As dusk fell, a communications soldier hurried back from the Yan Army camp, bringing the news Qin Ze wanted to hear.

"Your Majesty, the enemy's ambush in the pine forest has been largely defeated by our army!"

Only a very small number of people fled to the deeper mountains and forests.

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Ze sat up from his chair: "Okay!"

How many enemy troops were killed?

"Not many, not yet fully counted, but roughly speaking, there are only three or four thousand people."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ze's expression darkened. He knew that the Goths would not concentrate their forces in one place in this vast, deep mountain; a more effective ambush method would be to lay ambushes in multiple locations.

"Search that area carefully, and we must not allow any remaining enemy troops to cause damage to our next route of advance."

"After fully occupying the enemy's positions, have the troops advance along both sides of the main road as quickly as possible to scout and develop our army's deep routes. Be extremely careful with the high points on both sides of the main road, as the enemy is likely to be lying in ambush in those locations."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The messenger immediately took the message away.

After issuing the order, Qin Ze pondered. Today's battle was clearly just an appetizer. The enemy did not leave many troops behind, most likely because they did not have many troops and had to put their main forces in more important positions.

The troops they sent out had been advancing in combat squads, searching for enemy forces. While they were able to defeat small numbers of enemy troops, they would likely find it difficult to take down heavily guarded passes.

'Looks like I'll have to bring heavy artillery in...' he thought to himself.

The main force possesses more powerful artillery, and when conquering strategic locations, large-caliber shells can even alter the terrain to some extent during heavy bombardment.

Now that the mountainous areas have been consolidated after the search and mopping-up operations, combat groups have been left behind to maintain vigilance. With the danger factors eliminated, the main force will not face any obstacles in entering the mountains. Furthermore, once the frontline combat units discover that the enemy has heavily guarded the passes, the main force can coordinate with the combat groups on both sides of the main road to launch an attack.

However, before using this attack method, Qin Ze hoped that the combat group at the front could develop into the enemy's rear. This way, they would not need to fight the enemy head-on, but could launch an attack from the enemy's exposed flanks, or even outflank the enemy. Once they penetrated into the enemy's defensive line and cut them off, the enemy would have difficulty communicating due to the mountainous terrain, and it would be difficult for them to provide timely support. This would allow their side to gain the greatest advantage at the lowest cost.

As long as the main force marches into the mountains along the main road, the enemy troops on the high ground may be able to spot it within a certain range. However, this is just as good, as letting them spot it will only make them focus their attention on the main road.

Thinking of this, Qin Ze immediately summoned a messenger:

"We'll set off into the mountains tomorrow morning!"

——

After nightfall.

Kyle, who arrived at the pass ahead of his light infantry, met Dingle and his party who had been waiting for a long time. After exchanging information, Kyle's expression became increasingly serious.

He had already learned some things about the situation at the front, but it was only after Dingle recounted in detail all the information about the battles with the Yan people after they entered the country that he truly realized how difficult the enemy was to deal with.

"As you can see, the enemy launched an attack on our positions at Songlinjian this morning, and..."

"In less than a day, Songlinjian was occupied by the enemy, and only a few people survived. In the evening, our sentries in the mountains met up with some of the soldiers. The enemy did not launch a direct attack, but rather after thorough reconnaissance."

"The shells they fired were not from large-caliber heavy artillery, but from smaller-caliber high-explosive shells. Under such saturation bombardment, it was really difficult for our troops to hold their existing positions," Dingle said with a grave expression.

In fact, he had considered that the Songlinjian stronghold would be discovered and attacked during the enemy's meticulous search, but he still did not expect it to be captured so quickly, and that the enemy would launch the first attack. However, this battle showed that the enemy's attack did not originate from the main road, but through the more hidden mountains and forests.

After Dingle finished speaking, Verri shouted, "These cunning fellows are like rats, they can get into anything!"

Kyle frowned and said with a sullen face:

"If we continue fighting like this, I think we will not only fail to stop the Yan people, but they will also wipe out our strongholds one by one."

Upon hearing this, Verley's expression changed, while Dingle, standing to the side, coughed lightly and nodded, saying, "In the worst-case scenario, that's how it is, General Kyle."

"But before you arrived, our forces were insufficient, and our weapons and ammunition were in dire need. If we concentrated all our forces to hold one place, the enemy could launch a fierce attack and once our lines were broken, we would have no room to maneuver."

Kyle said with a gloomy face:

"Things are different now; we need to change our battle plan."

"We cannot simply wait for the Yan people to attack. When necessary, we can take the initiative to strike!"

Upon hearing this, Dingle's expression changed, and he exclaimed in surprise, "General Kyle, are you taking the initiative?"

"How could we...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Kyle raised his hand to interrupt: "Appropriate countermeasures are necessary, otherwise we'll be led by the nose forever!"

"Since they chose to disperse their forces, the threat to us has decreased to a certain extent. The reason why your ambush troops in Songlinjian were defeated was because their position was exposed, which allowed the Yan people to regroup their dispersed forces and launch a strong attack."

"Now that we have joined the war, our forces will not be at a disadvantage, and we will have more advantages in terrain. So we should strike when they are scouting. Before our forces are fully assembled, that is when the enemy's fighting strength is at its weakest."

"If we don't attack them now, are we going to wait until they discover our stronghold and regroup before engaging them in battle?"

After he finished speaking, Verri's eyes lit up, and he said repeatedly, "That makes a lot of sense!"

"That's exactly right!"

Dingle hesitated, then said, "But that would mean we'd have to commit a large number of troops to fighting in multiple locations, which would severely test the soldiers' combat capabilities..."

His words were interrupted again, as Kyle waved his hand and said in a resounding voice:

“My troops excel at this; they are the Empire’s finest mountain infantry division.”

"From this moment forward, the task of eliminating the Yan people will be ours to take over!"