Chapter Fifty-two: Blocking at Dawn

  At dawn, Di Lie's small detachment behind enemy lines, carrying nearly twenty extra burdens, took the fastest horse speed, taking the nearest route, and retreated south to the main force of Mangshan.

  The deployment of the three routes of the Golden Army was originally tight outside and loose inside, with the camp being indulgent and unrestrained, but the dense sentry cavalry were distributed in a radius of dozens of miles.

  Di Lie was originally going to escape from the Golden Camp, but it's not easy to shake off the scouts. But for some reason, perhaps due to last night's unexpected raid that caught the Golden Army off guard, all the scouts stationed on the southern front retreated northwards, seemingly intent on annihilating a certain enemy force coming from the north.

  This opened up a huge gap for Di Lie's small team, allowing them to escape effortlessly from the originally extremely tight, now full of loopholes, surrounding net.

  Di Lie secretly congratulated himself in his heart. If it wasn't for the sudden incident at the Golden Army's camp last night, he might not have been able to escape so smoothly. Although he could have forced his way out with his explosive bullets and dynamite packs, which would have easily destroyed the two layers of gates, this approach wouldn't have guaranteed the absolute safety of those girls. Moreover, they would have had to face the pursuit and encirclement by multiple layers of Golden Army scouts on horseback stationed outside. Even if they could have torn through the net, these "fish" would have been severely injured. As the most powerful cavalry in this era, the combat strength of the Golden Army was not to be underestimated.

  It was unclear who the good Samaritan was, but they had managed to draw the Jin army's firepower away from them. Di Lie could only wish them good luck.

  However, the good luck of this small team seems to have run out. When the team was still more than 20 miles away from the mountain, after a night's rush, people and horses were exhausted (mainly because the girls couldn't bear it, and some people's inner thighs were rubbed raw), they had no choice but to find a hillside to rest and replenish their food.

  But the crowd had just rested for less than half a watch, when they saw a large amount of smoke and dust rising from five or six miles away to the north. Such a large amount of smoke and dust could only be stirred up by a large cavalry unit galloping at high speed. And at this time, in the north, there was a large cavalry unit that dared to gallop so recklessly, it didn't take much thought to know who they were.

  Everyone stood up and looked around, their faces filled with uncertainty. Yang Feng said in a low voice: "Judging from the situation, the Golden Army has finally discovered our whereabouts, unfortunately..."

  Yang Feng said, looking back at the group of imperial women who were still wearing golden armor, everyone understood what he meant. If it weren't for these girls' poor horsemanship, in a situation where one person was riding two horses, they had only run fifty miles in an entire night, how could they have been caught up by the Golden Army? They should have returned to the base of Fangren Mountain long ago.

  Although everyone knew that, no one dared to express it. Although Di Lie didn't reveal the identities of these women, they probably all had a relationship with the imperial family, and maybe even a few princesses (which was actually correct).

  Di Lie made a decisive decision: "I, Zhang Rong, A Shu, and Jia Hu will stay behind to block the enemy, while Yang Fen and the rest of the brothers will lead the way and take the young ladies back to the original stronghold on Gao Ren Mountain."

  Yang Feng was taken aback: "Your Highness, I..."

  "Carry out the order!"

  "Yang Feng obeys the order." Yang Feng's heart skipped a beat, he hastily saluted, turned his horse around, loudly conveyed the command to the Liangshan brothers, and at the same time informed the women to get ready.

  Di Lie opened the gun box and calmly assembled the components of the sniper rifle. He was not a hero who could take on thousands, nor would Zhang Rong, known in history as "Zhang Enemy Wan", be any kind of invincible warrior. No matter how strong one's martial prowess, it depends on the environment. If it were a narrow pass that could be defended by one man with sufficient weapons and solid defenses, perhaps he could withstand an attack from hundreds of people. But if there were truly thousands, or even tens of thousands, that would not be just any ordinary fantasy.

  In this vast and open field, with only a few rolling hills and small woods, the flat plain stretched out endlessly. Even if Di Lie and his three companions were made of iron, they couldn't have held their ground against the enemy's cavalry, which numbered in the hundreds. If Di Lie hadn't been wielding a terrifying weapon that surpassed the imagination of this era, and employing a special combat technique that was centuries ahead of its time, he would never have dared to attempt to intercept the enemy's cavalry with just four people.

  Di Lie shed his disguise as a Golden Soldier, revealing a camouflage field uniform underneath. He donned a bulletproof vest, put on a Kevlar helmet, grasped the handle of a sniper rifle with one hand, and grabbed two magazines to insert into the ammunition pouches on his chest. He didn't bring any explosives or grenades; in this terrain where they could be surrounded at any moment, the only effective way to fight was through long-range sniping. Once the enemy closed in, it would be difficult to guarantee his own safety whether he threw explosives or grenades. There was no way to ensure that after throwing a grenade and killing or injuring a group of enemies, he wouldn't be hacked to death by the remaining enemies with their bayonets.

  So, the key to this battle is controlling distance.

  Di Lie called Zhang Rong, A Shu and Jia Hu over, gave them some low-voiced instructions, and the three of them set off.

  Di Lie was about to act when he suddenly seemed to sense something, and turned around abruptly - seven or eight steps away, someone was startled and took a step back, almost falling over. Upon closer inspection, it was that stunningly beautiful Empress Huan Huan. Although she was still wearing the coarse armor of the Golden Soldiers, with a black and dirty fur hat on her head, and the hardships and frights of the night had also left her rosy face pale and tired. But all of this was completely ignored in her bright smile.

  "The great kindness and virtue of Master Di, Yan Yan and her sisters will always remember in their hearts. If they can reunite with the Emperor and the Crown Prince one day, they must ensure that Master Di's descendants are prosperous and wealthy for generations to come..."

  Di Lie impatiently interrupted Hu Hu's words: "Your father and brother are back..." He had wanted to say that this unfortunate father-son pair would never come back, their fate was already sealed. As the saying goes, you reap what you sow. These two men had managed to turn one of the richest dynasties in Chinese history into this, they would have to take responsibility for their actions.

  But when Di Lie saw that pure and beautiful face full of hope, he couldn't bring himself to say it. Forget it, let this unfortunate last princess keep her last shred of hope. People can't live without hope, can they?

  "Let's wait until they come back then." Di Lie walked up naturally and patted Hu Hu's soft shoulder, "Your fate as well as your sisters' has already changed, perhaps, the fate of your father and brother may also change because of this..."

  Di Lie, when mentioning Huizong and Qinzong, father and son, did not use any honorific language, and even towards the princess of the Great Song Dynasty in front of him, he lacked the courtesy that a subject should have. This is his natural reaction as a modern person who has no concept of imperial power. If this were to happen in the eyes of some officials of this era, they would probably treat him as a heretic.

  But at this moment, having just escaped a great calamity, the girl's ears, filled with admiration for heroes, heard an unutterable brotherly affection. This feeling, in Xianxian's past years, had only slightly appeared on Ninth Brother Kang Wang Zhao Gou, and had never been felt from her imperial brothers and many royal brothers.

  Xian Xian subconsciously reached out to grab Di Lie's sleeve, but the camouflage uniform with cuffs had no sleeves to grab, resulting in her grabbing his palm instead. The little girl's face turned red as she suppressed her shyness and said: "Young Master is a great hero, even Jin Qi is afraid of you, the 'Evil Spirit'. You definitely won't come to harm... Her Majesty the Empress, the Grand Empress Dowager, and many more imperial consorts and palace maids need you to rescue them... And also, Xian Xian's father and imperial brother..."

  "I understand, I know, I see......" Di Lie finally managed to say this, almost revealing his true feelings and on the verge of tears, as he persuaded the princess to get on the horse. Then, with a loud slap on the horse's buttocks, he watched as the figure disappeared into the distance, letting out a long sigh.

  A voice came from behind: "The master is really something, it seems that this princess of the Song Dynasty can't escape the master's palm..."

  Di Lie heard this and chuckled: "Hero rescues beauty, right? In another thousand years, this trick will still be effective... Hmm? Why are you still here? What did I just instruct you to do?"

  Ah Shi hastily said: "Zhang Da Tou Ling said that he can do this job alone, and also let Old Jia inform him, and let Xiao Pu come back to wait for the master's orders."

  At this time, the smoke and dust were visible again, and even the faint sound of thunder could be heard.

  Time was pressing, and Di Lie didn't have the energy to scold A Tu, so he quickly picked up his sniper rifle and rushed forward.

  At this time, a hint of red had already appeared on the horizon, and a thin mist was rising from the fields. The morning breeze caressed his face, carrying with it the fragrance of wildflowers and green grass. But Di Lie knew that soon, this fragrance would be replaced by the pungent smell of blood...