Smoke obscured the vision of both sides, but the smoke was also released by the ard warlord, and it wasn't very substantial, lacking deterrent power. The warlord's n continued their charge, attempting to seize the mountain top in one fell swoop. But, as the smoke stung their eyes and they had to close them when passing through it, by the ti they guessed they'd cleared the smoke and opened their eyes, what greeted them was indeed precision shooting. A re thirty ters away, at this distance, there was no difficulty for the Special Forces.
The black smoke's tactical effect was good, and the second squad didn't wait for Luo Zheng's orders to continue setting fires. The large amount of firewood previously set ablaze had been completely used up, but to great effect. Thirty ters beca a line of death. Any enemy who rushed to this point was precisely shot and killed, with headshots one after another, and not a single one spared.
The militants realized this too, and instead of charging to their deaths, they preferred to avoid the sharp edge, retreating under the command of their leader, intending to wait until the black smoke had cleared before making a move. Turul looked at the spreading black smoke with a cold expression on his face. Balang ca over and said in a low voice, "Father, I've already checked. The south side has a cliff that's difficult to climb. The north side has a steep slope we can take. But the cost of attacking from below is too great. We can feint an attack to draw their forces while concentrating our main attack in this sloped area."
"What about the east side?" Turul asked with a gloomy face.
"The east side? It will take more than an hour to scout it out. I was worried that you would be in a hurry, so I ca to report first. I'll imdiately take n to check it," Balang hurriedly said.
"No need," Turul coldly said, his half-closed triangular eyes emitting a chill.
"Why?" Balang asked in surprise.
"Ever heard of 'encircle three and miss one'? Without a way out, these people will fight desperately. Although we can win, it would be a costly victory. Our strength would be damaged. What would we do later? Surround this place; let's see how long they can hold out. The mont they retreat, we attack. Without a defensible position, they're dead for sure," Turul said coldly.
"Father is brilliant," Balang said with full admiration, his eyes darting around, seemingly deep in thought.
Turul coldly watched the slope, but his heart was growing anxious. The recent battle in the gorge had spooked him with Luo Zheng and his n's ferocious tactics. Three n, in just minutes, had brought down more than thirty with lee weapons alone. There seed to be quite a few people on the slope, and if they really fought desperately, how great would his losses be? In his hesitation and concern, Turul lost the decisiveness that a hegemon should possess.
Balang wanted to remind his father that the enemy might have divided their forces, that their current stance was to delay ti; otherwise, there was no need for such a battle strategy. But with uncertainty in his heart and fearing the consequences of a wrong guess, he couldn't bear that responsibility.
After all, they were a group of bandits forming a warlord's force – ruthless, skilled in combat, fearless of death, yet lacking in vision and scope.
Unaware of Turul and his son's worries and thoughts, Luo Zheng breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the enemy withdraw. That was close, he thought. If Turul had been a bit more decisive, more flexible in tactics, and attacked regardless of consequences, they could have broken the defense line in no more than five minutes.
However, there are no ifs on the battlefield. Luo Zheng watched the dwindling fires as the thick smoke started to disperse, his tiger-like eyes sharpened, and he quickly said, "Quick, have people find flammable materials to pile up at the first line of trenches, and pull the troops back to the second line."
"Understood," the scholar imdiately issued the command.
The first and second trench lines were about twenty ters apart. Since Turul wasn't attacking, Luo Zheng wasn't going to be polite. He seized the ti to fortify defenses. The first squad continued to stand guard, the second squad was responsible for finding flammable materials, and the third squad, consisting of snipers, also went to help look for flammables.
There was no shortage of flammable materials nearby: dry wood, hay, dead leaves, and so on, all of which could be piled up and burned. After waiting for a while, Luo Zheng noticed that Turul still hadn't attacked and couldn't help but feel surprised. Could it be that Turul had decided to give up this place and go after Lan Xue and the others? At this thought, Luo Zheng quickly sent the scholar to scout.
Seeing that everyone was busy, the scholar ran to a large tree, quickly climbed up to the crown to take a look, and saw several ard militants gathered in front, with even more militants converging from other places. His face darkened, he hurried down and reported the situation to Luo Zheng.
When Luo Zheng heard that Turul hadn't run and that even more people were gathering, he actually smiled, and the worry in his eyes vanished. As long as Lan Xue and the others were safe, it would be easy to retreat in this vast forest. Confident in this, Luo Zheng saw everyone busily preparing and, after a mont of thought, said, "Scholar, do you think the enemy might be waiting to attack at night?"
"It's not impossible. Once it gets dark, no one can see clearly. If they attack then, we'll have nowhere to retreat—we can only fight to the death," the scholar said with a grave expression.
"Hmm," Luo Zheng humd noncommittally, continuing his thoughts. After a while, Luo Zheng suddenly said, "The enemy's attack will definitely be only one. It won't be easy to hold them off, and we must be prepared to withdraw. Heading east definitely won't work, as the road there, though easy to navigate, will lead the enemy towards our already retreated troops. We will head south, across the cliff."
"That's a good idea. I'll go and make arrangents now. Have everyone take out their ropes and get ready to retreat," the scholar said to Luo Zheng in a low voice.
"Go ahead," Luo Zheng agreed, finding it sensible. The scholar hurried off. On a mission, special combat ropes were essential supplies. Luo Zheng found two people to help gather everyone's ropes, tied them together, and then tossed them down the cliff. Soone went down first using the rope to check and discovered that there was actually a river at the bottom of the cliff.
The river wasn't wide, chest-deep. The one responsible for checking climbed back up the rope and reported the situation to the scholar, who then relayed it to Luo Zheng. Luo Zheng thought about it but didn't change his mind, instructing the scholar to get ready. The scholar agreed, connecting all the ropes together, tying one end to a boulder and throwing the other end down. In total, there were three ropes.
Three ropes might be too few, but that was all they could muster from everyone's ropes combined. Op hearing this, Luo Zheng's expression grew serious. Three ropes ant that only three people could descend at a ti. After thinking it over, he said, "Let's go with that for now. We'll adapt as the situation develops."
"Okay," the scholar responded. Suddenly, he covered his earpiece to listen more intently. His eyebrows furrowed, and Luo Zheng, startled, knew sothing was wrong. Looking at the scholar, after a mont, the scholar hastily said, "News from the first-line defense. The enemy has started their attack."
"Oh?" Luo Zheng said, sowhat regretfully. The preparation ti wasn't sufficient. It would have been better if the enemy had attacked an hour later. With his face steely, Luo Zheng rushed over. Seeing the movent in the woods ahead, his face turned cold as he ordered, "Prepare for battle."
"Yes," the scholar shouted loudly, "Brothers, prepare for battle."
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