Translator: TYZ Editor: Book_Hoarder
The next morning, the group crossed a mountain ridge. Holding a pair of binoculars in each of their hands, three winged cavalry warriors and three captains held their heads and chests high and ran ahead to scout.
Meanwhile, Ren Baqian was sitting on Qi Shui's back. His walkie-talkie kept on sounding off.
"No ambush beneath the mountain!"
"No ambush in the east!"
"No ambush in the west!
"… south!"
"... north!"
"Woah, the wind today is so noisy…"
"That's right! That's right!" a voice that was five times louder than usual exploded from the walkie-talkie.
Ren Baqian facepalmed. All of you are here to have fun, right? After taking the binoculars and walkie-talkies, those people ran around the mountain like excited monkeys.
Wouldn't you get out of hand if I hand you the drone?
Didn't I tell you that the batteries for the walkie-talkie don't last long? If you continue to play with walkie-talkies, I'm afraid they will die before you even spot the Great Xia soldiers.
And who's the one that said the wind today is so noisy? Are you trying to be funny?
The empress couldn't be bothered with them and let them fool around.
Ren Baqian was glad that he had already charged the solar battery. Otherwise, he would have to hold the solar panel everywhere he went.
Soon after, everyone arrived at the foot of the mountain. And like what the scouts said, there wasn't any ambushes. At least they couldn't see anyone within a distance of 25 kilometers.
They couldn't see anything further than 25 kilometers.
Ren Baqian heaved a sigh of relief. After all, he did not like bloodshed. Of course, this had something to do with him being a weak chicken. Even when he was holding a Type 81 assault rifle, he did not feel safe. God knows when an arrow would be fired in his direction.
A regiment of goat riders galloped through a plain. This plain was approximately 100 kilometers long. It would take them half a day to cross it.
Sitting on Qi Shui's back, Ren Baqian felt that the sun was unbearably hot. He casually put on his sunglasses, and he immediately felt better. At the same time, he turned around and helped the empress put on a pair of gold-rimmed sunglasses. With Qi Shui as their mount, both of them appeared extremely eye-striking among the goat riders, resembling two Lamborghini owners that sneaked into a gathering for Audi owners.
"There's someone ahead! It's Great Xia mounted scouts!" Just as they saw the silhouette of a green hill in the distance, a voice suddenly broke out from the walkie-talkie.
At this moment, a few people could make out a few black spots in the distance. One would never see them if he or she never took a closer look. However, they could be seen clearly with the help of binoculars. A few mounted soldiers wearing the military uniforms of Great Xia could be seen. They were standing sideways on the back of their horses looking in the direction of the empress and her winged cavalry.
After all, an extremely huge amount of dust and sand was kicked up into the air by the few hundred goat riders. They could easily be seen from afar.
By the time they were 3 kilometers away from the Great Xia mounted scouts, they could see them clearly with their binoculars. They could even see the facial expressions of the mounted scouts.
At this point in time, a few mounted scouts had already gone back to report to their superiors. There were still two or three mounted scouts standing there. When the empress and her men were 1.5 kilometers away, they then turned around and ran off.
They were not afraid of the winged cavalry catching up to them. These enormous goats ran slower than horses on flat lands. They managed to keep a safe distance from the goat riders while keeping themselves in sight.
"Your Majesty, they have entered the forest," Teng Ji's voice broke out from the walkie-talkie. The walkie-talkies really made communications much more convenient.
However, everyone else already knew this without him saying. In front of them, there was a forest and a slope. Behind the forest and the slope, there was a mountain pass.
"Are they trying ambush us in the forest? Your Majesty, give me one hundred man and I can kill every one of them," a captain said arrogantly. His name was Zheng Hu. Other than him and Teng Ji, there was another captain who had a very refined name, Li Tanhua. His facial appearance was much cleaner and gentler than others' as well. Even though he was very quiet, he seemed very trustworthy.
"We can just charge into the forest. If they're in their formation on a flat land, it might be slightly troublesome for us. However, they are in the forest now. They are simply courting death," Teng Ji said.
After all, in a complicated environment like a forest, aboriginal warriors' fighting capabilities were greatly boosted. And if their enemy couldn't get into their formation, they would just be waiting for their destruction.
"They definitely have some dirty tricks up their sleeves," Li Tanhua said coldly.
It wasn't that the rest did not know the Great Xia soldiers had some dirty tricks up their sleeves. It was just that they had over four hundred Earth Wheel experts and an advantage of terrain in this forest. They wouldn't be scared even if there were ten thousand Great Xia soldiers hiding and waiting for them.
Their powerful strength made them disregard the strategies of the Great Xia army. They felt that they could just charge the forest and kill them all.
The empress and her men were less than 5 kilometers away from the forest. Using the binoculars, they could see the Great Xia soldiers hiding in the forest.
Teng Ji put down his binoculars and sneered, "How dare these people block our way? They're simply courting death."
"Your Majesty, should we do some scouting? After all, they must have something up their sleeves if they dare to do this. Even though we aren't afraid of them, it's still not a good idea to suffer casualties when we know they already have made preparations," Ren Baqian turned around and told the empress.
Those aboriginal warriors knew there was a trap, but they still wanted to use their mighty strength to charge forward. Unlike them, Ren Baqian did not want to step into a trap when he already knew there was one.
Out of everyone, he felt that he was the most vulnerable. What if someone in the forest jumped out to stab or shoot him with an arrow? Not too long ago, when he was ambushed in Lan City, he almost became a sieve.
"Stop!" the empress shouted softly. Everyone immediately reduced their speed and stopped in their tracks. Even with naked eyes, everyone could see light reflecting from within the forest. It seemed that the Great Xia soldiers did not intend to hide. They were merely standing there, looking as though they were prepared to stop the winged cavalry.
Using the binoculars, the three captains saw rows of archers standing in the midst of the forest with their bowstrings pulled. There seemed to be many more shadows in the forest.
"Your Majesty, we can just charge the forest and crush them to smithereens," Teng Ji held up a fist and said.
The empress looked at Ren Baqian to see what he had to say.
Ren Baqian felt that it was time for him to perform. All along, he believed that the commander of the Great Xia army wouldn't be so stupid to solely depend on some archers and soldiers hiding in the forest to stop the mighty winged cavalry. After all, a person who could led an army wouldn't be a fool.
Even if he was a fool, the people around him aren't fools, right?
Ren Baqian jumped down from the kirin's back. Then, he took down a bundle and placed it on the ground. Unwrapping the bundle, he took out a portable drone. Without turning his head, he said to the winged cavalry warriors behind him, "Form a line and protect me."
Ren Baqian was afraid that the enemy might take notice of his drone and shoot an arrow at him. He had not forgotten the incident of the empress shooting down Ning Caichen's flying sword.
The four hundred over winged cavalry warriors lined up in two rows and stared at the forest ahead of them.
Meanwhile, in the forest, the commander of the Great Xia army was stroking his beard as he watched the goat riders lined up. His brain was filled with question marks. "Why aren't these aboriginals coming in yet? Given their usual combat style, they will charge into the forest even if there are mountains of daggers and seas of flames here, let alone these mere archers."
"Take a stroll outside of the forest," the commander waved his hand and instructed. The scouts that had just returned scrambled out of the forest again. They purposely strolled along the border of the forest, somewhat resembling prostitutes that stood outside of brothels and threw flirtatious glances at men.
Upon seeing this sight, many of the winged cavalry warriors instantly broke out into a commotion. However, without the empress's command, none of them dared to do anything.
Behind the main body, the empress and the three captains were watching Ren Baqian fiddling with a spider-like gadget.
Ren Baqian set up the display screen and remote control. Following which, he fiddled with the remote control and the drone began to rise to the sky. The three captains' eyes almost popped out when they saw this scene. This thing could fly?
Raising their heads, the three of them stared at the sky.
Meanwhile Ren Baqian was looking at the small dot on the display screen. That was the current position of the drone. Right now, it was four hundred meters above the ground. Following which, the drone flew towards the top of the forest.