To the soldiers of the 6th Combat Brigade, nothing was more exciting than the sight they were witnessing.

Before they even suffered any casualties, thousands of barbarians died in the mountains. Their fear of the expeditionary army was swept away, and some of them even started thinking about the speech they would give when they returned to receive their awards.

Morale was always a mysterious thing in war, but it was something no commanders could ignore.

If the troops' morale was low, they could probably only perform at 30 percent of their full strength.

If their morale was high, they might be able to unleash a 1,000 percent of their strength.

If a commander only focused on tactics and ignored morale, it meant the commander was not high level enough.

At the very least, they would not be at the level of a great general yet.

When the expeditionary army's bugle sounded the retreat, the barbarians who were attacking the defensive position quickly fell back. But even at this moment, the barbarians who were holding the shields did not ease up. They kept covering their comrades' retreat from the back of the formation.

When P5092 saw this, he finally heaved a sigh of relief. At least, it seemed that everything was moving in the right direction. This could be considered a good start for the upcoming fierce battle.

There was an old saying1 that spoke of the art of war. "Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy; next best is to disrupt his alliances; next best is to attack his army. The worst policy is to attack cities. Attack cities only when there is no alternative."

For the tactical choice this time, P5092 first forced the expeditionary army into a situation where they had to attack the defensive position. If they did not attack Mt. Zuoyun, their rear would not be safe. P5092 had the upper hand in terms of strategy from the beginning by forcing the expeditionary army to sacrifice their lives in exchange for gaining Mt. Zuoyun.

However, this did not mean they would win the war, because they were only a small part of the entire battlefield. If the Pyro Company were defeated, they would still be in great danger.

This war would definitely drag everyone into the abyss, and even the survivors would get drained into exhaustion.

P5092 suddenly turned to Mo Fei and said, "Thank you."

Mo Fei smiled and said, "You're welcome, Commander."

At the side, Ren Xiaosu quietly sized up Mo Fei. The other party also looked at him before turning away.

P5092 walked towards the command post and said, "Officer Li, summon the commanders of the regiments for a meeting. Although the barbarians have retreated for now, they'll definitely be back again as long as we remain on Mt. Zuoyun. Furthermore, they'll also have a new strategy in place, so we'll need to formulate a follow-up plan before their return."

But just as everyone sat down in the command post to discuss the battle plan, Wang Run, who was listening in on the meeting, suddenly received a satellite phone call. He went out to answer the call before returning to the command post with a dark expression. "The Pyro Company has been defeated. The Great Wall's defensive line has been breached, leaving only the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Divisions retreating to the south."

P5092 said in a daze, "How did they lose? No matter how bad the Pyro Company performed, they should've been able to hold out for another week at least. How could they have been defeated so quickly?"

Actually, the Pyro Company still retained some of its strength and could carry on fighting more battles in the future. But in the bigger picture, it was not wrong to say they had been defeated. After all, the Great Wall's front line was lost. Because of that, it would become difficult for the front line at Mt. Daniu to hold out on its own.

"We haven't confirmed that yet." Wang Run said, "We can't afford to dissect the Pyro Company's defeat right now. Rather, we have to consider what our next steps should be. After the expeditionary army took down the Great Wall's front line, they did not continue pursuing south. I suspect they'll immediately turn around and advance towards the front line at Mt. Daniu. At that time, we'll have to face the entire expeditionary army."

P5092 asked, "Which site at the Great Wall did they break through first? Your people should have seen it, right?"

He was implying that the Wang Consortium had already taken control of the satellites, so they would surely have been observing the happenings at the Pyro Company's side the entire time.

Wang Run hesitated for a moment before answering, "They first carried out a feint attack on the Great Wall at the Wu Ridge section. Then they suddenly concentrated their troops and attacked the area where the 7th Division was originally garrisoned. After that, they broke through the walls."

P5092 sighed and said, "That site had just seen a changeover of troops, and they were still lacking ammo."

In just an instant, P5092 understood the expeditionary army had realized what the real situation was. There were already weaknesses in the Pyro Company's defensive line at that point. If P5092 was still at the Pyro Company, he would definitely seek to avoid letting the expeditionary army discover these weaknesses. Furthermore, he would also deliberately fake weaknesses at areas with sufficient ammunition to attract the expeditionary army to attack the most solid part of the defensive line at the Great Wall.

But it seemed the Pyro Company did not do so. Or rather, they did but their actions were not enough to successfully fool the expeditionary army.

P5092 asked, "How many people do you assess the expeditionary army to have?"

"There's still another 140,000 more troops." Wang Run said in a low voice, "The Wang Consortium's main forces will be fully deployed to the front line at Mt. Daniu, including those that are currently occupying the Kong Consortium's territories. We'll be going all out to face the incoming expeditionary army."

P5092 quietly walked out of the command post and stood at the edge of the defensive position. He looked lonely as he gazed out over Mt. Zuoyun.

Ren Xiaosu looked at P5092's back and realized that even though he was able to maintain his rationality in war, he was still a sentimental person.

The Pyro Company's defeat was bad news for P5092. Just as the other party had said when he was choosing between the names "P5092" and "Ling Han," he chose to continue being called "P5092" as it represented his past.

This was probably how P5092 wanted to remember where he came from.

Ren Xiaosu walked up to P5092. "Are you sad?"

P5092 nodded and admitted, "Yes."

"I previously thought that you only had surface-level feelings for the Pyro Company," Ren Xiaosu said.

P5092 said calmly, "Actually, I've never really liked the culture at the Pyro Company. If you make a mistake there, there's no turning back. There'll be no chance to atone for your wrongdoings, and there won't even be a way to make up for it. Everyone has to work hard so they'll be seen as useful. They tell the recruits day after day that they don't need to have a mind of their own and should just play their parts well as a cog in the machine. That's how we were educated since we were young."

"But after I left the Pyro Company, I often dreamed of the passionate oath I took when I was young." P5092 said, "I even dreamed of those soldiers shouting their battle cries as they fought for the survival of the Pyro Company before rushing into battle. Only then did I realize it was a part of my life that I could not bear to cut off."

Ren Xiaosu patted him on the shoulder. The Pyro Company's defeat came so suddenly that P5092 could not accept it.

P5092 turned around and said to Ren Xiaosu, "I joined the Prosperous Northwest because Fortress 178 and the Pyro Company share the same mission. Our goal is to protect humanity. But if there comes a day when you start vying for control of this world and wage war for glory, I will leave."

Ren Xiaosu smiled. "Don't worry, that day won't come. If there's no war in the future, I'll take y'all to the Northwest to run a farm."

"Deal."

…

At this moment, a tall barbarian was slowly passing through a gate at the Great Wall's front line. All of the expeditionary army's soldiers bowed when they saw him, hailing the general.

There were many high-ranking officers in the expeditionary army but only one general who truly commanded all of the troops.

The general stood south of the Great Wall and looked at the smoke and flames everywhere, as well as at the Central Plains captives who were kneeling on the ground. He suddenly asked, "Where's Valentin? Have him come and see me."

Valentin was the highest-ranking officer of the expeditionary army's advance guard. The expeditionary army troops that fought the Pyro Company in the forest were under his command.

A black-robed figure walked over from the side and said respectfully to the general, "General, Valentin fell for the enemy's ambush because he was in a hurry to chase after the Pyro Company's troops. He's dead."

"Is that so?" The general frowned. "Who are these captives?"

"General, they're the civilians responsible for building the Great Wall," Black Robe said.

"I'll let you choose 300 from among them to become your monsters." The general said calmly, "This time, you'll lead these captives towards Mt. Zuoyun. Report the outcome to me half a month later. If you win, I'll allow you to choose another 300 people."

Black Robe was delighted. "Thank you, General!"

However, the general suddenly looked straight under the shadows of Black Robe's hood. "But you have to understand something. This is the authority that I've delegated to you."

Black Robe felt a great sense of oppression. It gritted its teeth and said, "I understand."

Chapter 3 of The Art of War: Offensive Strategy