitness was greatly enhanced with the use of nanomachines. Therefore, if no one expected them to be able to continue trekking in the heavy snowfall, it would be their best opportunity to strike.

The Divine Arms Battalion’s major looked at his GPS as he led his troops in forging a path in the snow. He said, “We’ll be arriving at the Qing Consortium’s logistics base in half a day. I want everyone to be extremely careful. After we destroy the Qing Consortium’s baggage train, we’ll evacuate from there immediately. We’ll then wait for our nanomachines to recharge before we launch another surprise attack on their other forces!”

But as he finished, a loud explosion boomed in the distance. After getting stunned for a moment, the Divine Arms Battalion’s major shouted, “Retreat! Avoid the arty fire!”

The major of the Divine Arms Battalion had immense amounts of combat experience. In an instant, he realized they had been ambushed by the Qing Consortium and that the loud explosion was from the Qing Consortium’s artillery fire!

The first thing he shouted was for his troops to retreat, not throw themselves prone, because the Divine Arms Battalion was an ultra mobile force. If they retreated immediately, they would still have a chance to outrun the range of the artillery fire. But if they went prone here, only death awaited them.

Since the Qing Consortium had come prepared, could they escape these attacks by just going prone?

But still, his words were too late.

They could hear the faraway artillery fire crackling like firecrackers followed by successive explosions within the forested mountain!

The snowy ground around the Divine Arms troops was breaking apart as artillery shells plowed down on them. Qing Zhen wasn’t planning on giving them a chance to get close.

The Divine Arms soldiers traveled within the forested mountains at high speed. Some of them were even quick enough to avoid getting caught in the trajectory of the artillery shells and got clear of the maximum kill radius of howitzers.

But the barrage of artillery fire was too numerous. With just a single volley of artillery fire, more than half of the Divine Arms soldiers got killed or wounded! Even if they had the nanomachines, it didn’t mean they could withstand shelling. When a 120 mm HE shell containing 3.5 kilograms of TNT was launched out of a howitzer, it could wipe out all life within a four-meter radius in a flash! In addition, all of the Divine Arms soldiers within a 25-meter radius of an artillery shell’s landing spot would get hit by a huge blast wave and shrapnel, resulting in an effective kill zone!

The gods had never once bestowed weapons on humans, but humans still forged their own sword that could even kill gods.

Fortunately for the Divine Arms major, he did not die from the bombardment. But all he felt was despair. No matter how well-trained they were, they still could not match the Qing Consortium’s preparedness in this battle. But the Divine Arms major could not understand why the Qing Consortium would be waiting here in ambush.

They had been very cautious in their movements. At the start, they pretended they were heading for the Yang Consortium’s front line before secretly rerouting to here. They even swapped their uniforms and vehicles with the private troops.

After changing their identities, they had not met any friendly forces, but disaster still struck in the end.

Just how was the news leaked?!

Seeing that fewer and fewer soldiers were still alive around him, the Divine Arms major knew they were done for. Even his status as a family member of the Li Consortium would not protect him from punishment for losing this battle.

At this moment, Qing Zhen was standing in front of the Qing Consortium’s defensive line and looking calmly in the direction of the Divine Arms Battalion. He put up his hand. “Alright, stop firing.”

The soldiers around him did not inquire why. At a time like this, they should have obviously been pursuing their enemies in victory.

Besides, Qing Zhen had even specifically had them change the 152 mm shells to the 120 mm ones. No matter how they looked at it, it seemed like he was showing mercy to their enemies. However, the soldiers under Qing Zhen’s command would never doubt his decisions.

But nobody understood how Qing Zhen had managed to find out the Divine Arms Battalion would be coming here. Could it be that Qing Zhen’s moles had already infiltrated deep into the Li Consortium? He even knew the whereabouts of the most mysterious Divine Arms Battalion? That was too terrifying!

Suddenly, Qing Zhen laughed and said, “I think the Li Consortium has not fought a war for too long. They don’t even know how to take advantage of the good weapon they have in their hands. Even when dealt good cards, they all go to waste in their hands.”