Since it was decided to attack Guanshan to lure the bandits of Dingyuan Mountain out of the nest, it was necessary to quietly enter the valley area so as not to be discovered in advance.

Now that the eyes and ears of the Zong clan are all over the northwest, the plan of Fortress 178 is to clear the river valley area of the bandits first, so as not to bring any trouble to the forward base when it comes to the real war.

Zhang Xiaoman felt that Guanshan should be more difficult to fight, but Ren Xiaosu didn't think so, because some of the bandits died in Yan Liuyuan's curse like the sky was falling apart, and he guessed that the bandits were from Guanshan.

At that time, they were near Kaole Mountain, and the nearest bandit dens were Tangwangshan and Guanshan, but the bandits in Tangwangshan had already been squandered by Wang Congyang, so they could only be the bandits from Guanshan.

However, Ren Xiaosu didn't say this, and the battle in the wilderness seemed to be still in the news blockade of the Zong clan, and Fortress 178 didn't know about it.

The 178 fortress was five or six hundred kilometers away from the battlefield at that time, and no matter how heavy the artillery fire was, no movement could be heard in the fortress.

But Ren Xiaosu knew very well that if it was really as he guessed, Guanshan would definitely not be as difficult to fight as he imagined, but much easier than Dingyuan Mountain.

Like a swarm of rats, the Sharp Knife Company suddenly abandoned its trucks and carried guns and shells through the ravines one by one, lying day and night, as far as possible from being discovered by the enemy.

When hiding in the shadows of the ravine during the day to rest, Zhang Xiaoman said to Ren Xiaosu: "Although I don't know what your extraordinary ability is, since you said that you can put pressure on Guan Shan, then I will believe you, but don't go to the place and say that you can't do it, you can't do it, no matter who you are, I will shoot you directly." ”

Ren Xiaosu didn't speak, but leaned against the ravine with his automatic rifle and closed his eyes to recuperate.

Everyone was slowly eating their individual rations, and they were now secretly infiltrating the valley area, unable to light a fire to cook and light a cooking smoke.

However, to Zhang Xiaoman's surprise, this Ren Xiaosu seems to be able to endure hardships better than them, there will always be someone on duty to stand guard when everyone is resting, and the other soldiers are sleepy and resentful, but Ren Xiaosu has never complained about anything, let him stand guard, he will stand guard, and it doesn't matter if he stands for a while.

Zhang Xiaoman deliberately observed that Ren Xiaosu was indeed very serious and conscientious when he was standing guard.

The commander of the Sharp Knife Company muttered in a low voice, "He is worthy of being the person that the commander fancies." ”

Everyone looked at Ren Xiaosu with a more demanding gaze, not because they had to get along with Ren Xiaosu, but when they learned that this might be the next commander, they would always think: I compare with this person, where is he worse than him, and why did he become a candidate for commander.

And Ren Xiaosu here, not only standing guard, but also everyone has to take turns to carry heavy machine guns and mortars on the way, that thing is really heavy, the mortar is better, only 29.4 pounds, although it is uncomfortable to carry it for a long distance, but it is still in an acceptable range.

The heavy machine gun with a caliber of 12.7mm weighs 50 pounds, and they have to carry their own marching backpacks, and the distance between them to Guanshan and Dingyuan Mountain is still more than 100 kilometers, and the road is still difficult to walk, and some soldiers have worn out the skin on their shoulders in order to carry this thing.

But Ren Xiaosu never complained about anything.

Ren Xiaosu is now balanced between strength and agility, so he looks very thin, and at first Zhang Xiaoman deliberately embarrassed Ren Xiaosu and made him suffer.

As a result, to Zhang Xiaoman's surprise, Ren Xiaosu looked thinner than them, but he was not ambiguous at all when he carried a crane gun, and even took the initiative to share some of the burden for other comrades.

That's how it is in the army, if you are tough, if you have strength, I will respect you. If you're squeamish, I'll look down on you.

In just the past few days of traveling in the wilderness, everyone's impression of Ren Xiaosu has changed, this kid is really tough and powerful!

Vaguely, the sharp knife even thought to his comrades: It's not bad.

But this does not mean that everyone fully approves of him, whether he is qualified to be the next commander or not, physical strength and perseverance alone are not enough.

At this time, Zhang Xiaoman calculated: "Guanshan is almost 30 kilometers away from Dingyuan Mountain, if Guanshan asks for help from Dingyuan Mountain, then Dingyuan Mountain will be there in about half an hour, we have to dig trenches on the road in advance and ambush it, otherwise we won't be able to defeat that group of bandits." ”

Ren Xiaosu said: "This ravine is a natural trench. ”

"That's right," Zhang Xiaoman suddenly asked, "Do you really have the confidence to put pressure on Guan Shan and make them call for help?"

Ren Xiaosu said calmly: "I have made a military order. ”

The communications of the Sharp Knife Company were always in contact with the rear forward battalion, which had set off the day after they had been deployed, and should have been sixty kilometers behind them.

It's just that the goal of the forward battalion is not Guanshan and Dingyuan Mountain, they have to build a defensive line in the north to avoid the Zong clan going south to counterattack after taking Guanshan and Dingyuan Mountain.

Of the 178 fortress armies, except for one combat brigade left to improve the garrison, the rest were ready to go to the battlefield.

Ren Xiaosu said curiously: "Company commander, does the Zong clan really have 200,000 troops?"

Zhang Xiaoman sneered: "How big is the territory of the Zong clan to dare to claim that they have 200,000 people? Oh no, if you count the wandering militia regiment and private army that they have just expanded, it seems that there are indeed 200,000 people." But the man of my 178 fortress can fight to the last soldier, and the soldiers of his clan are afraid that hundreds of people will die, and a so-called combat brigade will collapse. ”

At this time, Ren Xiaosu suddenly realized that this Zong clan followed the same path as the Li family, arresting all the homeless people who didn't know anything as strong men, and there were also private forces such as the role of not being able to achieve enough and more to lose.

If the Qing clan did the same, Ren Xiaosu estimated that they could muster more than 400,000 troops......

But what is the use of this kind of army?

Ren Xiaosu asked, "How many people are there in the regular army of the Zong clan?"

"About 90,000," Zhang Xiaoman said, "but this is last year's intelligence." ”

Ren Xiaosu nodded, he suddenly felt that this battle was not so difficult to fight, although the regular army on the battlefield of Fortress 178 was only 75,000 people.

However, how do you feel that 178 Fortress is not so strong, is this an illusion?

Ren Xiaosu felt that this thing was strange, if the 178 fortress only had these combat power, of course it could stand in the northwest, but it was definitely not enough to make a real consortium awe.

Also, Luo Lan wanted to kill Zhang Jinglin before, but Qingzhen disagreed.

Is Qing Zhen to let Zhang Jinglin return to the northwest to contain the Zong clan, or is it to let Zhang Jinglin continue to guard the inland human race, so that the human race will not encounter foreign wars again?

Maybe it's both, Ren Xiaosu always felt that Qing Zhen in his impression was not a fanatic who only knew about war.