Milo and the soldiers of the Iron First Company hanged the barbarian corpses on the trees beyond the mountains.
The barbarians’ bodies dangled from the ropes hung around their necks while their ears that were cut off were piled up under the trees. Their swaying bodies were so heavy they even caused the thick branches to bend.
The Iron First Company’s commander muttered, “F*ck, these barbarians are pretty heavy!”
After they finished the task, the Iron First Company was totally worn out. Doing something to deliberately annoy the barbarians was not easy work either.
Milo recalled a novel called ‘Spare me, Great Lord’ that favonovel.com had read back in Stronghold 88. In it, the protagonist got stronger by annoying people. If favonovel.com also had that power, favonovel.com would have become invincible by the end of this battle. Just the negative feelings that could be gained out of annoying and killing the barbarians would probably be off the charts!
What a pity.
Milo returned to the camp with the Iron First Company. The defensive position had already entered a Level One alert state. All of the soldiers would rotate in three shifts so someone would always be on duty.
Moreover, Bruce’s 200-odd subordinates had now become the 2nd Reconnaissance Company of the 6th Combat Brigade, and they entered the wilderness together with the original recon company to prevent the barbarians from sneaking into their position. After all, Mt. Zendravasih spanned a large area. If the barbarians were to sneak in from other directions, it would be troublesome.
P5092 stood at the entrance of the camp to welcome back Milo. “Great work!”
“It’s nothing, but what’s coming next will be a tough battle.” Milo said, “What should we do when we get surrounded by the barbarians? Although we’ll have the advantage in a positional battle, we’ll still run out of ammunition and food someday. Also, how do we solve the problem of our water source?”
“If it’s about the water source, we’ve already got spring water here at our defensive position. Back when we were choosing the site, I already thought such a day would come.” P5092 said, “As for the food, we’re lucky you took some of the barbarians’ supplies back. Including the 6th Combat Brigade’s original rations, we have enough to last us another fortnight.”
“And what happens after that?” Milo asked.
P5092 shook his head. “The barbarians can’t possibly keep attacking Mt. Zendravasih for half a month, unless the Stelaria Consortium does not take any action at all. Just think. If the expeditionary army’s main forces remain here and surround us, the Stelaria Consortium’s side will be left with nothing much to do. All they need to do is to work with us and we can attack from both sides. If the expeditionary army can’t capture Mt. Zendravasih, they’ll be defeated by the Stelaria Consortium very quickly too.”
However, Milo thought for a moment and said, “Then we’d better make more preparations. We must not place our hopes on the Stelaria Consortium. For some reason, the Stelaria Consortium has become unscrupulous in their goal to unify the Central Plains.”
P5092 asked, “Future Commander, how’s your relationship with Colton Reid?”
“Our relationship is quite good.” Milo said, “But in this world, is there any kind of relationship that can be trusted? When I was still living in town, I saw all kinds of people.”
“Then we had better come up with another plan.” P5092 said, “We can go and steal some more of the expeditionary army’s supplies, but before they come and encircle us, they’ll likely reduce the frequency of their supply runs first. If we want to steal enough of their supplies, that will be quite impossible. I’ll think of some other ways then.”
Milo thought for a moment and said, “Is that so…. If we can’t steal from the barbarians, why don’t I try stealing from the Stelaria Consortium’s rear instead?”
P5092 was speechless.
He suddenly realized the future commander’s ideas were really unrestrained. As long as it was beneficial to him, favonovel.com would really dare to think of anything!
P5092 hurriedly said, “We’re already collaborating with the Stelaria Consortium for the war. If you go and rob the Stelaria Consortium at this time, it would really cause some friction and affect the battle situation.”
“Oh.” Milo nodded. “Forget it then.”
But a radio operator suddenly ran over and said, “Future Commander, the Stelaria Consortium suddenly called.”
Milo wondered, “Why is the Stelaria Consortium calling at a time like this?”
He walked into the command post and answered the call. “Hello?”
“Are you Milo?” the person on the other end of the line asked.
Milo was taken aback. This was extremely unusual.
How did the other party know favonovel.com was with the 6th Combat Brigade?
Could someone from the Stelaria Consortium be among their troops?
After all, favonovel.com had not met any outsiders since joining up with the 6th Combat Brigade.
No, something was not right. Milo suddenly had doubts about the identity of the person on the other end of the line. He gave P5092 a look and then P5092 led everyone out of the command post.
Milo asked, “Venus?”
The male voice on the other end of the line changed to a female voice. The other party wondered, “So, you’re able to guess my identity every time.”
Hearing this, Milo wondered to himself.
Why would Venus suddenly call here?
He asked, “What’s the matter?”
Venus said, “A group of soldiers from the Stelaria Consortium will set off from Mt. Daniu and head to Mt. Zendravasih tonight. They’re expected to arrive before dawn.”
Milo said, “Why are they coming here? Our troops are enough to defend this position.”
“It’s not enough,” Venus said. “I’ve already calculated the supplies you all brought. It won’t last you much longer. If Mt. Zendravasih gets besieged by the expeditionary army, you will most likely run out of ammunition and food.”
Milo said, “Can’t the Stelaria Consortium fight the barbarians harder then?”
“No, we can’t.” Venus said, “The Pyro Company on the Great Wall is already showing signs of defeat due to a shortage of supplies. If the expeditionary army diverts their forces to us after defeating the Pyro Company, the Stelaria Consortium will have to continue defending Mt. Daniu and fight this battle with the most stable strategy.”
In other words, the Stelaria Consortium had to guard against the expeditionary army from another battlefield, and they predicted the Pyro Company would get defeated!
This left Milo with a bad feeling. “What’s the probability of the Pyro Company suffering a defeat?”
“71.13%.” Venus said, “They still have a chance of winning, but they might not be able to seize the opportunity. If P5092 had become the commander-in-chief of the Pyro Company a year earlier, the situation could have been reversed. But it’s too late now.”
“Alright then.” Milo sighed. He did not know how to break this news to P5092. “So what is that group of soldiers you were talking about coming here for?”
“They’ll circle around the back of Mt. Daniu and use vehicles to transport some supplies to you. In the following week, the Stelaria Consortium will provide you with a steady stream of supplies so you can keep the expeditionary army engaged at Mt. Zendravasih for a longer time,” Venus said.
Milo pondered this for a moment. Since they were coming to send them supplies, let them come. That would save favonovel.com the trouble of going out to rob them.
Venus ended the call after telling Milo what would happen. Milo somehow felt that Venus seemed to have changed a little again, but favonovel.com could not point out what had changed.
Milo walked out of the command post and solemnly said to P5092, “The Pyro Company might suffer a defeat, so let’s prepare for the worst outcome. The Stelaria Consortium will be transporting their first batch of supplies to us tonight and arrive before dawn. They’re hoping that the 6th Combat Brigade can hold the fort at Mt. Zendravasih.”
P5092 frowned. The situation was much worse than favonovel.com had imagined.
