Chapter 1085: Change of Strategy

Lu had brought over six thousand men this time. They had ample resources to pursue and attack the Bailong people along the way, even having enough strength to employ relay tactics. Yet, at this moment, he suddenly found himself stretched thin.

If those thousand-plus soldiers hadn't fallen into the water, he would now have over three thousand men. Wouldn't dealing with the new enemy's sneak attack be a much more stable situation?

However, there are no "ifs" on the battlefield.

As those thousand-plus men struggled in the water, he had no choice but to redeploy the four hundred men originally dispatched for rescue to guard the beach with arrows! Those were elite soldiers he had painstakingly trained, and Ulu's heart bled at the thought.

Earlier, he had sent his last remaining men to Luting Beach, determined to conquer the Bailong tribe in one swift move. But now, new enemies had emerged from the sea, heading straight for Storm Bay!

Storm Bay and Luting Beach were still several miles apart.

As his personal guards fired signal arrows to mobilize troops, Ulu still felt a chill down his spine and sweat on his nose.

Since the end of the War of National Defense, he had never again found himself in such a perilous situation.

“Go, link up with the main army as quickly as possible!” Surrounded by two hundred personal guards, Ulu swiftly moved towards the main army. The enemy was landing on the beach, and their next step would surely be to capture him first.

Therefore, returning to the army a step earlier meant being safe a step earlier.

Storm Bay was a natural deep-water harbor, large enough for ships carrying four to five hundred people, though their entry speed was very slow.

Therefore, the first to land were small and medium-sized sea vessels. Besides the soldiers on board paddling, Yin Kui creatures also towed the boats in the water, making their speed astonishingly fast.

He Lingchuan knew well that this surprise attack and relief operation hinged entirely on speed.

The Bailong tribe had too many civilians. To evacuate forty thousand people quickly, the main transfer had to occur at Storm Bay, as Luting Beach could only accommodate a maximum of ten small to medium-sized ships at a time.

Leaving aside the challenge of moving civilians to Storm Bay, such a large number of ships approaching the bay would ordinarily attract the attention of the Ya Kingdom's army. However, he also needed to get all his forces onto the island before Ulu could react, or his chances of victory would be at least halved.

This meant he had to employ some stratagems.

As expected, the Yangshan Guard encountered no particularly fierce attacks from their approach to their landing at Storm Bay—

The Ya Kingdom's army was still en route to Storm Bay and hadn't arrived yet.

The Yangshan Guard had been a step faster.

As soon as He Lingchuan landed on the island, his personal guards fired two signal arrows skyward a dozen yards away, exploding into red and yellow smoke trails in the night sky.

This was a signal to Lu Qingbang and the Bailong people: Reinforcements had successfully landed at Storm Bay!

Beach landing operations were always the most dangerous, incurring the heaviest casualties. However, the Yangshan Guard executed a perfectly timed maneuver this time, resulting in negligible casualties. Qiu Hu personally led a thousand men to assault the four hundred Ya army soldiers guarding the port.

Although the Ya army soldiers had elemental power for protection, the sight of a vast horde of enemy troops landing, especially the dense and spectacular large ships, along with snake-people moving about on the beach, made them instinctively flinch from battle when they saw their own sparse numbers.

Qiu Hu, with numerical superiority and the momentum of a fierce tiger descending a mountain, effortlessly scattered these four hundred men, who were eventually forced to hide in the forest.

The Yangshan Guard accelerated their landing, seizing the golden window before the enemy's main forces arrived, and successfully completed the full contingent's landing on the island.

What about He Lingchuan?

He was far from satisfied!

Even though the Yangshan Guard's beach landing was remarkably smooth, this was merely a prelude; the real battle hadn't even begun.

The night owls from the Yangshan Archipelago flew back and forth several times, surprisingly discovering that two thousand Ya army soldiers were heading towards Storm Bay.

This meant—

“We were exposed too early!” He Lingchuan's face hardened. “Ulu might have already spotted us before we even landed.”

Dong Rui was startled. “How could that be?”

Granny Zhu casually remarked, “Either he’s mastered 'Heaven’s Eye Sight,' or he possesses some magical artifact that can penetrate illusions, right?”

Wanqiu Feng had already shot down a golden eagle, but Ulu might still have other eyes and ears skilled in flight and night vision, or some divine artifact capable of seeing through the thick sea fog, thus discovering the stealthy approach of the Yangshan army.

Dong Rui immediately asked, “What should we do?”

Since the enemy was forewarned and had adjusted their tactics, it would be difficult for the Yangshan Guard to catch them off guard again.

In terms of numbers, they held no advantage;

In terms of troop quality, if the Yangshan Guard, trained for only half a year, could defeat Ulu's elite soldiers in a head-on fight, that would truly defy all reason;

And in terms of elemental power… there was even less comparison.

“If we lack the opportunity for a preemptive strike, Ulu will certainly try his best to drag us into a positional battle.”

They couldn't afford a war of attrition; this was the Yangshan Guard's biggest problem at the moment.

The longer it dragged on, the greater the casualties.

He Lingchuan had spent over half a year raising this army; he absolutely could not let it suffer heavy losses before his Hundred Column Plan was implemented.

What was to be done?

He Lingchuan's thoughts raced. After only a few moments of contemplation, he decisively declared, “Change tactics!”

He wanted to reduce the duration of a direct, head-on clash between the two armies.

“What?” Dong Rui and the Soul-Capturing Mirror exclaimed in unison.

“We’re going to take a risk,” He Lingchuan told Dong Rui. “The night owls have already pinpointed Ulu’s location. For someone so cautious to detach himself from the main force, this is a heaven-sent opportunity! Let’s go there first, just the three of us!”

“Alright,” Dong Rui, Granny Zhu, and the mirror all understood. He Lingchuan intended to ‘catch the bandit by first catching the leader.’

If they couldn't defeat the Ya Kingdom's army, then seizing the opportunity to take down Ulu himself was also a good method—

Provided He Lingchuan could actually accomplish it.

The three were among the first to land. Upon arrival, they didn't engage in combat, instead shaking off approaching enemies and sprinting towards the forest on shore.

Ulu had originally chosen a good place to set up camp, precisely between Storm Bay and Luting Beach, making it easy to attend to both locations. However, with enemy soldiers suddenly appearing at Storm Bay, they were now not far from his position.

A cold smile appeared at the corner of He Lingchuan's mouth.

Did Ulu think he had responded appropriately, with brilliant foresight?

Did Lu Qingbang think He Lingchuan would merely cover their retreat and aid their escape?

No, a precious blade, once drawn, must taste blood.

The Yangshan Guard had almost completely deployed; the results achieved had to be substantial. How could they be satisfied with merely a hurried rescue operation?

He Lingchuan's objective had changed: not only to rescue the Bailong tribe, but also to defeat Ulu, the great general of the Ya Kingdom!

Merely punishing the Qinglong tribe wouldn't be enough to truly impact the Ya Kingdom.

Between them and Ulu lay two small hills and a long slope. The undulating terrain caused many inconveniences for their advance as surface-dwelling creatures.

Without a word, Dong Rui led He Lingchuan and Granny Zhu into the jungle, and in an instant, summoned the Snail Toad.

It wasn't that He Lingchuan didn't want to bring more people, but Dong Rui's demon puppet had limited carrying capacity, and with Granny Zhu on board, there wasn't much room left.

Besides, carrying fewer people would allow it to move faster.

It seemed there hadn't been rain recently around Storm Bay; both the ground and underground were very dry. The Snail Toad could only move quickly in damp underground conditions, and the current dry environment would greatly affect its travel distance and speed.