Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 563: Chapter 563. Preparing an Ambush

”More horses?” A Khode Captain asked the squad who had returned after checking the movements detected by one of the Faxien Radars.

”Yeah, the blasted things are everywhere,” the squad leader replied. ”Where did they come from? The areas around here are not their habitat.”

”One of the squads brought back a horse. It has wounds over its body. Those horses must be part of Echos’ army steeds. They were probably wounded by the previous battle and were tossed away because they could no longer run properly.”

”Oh, make sense. No wonder there are so many running around down there.”

Another soldier came and joined their conversation. ”They are getting bolder. The radars have just detected a series of movements approaching the mid-section of the hill. The colonel asked us to send a team to check.”

”Again? We have just returned from checking,” The squad leader complained. He walked to the parapet and gazed into the darkness. He had consumed the Cat-eye pill earlier when he went down to check the first time.

Though the Cat-eye pill made him able to see in the dark, the visibility range was still more limited than normal sight during the day. Additionally, there were lots of outcroppings on this side of the hill. He couldn’t see the horses detected by the radars.

”I don’t see anything,” he said. ”This has been going on for three days. It must be the horses again that triggered the radars. Can’t we just ignore them? They are not coming up here anyway.”

”We must make sure. If you don’t like it so much, just kill those buggers or bring them back here,” The captain suggested. ”You will reduce their number that way.”

”I am against animal cruelty, man. Why don’t we place a team to guard the foot of the hill?” The squad leader asked. ”It’s better than we have to go up and down every time the damn radars detect movements from big-sized things.”

”While you are at it, why don’t we build camps surrounding the foot of the hill? With how big this hill is, do you know how many personnel are required for that? If Echos’ army decided to attack, we would easily lose a large portion of the soldiers we stationed down there.”

”Then we used those human puppets as sentries down the hill. They are expendable anyway, right? They should scare those horses away.”

”You must have skipped the brief,” the captain said. ”It requires a large number of aer stones to activate the transmitter. We only use the human puppets when Echos’ army decides to attack.”

”Alright, alright, we will go...,” the squad leader said, defeated. He then added, ”After I take a five-minute rest.”

”Well, the colonel asked me to relay the message. I have relayed the message. Goodbye,” The soldier who brought the message said. He left afterward.

The captain looked at the squad leader, who had sat down on the floor with the rest of his team. He shook his head and said, ”Five minutes.”

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”You want us to attack tonight?” Jiang Tong asked. He was inside his tent with Amon and Liu Xun. ”There are still two days before the truce ends.”

”That should catch them off-guard, giving you more advantage,” Amon said. ”If my theory is correct, you will also face fewer controlled civilians compared to if you wait until the end of the truce.”

”If your theory is correct, we will still face more controlled civilians than what we faced previously,” Liu Xun said.

”That is right, but waiting two more days won’t improve the condition. It will just worsen it.”

”Why tonight? Is it because your army has arrived?” Jiang Tong asked.

”They are nearby,” Amon answered. ”But they will not join the battle with your army. They will be with me.”

”And what will you be doing when we fight the controlled civilians with the suicide bombs?” Liu Xun asked.

”I will solve your problem with the controlled civilians,” Amon answered.

”How will you do that?” Jiang Tong asked.

”It is better if we limit the information as much as possible. Rest assured that I can most likely stop those controlled civilians before they do too much damage.”

”Most likely? That is not a guarantee,” Liu Xun said.

”There is never a guarantee in war,” Amon returned.

Liu Xun turned to Jiang Tong, who was again drumming his fingers on the table.

This time, Amon didn’t stay silent and waited for Jiang Tong’s decision. He said, ”General, I understand you have not found a solution to deal with the enemy. I know you don’t like me. That’s okay. We don’t need to like each other, but please remember we are on the same side. I was eager to retake Bright Rock City as much as you. I take it you have received an instruction from the King about my arrangement if I manage to help you retake the city?”

Liu Xun again turned to Jiang Tong. He was not aware of any arrangements.

Jiang Tong only replied to Liu Xun with a glance. He told Amon, ”Though I disagree, I have been made aware.”

”Then you know it is in my best interest to achieve the objective as soon as possible and with as few casualties in your army as possible. You can rest assured that my asking you to initiate a battle is not to sacrifice your soldiers. Although I must admit, you will need to endure the enemy’s suicide army for a little while before my army can carry out my plan.”

”Hm...,” Jiang Tong resumed drumming his fingers on the table.

Finally, he rose and said to Liu Xun, ”Make battle preparation.”

Liu Xun nodded. He exited the tent to relay the order.

Jiang Tong walked toward the exit. When he passed beside Amon, he stopped and said, ”If this battle fails or my army suffers too many casualties, I don’t care if you are the king’s golden boy. I will make you answer.”

”Fair enough,” Amon replied.

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”The enemy camp seemed livelier than usual,” Xuang Chao said. The camp was too far. It was impossible to see what they were doing, especially when the sun had set. Even so, it was apparent there were movements in the camp. He turned to one of the soldiers on standby, ”Call General Xuang Feng!”

The soldier bowed and hurried away.

Xuang Feng arrived not long after. Xuang Chao asked him, ”Uncle, what do you think?”

Xuang Feng pulled out a spyglass and peered through it. Words of power flared along the surface of the spyglass. The words of power enhanced the regular glass of this spyglass into a magnifying lens, allowing him to see objects in the distance.

The enemy camp was still too far for the spyglass to see everything in detail, but he could at least see that the soldiers in the enemy camp were forming ranks.

”They are mobilizing,” Xuang Feng said.

”They want to break the truce?” Xuang Chao asked.

”This was probably their original intention. They attack now because they think we will only expect them to attack after the truce ends. They expect us to be unprepared against their attack.”

”Hehe, they will be in for a surprise then,” Xuang Chao chuckled.

”Judging from the time, they plan to use the night to cover their attack.”

”What idiots. They have been camping there the whole time under our noses. Do they think we won’t notice if they start something?”

”I will go power the transmitter. You make sure everyone is battle ready,” Xuang Feng ordered.

”Roger that, uncle,” Xuang Chao said.

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As both sides made preparations, they weren’t aware of a third party hiding not far away. Echos’ army was camped on the Eastern side of Bright Rock Hill. This third party was situated on the Western side of the hill, behind a series of low rocky hills. The Western side of the hill was also where Amon and his team rigged the Faxien Radars.

With the mobilization of Echos’ army, most Khode Soldiers had their eyes on the Eastern side. Even so, the party hiding on the Western side remained still.

”Is everyone ready?” Amon asked Yong Baili.

Yong Baili had arrived in the vicinity earlier this morning after doing a rushing march with ten thousand soldiers. Amon sent him a message to come to this location and hide instead of joining Jiang Tong’s army.

”They have rested enough. They can move anytime,” Yong Baili answered.

”Good,” Amon said. ”We wait until the battle on the other side starts. Once it does, the enemy’s attention will be fully on that side. It will buy us time to climb the hill. By the time they realize our ambush, we should be close to the city already.”

Yong Baili nodded. He hesitated before asking, ”What about the city’s barrier? Bright Rock City isn’t known to apply a barrier, but I’m sure Khode soldiers installed one to prevent us from entering the city.”

”I will deal with that,” Amon answered.