Chapter 405 Staunch
Zhang Xiaoman looked at Ren Xiaosu like he was a treasure.
He was a military man, so he only required a moment to understand what the ability to drop a grenade accurately from a kilometer away could do for their a.s.saults and sieges.
They could take out machine gun positions easily, as well as freely engage in urban warfare without breaking a sweat. If they encountered any defensive bunkers when attacking high ground, they would not have to worry either. The enemy’s fortifications on land were paper-thin in Ren Xiaosu’s presence!
Zhang Xiaoman said excitedly to Ren Xiaosu, “From now on, whoever tries to take any grenades from you is as good as trying to take my life!”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “That’s not nice, is it?”
As he spoke, he stuffed a second grenade behind another dark window. The Zong Consortium soldiers who were about to sweep their machine guns were blown out of the window by the grenade.
Curious, Zhang Xiaosu asked, “Xiaosu, where do you even keep these grenades? I don’t see any hand grenades on you. Is this one power or two powers?”
Serious, Ren Xiaosu answered, “I only have one power, and it’s to open up a dark pa.s.sage to a dimension with a small storage area I can put stuff in.”
Honestly, Ren Xiaosu felt this explanation was very illogical. After all, the Shadow Door did not have the ability to open another dimension.
However, even the supernatural beings themselves did not fully understand superpowers. Even if he made up something to fool an ordinary person, the other party would still believe them no matter how unbelievable it was. After all, these were already superpowers they were talking about, so why would they be based on logic?
Zhang Xiaoman was startled by Ren Xiaosu’s explanation. He called over his platoon commanders and said to them, “Remove all the grenades on everyone and hand them over to Ren Xiaosu. We’re going to start advancing in the direction of the artillery. Ren Xiaosu, I want you to blow up all of the arty!”
Ren Xiaosu had already saved more than a dozen boxes of grenades from the bandit lairs, with each box containing twenty grenades. Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Razor Sharp Company were given three grenades each as standard issue by the Supply Division of Fortress 178.
There were a total of 184 people in Razor Sharp Company. Excluding the platoon that stayed behind to man the mortars, there were a total of 154 people on the front line. The number of grenades they had numbered several hundred!
So when Ren Xiaosu grouped all of them together in his storage s.p.a.ce, he felt so nervous his scalp went numb.
The Razor Sharp Company was sneaking through the rubble as they advanced. Whenever there was a spot where the enemy could be hiding, Zhang Xiaoman would remind Ren Xiaosu to bomb it from a distance.
On the flanks, Second Company and Third Company had similarly infiltrated into s.h.i.+chuan Village. They could only watch helplessly as the Razor Sharp Company left them far behind in their wake.
Second Company and Third Company’s mission was to provide cover for the Razor Sharp Company on both flanks. But from the looks of it, the Razor Sharp Company did not look like they needed any support! The exploding of grenades could be heard everywhere inside s.h.i.+chuan Village. What was even more surprising was that the Razor Sharp Company did not even encounter a “proper” enemy!
What the h.e.l.l was going on?!
The buildings still standing in s.h.i.+chuan Village stretched for up to six kilometers, and the Razor Sharp Company had only taken half an hour so far to advance 500 meters in!
They had planned to take this town within a fortnight, but it seemed that the Razor Sharp Company would only need two to three days to clear out the entire town now!
However, Zhang Xiaoman did not want to get greedy and risk advancing farther. Their enemies on the flanks were still there. If Second Company and Third Company could not keep up with their progress, they might very well find themselves surrounded by the enemies in s.h.i.+chuan Village.
And there was also the problem of whether there was a sniper in this town. On top of that, no one knew whether there might be any traps hidden underground. Thus, it was better to wait for the other two companies to join up with them first before continuing the a.s.sault.
Zhang Xiaoman suddenly raised his arm and shouted for the troops to change their route. They were going to head towards Second Company to provide support, with Ren Xiaosu in charge of blowing up enemies while the rest provided cover for him. They would also have to verify that the enemies in the buildings they had pa.s.sed by were all dead.
Although some enemies had been blown up by the grenades, they were still looking to take the fight to the Razor Sharp Company to the bitter end. If the enemy ambushed them at this time, that would be horrible. The number of people who died from fighting in this tough battle wasn’t the horrible fact, but that their carelessness could lead to the death of comrades. The former was unavoidable, but the latter was a matter of att.i.tude.
Second Company was still having trouble dealing with a machine gun position behind a window at an intersection. Suddenly, an explosion rang out behind that window, and the enemy soldiers and machine gun were blown out from it!
When the commander of Second Company looked up, he saw Zhang Xiaoman waving to them. “Catch up! We’re gonna provide support for Third Company!”
A soldier from Second Company mumbled, “What does he think urban warfare is? He’s moving so freely?!”
By midnight, the Razor Sharp Company, Second Company, and Third Company were finally a.s.sembled together in an empty building. The soldiers upstairs from the Razor Sharp Company had set up several heavy machine gun nests and were on high alert to their surroundings. Downstairs, Zhang Xiaoman was holding a meeting with the commanders of Second Company and Third Company. “Hand over your remaining TNT and grenades to us.”
The commander of Second Company turned unhappy. “Hand them over to all y’all? Then what’re we going to use!”
Meanwhile, the commander of Third Company was worried about something else. “All of us are in this building. What if the enemy bombs this place? Wouldn’t we be annihilated right here?”
“Don’t worry.” Zhang Xiaoman said calmly, “All the artillery in s.h.i.+chuan Village has been destroyed by our Razor Sharp Company!”
“What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?” The face of the Second Company’s commander darkened. “The artillery positions are still at least 700 meters away from here. Tell me, how could you possibly have destroyed them all?”
“That’s confidential, so how can I tell you?” Zhang Xiaoman laughed. “I’ve gathered you all here for nothing other than telling you how ferocious our Razor Sharp Company is. Grenades are a divine weapon when put into our hands. It’s a waste to let y’all hold onto them!”
The commander of Second Company thought of how difficult it was to bring everyone together at one point. So it was just because he wanted to ask for their ammunition?
By now, they had advanced about two kilometers into s.h.i.+chuan Village. With still a lot of enemies remaining on the northern side, there would be quite a few tough battles left to fight. So Zhang Xiaoman made Ren Xiaosu count the number of grenades they had left and realized there were not enough.
The eyes of Third Company’s commander darted around as he suddenly said, “Zhang Xiaoman, be honest and tell us what you want the grenades for. Earlier, I saw one of the enemy’s MG nests get destroyed before you even arrived. What exactly is going on?”
Zhang Xiaoman turned around and looked at Ren Xiaosu, seeing him nod his head. Only then did Zhang Xiaoman say, “Ren Xiaosu’s power lets him throw grenades anywhere he wants within a one-kilometer radius. It won’t drop more than a meter from where he wants it to land! So y’all understand now, right? Hand the grenades to us and let the Razor Sharp Company clear a path forward. When the time comes, we can all share the credit!”
The commander of Second Company was still reluctant. “If we give you all our grenades, what are we going to—”.
“Li Haichen, you better think this through.” Zhang Xiaoman cut him off. “We’re in a war now, and those machine gun bullets are whisking past everyone blindly. Is your Second Company’s mission more important, or are the lives of your soldiers more important? Besides, by handing over the grenades to us and letting the Razor Sharp Company forge a path ahead, the mission can still be completed all the same!”
The commander of Second Company hesitated before finally saying with a sigh, “Alright, you can have them all! We won’t take a share of the credit either. Whatever really takes place should be reported as such. Our Second Company doesn’t want leftovers!”
Zhang Xiaoman happily gave him a thumbs up and said, “Alright, Second Company, you sure are staunch!”
Then Zhang Xiaoman turned to the commander of Third Company. “So is Third Company just as staunch?”
The commander of Third Company was annoyed. “Zhang Xiaoman, stop f.u.c.king rubbing it in!”