Resurrection Empire

Chapter 815 311: A Night of Drastic Change

The battle between Starfire and Nangao Towns ended in a Pyrrhic victory for the Starfire Army.

Ma Xiaoling's decisive blow and bluff shifted the balance of power between the two sides at the top tier of strength.

Of course, if Tianyuan Military Industry had the determination for mutual destruction and was willing to go all out with this painstakingly built secret unit, then even if Ma Xiaoling could take out dozens of Black Armored Soldiers today, she would ultimately face certain death.

The Starfire Army would inevitably face defeat as well.

But war decisions are often made in an instant, without room for 'what ifs.'

Even if it was a misjudgment, the Wang family faltered, and faltering is faltering. The decision fundamentally changed the course of the battle.

After paying the cost of nearly thirty Black Armored Soldiers, they finally managed to retreat successfully under the leadership of two Fifth Level experts.

Counting the previous casualties, Tianyuan Military Industry's secret unit suffered nearly sixty deaths, almost half its force, a heavy loss.

Subsequently, the Starfire Army could fully focus on dealing with the Three-Town Alliance.

Another half-hour passed, and the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and battle cries gradually subsided.

The Three-Town Alliance was not entirely annihilated, with nearly twenty thousand left.

Their stimulants had worn off, restoring their rationality and fear of death, along with the severe fatigue side effects.

The Alliance already lacked fighting spirit and, under the dual assault of fear and exhaustion, realized they had been betrayed by Tianyuan Military Industry and lost their will to fight.

The Alliance began to retreat silently, praying that the Starfire Army would not pursue.

The Starfire Army granted their wish, choosing to hold their position from a high ground and not actively striking out.

It wasn't that the Starfire Army didn't want to, but rather they were almost incapable of continuing to fight.

The Starfire Army was resisting the onslaught of an enemy five times their number, while also withstanding a surprise attack by Tianyuan Military Industry's secret unit.

By now, the Starfire Army was running low on ammunition and supplies, with everyone injured and casualties severe, only maintaining a fighting spirit.

Chen Hanyu wiped the blood off her face, unsure if it was hers or from the splattered bodies of enemies exploding.

She checked the battle damage report.

Casualties: 4,212 dead.

2,366 seriously injured.

2,891 lightly injured.

Weapon reserves below 10%.

This was the current situation for the Starfire Army, capable of holding ground through sheer willpower, but nearly impossible to counterattack.

At least, that's what Chen Hanyu thought.

The only comforting news was that Yuan Qinh and others, who had initially sided with Starfire Town, restrained the effects of the stimulants, stayed out of harm's way, and instead, continuously provided intelligence support to the Starfire Army.

So far, these allies within enemy lines had suffered almost no casualties.

The silver-armored Ma Xiaoling walked over to Chen Hanyu, appearing somewhat dissatisfied, "Our morale is high right now, we should seize the opportunity to pursue."

Teacher Ma was not concerned with the ramifications, simply charging ahead.

Chen Hanyu reported the numbers to her, "We only have five hundred fully healthy soldiers left, with more than two thousand eight hundred lightly injured. Pursuing now could easily lead to a counterattack."

At this point, Ou Youning interjected, "Not necessarily. Everyone assumes we are exhausted; deploying elite troops could catch them off guard. Yuan Qinh and others can incite against Tianyuan Military Industry within enemy lines, showing the ragtag alliance that the Black Armored Soldiers used them as cannon fodder to cover their retreat, further weakening their morale. In this situation, even if we send in just five hundred, we could cause chaos among them."

Chen Hanyu's eyes lit up, "Great!"

Ma Xiaoling added, "We can also have our informants mark out the key members in the Alliance, such as resource recovery company Professionals and Guard Captains. We don't need to kill everyone, just remove their core leaders."

Chen Hanyu agreed, "Right! Yuan Qinh is also on their command channel and can provide accurate information."

Five minutes later, a total of eight hundred Starfire Soldiers chased down the retreating Three-Town Alliance.

The pursuing forces attacked and killed along the way, chasing them to near the hundred-kilometer mark close to Nangao Town before Ma Xiaoling led more than five hundred elite troops back to the border of the two towns.

Along the way, the Alliance left behind thousands of corpses.

The Starfire Army turned a Pyrrhic victory into a major triumph.

But what happened tonight was not limited to just this.

The other nine towns of the Yangsheng Ten Towns, excluding Starfire Town, were far from peaceful.

At night, the Night Watchmen in these nine towns divided into two factions.

One faction represented the resource recovery companies, arresting and killing vagrants in their sleep. The other opposed them, fighting against these Night Watchmen to the death.

Additionally, many vagrants pretended to sleep but sprang up from their concentrated sleep pods when they heard the commotion, engaging the Night Watchmen who served the resource recovery companies.

The root of the problem lay in the conflict between the resource recovery companies and the vagrants.

After nightfall, a large number of vagrants refused to sign the short-term mandatory employment contracts imposed by the resource recovery companies.

To maintain control, the resource recovery companies ordered the Night Watchmen to arrest or kill the resisting vagrants in their sleep.

Typically, this approach was deemed foolproof since the core forces of the Night Watchmen were official preparatory citizens with better equipment, higher professional levels, and an official-backed sense of "justice."

But unexpectedly, many vagrants had preemptively injected a wakefulness potion, feigning sleep and ambushing from their sleep pods, erupting into violence the moment the Night Watchmen attempted assassination.

This was thanks to Ou Youning's efforts.

The rumors that all nine towns would fall were spread by Ou Youning, who also secretly arranged for large amounts of wakefulness potion, produced by Ren's Biological Laboratory, to be sent to each town.

This was particularly severe in Wangdong Town, which had just been defeated by Zheng Tian's forces.

By early dawn, Zheng Tian led a well-rested twenty-eight thousand-strong Starfire Army, leaving two thousand to guard their resting comrades.

By 6:30 AM, the Starfire Army appeared at the walls of Wangdong Town.

Inside Wangdong Town, the oppression had not yet ceased.

Upon Zheng Tian's arrival, they began using loudspeakers to openly incite the vagrants of Wangdong Town.

Dozens of informants swiftly revolted, leading over a thousand incited vagrants to seize control of the newly installed city defense cannon in no time.

Simultaneously, beneath the west gate of Wangdong Town, a huge spiral drilling machine emerged from the ground.

Hundreds of elite Starfire Soldiers jumped out, using powerful rockets to bombard the alloy doors of the high walls, melting them from close range.

Afterward, Bai Feng and Jiang Kai, two Fifth Level Professionals, led a charge.

The Starfire Army swept through Wangdong Town, surrounding the Wangdong Resource Headquarters within five minutes.

From this point on, Wangdong Resources raised the white flag in surrender.

Meanwhile, Ren Zhong and others had just gathered at Huo Donghua's villa to watch the battle.

In this luxurious villa, others were stunned by the overnight changes in the battle situation.

Ren Zhong was somewhat surprised as well.

In the previous timeline, Zheng Tian capturing Wangdong Town happened later that evening.

But this time, the event occurred at 6:45 AM, half a day in advance.

Huo Donghua pondered for a moment and slowly said, "Mr. Ren is truly remarkable."

Qian Wangshen added, "I originally thought the advantage of Starfire Town's soldiers lay in their equipment. Now I understand, the decisive factor is the people's morale."

Ren Zhong replied confidently with a smile, "That's why I say my soldiers are different. I have enslaved and controlled their hearts."

Hua Yuelan responded, "Yes."

Although everyone spoke these words, deep down they knew that others had different thoughts.

Ren Zhong had completely transformed the worldviews of the vagrants under him.

If Ren Zhong were truly an "Exploiter," he would be monstrous.

But if Ren Zhong were a Revolutionary, he would be radiating the light of a revolutionary spark.

Just then, Ren Zhong's expression suddenly changed slightly.

He quickly stood up, striding toward a corner of the living room, saying, "Excuse me, everyone, I need to use the restroom."

Sun Ai had contacted him.