Jiang Ye spent an entire evening meticulously reviewing Yu Xiangyang's archived personal profile in the Leleliu region's database.
As he read through the information, Yu Xiangyang's figure became increasingly tangible.
Born into a military family, with over a dozen members serving in the armed forces starting from his grandfather, the family had seen individuals rise from private to regimental commander. Over three generations, they had participated in nearly every major conflict, making their family history a living chronicle of the Leleliu region's warfare.
Therefore, while other children might have been on their living room floors, snot-nosed and playing with toy cars, Yu Xiangyang likely experienced a different childhood. His elders, often tipsy, would recount tales of rivers of blood, of gas bombs and artillery duels, of the regrets over fallen comrades. As they spoke, the weary, inebriated elders would drift off to sleep, and young Yu Xiangyang would gaze out the window, imagining the fiery trails of missile explosions illuminating the night sky, like cumulonimbus clouds formed of flame.
During his school years, Yu Xiangyang consistently achieved top marks, frequently ranking within the top ten of his grade.
Logically, with his academic standing, he could have pursued a lucrative finance major, graduating to wear sharp suits, carry a coffee cup, and sit in a top-floor office in a glass skyscraper. With a few clicks of his fingers on a computer, he could earn six or seven figures, drive a sports car home after work, and live a comfortable life as one of the elite.
However, Yu Xiangyang eschewed the life within glass towers and joined the military directly.
During his time at military academy, he surprisingly didn't attend classes diligently. Instead, he spent his days skipping lessons and immersing himself in the military academy's library, voraciously reading military theories and battlefield memoirs.
Ultimately, due to excessive absences, Yu Xiangyang graduated with a "Grade C," the only one in his class to receive such a mark.
"This student is rather peculiar, exhibiting a severe anti-authoritarian tendency. He scoffs at orthodox military theory courses but is fascinated by analyzing outdated war histories detached from the current era. He dismisses the works of renowned generals with disdain but is obsessively engrossed in the memoirs of defeated commanders and routed soldiers."
"When criticized by instructors for his anti-authoritarianism and urged to study orthodox military theory texts seriously, he responded that the victories of most great generals were inevitable outcomes of accumulated strength. Truly, generals who turned the tide from defeat to victory through their own efforts have been no more than four or five across the entire planet in the past century. What truly warrants study are the lessons of failure. The struggles of defeated armies represent the ultimate exertion of intellect, and opportunities for victory often slip away before these struggles even begin."
"This student is not a lazy individual. His frequent absences are not due to sleeping or leisure but rather to his constant perusal of books in the library. On one occasion, he became so engrossed in reading war histories that he forgot to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, collapsing in the library at one in the morning. Surveillance footage shows him standing by the bookshelves, reading quietly. On the day he collapsed, he stood from six in the morning until one in the morning, demonstrating an unusual level of physical endurance."
"Intelligence tests indicate this student's IQ is approximately 161, significantly higher than the average of 129 for officers at our academy."
"In his graduation thesis, this student displayed a clear tendency towards cold-bloodedness. His arguments on various topics were unconventional and his thought processes bizarre. He devoted excessive attention to inconsequential matters, listing possibilities to a near-pathological degree. The instructors found it difficult to judge the correctness of his answers, but they could vaguely sense his immense potential, thus passing him."
Jiang Ye carefully reread the military academy's confidential evaluation report twice. It was evident that the academy instructors considered Yu Xiangyang an eccentric, talented, diligent, but profoundly strange individual.
Based on Jiang Ye's years of experience in judging people, truly capable individuals often exhibited peculiarities in certain aspects. This strangeness might be a side effect of their competence, or perhaps it was precisely this eccentricity that contributed to their abilities.
After enlisting, Yu Xiangyang was stationed in the suburbs for a considerable period, leaving him with ample free time. The bustling city center was only a fifty-minute drive away.
During this time, Yu Xiangyang behaved like an ordinary person. Whenever he had leave, he would head into the city.
He would go fishing in the park, accompany his girlfriend on shopping trips, join the crowds at shopping malls during holidays, enjoy ice cream in the summer, sometimes eating four or five sticks a day, and even visit arcades to play games. Of course, he would occasionally spend a whole day at the library, still reading old war histories. But aside from that, he seemed like a young, idle soldier.
After finishing Yu Xiangyang's profile, Jiang Ye, despite never having met him in person, could envision his demeanor.
Down-to-earth, unpretentious, indistinguishable from ordinary people. His sole exceptional talent was warfare. When he shed his civilian clothes and donned his uniform, he transformed into an exquisitely engineered war machine, harboring a multitude of devilish ideas in his mind.
Jiang Ye had a premonition that this man would suddenly undertake some earth-shattering endeavors.
This premonition was validated just four days later.
After a period of quiet inactivity, Yu Xiangyang's unit launched a fierce offensive against the Gante army in the Shengshan area, simultaneously attacking eight cities.
The battle erupted at one in the morning. Jiang Ye had just gone to bed when he was jolted awake by the news and hurried to the combat command center in his pajamas.
A group of division and corps commanders were already present, all staring at the large screen on the wall.
Over the next few hours, Yu Xiangyang once again displayed his uncanny command capabilities.
Vast numbers of troops were maneuvered and interwoven across the screen in a seemingly chaotic fashion, sometimes charging forward at close range, sometimes halting abruptly for long-range fire. They merged and separated, as unpredictable as currents of fire in a furnace, yet seemingly guided by some underlying pattern.
Concurrently, detected enemy forces and Yu Xiangyang's predicted enemy deployments, categorized by troop type, scale, speed, and other factors, were displayed on the map with varying colors, sizes, and patterns, constantly shifting.
Jiang Ye could follow along initially, but as time progressed, he understood less and less, eventually becoming completely bewildered.
He could only watch as, with the passage of time, enemy forces were miraculously herded together, falling into the encirclement of Yu Xiangyang's troops. It was as if an invisible abyss had opened, and the Gante army could only descend into its depths, bit by bit.
By dawn, the overall situation was decided. Yu Xiangyang's forces had completely seized the initiative on the battlefield, and reports of enemy surrenders began to pour in. Six of the eight cities were surrounded, and the remaining two were all but captured.
The officers who had stayed up all night were stunned, their expressions akin to those who had undergone a spiritual awakening.
"I can't understand this strategy of Yu Xiangyang's!"
"I can understand it, but in all honesty, understanding it and executing it are two entirely different matters."
"It's terrifying. How desperate must the enemy be? The movements on the eastern front are like something supernatural; Yu Xiangyang's troops just appear in the most bizarre locations."
"Damn it, he's a war god! This Yu Xiangyang is no ordinary person!"
"Hurry and urge the intelligence department to send over the detailed data. I need to learn quickly. Watching this all night has raised my blood pressure; it's like a lecture."
"Yu Xiangyang is facing an enemy force seven or eight times his size, right? His troops' weaponry isn't that advanced either. Defeating an army seven or eight times his size would be impressive enough, but now he's surrounded them. This level of control is terrifying, a devilish skill!"
"His troop deployment is truly bizarre, truly risky, he's incredibly bold, and yet he succeeds! A miracle!"