Mobilizing and commanding an entire army of one hundred thousand soldiers was a monumental challenge. But this time, with Luo Shangyu present, Qin Yu simply tossed all those tedious tasks to her.
At one in the afternoon, after the entire army had finished lunch, the troops formally assembled.
Qin Yu led three thousand elite soldiers, handpicked and armed with magi-rifles, riding sturdy warhorses, setting off first.
Behind them, Luo Shangyu led the remaining ninety thousand, advancing in three divisions: the vanguard, the central army, and the rear guard.
The final ten thousand were led by their respective captains, responsible for transporting provisions and supplies, or acting as scouts.
Luo Shangyu set up the command tent in the central army. This way, she could issue timely commands while avoiding direct, close-quarters engagement with the enemy.
Qin Yu alone led the three thousand forward, having already taken them deep into the forest before the main army even began its march.
Fewer numbers meant faster marching speed. By Qin Yu’s rough estimate, in the past hour, they had already covered nearly thirty kilometers.
The trees in the forest were dense. Qin Yu had the troops spread out, fifty soldiers per group, divided into sixty groups in total. They maintained some distance between each other, yet could still support one another.
Using a simple map in hand, Qin Yu estimated the entire battlefield’s width between the two sides’ camps was roughly six hundred kilometers. At most, it would take her forces only six days to encounter the enemy’s main force.
Qin Yu chose to follow the river, as she knew from the map that this river ran east-west. Following it meant no need to navigate directions, and it provided a clean water source.
…
Driven by her desire for victory, Qin Yu pushed the marching speed hard. A day and a half had passed since departure, and the troops had already covered nearly three hundred kilometers.
Watching the sky gradually darken, Qin Yu’s sense of alertness inevitably heightened.
Geographically speaking, she had already entered the enemy’s half of the field, making encounters with enemy forces highly likely.
The battlefield was long east-west, but short north-south. The north-south distance was only three hundred kilometers, so the probability of actually running into the enemy wasn’t that high.
As dusk fell, Qin Yu decided to halt the march, prepare to make camp, and set off again after spending the night.
At this moment, Qin Yu’s troops were stopped at the foot of a small mountain.
This mountain was a rocky one, a unique presence in a forest mostly composed of earthen hills.
This rocky mountain stretched nearly ten kilometers east-west and about twenty kilometers north-south. Paths had been carved into the mountain, leading straight to the summit.
The river Qin Yu had been following wound around the mountain here, continuing its flow forward.
“We’ll spend the night here,” Qin Yu ordered upon reaching the mountain’s base, looking up at the peak at least four hundred meters high.
Marching in pitch darkness was a risk Qin Yu dared not take.
After arranging night watch and sentry duties, Qin Yu ordered soldiers without tasks to rest as early as possible to have energy for the journey the next day.
A full day’s march had left Qin Yu utterly exhausted as well. She ducked into her own tent, ready to rest.
Lying alone in the somewhat spacious tent, Qin Yu couldn’t help but feel a bit lonely.
‘That’s strange…’ Qin Yu whispered to herself. ‘I never felt this lonely when I was alone before…’
Just as Qin Yu was lost in these random thoughts, urgent shouts suddenly came from outside the tent: “Your Highness, emergency situation!”
Qin Yu had already taken off her armor and changed into sleepwear. But she didn’t dare delay in the slightest now. Not even having time to change clothes, she went to the tent entrance and asked through the canvas, “What happened?”
The soldier outside replied, “Reporting, Your Highness! We’ve spotted firelight on the mountain, traces of enemy forces!”
Qin Yu immediately became alert. “Have they discovered us?”
“They show no movement. It seems they haven’t spotted us yet.”
“Full army blackout, maintain silence!” Qin Yu immediately issued the command.
With one side at the mountain’s base and the other at its summit, Qin Yu knew she had to take this matter seriously.
She swiftly changed back into her armor and stepped out of the tent.
“Your Highness,” the soldier on night duty, seeing Qin Yu emerge, hurriedly reported to her, “We just spotted light on the mountain. Scouts have already been sent ahead. The opposing force numbers only about a thousand. They just ascended to the summit.”
“Reliability?”
“Reporting, Your Highness, it’s absolutely true!”
“Good!” Hearing this, Qin Yu was overjoyed. The enemy had just reached the summit, meaning they must be extremely fatigued from a long trek.
Coupled with her own numerical advantage, Qin Yu believed her forces needed only one charge to defeat the enemy.
“All soldiers, assemble immediately!” Qin Yu ordered the entire force.
Before long, all soldiers awoke from their slumber and prepared for battle. Qin Yu dispatched five hundred soldiers to hold the warhorses at the mountain’s base, while she personally led two thousand five hundred soldiers up the mountain.
Qin Yu ordered everyone to gag themselves with sticks and follow her up the mountain to launch a night raid on the enemy camp.
The mountain path wasn’t wide, only allowing three people to walk abreast. Qin Yu had the entire army form three columns to advance, positioning herself at the very front to lead the charge.
The mountain path twisted and turned. Despite the height being only over four hundred meters, the actual path up was much longer than four hundred meters.
Reaching the mountainside, the ascending path suddenly split into two. One was much wider but longer; the other was narrow but shorter.
‘Which one should I choose?’ Qin Yu pondered back and forth, deciding to split the troops and advance in two groups.
The path up until now had been a single one, but now there was a fork. Qin Yu worried that if the enemy discovered her trail, they might use the other path to circle behind her and block her retreat, forcing her to divide her forces.
Qin Yu split the troops into two groups: two thousand and five hundred soldiers. She personally led the main force of two thousand along the narrow path to approach the summit and launch a surprise attack on the enemy first.
The narrow path wasn’t easy to traverse. Strange rocks stood on both sides, with thickets of trees. The path was steep, making Qin Yu somewhat acrophobic. She looked back down the mountain, her legs involuntarily going a bit weak.
“Hahahahaha!” After walking for a while, Qin Yu suddenly threw her head back and laughed heartily.
The soldiers beside her didn’t know what fit had come over Qin Yu and cautiously asked, “Your Highness, what are you laughing about?”
“We are certain to win!” Qin Yu stopped laughing, but her face was full of excitement. “This terrain is treacherous. If the enemy had set up sentry posts here, how could we possibly attack up the mountain? Yet there are no sentry posts here, no警戒. Their commander is simply incompetent! We are sure to triumph!”
“Your Highness is most insightful…” The soldiers’ flattering words were cut off by a tremendous roar.
A red magical fireball exploded in the sky with a huge noise, illuminating the mountain path in an instant.
“Not good, enemy attack! All troops, prepare to counter—”
Before the words finished,密集的子弹 poured in from all directions, the sound of magi-rifles firing echoing through the mountains.
“Up the mountain first! Up the mountain first!” Qin Yu rallied the troops, wanting to desperately reach the summit first to seize the high ground before preparing a counterattack.
Qin Yu’s soldiers raised their magi-rifles to shoot at the enemy while advancing uphill.
As they moved upward, Qin Yu’s forces left behind many fallen comrades, but they had reached a position higher than the ambush circle.
Holding the high ground, they occupied the advantageous terrain. Combined with their numerical superiority, the roles of attacker and defender reversed. Soon, those ambushing soldiers were wiped out one by one by Qin Yu’s forces.
By now, Qin Yu’s troops weren’t far from the summit. The mountain wind at the peak whistled fiercely. Qin Yu could already hear the sound of the enemy’s military flag flapping in the wind…
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