But just as they were diligently digging holes, something happened.
From the northwest direction, there were figures darting about.
The soldiers immediately became tense.
Their holes weren’t finished yet; in fact, there were still twenty minutes to go until the two-hour mark they were supposed to reach.
But on the battlefield, anything unexpected can happen. The enemy won’t coordinate with your actions and arrive just when you say. They might have retreated early, or possibly sent out scouts or vanguards to ensure the safety of their rear.
The soldiers still had to hurry and get ready for combat, crawling into the unfinished and quite shallow foxholes; those who really had nowhere to hide could only crouch behind the iron bull trucks; using vehicles as cover on the battlefield is obviously not a great choice, but if you don’t even have this option, you just have to find a spot and lie down.
However, what happened next… it’s uncertain whether it was a false alarm or the arrival of even worse news.
The arrivals were not enemies but allies.
Among them were many familiar faces.
It was the brother company from next door, 3rd Company of the 2nd Battalion belonging to the 3rd Brigade.
About twenty people came over, many of whom were wounded, looking quite battered.
From a distance, when Valen Zu’an saw these guys, a very bad thought crossed his mind.
He called out to his brothers to keep doing what they were doing while the company instructor had already led a team to meet them.
Valen Zu’an, with his binoculars in hand, took a look.
The voices in the distance couldn’t be heard clearly here, but it was visible that there seemed to be some conflict between the two sides. The good-tempered instructor from 9th Company appeared to be furiously scolding something and even drew his pistol and chambered a round. The soldiers on the other side were crestfallen; a few argued back for a moment, but ultimately there was no further commotion.
In the end, the instructor and the soldiers of the company escorted this group back.
Fortunately, no greater chaos erupted, and it didn’t come to the point of disarming those people.
Once they brought the people back, the instructor arranged for them to find a spot and temporarily integrated them into an extra squad to dig holes and prepare for battle. Meanwhile, he himself returned to find the company commander to report the situation.
Valen Zu’an asked, “Deserters?”
The instructor’s face looked a bit grim, he hesitated for a moment, but then chose a different word, “More accurately, they should be routed soldiers.”
Valen Zu’an was noncommittal about this.
The instructor had softened somewhat.
‘Deserters’ and ‘routed soldiers’ have completely different natures. The former would have to face a military court, or on the frontline, any military officer or civil-military officer has the authority to execute them summarily. But as for the latter, it was a choice made out of desperation, with no other options.
If they were routed soldiers, then that was still manageable; they could be rallied and used. But if they were deserters, Valen Zu’an dared not trust these people.
If they could desert once, then there could be a second time. At a critical moment in the battle, if a part of his own defense line directly deserted during combat, it could cost the entire company their lives.
Observing the company commander’s expression, the instructor hastily said, “Really, they are routed soldiers! Look, there’s no officer among those guys, the highest rank is just a sergeant…”
Afterward, he relayed the intelligence they had gotten from the mouths of these routed soldiers.
3rd Company was to the northwest of their current position, and they were assigned a mission similar to 9th Company’s: encircling the rear to conduct a blocking battle.
But their situation and luck were both quite unfortunate. First, they ran into trouble on the road, encountering a small group of enemies and were forced to dismount and fight. This made them arrive late at the battlefield, and their planned area was too close to the enemy, so they collided with the main enemy force without having time to prepare.
“… according to their story, they were attacked by artillery before even dismounting, with vehicles blown up, a whole truck of people killed; just after getting out, they had no cover and had to rely on the vehicles to fight the enemy, but with artillery raining down and combat drones striking from the sky, they couldn’t hold out, and their firepower points in the company couldn’t be deployed, suffering heavy casualties from the start. When the mechanized dogs rushed in, they couldn’t stop them.”
“The unit suffered heavy losses, and the remaining people had to fight and run at the same time, we’ll not talk about those who died, but the surviving, they all scattered. They now don’t even know where their other comrades fled to, even unsure if anyone else survived besides themselves.”
Valen Zu’an showed considerable empathy, sympathizing with the plight of 3rd Company.
A battle, being prepared or not, the outcome is drastically different.
He stroked his chin and said, “That does indeed sound excusable, but still, to have them join the upcoming battle, we’ll need to keep a close watch on their will to fight.”
“I’ll keep an eye on them.”
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The routed soldiers had already arrived, so naturally, the enemy would not be far behind.
In fact, just a few minutes later, the scouts on the front line relayed information that they had spotted the enemy presence, and they even shot down two combat drones.
And soon, those men returned to the ranks as well.
There was no need to continue forward to scout; the enemy had arrived. Valen Zu’an, binoculars in hand, could already see them himself.
“Fire!” he ordered.
There was no need to wait for the enemy to come closer before firing. This was not an ambush; on this wide, desolate plain, there were no conditions for an ambush. It was best to eliminate the enemy at a long distance and prevent them from getting close.