Chapter 195: Evacuation
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Nora
The fierce fire left the soldiers helpless, as they cried for help. Fiery flames consumed their bodies. One-by-one, they fell down from their horses and landed on the ground. The sea of fire burned and toasted them into coke.
The grassland burned and smoke billowed. It was capable of suffocating anyone in it.
Despite the Qingfu warhorses’ bravery, they still panicked after the double blow of flames and smoke. They ran around the field like headless flies without a sense of direction. With the warriors in the formation, it was easy for them to bang on each other, and it would often mean a lose-lose situation.
The moment the flame soars high, Lhakhshen’s face turned pale. He could tell instantly that the enemies before their eyes were not petty raiders. A big conspiracy was shadowing the skies of the whole Tian Qi tribe.
At this critical moment, he had to assume responsibility. He would have to bring his men out of the flames and bring them back to the tribal stronghold.
Lhakhshen’s mount was a lord-level Qingfu horse, a platinum-level steed, so it was like a legendary animal. The Qingfu warhorse gave out a neighing sound and was the first to leap out of the flames.
The other Qingfu warhorses tracked their leader’s sounds. They followed behind and went out together.
Yet, the moment Lhakhshen rode out of the flames of hell, he slipped into another despair.
The cunning of his enemy had almost reached a point beyond his imagination.
Outside the flames, two thousand enemy cavalry were standing-by. At this moment, their faces were no longer rampant and insolent like before. Instead, their faces were solemn and emotionless.
It struck him. Lhakhshen could tell that his enemies were just like them. They were originally regular military forces.
Right at the moment they spotted him coming out of the flames, they welcomed him with a burst of arrows. Intensive arrows ruthlessly harvested the lives of the lucky ones that survived the fire array.
The horseback warriors thought they would be safe the moment they came out from that flaming hell, yet they were actually coming out of one to step into another.
These successive hits crushed every single ounce of the tribal warriors’ morale and courage.
The lucky warriors that survived the rain of arrows did not dare to have any second thoughts; they ran and quickly fled. Even mounted on a Qingfu warhorse leader, Lhakhshen did not dare to gather his troops and organize a counterattack. He rode his horse and rushed toward Shen Juan Lake.
Shanhai City cavalry did not pursue the last of the lucky ones. As the saying goes, one should not pursue broken foes and not press on desperate beasts. In order to survive, these lucky survivors would do anything. They would unleash an unimaginable power when they were in a plight.
Even though Ouyang Shuo was the winning party, he did not want to purse these desperate warriors and increase his losses.
Eventually, of the 5,000 tribal warriors, only less than a thousand people escaped alive.
Ouyang Shuo paid little attention to the burning fire array. He led his troops, routed away from the burning flames and rode toward ZhenXi camp to harvest their spoils of war.
By this time, the remnants of the camp guards had fled.
Hordes of elite cavalry usually owned three horses, two warhorses and a workhorse. The workhorse purpose was to carry things, while the calvary would alternate between the two warhorses to enhance their mobility.
Warhorses would get exhausted and lose weight very easily when carrying weights, which meant they had to be treasured and valued. In general, warhorses could travel 20-kilometers before it had to rest. At times like this, if there are two warhorses in rotation, they could naturally achieve a sustained rapid march.
Since Shanhai City had not engaged in a super long-distance warfare, the cavalries only had a single horse in general. At most, the vanguard 1st unit had Qingfu warhorses, along with the class change system gift horse as workhorses.
Cavalries from the mixed regiment were originally raiders. Even if they were not equipped with Qingfu warhorses, they also had their own two horses. While the newly established vanguard 2nd unit and Qiushui cavalry unit only had the system gifted horses.
Overall, compared to the nomadic tribes, Shanhai City cavalry seemed a little too shabby.
Strictly speaking, a cavalry needed at least two auxiliary soldier followers. One to carry his belongings and another to taking charge of his horse.
However, in order to simplify the game, the system made the cavalry not require auxiliary soldiers. Instead, the cavalry did it all himself.
The trophies Ouyang Shuo plundered from the battle were the horses in ZhenXi camp. Sure enough, in the stables stood 5,000 Qingfu horses and 5,000 ordinary horses.
In addition, they salvaged 1,000 Qingfu horses from the battlefield. Overall, they seized a total of six thousand Qinfu horses, so it was simply a sum of big wealth.
Calculated in accordance with five gold per a Qingfu horse, it would come to a sum of 30,000 golds. In addition to the workhorses, they seized the equivalent of over 40,000 gold. Most importantly, these Qingfu horses although have a price, but there was no market, no one would sell such valuable items.
Furthermore, in the camp arsenal, Shuo also plundered 5,000 composite bows. With these bow, Shanhai City military would be fully equipped with bows.
After this expedition, it would greatly reduce the need for warhorses in Shanhai City, with the price of 150 cavalry killed. Due to the long distance raid, Shuo had ordered his soldiers to bury the dead on-site.
Tian Qi ZhenXi camp had now became a dangerous place, it would not be wise to stay for long.
The troops mounted the Qingfu horses and drove the rest of the horses toward the west.
The had pre-arranged the direction of the evacuation. The troops could not leave for the south, as that would easily expose the position of Shanhai City; They could not go north either. Otherwise, they would bring trouble to Mulan Town. East was the worst because Tian Qi ZhenDong camp was located there. Hence, the only option was to head west.
The mighty hordes simply could not hide their whereabouts. They could only take advantage of the swift speed of the Qingfu horses to hurry out of the grassland before the tribes realized.
Because each horse cavalry had two Qingfu horses in rotation, the troops traveled more than 80-kilometers before it got dark. Their speed had greatly increased compared to the time they came.
The next day, five o'clock, the troops departed again. After a full day of forced march, they traveled directly over 100-kilometers. They completely left the grassland area the nomads occupied and ventured into the wilderness.
This time, Ouyang Shuo was finally at ease. During their day march, they had come across a team of nomad patrols. Quickly and swiftly, the cavalry eliminated them.
However, this exposed their position, just as the nomads wanted.
On the third day, the troops diverted south. Finally, before the night falls, they arrived in the river upstream of Friendship River. Here, the Beihai navy fleet had long awaited for them.
As for how the Beihai navy fleet was able to grasp the troops’ whereabouts, the key lies in the hummingbirds from the Military Intelligence Division. These little birds the Xuanniao tribe offered may look little and insignificant, but they had greatly help Shanhai.
With the help of the Beihai navy fleet, they sailed through Friendship river. This time, they would be completely safe. There had yet to appear any power that could threaten them at the south of Friendship river.
Whatever the size of the raider’s camp, in the face of Shanhai City cavalry, they would stand no chance at all. As for those lord player’s territory, it was already a blessing that Ouyang Shuo did not provoke them and look for trouble. How could they have the courage to provoke Ouyang Shuo instead?
After crossing the river, the Beihai navy fleet rested next to the banks for the night. Tomorrow morning at first light, they would depart down the river and sail back to the Beihai port premises. Recently, Pei Donglai was stepping up the training of troops, as he was planning for a counterattack on Moon Island.
They traveled another two days. Finally, on the 2nd of August 5:30 PM, they returned to Shanhai City. From the day the expedition team left until they return, Operation Wildfire took a week’s time. It was definitely not easy to travel so far.
After coming back, before the vanguard unit could rest, Ouyang Shuo sent them back to their duty positions in the City North Camp. Ouyang Shuo was worried about the City North Camp. He did not know what consequences could occur in the savanna due to the Operation Wildfire.
When the vanguard unit left, they did not take along any of the seized Qingfu horses.
Of the 6,000 Qingfu horses, 500 would be given to the mixed regiment cavalry unit and another 500 to the Qiushui cavalry unit. Of the remaining 5,000, they would temporarily stock 3,000 in the ranch of the City West, while he would send the last 2,000 to Jifeng Valley Pasture.
Ouyang Shuo didn’t have the luxury to equip a cavalry with two Qingfu warhorses. In his current plan, Qingfu horses would only be mainly used as battlefield warhorses, while at times of peace, they would just ride ordinary horses.
As for the 5,000 workhorses, he was ready to hand them to the Transportation Division. Carriages were already produced, but they would be in vain if there weren’t any workhorses. The Secretary of Transportation Division Zheng Shanpao had discussed this matter countless times with Ouyang Shuo.
Well now, Ouyang Shuo would settle the matter all at once.
As the city now expanded, there was a full 5-kilometers from the manor to the North Gate. It would take an hour to walk. Therefore, it was necessary to form and establish a city transportation system. With these workhorses, the Transportation Division could consider providing vehicle transportation services in the city, solving the problems.
After he returned, Ouyang Shuo first arrived at the arsenal and deposited 5,000 composite bows into it. As for the distribution of the bows, it would be the responsibility of the Military Affairs Department, so he did not need to worry about it.
Back to the manor, it was already six in the evening. Hence, Ouyang Shuo went straight to the backyard rather than his usual office.
"Big brother, you're back!"
The sharp-eyed Bing’er instantly saw Ouyang Shuo and ran over, so that he could hold her.
In recent years, this might be the longest period of time that Ouyang Shuo had left Bing’er alone. The little girl naturally missed him a lot. Every day she would be talking and asking, When will brother come back?
After a week of travel and battle, dust and blood dirtied his body. Although the blood had dried out, the smell retained. In such a state, Ouyang Shuo did not dare to hold Bing’er. He quickly stopped her and said, “Baby, brother is dirty. Let brother clean and freshen up. Then, I will accompany you for dinner, okay?”
Bing’er came forward and sniffed. Sure enough, there was a peculiar smell, so she said, “Smelly smelly.”
Ouyang Shuo smiled. Suddenly, he reached out with his hand and pinched down on her soft white face, leaving a dirty stain. Immediately before Bing’er could react, he turned and ran away.