Chapter 394: Rock Mountain Jiedian — The Plan, Snowboards, and the Stalking Wolf

The battlefield will ultimately remain here, but it will not be in one single place.

Simply put, when the final battle occurs, the Knight and the Wolf King will fight in one location, while the Hunters and the Northern Wolf Pack will fight in another.

The terrain of Rock Mountain has no impact on the battle between Knight Lanisha and the Wolf King; on the contrary, it would disrupt the Hunters' battle. Therefore, their battlefield cannot be here.

Speaking of this, Jier pointed in the direction leading downward from the Rock Passage: "That nearby forest directly facing the entrance and exit of the Rock Passage is just right."

Knight Lanisha stood up to take a look, exchanged glances with several old hunters, and then nodded, signaling for Jier to continue and finish explaining the rest of the plan.

The Knight's battlefield is there, while the Hunters' battlefield is naturally here.

The Rock Passage is not very spacious; for the Northern Wolf Pack, it is crowded enough that at most four or five Northern Wolves can charge side-by-side during a fight, so fighting here has the benefit of compressing the Northern Wolf Pack's numerical advantage for the Hunters.

Jier then mentioned the assistance the height of the Rock Passage provides for the arrows when shooting downward, as well as the open field of vision. If the Hunters were on flat ground, they would not have such an advantage. Furthermore, in the forest, it would actually be disadvantageous for the Hunters' shooting, because the Northern Wolves could, as before, use the tree trunks in the forest to dodge arrows and, in a manner similar to trench warfare, use the trunks to approach the Hunters.

And in the Rock Passage, apart from the winding upward path obstructing shooting, there are no other objects to hide behind.

This will be greatly advantageous for the Hunters' battle.

Besides this, Jier also took a piece of paper out of his backpack, drew the route of the Rock Passage on it, and according to the degree of the passage's bends, divided it into four small battlefields, from the passage entrance to the Jiedian, and even up to the top of Rock Mountain.

By using the rocks and tree trunk timber from above the two sides of the passage to create several simple defensive positions, using the bends of the Rock Passage as boundaries, this way, the Hunters can all go into action each time, fight the Northern Wolf Pack, then retreat in sequence, and fight again at the next position.

And the Northern Wolf Pack will need to face another wave of the death passage after laboriously attacking the next section of the passage.

Everyone felt that this part of Jier's plan was very good, but starting from now, they needed to hurry out to fell trees, yet it would be very difficult to get Jier's envisioned positions ready before the Northern Wolf Pack gathered.

Jier also knew his plan was good, but there was not enough time. It was a pity that everyone had wasted the previous time; otherwise, no matter what, he would have insisted on pushing until their stamina was exhausted to get these things built.

Knight Lanisha, however, told everyone not to worry, because Jier was clearly calm in his mood and did not appear very regretful or flustered.

"Jier, tell us, how should we squeeze out the time to prepare the positions?" Knight Lanisha tilted her chin at Jier, smiling as she told Jier not to keep them in suspense anymore.

Scratching his head, Jier then explained his follow-up plan to seize time.

It is not complicated; simply put, it is to split the team: one part of the manpower will step up construction of the battle positions here at the Jiedian, while the other part of the team, under the leadership of Knight Lanisha, will sally forth from the Rock Mountain Jiedian to actively obstruct the gathering of the Northern Wolf Pack.

Either harass them, or forcibly lure away the Wolf King who can lead and manage the large group of Northern Wolves, or simply, after attracting the main force of the Northern Wolf Pack, lead them in circles in the forest.

In short, do whatever it takes to delay the Northern Wolf Pack's time.

However, the key point is that this is only an expedient measure to delay time, not really saying that they are going to have a decisive battle with the Northern Wolf Pack and the Wolf King in the forest.

That would be too disadvantageous for the Human side.

Everyone was silent for a while. Everyone realized that this team going out to obstruct and delay the gathering time of the Wolf Pack was truly a mission with nine deaths and one life. Several old hunters had the intention to step forward, but before they could speak, Knight Lanisha reached out to stop them from talking.

"I have no problem myself; those Northern Wolves cannot do anything to me. The problem is, without enough horses to carry people, in the forest, the hunters going out with me simply cannot outrun the Northern Wolves. Not to mention the Wolf King. Jier, if you have any solution for this, just say it directly. Otherwise, the people going out this time cannot possibly come back alive."

"If the team were to die in vain like this, then it would be better to be like the previous few years. If the Northern Wolves gather, then let them gather; we will avoid them and withdraw from the forest. After the large group of wolves leaves again, we will return. Anyway, this winter is long; if there is no other way, entangling and confronting them for the whole winter is not a problem."

Knight Lanisha expressed her meaning at this time: if they cannot defeat the Northern Wolf Pack with an advantage, then drag out the time; do not be in a hurry to solve the wolf pack, but slowly deal with the scattered Northern Wolves bit by bit.

Although it is possible that this will not completely eradicate the Wolf King and the Northern Wolf Pack in one go, if this year doesn't work, then come back next winter. Although it might let those wolf cubs grow up completely, even so, it would only be returning to the situation of a few years ago.

It is not too bad, after all.

Regarding this, Jier directly brought out his solution.

It is really very simple: use timber to make a few snowboards on the spot that can be pulled by horses, and tie them to the back of Knight Lanisha's warhorse with ropes. This way, as long as Knight Lanisha's warhorse moves faster than the Northern Wolves, those wolves will not be able to keep up with the overall speed of the team.

The hunters looked at each other, feeling that Jier's method was a bit ridiculous. Knight Lanisha's warhorse, to tell the truth, has a status even higher than them, the hunters. After all, that is the Knight's battle partner; using it to pull a snowboard carrying hunters is truly too presumptuous and rude.

A few young hunters were eager to try, but an old hunter grabbed the young man and slapped him on the head while he was still excited. He looked nervously at Knight Lanisha to apologize.

To their surprise, after Knight Lanisha looked at Jier, she instead rested her chin on her hand and fell into deep thought, clearly considering and hesitating.

Seeing that the female Knight was hesitating and did not reprimand Jier for being rude, he hurriedly added a sentence: "To defeat those Northern Wolves, it is an expedient measure. And it's not riding on the horse, just tying a rope pulling the snowboard behind the Muan or the horse armor. This method can only be used after the winter snowfall; it hasn't snowed for many days, and if the time drags on, who knows if this method will still be usable."

Knight Lanisha suddenly stood up, ignored everyone, and instead came to her horse. She leaned her head to the warhorse's ear and whispered something to the horse.

Jier watched with wide eyes; that strong warhorse, following the female Knight's whispering, nodded for a while and shook its head for a while. Finally, although it snorted with some dissatisfaction and glared fiercely at Jier, making Jier feel somewhat baffled.

Knight Lanisha patted the warhorse's lowered head, smoothed the hair on the horse's neck encouragingly, and then walked back to the campfire with a smile.

"It agreed. If it is to defeat those wolves, to give, to take revenge." She paused here: "Then it reluctantly agreed."

Although he did not know what the female Knight did not say, Jier was not curious either; he hurriedly took out some timber and, with the help of his companions, barely made a snowboard with a smooth bottom using an axe.

This thing was over a meter long, with a hole opened at the front. He passed the rope through it and tied a complex knot. Everyone hurriedly came to the open space outside Rock Mountain.

The snow on the ground was a bit thin because it had not snowed for many days, and because they had walked back and forth at the entrance and exit of the Rock Passage, the snow was trampled even thinner.

Fortunately, although there was no snowfall, there was no sunny sky either; the thick overcast clouds even blocked the loss of cold air from the ground and the irradiation of sunlight, so throughout the forest, it was still covered in white snow everywhere.

Jier watched Knight Lanisha tie the rope to the back of the horse armor, but in his heart, he thought of the roads inside and outside Kendall City, thinking that those roads must have already been trampled into mud everywhere by pedestrians and travelers.

Considering the cold weather, that mud might even be frozen on the roads, and then crushed into fine ice dregs by the wheels of carriages.

A young man volunteered to stand on the snowboard, the extra section of rope at the front was grabbed in his hand, and then he stood upright.

As a result, Knight Lanisha only signaled for her warhorse to move forward, and the sudden acceleration immediately caused the young man standing on the snowboard to fall face-first into the snow.

"Will it work?" Someone had no hope for this. The people of Kendall County mostly migrated from the Empire; most of the Empire is in regions with a mild climate, and although winter is also cold, there is rarely large-scale snowfall. And after coming to Kendall County, every winter, the people basically hide in the villages and rarely go out of the village to play.

"I heard that the people of that Kingdom in the Northern Border seem to go out in winter by relying on this method."

"It seems so. I remember that for them, one-third of the year is winter, and when they go out, they sit in snow sleds pulled by reindeer."

"That would be nice; having a place to sit, at least you wouldn't fall out like this."

The young man tried several times, and each time he was either knocked down or thrown off when starting. He was quite discouraged, but Knight Lanisha had figured out what should be done.

"Idiot! Don't ski, ski what was it?"

"Snowboard," Jier replied.

"Right, don't stand so straight on the snowboard; stand sideways, and keep your legs one in front and one behind, spread them! Bend your waist slightly too. Try again!" The female Knight loudly directed the young hunter's movements.

The testing young hunter awkwardly positioned his body according to the Knight's instructions, then nervously grabbed the rope with one hand again, lowering his center of gravity.

He had actually also mastered some techniques just now.

Soon, Knight Lanisha waved at her warhorse, and the warhorse obediently began to run forward.

However, this time, the snowboard being dragged behind and the person on it were not thrown off.

The snowboard rose and fell slightly with the undulations of the snow on the ground, and the hunter's bent legs cushioned the vibrations caused by the undulations very well. He became excited; his face quickly brushed past the cold air, and there was also the sound of whistling past his ears.

"Oh!!" He shouted happily.

Everyone in the distance thought he was in terror, but when they listened carefully, the sound was full of excitement.

The test was a success.

Jier and the Hunters quickly got to work making three more crude snowboards, all of which were tied in sequence behind the warhorses. This weight was a bit of a burden for the warhorses, but not too heavy; Knight Lanisha considered it for a moment and removed the metal horse armor from the left and right sides of the warhorses' midsections. The warhorses' speed returned to normal, even while pulling four Hunters.

Since they had such a useful method, Knight Lanisha immediately picked two veteran Hunters and two young Hunters, a total of four people, to follow her out and delay the gathering time of the Northland Wolves.

Time waits for no one, and she assigned tasks to everyone. The team going out would naturally be commanded by her the whole way. As for the others remaining at the Rock Mountain Jiedian, Jier was responsible for organizing everyone to build the defensive positions that would be used in the coming battle, and during this time, if they occasionally encountered combat, everyone would still be commanded by the two remaining veteran Hunters.

After a simple cleanup, Knight Lanisha set off with the four Hunters.

Just as expected, with the towed snowboards, the entire team's movement speed was entirely dependent on the speed of the warhorses. Even though Knight Lanisha let the warhorses she was riding slow down slightly to ensure the four Hunters behind her had a stable ride, the team's movement speed still far exceeded what it had been before by several times.

Looking at the stable terrain of the Forest, she felt that with this method, the entire team would gain the initiative in the battle against the Northland Wolves.

As long as they didn't run headlong into the Wolf King.

To return to the other side of the story.

After the Knight took her people and set off to buy time, Jier and the others immediately set out to go to the Forest to fell trees.

Some of the Wolf Pack scouts that Knight Lanisha had mentioned were indeed hiding behind the looming tree trunks in the distance of the Forest, secretly watching them.

At first, Jier and the others didn't care much, but being watched like this while working was really annoying. After discussing it with the veteran Hunters, they also felt that being watched like this would affect their work.

So everyone put their heads together and did two things.

The veteran Hunters were proficient in Hunting, so setting traps was naturally a matter of course. After carefully judging the habitual positions of the Wolf Pack scouts that were tailing them, everyone brought out some Metal Clamps and quietly set them up nearby, while also concealing the traces of their coming and going.

Of course, every place where a Metal Clamp was set up had a mark left high on the tree trunk, making it impossible to miss. Unlike Humans, the Northland Wolves, which walked on four limbs, had a very low center of gravity, and their heads and eyes were naturally very low as well; while this body shape was convenient for running, attacking, eating, and sniffing, it was inevitable that their line of sight could only be kept very low.

They simply could not see the conspicuous marks the veteran Hunters had specially left high on the tree trunks.

On the other hand, besides setting up Metal Clamps, Jier also boldly worked alone in the Forest near Rock Mountain. He was armored and fully armed. While using a blue Two-handed Axe to chop down large trees of suitable size, he boldly exposed his back to the Northland Wolf scouts tailing him.

At first, nothing happened, but as the veteran Hunters' tactics worked one after another, several Northland Wolf scouts had their legs snapped by the Metal Clamps. Although by the time Jier and the others followed the wails of the Northland Wolves to the scene, basically only the closed Metal Clamps and half a paw bitten off by the desperate Northland Wolves remained between the teeth of the clamps.

Although it was only half a paw, everyone was an expert who had killed many Northland Wolves, so they naturally knew that a Northland Wolf missing a leg could not possibly threaten them in the subsequent battle.

If they failed and didn't cause much damage to the Wolf Pack this winter, these crippled Northland Wolves could naturally survive in the pack once the wolf pups grew up the following year.

If they succeeded, even if the crippled Northland Wolves ran back to the wolf den and lived until the following year, they would starve to death in the days to come. The Northland Wolves' momentum would be gone, and individual crippled Northland Wolves would naturally find it very difficult to survive in the Forest.

After injuring several Northland Wolf scouts, the number of those spying on them decreased significantly. But Jier still went out to work alone; he was certain that the fierce-natured Northland Wolves would not swallow their anger.

Sure enough, although they no longer approached the place where everyone was working, at a gloomy dusk, when Jier was about to boldly work through the night, several somewhat emaciated Northland Wolves suddenly jumped out of the snow at the place where he had been chopping trees during the day.

Looking at these emaciated Northland Wolf scouts, Jier calmly took the axe into his hand.

"Looks like you haven't been hunting or eating properly lately just to keep an eye on us?" Jier said, which counted as talking to himself, because the Northland Wolves opposite him could not understand Human speech.

"Come on, come on. My hands are itching." Carrying the axe, Jier boldly walked toward the Northland Wolves surrounding him.

"Woo-woo." The Northland Wolves growled viciously in low voices; failing to feel fear or panic from the Human made them feel that something was wrong. But the opponent was only one person, while they were several times the number of the Human. Victory is mine!

Attack.

After the Northland Wolves, which had surrounded him from all directions, roared in unison, they lunged at Jier simultaneously. But Jier ignored the Northland Wolves on his sides and behind him, and charged directly at the Northland Wolf lunging straight at him.

Without using his Shield, he simply held the axe with both hands, keeping the axe face and blade facing the enemy, and without swinging it, he just thrust it straight forward like the Ram Horn of a warship.

His face, without the Faceplate closed, was exposed, allowing the lunging Northland Wolf to see Jier's mouth grinning in excitement.

Although puzzled, the Northland Wolf had no time to think. It tried to dodge before colliding with the Human. But Jier bent over and lunged, colliding with it before the Northland Wolf could dodge.

Thud, hiss.

First came the impact, then the sharp axe blade sliced a half-meter-long gash into the Northland Wolf's body.

Its already pitiful and thin body didn't know how many ribs had broken during the impact, and the wound on its back had its flesh rolled back, revealing the bone beneath the fur and muscle.

After the impact, Jier freed his left hand to grab the wailing Northland Wolf, then swung his right hand with the axe and threw it, hitting the head of a Northland Wolf that was trying to sneak attack him from behind and ended up pouncing on nothing.

The sharp and heavy axe face smashed half of that Northland Wolf's face, and even got stuck bloody in the Northland Wolf's face; the wound was quite deep, making the wail in the mouth of the Northland Wolf, which had lost a large portion of its teeth, unable to come out.

With both hands free, Jier grabbed the Northland Wolf he had caught with his left hand, held it horizontally, and threw it at the two Northland Wolves in front of him.

Watching the three Northland Wolves crash into a pile, Jier hooked his Shield from behind his left shoulder with his left hand and drew his Long Sword from his left waist with his right hand.

Clang.

A sharp, ringing sound of a blade being drawn echoed.

In the dusk of the Forest, the young man who had just grown out of his boyhood turned to slaughter several ferocious beasts.

It seemed he was going to weigh exactly who was the truly lethal one in the Forest.