Now that they have decided to attack Guanshan to lure the bandits from Dingyuan Mountain out of their nests, they must enter the river valley area quietly to avoid their actions being discovered in advance.
Now that Zong’s eyes and ears are all over the northwest, Fortress 178’s plan is to clear out the bandits in the river valley area first, so as not to cause any trouble to the advancing base when the real war comes.
Zhang Xiaoman thought that Guanshan should be harder to defeat, but Ren Xiaosu didn't think so, because some bandits died in Yan Liuyuan's curse that was like the earth shattering. He guessed that the bandits came from Guanshan.
At that time, they were near Kaole Mountain. The nearest bandit dens were Tangwang Mountain and Guanshan. However, the bandits in Tangwangshan had long been squandered by Wang Congyang, so the only ones who came were the bandits from Guanshan.
However, Ren Xiaosu did not mention this. The battle in the wilderness seemed to be still under the Zong family’s news blockade, and Fortress 178 did not know about it.
Fortress 178 was five or six hundred kilometers away from the battlefield at that time. No matter how heavy the artillery fire was, there was no sound in the fortress.
But Ren Xiaosu knew very well that if it was as he guessed, Guanshan would definitely not be as difficult to defeat as imagined, and would actually be much easier than Dingyuan Mountain.
The Sharp Knife Company was like a group of rats, suddenly abandoning the truck, and walking through the ravines carrying supplies of firearms and artillery shells, hiding day and night, trying their best not to be discovered by the enemy in advance.
While hiding in the shadow of the ravine to rest during the day, Zhang Xiaoman said to Ren Xiaosu: "Although I don't know what your extraordinary ability is, but since you said you can put pressure on Guanshan, then I will I believe you, but don’t go to a place where you say you can’t do it. If you can’t do it, I will shoot you regardless of who you are.”
Ren Xiaosu didn’t say anything, but held his own. The automatic rifle was leaning against the ravine with his eyes closed to meditate.
Everyone is slowly eating their individual soldier rations. They are now secretly sneaking into the river valley area and cannot light fires to cook or smoke.
But what surprised Zhang Xiaoman and the others was that Ren Xiaosu seemed to be able to endure hardships better than them. Someone always had to take turns to stand guard when everyone was resting. The other soldiers were all sleepy and resentful, but Ren Xiaosu never stopped. He didn't complain about anything. If he was asked to stand guard, he would stand guard. It didn't matter if he stood for a while longer.
Zhang Xiaoman carefully observed that Ren Xiaosu was indeed extremely serious and conscientious when standing guard.
The commander of the sharp knife company whispered in a low voice: "As expected of the commander's favorite person."
Everyone looked at Ren Xiaosu with more harsh eyes, not because they had to fight against Ren Xiaosu , but when everyone learns that this may be the next commander, they always think: Let me compare with this person, how am I worse than him, and why should he be a candidate for commander.
Here, Ren Xiaosu not only stood guard, but also had to take turns carrying heavy machine guns and mortars during the march. Those things were really heavy, but the mortars were better, weighing only 29.4 kilograms. Although it is uncomfortable to carry it for a long distance,But still within the acceptable range.
The heavy machine gun with a caliber of 12.7mm weighs 50 kilograms, and it has to carry its own marching backpack. The distance between them to Guanshan and Dingyuan Mountain is still more than 100 kilometers, and the road is still difficult to walk. , some soldiers had their shoulders worn out trying to carry this thing.
But Ren Xiaosu never complained about anything.
Ren Xiaosu now has a balance between strength and agility, so he looks very thin. At first, Zhang Xiaoman deliberately made things difficult for Ren Xiaosu and made him suffer.
What surprised Zhang Xiaoman was that Ren Xiaosu looked thinner than them all, but he was not at all shy about carrying the machine gun, and even took the initiative to share some of the burden with other comrades.
This is how it is in the army. If you are tough and have strength, I will respect you. I look down on you because you are squeamish.
Just these few days of marching in the wilderness, everyone's impression of Ren Xiaosu has changed. This kid is really tough and powerful!
Vaguely, Jian Dao and his comrades were thinking in their hearts: Not bad.
But this does not mean that everyone fully recognizes him. Whether he is qualified to be the next commander requires physical strength and perseverance alone.
At this time, Zhang Xiaoman was calculating: "Guanshan is almost 30 kilometers away from Dingyuan Mountain. If Guanshan asks for help from Dingyuan Mountain, then Dingyuan Mountain can be reached in almost half an hour. We have to You have to dig trenches on the road in advance to ambush, otherwise you might not be able to defeat the bandits."
Ren Xiaosu said: "This ravine is a natural trench."
"Indeed," Zhang Xiaoman suddenly asked, "Are you really confident that you can put pressure on Guanshan and make them call for help?"
Ren Xiaosu said calmly: "I have issued a military order."
The correspondents in the sharp knife company have always maintained contact with the forward battalion in the rear. The forward battalion set off the next day after their departure and should be sixty kilometers behind them at this time.
It’s just that the goal of the forward battalion is not Guanshan and Dingyuan Mountains. They want to build a defense line in the north to avoid Zong’s counterattack southward after taking Guanshan and Dingyuan Mountains.
Except for one combat brigade remaining to improve the garrison strength, the rest of the 178th Fortress Army Group is ready to go to the battlefield.
Ren Xiaosu asked curiously: "Company Commander, the Zong clan really has 200,000 troops?"
Zhang Xiaoman sneered: "The Zong clan only has so much territory and dares to claim that it has 200,000 troops?" Ten thousand people? Oh no, if we count the newly expanded roving militia and private troops, it seems that there are indeed 200,000 people. But if the men of 178 Fortress can fight to the last soldier, I am afraid that hundreds of soldiers of his clan will die. People, a so-called combat brigade collapsed."
At this time, Ren Xiaosu suddenly realized that the Zong family was following the same path as the Li family, and they captured all the refugees who knew nothing to become strong men. , and there are also private troops who have a role of failure but failure.
If the Qing clan did the same thing, Ren Xiaosu estimated that they could gather more than 400,000 troops....
But what is the use of this kind of army?
Ren Xiaosu asked: "How many people are there in the regular Zong army?"
"About 90,000," Zhang Xiaoman said, "But this is last year's information."
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Ren Xiaosu nodded. He suddenly felt that this battle was not that difficult to fight, even though there were only 75,000 regular troops on the battlefield in Fortress 178.
However, why do I feel that Fortress 178 is not that strong? Is this an illusion?
Ren Xiaosu thought this was strange. If Fortress 178 only had these combat capabilities, it could certainly stand in the northwest, but it would definitely not be enough to awe a real consortium.
Also, Luo Lan wanted to kill Zhang Jinglin before, but Qingzhen disagreed.
Did Qing Zhen want Zhang Jinglin to return to the northwest to contain the Zong family, or did Qing Zhen want Zhang Jinglin to continue guarding the humans in the interior to prevent humans from encountering foreign wars again?
Maybe it was both. Ren Xiaosu always felt that the Qing Zhen in his impression was not a fanatic who only knew war.