Chapter 38: New Mission: Hold Coldwater Town!

Upon hearing Andrei’s words, Lieutenant Colonel Unere nodded and said, "Indeed. Lieutenant General Matvey has issued orders to my regiment. We are to remain in this small town for three days to cover the retreat of other forces."

"The bridge in this town is a vital transportation hub. If we can hold off the enemy here, they will have to detour at least a hundred kilometers to cross this river."

He then looked at Andrei and asked, "Captain Vorontsov, what is your unit’s mission?"

Andrei gave a wry smile, shrugged, and replied, "Regrettably, our unit currently has no mission. It seems our division has been surrounded by the enemy."

"My company was originally on the front lines in the trenches when we suddenly received orders to retreat. Before we could pull back, we were hit by a preemptive artillery strike."

"That barrage was hasty and even killed some of our own men. When the enemy launched their assault, I led my troops in a counter-charge, luckily escaping under the cover of night, and after a long and arduous journey, we arrived here."

"So, to be honest, I don’t even know what our mission is now. This unit is essentially just a hodgepodge of stragglers."

Hearing this, Lieutenant Colonel Unere’s eyes lit up.

"Excellent. In that case, why don't you and your men stay behind and help me defend this town?"

"I would like to incorporate you and your unit into my infantry regiment. What do you think?"

Andrei pondered for a moment, turned his head to look at Major Yuri beside him, and exchanged a glance. Both of them then agreed to the requisition.

There was no help for it. Andrei had considered continuing the retreat with his troops, but under the current circumstances, retreating further was clearly inappropriate.

Setting aside whether Lieutenant Colonel Unere would even allow them to pass, even if they did manage to pull back, it would be difficult for him to provide a satisfactory account later.

To put it bluntly, the front-line armies are busy fighting, and if you just run away from the front with your troops, what is that if not desertion?

Andrei could not guarantee that the bigwigs in the rear would care about the fact that his infantry division had been surrounded, nor could he trust that they would view his unit as heroes who had broken through enemy lines.

On the battlefield, far too many people have been executed as deserters for no reason. Even with his trump card as a player, he could not afford to fight the Black Eagle Empire’s army while simultaneously fighting his own allies.

Furthermore, as an officer two ranks his senior, Lieutenant Colonel Unere had the full authority to requisition his unit in such a situation; Andrei had no grounds for refusal.

Although the Lieutenant Colonel spoke quite courteously, if Andrei were to refuse so casually, it would be a slap in the face. Therefore, he ultimately decided to stay and defend the town.

Moving with the main force is always better. Even if they were to retreat later, he could do so as a hero rather than a deserter who fled without orders.

As the new orders were disseminated throughout the unit, the 300-plus soldiers led by Andrei and Major Yuri all expressed their consent; not a single coward wanted to leave.

To the players, they cared little about danger; the more intense the battle, the happier they were.

As for the other soldiers, having witnessed the previous horrors, they naturally felt a surge of patriotism and a desire for vengeance in the face of their country’s crisis.

Observing the men around him, Andrei felt slightly moved. He did not know what professions these soldiers held before joining the army; perhaps they were just ordinary people from all walks of life.

Yet, in the midst of the war’s peril, they all chose to pick up weapons to defend their homes. Regardless of whether they had joined the military voluntarily or through forced conscription, at this moment, every one of them truly wanted to fight the Black Eagle people to the bitter end.

After issuing the orders, Andrei and Major Yuri told their soldiers to find a place to rest as quickly as possible.

The long-distance march, combined with a series of skirmishes, had pushed the physical endurance of Andrei’s unit to its absolute limit. Many soldiers were only holding on thanks to a rush of adrenaline, but that adrenaline could not sustain them indefinitely.

Lieutenant Colonel Unere was naturally aware of the exhaustion of Andrei’s unit. The fact that they could still fight so fiercely despite such fatigue only earned the Lieutenant Colonel's deep respect.

Consequently, the Lieutenant Colonel quickly arranged for Andrei’s unit to move to the rear, allowing them to rest as much as possible while preparing them to serve as a reserve force.

However, the players were not the type to rest. They seemed to have an endless supply of energy, acting like a group of hyperactive patients.

Andrei did not know how the players’ logging out or resting worked, but from the current situation, they did not seem to experience intermittent disconnections; they were able to stay online consistently.

He suspected that perhaps there was some sort of "save" function when players logged off, and when they logged back in, they automatically returned to this point in time to continue the fight.

From his perspective, it was as if these players never logged off, staying in battle for hours on end.

What surprised Andrei was that even with the fighting raging, there was still a group of residents in the town! Even with the situation as it was, these residents had remained and had not evacuated!

Andrei quickly asked Lieutenant Colonel Unere what was going on, taking the opportunity to mark a reminder for the players: strictly forbid harassing the residents, or else they would lose favorability points rapidly. Otherwise, he feared the players would surely do something bizarre; he had already seen players in the chat area discussing whether they could lift the long skirts of the young housewives next door!

"Colonel, what is going on? Why haven't they evacuated?"

Facing Andrei’s inquiry, Lieutenant Colonel Unere just shrugged and said, "There is nothing to be done. We have urged these people as much as possible. Those willing to leave have already gone, and those who remain are naturally unwilling to leave."

"We cannot force them to leave, and we don't have enough vehicles. We can only let them go on their own. Since they are unwilling to leave, at the very least, they can help us with some logistical work."