The war continued as if it would never end.
The high ground was constantly occupied by soldiers from both sides. They came and went, repeating what just happened.
The fighting method is also very mechanical. One side seizes the high ground, and the other side immediately calls for artillery fire. It washes it with artillery shells first, and then throws in fresh troops to attack in one go. But before the high ground was warm in the hands, and before the defense line was organized, the opponent's artillery shells fell, and then new troops were put in to retake the high ground. The cycle begins again and again, constantly reincarnating in occupation and loss.
The highlands of the 12th Brigade of the original expeditionary force were the center of the storm of this war, like a huge meat grinder, harvesting lives crazily.
From the beginning of the battle to now, in more than 20 hours, both sides have invested at least 200,000 troops in this place with a diameter of less than 500 meters.
The scene on the battlefield at this moment is difficult to describe simply with words. What the eyes see is so cruel and bloody. Perhaps only by using numbers can we get a glimpse.
An area of 500 meters in diameter, calculated using the square formula of a circle, is approximately 1.5 million square meters. The casualty rate on both sides was close to ninety-five percent, which meant there was a body every few meters.
Fortunately, the weather is getting colder now and the body is not easy to rot. If it were left in the summer, there would already be swarms of flies and the smell of corpses would be overwhelming.
The soldiers could no longer tell whether the corpses under their feet belonged to their companions or the enemy. In this small area, there is only one thing in their eyes, which is to kill people whose clothes are different from their own.
However, this is just an insignificant speck of dust in the history of war in the Red Earth Continent, and cannot even stir up a wave in the long river of history.
You know, in the last war, 470 million people died in the central wilderness battlefield alone. Adding up other battlefields, the total number of people who died directly or indirectly in this war exceeded 650 million.
In comparison, 200,000 human lives are just a drop in the bucket, so insignificant.
The fighting lasted from early morning to late at night, and was supposed to continue, but was stopped by a sudden heavy snowfall.
Snowflakes fell from the night sky, as light and white as goose feathers, and slowly fell on the soldiers' epaulettes.
Everyone subconsciously stopped fighting and enjoyed this moment of peace and beauty.
"Master, it's snowing."
"Lord Commander, do you want to go out for a walk?"
For the first snow of the year, the head maid and the deputy commander showed a girlish liveliness.
Chen Xing nodded, feeling a little tired after more than twenty hours of continuous combat command. The head maid brought him a large turban and put it on him. Because it was a war, Chen Xing did not bring any other maids out. The deputy commander consciously took on the responsibility of the maid, brought a scarf to wrap around him, and then the three of them walked out of the military tent together.
The cold wind blew in my face, and the snowflakes melted on my face, but it felt refreshing.
Looking up, I saw a thin layer of snow covering the weathered rocks, and the sky and earth were pure white, as if I had entered another world.
Chen Xing walked to the edge of the cliff, stretched out his hands, and felt the coolness of the snowflakes falling into his palms.
The two women stood behind him, quietly looking at the snowy night sky. The pupils gradually lose focus and become ethereal, out of this world.
An unspeakable calm permeated the surrounding space, as if time had stopped and there was only a frozen scene.
Under this situation, Chen Xing suddenly thought that if he could recite a few poems now, he might be more suitable for the occasion, but it was a pity that he was a rough soldier and didn't know how to do it.
But he didn't say a word and seemed very boring, so
He had nothing to say. He looked straight ahead and asked calmly, "Do you have any dreams?"
There is wind, snow, and beautiful women. It is a great time to discuss life.
Jian Yue Canglian answered quickly, almost without thinking, "As a palace maid, my dream is to always be by the master's side and bring health and happiness to the master."
It was a standard palace maid answer, but this was not what Chen Xing wanted.
"This is the dream of all palace maids. I want to know, what is your personal dream?" Fearing that the other party would not understand, Chen Xing added, "As a woman, or the eldest daughter of the Jian Yue family."
Jian Yue Cang Lian looked up at the falling snowflakes, thought for a moment, then looked at Chen Xing and replied, "The master's dream is Cang Lian's dream."
Although this answer is also very palace maid-like, it sounds very heart-warming, as if the wind and snow are no longer cold and filled with warm sunshine.
Chen Xing couldn't help but stretched out his hand and hugged the maid's waist. The latter naturally leaned on his shoulder.
Xiang Caidi on the other side seemed to be lost in thoughts, completely unaware of the two people's intimate movements. After a while, she said quietly, "Before I was ten years old, my dream was to be well fed and clothed... "
"Before I was twenty, my dream was to become an outstanding female mercenary, obtain a black watch, live with dignity, and no longer be looked down upon by others..."
"Before I was thirty, my dream was to become someone like Hua Po, leading the North Bridge Regiment and the Steel Sisters to move forward..."
At this point, she seemed to sigh and exhaled, "Now, I don't know what my dream is anymore..."
There was an unspeakable loneliness in the voice.
Chen Xing couldn't help but be a little surprised. He didn't expect that this usually careless spinster also had a sentimental side.
But he can understand the other party's mood. Ye Yang Bailiu's light has completely covered this senior sister. The future of the Steel Sisters has been handed over to the hands of the great priest, while the Beiqiao Regiment is facing dissolution.
The dreams I once had also disappeared.
At the same time, he also understood why the other party was addicted to desire. Perhaps it was because he could no longer find a direction in life and could only rely on physical happiness.
"Xiang Caidi..." Chen Xing stretched out his hand towards the frustrated woman. The other party was obviously stunned for a moment, as if he didn't understand what he meant.
"The leader of the North Bridge Regiment, the deputy commander of the Northern Alliance Expeditionary Force, a female mercenary with two swords riding a flaming bull!"
The steady and powerful voice reached her ears, as if by magic, making the woman's eyes widen involuntarily, and her pupils gradually dilated.
"I am Chen Xing, and I want to invite you to conquer the world together!"
These words were like an arrow piercing the woman's heart.
"I, I..." She was a little at a loss.
"Give me your dream, okay?" Chen Xing looked into the woman's eyes, his eyes sharp, as if penetrating into her heart.
Xiang Caidi was completely crazy.
"Is it okay?" Chen Xing asked, his eyes full of lethality.
Gradually, flames ignited in the dilated pupils.
"Uh-huh……"
"We want to build a great country, a country of mercenaries!" Chen Xing said loudly.
"Uh-huh!"
From nodding subconsciously at the beginning to a firm and powerful nod, it seems that
It seems that the fire of hope has been rekindled in my heart.
"When the time comes, you will be our Marshal Protecting the Country." "Yeah~" "I will make you the Grand Duke of Beiqiao!" "Yeah~"
Although she was just drawing a pie, the woman was convinced, her heartbeat was racing, her face was red, her eyes were shining, and she was extremely excited.
After a while, the sales manager, who had finished admiring the snow, returned to the military tent and lay on the sofa, drinking rice wine warmed by the maid and enjoying the loyal service sworn by the future Grand Duke of Beiqiao...
Although Xiang Caidi is forty years old, she is already very young for a powerful person in the holy realm. People like Jian Yue Cang Lian and Lacey, who have advanced to the Holy Realm at around the age of twenty, are extremely rare in the world and can only be counted on ten fingers.
The lifespan of a strong person in the Holy Realm is significantly longer than that of ordinary people. Especially those who advance to the Holy Realm before the age of forty will maintain very good cell vitality. Even if they only stay at this stage throughout their lives, their life span will be two to three hundred years.
Forty-year-old Xiang Caidi has cell vitality equivalent to that of an ordinary twenty-year-old woman. However, the weather in those eyes cannot be concealed, revealing the true age.
But then again, mature women have the charm of mature women. A 28-year-old girl is like a freshly picked apple, crisp and sweet, cold and thirst-quenching, while a mature woman is like a ripe honeydew melon, soft and fragrant, intoxicating to the heart and lungs.
The tenderness of a mature woman cannot be given by a young girl. Because a girl has not experienced hardships and is like a blank piece of paper, she is naturally not as considerate as a mature woman and knows how to ask for help.
After these few months of personal experience, Chen Xing's evaluation of Xiang Caidi is that "the skin is durable and the desire is hard to satisfy."
Due to his long career as a mercenary, Xiang Caidi's muscles are very developed and her lines are like those of a leopard.
Compared with other women, Su Na has no obvious muscles. Jian Yue Canglian's muscles are relatively slender, with soft and looming lines. Ye Yang Bailiu's frame is larger and stronger than ordinary women, but her lines are also feminine and soft.
Xiang Caidi is somewhere between male and female. Her muscles are massive, with clear lines, obvious bulges, and a bit hard to the touch. Of course, it won't be as exaggerated as a muscular man who specializes in fitness, but it is not as soft as ordinary women, which can be regarded as a different taste.
Chen Xing remembered that another woman had similar muscle groups, namely Arqiaomu, but Xiang Caidi had very little fat and had a strong and agile figure, while Arqiaomu was a little plumper and had rounder lines.
They all have one thing in common, that is, they are good at close combat.
As for the latter sentence, it indeed echoes the famous saying that women are like wolves at thirty and like tigers at forty. However, Xiang Caidi did not dare to take the initiative. Even if she endured the discomfort, she would only wait passively. Chen Xing saw through this, so he deliberately whetted her appetite and made her feel passionate, but she didn't dare to say a word or make a request to him.
The advantage of this is that Xiang Caidi can be firmly controlled.
But in fact, even without such means, Xiang Caidi is unlikely to betray him. The relationship between the two parties is too deep and their interests are entangled. Just adding another lock to the safe is of little significance. But for some reason, Chen Xing just likes to see Xiang Caidi looking depressed, and feels an indescribable pleasure.
The next morning the snow stopped.
On the three-dimensional tactical map, more and more red arrows gather together, seemingly preparing for a big battle.
"It seems that Qin Wu can't sit still." Chen Xing put his palms on the table and said in a deep voice, "Attention, all units, prepare for a decisive battle!"
The movements of the coalition forces were quickly reflected on the map. Qin Wu invested all the remaining troops, a total of twenty-seven divisions and five brigades, with a scale of more than 400,000 people.
