Chapter 858 - Contest and outcome (2/2)

“Yes.” P5092 said coldly, “Carry out the Plan B I drafted. The rest of you, hang the corpses of these barbarians after dawn and make more of them remember this place.”

With that, the main forces of the Pyro Company’s 3rd Division started launching their attack. The artillery on standby atop the walls were excited by the sight of the army pressing on.

They drove their off-road vehicles mounted with heavy machine guns northwards to complete the final harvest on the battlefield.

But P5092 still did not show any joy of victory on his face. He ordered someone to bring over a pair of binoculars as he quietly looked into the distance.

There was a forest more than ten kilometers north of the Great Wall. Until now, the Pyro Company troops had been trying to determine the strength of the expeditionary army hidden in there. However, they lost contact with all of the scouts that went inside for reconnaissance.

No one knew what was hidden in there. Was it only the advance guard? No, P5092 was sure there were more of them.

The main forces of the 3rd Division were getting closer and closer to the forest. Meanwhile, the barbarians who survived the bombardment ran towards the forest as fast as they could.

Gradually, the formation of the 3rd Division’s main forces began to break up due to the rough terrain. Some of the companies had charged too far ahead while others had fallen behind.

When the troops at the front were about to get within two kilometers of the forest, gunfire also lit up in the forest to everyone’s surprise.

The Pyro Company troops farthest ahead were immediately gunned down by heavy machine guns, and the sound of mortars could even be heard in the forest.

But a moment later, the barbarians hiding in the forest realized that other than the few hundred Pyro Company soldiers farthest ahead who were killed, the soldiers had immediately retreated when they were still 4.5 kilometers away from the forest. It was as though they were aware of their range and left in advance!

The barbarians realized the main forces of the 3rd Division had not fallen behind at all. Instead, those at the back had deliberately not kept up with the leading forces. It was just that the main forces had pursued them with such aggressiveness that the barbarians could not figure out if they had done it on purpose.

Furthermore, no one noticed that the flares in the sky had stopped at some point. This seemed to also be a detail that was carefully planned for the feint attack. Without the illumination of the flares, it would be even more difficult for the barbarians to discern the disposition of the Pyro Company’s main forces.

In this brief contest, a lot of people had not expected that the barbarians could also use firearms and explosives. Before this, everyone thought they only knew how to attack with axes!

But P5092 had used the lives of several hundred people to let the other Pyro Company commanders know the barbarians were in fact more cunning than they had thought.

But regardless, P5092 emerged victorious again in this brief contest.

Next to him, his deputy commander asked, “Sir, how did you know the barbarians could use firearms and explosives?”

Plan B was only a feint. Right from the beginning, P5092 was not intending to wipe out all of the remaining barbarians. He only wanted to use a forlorn hope to test the waters and find out the actual situation.

Although some people had died in this battle, it was absolutely worthwhile for the commander to be able to use the lives of several hundred people to obtain such important intelligence in a huge war like this.

Just as Ren Xiaosu had concluded, even though the Pyro Company was fighting against the enemies from the North, it would not affect their ruthless and cold nature.

If this victory required P5092 to sacrifice himself, he would probably do it without any hesitation.

They were not only ruthless to others but also on themselves. All they wanted was the final outcome. The process did not matter to them at all.

“Although they lost their manufacturing know-how for firearms and explosives, everyone knows how powerful such weapons are.” P5092 said slowly, “After the fall of Stronghold 176, a lot of military weapons were left behind, so there was no reason for the barbarians not to use them. But before getting a confirmation, I couldn’t guarantee it. Go and look for the intelligence agency. I want to know before dawn what kind of other heavy weapons Stronghold 176 had.”

After that, P5092 turned around and descended the Great Wall. As it would be a prolonged war, there was no need for him to tire himself out on the Great Wall.