Chapter 148: Battle Strategy

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“I’m much better now; riding a horse shouldn’t be a big problem.” Zhou Han revealed a look of gratitude: “Thank you, Young General, for the Silver-rank Core. Here is the remaining Core, I return it to you.”

The Silver-rank Demonic Beast Core was indeed impressive; Zhou Han had used it to heal his injuries, and his condition improved greatly. Although he couldn’t fight anyone yet, riding a horse was manageable.

“Are you kidding?” Lei Qing laughed loudly: “Keep it. This life-and-death escape, this desperate struggle, is very good for stimulating your life potential. Use this Silver-rank Core to push a bit harder, and you should easily break through to High-stage Bronze. Stop talking nonsense, you ride Zong Wuji’s horse, let’s go.”

Lei Qing flipped onto his horse and led the group, galloping all the way toward Yehe Town. At the same time, he rode alongside Zhou Han, constantly asking for detailed intelligence about the current situation.

The intelligence obtained made Lei Qing feel both happy and worried. What worried him was that the Butcher Yuwen Hu was not only a power ful High-rank Silver expert, unmatched within the territory of Yehe Town, but he was also a bloody and cruel madman. If Yehe Town were captured by him, the whole town would probably be destroyed in an instant.

What made him happy was that Mr. Hao reacted extremely fast, making so many arrangements in a short time, turning passivity into activity, and winning many advantages for Yehe Town. It also made Lei Qing secretly rejoice that he had not misjudged Mr. Hao.

Even with Mr. Hao’s arrangements, he had to rush back as soon as possible. With only Xianyu Bao, a single expert, guarding the place at home, it was a bit weak. If he, the main commander, were there, the situation would be much better, and morale would soar.

Besides, things on the battlefield are treacherous and changeable. Often, victory seems in sight one moment, but the next instant, the situation changes and reverses. Lei Qing couldn’t bear the patience to walk slowly. He could only secretly circulate his Fighting Qi to heal his injuries while riding and traveling. However, he currently lacked a Thunder Element Crystal Core, so relying purely on self-healing was slightly slower. As for Bronze-rank Thunder Element Crystal Cores, they were dispensable to him.

“Hey, I say, inside my Spatial Ring, there is a Silver-rank Thunder Element Crystal Core.” Zhen Jimu, jolted endlessly on the horseback, coughed twice and said.

Lei Qing was slightly surprised; speaking of which, after snatching Zhen Jimu’s Spatial Ring, he hadn’t examined it carefully yet. Hearing this, he immediately activated that Spatial Ring, found a Thunder Element Crystal Core with very thick power from a pile of sundries, and while secretly rejoicing, he frowned and asked strangely: “You don’t cultivate Thunder Element Fighting Qi, why keep a Silver-rank Thunder Element Crystal Core in your bag?”

“Uh, is it any of your business? I collected it for fun, okay?” Zhen Jimu had been jolted half to death these past two days, rolled his eyes in annoyance, and said: “For the sake of this Crystal Core of mine, can you let me sit more comfortably? My stomach is facing the horseback, and you’re riding so fast, my insides are about to burst. A Silver Crystal Core should be enough to please you, right?”

“Jimu, you really like to joke.” Lei Qing laughed loudly: “This Spatial Ring was already filially presented to me by you two days ago; it is clearly my thing. On what grounds can you use my things to please me? Just stay there obediently. You have Early-stage Silver cultivation anyway; this little hardship won’t kill you. A man has to be polished properly to become a real man. Giddy-up~”

Lei Qing turned back and slapped the horse’s butt hard. Wuzhui, feeling the pain, understood, neighed loudly, and ran even more wildly.

The violent jolting made Zhen Jimu’s eyes almost pop out, his face turned pale, and he couldn’t help vomiting directly. In his heart, he cursed endlessly, Lei Qing, you bastard, I just thought you were a Righteous and High-Minded, true hero with affection and loyalty, and when you roared at the sky, my heart palpitated, and I vaguely worshipped you. Damn it, a bandit is just a bandit…

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Speaking of that Butcher Yuwen Hu, he spent a lot of time turning back to gather the Blood Wolf Army. Obviously, Zhou Han’s strategy had worked, pulling Yuwen Hu’s main force apart. In the vast prairie, once troops scatter, it is difficult to find the main force.

It wasn’t until evening that Yuwen Hu gathered his troops almost completely. By this time, the men were tired and the horses were worn out; the constant driving and galloping had put many warhorses into a state of exhaustion.

If they were to force another march of over two hundred li to attack Yehe Town at this time, many warhorses would probably die of exhaustion midway. Even if they arrived, whether it was the Blood Wolf Soldiers or the warhorses, their own strength would have been mostly consumed, leading to defeat before the battle even started.

Thus, even if the Butcher Yuwen Hu was tyrannical and domineering, he could not defy the laws of nature. Without the bitter persuasion of Helian Bo, he honestly set up camp, ate and drank his fill, rested for the night, gathered his strength, and set off early the next morning, pointing his troops toward Yehe Town. They marched urgently all the way, and by nightfall, they arrived at the outskirts of Yehe Town, with the troops and horses tired and sleepy.

The scouting scouts reported back that the gates of Yehe Town were wide open, and the people inside were gone. Perhaps the retreat was hasty and disorderly, Yehe Town was quite messy, as if it had been baptized by a group of thieves.

Such a result made Yuwen Hu, who had intended to come to Yehe Town to rage and wreak havoc, instantly violent and furious again. But there was nowhere to vent, even wanting to set a fire to burn Yehe Town was difficult.

Very simply, Yehe Town was located in the desolate northwest, half yellow earth and half grassland. Even if there were mountains, they were mostly bare barren hills, and timber was extremely scarce. Most buildings were made of stones rammed with yellow earth. Although not good-looking and dirty, their fire resistance was top-notch and quite practical.

“Send out scouts and runners, find them for me, find some villages, I want to massacre the villages.” Yuwen Hu looked ferocious, like a bull with nowhere to vent, his eyes red, his breathing heavy and uncomfortable.

Helian Bo, however, was lost in thought; among the chasing scouts, the leader had ridden his Green Cong Horse. Obviously, the Black Flag Regiment had already discovered the traces of the Blood Wolf Soldiers. Now that the Black Flag Regiment had disappeared along with the townspeople, it should be the opponent’s tactical strategy. To prevent the Blood Wolf Soldiers from using the village massacre tactic to force a decisive battle in the wild.

Such a fast reaction, Helian Bo was slightly shocked in his heart, feeling that this matter was probably not good. Thinking of the opponent’s reaction speed and calmness, and looking at Yuwen Hu’s irritable personality.

Helian Bo vaguely had some thoughts of retreating, because he knew that since the matter involved the Yuwen Tribe, and this Butcher Yuwen Hu had been sent out. Things had already exceeded his control range.

With Yuwen Hu’s strength and personality, he, Helian Bo, simply couldn’t control him. Vaguely, he felt that this trip was probably ominous; Lei Qing gave him the impression of being very formidable, and if he could evacuate the people from Yehe Town, what reason would he have to leave those people in the villages?

He just knew that even if he went to remind Yuwen Hu, he wouldn’t pay attention. He had to secretly keep some thoughts for himself.

Sure enough, after searching most of the night within the range of Yehe Town, every village had been evacuated and emptied. Under the exhaustion of men and horses, Yuwen Hu, unable to vent, was even more furious.

The scouts of the Blood Wolf Army, based on traces and clues, judged that the civilians within the entire sphere of influence of Yehe Town had already evacuated into a branch of the Lianyun Mountain Range.

That place was called Chaotic Stone Ridge. Various hills and chaotic stones stood tall, ravines were densely distributed, and the terrain was extremely complex. It was a place easy to defend and hard to attack, very easy to set up an ambush.

If it were a normal commander, after all this tossing and turning, with soldiers tired and horses exhausted, the first thing to do would be to find a safe spot, set up camp, rest for the night, and set off tomorrow.

But Yuwen Hu wouldn’t think like that; driven by his increasingly irritable temper, all he thought about was finding the prey and the enemy as soon as possible, and then killing them to his heart’s content. Only then would his emotions be vented.

Relying on his personal cruelty and martial strength, he suppressed some opposing voices in the army. He forcibly spent two hours rushing to the outside of Chaotic Stone Ridge.

At this time, the sky was already approaching dawn. The mighty cavalry stepped on the ground, making the ground tremble, rumbling like thunder, and sounds like ghosts crying and wolves howling resounded throughout the hillside.

“Good heavens, these Blood Wolf Soldiers came really fast, with this sound, at least over a thousand riders.” Xianyu Bao also had bloodshot eyes, having barely rested in the past two or three days. Carrying his long-handled broadsword, he protected Mr. Hao standing on the high slope, listening sideways to the hoofbeats like a storm, watching the torches that looked like a sky full of stars.

The Black Flag Regiment, having gained the upper hand, had just settled more than 30,000 villagers in this huge Chaotic Stone Ridge. They had just settled down a bit when the Blood Wolf Soldiers came killing from the other side. If they had come a few hours earlier, many villagers wouldn’t have entered the ridge yet, and I’m afraid something big would have happened.

“They came so fast, it must have been a forced march. Listen to the panting of those warhorses, it’s very intense. We are so far away downwind and can still hear it; it seems most warhorses have reached their limit.” Mr. Hao chose this commanding high slope with great consideration; the height allowed overlooking many places. Moreover, it was downwind, so one could hear sounds or smell scents.

“Mr. Hao, while their formation is not yet set and they are tired, shall I lead people to attack and kill them first? I’ll take the lead!” Xianyu Bao said, rubbing his fists and palms.

“No rush, I have already chosen the vanguard general.” Mr. Hao stroked his beard, took a torch, and signaled.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~

Immediately, some archers skilled in crossbows in the army shot a wave of arrows into the air.

“Enemy attack!” Someone in the Blood Wolf Army roared. However, those arrows didn’t seem to be shot at the Blood Wolf Army. Instead, they shot through some sheepskin bags hanging in mid-air with ropes. Inside the sheepskin bags, some foul-smelling and strange liquid was blown by the wind and sprinkled down like rain, falling in dots onto the ground and staining the Blood Wolf Soldiers.

“What is this smell?” The Blood Wolf Soldiers shouted one after another: “It smells like strong urine.”

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