Chapter 23: Midnight March

  In the border guard's garrison, torches lit up the night, and on the drill ground in front of the commander's platform, General Robert gave awards to soldiers who had performed exceptionally well in battle, especially Rayn.

  As the commander of the central heavy infantry battalion in the phalanx formation, when he charged forward, he led by example, fought bravely and selflessly, killed enemies valiantly, boosted the morale of his soldiers, defeated the vanguard siege troops of the Caesar Empire, and won time for the reinforcement troops.

  At this moment, a horseshoe sound came, the soldier on horseback pulled the reins and stopped urgently, jumped off the horse, and quickly came to General Robert's front, looking flustered.

  "Reporting to the general, the main force of the Caesar Empire has begun to move southward, leaving more than 50,000 people stationed in the wilderness five miles outside the border. The direction of the large-scale transfer is..." A soldier in a light green uniform quickly reported the enemy's movements.

  "What? The South? Sea Valley Pass? Is that their target? Scout, report back immediately! Go!" General Robert's expression was extremely shocked, and the soldiers were silent.

  The light cavalry responsible for scouting the enemy's situation galloped away hastily, at this time General Robert bit his lip tightly, furrowed his brow, fell into deep thought, with a somewhat worried expression, and occasionally stroked his white beard.

  Along the hundred-mile border, Haiguo Pass is strategically located, with a vast ocean as its natural barrier. For the past decade, due to the weakness of the Caesar Empire's navy, there has hardly been any attempt to attack that place. However, this time it's different. The generals of Montedan and Lusitania are all skilled in naval warfare. If the intelligence is accurate, that place will...

  General Robert didn't dare to imagine anymore, after a long while, he lowered his head, waved his hand, and then the orderly officer announced the dispersal order. The only sounds left in the camp were the neat footsteps and the clanking of armor on their bodies.

  In the darkness, a column of over 300 people marched hastily at night, heading straight for Haigou Pass. These soldiers wore light leather armor and held shields, and the man leading them was none other than Reinhardt Green, who had just fought bravely on the battlefield.

  "Captain, hasn't the Empire's army already retreated to Haigou Pass? Why are we still being sent to support them? The brothers have been fighting for a day and night, if we continue to rush like this, I'm afraid they won't be able to take it!" Rus. Mud panted heavily, but didn't stop his hurried pace, asking.

  "Ruse, my good brother, I also know that the brothers have worked hard, but this is the general's secret order, and I am also helpless... Alas..." Rayn said helplessly, followed by a long sigh.

  "Rus, big brother, my butt is all bruised, aren't we going to head to Haiguo Pass together? Hehe, we've already recovered our identities as soldiers, no longer 'cannon fodder' soldiers. We should be happy, even if it's killing for three days and three nights on the battlefield or exhausting ourselves to death on the march, I'm willing." Lied said with a smile on his face as he limped along during the march.

  Hahaha...

  Immediately afterwards, bursts of laughter erupted from the team, Reed's words hitting everyone's heartstrings, and there were no complaints or murmurs along the way.

  "Ried, I didn't mean it that way, I just want to know why we have to rush at night, I'm also considering everyone's sake? Rain, brother, no matter where you go, I'll accompany you to the end, I..." Rus's face looked a bit ugly, hastily explaining, suddenly he stopped speaking.

  In front of them, a dense forest was unfolding, where the sounds of killing, wailing, and horseshoes were mixed together in a chaotic mess.

  "Halt!" Rayn said quickly, and everyone swiftly stopped their advancing footsteps.

  "Ruse, Dakota, you two come with me to scout ahead. Everyone else stay hidden and don't move without our orders!" Rayne barked out the command, then took off in a swift, silent sprint with Ruse and Dakota close behind.

  More than 300 people disappeared in an instant, with neat and tidy movements, as if they had vanished into thin air.

  Ran and his two companions quietly advanced towards the forest where the fierce battle was taking place, and when they parted the dense underbrush, they found that the battle had already ended.

  In the darkness, a crescent moon hung high in the sky. With the faint moonlight, Lain saw a cruel scene. The other two could also vaguely see something, but compared to Lain, who was also a special forces soldier, they were still somewhat inferior.

  "What? Our supply convoy has been ambushed?" Reynn exclaimed in surprise when he saw the grain transport caravan with the emblem of the Kastel Empire.

  "Not bad, indeed! Who is so bold as to dare attack the Imperial convoy transporting grain to the border?" Rus roared.

  "Alas, who else could it be but the bandit army that has been rampaging around Mount Luofeng?" Dako explained.

  "Luofeng Mountain? Bandit Troop? Oh, I see!" Lain's eyes widened in surprise as he muttered to himself, his expression somewhat worried, as if he had understood something.

  In the dense forest, corpses were scattered all over the ground, and blood flowed like a river. Those surrendered imperial soldiers were facing slaughter, and the ruthless bandits did not spare any of them, even beheading the dead soldiers' heads, it was too cruel, too bloody.

  The Imperial Army of Kastel dispatched three large armies to support the border front line in the vicinity of Bianxia Valley Pass. Unexpectedly, one of their supply convoys was ambushed by a bandit army in the Luofeng Mountain area near Haiguan Pass.

  After inquiring, Laine and the other two had returned to the place just now, discussing countermeasures with several backbone team members.

  "Our midnight march was meant to meet up with these grain-escorting Imperial vanguard troops, but it seems we're still a step too late. Alas! What's the point of this?" Reyn said in utmost frustration, which was also the purpose of this midnight march.

  "Captain, shouldn't the troops supporting Canyon Pass be with the supply convoy? How can they let the supply convoy march alone?" Rus said anxiously, his face red with anger.

  "Yes, I didn't understand it at the time either. It seems General Robert did have foresight after all. The commander of the Imperial reinforcements sent to support Haiguo Pass was Bad of the Steer family, also... uh, how should I put it, an enemy of General Robert's family. Ten years ago, General Robert left the Imperial Capital and guarded the border because he had offended the Steer family, so..."

  "But why did General Robert send only us three hundred people? Isn't this sending us to our deaths? The robbers on Luo Feng Mountain number in the tens of thousands, and just ahead in the open area there are two or three thousand people. What's going on here?" Dako said discontentedly, muttering to himself.

  "General Robert had actually thought of this problem a long time ago, but he couldn't get rid of the other soldiers, so..." Rayn explained.

  "What?" Everyone including Rus was shocked.