“Should we still send people to chase after that Red Flames unit?” Ben Ford asked.
“It’s too late. While that Red Flames unit was distracting us, Reese Daniels’ army has likely slipped past us to pursue the main force. Perhaps they really do have some way to carry out a decapitation strike,” Jackie said gravely.
They thought they had won, but now realized they had lost.
Against these soldiers with combat power of only five, they had let the real elites slip by.
“Bring those troops back. We need a large-scale search for traces of Reese Daniels’ unit,” Jackie ordered.
“Yes sir,” Ben Ford replied.
He now understood why that Red Flames unit did not cover their tracks but let themselves be openly pursued. It was to hold them back while the main force stealthily slipped by.
They had almost fallen for it.
Luckily he had only sent out half the troops. He could still call them back now.
At this time, the Red Flames troops had started to slow down. They too realized the South Land soldiers behind them were not attacking them, but carefully pursuing them, afraid of an ambush.
When the Red Flames stopped, so did the South Land army.
“Squad three, go scout the area. Everyone else, rest in place,” Theresa Lindsay ordered.
Squad three immediately went out, scouting the area several hundred meters from the South Land troops. They eyed each other warily, both gripping their weapons tightly, but neither side made a move.
The scene suddenly became strangely tense.
Inside, the other squads sat down to rest. They had been running for nearly an hour and were exhausted.
“The South Land army has likely discovered something and did not continue chasing us,” Logan Garcia said as he walked up to Theresa Lindsay.
“Perhaps,” Theresa Lindsay replied, her expression still icy cold.
Because behind them, many had surrendered. Surrendering was an utter disgrace, a humiliation to Red Flames’ reputation.
Before long, a squad returned. It was squad five. Their captain had a complex expression as he led back over ten people. Returning, his first words to Theresa Lindsay were: “Commander, we’re back.”
“We’re returning to the main force. Thankfully you’re all still alive. The South Land soldiers are too fierce.”
“As long as we’re alive. As long as we’re alive, that’s good.”
“It’s great you’re all still alive.”
Seeing the main force, those captured breathed a sigh of relief, wanting to rejoin the ranks. But they were blocked by the other squads.
“Why are you stopping me? I want to rejoin,” one youth who looked barely over twenty, with a mole on his cheek, said to them.
His name was Jake. A college student. Swayed by the war hawks’ propaganda, he had joined Red Flames.
But now, wanting to rejoin, he was unexpectedly being blocked by these people. What were they trying to do?
“Do you really not know what crime you’ve committed? Why squad five captured you and brought you back? Deserters,” Theresa Lindsay spoke up from the side.
At this, Jake and the others’ faces went pale.
They had indeed, fearing death under the South Land army’s pursuit, slipped away from the main force and fled in another direction, originally wanting to escape back to St. Sunday. But unexpectedly they ran into squad five patrolling the outskirts.
On the battlefield, deserters had only one fate, and that was death.
No other possibilities.
“I… we were scattered from the unit… by the South Land army’s charge… that’s why we strayed…” Jake stammered out.
“Then why did squad five catch you headed in the direction of St. Sunday? My order was for all soldiers to head west, while St. Sunday is east. You were going in completely the opposite direction,” Theresa Lindsay said coldly.
At this, Jake’s face went pale white.
He was a St. Sunday local who had lived in South Province for twenty-two years. Even with his eyes closed he could find his way here. For him to claim he got lost was taking them for fools.
“Jake, a St. Sunday native, has lived in South Province for twenty-two years. He could find his way here blindfolded, yet he tells me he got lost. Are you trying to make a fool of us?” Theresa Lindsay said icily.
In an instant, Jake’s face became deathly pale. He no longer knew how to explain himself, caught red-handed.
The others had similarly pale faces.
They could no longer explain themselves.
Finally, everyone fell silent. Jake hesitatingly spoke up, “Let us redeem ourselves through meritorious deeds, can we?”
Theresa Lindsay slowly walked up to stand in front of Jake. Her phoenix eyes were not seductive, but extremely oppressive. Her small mouth without lipstick was crystalline as she uttered two words:
“No can.”
A military knife flashed.
A streak of blood flashed.
A head flew.
Jake watched as his field of vision flew upwards, then saw his own body, saw the spurting blood, before his vision spun and fell to the ground.
His vision gradually blurred.
He had been killed by his own people.
“Murder! Run!”
The other ten-odd people’s faces changed as they turned and fled.
But Theresa Lindsay spat out another two words: “Execute them.”
That was an order.
Squad five’s soldiers immediately seized them.
Among them, some panicked and loudly shouted, “Theresa Lindsay, you can’t kill me. My father is a major household in the city who contributed greatly to St. Sunday’s defense. You can’t kill the descendant of a hero!”
“Theresa Lindsay, you can’t kill me either. I’m your fan, really, I’m your fan. I joined the war hawks and Red Flames because of you, you can’t kill me!”
“Commander, I was one of the original war hawks, among the first batch. I’m willing to redeem myself through merit!”
The people loudly pleaded.
But Theresa Lindsay’s lips merely moved, uttering:
“Military orders are as heavy as mountains. Desertion on the battlefield is punishable by death, no exceptions.”
“Execute them!”
With Theresa Lindsay’s order of “Execute!”, squad five’s soldiers acted.
“Don’t… don’t kill us… don’t…”
The people struggled desperately.
But ultimately they could not break free and were beheaded one by one.
It shocked all the Red Flames soldiers.
Theresa Lindsay had killed her own people, massacring them in one go.
Theresa Lindsay then turned to look at the soldiers. Everyone was watching her. With her phoenix eyes, she shouted at them, “These people died deserters, killed by their own comrades. This is disgrace, enormous disgrace. I don’t want another to make the same mistake again. On the battlefield, desertion is punishable by death, no exceptions, no matter who it is.”
These words rang loud alarm bells in the Red Flames soldiers’ hearts.
So Theresa Lindsay really would kill her own.
Deserters!
They could not become deserters. Deserters not only died, but died at their own comrades’ hands. It was disgrace. Their names would be nailed to the pillar of shame for descendants to revile. So no matter what, they absolutely could not desert.