Dumbing Down (?)
Jie Luo and Yetai Yangquan had actually anticipated Xu Lingqu's move.
They had indeed planned to ally the Federation's three academies first, then locate the energy core and secure it as quickly as possible. If the Federation's three academies could put aside past grievances and work together, as long as they could keep the energy core in Federation hands by the end of the match—no matter which academy ultimately held it—it would be a Federation victory!
Unfortunately, the plan was beautiful, but reality was harsh. The Empire's three academies had detected their movements early and, with well-trained efficiency, spread out a massive encirclement, trapping them in the northeast corner of the desert map.
Worse, this was quicksand terrain. Many of their armored vehicles had sunk and lost mobility, leaving them unable to even muster a concentrated breakout.
Now the Federation's three academies tasted the same helplessness and frustration that Cimei and Situke had felt when they were buried by the avalanche on the snowy map.
Jinfang Taibai was still eavesdropping on Xu Lingqu's commands through Moye's channel. Xu Lingqu seemed genuinely unable to do anything about him and was using the channel normally to direct the battle. What she commanded matched Moye's real movements exactly—encirclement contraction, suppressive fire. Jinfang Taibai had initially been on guard, wondering if Xu Lingqu might suddenly pull Moye out mid-fight and leave Shaji and Du'e to fend for themselves. But she didn't!
Moye fought this encirclement battle with complete seriousness, not even sparing ammunition during the suppressive fire. This made Jinfang Taibai feel a bit embarrassed.
They were genuinely cooperating with Shaji and Du'e, yet he, Jinfang Taibai, had been harboring such dirty thoughts about his own allies. It was truly malicious.
Jinfang Taibai sighed and shook his head helplessly. After this encirclement battle, Shaji and Du'e would turn on Moye. Guan Chuanjun had just confirmed the battle plan against Moye with Li Muyi: after the encirclement ended, they would strike. Though killing the donkey after it finished grinding was a bit heartless, there was no other way—this was the arena, and everyone came for first place.
The encirclement battle lasted about three hours. Under three hours of bombardment, Shaji and Du'e were especially ruthless toward Zhicheng, making Zhicheng the first to be completely eliminated. They had been the strongest of the Federation's three. Then Dongwen and Xili quickly crumbled under the onslaught and were wiped out one after another. By then, all three Federation academies were out, and it was only around 4 PM.
The fighting paused for a moment. During the battle, the sun had been high and the sand scorching. Now was the time for the students to replenish water and energy and rest.
Jinfang Taibai listened to Xu Lingqu praising the Moye cadets on the comms and telling them to rest where they were.
"They're letting their guard down and resting. This is the perfect time for us to attack," Jinfang Taibai said to Li Muyi.
Li Muyi nodded and said okay, then immediately contacted Guan Chuanjun. They had already decided to bypass the quicksand zone and swing around to the rear of Moye's resting main force, using the terrain to sandwich Moye. If Moye retreated a single step under their assault, they'd fall into the quicksand and end up just like the Federation three.
"Shaji and Du'e's forces are starting to move. Moye seems completely unaware and is still resting in place," Professor Zhuang commented from the broadcast booth, his fingers steepled. "Actually, I don't think quickly retreating to get away from Shaji and Du'e is Xu Lingqu's command style. I wonder why she gave the order to rest."
The omniscient commentators and audience could see Xu Lingqu personally issuing the rest order from inside her armored vehicle, and for a moment, they couldn't understand how she could make such a decision.
"Hmm, actually, back in the first match when she commanded Moye against Shaji, we also had plenty of doubts about her flanking maneuver," Senior Colonel Ren nodded. "I think we should just watch. She must have her reasons. She doesn't seem like the type to make such a basic mistake."
[Heh, I think her true level has been exposed. Her fans were hyping her up like she was the strongest commander in the interstellar, and they were cursing Jia Xiangying and Gu Tingzhi for being dumbed down. Looks like she's dumbing down too now.]
[Come on, the match is only this far in. Can we really conclude Xu Lingqu is dumbing down already?]
[Honestly, nobody's perfect. I think Xu Lingqu's decision is perfectly reasonable. The Moye cadets are pretty tired right now; they're not used to desert combat, so wanting them to rest is normal. She probably didn't think Shaji and Du'e would attack Moye so soon.]
[I think Xu Lingqu has been acting weird since the start of this match. She knows Jinfang Taibai is eavesdropping, and she hasn't done anything about it... I don't know what she's trying to do.]
[Listen, you guys are just impatient for the later parts of the match to be broadcast. Just watch. I'm pretty sure Xu Lingqu wouldn't dumb down in such an ordinary way.]
...
The combined Shaji and Du'e force moved fast, quickly circling behind Moye and opening fire.
And Moye really did seem to be resting. Jinfang Taibai listened through the channel as Moye's cadets frantically reported the attack to Xu Lingqu, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
He'd kept thinking Xu Lingqu must be up to something—maybe fake rest with a real ambush. But now it looked like they were genuinely resting.
Xu Lingqu immediately replied on the channel: "Their attack force should be weaker at the 11 o'clock direction. Try to break through there."
Jinfang Taibai relayed this to Li Muyi, who immediately contacted Guan Chuanjun to reinforce that direction. In one smooth operation, they blocked Moye's full-force breakout.
Sorry about this... Jinfang Taibai felt a little smug and a little guilty as he continued eavesdropping. At that moment, Xu Lingqu let out a sigh.
"Jinfang Taibai, are you still listening?"
Her tone was a bit helpless, as if she was truly at a loss.
Xu Lingqu opened the door of her armored vehicle and stepped out. She hadn't changed into desert combat gear; she was still in her standard combat uniform from the start. The desert gear was too heavy and bulky, inconvenient for moving indoors.
She drew a military knife and wiped it on her pant leg.
Xu Lingqu was not on the battlefield where Shaji, Du'e, and Moye clashed. Before her stood a pyramid—the location of the energy core in this map.
Jinfang Taibai had been eavesdropping from the very start of the match, and Xu Lingqu had been on her way to find the energy core alone from the very beginning.
When she communicated, she was inside the armored vehicle, so no one could tell the difference. During the fighting, Xu Lingqu directed things convincingly enough. Who would have thought she was completely detached from the main force, commanding blind?
"Since it's come to this, I'll just have to shut down the command channel. Like Gu Tingzhi, I'll fight blind. Everyone, focus on breaking through. Remember, try to break out toward the west." Xu Lingqu casually took off her communication earpiece, looked at the pyramid before her, and revealed a sly smile.