Top Warzone Analyst Chapter 20

Cheng Feng spotted the enemy earlier than they did.

She was crawling low to the ground, advancing discreetly, her ears keen to every sound. The moment she detected something, she signaled the team.

Soon after the footsteps emerged, figures began to appear in the distance.

It was hard to tell whether this allied squad was poorly coordinated or simply too arrogant. Either way, their approach was brazenly conspicuous.

From afar, the young man in the lead spotted the shifting silhouettes in the woods. He wanted to curse but dared not make a sound. Instead, he crawled backward slightly, tucking himself out of sight.

The group lowered their voices, communicating in hushed breaths through the team channel.

“Damn, there’s so many of them! At least twenty, right?”

“Am I seeing things, or are there two sets of military uniforms? Are First Military and Second Military actually holding hands now?”

“They’re making quite the sacrifice just to target us.”

“Can’t imagine how they’re managing to cooperate. We are really surrounded on all sides this time.”

Only Cheng Feng remained silent.

The young man in the lead stole a glance at her and found her calmly observing the enemy through binoculars, unfazed. He couldn’t help but urge, “They’re almost here! They’re clearly coming for us – aren’t you calling for backup?”

“A large group invites chaos and arguments, and might alert the enemy. Six is just right.” Cheng Feng lowered the binoculars and brushed a few strands of grass from her chest. “Besides, I’ve been muted.”

The youths, numbers one through twenty: …??

Since when could the Deputy Commander be muted?!

Number Two asked, “Boss, what did you do?”

“Why assume it’s my fault?” Cheng Feng waved a hand. “Spread out for now.”

They immediately decided to retreat, but halfway through crawling back, they noticed Cheng Feng marking several red circles on the map.

“Move in.”

Number Six exclaimed in shock, “We’re not running?!”

“Run? Run back, shut the door, and they won’t come for us?” Cheng Feng said lightly. “They’re here to get the upper hand. Might as well put up a fight.”

“But there’s only six of us!” several youths exclaimed, dumbfounded. “Then – quick! Call over the comrades watching the base.”

“Then our base will be wide open. If they have a second squad circling around the back, they can march right in without taking any losses.” Cheng Feng reassured them, “Six is fine. We have the advantage of initiative.”

The companions weren’t quite sure where exactly this “advantage of initiative” manifested.

Was it the initiative to be the first to walk into death?

Feeling utterly bewildered, they nevertheless followed the orders.

Cheng Feng raised her binoculars again to observe.

As they approached the intersection of the various factions’ territories, the makeshift team also noticeably slowed their pace.

But with so many people, some noise was inevitably bound to happen – especially since this cobbled-together team had absolutely no tacit understanding to speak of.

Their formation was strikingly awkward, each subgroup kept their own boundary, advancing side by side without integration. The posture they displayed wasn’t so much that of a force coming to conquer UFU, but rather one wary of being ambushed by their own “allies.”

What was the point of such collaboration? It was practically shouting to the hills, “Come drive a wedge between us!”

“They’re beatable.” Cheng Feng confirmed. “They look like they just crawled out of the Baby Bus channel – haven’t even learned how to walk yet.”

What a scathing description – it was almost a slap in the face.

Especially delivered in Cheng Feng’s casual tone, the impact seemed magnified a hundredfold.

Number One stifled a laugh and whispered a reminder, “This is still being streamed live.”

“What does it matter?” Number Three rasped under his breath. “A competition match without some trash talk has no soul!”

A few of them chuckled along.

The tension suddenly eased.

Cheng Feng said, “My first shot will be the signal – then we launch a full assault. Priority target: the team in blue uniforms. But if a good opportunity presents itself, don’t be picky. Aim for at least one kill each. Keep an eye on the minimap in the top-left corner. Don’t move until I tell you to reposition.”

“If it’s sniping you’re worried about, don’t be.” Number One said cheerfully. “Let me tell you – if there’s a fly fifty meters out, I can take it down!”

One by one, his teammates tapped “1” in the channel, braced their weapons, and made final micro-adjustments to their firing stances.

Back in the town, their comrades holding down the base grew tense as well. Afraid of disturbing them, they fell silent and stopped chatting.

Silence enveloped the surroundings, the sound of footsteps on dry leaves growing faintly distinct.

In what felt like just a few breaths, the enemy had drawn near.

Number One, positioned at the outermost edge of the ambush, was the first to see the enemy step into his attack range.

He tensed the muscles in his arms, his finger resting lightly on the rifle’s trigger, not daring to look away from the scope.

As they waited for Cheng Feng’s signal shot, the others began to grasp the brilliance of her chosen positions.

They maintained a measured distance from the enemy’s path – close enough for a clean shot, yet far enough to avoid detection, with patches of undergrowth and rolling terrain breaking their silhouette.

The ambush points were staggered in all directions, allowing for retreat along multiple routes and scattering the enemy’s firepower. The angles even covered one another’s blind spots.

The enemy formation, by contrast, was in visible disarray – the two at the front were too close together, obstructing each other’s line of sight.

With the first gunshot as the signal, multiple bullets streaked out from deep within the woods. The attack instantly shattered the enemy’s rhythm.

Students from the First and Second Military scrambled instinctively, trying to retreat to either side in search of cover.

But their movements were hindered by unfamiliar allies they’d never worked with before. Their positioning was chaotic, and they had no idea how to cover each other. In the confusion, it felt as though bullets were raining from all directions – as if they’d stumbled into an enemy arsenal.

Within mere seconds, before they could even register how many opponents were lying in ambush or where they were hiding, their vision went black – they had been ejected from the simulation system.

The rookies who hadn’t yet entered the fray quickly pulled back. But before they could make sense of the situation, the continuous gunfire suddenly ceased, leaving only a few “corpses” on the ground – a grim reminder that the ambush had been all too real.

Watching the dazed expressions on everyone’s faces, Cheng Feng felt a flicker of pleasant surprise.

These students’ reaction speed was indeed a cut above that of the kids from Post-War Star – they’d kept pace with her commands almost seamlessly. The attack was swift, their aim precise. They were good soldiers.

She pulled up the map on her device and, while the opposite was still reeling, hurriedly adjusted the data.

For the enemy, this sneak attack was practically a lethal blow. Their fragile, makeshift alliance couldn’t withstand the loss of five of their own before it began to crumble.

Especially after the casualties were counted: four dead from the First Military, but only one from the Second.

The team split apart in an instant, and the mudslinging began.

“You guys are so shady – you just pushed our people out there as cannon fodder! Damn it! Was this your plan all along? Trying to wear us down?”

“Have you no shame? Did we tell you to throw yourselves away? You just couldn’t cut it and got sniped. No skill, and now you blame us?”

“I knew your types were untrustworthy. Same old sneakiness! You get the advantage and then try to pin it on us? Who do you take for a fool? I bet you were in cahoots with UFU all along, huh? Playing some spy-vs-spy game?”

“You don’t need anyone to take you for a fool – with a brain like yours, if someone called you an idiot and you didn’t answer, I’d be embarrassed for you!”

“…”

Their alliance had been superficial from the start. Now, with tensions ignited, it exploded completely. The commanders tried to intervene, but couldn’t hold them back.

“First Military and Second Military will NEVER form an alliance!”

“Pfft, I wouldn’t stoop to associating with the likes of you!”

“We can lose the competition, but Second Military MUST DIE!”

Both inside and outside the screens, spectators watched the war of words with great amusement.

Familiar tone. Familiar style.

Now this was a freshman competition. Without these two military universities going at each other’s throats, it just didn’t feel right.

“Enough!” barked the First Military’ main commander. “Bickering on enemy turf – have you no shame?!”

The soldiers felt a lump in their chests they couldn’t swallow.

This competition was made up entirely of freshmen, assigned roles based on their majors and specialties – there was no strict hierarchy. As such, the individual soldiers didn’t harbor much trust in their so-called commander.

The Second Military commander said in a low voice, “Let’s split up. Since we have no experience working together, let’s not interfere with each other. But do not turn your guns on our allies again – remember, our common goal this time is UFU! We can’t let our brothers’ sacrifices just now be in vain!”

As they spoke, the group retreated, arriving at what they confirmed was a safe place.

The First Military commander softened his tone and said, “I counted the gunfire from behind just now. There shouldn’t be many people ambushed nearby. Based on the frequency, I’d say between five and ten. Everyone, adjust your mindset – the opposite is nothing to fear.”

“There are too many of us; we shouldn’t have taken such an exposed route in the first place,” the deputy commander said. “It’s still early in the game, and everyone’s forces are strong. If we can ambush, we should avoid direct confrontation – we need to conserve our strength.”

The First Military commander nodded. “Now, all First Military personnel will circle around from the west.”

The opposing commander picked up the thread. “Second Military team will circle around from the east.”

“Let’s each earn our kills based on our own skills. Everyone, take this seriously and fight well!” the First Military commander said. “If you have intel, notify the others promptly!”

Meanwhile, Cheng Feng had already mapped out a new route, marking it on the map with a thick red line. Her teammates were quickly repositioning to both flanks.

The UFU commander noticed her tactical instructions and immediately restored her communication access. “What’s happening on your end? Under attack? Need backup? We have a guerilla unit at coordinates (12, 39).”

Cheng Feng checked the coordinates – they were quite close, likely sneaking around near First Military territory, hoping to score some easy kills.

So she marked a point along the First Military’s likely retreat route and generously offered, “Get here. Ready to harvest some heads.”

Number One reached his designated position. The team channel had gone silent – his farthest teammate was now over a kilometer away.

He set up his rifle uneasily, wondering if Cheng Feng had marked the wrong spot. “Why such a huge detour? We’re spread way too thin.”

“First and Second Military can’t stand each other – they’ll definitely split up,” Cheng Feng said. “We’re few in number; they’ve probably noticed. But they can’t pinpoint our position and don’t want to feed us more kills. At this point, flanking detection is their safest bet.”

Number Three’s voice wavered. “So… what are we doing now?”

Cheng Feng replied calmly, “They want to encircle us. So we keep moving aggressively and encircle them instead.”

“Six people–” Number Four inhaled sharply, hesitating. “Six people encircling two teams? Are you sure?”

“Why not?” Cheng Feng’s vision had always extended far ahead. “Maybe years from now, they’ll remember the true meaning of ‘encirclement’ and look back on this as life’s motivation. And friend, technically speaking, we’re not just six people.”