The First Order

Chapter 957: The mysterious troops

At the very least, there was one thing that Black Robe was sure of. In such a high-intensity battle, the expeditionary army’s reckless attacks would definitely deplete all of the 6th Combat Brigade’s ammunition very quickly.

It wouldn’t take long. Ten hours would be enough. If the attacks were even fiercer, eight hours might do it.

A brigade only had a limited amount of ammunition they could carry around. Furthermore, every military unit had a strict rule on carrying ammunition. This was commonly known as the standard ammo load.

If one were to describe it in detail, it would basically be like 60 rounds of pistol ammunition, 200 rounds of rifle ammunition, 500 rounds of machine gun ammunition for a platoon, 1,500 rounds of ammunition for coaxial machine guns for tanks, and 120 rounds of 82 mm mortar ammunition for each battalion.

The amount of ammunition they could carry was related to their battle endurance and also related to the weight the soldiers could carry. It was a very particular expertise since one should not carry too much, yet it could not be too little.

And this time, it was fortunate the 6th Combat Brigade had brought more ammo than normal when they set off from the Northwest. The Wang Consortium had also sent over another batch of heavy machine guns and heavy machine gun ammo. Otherwise, they would probably not even be able to last eight hours.

The battle was now a fight to the death, with victory and defeat to be decided within the next eight hours.

The Wang Consortium at Mt. Daniu was also aware of everything going on at Mt. Zuoyun. If Mt. Zuoyun were to fall, the Wang Consortium would have to bear the pressure of facing the remaining expeditionary army troops. This was also something they did not wish to see happen.

Therefore, just as the expeditionary army launched a fierce attack on Mt. Zuoyun, the Wang Consortium launched a full-scale counterattack at their side. They did not want to waste any more time and went all out against the enemy.

And this chain reaction was only possible because Ren Xiaosu had destroyed the barbarians’ supply columns.

At this moment, Wang Yun said to P5092, “I’ve made rounds at the various positions. Based on the current ammo consumption, we’ll face a no ammo situation in eight hours and 41 minutes. Of course, this is only theoretical data averaged out. The future commander’s wife will also get tired. If we continue fighting for another eight hours, her shot accuracy will surely drop. At that time, suppressive fire from the sniper will not be as effective anymore, and the ammo consumption at the positions will increase.”

P5092 nodded. “I understand.”

After that, P5092 turned to look at Xun Yeyu and pointed at a position on the sand table. “If you sense more than 10,000 expeditionary army troops gathering at this location, you must inform me immediately.”

Then P5092 said to Ji Zi’ang, “At that time, you’ll collapse Mountain No. 6 to delay the expeditionary army’s attack pace. Our current situation is not optimistic, but fortunately, we don’t only have firearms and explosives as our trump cards, but everyone here as well. Alright, let’s see to our own duties. Commander Zhang Husheng, I’ll have to trouble you to stand guard at Position 2. Once any heavily armored warriors appear over there, you must kill them all.”

The Great Hoodwinker chuckled and said, “Don’t worry, as long as I still have strength left, they won’t breach Position 2.”

With that, everyone departed for their positions. When Zhang Xiaoman left, he glared at the Great Hoodwinker. “Old man, we’ll settle the matter of you taking advantage of me another time. Let’s finish fighting this battle first.”

The Great Hoodwinker walked off happily. “You’re making it sound like you can beat me. Besides, you weren’t even born yet when I knew your father, so what’s wrong with me taking advantage of you a little? Besides, how do you know for sure that I’m not your biological father?”

Zhang Xiaoman was so angry his eyes nearly popped out. This dishonest old man was really taking advantage of him at every opportunity! Jerk!

Zhang Xiaoman scolded, “Even if I can’t beat you, do you think you can stop me from cursing you? Just you wait, I’ll curse you until you vomit blood after the battle ends!”

P5092 walked to the defensive position and looked at the assaulting expeditionary army outside. Next to him, Wang Yun suddenly said, “Actually, you’re not optimistic about our situation, right? Although I can’t figure it out from your expression, I’ve counted that you blink 16 times a minute when you’re relaxed and nine times when you’re nervous.”

P5092 smiled. “It’s really difficult to hide anything from someone like you.”

“Future Commander and his wife have clearly displayed their great strength, and everyone is also giving everything they have for this battle. Seeing that the expeditionary army’s numbers are lessening, why are you still getting more worried?” Wang Yun asked.

“Because we’re fighting an isolated battle here.” P5092 sighed and said, “Just now, Xun Yeyu said that another group of troops have appeared in the northwest. There aren’t many of them, only 2,000. They’re currently 80 kilometers away, and based on their marching speed, they’ll arrive at the battlefield in two hours.”

Wang Yun was stunned. “That can’t be right. Why would the barbarians be coming from the northwest? Shouldn’t they be from the north? Could those troops be from our Northwest Army?”

Wang Yun’s choice of words when mentioning the Northwest changed.

P5092 said, “You also know that Xun Yeyu can perceive the life force of others. According to him, other than Future Commander, as long as anyone appears in his mental perception, he can determine their strength based on the intensity of their ‘flames.’”

Wang Yun immediately understood. “Xun Yeyu told you that those 2,000 troops are very powerful?”

“Yes.” P5092 nodded and said, “Their flames are even stronger than that of normal barbarians.”

Wang Yun was also shocked. It was impossible that there were so many powerful supernatural beings in the Northwest. If there were, the Great Hoodwinker and Ren Xiaosu would definitely know about them.

Therefore, for 2,000 elites to suddenly appear to the northwest, they had to be the barbarians’ reinforcements. After all, no one knew how many barbarians there were in the North and how many troops they had, so it should be no surprise that they could send more people.

It turned out P5092 was not optimistic because Xun Yeyu had discovered the presence of the enemy’s reinforcements.

This time, Wang Yun could not feel optimistic either.

…

At the same time, a group of troops were advancing rapidly on the mountain roads in the northwest. They followed the highway that led to the Central Plains and left it when they were 310 kilometers away from Mt. Zuoyun, because the road did not lead to Mt. Zuoyun.

The 2,000-strong force crossed the mountains swiftly. It wasn’t until they could see Mt. Zuoyun from afar that Luo Lan, the leader of the group, suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked at the map. “We’re heading in the right direction. Mt. Zuoyun is up ahead. All fighting forces, be careful. We’ll arrive at the outer perimeter of Mt. Zuoyun in an hour. After we take a break there, we’ll go and beat the shit out of those barbarians. Understand?”

The commanders of various fighting forces responded over the radio, “Roger that.”

“Roger that.”

“Roger that.”

At this moment, Luo Lan was wearing an XL-sized combat uniform. When he was checking the map, it looked like he was ordering food from a menu in a restaurant. He muttered, “I wonder if Xiaosu and the others can hold on until we get there. I think they can. After all, fighting the barbarians should be as easy as chopping melons for him.”

Behind Luo Lan was an entire reinforced regiment of nanosoldiers. Every one of the soldiers had silvery strands on their faces. The blood flowing through their veins was silver in color, and they looked just like 2,000 troops that had descended down from the Heavens.