Black Pine Territory (9)

Inside the Black Forest, Arman and the Night Owls were also keeping an eye on Santos's forces' camp.

Arman carefully examined the camp before him; its layout was fairly standard.

Perhaps because it was just starting construction, the camp lacked protective facilities. However, the location of the camp was excellent, situated on a gentle earthen slope. The earthen slopes at the edge of the camp had been trimmed, with a steep incline of nearly 70 or 80 degrees, turning the camp into a platform about two meters above the ground, which could provide some defense.

The camp facing the Black Forest had several ramps for pedestrians, all of which were equipped with watchtowers. Wooden deer antlers were also placed under the watchtowers, which seemed quite reasonable and could effectively prevent Cavalry charges.

However, in Arman's view, such rudimentary defensive facilities could not stop his infantry battalion at all. His Black Forest infantry were all lightly armed and skilled at climbing, so even a repaired earthen slope was no different from flat ground for them.

There were indeed quite a few patrols throughout the camp, but compared to the entire camp, there were still many loopholes, and there were also blind spots under the watchtower.

Arman observed for a full ten minutes, his mind in turmoil.

Several night owls were also by his side. Looking at the Battalion Commander's back, everyone wondered if he had simply fallen asleep and hadn't moved for so long.

Suddenly, Arman turned to the group and said, "Please pass on my orders to each squad to prepare for an attack. Once inside the camp, all you need to do is create chaos and set fires. After five minutes, withdraw immediately. Do not linger in the fight. If the attack is thwarted, withdraw immediately as well."

"No problem, Captain Alman, but we won't participate in the attack. We will only fight in the Black Forest. At most, we will provide support for you in the Black Forest. You know the rules," replied a Night Owl who was probably the leader.

"Of course, I know the rules, so I'm counting on you."

After saying that, the owls retreated and disappeared into the Black Forest in the blink of an eye.

Although the Night Owl Platoon is nominally under his infantry battalion, the actual command has always been in the hands of Viscount Perez. This time, they are also cooperating with Arman's troops to provide Arman with reconnaissance intelligence.

Since its inception, the Night Owl Platoon has been the elite force of Black Pine Forest, operating year-round in the Black Pine Territory Black Forest to scout out the situation in the surrounding Black Forest for Black Pine Territory. They are far more adapted to forest warfare than ordinary Black Forest infantry.

Every soldier in Night Owl must be able to survive in the Black Forest for a month on their own without any weapons or supplies.

Because of this demanding requirement, although the Night Owls are nominally a small team, their actual number has never exceeded 50. This elite force is directly under the control of Viscount Perez, and even Markut has no right to interfere.

The mission Viscount Perez assigned them was to provide intelligence for the Arman Brigade and help them scout the situation of the Two Rivers Territory army. Once they completed this mission, they could withdraw.

The fact that this minor leader of the Night Owls offered to provide support for Arman's troops was already a significant concession.

Soon, Arman's troops poured out from the depths of the forest, and several Squad Leader arrived at Arman's location.

Arman pointed to the camp and said to them, "These are the same areas that the patrols go through repeatedly. There's only one patrol every 30 minutes. They're also in the blind spots of the watchtower. You can enter their camp from here later. Remember not to get too involved in the fighting."

"Clear."

Moments later, the soldiers of the Black Forest Infantry Battalion launched an assault on the camp, taking advantage of the shade of the Black Forest and the blind spots of the moonlight.

Arman stood still, watching the shadows stretch forward to the troops. He kept a close eye on the several watchtowers in the camp, ready to signal the troops to turn back if there was any unusual activity in them.

His soldiers advanced all the way to the edge of the camp, but the watchtower did not react at all.

Arman breathed a sigh of relief; his anxiety had lessened considerably, and the night raid was more than halfway to success.

The soldiers began to climb. Some formed human ladders for each other, while others climbed directly up the steep slope. Within a minute, a third of the troops had reached the platform.

Just as Arman was silently applauding the soldiers' performance, he suddenly noticed a large fire burning brightly at the edge of the camp.

A wall of fire blocked his men's attack route and illuminated the edge of the camp.

"Damn it, this is a trap." Arman realized instantly that his plan had failed and his troops had been discovered.

He hurriedly began issuing retreat orders, and just then he discovered a troop inside the camp. Strangely, they were pushing a handcart in groups of three or four.

All that could be heard was, "All units, fixed positions, bowstrings in place, one load, ready, fire!"

They saw countless arrows being fired from the handcarts, especially the soldiers at the front. The dense rain of arrows in front of them was like a wall, and they couldn't dodge it at all. They felt themselves being hit by several arrows and fell to the ground unconscious.

Meanwhile, the following troops, as well as those on Arman's side, heard only "bang bang bang" sounds followed by continuous screams, with soldiers in the front ranks falling to the ground like harvested straw.

All the Black Pine Territory soldiers at the front were stunned by the sudden rain of arrows. They tried to dodge, but the arrows were too dense. Some of them used their shields or the corpses of their comrades to survive one volley, but the rain of arrows continued and they were eventually shot down by the arrows.

Soon, the soldiers of Black Pine Territory realized that they had no way to launch a counterattack, and they lost their will to fight, turning around and running towards the forest.

This reckless retreat turned into a complete disaster. Especially at the edge of the camp, where there was a drop of more than two meters, many Black Forest infantrymen jumped off the high platform. Before they could even stand up, they were trampled by their comrades who came one after another. Many of them did not die from the enemy's weapons, but from the feet of their comrades.

Arman was speechless at the sight of the carnage. He couldn't understand how there could be such a dense rain of arrows. Could it be that a large battalion of crossbowmen had ambushed him in the Two Rivers Territory camp and had received intelligence that he would lead his troops in a night raid?

"Yes, that must be it. Someone under Lord Macut must have betrayed the information about the territory."

Arman has lost the ability to think; he is merely paranoid in seeking a seemingly reasonable excuse for his failure.

He turned and ran into the Black Forest, with no intention of gathering his troops. He was thinking of returning to his territory as soon as possible to report to Viscount Perez and order the execution of all of Lord Macut's men, otherwise the territory's intelligence would continue to be leaked.

The night owls watched Captain Alman run away, then looked at their leader, unsure of what to do.

The Night Owl leader gritted his teeth. "Never mind, saving lives is the priority. The enemy on the other side hasn't caught up yet. Let's help the retreating troops restore order first."