(Sections 172 and 173 have merged.)
A meeting of army officers at the battalion level and above was convened.
"The 10th Division has a very bad aspect,"
Xu Jianian made no attempt to conceal his disdain: "People like Luo Xian, upon realizing they couldn't deal with the opponent, should have immediately called for artillery Find your next favorite novel on NovelHub today!"
"What's the use of that?"
"It's not acceptable."
"There are nearly ten thousand classmates there; under the carpet bombing, at most, a number of foundation-building opponents would be injured and some mana consumed, but they... they would all die, killed by their own side's hands."
Carpet bombing can't solve foundation establishment stage opponents.
This isn't an injury toll of a few or dozens; it's the slaughter of nearly ten thousand people, killed by their own forces.
Xu Jianian really dared to say it.
"This is how it was done historically when facing racial wars!"
Xu Jianian sneered: "After all, they're bound to die, what's the difference between dying to artillery fire and cultivators' hands?"
Some showed displeasure on their faces.
"This is the most efficient way, let's vote."
Xu Jianian couldn't be bothered to say more.
The voting power of officers at different levels is not equal; the highest-ranking group army generals have twenty votes, the lowest-ranking battalion officers only one, and brigade officers three.
Jiang Ding cast a vote against.
If it was truly a matter of life and death, there would be nothing wrong with it, but it would pose far too great a risk in normal times, causing a devastating blow to the troop's morale.
It was okay during simulated tests.
In a real war, people are not machines, knowing that they could die at any moment from friendly fire, even the most disciplined troops would collapse.
What's even more frightening is that people have selfish interests.
Once allowed such extensive operational leeway, it means the lives of a group of citizens are manipulated in the hands of the superiors, who can deprive them at any moment and place under the pretext of an 'emergency situation' or 'tactical efficiency maximization.'
If life cannot be fully controlled, how can one ensure the absence of old military malpractices like personnel dependence and drinking soldiers' blood?
"Voting in progress."
"Combat plan passed by vote."
Unfortunately, even though there was a significant opposition, the plan still passed with over fifty percent.
War opportunities are fleeting; it's not possible to pause the enemy, let you vote over and over, over fifty percent is already enough to implement the actual military action plan.
"Legion Command: Once faced with an irresistible enemy, military commanders have the right and must lock the enemy's coordinates and summon artillery bombardment before the main force is annihilated."
Jiang Ding passed silently along the edge of the battlefield.
He paused slightly beside the shattered zombie of a six or seven-year-old child wearing a Nine Dragons Golden Robe and a Nine Lul Crown, glanced at the golden armored warrior zombies' severed limbs around, and quickly walked away.
"This is the difference between immortals and mortals... even emperors are but ants in the eyes of cultivators."
"Probably during the refining, they randomly picked a capital city, absorbed people into a Large Spirit Beast Bag, and then conveniently used souls and bodies together for the refining process."
He quickened his pace, rapidly approaching Xu Jianian.
He didn't person, but indeed, he had real talent; a Second-order War Commander, far above others, related to the outcome on the battlefield, he couldn't let him be casually ambushed and killed.
"The 12th Division has come under attack..."
"The Ninth Division has come under attack..."
"The 24th Division has come under attack..."
Within the mere forty minutes it took to travel, successive battle reports came in; spread across a battlefield of nearly a hundred kilometers, a total of seven divisions simultaneously came under attack, each facing dozens of foundation-building cultivators.
"The question setters wouldn't be grudging others' good performance, setting questions recklessly, would they?"
Jiang Ding's face changed.
Just the East Army Group alone had at least three hundred foundation establishment cultivators from Xuanwu Heavenly Palace, and that was just those who had arrived in this area in a short time by flying or through the teleportation formation, not necessarily all of them.
If all four directions are included, that means there are at least twelve hundred foundation cultivators from Xuanwu Heavenly Palace stationed in the West Desert!
Is Xuanwu Heavenly Palace's military strength so abundant?
If it is true, how is Xianmen Sect holding up on the frontline of the Outer Realm?
"Question Setter! What's your child's name?"
"Don't let me find out!"
Not just him, nearly all the officers of the East Army Group started cursing as soon as they got the battle report, unafraid of offending anyone.
Immortal Huangmao couldn't stop laughing,
"The little guys have a lot of spirit!"
"Indeed, that's the case,"
Immortal Dinghai Zhang Zhen said calmly, "Over the years, as we have received and excavated the Great Sun Sword Pavilion's legacy and made contact with various sects, we have gradually realized that compared to the Xianmen Sect, there are more commonalities and similar civilization forms among the Nine Great Immortal Sects."
"Theoretically speaking, they are more likely to form an alliance."
"If that happens, they will miss today's battlefield."
"Of course, the probability is very low; the contradictions between immortal sects are numerous, some even stretch back over a hundred and fifty thousand years. Every Refining Nothingness Cultivator wants to annex other sects, gather resources to advance to the next realm. There have been countless battles between immortal sects, with deep-seated hatred between them."
The battles among cultivators are incredibly fast!
In a short time, the outcomes were already apparent.
Encounter, casualties, withdrawal!
All these stages combined would take at most seven breaths, regardless of the outcome.
Through many years of war experience, the cultivators from Xuanwu Heavenly Palace have become unbelievably cunning.