Chapter 117: Campaign to Lotus Flower Valley

Life Spring is a holy spring that can nurture life; for tens of thousands of years the Undead have relied on this spring to proliferate to the present. Now it has fallen into the hands of Goblins, who are among the most greedy predators on this continent. Li Bucai arrived here only a few days ago and was already harassed by Goblins, and now they have seized the Life Spring. Goblins themselves are a race with a strong breeding ability, capable of becoming combat‑ready a month after birth. Now they also possess the Life Spring, and it lies less than a hundred li from Li Bucai's Territory. If they are not eliminated soon, countless Goblins will cross Wolong Shanmai, slaughter his people, and later it will be even harder to eradicate them. {Www. Shouda8. Com first release hand. hit/}

Therefore, even though the Goblins now far outnumber Li Bucai's forces, and this battle will certainly be difficult, before they become great we must eliminate them in Lotus Flower Valley and retake the Life Spring.

At dawn, Yue Ji, following Li Bucai's orders, had already mustered the troops and lined them up neatly on the open ground.

This battle is truly a matter of survival; if victorious, Li Bucai's actual control over his Territory could extend a hundred li, and the Life Spring is a strategic resource crucial to the Undead's very existence. If defeated, Li Bucai's power would be greatly weakened, the Goblins would likely pursue the victory, and he might be left without even a foothold, which would mark his departure from the race for the title of King of Ten Thousand Nations. Therefore this battle must be won.

After that battle, Tan Jiang's fishing boats were all seized by Li Bucai, so they cannot threaten the Territory in the short term; the White Horse crossing at South Bank is an allied school‑uniform girl, and will never dispatch troops without reason, but can instead look after this side; as for the White Horse beach pass, with Li Bucai defending there, no additional guards are needed.

Therefore, apart from leaving 60 militia of Meng Ji at the Three Water Mouth Water Village to man the beacon tower, all the troops are to be transferred here. \This chapter chastity hand‑made shouda8. com\

A total of 420 soldiers and 400 villagers gathered on the open ground.

After being released from the cell in the morning, the Young Marshal had a simple breakfast with Li Bucai; by then he had already sent people to Zhuowang Hall to redeploy troops. The two stood before the formation; the Young Marshal anxiously awaited her troops, showing a hint of tension unlike many others on the brink of battle, while she wore an excited expression. The last time at Luo Ping Hai she had not been satisfied, and finally she looked forward to a chance to stretch out her hand.

Except that the Young Marshal's men had not yet arrived, Li Bucai's troops were already fully assembled and about to set out when Yan Qiu stepped out of the gate and reported to Li Bucai: "Lord, Jian Yu has returned from Sky City and is now at Tengyun Station requesting an audience with the Young Marshal; may we let her enter the pass?"

Li Bucai glanced at the Young Marshal, who had just publicly issued a military order, promising that from now until the battle ends all would obey Li Bucai's command. He opened his mouth to speak, swallowed it back, gave a cold stare to the side, and remained silent.

Li Bucai said, "Fine, in the midst of a great battle it's time to use people; let her rejoin the ranks. Tell her that if she leaves again without permission, the Huachi gate will never open for her again."

Yan Qiu left as instructed, and shortly after, footsteps sounded from the gate; Jian Yu led 200 Blade Badge Warriors out of the gate. Zou Ying could not recall the Young Marshal, and after reporting back to the Emperor, realized that once she decided, it would be hard to persuade her to return. For safety, she also assigned Jian Yu another 200 elite Blade Badge Warriors to protect the Young Marshal. She wanted to send more, but with too many offspring she could not empty the elite Imperial Guard defending the palace, and other troops needed to constantly guard against Luo Ping Hai's rebels, so she could only dispatch this many.

The Young Marshal ordered Jian Yu to have his troops join the formation; by then the people from Zhuowang Hall had also arrived. Of the 500, 50 light cavalry and 50 mounted archers were left to guard Zhuowang Hall, the remaining 400 assembled, and with civilians included, more than 1,400 gathered on the open ground.

After the troops gathered, since this was still only a village without a formal drill ground, Li Bucai began assigning tasks to the commanders in front of the soldiers.

This expedition is modest in scale, and the battle lies over a hundred li away; the enemy is strong and may stalemate for a while, not resolvable in a day or two. Before it occurs, everything must be properly arranged.

Because Yue Ji had previously attacked there, she was most familiar with the terrain. The valley west of the Wolong Shanmai pass that leads to the Shadow Valley and Lotus Flower Valley was named Corridor Valley by Li Bucai. He realized that at the junction with Lotus Flower Valley there is a one‑li‑long narrow gorge that separates two narrow valleys. The terrain there is treacherous, with a passage a dozen meters wide formed between the cliff walls, linking the two valleys. Beyond the narrow gorge lies one of the broader valleys of Lotus Flower Valley, a fairly open valley about twenty‑plus li from He Rui Peak, where the Life Spring resides. Few Goblins would operate near the narrow gorge; as long as it is held, one can attack forward or defend backward.

Yue Ji will be the vanguard, Wu Zhuoyue and Yan Ji the secondary vanguards, leading their 190 men to advance first and secure the narrow gorge before the main army arrives; these forces are sufficient.

Jing Ji's 60 cavalry form the second unit, protecting 300 villagers and departing behind Yue Ji; when Yue Ji's group secures the narrow gorge, the open ground five li from the gorge will serve as the main army's camp.

The remaining people follow Li Bucai as the third unit, departing after the second unit.

When the main army reaches the mouth of the Shadow Valley, Li Bucai orders Yin Ji to protect 100 villagers and go to the Undead settlement in the small valley to fetch saplings of the fruit trees. At that time the corpse‑poison had not fully dissipated; after Yin Ji and her party arrive, they wait outside the small valley while the villagers enter to collect seedlings of the Four‑Season Fruit. The Four‑Season Fruit is a unique plant here, blooming every two months, bearing fruit every two months, and maturing every two months; after the fruit falls it blooms and bears fruit again. Its taste is sweet; originally its yield was low, but after the Undead improved it, it bears abundant fruit and is classified as a second‑grade, eighth‑rank food among fruits and vegetables.

Because the Four‑Season Fruit has a vigorous root system, mature trees are difficult to transplant, so the villagers only take some seedlings and ripe fruit, extract the seeds, and under Yin Ji's protection leave the valley. Yin Ji escorts the villagers out of the Shadow Valley, and the villagers return to the Territory on their own; Yin Ji then leads 60 soldiers toward Lotus Flower Valley to rendezvous with Li Bucai.

When she reached the military camp five li from the narrow gorge, it was the evening of the third day. By then the main camp had been fully erected, spanning the valley, with a stream running through it, providing ample water. Facing the narrow gorge, a row of arrow towers was built, with a 10‑meter‑wide gate in the middle. Beyond the gate lay an open plain extending five li in depth; once Goblins break through the narrow gorge and reach this plain, cavalry can charge them.

Now the narrow gorge is fully under Li Bucai's control; using the main camp as a base, a wooden fortification has been erected on each side of the gorge, so any Goblin attempting to attack the Territory must pass through three treacherous passes.

When Yin Ji returned to the camp, there were only a few villagers and no soldiers. After questioning the villagers, she learned that after arriving here they had a small skirmish with Goblins, and now the Goblin army has already reached the opposite end of the narrow gorge, where Li Bucai is leading all his troops on the other side of the gorge to confront the Goblin army.

At the opposite end of the narrow gorge, on the open plain five li from the fort, Li Bucai is leading 800 troops in a square formation, awaiting battle. Opposite them, after a few hundred Goblin soldiers were defeated a day earlier, the Goblins have reassembled a force of 3,000, taking positions five li from Li Bucai, preparing for a decisive clash here, hoping to annihilate Li Bucai's troops in one blow.