Chapter 120: The Stubborn Goblin (I)

Goblin Chieftain revealed a snarling smile, baring his teeth as he said, "Is this the fool who has been hiding at the world's edge for tens of thousands of years and dares to appear? Hahaha… those Undead fools actually allied with you cowardly‑as‑mice fools, thought they'd find you beyond the mountain, and didn't expect they'd walk right into the trap themselves."

The people of Sky City hid in Sky City for tens of thousands of years, the Goblins for tens of thousands of years could not find their shadow. In the old days, the Goblins' food was mostly stolen from humans. Since humans disappeared from this continent, for a long period the Goblins lost that important food source, truly suffering, could not find any human shadow anywhere, so among the Goblins it was rumored that humans fled to the world's edge. Because they could always successfully steal food under the eyes of many races, those races that had been robbed considered them fools.

When Goblins speak, a squeaking sound always comes from their throats; ordinary people cannot understand them. Since Li Bucai obtained that Ring from the Void Illusion Realm, he can understand all Spirit Beast languages and can communicate with all Spirit Beasts.

Li Bucai laughed majestically: "Lord of Flower Pool Li Bucai now comes to take over this land, hereby formally warns all Goblins within Huachi: anyone who disobeys will be expelled from this land."

The Goblins sneered loudly: "Hahaha… what a land taker, what a one to be expelled from this land. Now we officially issue a notice to you: if you want to stay here obediently, you must present one hundred thousand units of fresh fish each month, and you must not cross Wolong Shanmai; otherwise, the first to be expelled from this land will be you fools."

Li Bucai, too lazy to argue with a beast, turned his gaze like a cold arrow at it, snatched the Scepter from behind, intending to spar, but the Goblin Chieftain gave a snarling smile, turned and fled back.

He led the Goblins back to the formation front, shouting, "Minions, give me a good lesson for these arrogant ones." As the formation gate opened, returning to the great array's center, a command was given: the five front Goblin Blade Badge Warrior units advanced, and twenty meters behind each Blade Badge Warrior unit, five archer units stood; under the protection of the Blade Badge Warriors, they began to move forward.

At this moment Li Bucai also returned to the array, ordered the cavalry to retreat another mile; ordered Wu Zhuoyue and Yin Ji to move the archers to the flank; the Undead stepped forward, the Blade Badge Warriors held the formation, the whole army could not advance a step, and also could not retreat an inch.

The Goblins formed ten small square formations, arranged in two rows; whereas Li Bucai placed a large square formation directly ahead, with two small square formations on the left and right, then the cavalry formed a square formation and withdrew a mile.

When the Goblin square formation delivered the archers into range, they halted, the front archers performed a probing volley; they knew the front of the enemy formation were Undead, and would never waste an arrow rain on the Undead, so they conducted a probing volley out of concern that other people were mixed inside.

After one volley, no half a person fell in Li Bucai's formation, the Goblins stopped shooting; the original five front Blade Badge Warrior units each split into two detachments, one pressing the front, the other slowly advancing, spreading the line from a small square into a horizontal line that blocked all passages; behind the front archers, five spear units had also advanced, slipping through the gaps of the archers and mixing with the advancing Blade Badge Warriors, thickening the horizontal line continuously.

The Goblin horizontal line had entered the archers' range, yet Li Bucai still had not ordered the arrows to be released, still holding the formation; the Young Marshal hurriedly said, "They have formed a horizontal line; if we send cavalry to charge through now, we can break them up. Once the formation is broken, they will surely be defeated. What are we waiting for?"

This horizontal line gathered over a thousand Goblins; at a glance it seemed a dense single row, but upon close inspection Li Bucai saw that each Goblin was spaced two meters apart, with the first and second rows staggered. If cavalry charged through, there would inevitably be more than half a meter between each rider; this Goblin stance allows them to slip through the horse's gaps. Of course Li Bucai could also have the cavalry interlace forward, making them unavoidable, but they knowingly kept cavalry and turned the spear square into a horizontal line, not using a dense square to counter cavalry, clearly using this formation for a reverse encirclement.

Although Goblins are beasts, they are cunning; if they were the opponent's commander, they would, without regard for their own casualties, form this formation, and when the enemy cavalry arrives they can quickly merge into several wedge formations containing spearmen; the cavalry would not dare charge straight into the formation, only pass beside it. Then they revert to the horizontal line, Blade Badge Warriors on the outside block the enemy infantry, while spearmen turn to cut off the cavalry's retreat. Behind them are another two thousand Goblins, including wolf cavalry; using the rear thousand Goblins to block the cavalry's path would surround the cavalry completely, leaving them no way forward or back, unable to charge. The Goblins outnumber the cavalry several times; with this formation they can easily swallow the less than five hundred cavalry.

Li Bucai glanced at the Young Marshal, gave no response; the Goblin horizontal line kept advancing step by step, now only fifty meters away.

The Young Marshal hurriedly said, "Since we won't let the cavalry charge, we should at least let the archers fire. If we don't fire soon, they'll press forward without harming a single soldier. I truly regret issuing a military order to you; had I known you were so indecisive, I shouldn't have joined this fun with you."

The gaps in the Goblin line are too large, so the archers' hit rate is low; moreover, with Blade Badge Warriors ahead, firing can only slow their advance, and each person carries a limited number of arrows—only fifty per person in their packs. In this battle Li Bucai intends to massively eliminate the enemy's living forces; arrows must be shot, but the primary task now is to change their formation, forcing them to find it hard to revert the horizontal line back into small squares.

Li Bucai laughed, "Since the Young Marshal can't stand watching, you need not stay here any longer. Return to your troops; from now until tomorrow morning, all your cavalry are under your command."