403 Bickering before battle (1/2)

The sound of artillery fire from Shichuan Village was intense. Ren Xiaosu had lit up as many as seven campfires out there. Meanwhile, the Zong Consortium's soldiers did not think too much and decided to bombard those areas first.

Actually, it was very chaotic on the battlefield. Most of the time, the officers would not even have time to consider their actions too carefully, and it was normal to fight the moment they spotted their enemies.

Only a small number of commanders could remain calm in the chaos and take the right course of action. And it was these commanders who would emerge victorious from a battle. Some would then go on to become famous military leaders.

The artillery fire quickly put the Second Company and Third Company, who were currently storming the machine gun positions, on high alert. When they heard the sound of the bombardment, they thought the Razor Sharp Company had already started the attack on the town!

Importantly, the battle plan was for the three companies to rendezvous before launching an attack on the town. It was practically impossible for a single company to capture Shichuan Village, and the casualty count would definitely be disastrous as well.

Both Second Company and Third Company called in to Zhou Yinglong at the rear in unison. They were hoping he could stop the recklessness of the Razor Sharp Company. Although the Razor Sharp Company had just accomplished great things by taking mountain forss, there were two things in a battle that all soldiers were afraid of. One was cowardice, and the other was arrogance.

An army cocksure of its invincibility was doomed to defeat.

When Zhou Yinglong heard about the situation at the front line, he got anxious. He quickly found a radio operator to contact the Razor Sharp Company in the hopes they could still get through to them.

In the end, the call went through very quickly. Zhou Yinglong said anxiously, ”Did you guys start attacking Shichuan Village already? Zhang Xiaoman, are you crazy? Didn't I tell you to wait until you joined up with Second Third Companies before launching an attack? If your Razor Sharp Company suffers heavy casualties, I'll hold you responsible!”

Zhang Xiaoman said innocently, ”Battalion Commander, we're eating right now. We didn't start attacking Shichuan Village.”

Zhou Yinglong was taken aback. ”Are you sure? Then what's with the sound of the bombardment?” Zhou Yinglong could still hear the artillery bombardment on the other end while holding the receiver to his ear.

Zhang Xiaoman patiently explained, ”I told Ren Xiaosu earlier that since we were very close to Shichuan Village, we shouldn't light any campfires or risk ending up as targets for the enemy. In the end, he ran off to a faraway place and started many campfires. He said he wanted to make the enemy at Shichuan Village waste some of their shells….”

It went silent in the call. Zhou Yinglong had not expected a situation like this. He said in a daze, ”Where's Ren Xiaosu?”

”Oh yeah, where's Ren Xiaosu?” Zhang Xiaoman looked around but could not find Ren Xiaosu. Then he saw another group of campfires lighting up in the distance. He said numbly, ”He went out to start a few more campfires.”

But this time, the Zong Consortium's troops in Shichuan Village seemed to have realized that something was amiss. They gradually stopped their bombardment.

But after waiting half the night, Zhang Xiaoman did not see another campfire light up. Meanwhile, Ren Xiaosu had also not returned yet.

He muttered to Jiao Xiaochen, ”I wonder what Ren Xiaosu's up to now?”

When dawn was about to break, Ren Xiaosu finally came back. Zhang Xiaoman leaned forward and sniffed. He could still smell gunpowder on Ren Xiaosu. ”Where have you been?”

”When I saw that Second Company and Third Company still hadn't arrived even after waiting for so long, I thought I'd go help them,” Ren Xiaosu explained.

Zhang Xiaoman froze. He realized he had underestimated Ren Xiaosu's ferocity. He still had the strength to go and help his allies.

As they were speaking, Second Company and Third Company finally arrived. The commander of Second Company was still wondering as they walked over, ”I wonder who helped us destroy that MG position with a grenade…”

Zhang Xiaoman glanced over at Ren Xiaosu. At this moment, Ren Xiaosu was squatting behind the bushes and quietly watching the silent Shichuan Village in the distance.