The First Order

Chapter 972: Getting the news

That powerful general of the expeditionary army was dead. Perhaps not even the general himself could have expected to die in such a careless manner.

Thousands of barbarians rushed out of the expeditionary army’s camp holding giant axes in their hands in an attempt to avenge their general.

At first, they only received orders to muster when they heard it was an enemy attack. Later, word went around that the general had been killed by the enemy.

The barbarian soldiers at the camp who did not know what was going on just assumed the Wang Consortium’s main forces had caught up with them and were prepared to fight to the death with the general.

They were prepared to sacrifice themselves for the glory of the expeditionary army.

But when they rushed out, they only saw the caboose of the steam locomotive moving away.

The barbarians were stunned. These people had come over in such a grand manner just so they could fire once at them and run away? Nobody could make sense of the situation!

“Should we give chase?”

“After them! We have to avenge our general!”

As P5092 watched the expeditionary army’s camp getting farther and farther away, he felt a little emotional. This strategy was way too nefarious. They were fully relying on their impressive mobility to take advantage of the situation before fleeing.

If the steam locomotive traveled at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour, even a powerful barbarian could not catch up with such a mode of transportation. Even if there were someone with an explosive speed comparable to that of the steam locomotive, how many people could last for more than ten minutes at full speed? If they even sprinted for an entire minute, it would put great pressure on their heart and lungs.

However, Ren Xiaosu did not drive the steam locomotive too fast. He kept a fixed distance from the pursuing barbarians and even slowed down.

Nearby, Zhang Xiaoman asked, “Why did you slow down? Have you overtaxed your mental strength?”

Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “No, I’m slowing down so the barbarians will think that they can catch up to the steam locomotive if they run harder. That way, we can slowly lure them away from the main group.”

P5092 stared at Ren Xiaosu’s profile and realized the young commander was also full of dirty tricks. He was clearly trying to tire out the barbarians who had come seeking revenge.

Once their stamina ran out, Ren Xiaosu would definitely turn around and head back to battle to finish them off.

“But we don’t have any ammo left.” P5092 said, “Even if they get tired from running, we might not be able to kill many of them when we turn back. Of course, it’ll also be good for the Wang Consortium troops if we can wear them out.”

As soon as he finished speaking, P5092 saw Ren Xiaosu take out several dozen crates of grenades from somewhere.

Ren Xiaosu said calmly, “This is the last of my stash.”

While Ren Xiaosu was leading the 6th Combat Brigade into guerrilla warfare, the Wang Consortium troops at Mt. Daniu’s front line finally achieved victory.

The Wang Consortium’s main forces had been fighting very hard on the main battlefield, and now it was finally time for them to counterattack.

The Wang Consortium’s main forces advanced northwards from three different routes, nipping at the routed expeditionary army’s heels all the way. Not only did they want to kill these barbarians, but they also wanted to continue pursuing north to kill the rest of the expeditionary army that had previously retreated.

During the pursuit, the Wang Consortium’s main forces that were pushing forward from the west killed all of the remaining barbarians who fled from Mt. Daniu. In the end, they continued pursuing north for more than ten kilometers before the troops saw a steam locomotive lying in their path. The thousands of soldiers of the 6th Combat Brigade could be seen leaning against the exterior of the steam locomotive and chatting.

They looked extremely relaxed, and some people were even playing cards!

Their uniforms were all tattered and their faces were dirty, but they still looked very laid back.

On this tense battlefield, these soldiers seemed a little out of place with the rest of the world.

This sight left the Wang Consortium’s main forces dumbfounded. When the commander of this fighting force approached them with his soldiers, Ren Xiaosu walked up to them.

Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “The expeditionary army’s troops that evacuated are about 20 kilometers to the north. If y’all double time it, you should be able to catch up to them very quickly. There should’ve been around 30,000 of them, but we managed to lure some of them out and killed them.”

The commander of the Wang Consortium’s main forces shook hands with Ren Xiaosu. “Thank you to the Northwest for the help you’ve given. If it weren’t for you all holding back half of the enemy’s troops at Mt. Zuoyun, we probably couldn’t have held out. Before that, we were prepared to retreat back to the South.”

“You’re too polite. It’s what we should do.” Ren Xiaosu said, “If y’all really want to thank us, you can lower the tariffs on our Northwestern goods. We’ll have our people make a special trip to the Wang Consortium to discuss this matter. Since you want to express your gratitude, it’ll have to be something practical…”

The Wang Consortium officer’s face twitched a little. Shouldn’t this be the moment for making some inspirational speech? For example, saying something like “I did this for the sake of our nation’s justice” or “this is for the unity of the Alliance of Strongholds” or something similar. Why did he suddenly bring up something so practical like tariffs?

Off the side, the Great Hoodwinker looked at Ren Xiaosu in admiration. He felt that the future commander was really getting into his role. Bluntly mentioning tariffs in this setting was something most people really couldn’t do.

Ren Xiaosu said, “Alright, I won’t delay your pursuit.”

“Everyone, why don’t you head to the camp at Mt. Daniu first so we can entertain you there?” the Wang Consortium’s commander suggested.

“There’s no need. What’s the point of wasting that time? Everyone’s in a hurry to get back home and reunite with their families.” Ren Xiaosu said, “Go on then. We’ll be heading back to the Northwest.”

The Wang Consortium’s commander shook hands with Ren Xiaosu again. “Alright, since we have a pursuit mission, let’s just bid farewell.”

With that, his staff officers beside him also stepped forward and shook hands with the main figures of the Northwest Army.

But when Ren Xiaosu shook hands with the last person, he was suddenly taken aback.

A moment later, the Wang Consortium’s troops resumed marching north. But before they could get far, they were greeted by the sight of barbarian corpses strewn all over the ground.

The Wang Consortium’s officers looked at one another. What did the Northwest Army say just now? They lured some of them out and killed them? Was this some of them?

The Wang Consortium troops turned around and looked behind them, but the steam locomotive had already disappeared.

The steam locomotive suddenly came to a stop not long after they headed west.

P5092 and the others came to the front of the train and asked, “Future Commander, why have you stopped?”

But he saw Ren Xiaosu holding a small piece of paper and looking stunned.

Ren Xiaosu turned around and looked at P5092. “Do you remember how we became acquainted?”

P5092 smiled and said, “You asked me for a copy of Hope Media’s newspaper to read. You came to me on time every morning shortly after I received the day’s newspaper.”

“Mhm.” Ren Xiaosu nodded. “I like reading Hope Media’s newspapers. As I don’t have any intel sources, Hope Media’s newspapers are my way of knowing about the world. And I know that every word reported in their newspapers is true.”

P5092 was stunned. He did not understand why Ren Xiaosu would suddenly bring this up.