Translator: YHHH Editor: Book_Hoarder
Ren Baqian was operating the remote control. The drone was already out of sight by now. Following his controls, an aerial image of the forest ahead appeared on the screen.
At this moment, there was a ground terminal beside his feet. It was a palm-sized box with two antennas. Also, it could transmit images, receive data within a range of 1.7 kilometers, and reach up to 5 kilometers if it was just operating regularly without transmitting any image.
Unfortunately, without internet connectivity, only images could be transmitted while relying solely on the ground terminal. Besides, it had to be within 1.7 kilometers. If there was an internet connection, videos could also be directly transmitted.
Ren Baqian directed the drone towards the forest and snapped images continuously. It could be seen very clearly on the screen that there were some human figures under the shade of the trees.
He caught a whiff of fragrance. The empress had moved beside him to see the images on the screen. Three captains standing at the side grew rather impatient, but they dared not get too close to the empress. And as a result, they didn't know what could be seen on the screen.
Along with the drone flying out of the data transmission range of the ground terminal, the last image taken was left displayed on the screen. Ren Baqian enlarged the orientation map at the bottom left and focused on snapping images with the drone. He could only check the images after retrieving the drone.
Many of the winged cavalry warriors turned their heads and looked when they heard the buzz of the drone just now. They saw the odd-looking object rise into the sky and then disappear. Out of curiosity, they turned back to look at Ren Baqian, who was focused on operating the drone, from time to time.
Previously, the walkie-talkies and binoculars were already an eye-opener to them. In just a day, over 400 people had already come to know of it. This had immediately changed many people's opinions of Ren Baqian. At present, many of them were very curious as to what Deputy Prefect Ren was doing.
At this time in the forest, the commander of Great Xia was growing very suspicious.
Those aboriginals stopped just a few kilometers away and didn't budge. What were they doing?
They didn't even react when a few mounted scouts went out for a recce. Something's not right.
Unable to hold back his suspicions, he landed on a tree branch in a flash to survey the scene from an elevated position. Unfortunately, he could only make out a few black spots and wasn't able to see much.
Just as he came down from the tree, an orderly came running from behind. "Liu Canjun, the lieutenant-colonel was asking what happened?"
"Those aboriginals stopped just a few kilometers away, and I myself feel very puzzled as well. But, we have already guarded the mountain pass. They must take this route, if not it will be a very long way around. Inform the lieutenant-colonel, that we will act according to plan once they arrive."
This commander was Liu Canjun, who had been refused a meeting by the chief of Qingyang Sect. The current ambush plan was also proposed by him.
But, the lieutenant-colonel was the highest ranking military officer in all of Yucheng. He was in command of Yucheng's military camp with 4000 troops and horses. There were over a hundred of such camps located in every city of Great Xia, with the largest having 6000 people, and the smallest having 2000 people.
As for the strategically located counties, a battalion of 750 soldiers were deployed in garrison on a duty roster. As for the ordinary counties, a squadron of 150 soldiers were deployed instead.
For this operation, the lieutenant-colonel had recalled all the troops and horses of Yucheng, including the troops deployed in all the cities. This was because orders had been passed down from the higher authorities, to halt Qi Zixiao in Great Xia by all possible means. But Qi Zixiao and the winged cavalry warriors stubbornly entered Mount Yuyang, which was very near to Yucheng. The troops had no choice but to be deployed, if not, they could be accused of deserting from battle. Besides losing their own lives, even the youths and the elderly in their entire family would be punished with serving a penal sentence.
The chief of Qingyang Sect was currently with the lieutenant-colonel. As he was about to be executed, it didn't matter anymore whether he agreed to meet or not. The troops were ready to set off the next day to surround Qingyang Sect. It was either the troops be deployed, or the chief be executed. How was the old man going to worry about other things, now that he was about to lose his head?
...
Ren Baqian controlled the drone to fly in a circle above the forest, flew it further away, and then turned it back.
A group of winged cavalry members turned their heads as they watched the drone land behind them. Their hearts were itching as if they were scratched by cats, what exactly was that thing?
Especially the three captains, who were as anxious as monkeys.
Ren Baqian ignored them and transferred the memory card from the drone to the card reader. He subsequently connected it to the tablet of the remote control and began examining the images captured just now.
The first few images were captured much earlier on, and they couldn't tell much from the pictures. As the drone went deeper into the forest, more and more things could be seen through the trees canopies.
"Eh!" Ren Baqian held his finger on the tablet and let out a bewildered sound as he looked at an image. As he zoomed in, he saw a scarecrow under the shade of a tree. It was wearing a uniform of a Great Xia soldier and was very difficult to differentiate from afar
As he scrolled back to the previous images, he realized that out of those indistinct soldiers that he saw in the forest just now with a pair of binoculars, only the front few rows were real soldiers, while the rest were all scarecrows.
If Ren Baqian could tell, naturally, the empress would be able to tell as well. Her eyes were filled with suspicion.
Why did they place some scarecrows in the forest?
Ren Baqian continued scrolling backwards and deleted those images that were blocked by trees. At the same time, he zoomed in on a few of them to have a clearer look.
"Look at this, there are heel ropes. And this, those few people dug a hole there, but it isn't concealed properly... And this was exposed as well, it's a beast trap." Ren Baqian said to the empress as he zoomed on the images. As the three captains overheard their conversation, their hearts itched even more. Wanting to take a look was all they had in their minds.
Gradually they saw more and more things. Ren Baqian had a suspicion in mind all along.
It's not possible that they have only deployed a few hundred people to obstruct us, is it?
By simply setting up those traps, they can at most prevent people from advancement.
What is their motive?
"There are people over here!" Ren Baqian suddenly exclaimed as he saw many troops halfway on a mountain, deep within the forest and many huge rocks and tree trunks were recently chopped. Besides that, there were also a few wooden buckets.
Some soldiers were holding pikes, while some of them had bows slung behind their backs. All of them had a piece of cloth tied onto their arms. They were multi-colored and of all sorts.
After looking through over ten images, there were at least a thousand people waiting on the mountain and they seemed like they were fully prepared.
As he continued examining the images, a lot of firewood could be seen at the foot of the mountain, amongst the rocks and the underbrush.
"Are they going to set a fire?" Ren Baqian raised his suspicion over the firewood scattered over
There.
Along with the return journey of the drone, it captured images from another point of view. All of a sudden, Ren Baqian's eyes opened wide.
In the forest, many of the trees had a wooden bucket placed behind them. There was also firewood scattered all over—especially along the sides of the path of advancement. Besides the firewood and wooden buckets, there were also a few archers in the treetops waiting in ambush. All of this was very clearly captured on the image.
Ren Baqian immediately knew what the other party was planning to do. He also guessed what was inside those wooden buckets. He probably wouldn't have guessed it if not for the firewood. The firewood really made it quite obvious. In addition, he knew what those cloths that were tied onto the Great Xia soldier's arms were for as well.
The other party was obviously planning to use a few hundred people to act as an obstruction. After which, they would pretend to flee towards the mountain pass. And if the winged cavalry were to give chase and follow them, they would then block off the mountain pass. Those rocks and archers were prepared for that reason.
As for the inside of those wooden buckets, if he's not mistaken, it would be something like oil or animal fat which could be easily ignited. They would then set fire to the surroundings. In addition, it was currently late autumn in Great Xia and the air was very dry. With a great number of fallen leaves scattered over the forest, such a fire would directly lead to a forest fire.
Those wooden buckets that were prepared on the mountain were also for the same purpose. On one hand it could ignite and cause obstruction, and on the other hand, it could more or less slow down the winged cavalry warriors as grease could be quite slippery.
And it was the same for those traps as well.
If the winged cavalry were to barge in like that, it was easily imaginable. Even with the strength of an Earth Wheel level expert, some lives would definitely be lost in that large fire and thick smoke as in addition to obstructing their charge.
Even if the winged cavalry could dash in and kill them, their mounts would probably turn into roasted goats immediately. The remaining journey would become troublesome as well.
By setting fire to the forest and mountains for their own interests, it was absolutely ruthless.
"They want to lure us in before setting a fire to burn the forest, and then intercept us halfway up the mountain," Ren Baqian said as he looked at the empress and she lightly nodded. She had seen those images just now, and naturally would have thought of it as well.
After she was done looking at the images, she turned around and perched on top of Qi Shui. Ren Baqian waved at the three captains and showed them the images one by one.
Previously, they had heard what Ren Baqian was saying. But, they couldn't see the images and didn't know what the other party was setting up.
They were astonished when they saw the images on the screen as it was exactly the same as witnessing the scene with their own eyes. They all subconsciously turned their heads and stared at the odd-looking object that just landed. All three of them guessed that those images were brought back by that object but didn't specifically understand how it was done.
At the same time, the tablet from which Ren Baqian was showing the images, was like a magical object to them. It was even more magical than the pairs of binoculars.
As he showed them the images one after another, they grew from frowning initially, to become suddenly enraged. "Basta*ds, they actually want to burn me to death! I must slice them into pieces!"
But, they were even more interested in the drone that Ren Baqian was using. That object was simply too powerful. It could even allow them to clearly see the entire setup of the enemy troops that were 5 kilometers away.