Top Warzone Analyst Chapter 24

The United Military University, as well as the First and Second Military Universities, are all specialized military institutions. United Federation University, however, is a comprehensive university and did not start at the same high level as them.

In its early years, UFU was indeed not well-known. However, they always managed to come up with various innovative recruitment tactics. Coupled with their prestigious-sounding name, they managed to scrape together a fair number of talented individuals. Subsequently, they produced quite a few renowned commanding officers.

In comparison, the military universities have often been used by UFU as a foil to highlight its own achievements. As netizens put it, it is “all thanks to the contrast provided by their competitors” that UFU has achieved its current glory.

The United Military University refused to accept this.

If you want to compare command departments, so what? Isn’t their United Military Academy’s students’ tactics shameless enough?

It’s time to let everyone see the disparity in this world.

The UMU commander led two teams, maintaining a distance between them as they advanced toward UFU’s Third Route position.

They had been on high alert since midway through their march. Adhering to textbook-standard reconnaissance procedures, they slowly and meticulously probed their way toward UFU’s town defense line. Even when they finally spotted the enemy’s camp markers, all remained eerily calm.

Aside from encountering a reconnaissance squad from the First Military in the distance, they found nothing else.

No meticulous arrangements, no sophisticated traps – it was all an illusion. The prolonged, intense focus had instead placed a considerable burden on his own troops. The UMU commander cursed under his breath.

“Have they changed their strategy?” the deputy commander speculated. “Switched from ambushing us outside the town to ambushing us inside?”

The commander wasn’t sure either.

The deputy commander continued, “Anyway, it’s that ‘My house is always open’ routine, just messing with our heads. UFU is playing a mix of real and fake this year. We’d better be careful.”

The commander nodded in agreement.

Not knowing the true situation inside, his men would lack confidence if they charged in blindly. The reckless assaults by the First and Second Military teams had already proven that blind attacks were useless.

Moreover, so much time had passed, and UFU still hadn’t reacted. Perhaps they were precisely using these three advancing routes as bait to lure in a second wave of “rabbits.”

UFU must be truly desperate this time, having devised so many schemes. This was now a battle of wits between the commanders.

The UMU commander pondered for a moment, then glanced back toward the direction of the First Military’s camp.

Their primary enemy would always be UFU; in comparison, the threat from the First Military was much smaller.

Seeing his thoughtful expression, the deputy commander moved closer and asked, “What are you thinking?”

“They gave me a little inspiration,” the commander said thoughtfully. “UFU has always liked to play dirty, hasn’t it? What if we also lure UFU over towards the First Military’s side and let them wear each other out internally? What do you think?”

The deputy commander replied, “Very much in our military’s style. But are you sure it’ll work?”

The commander said, “UFU doesn’t really have a choice, do they? To deal with them, two mortal enemies have formed an alliance; they must be really tense right now. UFU’s consistent style is to be low-key and cautious. There’s no way they’d make enemies of three factions right from the start.”

Although it made sense, the deputy commander had a faint feeling it wasn’t that simple.

If the competition world operated according to the logic of normal people, then the one about to win its fourth consecutive championship should be their university. All the seniors who had failed were still asking “why” in disbelief.

…Of course, it was because there were too few normal people in the competition!

He didn’t know how to describe this subtle intuition, but the UMU commander had already signaled to the infantries at the front. “Go ahead and make contact.”

The team carefully advanced a bit further.

The road conditions in front of the city gate had been cleared by order of Cheng Feng, removing many suitable spots for concealment. As they drew closer, it wasn’t long before defensive personnel appeared.

After detecting each other’s signals, the UMU troops halted in place and sent a communication request to the city.

Number Nine accepted the call and asked lazily, “What’s up? Looking for a team fight?” The UMU commander asked, “Is your deputy commander there?”

The message was relayed.

Cheng Feng curled her lip and signaled for Number One to take over.

Feeling suddenly valued and believing he was now one step closer to being the favorite, the young man eagerly rushed forward, tasked with receiving the opposing commander.

“Hello?” Number One covered his earpiece and asked loudly, “Something up?”

The UMU commander’s voice was very calm as he explained, “I heard that the First and Second Military have formed an alliance and launched a general offensive against you.”

Number One said nonchalantly, “Yeah, so what?”

The commander’s rhythm was slightly thrown off by this extremely arrogant attitude. With a look of slight disbelief, he continued, “Aren’t you worried?”

“Worried about what?” Number One, always supremely confident when facing enemies, declared, “In the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies are paper tigers!”

Suppressing the urge to hit someone, the UMU commander patiently tried to reason with him, “Those two factions aren’t that simple. It’s one thing to underestimate them once, but you can’t keep suffering losses in silence repeatedly. I heard you won a brilliant victory, but you must have suffered some losses, right? Can you withstand sustained attrition from those two military universities?”

“Nope, no losses.” Number One was displeased and asked, “Hey, so why are you here? Here to deliver threats on their behalf?”

The UMU commander enunciated each word forcefully, “Of course we’re here to propose a collaboration!”

Number One glanced at Cheng Feng. Cheng Feng shouldered her gun and gave him a couple of text prompts.

“You haven’t even shown yourselves yet, but your troops are already deployed outside the city. Is that your idea of sincerity? Trying to force a sale? Well, we aren’t about to play the meek little wife,” Number One said, maintaining his arrogant attitude as he walked towards the city gate. “Besides, you lot are notorious for being troublemakers. How am I supposed to know which direction you’ll stir things in? Why didn’t you go after the Data Army this year?”

The UMU commander said helplessly, “The First and Second Military have already formed an alliance this year. My faction is sandwiched right between them. Do you think I’m safe? Besides, my goal is to win the championship. Of course I’m going to target any faction on the field that has an advantage over me.”

Number One said, “Oh.”

The UMU commander retorted, “What is that ‘oh’ supposed to mean?!”

Number One climbed to a higher vantage point and peered outward. “Where are you? Stand up and show yourself.”

“I’m here to talk to you seriously!” The UMU commander was getting a bit angry. “As long as we can weaken either the First or the Second Military, we’ll go our separate ways. Otherwise, your faction is the most obvious target on the field! Can you feel at ease with a fierce neighbor constantly eyeing you covetously from the sidelines? The Mobile University is just a heap of loose sand, too busy dealing with their own problems to cooperate. Your only choice right now is us! I’m not the one begging here!”

Number One seemed to waver, his tone softening slightly as he asked, “So how do you want to cooperate?”

The corner of the UMU commander’s mouth twitched. He said calmly, “You send out one team, we send out one team. We’ll start by breaking through the First Military’s side. As long as we whittle down their numbers in the early stages, we can quickly create a gap.”

He added, “I know you UFU people are smart and good at commanding. I believe we’ll work together much better than the First and Second. However, I expect to be the main commander.”

Number One hesitated for a moment, then said, “Come up here first. Let me see your team.” The UMU commander replied, “We can’t get too close; after all, we don’t trust you yet.”

“I’ll send some of our people down as well. You can make contact there,” Number One said. “The commander has to be on site. If you want to take command, you at least need to show your face.”

The UMU commander stated, “I am on site.”

After these words, Number One received no further prompts and fell silent. He could only keep glancing at the mini-map in the upper right corner, trying to see where Cheng Feng had gotten to.

Unable to bear the shamelessness of the youngsters on her team, and in the interest of fairness, Cheng Feng had led the thirteen infantries who had stayed behind in the city that morning out through a side route, taking a safer, roundabout path.

After getting close to the UMU’s troops, the others halted. Cheng Feng moved forward alone, raised her hand, and beckoned.

The UMU commander put on a friendly face and called out, “We’re here to cooperate, aren’t we? No need to be so wary, right? How can we discuss tactics or coordinate our fight from this distance?”

Even as he said this, he himself was hiding carefully, crouched behind a tree trunk.

Cheng Feng scanned the area and asked, “Which one of you is the commander? Step out and let me see. I’ve come out myself.”

The UMU commander hesitated, exchanging a glance with those beside him. He decided that quickly popping out to say hello and then ducking back probably wasn’t too risky. Putting on a smile, he poked his head out. Before he could even locate Cheng Feng, he felt a sharp gaze pierce through him.

Instinctively, the young man shifted his eyes. In his peripheral vision, he caught sight of a slender figure and the muzzle of a gun raised high in that person’s hand.

In an instant, his instinct to dodge was stretched to its limit, yet his legs seemed rooted to the ground, unable to keep up with his brain’s commands. The other’s bullet moved faster than he could react. Without even half a second’s hesitation, it sliced straight through the oppressive air of the woods, flying toward him.

Two-thirds of his body was exposed.

The young man fantasized that the opponent’s shooting, prioritizing speed over precision, would miss his vital spot, either hitting the tree trunk or grazing past him.

This time, however, Cheng Feng’s luck was rather decent. The bullet was slightly off target but still struck his shoulder, sending him stumbling backward uncontrollably, completely incapacitated.

The very next shot sent him straight out of the simulation system.

A faint echo still lingered in the wind as Cheng Feng, having executed the hit-and-run, turned and fled. The UMU troops stood bewildered and at a loss, taking a long moment to react.

Having lost their commander, they were disconnected from the world for a full two seconds.

After successfully reconnecting, they were unsure whether their next move should be to shout “Avenge the commander!” or “They’re insane, let’s retreat!”.

This fully demonstrated that aside from their talent for stirring up trouble, the UMU truly lacked a unique combat style of their own.

Having witnessed everything, Number One exclaimed in shock, “You just killed him like that?!”

Cheng Feng said calmly, “Yeah.”

“But I thought what he said made a lot of sense!” the youth hissed. “We are caught between enemies on all sides. If we offend the UMU too, what are we going to do?!”

Cheng Feng asked, “When you deceive people, don’t you make sense too?”

“…How do you know he was deceiving us?”

Cheng Feng shot back quickly, “How do you know he wasn’t?”

“So rely on yourself.” Cheng Feng encouraged him. “Stand up!”

Number One: “…?”

He asked, half-understanding, “So you were planning to trick them from the beginning?”

“I didn’t trick them,” Cheng Feng corrected. “I didn’t tell a lie.”

Besides, how could what happens in a robot’s world be called a trick? Matters concerning robots can only be called ‘vision’.

The UMU’s public channel was filled with panicked shouts and inquiries, with some people loudly calling out the commander’s name as if he had really died. The pressure on the deputy commander’s shoulders increased dramatically.

However, he was a relatively pure data analyst, not skilled in overall command. After a brief moment of self-doubt, he decided to retreat first. After all, doing something was better than just standing there frozen.

But UFU wasn’t about to easily let go of such a favorable situation with the enemy leaderless. The other two guerrilla squads had already been notified and were preparing to encircle them from the Second and Fourth routes, heading towards the battle.

Cheng Feng returned to a safe position and signaled her teammates to assist in delaying the enemy. As soon as she saw the enemy assuming a posture of retreat, she immediately pursued and harassed them from behind.

The UMU had brought two teams, totaling over forty people, but they instantly became completely disorganized.

Those who had originally been positioned at the rear of the formation, upon receiving the order, seemed to sprout wings on their legs and vanished in an instant.

However, the frontline infantries, unable to find a safe escape route, were forcibly detained by Cheng Feng and her group and dared not move recklessly. Watching their comrades on the map dwindle, they grew increasingly agitated.

By the time the two guerrilla squads arrived, their overwhelming numerical advantage achieved a complete rout. The infantries who hadn’t managed to escape all perished under UFU’s gunfire.