Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Su Huan leaned forward, observed for a moment, and curiously asked, ”If you’re commanding in real time like this, how do you determine who has command ability?”

He Jie scratched his head a bit, unsure of where to begin.

While sorting out his thoughts, he watched the moving light spots on the map, suddenly furrowing his brows, ”This is the train command center. Mongoose, ten minutes from now, a force of over a hundred enemies is passing directly in front of you, showing a significant Tier One energy reaction. I order you to intercept them!”

A few seconds later, the voice of Mongoose repeating the command came through.

”Received! Intercept the enemy troops passing in ten minutes.”

Ending the communication, He Jie pointed to the high-tech map in front of him and said, ”Technology and evolution have made the battlefield nearly transparent, making command no longer completely reliant on experience. The vast amount of factual battlefield feedback also simplifies command difficulty, but there are still obscure areas.”

”My instructions reaching the battlefield edge take at least three minutes, if it were before Doomsday, this time would have been enough for enemy missiles to reach my head. And now, the Evolvers’ abnormal reaction speed will only make the margin of error larger!”

”And these three minutes are where grassroots officers can exert their capabilities.”

”Like just now, the order I gave to Mongoose, she has under her command four Tier One trains, two Tier One gunfire units, and two hundred ordinary warriors. I don’t need to command her in specific combat; I just need to tell her the target, and what she needs to do is achieve that target.”

”As long as she can complete the orders given to her, she is a qualified officer. If she can exceed the task, she is an excellent officer.”

”If she can sweep through the battlefield and end the match, I have no problem going down on my knees for her.”

Su Huan was thoughtful, ”With such high autonomy, won’t it mess up the plan?”

”It’s not that complicated,” He Jie waved his hand with a sneer, ”It’s true that orders must be followed, but the battlefield changes rapidly, and people aren’t predetermined programs, there will be unforeseen circumstances. The commander’s role is to consider these possibilities in advance and allow for flexibility. As for merits and punishments, that’s a matter for after the war.”

He Jie became more enthusiastic as he spoke, explaining to Su Huan while commanding the battlefield, ”This also leads to another concept, strategic objectives—different objectives require different tactics.”

”Like in this war, we have two objectives: one, to inflict as much damage on the enemy as possible, and two, to prevent the enemy from entering within the gunfire’s range. And it is precisely because of this that we have taken the positional warfare approach, but the gunfire’s stored ammunition is limited, so we cannot engage in a war of attrition. We need to properly utilize ability to cause large-scale damage, so my phased objective is to gather the enemy and then let you take action.”

”The above part only considers our situation, while the abilities like ’possession’, ’deceit camp’, and ’high wisdom’ of the Pale Demon introduce new variables to the battlefield. If we treat the opponent as ordinary zombies to be cleaned, we will absolutely fall into a trap...”

”Moreover, the frontline is so goddamn long, over six hundred kilometers, even with three hundred thousand, let alone thirty million, we couldn’t hold it. If I were the Pale Demon, I would definitely look for opportunities to break through, possess people from the rear, and pincer the entire battlefield from the inside out.”

”But the reason why the opponent hasn’t done this yet, I think, has to do with their numbers. The Pale Demon can only draw North from the White Eagle, and we’re blocking them in the middle, leaving them unable to deploy on a large scale. Even if occasionally a couple are possessed, it doesn’t have much impact, unless they’re from the Northern Alliance’s high-ups. This is also why I emphasize seizing command—so we don’t get screwed...”

Su Huan listened to He Jie’s endless command theories while combining them with the changing situation on the field.

Although the local battlefield seemed chaotic, under He Jie’s command, the Pale Demons were being guided from both sides, gradually gathering into a mass at the battlefield’s center, and soon the scale could reach tens of thousands, while our soldiers were moving to gradually withdraw from the battlefield.

However, a small light spot at the edge of the battlefield quickly caught Su Huan’s attention.

If he remembered correctly, that’s where Huayang’s unit was.

”Huh? What’s that guy doing?”

Su Huan’s surprised voice caught He Jie’s attention, who also looked over.

According to the light spots displayed on the map, this guy was leading a large group of Pale Demons in a mobile warfare across the snowfield.

Annoyed, He Jie banged the table, shouting angrily, ”Get me connected to Huayang’s unit. If they scatter everyone, I’ll skin him alive!”

Su Huan teased, ”Looks like it’s out of control? Need some help?”

”Bullshit! Does he really think he can mess up my plan? I’ll let you know when it’s time for you to make a move, but it won’t be long. If Huayang really messes up the plan, the counterattack will also be advanced.”

”Counterattack?”

”Of course, to push the Pale Demon back!”

...

Without hearing specific details, Su Huan was driven out by the irritated He Jie. Anyone whose plan was disrupted wouldn’t be in a good mood.

However, Su Huan wasn’t concerned. With the train reaching its current status, it could already operate on its own. Personnel survival and promotion, various plans and arrangements all had people to handle; the conductor didn’t need to worry about everything.

After all, the train was full of high-caliber talents, even slacker types like Zhong You and Wan Xing could become pillars if needed.

It’s not just about fighting or making medicine, but pulling together an organization from scratch, from survival to operation to problem-solving.

But these are the lingering benefits from the past world, and they will be exhausted by Su Huan’s generation. By the time the next generation, Xiaoya’s generation, comes around, it’ll effectively be over.

It’s not that they will be illiterate or unable to do math, but they won’t have the overarching environment constantly feeding them information, forming a macro understanding.