“Commander Lei! But… there are still so many children over there. They are there not by their own choice. Are we… going to kill them too?”

Just as the soldiers were filled with righteous indignation, a man in his forties suddenly raised his hand and asked loudly.

Hearing this question, everyone fell silent.

“That’s right! There are indeed many children over there. They were brought there by their parents! You could say they were forced into it!”

Duan Lei looked at the man and nodded, then asked:

“Do you have children?”

“Yes! Right there!”

The man pointed to the residential building:

“It’s because I have children that I… ask!”

“Mm!”

Duan Lei nodded again, pointed to the opposite side, and then to the residential building:

“The situation now is that they want to occupy our base, and we absolutely cannot let them have it. Therefore, there must be a great battle between us.

In war, one side will surely win, and the other will fail. You should all know the nature of the people on the other side. Therefore, if we fail, we will definitely die, including them!

So… that child, and your child, one of them must die. Which one do you want to die?”

“I… I understand!”

Hearing Duan Lei’s words, the man suddenly froze. He looked back at the residential area, took a deep breath, and nodded vigorously to Duan Lei.

“Everyone remember, no matter who the people on the other side are, women or old people, they chose the enemy, but they are being used as cannon fodder. That is not our responsibility!”

Duan Lei looked at the other soldiers and said:

“Our responsibility lies behind us, the relatives who need our protection. They are our responsibility. As for those outside the village, regardless of gender or age, they are all our enemies.

On the battlefield, there is no mercy or kindness. Being merciful to the enemy is being cruel to yourself, to your comrades, to everyone in the village, because they will die under the enemy’s blade because of your mercy! Do you understand?”

“Understood!”

This time, the answer was unified and loud!!!

“Good! When the battle starts, everyone listen to my command. We will start first!”

Duan Lei nodded and looked back at the opposite side, finding that they seemed to be almost done forming their ranks. So he gave the order and entered the battle vehicle, ready to face the enemy.

In fact, at the beginning, Duan Lei had planned to let the village’s warriors defend first, with the battle vehicles not participating in the battle for the time being.

For a long time, the space battle vehicles had been used as RVs by Duan Lei and the others. They rarely used them in battle, because they wanted to improve their combat skills.

Therefore, the battle vehicle’s firepower system should not have been exposed to Lin Qiang and his people yet. This was considered a trump card, and Duan Lei didn’t want to reveal it too early.

At least, they had to wait until after the battle had been going on for a while, and after finding a suitable opportunity, the battle vehicle would make a brilliant debut and give the enemy a fatal blow!

But now, Duan Lei knew that they had to enter the battle first. Don’t be fooled by how loudly these warriors were shouting now. After all, the people on the other side were familiar to them, and these warriors had all been selected after the apocalypse. They had all kinds of backgrounds, and not many were true warriors.

Therefore, if those people really rushed over, there might not be many who would actually fire their guns. So Duan Lei and his team had to take the lead!

“Everyone get ready. We’ll be at the front. Those who surrendered don’t have weapons, but there are definitely enemy soldiers among them. Be careful of snipers. Don’t leave the battle vehicle’s defensive position!”

Duan Lei called Duan Xue, Fatty, and the others over and said:

“Also, don’t use the battle vehicle’s weapons in the early stages to save ammunition. Just use the machine guns and rifles we found before! Remember, show no mercy. Kill everyone who charges at us. Only if we kill fiercely will others dare to fire their guns!!!”

“Xiao Lei! Are we really going to kill those unarmed people?”

Duan Xue was a woman after all, and she hesitated as she asked, because she saw many women she knew on the other side, and even children she had held.

“Sister! Either they die, or we die! This is a multiple-choice question, with no other options! Understand?”

Duan Lei looked at Duan Xue and said:

“We and Lin Qiang are destined to have a victor. And those who surrendered… no matter which side wins, they are doomed. The moment they chose Lin Qiang and left the village, their fate was actually sealed.

Even if Lin Qiang wins, he won’t let those people go. After killing us all, he will turn his butcher knife towards those people, because no one wants to accept traitors.

They betrayed us today, and they might betray Lin Qiang tomorrow. How could a hero like Lin Qiang possibly keep them around?”

“They… will all die?”

Duan Xue couldn’t help but look at the surrendering people outside.

“That is their own choice!”

Duan Lei said calmly, then looked at Fatty and Tian Ya:

“Get ready. Once they start charging, as soon as they enter range, we need to kill as quickly as possible. Lin Qiang’s tactic of driving these people forward is indeed quite ruthless. However, if we are even more ruthless than him, these people will become a problem for him instead!”

“His problem?”

Fatty’s eyes lit up.

“That’s right!”

Duan Lei nodded and pointed to the surrendering people:

“The reason why these people dare to attack us is because Lin Qiang’s people killed some of them, making them realize that those people are very ruthless. If they don’t obey, Lin Qiang’s people will kill them.

As for us, they probably think that we are definitely not as cruel as Lin Qiang, so after weighing the options, they will definitely choose to attack our base, because that way they have a chance of survival!

But if we start massacring them directly when they launch their attack, letting them know that we are even more ruthless and cruel than Lin Qiang’s people, they will choose to flee back!

People like them are bullies who fear strength. Therefore, whoever is more ruthless and brutal, we or Lin Qiang, they will choose to avoid, and seek a chance to survive with the relatively weaker side!”

“So… we’re competing with the other side to see who can kill them more, and faster?”

Fatty shook his head and said with a wry smile.

“That’s right! That’s how it is!”

Duan Lei said:

“If we want to get through this crisis, we have to do this. Or… we can choose to give up, drive the battle vehicle out now, and let Qingluan and the others face it themselves!

That way, we won’t have to feel conflicted, and we won’t have to kill anyone!”

“If we don’t kill people, Qingluan and the others will be killed, right?”

Duan Xue suddenly looked up and asked Duan Lei…

“That’s why, a long time ago, someone said that war is the only way to end war!”

Duan Lei nodded in response…