First Battlefield Commander! - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Retreat

Fang Jianchen was eliminated. Reluctantly, he collapsed to the ground, curling up into a ball. Lian Sheng stood up, slung her gun back over her shoulder, and went over to loot Fang Jianchen's ammunition.

As the sniper in Ji Fangxiao's team, his ammo supply had to be plentiful. Lian Sheng managed to scavenge over forty rounds in one go, perfectly replenishing her previously emptied pockets.

As she silently packed the bullets away, she looked down to find Fang Jianchen glaring at her with venomous eyes.

Lian Sheng paused, squatting down in front of him. "Corpse, hey, your eyeballs are about to fall out."

Fang Jianchen widened his eyes but couldn't resist explaining himself: "I died with grievances unresolved!"

Lian Sheng reached over, adjusted his head into a proper position, and waved. "See you."

When Fang Jianchen tried to speak again, Lian Sheng cut him off: "Stop talking, save some positive points for your team."

Fang Jianchen inhaled sharply at this—his heart ached. This was humiliation, pure and simple. The other party was provoking him to speak, utterly despicable.

Zhao Zhuoluo was firing ahead. Lian Sheng turned and patted his back: "Tell them to retreat."

Zhao Zhuoluo nodded, firing a blank shot near his companions. When they looked over, he signaled to them. Ye Buqing and Cheng Ze understood, going to call the others nearby.

The eight of them quickly withdrew from the battlefield, leaving the area to the instructors.

When Ji Fangxiao realized the rear defense line had retreated, he would likely seize the chance to escape, regroup, and rest temporarily without bothering them. After all, they'd suffered heavy losses—even sacrificing their own sniper. No matter what, they wouldn't stay calm.

Even so, Lian Sheng and the others hurried away at full speed.

"We were right in the middle of a good fight, and we didn't even get all the ammo yet," Meng Jiangwu said, clutching his gun and looking back wistfully. "Weren't the instructors helping us? The situation was looking great—why retreat?"

"If we didn't retreat, we'd be the ones dead," Lian Sheng said. "Are you joking? Did you really think the instructors were your hired thugs?"

Meng Jiangwu froze before realizing—right, cooperating with the instructors had only been a stopgap measure in a crisis. Once the situation changed, so would their relationship.

In terms of threats, they and Ji Fangxiao were equally matched. Now that they'd delivered themselves to the enemy's doorstep, why wouldn't the instructors take advantage?

Zheng Lei suddenly burst into laughter, looking up at the sky. "We beat Ji Fangxiao's team, hahaha! Even through their protective gear, I could see their dumbfounded faces!"

It was genuine panic. For a moment, they forgot all about countermeasures, just spinning around in confusion and shoving each other.

Shen Yu laughed along. "No wonder you didn't ally with Senior Ji—you had this trick up your sleeve!"

Was there any stronger backup than the instructors?

Forget about skill—their very identity meant they wouldn't compete for points. The bullets they used couldn't be reused, so the cost meant nothing to them. And this combination could completely catch the enemy off guard.

The instructors saw Lian Sheng's team leaving, but they were pinned down by opponents and couldn't break free to stop them.

One instructor tightened his offensive while slowly retreating, rifle in hand. "Hey, your students ran away."

Instructor Fu didn't even blink. "Of course they ran. She's shrewd as hell."

Another instructor said, "Hey, don't talk about the girl like that. She's adorable."

Instructor Fu: "..." Were they talking about the same person?

Ji Fangxiao was the first to notice Lian Sheng's departure—the pressure from the encirclement abruptly lessened, making it obvious.

He had no time to care where they'd gone, much less counterattack. With morale unstable, the priority was to retreat and minimize casualties.

Ji Fangxiao waved his arm, commanding from the rear: "Fall back! Right team retreats first, left team covers!"

Though there was still some chaos in the team, they were all top students. Once orders were given, they quickly adapted, adjusted formations, and began retreating.

The instructors fired a few final shots but didn't press the pursuit.

The encirclement had already broken, and their advantage was gone. If the enemy regrouped and counterattacked, it would be hard to handle—after all, there were only three instructors.

In just a few minutes, the previously chaotic battlefield fell silent. The instructors prepared to leave.

The instructors responsible for clearing the battlefield came to collect the "corpses."

Fang Jianchen had fallen near the edge. When an instructor reached him, he could still hear exaggerated sobbing.

The instructor chuckled. "Hey, hey, corpse—no resurrection allowed."

"I can't control myself," Fang Jianchen said bitterly. "This cruel, inhuman world!"

He refused to accept this! He was on the verge of despair! This wasn't fair!

The instructor asked, "Well, are you leaving or not?"

Fang Jianchen jumped up. "Leaving! Going back to eat!"

After running some distance, Lian Sheng's group decided to rest when they judged it safe.

Lian Sheng was already panting heavily. She'd handed her weapon to Zhao Zhuoluo midway but still couldn't keep up with their pace. After stopping, she leaned against a tree and sat straight down.

This kind of physical exertion really wasn't for her.

The other seven sat down as well, forming a circle.

Zhao Zhuoluo took off the weapon and returned it to Lian Sheng, asking, "You planned this beforehand? That's why you saved ammo?"

Lian Sheng pinched her fingers together. "A little preparation."

They always had to leave a way out for the worst-case scenario. Even without Ji Fangxiao, other unexpected situations could arise. Bullets weren't heavy, and they could even pad her chest.

Cheng Ze hugged his stomach and sighed mournfully.

With their nerves relaxed, they became acutely aware of their hunger.

They'd been on the move all day. Though their physical exertion was less than most teams, they'd entered the field in the morning. For example, Lian Sheng's squad hadn't eaten in seven or eight hours.

The group exchanged glances.

"So this event tests not just our kidneys but also our stomachs?" Lian Sheng mused. "These are things we're born with—why must an event test the quality of our mothers' wombs?" Why such cruelty?

The others: "..."

"And hearts, livers, and lungs," Meng Jiangwu said. "Good kidneys and stomachs are nothing without the heart, liver, and lungs to endure this place."

Zhao Zhuoluo suddenly turned his head. "Do you need to use the bathroom?"

The earlier experience had been so traumatic that even now, the memory made him feel the urge.

"I was so excited earlier, I thought it was just nerves. Turns out it wasn't." Lian Sheng stood and hitched up her pants. "I'm going down with the eliminated instructors to use the bathroom."

Meng Jiangwu raised his hand. "I'll go too."

Soon, everyone raised their hands.

If they could go down, relieve themselves, and come back, why would they pee in the wild?

Taking a leak on the mountain was a complicated process—first, you had to report it, find a spot with at least two sides blocked, confirm the area was safe, get someone to stand guard, and then finish quickly.

Even among men, it was still a bit embarrassing.

The eight of them formed a grand procession to request bathroom breaks, dazzling onlookers. The "corpses" all protested loudly that this wasn't allowed.

Lian Sheng covered her name tag and scolded, "Why could that person named Lian Sheng go earlier, but we can't now? Isn't this event supposed to be fair? Or does it depend on who you are?"

Cheng Ze also covered his tag. "Bodily functions don't discriminate."

Meng Jiangwu said, "Men have limits to what they can endure!"

Ye Buqing said, "Forget about us, but there's a girl in our team. Making her go on the mountain is too much, right?"

Zheng Lei: "Instructors can't play favorites with other instructors!"

Zhao Zhuoluo nodded. "...We all make good points."

The instructors: "..."

And so, the group successfully raised white flags and went down the mountain.

An instructor radioed in frustration, "I strongly suggest adding bathrooms next year. How can a mountain not have bathrooms?"

The reason bathrooms weren't built on the mountain was that they'd be hard to monitor, making them prime locations for ambushes. There was no guarantee rules wouldn't be broken inside.

Imagine squatting only to find someone inside waiting with a gun—then you'd have no choice but to fight back...

The monitoring room instructor said, "That would stir up public shit."

The consequences would be dire.

Full mountain surveillance had only been implemented last year. Before that, only the upper half—the main combat zone—had coverage. After some particularly nasty incidents, they'd expanded coverage to the lower areas.

They didn't dare trust the students' integrity too much.

After using the bathrooms, they weren't detained for hours this time but were instead rushed back with a time limit.

Supplies were about to be airdropped on the mountain.

This time, there were no supply crates, but if the battle dragged on for one or two days, the instructors couldn't let the early teams starve.

Starting at 5 p.m., water and food would be airdropped every three hours via small parachutes.

Usually, after 5 p.m., combat on the mountain would gradually slow. Surviving early teams needed rest, and new arrivals without allies would also hold back.

Dropping supplies at this time was a cunning way to rally everyone for another round. For someone as starving as Lian Sheng, the temptation was irresistible.

The parachutes might as well have carried a message:

—Don't stop, keep fighting!

After returning to the mountain, the eight needed to reposition. They sat in a safe zone halfway up to discuss.

Lu Mingyuan said, "Give up. No matter where the parachutes land, there's no safe spot."

This was harder than sniping instructors—you'd become the one and only, immobile target of the entire field.

Meng Jiangwu said, "Maybe we could skip the first drop and go for the second."

Lian Sheng vetoed this. "Whether it's the first drop or any after, the numbers won't thin. The first wave will be people going for supplies, and later waves will be people hunting those who got supplies."

No matter the goal, guarding supply drops was the best strategy.

Lian Sheng asked, "What about you all before? Did you just go for the second wave?"

"Oh." Meng Jiangwu said without changing expression, "We never lasted this long before. This is our first taste of success."

Lian Sheng: "..."

Lian Sheng turned to Zhao Zhuoluo. "What about you?"

Zhao Zhuoluo: "Kill the person who got the supplies."

Lian Sheng: "That's what I thought too."

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