266 Live targets on the battlefield (1/2)

Li Qingzheng was in a joyous mood. Not only did they upgrade their gear, but they were also given a resupply of rations. More importantly, Ren Xiaosu had immediately promoted him to commander of the reinforced company after being appointed major. As such, Li Qingzheng had even more soldiers under his command now.

180 people used to be in the reinforced company. But after the battle, the entire reinforced company had nearly been wiped out by the Qing Consortium.

That was mainly because Ren Xiaosu had deliberately arranged for the reinforced company to follow close to him and made them the main fighting force in that battle. How could there be no casualties in a war? After all, bullets are blind!

At the time, everyone realized that Ren Xiaosu had also rushed out furthest to the front. So why had all the people around him died, yet he was left unscathed?

After the battle ended, Ren Xiaosu even led everyone to mourn for their dead comrades. He said with a very sorrowful look, ”Our brothers in arms led a great life and died such a glorious death. Some of them fought bravely, and others even died saving me…”

How could those soldiers from the reinforced company possibly give up their lives to save Ren Xiaosu? The others might believe it, but Li Qingzheng and Jiang Wu's students were not convinced.

But nobody minded. In this era, the living had no time to grieve for the dead.

Besides, it wasn't like they had a foundation of friendship with them to begin with.

This time, they were under orders of command headquarters to head northwards and had been requested to join up with the garrison at Position 313 where a large group of the Li Consortium's combat troops were also stationed.

Usually, private troops would not get deployed to important strategic locations like Position 313 to provide support. But the situation with the Heroes Battalion was a little different. No one could say for sure if they were still considered as private troops or not.

After all, none of the battalion commanders in the private army had been given official appointments before, and no private army had ever defeated any of the Qing Consortium's combat troops either.

Let alone the private troops, not even the Li Consortium's regular troops were a match for the Qing Consortium's regular troops.

On their way there, they passed two forward operating bases. The treatment they received when they entered the FOBs was different this time. The commanders of the FOBs even welcomed them with great hospitality when they arrived, and they were served good food that included delectable meat dishes.

Not only did they have food to eat when they arrived, but they also found it unnecessary to pack some buns to take with them on departure. The people from the FOBs would load up baskets of buns onto the vehicles and even gave them beef jerky to bring along!

This made Ren Xiaosu feel somewhat uncomfortable. There was no room for him to make use of his street smarts!

When the commander of the FOB sent them off, he said with a smile, ”I wish you all the best going forward. When you get to Position 313, we hope to hear about the glory of our Li Consortium's combat troops again…”

He took 20 minutes just to bid farewell to them. It was undeniable that he was fawning upon them.

Actually, this was just how the Li Consortium's system was structured. When a new star rose, the sycophants would always think this would be a good opportunity to pander to those above them. If they did not do it now, it would be too late when the new star reached the top!

But after they resumed their journey, even Li Qingzheng noticed something was off. ”Xiaosu, I've realized that everyone seems to know we're heading to Position 313. Something doesn't feel right.”

The movement of a fighting force was generally kept confidential, and it was the same even for the private troops. Friendly forces were not allowed to ask about each other's battle plans without authorization from the higher-ups!

But it was really odd this time. It seemed that someone was deliberately telling everyone that the Heroes Battalion was headed for Position 313!

Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, ”What do you think is the reason for that?”

”Are they using us to bait the Qing Consortium?” Li Qingzheng wondered. He was taking a shot in the dark as he wasn't certain about it either. After all, his views were the same as any other refugee's. It was very sharp of him that he was able to guess this.

Ren Xiaosu sighed and said, ”So that's how the Li Consortium treats their heroes. I suppose they're too smart for their own good.”

”What do you mean?” Li Qingzheng asked curiously.

Next to them, Chen Wudi piped up, ”What my master meant was, how could anyone not have guessed it when even you were able to think of it?”

Li Qingzheng was speechless.

However, Ren Xiaosu was also aware that this was a very obvious move. The Li Consortium was openly telling the Qing Consortium that the private troops who had humiliated them would be at Position 313 and was challenging them to go there.

If they did not dare to go, it would also be considered a blow to the Qing Consortium's morale. But if they did, they would have a fierce battle on their hands.