Chapter 83 Special Operations

The Liangzhou Marshal's Mansion, late at night.

Although the general strategy of "sneak attack" had been set, the specific execution plan was still an extremely unfamiliar area for these capable generals who were used to charging in formation and head-on confrontations.

The huge sand table was brightly lit by candlelight.

A group of unshaven veterans were arguing heatedly around the sand table.

"Your Highness! In my humble opinion, if we are going to launch a sneak attack, we should take advantage of the cover of night and send two thousand light cavalry, with men gagged and horses hoofed, to charge straight in and slaughter them without leaving a single survivor!"

"Two thousand? Two thousand men going in is suicide! The Northern Yan camp is heavily guarded, with hundreds on patrol alone. Before you even reach the granary, you'll be riddled with bullets!"

"Then what can we do? Dig a tunnel? In the dead of winter, the ground is frozen solid, we wouldn't be able to dig a tunnel even if we dug until next year!"

Chen Jin sat in the main seat and rubbed his temples.

He looked at the woman beside him who was... smearing soot on her face.

"Your Highness," Shen Jin said helplessly, "what are you doing?"

Jiang Mianmian held a piece of charred charcoal in her hand, not only smearing her fair face like a miner who had just crawled out of a coal mine, but also eagerly trying to smear it on Chen Jin's face.

"A disguise!"

Jiang Mianmian said confidently, "This is called 'camouflage.' Although we don't have professional paint, soot from the bottom of a pot will do. We're going on a surprise attack, not a beauty pageant. If our faces are too white, they'll reflect light in the moonlight, making us easy targets for the enemy!"

All generals: ...

Reflective? A sitting duck?

Although it sounds a bit rough, it... seems to make a lot of sense?

"Generals."

Jiang Mianmian played with the charcoal in her hand, walked to the sand table, and her eyes suddenly became sharp. "What you just said is not a sneak attack, it's suicide."

"True special operations are all about being as still as a virgin and as swift as a rabbit. Infiltrating like the wind and retreating like lightning."

She picked up a baton and pointed to the location of the Northern Yan's grain and provisions camp:

"This operation does not require two thousand people, nor does it require two hundred people."

She held up two fingers and gestured:

Twenty people. That's enough.

"What?! Twenty people?!"

The bearded general nearly bit his tongue off. "Your Highness, are you kidding me? The Northern Yan granary is heavily guarded, at least five thousand men! Twenty men wouldn't even be enough to fill their teeth!"

Jiang Zhan also looked worried: "Mianmian, this is no child's play. Dad knows you're strong, but two fists can't fight four hands..."

"Dad, who said we were going to fight them?"

Jiang Mianmian smiled mysteriously, "We only have one goal—to set fire. After setting the fire, we'll run. Anyone who lingers in the fight is a fool."

"To ensure the success of the operation, I have specially prepared a set of 'divine gear' for everyone."

As she spoke, she clapped her hands.

Shadow walked in carrying a bunch of strange things.

It was a pile of tattered strips of cloth, tied with withered grass, twigs, and even some yellowed hemp rope. It looked like a pile of unwanted garbage.

"What...what is this? Beggar's clothes?" The generals were completely dumbfounded.

"This is called a 'ghillie suit'!"

Jiang Mianmian picked up a piece of clothing, draped it over her shoulders, and lay down on the ground.

A miraculous scene unfolded.

In the dim candlelight, she, dressed in the color of withered grass, seemed to blend into the ground instantly! If you didn't look closely, you wouldn't even notice that there was someone lying there!

"hiss--!"

The entire audience gasped in shock.

"This...this is invisibility magic?!"

“It’s not that mysterious, it’s called ‘visual deception’.” Jiang Mianmian got up and patted the grass clippings off her body. “In the wild, this is the best camouflage. As long as you lie still, even if an enemy walks past you, they may not be able to spot you.”

Shen Jin looked at the woman who resembled a large haystack, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes.

This unprecedented method is indeed a powerful tool for assassination and sneak attacks.

"good."

Shen Jin made a decisive decision: "Shadow One, select twenty elite soldiers from among the guards and scouts who have the best lightness skills and the most agile movements, and have them change into their new uniforms immediately!"

"yes!"

Soon, a uniquely styled "special forces team" was assembled.

Twenty burly men, dressed in tattered ghillie suits, their faces painted black, revealing only pairs of gleaming eyes, looked less like elite soldiers preparing for a major battle and more like a group of savages who had just come down from the mountains.

“Your Highness,” Jiang Mianmian, who had also changed into her gear, with three black lines painted on her face and a cloth bag full of “explosives” slung over her back, said, “I want to go too.”

"no."

Shen Jin refused decisively, "Too dangerous. Give the explosives to Ying Yi and let them go."

"They don't know how to use it!"

Jiang Mianmian panicked, "This thing depends on the wind direction and the timing of the fuse. If you throw it too early, it won't explode; if you throw it too late, it'll explode on itself. No one but me can control it precisely!"

[This is my secret recipe! If Shadow One and the others accidentally waste this powerful weapon or blow themselves up, I'd be heartbroken!]

[And... I also want to see that unlucky guy Xiao Yi get blown into the sky! It's going to be broadcast live!]

Shen Jin looked into her eyes, which seemed to say "Take me with you," and then at the explosive pack on her back.

really.

That is the "Goddess's" magic weapon; if someone else uses it improperly, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"I will go with you."

Without further hesitation, Shen Jin picked up a piece of charcoal and casually smeared two lines on his handsome face.

"Your Highness!" the generals exclaimed in shock. "You are the commander-in-chief of the three armies, how can you risk your life?"

"Precisely because he is the commander-in-chief, he must lead by example."

Shen Jin took the ghillie suit handed to him by Jiang Mianmian and draped it over his black armor. Although it looked somewhat comical, his murderous aura remained undiminished. "Besides... even my queen is risking her life, how can I hide behind her?"

Jiang Mianmian was deeply moved.

[Waaaaah, even though your face looks kind of funny with all that makeup on, you're still... so handsome!]

Is this the legendary "you set the fire, I'll cover the retreat" strategy? I love it!

Everything is ready.

A dark night for murder, a windy day for arson.

Twenty-two figures, like twenty-two ghosts, silently slipped over the city walls of Liangzhou and disappeared into the vast night and withered grass.

Standing atop the city wall, Jiang Zhan watched his daughter and son-in-law's disappearing figures, tears streaming down his face, tightly gripping his son's hand.

"Li'er... do you think... we should get a ghillie suit too?"

Jiang Li stared blankly ahead, holding a charcoal pencil in her hand, and wrote on the well-worn diary:

"In the winter of the third year of Xuanhe, my sister turned into a savage (crossed out), into a master assassin. She took Shen Jin to hide in the bushes. Although I was very worried, I have to admit... when those two dark figures were close together, they were damnably well-matched. I hope that Xiao Yi's provisions will burn brightly, to entertain my sister."

In the cold wind, the special forces team, like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath, plunged straight into the enemy's heart.

Meanwhile, the Northern Yan camp was still immersed in a blind optimism that "the main force has been decimated and can only hide in the city to wait for death," completely unaware that a "dimensional reduction attack" that could change the course of the war was quietly approaching.