Outflank and Infiltrate

Following the pre-battle plan, Guan Chuanjun first had squad leaders report positions and assemble by squad. He himself chose to rendezvous with the nearest squad, confirming no danger before reorganizing the main force. Several recon squads didn't need to regroup—they went straight out to hunt for traces of the Moye forces.

Shaji's troops were assembling with orderly precision. Over on Moye's side, things weren't looking so good.

Feng Bu had revealed his position but made no further deployments. Moye's scattered soldiers all converged in one direction, and Shaji's recon squads quickly pinpointed where Moye's main force had gathered, feeding the intel back to Guan Chuanjun.

Guan Chuanjun sneered inwardly. If only they'd been given heavy weapons—he'd have shelled that area into oblivion and wrapped this whole thing up in ten minutes.

Shaji's S-class soldier Peng Yue was with the recon squad. After completing her initial task, her squad began pulling back toward Guan Chuanjun's position. The squad's discipline was ironclad—they retreated in absolute silence, only the faint rustle of grass under their boots betraying their passage.

Xu Lingqu and her five companions were hidden on higher ground a few dozen meters away, watching the rapid retreat.

"Feng Bu's position is already exposed. Shaji will organize an effective assault on Moye's main force soon," Tang Muwen whispered. "In the Moye channel, Feng Bu still hasn't issued defensive deployment orders—he just told twenty people to set up a single-line snake formation on the outermost perimeter..."

At this point, the analysts could already preliminarily determine that Moye was positioned on relatively low ground. Setting up a single-line snake formation there was practically putting up a target for Guan Chuanjun to shoot at.

Jin looked at Xu Lingqu. "So we circle around to this spot—are we ambushing them like we did the instructors last time?"

Shen Shouli shook his head. "We don't have the conditions for an ambush this time. The gear Feng Bu gave us is the most basic light infantry equipment—we don't even have grenades. Last time we ambushed the instructors, we got the equipment we wanted, and Guan Zhongli's group was still under Commander Xu's... control."

Xu Xiqin added, "Plus, last time we had time to set up in advance. This time it's straight into combat."

With just the six of them, no favorable terrain, and a massive numerical disadvantage—and Shaji's soldiers were no pushovers. They weren't grass and trees to be mowed down at will.

Feng Bu wouldn't even allocate a single heavy sniper rifle to Liu Zheng. Under these circumstances, pulling off a beautiful ambush against Shaji was nearly impossible.

"So what we need to do is a flanking insertion," Xu Lingqu said. "Sneak behind enemy lines, lock onto Shaji's command post, and decapitate it fast."

This time, all of them were in a race—kill Guan Chuanjun before Feng Bu managed to play himself to death.

Wang Qihu had sighed several times already looking at Xu Lingqu's name vanishing from the comm channel.

Next to him was Feng Bu, who was pressuring Lin Xiao to rapidly sketch out a terrain map. Lin Xiao had just lost it completely—how was she supposed to produce a terrain map with zero reconnaissance data? She was an analyst, not a miracle worker.

After sending twenty men ahead to form the single-line snake formation, Feng Bu started selecting bodyguards for himself, claiming he needed to protect the command post. Wang Qihu was directly "detained" at his side, supposedly for protection, while watching Feng Bu do nothing but pressure the command staff.

Guan Zhongli couldn't take it anymore. "Chief Commander, do you have any other operational deployments? It's not great for the rest of us to be bunched up here."

Feng Bu waved it off. "If the enemy doesn't move, we don't move. Shaji hasn't even shown their faces yet—it'd be rash to act without intel. Let's wait for the terrain map first."

Guan Zhongli was in despair. They were being forced to waste time like this—there was no way Shaji was actually staying put. At this very moment, they were probably already organizing a multi-pronged assault. He scanned the crowd, but there was no trace of Xu Lingqu and her team anywhere.

Maybe... Commander Xu had a contingency plan?

Feng Bu's baffling performance was even more glaring from the livestream and commentators' perspective.

They had dual perspectives and a god's-eye view, and could clearly see Shaji had already split into three groups of twenty, encircling Moye's main force from three directions—while Moye stayed rooted to the spot like meat on a chopping block.

Professor Zhuang rubbed his temples. "Moye's best option right now is for the main force to sprint west and escape the encirclement. Of course, they'll lose some equipment and people getting chased by Shaji, that's inevitable..."

Senior Colonel Ren shook her head. She'd praised Moye at the opening ceremony, saying this year's batch seemed different, but so far they looked exactly the same. The entire strategic deployment was a child's game.

"Shaji won't give them that chance," she said. "They've got a three-sided encirclement, but the focus is still on those men in the single-line formation. The idea of pulling back quickly is sound, but they shouldn't run on their own—they should link up with the snake formation and move together. Shaji's intent is obvious: they want a complete annihilation. Right now, eliminating Moye's effective strength takes priority over capturing their commander."

Senior Colonel Ren saw through Guan Chuanjun's deployment intent at a glance. He had complete control over Moye's movements and was setting up a beautiful battle of annihilation.

The two commentators exchanged a look and sighed. They'd had first pick of which matches to cover and had turned down Cimei and Du'e for this one. Looked like they'd... chosen wrong?

[God, this match is so ugly. Moye might as well be food on Shaji's plate—the only question is whether it's a quick kill or slow torture.]

[kkk don't you know? Moye's matches have always been this ugly. Ten minutes in and you can see the inevitable collapse. I've been watching these for years now.]

[The people who can stick with Moye matches are legends... They'd succeed at anything.]

[Why can't I see Shen Shouli, Moye's S+? Why isn't Sky Network showing him? And where's Xu Lingqu?]

[They're not thinking of circling behind, are they? What's the point with just a few people?]

[ahhhh go watch Cimei versus Du'e! Jinfang Taibai hacked the system and forced the route to stall, so Cimei responded with brute force—firepower and missile bombardment on Du'e's main force. Isn't that way better than Moye versus Shaji?]

...

Instructor Zhang's friend was nearly sobered up from the alcohol. The match was so bad he'd thrown up twice, and now his stomach was empty and his head clear.

"That's it? That's it?" He pointed at the broadcast projection. At this moment, Shaji's vanguard had already clashed with Moye's single-line formation. Those soldiers had no ability to resist the pre-planned assault, and after being probed twice, Moye's main force simply abandoned those twenty men and fled east in a rout!

Fled east! That direction was the boundary mark of this battle map. Running there was no different from walking to their deaths!

Instructor Zhang shook his head. "You don't understand. The most important person on Moye's side hasn't shown herself yet."