Chapter 227 - Expedition
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
By the time he returned to Shanhai City, it was already 4 PM.
He didn't directly rush back to the Lord's Manor. Instead, he headed toward the Military Affairs Department to listen to the report of the military affairs director, Ge Hongliang. When he heard that the 3rd regiment had obtained stellar results, his depressed heart felt a little relieved.
General Er'Lai didn't let him down. With this battle alone, he would gain a footing in the military. He would garner reputation and respect in the 3rd regiment. With him at the head of the 3rd regiment, Ouyang Shuo didn't have to worry at all.
Ouyang Shuo ordered Ge Hongliang to place all the prisoners in the reserve force.
The prisoners from both the east and west sides totaled at 2,800 soldiers. They were all proper soldiers and didn't need to class change. Ouyang Shuo naturally wouldn't waste them. At a proper time, he would place all of them in his army.
Ouyang Shuo told Ge Hongliang about the city west camp operation and asked the Military Affairs Department to assist.
"Director Ge, pass down my words!" Then, Ouyang Shuo commanded, “Order the 2nd unit of the 2nd regiment to rush to the main camp; order the Qiushui Town City Protection Unit
to help the 3rd regiment destroy Yishui Town and Gushan Town. The God Machine Unit shall split into two, one to help the city west camp and the other to help the city east camp to complete this operation."
This time, Ouyang Shuo was really enraged, and he didn't want to give his enemies any chances.
"Yes, my lord!"
After he left the Military Affairs Department, Ouyang Shuo didn't stop and rushed to the inner city barracks. He found the God Machine Unit Major, Wang Yuanfeng. After he gave the major some instructions, Ouyang Shuo returned to the Lord's Manor.
The news of the war had spread out in the territory.
When Ouyang Shuo returned, the manor was bustling. Song Jia and Yingyu heaved a sigh of relief when the saw him come back. Ouyang Shuo's safety had worried them.
Ouyang Shuo sent a message about the ambush he faced in Shanhai City in the alliance channel. He warned his allies to pay attention to their territory borders in case of similar situations.
From this battle, Ouyang Shuo realized that the warning system at the border was far from enough. After the territory increased, they hadn't set up sentry towers at the border, which gave the enemy a chance.
"Sha Pojun is so shameless!" Gong Chengshi scolded.
"Wuyi, is this Sha Pojun's own act or Yanhuang Alliance playing tricks?" Bai Hua asked.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head and said, “Baseless guesses have no meaning. Let's wait and see." Ouyang Shuo had similar worries to Fenghua Juedai. He didn't want to start a war between the two alliances so early.
Bai Hua was smart and immediately understood what Ouyang Shuo meant and said, "Understood."
Gaia first year, 9th month, 4th day, Shanhai City.
At 6 AM, Ouyang Shuo brought along his Guards, military affairs secretary Songsan, God Machine Unit Major Wang Yuanfeng, and the 2nd unit of the 2nd regiment. They exited the city and went straight toward the city west camp.
At the city west camp, Ouyang Shuo stopped shortly to meet up with the Guards unit and the resting 1st unit of the 2nd regiment. This time, they set off toward Tianfeng Town, which was at the west-most side of the Lianzhou Basin.
Based on the military affairs secretary’s introduction, Tianfeng Town was 300 kilometres away from Shanhai City. It was 240 kilometres away from the city west camp, near the Xila Lake.
Ouyang Shuo's strategic motives were simple—to totally destroy the threat on the west side. He wanted to pluck out the three main lord's on the west of Lianzhou Basin.
For this, he had to bring the troops on a long journey.
Tianfeng Town lord Xiaofeng Canyue definitely wouldn't expect Ouyang Shuo to do that. Hence, Shanhai City purely brought cavalry. They planned to attack them before they could react.
The blistering sun was high up in the sky. Under the directions of the military affairs spy, a 1,500 men elite cavalry force ventured deep into the wilderness, toward the path of revenge.
To increase their speed, they took shorter rests. Ouyang Shuo had also taken 1,500 Qingfu horses from the city west horse stables. This action ensured that each cavalry had two Qingfu horses, so they could substitute between the two on the way.
The Military Affairs Division intentionally chose a route that avoided Yongye Town and Guangshui Town to prevent stirring up more side issues. In the afternoon, the force smoothly went past Yongye Town and entered to the deepest point of the wilderness.
For this long mission, Ouyang Shuo had made ample preparations. Not only did he bring enough Xingjun Tents, he also brought the military grain pills and the two triple-bow arcuballistas, which filled his storage bag to the brim.
9th month, 5th day, a series of simple notifications appeared in his ear.
"System Notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for conquering Yongye Town, rewarded 200 merit points."
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"System Notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for conquering Yishui Town, rewarded 200 merit points."
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"System Notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for conquering Guangshui Town, rewarded 200 merit points."
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"System Notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for conquering Gushan Town, rewarded 200 merit points."
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Ouyang Shuo had conquered the territories of four members of the Sky Blade Alliance one after another, which made Xiaofeng Canyue and Ba Dao panic. The only consolation was that their territories were too far away, which gave them a temporary reprieve from pressure.
The loss of the western alliance troops proved one thing—even with outside help, they couldn’t go against Shanhai City. Instead, they would end up on the receiving end of Qiyue Wuyi's crazy revenge if they took action.
Yongye Town thought that they could survive for a while, but now Qiyue Wuyi had forcefully evicted them.
9th month, 6th day night, the troops had reached Tianfeng Town.
Ouyang Shuo planned to use their tactic against them. He would attack in the early morning tomorrow.
At 5 AM the next day, the sky was slightly bright, and the fog hadn't dispersed. The air was still humid and water droplets formed on the shirts.
The Tianfeng Town suburbs were quiet, and even the most hard working farmers were asleep.
Suddenly, the sound of horseshoes shattered the silence of the suburbs.
The galloping sounds woke the farmers that lived outside the city. A middle aged men muttered, as he opened the door. But when he saw the cavalry troops, his mouth gaped open, and he ran back into his room in fear.
"Husband, who is outside?" asked a woman in the house.
"Hush, don't make a sound," said the astonished farmer. Then, he warned, “Military troops, an endless amount. Seems like we have to fend for our lives again. Haiz, it was so hard to settle down. Why must we face such a situation?"
“Let's just leave matters of war for the lord to worry. Do you think he can win?"
"You're a woman, so what do you know. The little kid from the neighbouring house went to war for the lord, but he didn't return. I heard that none of the people that joined the lord’s army returned." The farmer wasn't as optimistic as his wife.
"Then, what should we do?" said the wife, as she panicked.
"What can we do? Pack up our stuff and run!"
At 6 AM in the morning, a orange red sun slowly rose from the east, and the sleeping town slowly woke up.
At this moment, the Shanhai troops were only two kilometers from Tianfeng Town’s wall. When the patrolling troops saw a large force, they panicked and immediately sounded the alarm.
The resounding alarm broke the peaceful atmosphere and soldiers rushed out of the camps inside the city to the top of the city gate. A fast horse galloped on the streets of the little town, as the rider hollered, “Give way! Quick, make way!"
The rider stopped in front of the Lord's Manor. He didn't deal with his horse and just rushed into the manor. As he ran in, he shouted, Emergency military news! Emergency military news!"
Tianfeng Town lord Xiaofeng Canyue hurried into the meeting hall and asked, “What's the situation?"
"Sire, more than thousands of cavalries have appeared outside of the town, and they don’t look friendly!"
"What? Can you repeat what you just said?" Xiaofeng Canyue was so afraid that he dropped the tea cup in his hand, and it fell to the ground.
The rider didn't dare tarry and described the entire situation.
Xiaofeng Canyue sat on the chair, depressed, It was like he had lost his soul, as he muttered, "Qiyue Wuyi, I didn't expect you to be so ruthless, to actually chase all the way here."
"Sire, what should be do?"
Xiaofeng Canyue froze. When he regained his composure, he said, “Order the troops on the walls to defend. They are cavalry, so they aren't good at sieging. We still have a chance."
"Yes, sire!"
After the rider backed away, XiaofengCanyue couldn't remain calm anymore. He was very clear that the 300 Guards he had put together wouldn't be able to defend the wall.
He opened the alliance channel and contacted the last remaining ally of the Sky Blade Alliance, Ba Dao, “Brother Dao, Qiyue Wuyi is a devil. He has already attacked here, so I hope you can send some troops to help me."
Ba Dao freaked out. His first reaction wasn't to send help to Tianfeng Town. Instead, he ordered troops to patrol and check if there were any Shanhai troops around his territory.
"Brother Xiaofeng, it's not like you don't know. The main forces of Broken Blade Town were destroyed. I want to help, but I can't." What a joke, Ba Dao definitely would not help at such a time.
Ba Dao’s attitude infuriated Xiaofeng Canyue, and he ruthlessly said, “Brother Dao, if the lips die, the teeth will feel cold. Such a theory, you don't need me to explain it to you, right? Qiyue Wuyi has already killed Heise Pifeng and the rest. Now, we can only rely on one another. If you don't help me, Shanhai City’s next opponent will be Brother Dao."
Ba Dao obviously understood this theory. However, everyone had their own troubles. He gritted his teeth and said, “Brother Xiaofeng, don't panic. Once I confirm that there aren't any Shanhai City troops here, I will immediately assist you. How about that?"
Xiaofeng Canyue knew that this was the best that he could get. “I'll wait for you," as he said that, he closed the alliance channel to get ready for battle.
Xiaofeng Canyue knew that the city wall would definitely not hold. To not get conquered, he could only defend the Lord's Manor and buy time for Ba Dao's troops to arrive.