Chapter 249 - 151: Ambushing the Northern Expedition Legion (2)
Eugene Scott (Private Chat): "Definitely. The area is so small, people are practically bashing each other’s brains out over treasure chests. I’m so jealous of the lords who don’t have any competition nearby."
Yan Yingqiu (Private Chat): "It’s just our fate!!"
...
Similar conversations played out across the Western Plains until, eventually, the entire region had joined the Sniper Corps.
The final tally showed a deployable force of 1.5 million troops (not including Lin Yu’s forces) and 800 heroes (not including the heroes of Lin Yu and Li Hua). The deployed heroes were of at least Exceptional grade and included 80 Legendary Heroes.
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With five days left until the end of the month, the Northern Expedition Legion passed through a stretch of wooded hills and arrived before a massive pass—the entrance to the region Lin Yu had named the Western Plains.
On either side of the pass stood a city, each covering about nine square kilometers. Between them stretched a twenty-kilometer-long flatland, which was now occupied by the encampments of various lords.
Flanking the pass were towering, cloud-piercing mountain ranges. Their steep cliffs were shrouded in mist, their true height unknown.
The sight brought the vanguard of the Northern Expedition Legion to a halt.
"What are you doing up there? Get moving! We need to get to the plains ahead and set up our tents!!!"
The lords in the rear, unaware of the situation, impatiently urged those in front to hurry up.
According to the original plan, they were supposed to exit these wooded mountains today, rest on the plains ahead, and then advance to attack the various lords on the leaderboard.
Only five days remained. There were over a dozen leaderboard lords on the plains. Time was tight and the mission was critical, so they had to make every second count.
Although the world map showed two cities at the entrance to the plains, the lords who owned them weren’t on the leaderboard. Surely, they wouldn’t dare stand against the valiant Northern Expedition Legion.
"There’s a large army blocking the way! The vanguard doesn’t dare advance!!"
News from the front quickly reached Mei Yuan and the other lords. With his grasp of basic military tactics, he knew that if they simply marched out onto the plains, they would be met with a crushing blow from the enemy forces waiting there.
"Order the vanguard not to advance onto the plains. Have them move up onto the mountains on either side to make room for the legions behind them. We’ll only move out together once everyone has reached the edge of the plains."
The Northern Expedition Legion’s numbers had now reached seven million, their column stretching for more than twenty kilometers through the mountains. If he let the lead units just march out, the enemy would surely camp the exit and slaughter them. Mei Yuan would never make such a blunder, essentially serving his troops up on a platter.
Upon hearing the order, the vanguard breathed a collective sigh of relief. Sentinels in the opposing encampment had already spotted them and dispatched several large squadrons of Cavalry Archers. The archers were now positioned a short distance away, watching them like hawks, waiting for the moment they set foot on the plains to attack.
Under the watchful eyes of the Cavalry, the Northern Expedition Legion split in two and began ascending the hills on either side.
Seeing the Northern Expedition Legion’s cautious approach, the Cavalry also pulled back slowly, observing from a safe distance.
"What a pity! Time was just too tight. We’d only just finished assembling our forces and setting up camp, and the Northern Expedition Legion is already here."
"Otherwise, we could have laid traps all over those two mountains. I guarantee the Northern Expedition Legion would have been in for a world of hurt."
Li Hua stood on a high platform, watching with considerable regret as the Northern Expedition Legion moved up the mountainside.
The lords beside him loudly agreed. Li Hua felt a headache coming on as he looked at them. Most of them were ordinary lords, and if it weren’t for their foot-dragging, the camp wouldn’t have been set up so late. Yet now, here they all were, trying to get in his good graces.
’Even if I wanted to help them in the third stage, they’d have to actually make it there first.’
’Sure, a few lords will definitely advance to the third stage after this battle, but it’s not like all of them will.’
...
More and more of the Northern Expedition Legion’s troops ascended the mountains, spreading out along the ridges. A constant stream of new soldiers emerged from the forest behind, following the path of those before them up the flanking hills.
When Mei Yuan, positioned at the very rear of the legion, finally emerged from the forest and saw the endless sea of encampments stretching across the plains, he couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.
The scouts’ reports were nothing compared to the shock of seeing it in person. Even though he had led millions of troops to conquer cities and territories, this was the first time Mei Yuan had ever seen so many legions arrayed to intercept him.
’Have the lords from the entire region gathered here?’
’Don’t they know we’re only targeting the lords on the leaderboard?’
Mei Yuan muttered to himself in confusion.
He then opened his system map and zoomed out. Looking at the twelve red dots on the map, he couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. "What a treasure trove. To think it has enough resources to support so many leaderboard lords!"
’Those ordinary lords must be their subordinates! There’s no way they’d risk their lives for these leaderboard lords otherwise. These damn trust-fund kids!!’
’This won’t be an easy fight. We might not even be able to beat them. Besides, if we take heavy losses here, the lords on the periphery will almost certainly cut and run. Then it’ll be impossible for our remaining forces to take the cities.’
Mei Yuan looked at the enemy soldiers, who were clearly a cut above his own, and felt a growing conviction that this would be a difficult battle.
"Lord Ah Pu, why don’t we have the Eye Demons possessing the heroes look for an opportunity to strike? It’s almost the end of the month anyway. With so many soldiers protecting us, we don’t have to fear being exposed and besieged by the Human Race."