Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

The officers also found it unbelievable. The name of the vanguard or the reconnaissance force was not important, but the whole army had a consensus on what they were doing: the first wave to plunge into the forest would definitely suffer losses due to the terrain if they encountered the enemy, and they would have to fight tooth and nail with the Native American tribes.

Therefore, their equipment, supplies, and ammunition must be top-notch. To ensure they don't lose the first blow, subsequent support forces can keep up and push all the way to Gao Shu's lair in one fell swoop.

As a result, they suffered a disastrous defeat in their very first battle, being routed and forced to flee. This demonstrates that the enemy's fighting strength was simply not on the same level as their own.

"Is their firepower heavy?" Seeing that Jarworth was already pale and silent, Captain Coulson took charge and asked in a firm voice, "You're the infantry company commander, what weapons are they using, rifles or revolvers? You should know that, right?"

"..." The captain's expression froze for a few seconds. He gritted his teeth and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, "No, it's not a firearm..."

"What are you talking about?" Coulson frowned and said sarcastically, "Don't tell me that there's some superhuman among those red barbarians who beat you up like this with just their teeth and fists."

"No! It was arrows, blowguns, and darts... all poisoned! Really!" The captain finally told the truth. "After just a glancing blow, my face turned a liverish color, and blood gushed from my eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth! It was spurting out!"

"That must be Native American witchcraft, exactly the same as the one used when Mr. Cheddar's train was hijacked!"

Jarvis's expression shifted from astonishment to terror, and he took a deep breath.

Coulson's gaze grew increasingly serious, and his lips pressed tightly together.

"In less than ten seconds, the poisoned person died. Everyone was terrified, who wouldn't be! I tried to regroup the group, but in that situation, nobody listened to me. Everyone was running. I hesitated for a moment and almost got trampled to death. I..."

"boom!"

The captain never expected that he could dodge the poisoned arrows of the Native American tribe, but not the bullets of his own people.

Colson raised his gun and fired a shot; the bullet pierced his forehead.

His expression of astonishment remained frozen on his face as he slowly collapsed.

Chapter 689: Execute First, Report Later: Special Military Authority Granted!

A chorus of astonishment and angry curses erupted in the military camp. Generally speaking, no matter how serious the mistakes of one's subordinates, they would turn a blind eye and let it pass.

These days, military management is quite lax; basically, no one would just pull out a gun and get shot in the barracks.

If this gets out, the management difficulty will suddenly increase several levels; it's like creating trouble out of nothing.

Jaworth was startled by the gunshot, as if he had been jolted awake from a nightmare.

"What are you doing?" a bearded officer questioned. "Even if he's guilty, you can just send him to a military court after the war. There will be war laws to judge him. If you kill him, how are we supposed to manage our men in the future?"

“Management?” Coulson said coldly. “If deserters like these, who have fled back from the front lines, are kept alive and not executed, who will take the war seriously after that gets out? As soon as there are signs of a rout, they can just run back to the rear. If you retreat a little and I retreat a little, how can the front line advance?”

The expressions on everyone's faces were somewhat stiff. In terms of rank, they were about the same as Coulson, yet this guy was speaking to them in such a forceful tone, as if he were about to scold them like grandsons.

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting tense, Jarvis quickly spoke up, "Alright, the captain's intention is for everyone to organize their troops properly. Specific military orders will be communicated after discussion. Please go back and wait."

Judging from his tone, the final decision on how to fight will likely be made after the two of them discuss it and then issue a notification.

The officers' thoughts were written all over their faces. They were somewhat dissatisfied with the young Coulson's absolute control, but out of respect for Colonel Jarworth, they kept quiet. Each with a stern expression, they left the tent.

……

"What just happened?" With no one around, Jaworth spread his hands and stared wide-eyed. "You just killed him like that, without even discussing it with me?"

“Your rank in the military is only captain, and there are many people of the same rank as you! Besides, you are so young to have become a captain... This rank is only because your family is very close to the Chedell family. This is not a private matter in the military.”

"As someone with connections, weren't your actions just now a bit too arrogant? Do you even respect me?"

"..." Faced with Jarvis's questioning, Coulson did not answer immediately, but stared at him with that cold, gloomy gaze. Until he felt a chill down his back, the cold night wind seemed to pass through the military tent, stabbing his face like small knives.

"It seems you haven't realized the situation we're facing right now."

"Huh?" Javos' pupils dilated slightly.

"I don't care what other people think, because those things are no longer important!"

"The backbone of the Chedell family is now in the hands of the Indian tribes. And once the Battle of Hightree is lost, your reputation as the eldest son in the military and in society will be completely crushed! Who can the Chedell family count on to succeed you? The second son who was hanged by the Red Army, or those illegitimate children scattered outside?!"

"No."

"Your vast empire, the entire state of New Elizabeth, will crumble overnight. Even if you survive, it won't be much better than death."

Jaworth looked grave. He had vaguely thought about these things, but human nature tends to lead to avoidance.

Whenever I get too caught up in thinking about it, I quickly pull myself back from the brink and comfort myself by saying, "Things won't get that bad."

But now, the facts have been so clearly pointed out by Coulson, and the score has been settled, leaving no room for self-deception.

"The reason those officers acted so nonchalantly was because, to them, it was just another ordinary battle. If they lost, they lost; they didn't have to pay any price, and nobody wanted to take the risk."

"But you are different. If you lose this battle, it could very well be like losing your entire life!"

Coulson's gaze was like a sharp awl, piercing his heart. "You may know that my family is responsible for supplying equipment to crude oil refineries. Our family's interests are closely tied to the Cheddar family's. If you go down here, we will fall into the abyss together—that's why I'm still here talking to you."

“Mr. Jarworth, I hope you are also aware of this.”

……

A change in address often signifies an escalation of the situation.

Javos unconsciously started biting his nails. "Then, what's next..."

“Here’s what happens next.” Coulson pointed to the corpse lying on the ground. “Once we leave the tent, we must remain united and win this battle first, then we can talk about anything else. You are the highest-ranking officer here, therefore, all my decisions are made on your behalf.”

"This body still has value; it's a real specimen. Send it to the front lines and let them see the fate of deserters! Currently, the desertion rate among our soldiers is far higher than expected. We must curb this frequent desertion at the front!"

"I need to borrow 50 men from you. They must be experienced and skilled, quick and accurate shooters, and most importantly, loyal, absolutely loyal to the Cheddar family. You've been in the army for many years; surely you can't possibly lack even this many men?"

Jaworth swallowed hard. "You mean... I should give you my private army?"

Logically speaking, this was a rather offensive request, but he didn't have time to dwell on it now.

“Given the officers’ attitude just now, there might be problems with the execution of military orders. In situations like this, the presence of the supervisory team is crucial.” Coulson’s tone was firm and cold. “Act first, report later—this is a special military authority. Subsequent orders must be executed 100%. Anyone who makes even the slightest mistake will be executed!”

"Are those 'new drugs' still with you?" he suddenly changed the subject and asked.

"You...you're not going to use those things, are you? These are my father's, temporarily entrusted to me for safekeeping!"

Jarvis's tone suddenly became tense, "Those haven't even passed human trials yet, they're just prototypes."

“Please treat this as a last resort,” Coulson said in a deep voice. “As for me, I will be involved in this charge…”

----

"Are you going to come along too?" Mike, who was checking the condition of the weapons, raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that unnecessary? With this firepower configuration, as long as we hold our positions, it's almost impossible for us to lose."

There's a saying in my hometown: "One should strike while the iron is hot, but the momentum will wane on the second attempt and be exhausted on the third." The experience summarized by our ancestors is never wrong.

"As long as our opponents are decent soldiers, they can at least put up a respectable counterattack. This counterattack will be quite fierce because they know it's their last chance. At that point, if we give them one last blow, they'll probably be done for."

"Besides..."

"Boom!"

Zhang Renfeng lifted the "gift" that Tao had given him with his bare hands.

Upon seeing the contents of the box, Mike immediately stopped what he was doing, and his usually half-closed eyes widened to their maximum size, a rare occurrence for him.

"Holy..."

"What a wonderful gift." Zhang Renfeng smiled with satisfaction and gently kicked the edge of the box with his toe. "It would be such a waste not to try it on."

Chapter 690: The Chicken and the Monkey

"boom!"

Gunshots.

Several trembling soldiers fell to the ground, their faces contorted in a grimace, though this was a relatively quick process compared to dying from poisoning.

But judging from his dying expression, he was definitely not at ease—that was exactly the effect Coulson wanted. He specifically instructed the supervising team to aim for the heart, so as not to smear the face, and to instill all the despair and fear of death into the minds of the onlookers.

The officers' faces darkened at the sight. It seemed those executed were all deserters from the main battlefield. But given this madman's personality, if he truly violated military discipline, there was no guarantee he wouldn't turn on those with rank. Just now in the camp, he'd killed a captain, hadn't he?

What's worse, all his actions were approved by Colonel Jaworth, and he even had a supervisory team.

At this moment, he was the one with the most real power in the army. After much deliberation, everyone kept their dissatisfaction to themselves and did not publicly provoke him.

The soldiers were sweating profusely as they watched, and it wasn't until the bodies of the deserters lay before them that they realized this time was different from before.

This is serious.

"The first vanguard team failed to complete its mission, and a large number of them even deserted... This is something I absolutely cannot allow! I don't care what kind of training you received under your respective commanders in the past, forget it all tonight!"

Colson began his pre-battle speech tonight with an execution, the theme of which was just one word.

dead.

Dying on the charge or dying under the guns of the supervising team are both deaths, but the meanings behind them are completely different.

Jarvis had always been accustomed to using "benefits" to motivate soldiers to fight for him, a practice rooted in his family culture. But there are problems in this world that money can't solve, and Coulson adopted a completely different strategy, using actual death to cut off everyone's escape route.

He didn't try to regroup the vanguard. Reassembling a scattered force on the battlefield was beyond human capability. Their only value was as a negative example, a warning to others.

Now that the chicken has been killed and the monkey has been warned, he cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "I reiterate, this is a battlefield, a real battlefield! The enemy we face has long occupied this fertile land and must be wiped out!"

"They were just a bunch of primitive people wielding spears and clubs, nothing to be afraid of. Sure, we encountered some resistance, but think about it, what was so scary about it? What were they using? Bows and arrows, darts and blowguns, they were still at the level of two or three hundred years ago."

“And what do we have? We have this!” Coulson pulled a naval revolver from his belt and fired a shot into the air.

"boom!"

Since the war had already begun, he didn't care whether he was exposed or not; he had to boost morale first.

This shot drew everyone's attention to him.

"The pinnacle of modern civilization: gunpowder, bullets, guns, and unwavering courage! Are you truly willing to return defeated and slinking back, ridiculed by the entire nation as an army that 'couldn't even defeat the barbarians'?!"

In reality, people all over the country don't have the time to laugh at them, but at this moment, the atmosphere is certainly well-crafted.

The soldiers' fighting spirit was ignited, and coupled with the disastrous defeat of the vanguard, an atmosphere of "a desperate army is bound to win" was created.

"The enemy is indeed not as weak as we previously estimated, but it is not as powerful as you imagine right now. Most of you fought against the Southerners on the battlefield more than ten years ago. They were a group of primitive people living in the forest, nothing to be afraid of."

"I assure you all that I will charge into battle alongside you in this fight."

"We must recoup all the losses we've incurred, including principal and interest!"

"Oh----!!!"

A burst of screams and shouts erupted from the troops.

In any era, an officer's promise to "charge together" always generates goodwill. In truth, he may not even know what nonsense he's spouting; as long as the emotion is right and the soldiers' feelings are successfully stirred, the method doesn't matter.

Coulson began to reorganize the team, breaking up and regrouping the original forces to minimize the chances of instability within the team.

He was well aware of the limitations of pre-battle speeches. Emotions fueled by adrenaline are like a fleeting spark—they come quickly and fade even faster. If a heated argument breaks out later, acquaintances nearby might become afraid or back down, and after a brief discussion, the two of them might leave the battlefield. This phenomenon could quickly spread throughout the entire army.

After the reorganization, no one knew anyone else. He no longer emphasized the skirmish line, but wanted to be like a military knife, piercing into the forest and reaching the heart of the tall trees!

----

"Flying Eagle!"

Black Rock nimbly leaped over the bushes and crouched down beside him. "As expected, the enemy launched a counterattack, and with great force."

“I heard it.” Flying Eagle picked at his ear. “In fact, with so many people shouting together, it’s hard not to hear.”

"When the poisoned arrows hit, one person falls, and three more immediately rush in to fill the gap. They seem to have become completely fearless, and unlike before, they are no longer scattered, but clustered together, charging forward in a group," Black Rock continued to report. "Those poisoned weapons are almost all used up."

"A sudden change in combat style must mean they've changed their leader." Flying Eagle pondered for a moment. "Have you found out who their commander is?"

“No.” Black Rock shook his head. “They don’t seem to have any tactics. They just huddle together and charge forward.”

“…Okay, I understand.” Flying Eagle said in a deep voice, “Our mission is basically complete. Let the brothers in front retreat. Don’t fight them head-on.”

“Use the terrain to your advantage and lead them to where they need to go.”

He grabbed Black Rock's shoulder and said, "No, you have other missions, so don't try to get involved anymore."

"Flying Eagle?" Black Rock looked somewhat surprised.

"Go to the back first and tell Zhang and the others this news, so they can prepare. I will do my best to lure the enemy to their side."

Eagle picked up a military-grade Sharps rifle and slung a bullet belt over his shoulder.

The shouts of battle in the distance grew closer and closer, as if they were hanging over the two of them. His expression and eyes became increasingly resolute.

“I am the eldest son of the King of Tall Trees, so it is only natural that I should do this.” He patted Black Rock on the shoulder and laughed, “Don’t worry, we will see each other again soon.”

"Let me go and teach those damn invaders a lesson!"