Chapter 293: The Lion Hunts the Rabbit – Luring the Enemy and Falling Into a Trap (Part 2)
"What's happening at the back?"
"I took Hong Guang and Hong Tian, six of us in total, to make a move, pretending to fight to the death to detain them. That woman didn't get entangled and fled directly, seemingly quite pleased when escaping."
"Hahahaha......"
Hearing about the female scout's delight as she fled, Xia Chuan couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"So, the scouts from the north and east directions both think we've mobilized a large number of people to Wushuang from elsewhere. After Li Xuanling finds out, she will surely think we're going to have a decisive battle with her at Wushuang. The three thousand Longyou Army must be extremely high-spirited now."
Yuwen Dao, Peng Bo, and Xu Ning couldn't help but laugh after hearing this.
......
About ten kilometers east of Song Yuan.
The vast army of three thousand Longyou soldiers was continuing to advance eastward.
Li Xuanling led over a dozen Cold Resistance Level warriors, following on the army's flank.
People continuously ran back and forth from the front of the army, reporting something to Li Xuanling, and after reporting, they immediately ran forward again. Clearly, they all served as temporary scouts for the army at the Cold Resistance Level.
"Leader, isn't this being overly cautious? Great Xia only has that Cloud Dragon Army. At least twenty percent was lost in last night's battle, leaving at most eight hundred men. Even if they replenish, ambushing us halfway would be a dead-end, right?"
Yang Fengping, the Longshan Divine Archer, observed the Cold Resistance Level warriors, who were usually high and mighty in Long Mountain, now transformed into scouts, running back and forth, and couldn't help but speak to Li Xuanling with a strange expression.
Although others didn't speak, their expressions clearly showed agreement.
The troops deployed from Long Mountain tonight were not new troops nor the Blood Guard Army, but rather three thousand elite Longyou soldiers.
They really didn't believe that Xia Hong had the guts to ambush them midway. Or rather, in their hearts, they hoped Great Xia had the nerve to try.
In their view, Li Xuanling's behavior was a bit of an overreaction.
However, Li Xuanling obviously did not share the others' opinions.
"Better to be safe than sorry. Great Xia isn't weak, and Xia Hong is no ordinary person. Before the Cloud Dragon Army appeared, did you know Great Xia had an army? We must learn from past mistakes, or else the defeats at Changbai Gully and Ning Yuan Hill would have been fought in vain, wouldn't they?"
Hearing these words, everyone paused slightly, and all fell silent.
Li Xuanling's brows furrowed briefly, and after glancing around, she didn't say anything more.
She spoke this way to make these people more alert, or rather, to cultivate their vigilance. But to be fair, in her heart, she actually shared a similar thought to the others.
It would be great if Xia Hong actually dared to set an ambush midway!
The two battles fought by the Cloud Dragon Army last night were indeed well-executed. But from the accounts of the new soldiers and Blood Guard soldiers who escaped, the overall strength of the Cloud Dragon Army wasn't actually that strong. Some soldiers' cultivation hadn't even reached the Earth-digging Realm Limit.
The victories at Changbai Gully and Ning Yuan Hill were essentially won through surprise tactics.
Of course, the choice of ambush locations and the effective use of the Cloud Dragon Army's Mo Blade, horizontal blade, and scout units on the battlefield were also factors, but they weren't the main reasons for the victory.
The three thousand Longyou soldiers she led now were not only above the Earth-digging Realm Limit in cultivation but also mostly brought up personally by her father, Li Tianhua. They were seasoned veterans, obeying orders and skilled in battle tactics, not comparable to the Cloud Dragon Army.
If Great Xia truly dared to set an ambush midway, it would definitely be their death!
Unfortunately, Li Xuanling was well aware that Xia Hong wasn't that foolish.
"Wushuang, Hanqiong, Beehive, all three places are under Great Xia's control. Wushuang is the foremost and most crucial place. The first step to driving Great Xia out of Longyou is to capture Wushuang. The question is, will Xia Hong dare to face this battle at Wushuang?"
Wushuang is at the center of the entire Longyou. From here to any camp in Longyou is the shortest distance, making it incredibly strategic.
Li Xuanling remembered clearly that when she had stationed her army between White Abyss and Wushuang, Great Xia had sent a Special Envoy named Qiu Peng, expressing their wish to co-govern Wushuang with Long Mountain.
This incident clearly showed that Great Xia understood the importance of Wushuang.
"It stands to reason that Great Xia won't give up Wushuang easily. But if they rely only on those eight hundred Cloud Dragon Army soldiers, they surely can't hold it. So either they retreat or they continue to transfer people from Xia City. The only thing to guard against now is whether Great Xia has other forces to deploy. If they do, this battle won't be so easy......"
Li Xuanling's brows furrowed slightly in thought. Suddenly sensing something, she looked forward.
A white figure was speeding towards the army from the eastern snowfield, immediately recognized by those with sharp eyes at the front.
"It's Xuanping!"
"It must be news about Wushuang."
Seeing Li Xuanping in a hurried manner, everyone quickly formed a guess. Li Xuanling was also instantly alert, waiting for him.
Although Li Xuanping appeared rushed, he clearly carried a smile. He approached Li Xuanling directly, clasped his hands, and opened his mouth to speak without hesitation, "Report to Leader, Great Xia has transferred all one thousand troops from Hanqiong to Wushuang."
"The one thousand troops from Hanqiong?"
Li Xuanling's expression tightened, and she immediately asked in a deep voice, "Are you sure it's the troops from Hanqiong? Did you see clearly that they are all of ordinary Earth-digging Realm cultivation?"
In the past two months, Li Xuanling had already sent people to thoroughly investigate the situations in Wushuang, Hanqiong, and Beehive. That Great Xia had left a thousand troops in Hanqiong wasn't a secret.