Chapter 1235, Right and Wrong

Black Fox stood in the doorway of the conference room looking down at the dust on his body, he had just returned from a trip to carry fertilizer and was all dirty.

When a certain combat staff approached him and said that Chief P5092 wanted him to come to the conference room, he actually knew what he was about to face again.

The most brutal war of all time.

Inside, though, Black Fox wasn’t apprehensive at all; instead, he was suddenly a little excited.

He had spent four years studying in the Fireblood Military Academy, and had served in the Third Division for so many years, and all that he had learned and seen was all for the sake of war.

A while ago, P5092 found him and said that from now on, everyone might be converted to logistic service, and Black Fox still had a pang of regret in his heart.

But a soldier’s duty was to obey orders, and he would do whatever the officer said.

But if he still had the chance to take up arms again, Black Fox was actually happy inside.

Moreover, he believed that the other soldiers of the original Spark unit would be as happy as he was, because everyone had been waiting for this moment.

Black Fox knew that it might be a little wrong for him to think that way; after all, war was war, and there was a price to pay.

But, this was what they were best at ah, and just as much a cause that they were willing to give everything for.

P5092 sat in the conference room calmly looking at Blackfox, “No need to be happy so early, when you know what kind of enemy you’re going to face, you’ll start to suffer.”

“It won’t,” Black Fox smiled, “I’ve been mentally prepared for this for a long time, ten years ago.”

“Go get groomed and then take the men to the armory to pick up your gear,” said P5092.

“Alright,” Black Fox turned around and ran off without a trace like a new recruit when he had just entered the military academy, full of vigor.

P5092 continued in the quiet conference room, “This time the 3rd Field Division will no longer construct new defense positions, in the face of such a huge enemy, the plains positions can’t stop them at all, so they must be delayed by guerrilla.”

In fact, it was also true that the 3rd Field Division couldn’t stop the enemy, and all they could do was simply delay them for some time as a means of ensuring that as many residents of the Northwest retreated to the rear as possible.

So they didn’t need to defeat anyone, they just needed to buy time.

“What support do I need to provide,” Ren Xiaosu asked, “I’ll join the battle with the 6th Field Division so I can buy more time.”

“No,” P5092 shook his head, “Major, you have to understand that nowadays, you are always alive and letting everyone know that you are alive is the greatest significance. Both you and Commander Zhang are the spiritual pillars of Northwest, so none of you can fall. If one of you were to have an accident, how much of a blow would it deal to the morale of the entire Northwest Army? Do you know that?”

Ren Xiaosu certainly knew this.

P5092 continued, “This has nothing to do with greed and fear of death, along with me as well, a dead commander will be worthless. This world never needs unnecessary hot blood, you and I need to calmly live to the end, it’s not that we want to live, but this war needs us to live.”

Ren Xiaosu took a deep breath and said, “So what else do you need for support.”

“Vehicles are needed, as well as diesel and gasoline supplies,” P5092 said, “This is the only way to support the mobility of guerrilla warfare, and as you mentioned, Major, the other side is capable of directly controlling Wang’s mechanized forces.”

The situation facing Northwest was a bit different from Qing’s.

There was no road between Qing and Wang, so there was no possibility for the mechanized forces to cross the southwestern forest.

But the Northwest was different, Wang Clan had long been cantoned on the border, there were roads here and Wang Clan’s advance base near the border, even if the other side’s supply lines were not enough to support a large-scale mechanized force advance, there would definitely be a small number of armored vehicles and tanks that could arrive in the Northwest.

So, if you want to play guerrilla with such a force, your own mobility has to keep up.

However, at this time, the participant of the meeting, Wang Yuexiu, hesitated and said, “But the problem is, diesel, gasoline, vehicles, these are all things that are urgently needed for the retreat of the residents, ah, the entire barrier’s means of transportation must all be up and running so that the residents can be transported away as soon as possible.”

The conference room was quiet for a moment, the resources were limited, who to allocate them to was what Ren Xiaosu had to decide.

If Wang Yuexiu was given the resources to evacuate the residents, then P5092 would not be able to ensure high mobility.

The fish and the bear’s paw, you can’t have it both ways.

Ren Xiaosu frowned, he got up and said to Wang Yuexiu: “You go ahead and arrange for the evacuation, there is no need to hide it from the residents of the barriers, this kind of thing can’t be hidden. Zhang Xiaoman, you take a brigade into the barriers to maintain order, if anyone incites the civilians to rebel, arrest them all. As for how to evacuate, I’ll think of another way.”

At this time, P5092 suddenly said, “Wang Yun, pick 10 soldiers out of the army who used to have family in Fortress 178 and have them come see me. Remember, I want soldiers who still have family in Fortress 178 but are not only children. You guys give me all of the Eyes of True Sight that the Major has given you, and I’ll take all of the ones that haven’t opened the Keygate.”

Ren Xiaosu froze for a moment, and he immediately guessed what P5092 wanted the 10 soldiers for.

P5092 thought for a moment and added, “Preferably voluntarily.”

In the Sixth Field Division, there were more than a thousand people who had followed Zhang Xiaoman to Barrier 144 in the first place, so these 10 soldiers were not hard to find.

In the afternoon, P5092 collected all the True Vision Eyes that Ren Xiaosu had once sent out, including every True Vision Eye above the red level, totaling 10.

Originally, there were more than twenty of them, but a large portion of everyone had recently opened the Key Gate. To open it, the previous owner of the Eye of True Sight had to die in order to do so.

One Eye of True Sight corresponded to one soldier, for example, the red stone in Zhang Xiaoman’s hand that hadn’t opened the Key Gate yet, all of which could be the key to this evacuation plan.

Home in Fortress 178 was a key thing, and although the Key Door was not controllable, if they were away from home for too long, then there was a high probability that the door would open to their respective homes.

This was where Ren Xiaosu’s rules for screening soldiers came into play.

The red Key Gate was wide enough to pass through one person at a time, while the gold color could pass through two.

Civilians certainly couldn’t pass through as fast as the soldiers in an orderly fashion, perhaps two or three seconds to pass through one person, and this time wasn’t accurate, it needed to be counted again.

But once a soldier opened the end of the Key Gate at Fortress 178, then the entire civilian retreat plan could be much less burdensome, at least children, women, and the elderly, who were not suited to traveling long distances, could leave through the Key Gate.

There were a total of four barriers that needed to be retreated from, Ren Xiaosu must try out a shortcut.

However, these soldiers who opened the Key Gate were not spared, they had to wait for everyone to pass through and then close the Key Gate by rotating the Eye of True Sight counterclockwise ten times.

This way all those who passed through this door would not fall back to the other end of the door after it was destroyed.

These soldiers, according to the retreat countdown, the odds are that these soldiers will not be able to leave Barrier 144.

That’s why P5092 explained that the soldiers who did this couldn’t be an only child.

To be honest, Ren Xiaosu was very reluctant to make such a choice, because this matter was very unfair to any soldier.

P5092 looked at Ren Xiaosu and asked, “Major, is it because you feel that your heart is not in it?”

Ren Xiaosu looked at P5092, “Yes.”

P5092 said, “This is something that each of us must go through, do you remember that little story of the train, one side of the track was 10 people, on the other side of the track were hundreds of thousands of people, originally this train was going to crash into hundreds of thousands of people, and the wrenching switch was in your hands, how would you choose?”

Ren Xiaosu shook his head, “No, the analogy is wrong. These 10 people didn’t do anything wrong, they weren’t standing on another intersection in the first place. Yet now just because they are soldiers, they have to be sacrificed, they have to be made to actively stand on the other fork in the road and exchange their lives for the lives of others?”

P5092 said, “Yes, just because he’s a soldier, every single one of our soldiers is prepared to sacrifice for hundreds of thousands of civilians.”

Ren Xiaosu shook his head again, “I have other ways.”

P5092 said, “It’s okay Major, if you can’t bear it, I’ll tell them.”

“I’ll do the talking,” Ren Xiaosu said with certainty.

When the 10 soldiers came to Ren Xiaosu, Ren Xiaosu surveyed the faces of each soldier, all of them were looking at him with expectant gazes, they all knew that the Major had something very important for them to do.

“What are your names and how old are you?” Ren Xiaosu asked softly.

“Zhao Wankun, 40 years old!”

“Jiang Feifei, 31 years old!”

“Zhang Hao, 31 years old!”

“Liu Daixu, 25 years old!”

“Kou Keng Fan, 23 years old!”

“Cheng Fangwei, 24 years old!”

“Xu Penglong, 21 years old!”

“Wang Fojun, 21 years old!”

“Dai Jinkai, 26 years old!”

“Tang Boying, 28 years old!”

These 10 Northwest Army soldiers, the oldest was 40 years old and the youngest was 21 years old.

Ren Xiaosu was silent pondering how to open his mouth, instead, Zhao Wankun smiled and said, “Major, it’s fine, you can say it, we’re mentally prepared, we came voluntarily.”

In fact, they knew what was going on, they knew when P5092 asked if they were only children.

Jiang Feifei smiled and said, “Major, Chief P5 has already told us what’s going on, we’re willing to stay over here and wait for everyone to pass through the Keygate before closing it. Actually, compared to our comrades who need to go and fight the enemy, we are already happy enough, they are the most dangerous.”

Ren Xiaosu was silent for a moment, then said, “I will stay with you at the frontline until the last moment, and then use the steam train to take you away.”

This was Ren Xiaosu’s approach, perhaps P5092 had gotten used to sacrifices as an excellent commander, used to one life after another around him dying for his ideals, but he still had trouble getting used to it.

So he would wait with these soldiers until the last moment.

“Let’s begin,” Ren Xiaosu said, “Simply take the stone issued to you, drop your blood, and then rotate it clockwise ten times on this wall behind me, and the Gate of Keys will open.144 The candidates for the barriers, Zhao Wankun, Jiang Feifei, and Zhang Hao.”

In total, the residents of 4 barriers were to be evacuated, so the 10 soldiers were evenly distributed across the barriers, 2 or 3 people per barrier.

As for whether or not they could open the Key Gate to Fortress 178, no one knew.

“Major,” one man hesitated, “What if the door we open is not at Fortress 178?”

Ren Xiaosu said, “Don’t have too much pressure, this is something that can’t be determined by nature, it could open next to you, or it could open in a place you’ve never even been to, even I’m taking a gamble, so even if you fail, no one will blame you. Don’t worry, I’ll get others to try again afterward, you guys are just the first batch.”

The first Zhao Wankun, when he dripped blood and spun ten times, a circle of ripples rippled out on the wall.

He took a step into the key door, and the next second he returned to the 144th wall in disappointment, then said with difficulty, “Major, behind this door is a snowy mountain, and the temperature may be more than ten degrees below zero ……”

Ren Xiaosu helped him pat the snow foam off his shoulders, “It’s okay, go back and rest.”

Zhao Wankun lowered his head and headed out of the house, Ren Xiaosu felt that there was something wrong with his demeanor, so she quietly followed behind him.

At the moment Zhao Wankun left the house, the veteran suddenly pulled out the gun on his waist and tried to shoot himself.

Fortunately, Ren Xiaosu realized it in time and kicked Zhao Wankun’s gun away.

“What are you doing?” Ren Xiaosu asked in a cold voice.

“Major, Officer P5092 gave us the word that this Key Gate can only be opened once, and if the host who opened it is still alive, no one can open it a second time,” Zhao Wankun said in a low voice, “So don’t lie to us, Major, we know what to do.”

Ren Xiaosu’s chest suddenly felt a little stuffy as if something was blocking it.

When he said a few minutes ago that he would find someone to try the Key Gate again, he was merely trying to comfort these people.

By saying so, he was originally worried that these people would do something stupid.

As a result, P5092 had actually thought things ahead of him, implying that these soldiers would simply kill themselves if they failed to open the door at Fortress 178.

P5092 did this to use human lives to keep trial and error until the Key Gates corresponding to the 10 Eyes of True Vision were all opened at Fortress 178!

This way, with 2 or 3 Key Gates per fortress, the evacuation plan would be much more efficient.

Perhaps it would only take 10 days for the residents of the entire barrier to retreat to Fortress 178.

Ren Xiaosu dragged Zhao Wankun to find P5092, who said in a cold voice, “Did you imply that they committed suicide?”

P5092 glanced at Zhao Wankun, then calmly said, “That’s right.”

“Just because it was the best choice?” Ren Xiaosu asked.

“Yes,” P5092 nodded, “The Keygate is too unstable, and Major, the civilians can’t manage to get through one person in a few seconds, they’re not the trained soldiers of the Sixth Field Division, they’ll be congested, and the opposite side of the gate will be congested, and the first ones to get through will be children, old men, women, and you overestimate how fast they will pass, especially the old men.”

P5092 continued, “A keygate that allows two people to pass through will be able to pass through roughly 100,000 to 150,000 people in three days, and what if there is only a keygate that allows one person to pass through, it will be even less. 144 Barrier numbers 1.1 million people, a keygate will not be able to retreat in time. These civilians fall into the hands of the AI, how much of a threat will it pose to the rear line? How many more soldiers will have to die by then?”

Ren Xiaosu listened silently, in fact, he knew very well that what P5092 did was the optimal solution for the moment.

Without considering humanity, feelings, or morality, constantly using human lives to make trial and error and then opening the 10 key doors, this was indeed the most efficient plan.

P5092 calmly said, “Major, I don t tell you just don t want your conscience to carry the condemnation, you just pretend that you don t know about this matter, and it is all up to me to carry it …… anyway I am more cold blooded.”

Ren Xiaosu coldly looked at P5092 a glance and said, “The problem is that you do not have your mouth said so cold-blooded. Whether you think I’m righteous or not, whether you think I’m not mature enough or not, but the Northwest Army has never needed this kind of sacrifice, if you really want to die, then die together.”

After saying that, Ren Xiaosu explained that Wang Yun had sent someone to keep an eye on the soldiers who had failed to open the Key Gate, and then returned to the house where the Key Gate was opened.

On the side, Wang Yun said to P5092, “The Major also knows that you are doing this for the good of the Northwest, he understands, it’s just that this is not his style of doing things.”

P5092 calmly said, “I understand, that’s what makes a leader a leader, and I can only be a commander.”

In the end, it took three tries on the 144th Barrier’s side to open a keyed door that only allowed one person to pass through.

The other soldiers got into their vehicles and drove off to the other barriers with their respective Eyes of True Sight.

In the evening, Ren Xiaosu once again found P5092 and said seriously, “I know very well what kind of person you are, if you were really cold-blooded enough, then you wouldn’t have needed to sit alone in your tent until dawn when there were soldiers sacrificed while guarding the Great Wall of Fire. So next time if you make this kind of decision, remember to tell me in advance, the Northwest is everyone’s Northwest, you don’t need to be the one to carry anything.”

P5092 looked at Ren Xiaosu silently for a long time before he said, “But war always requires sacrifices, and they are prepared for it.”

Ren Xiaosu said, “You’re right, but there’s more than right and wrong in this world, there’s also the choice of our hearts.”

Barriers 143, 144, 145, and 146 sounded alarms at the same time that day, and the announcers of each barrier announced the decision to retreat over the radio.

The officials did not hide the battle situation, and frankly admitted that everyone had to retreat backwards to favorable terrain in order to achieve victory.

For a time, the four barriers were in an uproar.

Originally, the Northwest Army had planned to maintain order, but the imagined chaos didn’t happen.