Chapter 141: Breakout (5)

The Tree Elf commander, a blue‑grade officer, could not withstand a five‑person rolling attack; the others who tried to assist were repelled one by one by Li Bucai, leaving only her surrounded in the circle. After a few rounds, Young Marshal landed a Stab to her abdomen, and after the strike she surged forward, cutting a breach; as she was about to charge out, she leapt and successfully broke through the encirclement.

Li Bucai, seeing the breakout succeed, turned and charged back, linking up with Yin Ji and Yan Ji, using the Wind‑Rushing Stab to forge a path, breaking out of the enemy formation and returning to the Dark Night Elf side.

That Tree Elf unit, whose commander was suddenly slain, fell into chaos.

At this moment the Tree Elf clan chief had already ascended the peak, overseeing from above, directing the five columns of troops with his staff. Seeing the second column in disarray, he immediately sent a protector to take over; as the protector entered the formation, order was restored. To prevent further mishaps, the commander quickly combined with the three nearest columns for a rapid encirclement.

Li Bucai had already spotted the third column appearing in the valley to the south, composed of a horde of Goblins and a few Tree Elves, about 1,500 in total. Seeing them quicken their advance, he ordered everyone to retreat backward, pulling out of the formation before the three columns could encircle. From the foothill of He Rui Peak, he turned a mountain bend, and far ahead saw a troop of riders gathering toward this side.

This was the Tree Elf's fifth column, while the fourth column was currently looping toward another valley mouth, preparing to cut off their retreat.

The troops before them were entirely Tree Elf archers, about 800 strong; a stream ahead blocked them, but the elves, naturally adept at swimming, were not hindered in their march, yet they held their position and did not advance.

Li Bucai realized they intended to hold a strict formation, waiting for the three rear columns; once those arrived, he would drive them into the water and have both sides fire simultaneously to annihilate them all.

The pursuing forces behind were only two li away from catching up; the only route left was the valley leading to the Daka Territory beyond the mountain. If they crossed the river, this river—formed by several converging streams—was deep, and Dark Night Elves entering the water would suffer a severe reduction in their evasion against incoming arrows.

Li Bucai ordered all **** to ready arrows; the Crossbow's range exceeded that of the bow, so they fired at a 45‑degree angle, forcing the Tree Elf archers out of range. Seizing the chance, he led a portion of his men to cross the river first; after the crossing, they covered the rear troops, and after inflicting over twenty casualties, they finally succeeded in crossing.

This was the breakthrough point of the encirclement; with no chance to rotate, they could only fight their way out here. Li Bucai charged first into the enemy formation, sowing disorder, while Dark Night Elf **** fired toward both flanks. At that moment, the sound of hooves rose ahead; Young Marshal led cavalry in, and Li Bucai hurriedly ordered the **** to dodge to the sides. As the cavalry surged forward, they drove the Tree Elf troops into the river; then he ordered the **** to fire at them again. The Tree Elves leapt into the deep water, making evasion difficult and complicating arrow loading. After a rain of arrows, the troops that had intended to encircle were left with hardly any survivors.

The three pursuing columns only now reached the riverbank, standing on the opposite shore and unwilling to cross lightly. At that moment, a column from the northwest charged in. Since the Tree Elves, locked with the Dark Night Elves' main force, were down to 3,000 troops, and after eliminating the fifth column they had 2,200 left, the northwest attackers were entirely Goblins, about 2,000 in number; most adult Goblins had already fallen, leaving only juvenile Goblins.

Li Bucai ordered the **** to hold the riverbank, sending cavalry to charge. After several rounds of assault, they slashed over 800 Goblins; the remaining were scattered by the cavalry and fled into the woods. Young Marshal ceased pursuit and joined forces with Li Bucai and the others.

A few hundred cavalry arrived, and with the Dark Night Elves the total rose to about 600, while Yue Ji led 300 infantry from behind.

The Tree Elf clan chief on the peak observed that, in an instant, two columns had been lost, and their remaining forces now matched his own for a positional counter‑attack. Waving his staff, the three river‑side columns merged into one, and the Tree Elves split into two squads: one held the riverbank, the other turned back.

Li Bucai and his allies anticipated their division, abandoned the riverbank, led everyone to retreat, and sent spies to covertly monitor the river‑bank squad.

At this moment Young Marshal and his men had already brought over everyone's mounts.

Young Marshal said, "Let's keep dividing into two squads; I'll send cavalry around to charge the troops they split off, and also to support Yue Ji's group."

Li Bucai thought, "Going around this mountain will take at least dozens of li; when you arrived, how far was Yue Ji from you? Did you tell her to move toward this side?"

"They're on foot, about ten‑plus li away; they should be coming this way now, right?"

"If so, the enemy won't catch up to them before Yue Ji meets us; with the enemy forces divided, it's an excellent chance to eliminate them—slow down and keep retreating."

The troops moved forward at a slow pace, awaiting Rui Tong's report.

Before long, Rui Tong ran toward them from a distance.

Li Bucai hurriedly asked, "Did they cross the river?"

"No, they saw us move away and are now converging with another column."

"How far is the column ahead?"

"They've already turned a mountain bend; I estimate at least two‑plus li between us."

At this point Li Bucai's force was already more than two li away from that river; the enemy also seemed cautious, intending to unite their forces and block the retreat path to the narrow valley, planning to launch a decisive battle there.

Both sides were now on the far side of He Rui Peak, each about ten‑plus li from the mountain‑road entrance leading to the narrow valley.

Young Marshal also anticipated their attempt to cut off the retreat and said, "Let the cavalry go first; they can reach there ahead of them."

The enemy, even with the Goblins, still numbered three to four thousand. Li Bucai shook his head and said, "Our numbers are already few; dividing our forces now would likely be broken apart. Even if we won, they'd be at the mountain‑road entrance, already withdrawn up the slope, making it hard to draw them out again."

"But if they seize that point first, only a hundred men guard the narrow valley; should they split and assault the valley, its loss would let them march straight in and attack your village."

Li Bucai said, "Their focus is still on us; I doubt they'll split forces in the short term. Even if they do, the narrow valley is a natural choke point, and the Tree Elves are merely archers; capturing it would take days and heavy casualties—they can't take it."

"If they split, we can defeat them by attacking on separate fronts?"

Li Bucai nodded and said, "Right now they're unaware of the narrow valley's reality; they're padding their numbers with villagers, about five hundred. Until they defeat us, they won't dare rashly attack the valley. Everyone's exhausted after a day and night; let's rest here, eat something, and let them come to us for battle. Rui Tong, go bring Yue Ji and her group over."

Everyone dismounted, took out food, and shared it with the Dark Night Elves, who do not eat meat and subsist on fungi and leaves; after thanking Li Bucai, the Dark Night Elves produced their own provisions.