Chapter 938: Tunnel battle
Currently, the hygiene conditions at the defensive position were a big problem. It was not that the people here disliked keeping clean, but that there was simply not enough water.
Actually, P5092 had considered the issue of the water source when he chose this place to be their defensive position. The spring water that flowed out of the mountains was definitely enough for more than 6,000 people to drink.
As for having enough to take a shower with, that was really not the main consideration in war.
If it were a long-term war, P5092 would definitely make everyone wash their hands diligently and pay attention to hygiene. However, this battle was destined to end within a month. Whether the expeditionary army won or their 6th Combat Brigade emerged victorious, they would not be staying here for long.
It was the afternoon of the first day since the actual battle began. Two s.h.i.+fts of soldiers had already been replaced at the defensive position, and the expeditionary army’s troops outside were also constantly being rotated. As long as the troops showed signs of fatigue, new troops would take over.
P5092 looked at w.a.n.g Yun and asked, “How many of their wounded and dead have they replaced with their fresh troops?”
w.a.n.g Yun said, “Four batches of troops have been deployed during this period. Some of them lasted on the battlefield for two hours, while others retreated after suffering 23% casualties. Their criteria for troop rotation can’t be confirmed.”
“How’s the situation with their casualties?” P5092 continued asking.
During the battle, P5092 requested w.a.n.g Yun to keep track of everything that happened on the battlefield from the best vantage point so they could review it.
It was not enough to just fight a battle recklessly. They would need extremely precise data to support every decision.
w.a.n.g Yun recalled the scene in his mind and summarized, “The expeditionary army suffered a total of 2,169 deaths over the past eight hours. 1,891 of them died immediately while the rest died after going into shock from bleeding out on the battlefield. These barbarians should have some criteria they follow. If they’re sure their comrades won’t survive even after they save them, they’ll just leave them. They’re very decisive that way. I think there were a few of them who could have been saved, but their comrades did not help them. That could be because the expeditionary army’s standard of treatment is not that good.”
“What about the wounded?” P5092 asked.
“1,769 troops were lightly injured and carried away. I estimate that the injuries suffered by these people will quickly heal. There are also 312 who were seriously injured. I’ve confirmed they broke bones after getting shot by MGs, so they shouldn’t be able to join the battlefield for the time being,” w.a.n.g Yun said.
At this moment, w.a.n.g Yun started bleeding from his nose.
P5092 was stunned. “Rest up and don’t overtax yourself. We still have a lot of battles to fight. From now on, you just have to remember how many of the enemies are dead and wounded. You don’t have to remember the injuries they suffered.”
From the look of it, it was quite tough for w.a.n.g Yun to a.n.a.lyze such a huge amount of data from the entire battlefield. After all, he was keeping track of the data in real time, and that was constantly changing by the second.
This was an extremely heavy burden on w.a.n.g Yun’s brain, so much so that his body could not bear it any longer and resulted in him getting a nosebleed.
P5092 said, “However, it’s not that I’m trying to abuse you, but I still hope you can try to remember the faces of each of their wounded. Can you do that?”
w.a.n.g Yun simply wiped the blood from his nose and said firmly, “Yes!”
“Mhm.” P5092 nodded and said, “Once their wounded return to the battlefield, you must inform me as soon as possible. In principle, the expeditionary army has more than enough soldiers. With 70,000 soldiers against our 6,000, there shouldn’t be a need to send their wounded back into battle no matter how we think about it. If you see them putting large numbers of their wounded back onto the battlefield, it must be that their strategic deployment has changed, or something could’ve happened within the expeditionary army.”
“Understood.” w.a.n.g Yun said, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay attention to that.”
P5092 sighed in his head. At the very least, no one at this defensive position was unnecessary. Everyone was working hard for the final victory.
Then P5092 turned to look at the others. “This is only the initial stage of our defense. Personally, I don’t think we should keep staying here and just wait to be attacked. We have to seek change!”
When Ren Xiaosu heard that, he realized P5092 was looking for a new strategy because he felt a sense of danger.
P5092 explained to Ren Xiaosu, “Back then, we didn’t know the Pyro Company would be defeated so quickly, so I thought our 6,000 soldiers would be enough to hold off the expeditionary army here. But the problem now is that we were initially planning to trade ten of their lives for each soldier we have. Right now, we don’t even have enough lives to trade for all of theirs anymore, so we have to think of other ways.”
“Share what plans you have. We’ll cooperate fully,” Ren Xiaosu said.
P5092 nodded and said, “I’m afraid it’ll be very difficult to change the overall situation of the battlefield by relying on our own strength now. So we have to think of a way to reduce the pressure on the w.a.n.g Consortium’s side. That way, the sooner they win the battle on their front, the sooner we can disengage. Ji Zi’ang, can you open up a tunnel on your side that leads beyond Mt. Zuoyun? I’m talking about the kind that’ll allow two or three people to pa.s.s through abreast.”
Ji Zi’ang looked at w.a.n.g Yun. “How far out is this place from the mountains?”
w.a.n.g Yun said, “Six klicks.”
Ji Zi’ang thought for a moment and shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s beyond me. It’s easy for me to open up a tunnel with my power, but it’s too long a distance at six kilometers. Moreover, there’s hard rocks everywhere in the wilderness. The mental strength I need to alter the hard surface is several times higher than normal, but I probably don’t have enough capacity to do that. It’s not a problem to open up this tunnel, but I’d probably have to work for 15 days while recovering my mental strength at the same time.”
P5092 frowned. But Mo Fei suddenly said, “If I can guide you around the areas with hard rocks and calculate the most effective route, I think six days will be enough.”
Everyone was stunned. Ren Xiaosu already knew that Mo Fei was actually Zero. It seemed that it was not difficult for an artificial intelligence like Zero to a.n.a.lyze the makeup of the mountains.
However, almost every time Zero spoke and offered to help, it was at the most critical moments.
Before this, Ren Xiaosu had always felt that Zero was a little unreliable, because its judgment was not entirely accurate when it came to matters in which it lacked data.
But from the look of it, it was quite reliable to let it a.n.a.lyze matters where it had known data.
Ren Xiaosu looked at P5092. “What do you want to achieve by creating this tunnel?”
“I’m thinking of sending troops to attack the expeditionary army’s supply convoy outside.” P5092 explained, “Now that the expeditionary army has surrounded Mt. Zuoyun, they must think their supply line is safe. But if we attack their strategic supplies at this time, it’ll definitely give them a huge shock. And such a large number of troops will definitely require a lot of supplies. As long as we can destroy it once or twice, it’ll be enough for the w.a.n.g Consortium to find an opportunity to win the battle!”
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and then said to Ji Zi’ang, “If it’s a tunnel that only fits one person, how long would it take?”
Ji Zi’ang was stunned. “Two days would be enough then!”
Ren Xiaosu looked at P5092. “I can go alone. There’s no need to dig such a wide tunnel.”