Lin Hai was stunned when he heard this. He didn't even react: "Who did you say died in the battle?"
"Huang Zong, the commander-in-chief of the southern front, your student."
"Oh, it's him. I haven't seen him for a long time."
Lin Hai wiped his tears as he spoke: "I haven't seen him since I left Jiankang before the war. I remember Xue Wuxia promised him that if she survived the war, she would marry him, right?"
Shi Zhen'er gently took Lin Hai's hand, stroked his palm, and said softly, "War is fair. No one can escape disaster just because they are close to us. You must hold on. Now is the most difficult moment. If you collapse, all our efforts will be wasted, and all our sacrifices will be in vain."
Lin Hai coughed twice, cleared his throat, and spoke louder, "Notify the southern front that Deputy Commander-in-Chief Ma Wen will take over the position of Commander-in-Chief. Dai Xu, formerly the Minister of War of the Chen Dynasty, will be promoted to Deputy Commander-in-Chief to continue the offensive. Then send a separate telegram to Chen Xu. In my personal name, I ask him not to leave the front lines to go to the rear to heal his wounds. Please insist on persevering."
After saying that, Lin Hai closed his eyes, as if he wanted to recall Huang Zong's appearance.
"Where is Xue Wuxia? Ask her to come see me."
"She can't come. She was killed in the raid on the Guards' supply warehouse last month."
Shi Zhen'er really didn't want to be the one to tell the bad news, but it had to be her.
Shi Zhen'er originally planned to stay here for two days to take care of Lin Hai, but she never expected that these two days would become the time when she heard the most bad news in her life.
"Lu You, commander-in-chief of the Qinghe Second Army (formerly the Second Army), was killed in action."
When Shi Zhen'er read the telegram, she didn't even know what tone she should use to say this sentence. In the end, it was not until Lin Hai noticed something was wrong and snatched the telegram away that she found out.
The tears have dried up.
Lu You, the one who has silently supported Lin Hai since he started his career, became the sworn brother of the mountain king for several years for Lin Hai's plan. In order to stabilize the front line, he fought to the death when the guards gathered defenders from all over the place to launch a counterattack. In the end, he fell in the poisonous gas because his gas mask was damaged.
"Does Big Brother know about this?"
"Big Brother knows. He called and told you not to worry, that the brothers can still hold on. He also told you not to change the battle plan because of Nineteenth Brother's situation. Changing the formation at the last minute could lead to disaster..."
Lin Hai stood up unsteadily. After a long silence, he slowly said, "Call my brother back and tell him I'm calm. I also ask him... ask him to be careful and take good care of himself."
In the last month of the fifth year of Jianchu, too many casualties made the originally numb hearts feel pain again. The departure of people around him one by one made Lin Hai become silent. Unless he had to issue an order, he would often only say a few more words when Shi Zhener was around.
On December 15th of the fifth year of Jianchu, there was only half a month left.
Good news and bad news came at the same time.
While inspecting a position, the Great Xia State's leader, Wei Mingyuan, was suddenly attacked by his guards. His guards fought desperately to carve out a bloody path, hoping their leader could escape. Unfortunately, despite having destroyed most of the sensors, the management center still closely monitored every move within the crater. Wei Mingyuan, who hadn't even gotten far, was discovered before he could even hide in a foxhole... Of course, although he had tried his best to lose weight during the war, Wei Mingyuan's weight certainly didn't allow him to run very far...
By that day, only three leaders remained in the alliance: Lin Hai, Xia Junao, and the one-armed Chen Xu. The leaders of all the major tribes had been killed in the battle, along with the tribal armies.
"Cheng Guorong reports that the northern front's vanguard has reached the edge of the 'metal square' you mentioned. The guards from various locations have begun to retreat, attempting to retreat back to defend the metal square and the central control tower. Unable to dig fortifications within the metal square, they can only pile debris on the flat ground for defense..."
Shi Zhen'er read the good news very slowly, as if she wanted Lin Hai to bask in the good news for a while longer, so that her husband, who had aged twenty years overnight, could feel more energetic.
"Metal Plaza? I remember that plaza had a radius of over a thousand meters... The unobstructed terrain is not in our favor..."
"LKN93 has chipped away at most of the metal square. You know, they're short on metal. Now, only a radius of about 300 meters is left. If they chip away any more, the tower will probably be unstable. Cheng Guorong said that if they drop incendiary bombs now, they can hit the main control tower. But the robot soldiers are all converging there, and the enemy is very dense. And at this moment, LKN93 will definitely not hesitate to deploy his last reserves here."
"Okay, I got it. Tell Cheng Guorong to build fortifications out of the enemy's range. I'll be there soon."
"Take the last reserve, Zhen'er, and let's go."
The Union Army reserve, equipped with captured weapons, numbered only 200 men (diagram)
Lin Hai and his guards, the last remaining reserve unit of the Alliance's regular army—an infantry unit equipped with captured firearms. Trained personally by Lin Hai, they were limited in ammunition, so their marksmanship wasn't satisfactory. However, their bayonet skills were excellent...
Half a day later, at the front line.
"Cheng Guorong, do you see that platform in the distance supported by metal pillars? The one that's only half a person's height?"
Lin Hai put down the telescope and said to Cheng Guorong, who was covered in black beside him.
There was no other way. Almost every inch of land in the abyss had been burned by incendiary bombs more than once, and the entire land was covered in carbon black from the burning. It was already very difficult for Cheng Guorong to ensure that the whites of his eyes and teeth were white.
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