Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 67: Chapter 27 Battle Situation Analysis Meeting (3)

Tian Xingjian steeled himself, and his thoughts became clearer. Although such an idea was too outrageous and saying it might lead to ridicule, since he had already made up his mind, he no longer held back.

I am a fool, aren’t I?

Tian Xingjian walked to the simulation map, picked up the electronic pen from the desk, and marked several points on the map to delineate the entire offensive posture of the Gazalin Empire Army. He said to Bernadotte, ”General, I’ve found that through the Gazalin Empire Army’s offensive posture at Jialuo Mountain, Russell has given us a signal, a Pearce symbol. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but I hope it helps in the battle analysis.”

Several generals gathered around the simulation map, looking at each other in dismay. They had been out of touch with the Pearce symbol for too long, and the complex symbol was not immediately understandable to everyone.

Fatty closed his eyes, feeling very embarrassed. How could he impulsively share such an almost impossible guess? Was he still trying to attract her attention like before by making a spectacle of himself?

The conference room suddenly fell silent. The generals were staring at the symbol, puzzled, when a clear voice explained its meaning—it was Ann Lei. She explained, ”This is a double loop symbol, symmetric left and right, with the graphical message: Kill me, or else you die.”

Upon hearing Ann Lei’s voice, Fatty couldn’t control his gaze and opened his eyes to look at her. She stood there quietly, as graceful as a lotus flower. That perfect face still bore traces of the beautiful little girl from ten years ago. Her fair skin, smooth long hair, always so immaculate and pure, like a sweet peach, made her the focus of men’s attention wherever she went. She was a naturally beautiful and gentle woman, a woman among women.

Seeing Tian Xingjian’s gaze on her, Ann Lei felt an inexplicable emotion surge within her and turned her head slightly. She hadn’t expected to meet this person here, this... fool. In her mind, this guy should still be living a comfortable life on the Capital Star, enlisting in the military and fighting was completely incongruent with his personality.

Although several generals were thoughtfully silent, a mocking voice inevitably broke the silence—Colonel Kadur from the Fourth Research Lab. He impatiently said, ”Sending a Pearce symbol to the enemy on the battlefield? Lieutenant Tian’s imagination is a bit too rich. This posture is just a coincidence.”

Most of the research lab heads present seemed to agree with this, thinking the symbol could be completely ignored.

Tian Xingjian shook his head and said, ”I don’t know if it’s a coincidence. However, if this symbol is real, then all the problems can be solved.”

”Oh?” Bernadotte became interested, motioning Tian Xingjian to sit down. ”Lieutenant Tian, don’t worry, tell us your thoughts.”

Fatty, already a model of the bachelor’s creed, having gone all out, was further encouraged by Bernadotte’s prompting and said bluntly, ”I’ll talk, though I don’t know Russell’s intention, I’ll first assume the symbol’s authenticity and then make a hypothesis.”

Bernadotte and several generals exchanged glances, and he waved his hand, ”Don’t worry about Russell’s intention, just talk about the battle analysis.”

Tian Xingjian nodded, thinking while twirling the electronic pen in his hand, he tried to relax his tone and said, ”The current situation is very clear. According to the data on our army’s casualties in the simulations, it’s impossible for the enemy’s Mythical Army, with only one regiment’s strength, to have caused this. Though the Mythical Army is formidable, they are still soldiers. Having fought them in a frontal assault, the more capable the Mechanical Soldier, the more combat power is wasted in direct combat. This is why they’ve deployed less than one regiment’s strength so far.”

Seeing that several generals, especially Ann Lei, were listening intently, Fatty’s easily satisfied vanity boosted his confidence and clarified his thoughts. He continued, ”In the early stages, our Space Forces had absolute superiority in the Miloke Planet’s airspace. Under such circumstances, it’s impossible for the Gazalin Empire to have a chance to redeploy forces to reinforce Miloke from elsewhere. Therefore, Russell had only one option—to use the existing forces on Miloke Star for the attack.”

”He performed a magic trick...” Fatty stood up and pointed to the simulation battle map. At this moment, everyone in the conference room was absorbed by his analysis. After all, this lieutenant wasn’t talking nonsense, his analysis was clear and logical.

”I’ve only just seen through this magic trick, which resembles a ring magic technique. The only trick to this magic is that the ring with a gap is always held by the magician, while the other ring and the endless ring are just props. In this battle, the gap is the suddenly appearing force!”

Tian Xingjian pointed to the Jialuo Mountain battlefield on the simulation map, ”Without this gap, the magic can’t be performed. Similarly, if the magician accidentally exposes this gapped ring, the magic will be blown! Russell formed this gap right here!”

Everyone’s gaze followed the electronic pen in Fatty’s hand to a position indicating an Imperial Army counterattack line, which was also the retreat line of the Federation’s advancing forces after Bafoli Pass was occupied, stretching over several hundred kilometers.

Tian Xingjian confidently said, ”Firstly, the forces withdrawn by the Empire from various defending cities did not completely return but gradually merged with the main Imperial forces confronting Kato. Russell’s strategic deception was to maintain attack pressure toward the re-surrounded cities. According to the intelligence, a few days before the Jialuo Mountain battle commenced, each city faced almost unprioritized attacks. Such attacks kept the city defenders busy and precluded them from judging the enemy’s troop movements. However, based on the data, we can analyze that the enemy was creating a false appearance of not reducing their forces during the attacks!”

The conference room buzzed with some commotion as discussions began on the hypothesis’s validity. Some impatient generals immediately started flipping through the battle intelligence and casualty reports of nearby cities.

Ignoring the discussions, Tian Xingjian continued, ”Now, we have been confused by Russell’s performance, placing all our attention on Jialuo Mountain and debating whether to redeploy troops. In reality, we’ve fallen into passivity. The enemy has sufficient forces; regardless of whether we redeploy, the outcome will be the same!”