The First Order

Chapter 930: Burdensome good news

“There’s only a 21% chance of winning?” Ren Xiaosu said in surprise. “That’s way too low.”

Zero replied, “If the Pyro Company did not get defeated, the 6th Combat Brigade’s chances of winning would be as high as 94.29%. Unfortunately, after the Pyro Company was defeated, Mt. Zuoyun and Mt. Daniu have to bear all the pressure put on by the expeditionary army. Even Mt. Daniu’s chances of winning have been halved.”

“Then how did you calculate the 21%?” Ren Xiaosu could not quite accept it, because this number meant most of the people at Mt. Zuoyun’s defensive position might end up dying here.

P5092 would die, Wang Yun would die, and Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin too. The soldiers of the 6th Combat Brigade would also be unable to return to their hometowns.

This number was way too low.

Zero said, “It was based on all known conditions. After the modeling was completed, I automatically calculate all interactions between the factors.”

Ren Xiaosu thought for a while before suddenly asking, “Did you take me into consideration?”

“Yes.” Zero said, “I also accounted for your superpowers, including White Mask and the black saber, as well as your physical fitness.”

“Oh.” Ren Xiaosu did not feel so flustered anymore. So only those powers were taken into account? Fortunately, he still had many other powers.

From the look of things, the Wang Consortium’s artificial intelligence was not omnipotent. No, this was not a problem with the artificial intelligence but the Wang Consortium’s lack of data that caused its calculations to miss parameters.

Ren Xiaosu mentally wondered if he could pull their chances of winning to above 50% by himself.

He was not sure, but he could give it a try!

Ren Xiaosu was never one to give up hope in the face of difficulty. Victory or defeat, he would still face it by himself. Before the outcome was decided, a 21% chance was only a number.

Ren Xiaosu said to Zero, “You must not tell anyone about this number. The morale of the soldiers at this defensive position has just been boosted. We need it to face the enemy.”

Zero said, “Alright.”

P5092 and the others who were already asleep had gotten up in a hurry after receiving the news from Wang Run. They held an emergency meeting in the command post.

There was only one thing on the docket at the meeting: What should they do when those refugee cannon fodder got driven here to the defensive line?

Ren Xiaosu was also in the meeting at the command post, but he did not say anything. Instead, he waited for P5092 to share his plan.

P5092 said, “What I’m going to say next might make all of you very uncomfortable, but in war, any refugees who appear at the enemy’s camp can no longer be regarded as our compatriots. They are now the enemy’s tools. Therefore, I will not hesitate to order our soldiers to gun them down.”

Everyone in the command post fell silent. No one knew what kind of adverse effects it would bring if more than 10,000 Central Plains civilians were killed on the battlefront.

In the future, someone might criticize the Northwest over this matter. It was also possible the soldiers who participated in this battle would feel guilty for the rest of their lives.

This matter was definitely not something everyone could accept calmly just because they claimed those refugees were the enemy’s tools. When their bullets hit those unarmed refugees, all the soldiers would clearly realize those they had killed were just pitiful people caught up in war.

Ren Xiaosu wanted to say something. “I support your decision—”

“Future Commander!” P5092 raised his voice. “I’m the one in command at the moment. I don’t need your support or rejection. If anyone pursues this matter in the future, I’ll bear the responsibility alone.”

Ren Xiaosu realized P5092 was worried someone would use this event to blame Ren Xiaosu in the future. Therefore, P5092 planned to play the obstinate commander so only he would need to bear the responsibility.

In fact, everyone knew there was no point in discussing whether they should fire at the civilian hostages in this battle. If they did not open fire, would those hostages not die? They would still die at the hands of the expeditionary army!

Therefore, it was necessary to fire at them. In that case, it was more important who gave the order to shoot.

The most important thing was who would bear the guilt, the stain on their résumé, and face the condemnation of the sanctimonious in the future.

When Ren Xiaosu thought of this, he suddenly smiled. “Enough, there’s no reason for you to be the scapegoat. I’m the future commander of the Northwest, so I should be the one making such an important decision. None of you will be implicated in whatever consequences there might be in the future. Alright, let’s now discuss how we should mitigate the feelings that the soldiers might have. After all, they’ll be the ones shooting at the refugees.”

P5092 looked at Ren Xiaosu quietly as though he were trying to change his impression of him. It seemed this future commander from the Northwest was just as he had promised to be before persuading him to join the Prosperous Northwest. At that time, he was told that all he needed to do was to command the troops to fight, and he would never have to bear any other kinds of pressure.

Just as he promised, he had delivered.

Thinking of this, P5092 calmed down. “Then I’ll explain what will happen next. Earlier, someone suggested we hide the truth from the soldiers and not tell them those people getting driven here are refugees from the Central Plains. But I think we absolutely can’t hide that from our troops. If we deliberately don’t tell them they’ll be shooting at the refugees or lie to them, that would be an insult to their intelligence. So instead of hiding it from them, why don’t we just tell them frankly so they can use the remaining few days to mentally prepare themselves?”

“And on the day of the battle, all of the officers here must take the lead and fire their weapons first. Don’t think that just by hiding behind and commanding the troops, you can wash your hands of the matter. You all have to lead by example.” P5092 continued, “We’re fighting for our lives here, so there’s no other choice.”

All of a sudden, Wang Run received a call. Five minutes after he went out to answer it, he returned with a heavy expression. “This is good news for the battle, but I don’t think it’s worth being happy about.”

Everyone looked at Wang Run and wondered what news he had received that made him look so dejected.

Wang Run glanced at P5092 and said, “There should only be around 9,000 civilians being driven here from Mt. Zuoyun, not more than 10,000 as previously mentioned. They did not manage to retreat with the main Pyro Company forces after the front at the Great Wall fell, so they were captured and taken hostage. Among them, more than a 1,000 were soldiers under the command of the Pyro Company’s 3rd Division, while another 1,000 were soldiers in the 4th Division. All of them did not manage to retreat with the rest of the main forces.”

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. It was no wonder Wang Run gave P5092 a look just now. The refugees being driven here even consisted of soldiers who were previously under him.

However, since Wang Run and the others were able to obtain such precise information, it meant the Wang Consortium also had spies among these 9,000 people.

Wang Run said, “When our people spoke with these soldiers and informed them why the expeditionary army was herding them to Mt. Zuoyun, they made a very important decision.

“Just a moment ago, a battalion commander of the 3rd Division led over 3,000 soldiers in a suicide attack during the night against the expeditionary army’s advance guard. All of them died in the attack. They did not have any weapons and were actually just seeking death in the most dignified manner.”

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