Chapter 31: The Sudden Assault on Mount Zeal

“You and your anti-bandit troops have all come to the main camp. You must have made quite a fortune recently.”

There was no way Zhang Jiawen could be unaware of Lin Shize’s recent major anti-bandit operation.

Lin Shize sighed, “We’re just barely managing to get enough to eat.”

Zhang Jiawen said, “Alright, leading an anti-bandit campaign is certainly a great achievement. The bandit threat has indeed been thoroughly eradicated lately. In a few days, I’ll send someone to deliver some supplies to you.”

“Thank you, Deputy General. If not for your authority, I wouldn’t be living so comfortably,” Lin Shize quickly flattered him.

Zhang Jiawen was clearly pleased.

“Hmph, I thought you’d gotten too arrogant by now, but you still know your limits.”

“Without the brothers here at the main camp covering your back, even if you had five hundred men and were a god of war descended to earth, you wouldn’t be able to capture Qier Mountain.”

Zhang Jiawen grew increasingly impressed with Lin Shize. Though somewhat arrogant, capable men often had eccentric personalities.

When he personally killed the previous Deputy General, he had been even more ruthless than Lin Shize.

The two bantered back and forth, treating others as insignificant. Wu Tian stood nearby trembling with anger, disgusted by the flattery—disgusted to the core!

Lin Shize was merely requesting military pay; there was no shame in that.

With everyone satisfied, Zhang Jiawen led the group back to the main camp.

When Deputy General Zhang arrived at the camp gate, Wang Li turned pale with fright. Good heavens, that was the Deputy General himself! Yet the two gate guards, blind as bats, had let him in without verifying his identity.

Fortunately, the Deputy General took no offense. However, the quarrels echoing from inside the command tent again made Wang Li’s heart pound in his throat.

When mealtime finally arrived, Wang Li wanted to prepare a lavish feast to welcome them, but Liu Wu entered carrying a black wheat flatbread.

He had expected the Deputy General to erupt in anger, but there was no reaction at all inside the tent. In fact, the Deputy General even promised to provide them with military rations.

Wang Li felt as if he were dreaming; everything seemed so unreal.

The Deputy General was usually strict and intolerant of any slight disorder. Though the Wolfpack Battalion was self-raised, such a large-scale troop movement violated military discipline.

Yet the Deputy General not only ignored this but also wanted to reward merit and even promised to support their attack on Qier Mountain.

For the first time, Wang Li felt that the Battalion Commander was even more impressive than the Deputy General.

To guard against spies from the Mengla people within the camp, Zhang Jiawen immediately ordered the camp gates to be closed. No one was allowed to leave without his explicit order, and violators would be executed on the spot.

At the same time, he swiftly assembled the troops to march toward Bat Mountain.

Inside the Wolfpack Battalion’s command tent, Li Gui stood beside a sand table sharing the latest intelligence.

“Most of the forces from Qier Mountain have been dispatched to Bat Mountain. Even the outposts around Qier Mountain have been reduced from fifteen to seven.”

“It’s now confirmed that fewer than three hundred troops remain guarding Qier Mountain.”

Liu Wu clapped his hands excitedly. “What are we waiting for? Such a golden opportunity—Boss, let’s move!”

Lin Shize glanced at the sand table and asked Li Gui, “Have you spotted any heavily armored soldiers?”

Li Gui shook his head.

Lin Shize said, “Chaoketu is no reckless brute; he must be stationed at Qier Mountain. I’m certain those hundred heavily armored troops are lying in ambush somewhere on Qier Mountain.”

Liu Wu frowned. “Boss, do you mean this is a trap?”

Lin Shize nodded. “Of course. The battlefield is a matter of life and death. You can’t just plot against others and expect not to be plotted against in return.”

Zhao Dahǔ asked, “So what do we do?”

Lin Shize replied, “We do what we must. Since Chaoketu dares to leave only a few hundred men at Qier Mountain, I want to see if the Mengla’s greatest warrior is truly as fierce as the legends say.”

“Pass on my orders: urgent assembly! Target: Mengla’s Qier Mountain!”

Each of the five hundred men carried a map. They were divided into several small squads so that if the unit was scattered in an emergency, each would regroup with the nearest squad.

Each squad was equipped with armor-piercing darts and archers, ready to respond to sudden situations.

The vanguard was led by Lin Shize, composed of the earliest hunters he had recruited and his most elite soldiers.

Although a heavy rain had made the forest slippery, to them it was no different than flat ground.

Wang Li was initially thought to be just a veteran soldier, but it turned out he was also an experienced hunter, moving through the forest like the wind. So Lin Shize immediately assigned him to lead the second squad, following closely behind to provide support.

The early spring rain felt as if the sky had split open. Ahead lay a landslide of boulders and trees, a grim reminder of the danger of this mission.

Fortunately, the weather was on their side, with thick fog blanketing the forest. Though visibility was poor, it offered excellent cover for a surprise attack.

Wang Li was surprised to find that the seasoned soldiers who had first followed Lin Shize were more excited than fearful.

Even facing the Mengla people, they remained undaunted.

For them, war was essentially robbery—before it was bandits, now it was the Mengla; no difference at all.

After each battle, the Battalion Commander distributed ample rewards. In these chaotic times, more money and food meant a better life for their families.

Before meeting the Battalion Commander, they often went hungry, and death from starvation was common. Now if they died in battle, their families received generous compensation. Fighting was no big deal.

“Dead men fly to the sky; the living live forever. Two horizontal strokes and one vertical—just fight!”

The fifty men at the front were all clad in iron armor, armed to the teeth. Besides long knives at their waists, they bore the best longbows, with sharp three-pronged arrows in their quivers emitting a chilling aura.

On one side, some even carried three armor-piercing darts at their waist. Their task was to follow Lin Shize to break through the enemy line and open a path for their comrades to charge through.

The borderlands were mountainous and perilous. When selecting hunters, Lin Shize intended to train them as a special force skilled in mountain warfare.

Daqi had too few warhorses. Training cavalry would take at least three to five years.

Therefore, Lin Shize hoped these soldiers would mature into kings of the forest and mountains through experience.

The path grew more rugged. To be precise, there was no path at all; Lin Shize might have been the first human to set foot in this forest.

Those elite soldiers who grew up in the mountains adapted well to such terrain.

The troops behind were in a sorry state, barely maintaining formation on the slippery mud. Occasionally, someone would fall but quickly get back up, ignoring the mud covering their faces and pressing forward.

The soldiers had no complaints mainly because the Battalion Commander was at the forefront. When the leader braved life and death ahead, what was there to grumble about?

As Lin Shize advanced, he suddenly stopped and made a hand signal, ordering everyone to halt and stand guard.

Straight ahead stood a Mengla outpost, with a bright red cloth hanging at the gate.

This was the secret signal Lin Shize had agreed upon with Li Gui and the others.