"Giddy up! Giddy up!"

Under the cover of night, a troop of cavalry followed a path straight toward the camp where Halson's troops were located. Inside the camp, Halson's scout cavalry had already brought back the latest intelligence they had gathered.

"Sir, the Yan people have placed the outposts so far away from Pariston, which will allow them to discover our next operation."

“And now, I think they already know we’re here,” the scout said gravely.

Upon hearing this, Halson raised an eyebrow and said coldly, "So what? Just because they find out, does that mean we have to turn back?"

The scout quickly shook his head: "That's not what I meant, sir. It's just that it would make our operation completely transparent to them. You know, there's no terrain to hide us on the way from here to Pariston."

Halson waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter, I don't care, and General Saski certainly won't care either."

"There is only one important thing: how many troops the Yan Kingdom has stationed in Pariston. That's the key. If we find out their strength, and if they only have a few thousand men, then we can attack directly tonight."

"Yes, sir. Then we need to move the reconnaissance distance forward."

Halson nodded and said, "Of course, but before that, we still need to..."

Before he could finish speaking, a soldier came to report new intelligence, which was delivered by the communications officer sent by Phil.

After hearing this information, Halson smiled and said, "Not bad, that's good news."

"It seems the Yan people won't have time to split their forces and leave Pariston today."

"No, that's not right. It's not that we don't have enough time, it's that we don't have enough troops to make them take any risks."

"That's why after they came down the mountain, they simply stayed in Pariston and didn't take any further action."

After he finished speaking, the cavalry generals beside him all nodded in agreement.

"So when will his troops return?" Halson asked again.

"General Phil is worried that the Yan Kingdom might set their troop deployment time for tomorrow, so he said that we need to continue guarding the Mithius Crossroads, which is the most important section of the road. Even if the Yan Kingdom moves to another route, we can respond in time to intercept them," the communications officer replied.

Halson nodded slightly: "Well, that's fine too. He's always been careful."

"However, I think that possibility is not very high. The Yan people have already lost this opportunity. Once their base is destroyed, they will no longer be able to pose a sustained threat."

At this point, Halson turned to the officers beside him and chuckled:

"It seems things haven't turned out too badly, and we haven't arrived too late. The Yan people are still in Pariston."

"From this perspective, the battle is not complicated. We just need to defeat the Yan people stationed in Pariston."

"Yes, sir, our army seems to still have a certain advantage in the current situation," an officer replied.

Halson laughed:

"Of course, we have plenty of troops, and they are all mixed forces. Although the Yan people currently occupy Pariston, it is just a small town at the foot of the mountain with no decent city defenses. In general, it will not be difficult to take it down."

At this point, he raised an eyebrow: "But if we get them to withdraw, that would be a bit troublesome."

"Yes, sir. Pariston is backed by Enzos. If the Yan people abandon their posts and return to the mountains, we cannot pursue them too closely."

Halson stroked his chin and said, "It seems we need to deploy two light cavalry units to launch a flank attack from the north and south when the battle begins, quickly getting around to the rear of Pariston."

"If all goes well..."

At this point, an officer chimed in, "Surround Pariston and annihilate all the Yan people!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Halson snapped his fingers with a "snap":

"Luffy, I hope your words come true, haha."

With Halson's hearty laughter, the other officers chuckled softly as well, and a moment later, a communications soldier from the main force brought Saski's orders.

"Intensify the investigation! If necessary, we can take aggressive measures to obtain intelligence!"

"At this rate of reconnaissance, it will take us a week to get into Pariston!"

The communications soldier who came to deliver the message looked rather grim. He then said, "I'm sorry, sir, these are General Saski's exact words. He instructed me to relay them to you word for word."

Halson, however, didn't seem to care. Instead, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Okay, I understand. I will obtain enough valuable intelligence before General Saski arrives."

After saying that, he turned to a cavalry lieutenant colonel and said, "Megan, you heard that? Go all out and send some intimidation to the Yan people!"

“Yes, sir. But…won’t this cause the Yan people to choose to evacuate Pariston?” Megan frowned.

Halson shook his head:

"Does he know we have a large force behind us? And do you think they'll slink back down the mountain without even engaging us?"

"Then you are underestimating the Yan people too much. Although I have always thought that their military strength is not large, I have never underestimated their courage and combat capabilities."

"You have to understand, this is the first time these guys have come to our country, but they have already caused us such serious damage. Obviously, they are tough nuts to crack. They will never give up the positions they have captured easily unless we hurt them badly."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell into a solemn silence.

Halson, with a deep look in his eyes, continued, "No matter what, we must win this next battle. Of course, it may only be a small victory, but we must turn it into a great one."

"We need impressive enemy kill figures, do I need to explain that?"

Everyone nodded in silence. They all knew that not only did Emperor von Palen, who was in Salibia, need a resounding victory, but the people of the empire needed an even greater triumph to boost their morale.

Subsequently, under Halson's orders, Megan led the light cavalry toward Pariston, and shortly thereafter, the sentries that Qin Ze had arranged to be stationed outside began to withdraw one after another.

When it was 7:30 p.m., Saski, who had rushed to the scene, led the main force to rendezvous with Halson.

The meeting had only lasted about ten minutes, and just as Saski was holding a meeting with his officers, a communications soldier rushed in to report:

"Sir, our forward troops have engaged in firefight with the enemy!"