Strongest Soldier King

In the early morning, when the first ray of sunlight leapt over the horizon and sprinkled across the vast primeval forest, the forest, which had been silent all night, suddenly became lively. The birds and beasts seemed unaffected by last night's battle, jovially chirping and frolicking as usual, flying back and forth atop the dense canopy. In the sky, a male eagle spread its wings and soared, occasionally letting out a sharp screech, arrogant and domineering, as if it were the king of the sky.

A few leaf monkeys played atop the treetops, occasionally pausing to curiously gaze at the people gathered in the dense forest below, their eyes rolling inquisitively. Perhaps feeling the dangerous aura from these people, the leaf monkeys dared not descend from the canopy. Under the hissing of a few slightly larger leaf monkeys, they quickly left.

In the woods, a group of people sat around, faces gloomy. There was Piero, whose old wounds had not healed and new ones were added, the silent Snow Bear Captain, the cold and reticent Bloodsucker, the contemplative Tang Tian, and others. After last night's battle, everyone had dispersed, and by the time they gathered their thoughts, the situation had already unfolded. They had no choice but to find places to rest and contact each other. After dawn, they gathered again to discuss strategies.

"Mr. Piero, you are the commander-in-chief, you tell us, how should we fight next?" said a cold-faced, robust man, his voice tinged with mockery and sarcasm. In last night's battle, Piero, as the commander-in-chief, had to bear the responsibility for improper command.

"That's right, we're listening to you." Others echoed one after another.

"Let me think." Piero, of course, could see through these people's intentions—they just wanted to roast him over the fire. Still, strictly speaking, he indeed had some responsibility for last night's battle, not anticipating that the enemy would take the opportunity to infiltrate behind their lines for an ambush. He cast a covert glance at the silent Snow Bear Captain.

Snow Bear Captain noticed Piero's look but was in no mood to speak. Piero had no choice but to smile bitterly and take the initiative to say, "Last night, you all stayed calm in the face of danger, and though the ambush wasn't successful, your combat strength is undeniable. I believe everyone acknowledges this fact. In last night's battle, being the vanguard forces, you are most familiar with the enemy's combat strength and deployment, so what are your thoughts?"

"The enemy is very cunning, occupying a high ground and a geographical advantage, also utilizing volley tactics to maximize their manpower advantage. Even if we have strong combat skills and high shooting accuracy, we can't attack promptly. The enemy has over a dozen snipers hidden among their ranks picking us off, and we can't find them. We can hunt enemies, but their snipers can also shoot us. If we keep fighting, it will result in mutual destruction, so I suggest not attacking directly," Snow Bear Captain said coldly.

"Are you scared of being hit?" Bloodsucker said coldly.

"Are you looking for death?" Snow Bear Captain roared furiously, eyes glaring, locking onto Bloodsucker. In last night's battle, Snow Bear stood firm and didn't retreat, but afterward, they were exposed, leaving four behind. Snow Bear Team initially had only ten people; two were knocked out attacking Bloodsucker's base before, and now they lost four in the ambush, leaving only four left, one of whom was injured. Such a huge loss was unacceptable to Snow Bear Captain, who was seething with anger, with no outlet for it, and Bloodsucker jumped into the fray, to which Snow Bear Captain would naturally not take kindly.

However, Bloodsucker wasn't one to be easily scared either. In last night's battle, Bloodsucker's side also lost six, quietly taken down by Luo Zheng, Ghost Hand, and Mountain Eagle, which made Bloodsucker immensely angry, compounded by their existing enmity with Snow Bear. He jumped up and shouted, "Come on, let's have a bout."

"Wait, both of you, don't rush. Hear me out." Piero hurriedly stepped in to mediate, winking at Snow Bear Captain. Snow Bear had only four left, with one injured. No matter how well he could fight, he couldn't match Bloodsucker's mercenary group, nearly a hundred strong. Piero stepped between them, preventing them from coming to blows.

The two bitterly refrained from waging war because of Piero's face, but their animosity deepened. Piero smiled wryly and said, "If we fight internally, won't it make a laughingstock for the enemy? In my opinion, we should sit down and discuss it properly, learning from each other's strengths and finding a way to check the enemy. Isn't getting what we want the right way to go? Do you all want to leave in failure?"

At the mention of failure, everyone perked up. As soldiers, they could die, but they absolutely could not fail. Piero's words defused the tense atmosphere, sobering everyone up. Truly, if they failed and returned empty-handed, how could they explain it? Success could only be achieved through cooperation.

These were all extraordinary people present. Having figured it out, one by one they looked at Piero, who sighed with relief and smiled wryly. "That's more like it. What Snow Bear Captain said earlier makes sense. The enemy has maximized their advantages, but we haven't fully exploited ours yet. I have a proposal. See if it works."

"Go ahead," everyone gradually expressed their willingness to listen.

"Since the enemy holds the high ground, defending the mountain with many traps set along mid-mountain, we are constrained in attacking. Why not do the opposite? We don't attack proactively; everyone scatters and hides at the mountain's foot, surrounding it. Trap them instead. They have a large number of people, requiring substantial daily resources. In as little as three days, five at most, they won't be able to bear it. Then we negotiate with the Hook Tribe and turn them against the enemy. Even if we can't turn them, we can defeat them," Piero declared confidently.

Everyone was quick-witted and immediately grasped the core and advantages of Piero's tactics, pondering deeply. After mulling over for a moment, Snow Bear Captain spoke, "If we stay at the mountain's foot, the forest offers inexhaustible resources. We won't starve. They are on the mountain with limited resources, little food available. And once they come down, we ambush them, maximizing our advantage. It's feasible."

Piero was relieved internally when Snow Bear Captain agreed to his plan. However, Snow Bear agreed because they were short-handed. This strategy could stabilize the situation, giving them a chance to stealthily approach the mountain and steal what they needed.

Bloodsucker wanted to attack actively, but as Tang Tian and others voiced their agreement, he had little to say. The grand strategy was thus established, followed by deployment matters. The mountain was large, so how to deploy forces and who would guard which areas needed prior allocation to account for accountability if issues arose.

Piero opened his phone, bringing up a satellite aerial map of the mountain and dividing the area into ten sections, assigning each force to a section. Everyone chose their sections, with Tang Tian opting for a tactical retreat to conserve combat power, picking a place at random. The others made their choices as well. Noticing that Bloodsucker chose a location close to Snow Bear's, Piero felt a sense of anxiety but did not express it.