Chapter 126: Clever Capture of the Enemy Leader

Li Bucai asked, "What kind of race are the Dark Night Elves? Since the Tree Elves can ally with Goblins, if we ally with the Dark Night Elves, how high do you think the success rate is?"

"The Dark Night Elves, like us, are a very isolated race; they regard all other races as enemies. If we try to ally, the success rate is less than ten percent, almost zero."

Li Bucai looked at the mountain ahead, pondered for a long time, and said, "Send the order down, have everyone pack up, withdraw the camp immediately, and retreat to the east side of the Key Pass before nightfall."

Yue Ji also knew that with so many Goblins suddenly appearing and the Tree Elves backing them, this small force could not assault them; rather than continue a stalemate, it was better to retreat early. The Goblins were already severely weakened and would not pose a great threat to the Territory; it would not be too late to seize the Life Spring later when they develop.

He replied with a sound and went down to convey the order to the troops.

"Li Bucai, we fought hard to get here, why retreat now!" Li Bucai was still standing on the arrow tower contemplating a plan when the Young Marshal rushed over and questioned him, "Even if we retreat, why didn't we do it yesterday and waited until the camp was fortified? Isn't that a waste of manpower and resources?"

"There are over ten thousand Goblins on this mountain, and they defend the forest pass; does the Young Marshal have any good strategy to capture it in a short time?"

"We could set fire to the mountain, bring all the villagers over, have them cut trees and pile them at the foot of the mountain; once the fire spreads, the smoke alone would force them all down. We hold the pass, and none of them can escape."

Li Bucai had, of course, considered a fire attack, but the He Rui Peak before him was just an ordinary small hill; even if 1,000 villagers worked day and night cutting timber, it would take at least a month to encircle the foot of the mountain. Spending a month doing nothing but attacking this mountain would delay the development of the Territory, and capturing the mountain would be of little use. After a month, the Tan family brothers' ship would be completed and would certainly return; if we took the mountain then it would be fine, but we would be a fatigued force, unable to resist the Tan family brothers' main army. If we failed to take it, the Tan family brothers would come, surely send reinforcements, and the Goblins would then ambush, leaving us attacked from front and back.

Li Bucai shook his head and said, "The spring on the mountain is a sacred relic of the Undead race; as the Undead clan leader, how could I set fire to my own people's relic? A letter from the village reports an urgent matter that must be dealt with, so we can only retreat now and return later." Though he said this, what he was really considering was a quick‑victory method.

He turned to those below preparing to abandon the camp and said, "The military situation is urgent; we need to rush back with reinforcements. Apart from essential supplies, discard everything else, gather the troops immediately, and ride to aid the Territory."

The others didn't know what had happened; they were so hurried that they didn't even dismantle the camp, yet they dared not ask further, immediately gathered the troops, and when all the forces were assembled, Li Bucai said to the Young Marshal, "Your troops are elite; the villagers are now entrusted to you, I will take the rest and cover the rear."

Li Bucai refused to bring all the villagers over, and the Young Marshal had no other plan, so he led the cavalry to protect the villagers as they retreated along the road they came from; once the villagers had moved a certain distance, Li Bucai led the infantry to fall back afterward.

……

The Goblins on He Rui Peak kept a close watch on their movements, sending a rider to follow them tightly from behind.

In the evening, the rider reported: "My lord, they kept retreating through the narrow pass, withdrawing all their forces from the narrow valley, and made no stop, fleeing overnight toward Wolong Mountain."

The Goblin Chieftain, standing on the summit, heard the report and laughed aloud, "They retreat so hastily; something must have happened over that mountain. You little ones, follow me and catch up before they cross Wolong Mountain, to avenge our fallen brothers!"

The platform erupted with a chorus of cheering "cheer‑cheer" sounds.

"You brats, don't just stand idle; go into their camp and see if there's any good stuff left, then set out!"

The Goblins quickly mounted the wolves; five hundred wolf riders charged down He Rui Peak, while the rest of the Goblins walked down the mountain, storming into the abandoned camp and turning it into chaos.

The Goblin Chieftain led the wolf riders all the way to the mouth of the narrow valley; Li Bucai had already sealed it with a wooden wall, but the wooden gate was now wide open, and the items inside were left scattered on the ground. The Goblins, being greedy, saw many usable items and began to pick them up.

The Goblin Chieftain stopped them and said, "So many good things left here; it seems they have a big problem behind them. You little ones, put the loot down and follow me to catch up, give them a good lesson, leave this place for the brats, and when we return, it will be without you."

He then led the wolf riders through the other valley mouth, which was just as littered with items, and even the large camp outside the valley was completely empty.

When the Goblins chased up to the shadowed valley, they still saw no sign of anyone. Logically, at their walking retreat speed they should have caught up by now, yet there was still no trace. Seeing the steep terrain on both sides, the Goblin Chieftain grew uneasy and hurriedly halted the troops.

At that moment, a torch's light suddenly flared up in the adjacent forest.

"Bad, an ambush! Quickly, retreat!" Before the Goblin Chieftain could finish speaking, a hail of arrows shot out from the forest; many Goblins were caught off guard, and dozens fell, the arrow rain continued unabated. In the chaos, the Goblins scrambled to retreat, and the Goblin Chieftain led a group out of the arrow rain's range, only to see a blaze of fire rise ahead, with hundreds of cavalry charging forward, torches aloft.

The two cavalry units met head‑on and collided in an instant. The Goblins were ill‑prepared; only a little over a hundred Goblin riders emerged from the arrow rain, and when they were struck by the charge of several hundred iron‑clad cavalry, they were instantly swept away like fallen blossoms in a stream.

Li Bucai and the Young Marshal moved side by side forward to locate the Goblin Chieftain. When they found him, Li Bucai took a thick rope from his pouch and tossed the other end to the Young Marshal, who caught it steadily. At that moment the Goblin Chieftain charged, and the two quickly spurred their horses apart to the sides. In the darkness the Chieftain focused on the two and failed to notice the rope between them, which struck his chest squarely. Since both were sprinting at full speed, the rope caught on his chest; the two together seized it and pulled the Chieftain off the wolf's back, slamming him heavily onto the ground and dragging him a short distance. They then circled around the Goblin Chieftain several times, binding him tightly; no matter how strong he was, he could not break free from the two‑centimetre‑diameter rope.

With the Chieftain captured, the Goblins' combat power plummeted to the bottom of the valley; they were powerless to resist, and with no effort at all they completely annihilated the five hundred wolf riders.

Li Bucai left a portion of his men to clean the battlefield, led the cavalry to turn back and charge forward. At that moment, countless juvenile Goblins, under the command of adult Goblins, were rummaging for usable items in the four camps; with no defense, the several hundred iron cavalry charged in, completely unable to be stopped.

Li Bucai aimed to cut off the Goblins' retreat routes; as for these camps, they were simple marching forts, and their destruction mattered little. Rather than linger to eliminate the Goblins' living forces, he relied on the cavalry's speed advantage to ride straight through the camps, reaching the front before they could send word.

By the time they reached the camp below He Rui Peak, it had already been completely looted by the Goblins; they had long returned to the summit, leaving the camp empty.

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First chapter delivered; two more chapters will follow later.