445 A precarious situation

To the west of the Alxa League was the vast Gobi Desert. In this day and age, no one would venture there for no good reason as that was a truly deserted place.

So when the war began, even though everyone knew the distance between Fortress 178 and the Zong Consortium's Stronghold 146 was not particularly far, very few people would even have any ideas about using the Gobi in their plans.

If a military unit wanted to pass through there, it was basically a pipe dream.

However, the Zong Consortium had been plotting to take over Fortress 178 for a long time.

The territory the Zong Consortium occupied had far fewer resources than Fortress 178, the Qing Consortium, and the Yang Consortium. In fact, the level of their resources could not even compare with that of the Li Consortium.

Therefore, expanding to seek further resources was something the Zong Consortium had to do. Only with a large amount of resources could they support their ambitions.

But where were the resources? At Fortress 178, of course!

Importantly, Fortress 178 occupied a broader territory beyond the Northwest. The land in that territory held 90% of the mineral resources that were available to the Alliance of Strongholds, as well as a vast amount of natural gas, crude oil, and various types of metal ores.

In the Zong Consortium's view, these resources were simply wasted in the hands of that damn group from Fortress 178 if they did not make use of them.

Several years earlier, the Zong Consortium had quietly established a secret troop to transport supplies into the Gobi. And now, they had established a massive forward operating base in a little oasis within the desert.

All of this was done so that one day, a ferocious army could make use of this forward operating base to pass through the Gobi and deal a fatal blow to Fortress 178.

Actually, the Zong Consortium already knew that Fortress 178 was going to attack Mt. Wuchuan from the southern bank of Blackstone River. They also knew their Zong Consortium's route to the south for any incursions would be cut off once Fortress 178 blew up the Beiwan Bridge. However, everything was still going according to the Zong Consortium's plan. This was because Fortress 178 would also not have a path of retreat.

Zong Ying had received some very reliable intelligence a long time ago. Currently, there was only one independent brigade garrisoned in Fortress 178, with the rest of the stronghold's forces deployed in full force for the war.

As a result, the almost defenseless Fortress 178 was now like a deserted island with no one to protect it.

As long as the Zong Consortium could occupy Fortress 178, even if Zhang Jinglin and his men repaired the pontoon bridge, they would have no home to return to, nor would there be any fortress left for them to defend.

When the supplies for Fortress 178's troops got cut off, the Zong Consortium could manipulate them at will.

According to Zong Ying's calculations, his troops would cross the Gobi Desert and reach Fortress 178 in another seven days for the confrontation!

Zong Ying narrowed his eyes as he wondered if Zhang Jinglin had already guessed all of this by now. He assumed so, since cutting off their path at Blackstone River showed his plans pretty obviously. But so what if he could guess it? There was no way that Zhang Jinglin could stop him from occupying Fortress 178.

Troops were sacrificed as cannon fodder so he could lure Zhang Jinglin to the northern shore of Blackstone River. In the end, he was the superior tactician.

Although there was a small episode in between involving the Razor Sharp Company, that was not too great of a concern. Even if that company was extremely capable, they couldn't affect the big picture.

Although the granary had been burned down, the Zong Consortium could still last for a month with their food reserves. This one month would be enough for him to bring the Fortress 178 troops to their knees. After all, Zhang Jinglin would be cut off from his supply lines as well, wouldn't he?

At the thought of being able to defeat Zhang Jinglin, a military leader long famous, Zong Ying felt an uncontrollable sense of excitement in his heart.

At his position, only power and unprecedented victory could arouse his desires.

…

Meanwhile, the armored brigade's Commander Hu Xingzhi, who was standing beside Zhang Jinglin, looked at him and said, "Commander Zhang, the Zong Consortium has cut off our main forces' retreat route. They must be plotting something against us. Sir, please think of something."

Zhang Jinglin looked at Hu Xingzhi. "We must make a stand. Everyone, we'll have to take Mt. Wuchuan as quickly as possible if we want to make it out of this alive. Inform the Engineering Battalion behind us to quickly rebuild the pontoon bridge, and check how long they will need!"

A staff officer hesitated for a moment before saying, "We asked about that earlier. The Engineering Battalion on the southern shore said that it would take ten days! They could build a simple pontoon bridge instead; that will be faster, but it's useless if the mechanized infantry can't cross the river on it."

Ten days…

Even if they could rebuild the pontoon bridge within ten days, they would still need another seven days to get back to Fortress 178. That would be too late!

Suddenly, Zhou Yinglong ran back from the front line. "Commander! Commander! The Razor Sharp Company has called in!"

Everyone was startled. They never expected the Razor Sharp Company that was behind the enemy lines to actually reestablish communications with them.

The Razor Sharp Company had just finished their attack on Stronghold 144. Not only did they burn down the granary there, but they also stole a satellite phone from within the stronghold. It was only then that they were able to contact Fortress 178's troops again.

Zhang Jinglin took the satellite phone and answered it. On the other end of the line, Zhang Xiaoman's loud voice yelled excitedly, "Commander Zhang? Is that Commander Zhang?"

"Yes, this is Zhang Jinglin, please speak," Zhang Jinglin said calmly.

"We've burnt down the granary at Stronghold 144 and wiped out seven or eight of their companies. We even killed three regimental commanders of their 1237th Regiment, and the deputy regimental commander is in our hands now," Zhang Xiaoman said cockily, as though he were afraid Zhang Jinglin would not award them the Nebula Medal. He thought he should list all of their contributions in one fell swoop.

The commanders beside Zhang Jinglin were stunned. They had not expected the Razor Sharp Company would achieve so many important objectives. It was no wonder the Zong Consortium had to deploy their troops back to deal with them in the rear.

Was this even a fucking company? Even an independent brigade would most probably not achieve what they had done.

The Razor Sharp Company was simply too fearsome!

However, everyone did not cheer up because the current situation of the war could no longer be changed by burning down a granary, killing a few regimental commanders, or wiping out several companies.

However, Zhang Jinglin smiled and said, "You all did very well, but you have to be careful as well."

"Commander Zhang, don't worry, we suffered no casualties at all!"

The commanders started gritting their teeth. None of them could have imagined the Razor Sharp Company could do so many things without suffering a single casualty.

Zhang Jinglin laughed and gave Zhang Xiaoman a few instructions before handing the phone to Zhou Yinglong. He did not mention a word about Ren Xiaosu throughout the entire call, but everyone knew Ren Xiaosu must have done a great job in this battle.

Zhou Yinglong took the phone and said to Zhang Xiaoman, "Alright, we know y'all've done well, but now's not the time to go over all of your achievements. Retreat to a safe location. We're in a precarious situation over here."

Zhang Xiaoman was stunned. "Precarious?"

Zhou Yinglong hesitated for a moment and sighed as he briefly explained the current situation. The Razor Sharp Company's soldiers beside Zhang Xiaoman were all listening to the call as well. Everyone was suddenly at a slight loss of what to do. How did the situation suddenly turn so disadvantageous for them?

Furthermore, the Zong Consortium might even capture Fortress 178 soon? Zhang Xiaoman thought about his wife and child. What about that girl Fu Rao liked? What about everyone's dream lover, Lu Yao?

Zhang Xiaoman said anxiously, "Don't worry, Battalion Commander. If they can attack Fortress 178, we can also take the fight to their Stronghold 146. Those old geezers of the Zong Consortium's Board are all located in Stronghold 146. If we kill them, the Zong Consortium will immediately descend into chaos."

Zhou Yinglong scolded him with a laugh. "What are you talking about? There's an entire brigade garrisoned in Stronghold 146 right now, so do you think you can attack them that easily? Hurry and get out of there! I want y'all to flee in the direction of the Central Plains—"

But before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by another voice. "Is Mr. Zhang still listening? Can I just ask if it'll be of any help to the situation if we destroy Stronghold 146?"

Zhang Jinglin stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Yes."

"Alright, I'll go and attack them then."

The commanders listening to the call from the side felt that this voice sounded a little unfamiliar, but they all knew it was probably Ren Xiaosu talking.

But this Ren Xiaosu was way too arrogant. How could the Razor Sharp Company possibly be capable of taking Stronghold 146?

Zhang Jinglin sighed and said, "It's impossible for you all to destroy Stronghold 146."

"Mr. Zhang, do you still remember what you told me?" Ren Xiaosu asked calmly. "You said that if one knows how difficult the situation is and still insists on doing it at the risk of injuring themselves, that is called stupidity. But do you remember what my response to you was?"

Zhang Jinglin recalled the moment Ren Xiaosu had told him that the same went for bravery.