149: Chapter 149 Crossroads

Time passed rapidly in a tense and oppressive atmosphere of preparation for war.

Winter gave way to spring, and just as the snow on the grasslands began to melt, bad news arrived from the front—the entire Suzhou Province had fallen.

After months of rampaging and slaughter, that vicious wolf from the grasslands had finally finished digesting its first meal of flesh and blood.

Wolf King Ashina Kuotai personally led fifty thousand of his most elite vanguard cavalry, crossing the Suzhou-You border, which had long been stained red with blood, and officially stepped into the territory of You Province!

Meanwhile, deep in the grasslands, countless small and medium-sized tribes were watching this high-stakes gamble.

The victory of the Azure Wolf King would bring them opportunities to plunder the south, while his defeat could mean a shift in the hegemony of the grasslands.

This was no longer a simple invasion, but a world-shaking war that affected the entire geopolitical landscape of the north.

The black torrent of iron, like a shadow of death emerging from Hell, blotted out the sky and came rolling in! At that moment, all of You Province seemed to tremble under this terrifying might.

However, when Ashina Kuotai and his Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry, who were eager to indulge in a carnival feast in the prosperous You Province, truly stepped onto this land, what they saw was a bizarre scene that they would never forget.

There were no villages with curling smoke as they had imagined, no golden fields of grain, and certainly no commoners kneeling to beg for mercy.

All they saw was a scorched black land burned by fire, broken walls and ruins pushed over, and dried-up wells filled with stones and dirt.

A thousand miles of fertile land had been turned into a dead, scorched earth!

This was the cruelest order issued by Gao Feng—to strengthen the walls and clear the fields.

Under the organization of the Panshi Army, all the commoners in the border towns migrated inland with all the supplies they could carry.

All houses, fields, and wells that could not be taken were burned or filled in!

He wanted to trade space for time! He wanted to turn this thousand-mile stretch of land into a dead zone where the Heavenly Wolf Army could not find a single grain of food or drink a single drop of clean water!

"Great Chanyu! All the scouts we sent out have reported the same news! Within a radius of three hundred miles, it is all the same! We cannot even find a living mouse!"

Inside a temporary royal tent, a Ten Thousand Household Commander of the Tianlang Tribe knelt on one knee and reported with an ugly expression.

The Azure Wolf King Ashina Kuotai, sitting in the main seat, slowly set down the mare's milk wine in his hand.

He was an exceptionally tall middle-aged man, his face covered in traces of wind and frost like knife carvings and axe marks, and his sharp eyes, like those of a hawk, flashed with a heart-stopping cold light.

He did not get angry, but said slowly: "Strengthening the walls and clearing the fields, scorched earth resistance... Interesting. This Gao Feng is quite a ruthless character. Not only is he ruthless to his enemies, he is even more ruthless to his own people."

"Great Chanyu!" the Ten Thousand Household Commander said with worry, "We did not bring much grain and grass for this southern expedition, intending to live off the land. Now that the enemy has done this, our army is afraid..."

"What is there to fear?" Ashina Kuotai sneered, interrupting him. "He can burn three hundred miles, but can he burn the entire You Province? Does he think he can drag us down like this? Foolish!"

He stood up abruptly, his sturdy body like an immovable mountain!

"Pass on my royal order! The entire army is to accelerate! Bypass the main roads that have been trapped, and cut through the small paths! Our army's mobility is several times theirs. He wants to trade space for time, so we will use time to pierce through his space!"

"I want to see how long he can keep burning!"

"Before the entire You Province turns into scorched earth, I will personally twist off his head!"

The roar of the Azure Wolf King echoed over the empty wilderness.

The black torrent of iron started moving again.

One hundred thousand cavalry, like a completely enraged and wounded beast, surged madly toward the heart of You Province with monstrous fury!

They wanted to break through this damned scorched earth at the fastest speed!

They wanted to use the most brutal means to tear that Gao Feng, who dared to provoke their majesty, along with all the people under his rule, to pieces!

However, they soon discovered.

This seemingly dead, scorched earth was not truly empty.

Behind the scorched mountain forests, beneath the dried-up riverbeds, and in every seemingly inconspicuous corner, pairs of cold and deadly eyes were lurking.

...

"Lead Wolf, target spotted!"

On a hillside where only charred tree trunks remained, a soldier of the Green Wolf Battalion, wearing camouflage that blended into the environment, lowered his voice and reported to Wulu beside him.

"Three miles away, a scout squad of the Heavenly Wolf Army, about fifty people, is searching and advancing toward us."

Upon hearing this, Wulu slowly poked half of his head out of the hiding pit.

He raised a monocular telescope specially made by the Hundred Crafts Institute and looked into the distance.

He saw a well-equipped unit of Heavenly Wolf cavalry slowly and cautiously advancing over the rugged, scorched earth.

They all looked vigilant, their scimitars already drawn, clearly having suffered enough from the elusive sneak attacks of the past few days.

"Hmph, a bunch of headless flies."

A cruel sneer curled on Wulu's lips.

He put down the telescope and made an extremely subtle gesture to the hundreds of Green Wolf Battalion soldiers behind him, who were also camouflaged like ghosts.

That was the signal for the wolf pack to hunt.

—"Encircle and slaughter!"

Instantly, hundreds of Green Wolf Battalion soldiers dispersed silently like the most agile leopards.

They utilized every piece of terrain they could, soil slopes, gullies, and even bushes that had not been completely burned.

In a very short time, they formed a huge and deadly encirclement.

And that scout squad of the Heavenly Wolf Army was completely unaware of this.

They were still aimlessly searching for the "enemy" that did not exist.

"Captain, you can't even see a bird feather in this damn place! Could that Gao Feng have really withdrawn everyone?" a young Heavenly Wolf cavalryman complained impatiently.

"Shut up!" the scout captain scolded in a low voice. "The Great Chanyu has ordered that we must ferret out these rats hiding in the dark! Everyone, stay alert! I always feel something is wrong nearby."

His intuition was very accurate.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Just as they stepped into the ambush circle carefully selected by Wulu.

A shrill wolf howl suddenly rang out from all directions simultaneously!

"Awoo——!!!"

That was the horn for the Green Wolf Battalion to attack!

"Oh no! Ambush!"

The scout captain's face changed drastically!

However, he had just shouted.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Hundreds of cold arrows, already poised and ready, came raining down from all directions like the scythe of death!

That dense rain of arrows instantly submerged this small scout team!

"Puchi!"

"Puchi!"

The sound of flesh being pierced rose one after another.

The warhorses let out shrill cries of agony and fell to the ground with a crash.

The Heavenly Wolf cavalry fell off their horses in rows like wheat being harvested.

Just one volley!

The fifty-man scout squad had suffered more than half casualties!

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Quick! Fire the signal!"

The surviving scout captain's eyes were splitting with rage, and he frantically pulled out a special signal arrow from his bosom, about to pull the string to fire it!

However, a black flash of lightning was faster than him!

Wulu, like a ghost, burst out from the shadows on the side!

The scimitar in his hand traced a cold arc in the air!

"Puff!"

The scout captain's arm, along with the signal arrow that had not yet been fired, was severed at the shoulder!

Blood sprayed out wildly!

"Ah——!!!"

The intense pain made him let out a scream that did not sound human.

But his scream came to an abrupt end.

Because Wulu's second blade had already slashed across his throat.

"Kill!"

With the main general taking the lead.

Hundreds of Green Wolf Battalion soldiers leaped up from their respective hiding places!

Holding sharp steel blades, they pounced on the remaining Heavenly Wolf cavalry who had fallen into complete chaos, like a pack of true bloodthirsty hungry wolves.

A slaughter with no suspense began.

In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the battle was completely over.

Of the fifty elite scouts of the Heavenly Wolf Army, not one survived.

Their corpses and the corpses of their warhorses lay helter-skelter on this scorched earth, and blood stained the ground dark red.

"Clean up the battlefield! Collect all usable arrows, weapons, and horses! Then move out immediately!"

Wulu gave the order expressionlessly.

He didn't even take another look at the corpses on the ground.

For him, this was just an ordinary hunt.

And similar hunts were being staged on this vast scorched earth every moment.

The "Green Wolf Battalion" led by Wulu broke into smaller units, becoming hundreds of elusive hunting squads.

They were like a pack of wolves truly living on this land.

Utilizing their absolute familiarity with the terrain and individual combat skills far superior to the Heavenly Wolf Army.

They constantly harassed the Heavenly Wolf Army's scout squads, supply convoys, and even lone messengers.

They hit and ran, never lingering in battle.

Once they succeeded, they immediately disappeared into the complex and vast mountains and hills, leaving no trace.

The Heavenly Wolf Army was like a giant punching cotton, possessing world-destroying strength but unable to find the shadow of its opponent.

The large troops they sent out could not find the enemy.

And the small troops they sent out would be torn to pieces by these "wolf packs" lurking in the dark in a very short time.

In just over ten days, the Heavenly Wolf Army had lost more than three thousand elite scouts!

This made the entire army seem to have become blind and deaf.

They knew nothing about the situation within hundreds of miles ahead.

They could only advance aimlessly on this dead, scorched earth like a bunch of headless flies.

Panic and anxiety began to spread quietly among the lower and middle-ranking soldiers of the Heavenly Wolf Army.

...

If Wulu's "Green Wolf Battalion" was a nightmare that made ordinary Heavenly Wolf soldiers feel fear.

Then the "Divine Mechanism Battalion," jointly led by Luo Qi and Gong Qianxue, became the death warrant for all the generals of the Heavenly Wolf Army.

Unlike the widespread harassment of the Green Wolf Battalion.

The Divine Mechanism Battalion had only one goal.

—That was the middle-ranking officers such as the Centurions and Chieftains of the Heavenly Wolf Army!

They wanted to use the most precise and lethal "sniper strike" to completely destroy the Heavenly Wolf Army's command system!

A perilous mountain pass known as "A Thread of Sky".

This was the essential route for the Heavenly Wolf Army to transport follow-up troops and supplies to the heart of Youzhou.

Luo Qi and Gong Qianxue personally led five hundred elite archers from the Divine Mechanism Battalion, having long since laid an ambush on the cliffs on both sides of the pass.

Each of them was equipped with a super weapon newly developed by the Hundred Crafts Institute—the "Armor-Piercing Heavy Crossbow"!

This heavy crossbow was crafted entirely from the hardest ironwood, and the crossbow arms were reinforced with highly resilient thousand-year-old earth dragon tendons.

Its effective range exceeded a terrifying eight hundred paces!

It was capable of piercing through three layers of heavy armor from a mile away!

Its power was monstrous!

"Targets appearing."

Looking through the lens of her binoculars at the Heavenly Wolf Army convoy slowly entering the pass, Gong Qianxue said in a cold, emotionless voice.

"Lock onto all targets wearing silver armor. Those are the Centurions of the Heavenly Wolf Army."

"And that fat man riding the white warhorse, surrounded by the crowd in the center. He should be the highest-ranking commander of this unit, a Chieftain."

Luo Qi added softly from the side.

Her eyes flashed with the excitement of a hunter spotting prey.

"All units, attention!"

Gong Qianxue slowly raised the command flag in her hand.

"Listen to my command!"

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

"Fire!"

The command flag was swung down violently!

"Hum—!!!"

Five hundred cocked armor-piercing heavy crossbows simultaneously emitted a terrifying, teeth-gritting hum!

Five hundred specially made bolts, resembling short spears, shrieked as they tore through the air, turning into a black shadow of death that descended from the sky!

They precisely enveloped the Heavenly Wolf Army unit marching through the pass!

"Thwack!"

The Heavenly Wolf Army Chieftain, who had been riding his white warhorse and chatting spiritedly with his adjutant, didn't even have a chance to react.

He was pierced through the chest, armor and all, by a heavy crossbow bolt descending from above!

The immense impact even sent him flying off his horse, pinning him firmly against the cliff wall behind him!

He died without ever understanding how he had met his end.

The Centurions under his command fared no better.

Almost simultaneously, they were "cared for" by the concentrated fire of several, or even a dozen, heavy crossbows.

Their Protective Aura and their fine armor were as fragile as paper before these terrifying armor-piercing heavy crossbows.

One by one, they were shot into hedgehogs!

One volley! A single volley!

All the mid-level and above officers of this Heavenly Wolf Army unit of thousands were wiped out!

The entire unit immediately fell into massive chaos, leaderless!

"Enemy attack! Ambush!"

"Quick! Protect the General!"

"The General... the General is dead!"

"Run! Run for your lives!"

Panic, like the most terrible virus, instantly infected everyone.

Soldiers scurried around the narrow pass like headless flies, trampling each other, resulting in countless casualties.

Yet, Luo Qi and Gong Qianxue did not order a second volley.

They merely watched the chaotic tragedy unfolding below with cold eyes.

Then, they gave the order to retreat.

Their mission was complete.

The remaining small fry would naturally be taken care of by Du Wei's Tiger Guard Battalion, which had long been lying in ambush at the other end of the pass.

"Bastards! Useless! All of you are useless!!"

Inside the Heavenly Wolf King's tent, Ashina Kuotai listened to the battle damage reports flying in like snowflakes from his subordinates, finally unable to maintain his so-called royal demeanor.

He smashed the golden cup in his hand against the ground, letting out an angry roar like an injured beast!

In just one short month! His proud Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry hadn't even seen the main force of the enemy!

Yet they had inexplicably lost nearly ten thousand men and horses!

This included three Chieftains and nearly a hundred Centurions!

This was simply a great humiliation!

He felt like a giant being bitten by countless flies and mosquitoes.

Although not fatal, it was incredibly annoying, driving him almost to madness!

"Coward! That Gao Feng is a complete coward!"

"He only dares to hide in dark corners like a rat, pulling these petty tricks that can't be brought into the light!"

"If he has the guts, he should come out and fight me fairly!"

Ashina Kuotai was trembling with rage.

"Great Chanyu, calm your anger." An old grassland man who looked like a strategist stepped forward to advise, "This Gao Feng is clearly trying to wear us down with these tactics. We must not fall for his trap!"

"Wear us down?" Ashina Kuotai sneered, "Is he worthy?!"

"I admit I underestimated him. But in the face of absolute power, any conspiracy or trick is futile!"

He turned abruptly and walked to the massive military map, his eyes erupting with a terrifying, fierce light!

"Doesn't he like to play hide-and-seek?"

"Then I will turn every place he might be hiding upside down!"

"Pass my royal order!"

He picked up several command flags representing different legions and slammed them onto the map!

"Order the Left Worthy King to lead twenty thousand cavalry to advance eastward!"

"Order the Right Guli King to lead twenty thousand cavalry to outflank westward!"

"I will personally lead the main center force to press forward!"

"The remaining units will disperse to search in groups of one thousand!"

"I want to use an inescapable net to cover the entire western Youzhou!"

"I want those damn rats to have nowhere to escape!"

"I will drag them out of their holes one by one, and then grind them into meat paste in the most cruel way!"

Ashina Kuotai was completely enraged by these "cowardly" tactics.

He made an extremely risky decision—dividing his forces!

He intended to use his absolute numerical superiority to form a giant net, advancing in a mesh-like formation to crush all those annoying "flies" and "rats"!

This decision was undoubtedly extremely foolish from a military standpoint. Dividing forces is a major taboo in warfare.

Especially when the enemy situation is unclear and the terrain is complex, dispersing forces makes it very easy for the enemy to seize the opportunity and defeat them one by one.

However, Ashina Kuotai could no longer care about that.

His pride as an overlord of the grassland made him unable to tolerate this feeling of being toyed with any longer.

He wanted to end this war, which made him feel incredibly stifled, in the most direct and violent way possible!

Yet he did not know that his irrational decision, made in a fit of rage, played right into the hands of his young opponent far away in Ji City.

"My Lord, the fish has taken the bait."

Ji City, Governor's Mansion, inside the study.

Xu Changqing respectfully handed a top-secret intelligence report transmitted back by the "Skynet" to Gao Feng.

The intelligence detailed the strength, designations, and approximate marching routes of the Heavenly Wolf Army's various armies after they divided their forces.

Gao Feng looked at the Heavenly Wolf Army's formation, which had spread out like a giant fishing net, and a cold arc curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Ashina Kuotai... is still just a reckless man whose head has been turned by pride."

He slowly stood up and walked to the sand table that he had already simulated countless times.

His eyes flashed with the excitement and coldness of a chess player about to complete a checkmate.

"He thinks he is casting a net to catch fish."

"Little does he know that he has already swum into my net."

He picked up a black command flag, representing the final killing move he had carefully prepared for Ashina Kuotai.

Then, he slammed it onto the sand table, at a position that was inconspicuous yet deadly—Three-Forked Crossing!

Three-Forked Crossing was located in a continuous hilly area in western Youzhou.

This was the intersection of three mountain trails, with dangerous terrain, steep cliffs tens of feet high on both sides, and only a narrow canyon passage in the middle that could barely accommodate a few riders abreast.

In peacetime, this was a shortcut often chosen by merchants to save time.

But in wartime, it became a natural death trap.

And at this moment, the prey for this trap was approaching it step by step.

He was the Ten Thousand Household Commander in the Heavenly Wolf Army known for his bravery and cruelty—Blood Axe Batu.

Acting on the orders of the Azure Wolf King, he led five thousand of his most elite wolf cubs as the vanguard of the Western Army, venturing deep alone in an attempt to outflank the elusive Panshi Army guerrillas from the side.

Along the way, he had burned down countless villages that were already devoid of people and killed every living thing he could find, including stray dogs and rats.

But he hadn't even caught a shadow of the Panshi Army.

This made him feel incredibly irritable and stifled.

"Damn it! This bunch of cowards from the Southern Dynasty! Can they only hide in holes and shoot cold arrows?!"

Blood Axe Batu, riding on a magnificent black warhorse, slammed the wine skin in his hand to the ground and cursed loudly.

"If you have the guts, come out and fight your Grandpa Batu with real swords and spears!"

"General, calm your anger." A Chieftain beside him advised, "According to the map, Three-Forked Crossing is not far ahead. Once we pass there, it will be an open plain. Once we reach our territory, those rats will have nowhere to hide!"

"Hmph!" Blood Axe Batu let out a cold snort, his inner irritability easing slightly.

He looked up at the sky and ordered: "Pass the order! The whole army will accelerate! We will camp at Three-Forked Crossing tonight!"

"Yes!"

Five thousand Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry, like a black dragon, began to slowly enter the narrow, long canyon that resembled the mouth of a giant beast.

They had no idea that the shadow of death had already descended quietly upon the cliffs on both sides of the canyon.

"The fish has entered the net."

On the cliff wall to the east of Three-Forked Crossing, at an extremely hidden observation point.

Du Wei put down his binoculars, a bloodthirsty and cruel smile appearing on his face.