A Leisurely Stroll (Thanks to Silver Alliance Leader Yufazhe)

Black Graupel False Shadows deployed scouts and flying mages on patrol. Even if the enemy managed to leave under the cover of night, they would not be able to escape detection.

"We were fooled from the start." Jimite belatedly realized what had happened. "The train at Red Fruit Slope was fake. The False Shadow Corps' scouts had already turned it over before they even arrived at Red Fruit Slope!"

Katharine, skilled in illusion, makes creating a deceptive fake train her specialty! The defensive arrays set up around it aren't for garrison duty, but rather to keep scouts away and prevent the disguise from being exposed.

"But the timing doesn't match!" the adjutant said.

Constructing a fake White Bone Train, disguising it, and setting up protective magic arrays—this series of actions will definitely take a considerable amount of time. After the White Bone Train crosses the mountain, the tire tracks within a certain area also need to be cleared away. All of this combined will take far more than three hours to complete.

"It took more than twenty hours." Jimite's expression turned bitter. "They arrived at Red Fruit Slope a day earlier than we expected. Katharine and Bone King, they truly live up to their reputation!"

****

Thirty minutes ago, the White Bone Train sped along the ancient riverbed.

The forward-deployed drone spotted a moving convoy of about three thousand people, mixed together with transport sleds, arranged in a longitudinal line along the river for more than a kilometer.

Compared to the surrounding area, the ancient riverbed, eroded by the river, has a much flatter terrain. The Youth Civilization likes this easy-to-traverse path, as do the noble troops.

"It's the vanguard of the noble army," Su Ming said to Zijin in the driver's cab of the steam locomotive.

"Gotcha!" Zijin was very happy, and the two gave each other a high five.

In Turkmen City, when Su Ming used a drone to survey the White Graupel Cavalry camp, he conducted a SAR synthetic aperture radar scan at the very end.

Although covered by camouflage netting and tarpaulins, the microwaves still penetrated relentlessly. After computer-generated composite images were created, it became clear that there were many large-caliber artillery pieces underneath.

Intelligence suggests that the White Graupel Cavalry, as a mobile field force, were not equipped with this weapon, but the fact remains. If the enemy were to deploy defenses, combined with roadblocks and other means, they would be extremely difficult to deal with.

So since neither option is easy to win, it's better to choose the direction that can best solve the problem. This was Su Ming's tactical consideration in making the decision.

As a local noble army, the vast ice plains are their home turf, and they are the most troublesome force. Eliminating these local tyrants, and even taking down that sinister Chairman Jimite, would directly resolve this problem! This is a strategic consideration.

But the real reason is that none of the three are benevolent, and they have no disagreement on choosing to confront each other head-on!

They picked the one with the most people to fight!

As for tactical disadvantages, that's not a problem. With a little creativity, advantages and disadvantages can be turned around.

Just as Jimite realized, the Youth Civilization had already arrived at Red Fruit Slope on the 21st. After Su Ming and his group calmly completed the train preparation and new weapon testing, they set up a magic array on the spot, allowing Katharine to disguise a train that looked exactly the same.

Beneath its incredibly realistic exterior lies nothing but ice and snow inside.

As night fell, the Youth Civilization crossed the Middle Ridge Mountain Range along Red Fruit Slope and spent the entire night carefully erasing the tire tracks within a 20-kilometer radius. When they parted at dawn, only Katharine and the Unicorn remained, leading a dozen or so zombies in a show of force to entertain the Black Graupel False Shadows Reconnaissance Team that would catch up the next day.

This camouflage successfully deceived Jimite, and the chairman indeed moved the troops in this direction. The coordinating army, which was originally stationed in Returning Bird Bay and formed a solid defensive line, actively dispersed and became a mop of fish, disengaged from their positions and moving in a long, serpentine line.

****

The key starting point for the entire plan was Jimite's understanding of the Youth Civilization train's speed, which was 25% lower than the actual data.

This incident dates back to four days earlier, to the late night when the group had just shaken off their pursuers and begun their escape. The Youth Civilization had left the ice and its speed had dropped to 22 kilometers per hour.

"We should continue to slow down," Katharine said to Su Ming. "Please reduce the speed to sixteen kilometers per hour and maintain this until noon tomorrow."

Su Ming was very puzzled. By deliberately slowing down, he was obviously giving the enemy more time to surround and trap him.

Why? Shouldn't we hurry up and escape?

"From now until tomorrow morning, we'll be overtaken by the enemy for reconnaissance," Katharine explained to him. "We can't let them know our true speed; that's tactical discipline."

Su Ming disagreed with this logic. "Your line of thinking is wrong. If we maintain full speed, even flying mages won't be able to catch up with us after four hours."

Four hours later, it was still dark, so the chances of being found by the enemy during this time were almost zero. On the contrary, following Katharine's request, which would give the enemy fifty kilometers of pursuit distance, would lead to being detected in the morning.

"That's actually the real purpose," Katharine said. "Su Ming, you've been blinded by technological advantages. War isn't like the turning of mechanical gears; speed isn't an absolute number."

On the steam locomotive ahead, the water level in the tank dropped. Gospel pulled the water injector, and a large plume of white steam escaped from the bottom of the locomotive. The hissing sound echoed through the night.

The former High Priest of the Tribunal earnestly advised Su Ming, "True speed is being faster than the enemy perceives it!"

At the time, Su Ming didn't understand Katharine's words, but decided to follow the professional's instructions. Looking back now, the misleading and deceptive actions he took at the time caused the enemy to miscalculate the Youth Civilization's maneuverability, thus creating a time blind spot for this deception plan!

****

Youth Civilization.

The vanguard of the noble army had two sentry units positioned ten kilometers ahead of the marching column. However, their tracks were clearly visible from the aerial view of the drone.

Hansite stopped the train out of sight, with Younier beside him, anxiously holding the Tuanzi.

"So many people," she murmured, looking at the screen.

"Don't worry," Hansite reassured her. "An enemy on the march is easy to deal with given our careful planning."

Su Ming was fully dressed and had his weapons on. On the other side, Zijin was also ready.

"Do you prefer the left or the right?" Su Ming asked.

"Odd number," Zijin replied.

Su Ming counted; there were eight members in each of the sentry squads on the left and right.

"So, do you prefer a more spread-out formation or a more dense formation?"

"The one in black."

You don't even need to look at the screen; the troops in the snow are all predominantly dressed in white!

Younier couldn't help but laugh out loud, which eased her tension considerably.

Su Ming said helplessly, "Please go first, Your Majesty!"

Zijin went out first, choosing a group that was a little further away, while Su Ming flew towards the remaining group.

[How can I prevent the other party from sending an alert?] Su Ming asked via message.

These soldiers are all Low Rank, while the captain might be Intermediate Rank; they are not difficult to deal with.

[It's simple. Just watch out for the flare guns they carry. Shoot whoever tries to fire the signal.] Zijin said. [Most smart people would run away first; they wouldn't risk their lives like this.]

"If we crush them, they'll surrender, right?" Su Ming asked. "So how do we take in the prisoners? We don't have time to waste."

"[Surrender?]" Zijin asked, somewhat surprised. She thought for a moment before realizing, "[In a scene where no one is to be left alive, no one would surrender.]"

[... How could this be?] Su Ming couldn't understand.

That's it.

Su Ming activated the Refraction Necklace, approached from the side to a certain distance, then put on the Forbidden Magic Cloak and squatted in the snow to wait, quietly playing the sixth man for a while—he was familiar with this kind of thing.

The sentry squad had methods to detect magical fluctuations, but the anti-magic cloak was clearly a high-level item. The eight-person squad passed by Su Ming without noticing until Su Ming suddenly threw off the cloak and attacked, at which point they realized something was wrong.

After killing two people unexpectedly, the remaining sentries scattered and fled.

With his whip unfurled, Su Ming activated his acceleration and swiftness magic, quickly ending the battle.

During the entire process, not a single person surrendered. Su Ming couldn't understand it; were these soldiers' fighting spirits so unwavering?

He put away the thorn whip. The cold wind howled in the empty snowfield, and his eyes were monotonous and vast. Suddenly, a sense of loneliness came over him.

If it weren't for the corpses and splattered blood all around, the scene would have been more poetic.

****

Zijin, seated sideways, flew to Su Ming's side with her staff. "Continue forward?"

"Certainly!"

Zijin reached out her hand to Su Ming. The latter used the force to leap onto the staff, but almost fell off because he lost his balance. He had to grab the girl's waist.

"How can you sit on such a thin staff?" Su Ming asked, puzzled. Even while holding onto the girl, he still found it difficult to maintain his balance.

Instead, it was the Zijin that was affected by him, flying unsteadily.

"Just practice more," Zijin replied. "It's the same principle as riding a bicycle on Earth. Hold on tight, and stop shaking me!"

The scholar didn't fly too fast, after all, the distance wasn't far. A few minutes later, the two arrived at the top of a small hill.

Su Ming and Zijin jumped off their staffs and stood on the ridgeline, looking down at the ranks of the noble army below the hillside.

They were spotted by the people on the other side as well.

Encountering people on the snowy plains is not unusual; what is unusual is that they were not driven away by the sentries. The officer alertly signaled the front rank to stop and ordered the soldiers behind to step forward and begin to line up.

A monk flew out to inquire, but as soon as he reached the middle, he realized that the two were not good people and turned around in fear to run away.

Zijin sliced him in two with a single wind blade.

"Don't use too much Magic Power," Su Ming said. "Your body hasn't fully recovered yet."

"Light exercise is helpful for rehabilitation," Zijin replied.

Seeing that the attackers were hostile, the vanguard commander immediately ordered an attack. The hundred-man squad, already lined up, drew their weapons and pressed up the hillside. A dozen or so mages also assembled and followed behind the squad.

They cast spells one after another, unleashing colorful defensive magic, some on the soldiers, others on the mages themselves. Several dedicated defensive mages also jointly cast a medium-sized barrier to protect the mage squad.

Behind them, another team of archers assembled, hurriedly nocked their bows, and formed a firing square. Under the officer's command, they stepped forward and began a volley of shots.

The mage team also coordinated by unleashing various spells, instantly enlivening the scene. Black crossbow bolts and colorful magic orbs adorned the pristine snowfield with vibrant hues.

Su Ming and Zijin stood still, snowflakes swirling behind them. The towering figure of the White Bone Train suddenly appeared. It leaped over the ridge, bursting out from between the two, meeting the incoming rain of arrows and spells head-on. A dark shield glowed on the train, shattering all the attacks, and ripples of Magic Power surged back and forth.

With the upgrade of the White Bone Mark, the Youth Civilization can now withstand these numerous but weak attacks.

Zijin straightened the hem of her clothes and knelt on the snow. She spread her legs outward, placed her buttocks between her heels, adjusted herself into a comfortable position, and supported her head with her hands on her thighs.

"Go for it, Su Ming!"

Su Ming was impressed by the girl's resilience. He raised his hand and unfolded the White Bone Mark, and a star map and comet trajectory appeared around Su Ming. The fourth to sixth carriages of the Youth Civilization changed shape, revealing the fire extinguishing grenade launchers on the top.

He pulled a tablet from the bag at his waist, ripped off his gloves with his teeth, and began activating the weapons station—no, the fire station. The cameras on the roof of the carriage lit up and began identifying infrared targets in the surrounding area, the tracking list rapidly increasing from dozens to hundreds.

The multi-line laser radar is activated, and the automatic system completes modeling and positioning, and plans the predicted trajectory.

This is a "civilian" software that Su Ming commissioned from Millet Studio. It consists of an intelligent graphic recognition system and a fire extinguishing bomb trajectory prediction system, both of which are directly modified from existing systems.

On the tablet's hardware management interface, the gas cylinder pressure is 80 MPa, the filling equipment is normal, the ammunition supply system is normal, and the rotation and pitch system is normal.

Su Ming set the target to [Humanoid], the fire extinguishing mode to [Automatic], and pressed the "Extinguish" button.

All three projectile launchers were activated simultaneously, and cone-shaped shaped charges were hurled at the crowd. The distance was too close, and the speed of 120 meters per second left the soldiers no time to dodge.

The bomb exploded upon contact with the soldier's armor, its power seemingly not very great. One soldier, hit, felt a numbness in his body. He looked down and saw a tiny hole in his abdominal armor.

However, on his back, the corresponding armor had developed fist-sized bulges and deformations. The soldier tried to check, but found that his body was becoming unresponsive and his strength was constantly waning.

He collapsed onto the snow, blood seeping from the gaps in his armor, spreading a short distance across the snow before quickly freezing.

A corpsman used his shield to block a bomb, only to find that the shield was pierced through, leaving a wide, gushing hole in his chest. Blood gushed out, and he tried to press it down but couldn't, collapsing weakly shortly afterward.

This vanguard of a hundred men was completely wiped out in just a few seconds. Most of the soldiers didn't even have time to start running away before they were inexplicably hit and killed on this asymmetrical battlefield.

Hollow cone-shaped explosive charges are widely used in RPGs and anti-tank missiles on Earth. Using them to open these tin cans in another world is definitely a waste of their potential.