Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 24

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Deducing the outcome of battle was an extremely intricate skill. Even computers would not be able to completely calculate all the possible results that might happen. Maybe, there would be some small incident that would change the entire outcome of the war. Using the same military power and deployment, the same situation, the same intelligence map, and the same system for deduction, different people of different skills would be able to attain a completely different deduction of what might happen.

Ever since the ancient era on Earth when sandbox simulations were invented, deduction became one of the methods that both nations fighting the war must have, as this determined the final battle plans. As the s.p.a.ce era arrived, many different styles of deduction emerged. The reason for why so many different types of deduction appeared might be largely attributed to the emergence of s.p.a.ce wars that were entirely different from the ancient era on Earth. The battle tactics and environment were some of the factors affecting it. Still, one thing still held true even since ancient times — one could not solely rely on deductions, as it would never be possible to calculate certain events that might happen on chance.

In order to resolve this conundrum, countless deduction professionals had thought of many different methods during wars. They used all sorts of methods to try and solve the problem of chance that could affect the entire outcome of the war. Several styles of deduction were fond of using micro-commanding to reduce the possibilities of chance events. These styles could carefully take into account aspects like the environment, weaponry, and time before giving a set of plans to proceed thereafter. However, the amount of calculation required for this was immense and the plans the soldiers had to follow were extremely complicated, thus this sort of deduction would usually be used on battles of the size of a regiment and smaller army groups. There were also some deduction styles that took into account the probability of chance events happening and how large of an effect it would bring to the final outcome of the battle. If the chance was low and the influence was small, then it would be ignored; however, if it was huge, then the entire battle plan would have to be changed. There were also several styles that ignored these chance events entirely. For them, they would depend on an enormous advantage and a well-prepared military force to resolve any chance events that might happen during battles. Ultimately, there would not be a battle plan that was entirely perfect and neither would a nation be able to hold onto their advantage over their enemies forever.

War could be considered a strategic board game between two or more opponents. It was also the reason for the continuation of a political regime. Not only did it influence the requirements for governance, it also affected international affairs, the population"s sentiments, the economy, technology, military powers, and many other different related fields, making it a truly complicated matter. More importantly, deduction was not a single-sided affair. When one"s side was conducting deduction and changing the military plans and deployment, the other side would similarly be doing the same thing and perhaps even do it better in view of better intelligence or skill.

If the deduction of the battle was not done right, then the military plans would not be well-planned as well. The outcome would just be like a chess game where your entire path was calculated by your opponent, reaching a situation known by many as "leading you along to be beaten".

In military inst.i.tutions, the module on deduction occupied a large percentage of the student"s final results. Those who had talent in deduction would often be recommended to join a high-ranking military command team as an intern. When they graduated, they would immediately be a.s.signed to the unit where they interned at, becoming a renowned commanding officer or a staff officer who creates the entire battle plan.

There was never a single style nor a talent in deduction who would hold onto one"s chest and guarantee that his or her deduction was certainly accurate. An ignorant person knows no fear. Fatty, who was underground, could affirm his deduction was accurate. He knew that according to the statistics report and the deductions he simulated over a thousand times, he could determine the enemy"s movement with an accuracy of 99.75%. And against the enemy"s battle plans, movement, degree of offensive and defensive prowess, and their area of activity, Fatty could deduce them with an accuracy of about 90%.

This style of deduction that originated from the easterners of ancient Earth included not only the philosophy of Sun Tze"s Art of War but also included the cla.s.sics of I Ching as well. Its calculation methods were unique and different from many others. As such, other than the fatty, there was practically no one who was interested towards this set of things. In the current era where technology was advanced, things that seemingly could not be touched, like reading fortune to deduce the outcome of a battle, was a joke to many. Fatty originally did not believe in it; however, after seeing how complex the system was and after fully understanding it, it would be a waste of his effort if he did not use it at least in deductions. The conclusion to more than a thousands time of repeated outcome deduction proved that this set of deduction methods was truly way better than many of today"s scientific deduction styles. Thus, this calculation that incorporated the world and basis of I Ching"s philosophy to deduce the outcome of a battle made Fatty fully enthusiastic.

This set of deduction methods even had a solution to the chance events that could not fully be comprehended. This strange method was enough to make Fatty slap the table and shower it with praise. In its philosophy of the treatment toward chance events, it could not entirely solve these events and neither could it resolve individual battle situations; instead, it would utilize all these different events and situations to formulate an overall picture before creating small advantages for the deducer using small teams at an appropriate time and location so as to reduce the problems caused by chance events on the overall war situation. Furthermore, the back-up plan it would calculate would usually be quite perfect. This set of deduction methods had only one sentence in the core of its philosophy — Seize the opportunity whenever one was stuck at a pivotal point.

Regardless of how many of the occurring events changed and transformed, as long as one grabbed the head of it, one would be able to take the initiative to obtain an advantage.

This philosophy implied that in order for one to fully make use of the science behind deciding on the next course of action when the war situation changed, one has to be flexible — one must not be dead set on a single, predetermined battle plan. Right now, the pivotal location lied at Cato Canyon.

Fatty was fully confident of his own deduction, but would the forward command team trust him? This operation was planned and directed by the Federation Supreme Headquarters. The forward command team situated at Jialipalan was merely carrying out these plans. So the biggest issue now was whether they would see the importance of this deduction, and whether they would believe the deduction made by a special scouts first lieutenant.

Several hours pa.s.sed. The correspondence soldier, with a back covered in sweat, came down from the Albert-encrypted communication system before reporting to Tian Xing Jian that Ras.h.i.+d had no reply for him. Apparently, their point-to-point communication system had lost connection.

Tian Xing Jian felt that this world was truly inconceivable. The more afraid you were that something might happen and the more you wish for it to not happen, the more likely it would happen.

If he could not link-up with Ras.h.i.+d, then using the [Antenna] to directly communicate with the Federation would possibly expose their position. If their position was exposed, due to their lack of manoeuvrability, surviving behind the enemy lines with their Battle Mechas would truly be harder than even transcending the heavens.

"Keep trying. You must establish a connection regardless. Even if you can"t link up with them, you must still do it," Tian Xing Jian gave a preposterous order.

"Yes!" The communications soldier acknowledged. Even though this order was truly preposterous, it was actually quite common in the army.

However, the soldier felt kind of weird. "Is there anything that this vice company commander does not know how to do? He could even use the broken computer to deduce an outcome before hurriedly asking me to forward it to the forward command team as if it would be the apocalypse if it doesn"t reach them in time. How accurate is this? Are those planning officers and battle planners vegetarians ?"

This line of thoughts could naturally be seen from his expression. This communications soldier carried out the orders, though as he sat in front of the Albert-encrypted communications system, he had shriveled his mouth towards the other people within the same Battle Mecha as him.

Naturally, Tian Xing Jian had seen it. He could only bitterly smile at that. If he pushed all these people to the boundary of death with his deduction that could not be proven, n.o.body would really agree with it. If the deduction was accurate, then it was fine. But if it wasn"t, then he would be the murderer that resulted in the deaths of these several hundreds of people. Furthermore, deep within his heart, Fatty still treated his own life as the most precious one amongst others if it came down to a last resort.

But what if the deduction was true? By the point in time when the Federation Army reached their location and saved them, the enemies would certainly have carried out their battle plans. By then, trying to escape would merely be just an empty thought.

When basing a decision that is related to one"s own survival on a deduction that might not be accurate, anyone would know what the final decision would be even if they used their b.u.t.t to think. This was a natural human instinct.

Fortunately, from the map of the military"s situation, it was not the point in time when the Imperial Army would carry out their plans. After all, the Federation Army was still a part of the branches on this big tree-like route of march. There were still quite few pieces of branches fanning outwards, and the military power was still quite concentrated.

Thus, there was still time for a connection to be established. Tian Xing Jian could only solemnly console himself.

After a day, no connection was established. From how serious the soldiers from the special scouts company were acting, everyone knew something was amiss. The atmosphere started to become heavier.

"There was still time," Tian Xing Jian kept telling himself in his heart. He must persist until the very end.

Another day pa.s.sed. According to his deduction, the Federation military power on the main battlefield had started fanning out into a more dangerous state. They still did not know that the seemingly defeated and retreating Imperial Army had started their operation to regroup.

Tian Xing Jian could not sit still any longer. He could not look at how the plans were erupting in front of his eyes. He truly wanted to rush out and use [Antenna] to directly establish a connection to the forward command center. But within his heart, a voice asked, "What if this deduction of yours is wrong?"

If it was wrong, he would be sending the several hundreds of people next to him to their deaths. Drive the [Antenna] out? Without the [Antenna], this platoon of Battle Mecha soldiers would similarly be sent to their deaths.

And what if he was wrong?

Tian Xing Jian was in a dilemma.

"First lieutenant, can I ask you a question?" a voice sounded beside his ears.

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