Free Web NovelChapter 1425: Chapter 1425: Mist and Smoke Curling
Liang Youqing sensed a tinge of solemnity in the atmosphere, which wasn’t unexpected but deliberately created by Yue Qiyuan. At this moment, their situation was already very disadvantageous, and if their members were blindly confident without a clear understanding of their circumstances, the upcoming battle would be extremely arduous.
Burn the boats and sink the ships.
Since they had to do so, they must go to the battlefield with a great, solemn heart, with no turning back, leaving everyone with no retreat.
The smoke of the cooking squad had already been ignited, and due to the lack of professionalism of the fire-starters, thick smoke rolled around. Soon, the smoke drifted into the air, swayed by the wind, ascending higher and higher...
However, what slightly surprised everyone was that this bonfire ignited in more than one place but along the border river, with a fire every 100 meters.
In an instant, smoke rose into the air from the position of the 2nd battalion, along the riverbank.
Liang Youqing thought for a moment, then understood, saying, "This move is quite good; it can create obstacles for the enemy, making it difficult for them to accurately locate our exact position."
Chu Jiaojiao from the 1st battalion, if they wanted to attack, would surely need to choose an appropriate entry point. Once they couldn’t determine the actual deployment of our forces, it might slightly delay the enemy’s attack speed and rhythm and disrupt their judgment.
But if the enemy was going to attack, they would still attack. However, Yue Qiyuan’s action, while seemingly useless, actually bought us more time to prepare and increased our chances of victory.
Upon hearing Liang Youqing’s words, Yue Qiyuan suddenly said, "Liang Youqing, empty your military base now, move it out in about 30 minutes; can you do that?"
Liang Youqing was taken aback: "What?"
He thought he misheard and asked again, "Empty the entire military base I’m in charge of?"
"Yes." Yue Qiyuan nodded. As Liang Youqing showed a clear reluctance, he raised his hand slightly, indicating for patience, and continued, "I carefully studied our topographic map, and the position you occupy is the easiest direction for the enemy to choose as an attack entry point. Once the enemy attacks on a large scale, you won’t be able to hold it."
Liang Youqing anxiously replied, "But we can’t just abandon it. I can lead everyone to..."
Yue Qiyuan shook his head and said, "There’s no need for unnecessary sacrifices. Since none of us are fighting for defeat, let’s gamble a little. Abandon that piece of land and gift it to the enemy; we’ll use other military bases as strongholds to fight a protracted battle with them."
Upon hearing this, Liang Youqing thought for a moment.
Yue Qiyuan said, "Our territory, can we lose to them? Even if they occupy our land, they will need some time to regroup—10 minutes, even 5 or 1 minute is still our opportunity. We will then disrupt their main force, divide them into pieces, and encircle and annihilate them one by one."
Not only Liang Youqing, but other key members also gathered around Yue Qiyuan, listening intently to his explanation. They saw Yue Qiyuan draw a simple map on the sandy ground with a tree branch, pointing out the areas they should occupy and where to lure the enemy.
Everyone understood at once.
Liang Youqing said, "This strategy is indeed quite good."
Another young man, a bit excited, said, "This is equivalent to tunnel warfare. We can use our familiarity with the terrain, leveraging the advantage of geography to ambush the enemy."
A young woman lightly clenched her fist, saying, "Yes, so the most critical thing now is to divide the enemy; don’t let them form a unified large force. We must turn their large formation into small, and the small into nothing."
"So, the most important task now is to identify a likely penetration point for the enemy and make arrangements in advance."
At this, everyone lowered their heads in thought. Some wrote and drew with sticks, calculating. After a while, they all looked at Liang Youqing; indeed, his direction was the enemy’s best and optimal entry point. To be prepared, Liang Youqing should relocate.
Liang Youqing stepped forward willingly, saying, "Yue Qiyuan, I’ll take people to arrange the relocation of the base now."
Yue Qiyuan said, "Be quick."
Liang Youqing clenched his fist: "Okay."
He quickly left.
Then, Yue Qiyuan carefully explained the plan again to everyone. After analyzing and presetting several potential scenarios, Yue Qiyuan finally stopped.
On the other side.
On the opposite bank of the border river, Chu Jiaojiao noticed the countless bonfires burning across without needing an investigator’s report.
Thick smoke rolled on, spreading with the wind, completely obscuring everyone’s view.
Beside her, someone quickly said, "Commander Chu, all our makeshift simple telescopes can’t spy on the other side’s situation." Because Chu Jiaojiao stated she’s just a squad leader temporarily holding command of the 1st battalion, not letting everyone call her commander, they still addressed her as Commander Chu.
The members of the team responsible for spying on the enemy with binoculars frowned. They had been watching continuously, and just when they were about to determine the enemy’s main force’s exact location, the enemy suddenly employed such a move, directly disrupting their view.
The members of the binocular team switched perspectives and thought if they were the enemy on the other side, they would definitely take this opportunity to change positions.
Indeed.
After the smoke cleared a bit, when they looked again through the binoculars, they found that the enemy’s traces were completely gone from that location.
Chu Jiaojiao pondered for a moment after hearing this and directly said, "No need to mind these small tricks, just execute according to our overall strategy, continue recon on the positions I identified to determine the best time to attack."
The members of the binocular team responded, "Yes."
After the binocular team left, Chu Jiaojiao thought for a moment and gestured for a female student in charge of logistics to step forward and said, "That smoke is good, so prepare more firewood with the materials we have."
In fact, this thing’s effect is equivalent to a smoke bomb, but it’s unfortunate that the entire arena doesn’t have such an item.
The logistics girl thought for a moment and asked, "Should I bring it directly from our own camp or fetch it from the enemy’s side?"
Chu Jiaojiao said, "Bring it from our own camp; the enemy probably already cleared most of the nearby firewood with such large bonfires. We’re unlikely to find much in the short term."
Thoughtful for a moment, the logistics girl agreed and promptly executed the order.
Looking across, Chu Jiaojiao rubbed her chin, smiling and squinting, "Yue Qiyuan, that little weak chicken, is definitely plotting some trick now. As soon as I get there, he’ll surely aim to scatter my forces immediately."
