The White Graupel Cavalry Advances
Then, intelligence personnel provided detailed military intelligence: along the line from Turkmen City to Red Fruit Slope, a force remarkably similar to the White Graupel Cavalry was sighted.
Dafulin rubbed her temples. She was exhausted from five days of continuous travel, and she wasn't good at military matters.
To be honest, she didn't manage much of the political affairs either. Dafulin was Great Scholar and was in charge of the kingdom's mining. In recent years, she had been mainly busy with the Green Bridge Hanging River Project and had no time for anything else. It was only when the governor of Bubing Province went to the capital of the Cold Mountain Kingdom to report on his duties at the end of the year that she was temporarily appointed to take over.
After all, she is a member of the royal family, and her status allows her to maintain composure in all aspects. It's just unexpected that winter, which should be a quiet time, would turn into such a turbulent season.
"Tell us your opinions," Dafulin said to the group.
This time, neither Price nor Emilio rushed to speak, but instead exchanged glances. Seeing this, the White Graupel Cavalry's intelligence officer consulted with his superiors and spoke first.
"A reconnaissance team has already gone to Red Fruit Slope to investigate, and we will have the latest news back tomorrow morning," he reported to his superior.
"Our current location is about a day's journey from Red Fruit Slope, and another day's journey back to Bubing City," Price explained, describing the current situation. "We're in a position where we can advance or retreat as needed. I plan to make preparations tomorrow morning, await the reconnaissance results, and then make a decision!"
This is why Price chose to position his troops in this location. It allows for timely intervention and evacuation should any situation arise.
Dafulin for a moment, then nodded, acknowledging the plan. Emilio didn't say much either; from a tactical perspective, the arrangement was perfectly acceptable.
Soldiers should be used boldly, but not indiscriminately.
Everyone was exhausted, Dafulin announced the meeting was adjourned for a break. Suddenly, Emilio's adjutant rushed in, holding a piece of paper and looking at Emilio for instructions. The latter waved his hand, indicating that he should report directly.
"There is reliable information that Scholar Li was discovered in Peacock Gully, arriving aboard a giant White Bone Train."
The group of people were immediately shocked.
"Why is Scholar Li back?!" Dafulin's headache worsened. "And is Katharine's matter related to her?"
According to recent news, the Chestnut Crow Scholar and the traitorous saintess Ailisha from the Temple of Light are actually the same person, suggesting that Liya used some kind of special Polymorph.
Considering the long-standing grudge between Lijuan and Katharine, especially the fact that Katharine nearly blew Li Juan to pieces at sea, it's highly possible that Liya, with her vengeful nature, would have chased after Katharine ashore specifically to cause trouble.
Everyone agreed with this hypothesis.
Price began to examine the map; he had personally overseen the pursuit of Chestnut a year ago.
"Perhaps she's looking for something," Price deduced. "After our battle with them in Hard Rock Canyon, Galio hastily left with the White Bone Fortress, so he should have left behind quite a few things."
Afterwards, not only them, but also many adventurers searched diligently, but all to no avail. As a result, a remote village nearby saw a surge in visitors and prospered for a short period.
Back then, Bone Dragon Chestnut fled with the help of wolves and foxes. But now that she has returned, no one is foolish enough to think that she can still be controlled in the same way. In particular, her appearance must mean that the new ruler, the mysterious Bone King, is also with her.
The fate of the multinational naval forces was still fresh in everyone's mind, and no one present dared to underestimate them.
"Those people who came here are probably people, and they're looking for something," Emilio said. He then asked his adjutant, "You said the information is reliable, but what's the source?"
"It was provided by our informant within the Lords' Alliance Army," the adjutant replied. "Jimite began his emergency mobilization the day before yesterday, heading this way."
"What are they doing here?" Emilio frowned. "Katharine is missing, and we're the ones who're worried. With Chestnut's attack, after we deal with Katharine, Price will be next."
Price glared at him. But given Chestnut's personality, it was indeed possible.
After discussion, the final decision was to immediately send an elite team to Peacock Gully for investigation, while the rest of the team took the time to rest.
After the meeting ended and everyone dispersed, Dafulin was finally able to sleep in her bed after several days.
****
At 4:30 a. m., Su Ming was woken up by his alarm clock. He got up and went to the motorcycle cab, calculating his current position based on the gyroscope data and the surrounding terrain.
Hansite also got up from the recliner. "Mr. Sue, everything went smoothly this morning. We're almost at the predicted location."
With the Youth Civilization having already routed the third echelon of the noble army, there was no point in the second echelon continuing its march towards Returning Bird Bay. However, Su Ming could not accurately deduce Jimite's specific arrangements, and the enemy's current possible location range was quite large.
Half an hour later, the Youth Civilization passed the critical point. This was the furthest distance the second echelon could reach in the simulation. Su Ming dispatched a drone to scout ahead.
The second echelon carried limited combat supplies and could not conduct large-scale concealment like the third echelon's heavy infantry and artillery echelons. Small-scale concealment was possible, but Jimite lacked artillery and weapons, so launching an ambush would pose a limited threat.
The first drone failed to locate the target. After Su Ming retrieved it, he dispatched two more drones, one to the left and one to the right, to conduct reconnaissance.
At six o'clock in the morning, Su Ming finally discovered the tracks in the snow. The marching tracks abruptly turned ninety degrees here, leaving the flat road and heading towards the undulating area on the side.
Su Ming deduced that Jimite had led the second echelon to this point, received news of the third echelon's defeat, and thus led his troops away from the main road to avoid the possibility of being attacked by the Youth Civilization.
Su Ming ordered the Youth Civilization to slow down and dispatched drones to pursue from the side. Along the way, traces of a large number of people marching in disarray could be seen, with much of their load being constantly abandoned.
Half an hour later, as dawn broke, the drone finally located the enemy. The second echelon reached a point 15 kilometers to the left of the Youth Civilization's marching axis and set up camp. These tents were scattered throughout a large forest, scattered haphazardly, without any order or semblance of what one would expect in combat.
After the drone conducted a SAR scan, it returned with the data. The results were analyzed by the terminal and confirmed that it was indeed an enemy camp. The penetration data showed that there were a large number of people inside the tents, and it was not a decoy.
With the enemy's movements discovered, Su Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
Zijin woke up and appeared in the locomotive's cab. A new drone had returned to the scene, sending back live footage.
"Is Jimite going to run away?" Zijin asked.
"It should be," Su Ming replied. "The tents are full of real people; I counted, and there are roughly two thousand people."
"Can it be attacked?" Zijin asked. "I really want to have a good talk with Jimite about Master Newman."
Su Ming shook his head. "The terrain they chose isn't good; it's not suitable for the train to get close. The rocket artillery range is sufficient, but the enemy camps are too scattered, making the attack ineffective."
Jimite was clearly aware of what had happened at Returning Bird Bay. The camp was scattered horribly and relied on various obstacles, making it difficult to bomb a whole area at once.
Food and other supplies were scattered here and there, in a disorganized manner.
Su Ming calculated that a long-range strike of 15 kilometers would mean that most of the rocket's propellant would be consumed. This would mean that the explosion would rely mainly on the warhead's gunpowder for detonation upon impact, significantly reducing its lethality.
A warning flare suddenly rose, and the enemy sentries spotted the Youth Civilization. Through frequent contact over the past two days, the enemy had also figured out some of their patterns and characteristics, enabling them to conduct reconnaissance and early warning.
"What an annoying opponent," Zijin complained.
In the drone's view, the second echelon's camp began an emergency assembly. Everyone was awakened by whistles, the camp was Illumination, and officers pulled the soldiers out of the camp, urging them to dress and line up.
Considering that the opposing side had a considerable number of mages, Su Ming chose to withdraw the drone.
The structural parts of the drones were replaced with skeletons, and the proportion of raw materials was small. Losing ordinary drones wouldn't matter much. But the drones being sent out now were reconnaissance models equipped with advanced chips, and Su Ming couldn't bear to waste them.
Due to the scarcity of rare metals, Su Ming tries to choose chips manufactured using mature processes when it comes to electronic products. However, some applications require higher performance chips, especially power components for communication modules and radar, which are unavoidable.
****
"Leave quickly," Su Ming commanded.
Since the decision was made not to fire, the Youth Civilization should proceed. The train quickly started moving, and Gospel continuously increased the steam valve and adjusted the cylinder's working stroke and frequency.
We are currently on a downhill slope at 30 per thousand, Youth Civilization, operating at full speed, will soon reach a speed of nearly 30 kilometers per hour.
The Gospel even started singing happily, "Beautiful mountains, beautiful waters, beautiful place~, every road is wide~". Its voice was so loud that it even traveled from the second locomotive to the front, and the roar of the steam engine couldn't drown it out.
"He is indeed a promising talent who can synergize well with sound-based spells," Su Ming said.
"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Hansite agreed.
In just half an hour, the Youth Civilization had covered more than ten kilometers. Ahead, the road began to narrow gradually due to the terrain.
"Slow down, watch out for landmines," Su Ming commanded.
The train is currently on a path that is several kilometers wide enough for trains to pass, and there are multiple routes to choose from. The second echelon did not carry any special mines and could not effectively block such a wide road. Su Ming also deliberately made sure that Gospel did not follow the tracks left by the previous trains.
But once the road narrows, it will be necessary to send out skeleton soldiers to scout ahead.
Gospel obeyed the command to reduce speed. There was a raised snowdrift on the left in front of the radar. Gospel veered slightly to the right and chose the optimized curved route.
The next moment, a flash of light appeared, followed by a deafening explosion, and orange-red flames instantly engulfed the leading No. 2 steam locomotive.
The entire locomotive was struck as if by Giant Hammer, its wheels shattering into countless twisted metal fragments and bone debris. Within the expanding fireball, a massive shockwave lifted the nearly 100-ton locomotive, emitting a teeth-grinding cracking sound.
The train's own Nether Shield was activated, blocking most of the impact. Zijin also unleashed her full power, blocking the shockwave to protect Su Ming and Hansite beside her. Then, she picked them up, one in each hand, and flew them out of the driver's cab.
The front of the car slammed heavily back into the ground, its metal frame embedded deep in the soil, leaving large black marks on the ground, and it leaned to one side.
****
The superhuman reaction speed of the Gospel saved everything. The moment the explosion and flames appeared, it disconnected from the lead locomotive and pulled all the brakes. When the lead locomotive was blown away, it even maneuvered the following parts of the Youth Civilization to make an evasive maneuver, watching the lead locomotive roll on the ground and veer to the left.
The rolling locomotive hadn't even stopped when another loud bang was heard. The boiler cracked open, and a large plume of white steam suddenly spread across the snowfield.
A huge white mushroom cloud was formed. After cooling, it slowly fell and crystallized.
Zijin lifted the two of them and landed in front of the wrecked motorcycle amidst falling ice crystals. Beside her, the remaining parts of the Youth Civilization, under the control of Gospel, kicked up two rows of snowflakes and came to an abrupt stop.
Su Ming coughed a few times before looking at the destroyed front of the vehicle. Although it was protected by a shield, the main structure still had a lot of twisting and cracks, and residual steam was gushing out with a shriek.
"It can't be fixed in a short time," Su Ming quickly concluded.
Next came the analysis of the battlefield situation. The main force of the second echelon was at the encampment, so only small groups of enemies could ambush them. Su Ming immediately drew his Thorn Long Whip and, together with Zijin, floated into the air to search for the enemy.
"Hansite, get back on the train and try to restore mobility!"
"Okay!" The old man coughed a few times before agreeing. He wasn't injured; he had only been exposed to the cold wind when he was suddenly placed in a sub-zero temperature environment while wearing only a thin layer of clothing.
"Younier, are you online?" Su Ming asked.
A quick reply came through the earpiece, "Yes."
The massive explosion woke Younier from her sleep. She was carrying her Tuanzi and had already rushed from the living area to the motorcycle area.
"Check the equipment and make sure the power generation system is working properly!" Su Ming said.
"OK!"
The fact that the power generation system is functioning normally means that the weapons on the Youth Civilization can also be used normally, so there is nothing to fear in the current situation.
Zijin carefully searched the surrounding area but found no enemies within the search range.
"Even if we get hit, we won't attack. Is Jimite simply venting his anger?" she wondered, utterly perplexed. What if a group of spellcasters suddenly appeared and attacked us?
This is quite troublesome. Zijin will probably have to use her full strength in her Ailisha form.
Su Ming adjusted the drone's trajectory and continued to probe outwards. Skeleton warriors were dispatched from the containment vehicle and began clearing minefields in the surrounding area.
But nothing more was found.
Jimite only planted this one mine, and judging from the situation, he used all the explosives he had at his disposal.
"Why were we hit by such accurate bombing?" Zijin asked.
The road here is two kilometers wide, Youth Civilization is only 2.4 meters wide. The accuracy of the enemy's ambush was simply too high.
In the faint morning light, Su Ming looked back at the two tire tracks left by the Youth Civilization that stretched all the way to this spot from afar, and a sudden realization flashed through his mind.
"It was my oversight," he said. "The enemy has analyzed the driving habits of the Gospel."
This situation wouldn't normally occur, but since Gospel's artificial intelligence, it selects the best path and optimizes the driving route based on fixed weights. In certain terrains, it's easier for it to make fixed choices. Jimite utilized this to be able to carry out mine detonations so precisely over wide areas.
It must be said that the commander of the noble army is indeed quite capable. Jimite must have been carefully observing the wheel tracks along the way.
Su Ming also began to dislike this opponent, raising his vigilance to the highest level.
When facing such an enemy, a temporary victory does not mean we can be complacent!
****
Hansite and the Gospel completed the test; with only one steam locomotive remaining, the young civilization was still able to move forward downhill.
However, the speed was significantly reduced.
Younier reported that the power generation system was functioning normally and could be increased at any time to power the weapon systems.
With a weight lifted from his heart, Su Ming raised his hand and dismantled the skeletal parts of the motorcycle on the ground, the metal parts also crumbling to pieces.
"Disassemble them and load them into empty trucks," he instructed Hansite.
The skeleton servants and zombies busied themselves and quickly completed the transport.
The skeleton soldiers had already explored a large area of safe routes. Su Ming discussed it with Zijin and decided to let the Youth Civilization leave. Just as he was about to give the order, he saw a pure white snow eagle flying over.
The snow eagle was engraved with magic. As it approached, its eyes gleamed, and a human voice came from its beak, "Bone King, Chestnut, how have you been!"
[Jimite's voice.] Zijin transmitted.
"Who is it? Please state your name." Su Ming said calmly.
"I won't mention the names," Jimite said. "I accept my defeat wholeheartedly this time. It's a pity the credit will go to the White Graupel Cavalry of the Cold Mountain Kingdom."
But Su Ming Jimite ignored him and didn't respond.
"How far can this spell travel?" he asked Zijin.
[Normally, it's within a few kilometers.]
Su Ming took out his tablet, activated the drone's SAR pod, and began scanning the surrounding area.
Su Ming lowered the scanning accuracy of the SAR drone, allowing the data to be sent back to the control console on the train in real time for processing.
Su Ming's indifference embarrassed Jimite, who could only continue, "I'll take one last look at you before I leave. When the White Graupel Cavalry arrives, they won't be as easy to deal with as our noble army."
The surveillance drone suddenly issued a warning message. Su Ming quickly checked and found movement on his right.
Zijin used her binoculars with Eagle Eye and flew higher to observe. "There are many people, they are cavalry, and they are more than ten kilometers away!"
From Snow Eagle's direction came Jimite's loud laughter, "The White Graupel Cavalry have arrived! You'd better prepare to die!"
****
Four hours ago, at 3 a. m.
Price was suddenly awakened by the guards and learned that the team sent to Peacock Gully for reconnaissance had been ambushed and killed on the way! Except for the captain, who managed to break through the encirclement and escape, all the other twenty men were killed!
Price was struck dumb upon hearing the news; this was his most elite young man, and his heart was bleeding!
He rushed to the camp, where the scout captain, who had escaped, had fainted again. However, he had already left a message about the enemy: a squad of mages had surrounded them!
Emilio arrived shortly after.
"Damn it! All twenty of my men are gone!" Price roared.
"Calm down, let's analyze the situation first." The military situation was unpredictable, Emilio didn't waste time arguing with Price. "Her Highness is too tired. Let's discuss this quickly before waking her."
Price did not object. Although the incident was caused by Emilio's intelligence, being outmaneuvered by the enemy was not a reason to fight with one's own people.
The staff officer standing nearby had already analyzed the map based on the information described by the captain. "It's a trap!" he reported.
Price's squad was elite, and they marched covertly at night. The fact that they were surrounded so precisely can only mean it was a planned, targeted ambush!
"Who did it?" Price asked.
The staff officer said with a wry smile, "There are too few clues."
"One possibility is that I have a problem with my informant within the Northern Lands Noble Army, and this is a scheme by the Lords' Alliance," Emilio stated frankly. "The second possibility is that Liya and Bone King did it—they really are in Peacock Gully!"
Price remained silent for a moment. The White Graupel Cavalry had suffered heavy losses on both sides in their last encounter with the Ravens. Given the Ravens' personality, it wouldn't be surprising if they sought revenge.
"It's unlikely that Jimite did it," Princess Dafulin said as she entered. "We're far from reaching a point where we need to fight, and a war wouldn't be in anyone's interest!"
The Cold Mountain Kingdom has been relatively peaceful in recent years. The disputes between the lords of the Northern Lands and the Cold Mountain Royal Family mainly focus on the fulfillment of lords' obligations and the implementation of autonomous regulations; there has been no serious conflict between the two sides.
"Your Highness!"
Your Highness!
The people in the military tent all bowed to Princess Dafulin.
Emilio agreed with Dafulin's conclusion, "It would be extremely unwise for the Lords' Alliance to lightly initiate war against us. Besides, the killing of only twenty people is utterly inexplicable."
A squad of soldiers, led by Price, was extremely distressed by the power struggle between the factions, but it did not affect the overall situation.
"There's also a third possibility," Staff Officer Ya analyzed, "Some other force or organization is doing something in Peacock Gully and doesn't want us to go there."
Price roared, "I suggest we mobilize the entire army! Let's see what they're made of!"
Bloodthirstiness is the foundation of an elite force. Even if they suffer losses for no reason, the pride of the White Graupel Cavalry will not be compromised!
Emilio did not object to Price's proposal. The situation was not very clear, but his own army was well-organized, with eight hundred White Graupel Cavalry and six hundred City Guard Cavalry, the strongest fighting force on the ice plains.
Don't be too timid!
However, tactical precautions could not be overlooked. The people in the military tent discussed the details, arranged the march plan and reconnaissance strategy, and quickly put them into action.
The quiet camp was activated, and the soldiers rose one after another, beginning their organized preparations. Half an hour later, the enemy troops set off into the night towards Peacock Gully, searching for the unknown enemy.
****
Su Ming dispatched a drone to fly from a high altitude to the right, and soon spotted a snow beast cavalry force of about eight hundred men in the frame.
They sped across the snow-covered plains, heading straight this way.
"This formation is definitely White Graupel Cavalry!" Zijin exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the familiar sight. "Aren't they at Red Fruit Slope?!"
How could they possibly have caught up with us so quickly, crossing the mountain in a flash!
"Your intelligence is accurate. The unit at Red Fruit Slope is the newly formed White Graupel Cavalry Second Regiment. The enemy in front of you is the main force First Regiment from Bubing City," Jimite laughed wildly. "This is the strongest elite force in the entire Ice Plains, with Intermediate Rank combatants making up a whopping 10% of them! Good luck, and wear them down!"