"They've evacuated! They've evacuated!"
"Our reinforcements have arrived!!"
Upon seeing the pursuing cavalry begin to retreat, Barney excitedly shouted towards Tachino.
Tachino was equally excited. He had been prepared to flee into the wilderness without a care in the world, since the enemy was getting closer and closer, and the bullets had a longer range. They might be able to shoot him in another half hour. But the sound of battle horns from the front brought them hope.
The sound of bugles drove back the pursuing Yan people; reinforcements were on their way!
However, he still dared not let his guard down. Who knew if the Yan people would suddenly launch a counterattack? And the current situation was already bad enough.
After more than three hours of pursuit, his troops had fallen apart, leaving only a few hundred cavalrymen, while the infantrymen had either been killed or fled into the wilderness.
Faced with this situation, Tachino slapped his forehead and let out a painful growl.
Damn it!
Barney, who was standing next to him, understood his expression and said, "Sir, it's already very lucky that we were able to escape from the Yan people."
"Shut up! Can't you see the state we've become?!" Tacino roared angrily. "I don't even know if you've put up the slightest bit of resistance!"
"It was the Yan people who were firing at us from beginning to end!"
"They were slaughtering us like pigs!"
Barney lowered his head, quietly rolled his eyes, and muttered under his breath, "The situation was too chaotic back then."
Tacino didn't speak again, but instead pressed his lips tightly together and ran forward without saying a word. He knew he was still in danger and needed to join the reinforcements as soon as possible.
But no reinforcements have been seen yet, while the bugle calls continue to sound from afar. Tachino's brows furrowed slowly; he felt something was amiss.
A moment later, dozens of cavalrymen gradually approached from the road ahead under the cover of night. After seeing their uniforms, Tachino breathed a sigh of relief. These were indeed his own troops, but where were the reinforcements?
——
The next day, around noon.
"Your Majesty, the enemy army has been defeated, but their commander escaped in the chaos. They..." On the march, Wu Sihai reported the battle situation of the previous night to Qin Ze after returning.
After listening to his words, Qin Ze pondered for a moment and then said:
"It is indeed difficult to capture the bandit leader if we cannot use the terrain to encircle and annihilate him, but I was somewhat surprised that their reinforcements are already on their way."
"I don't know how many people are coming to kill us."
"Your Majesty, we have already left sentries along this route to lie in ambush. If the enemy forces come, we will know very quickly," Wu Sihai replied.
Qin Ze shook his head: "Their army coming to attack should be considered good news for us."
"Fighting head-on is much better than being ambushed."
"However, it seems unlikely that they will engage in direct combat with us at present..."
"How many more days until we reach the Nzos Mountains?"
Wu Sihai immediately said, "If it doesn't snow in the next few days and we don't encounter any enemy troops, then we can reach the Enzos Mountains in five days."
Qin Ze nodded slightly and said, "It does take a bit longer than expected. Let's hope it doesn't snow next. But if the enemy is willing to come and fight us, I would welcome them."
——
It was afternoon.
"You're such an idiot! You're half responsible for the disaster that happened last night!"
Tacino, who was traveling with the 31st Imperial Cavalry Division, was being coldly berated. He hung his head, his face flushed and burning. Being publicly insulted made him feel utterly ashamed. He couldn't help but defend himself to Major General Zoyer, the cavalry commander who had reprimanded him:
"Sir, I simply wanted to bring my troops to join you and contribute to the upcoming battle."
"Is this the contribution you've made? A force of nearly 20,000 men, and after one night, only a few hundred of you are left?" Major General Zoye's handsome face was unusually cold at this moment. He really didn't know how this man, who was about the same age as him, could be so stupid.
The journey from the military factory to Heinz is long, and it has been snowing for the past few days. It is definitely not a wise move to travel with a group of exhausted soldiers at this time. More importantly, they have no defenses behind them, so if the Yan people catch up, they will be beaten without any chance to fight back.
And that was indeed the case. Of the nearly 20,000 troops, some died, some were wounded, and some deserted, leaving only a few hundred cavalrymen who managed to escape.
Fortunately, after hearing gunfire in the distance at the camp last night, I quickly dispatched a communications soldier to rush over and sound the battle horn. Although it was just a last resort, it did have some effect.
The Yan people were frightened away upon hearing the horn, and if they did not retreat, then by the time I arrived with my army, Tachino and his men would probably have been completely wiped out.
"Sir, you don't know, those Yan people are all cavalry, and all sharpshooters. We were just about to rest when they suddenly attacked."
"It's really not my fault. I've done everything I could." Tachino shrugged and gave Zoe a helpless look.
His attempt to shirk responsibility further enraged Zoyer, who immediately pointed at Tacino and shouted angrily:
"Idiot!! Aren't you ashamed of what you said?!"
Tachino sighed and said, "Sir, I did my best. If I hadn't led them to evacuate the military factory, they would have been corpses by the night of the 3rd."
At this point, Tachino gritted his teeth and said excitedly:
"You shouldn't have yelled at me. It's all those damned Yan people's fault that caused all this!"
"It's them! They're the culprits! If they hadn't started the war, how could so many of us have died?"
Upon hearing this, Zoye snorted coldly and said with a gloomy face, "Just wait, the Yan people are about to suffer a crushing defeat. This time, we will wipe them all out, as long as they dare to come to the Enzos Mountains."
Tachino quickly replied, "They're already on their way, and the Yan people who attacked us last night weren't many, only a few thousand!"
"Sir, perhaps your cavalry cavalry can defeat them. We can ambush them; this is a good opportunity!"
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