Chapter 48: Bai Hua Encounters Battle

  As soon as the Midie army was discovered, General Red Fox immediately issued a pursuit order.

  The Scarlet Flame Legion quickly cut into the not-so-dense forest, and the soldiers did not lose their way due to the complex terrain. On the contrary, they formed a formation that could support each other at any time, with ten people as a team, maintaining a steady advance.

  Experienced centurions and chiliarchs then took command on a larger scale, without the need for cornicines, which were easy to expose intentions, nor did they use inconspicuous flags. High-ranking knights communicated and conveyed orders through efficient magic.

  It's worth noting that the Red Flame Legion has a considerable number of mages, and at this moment, they are all dispersed among various hundred-man squads, serving as messengers.

  At first glance, this seems somewhat luxurious.

  But in fact, the practice of simply treating mages as firepower and artillery is rigid and inflexible. Any commander who truly understands warfare would not think that magic is just a form of large-scale attack.

  The Red Fox General seemed to have a knack for using mages effectively, and the Scarlet Flame Legion was also extremely familiar with this type of coordination. Although they were in the Silver Birch Forest, where there were streams, riverbanks, dense shrubs, and countless tall trees, making visibility and field of view very poor, and they were in the midst of a pursuit, the Scarlet Flame Legion's formation did not show any signs of disorder. Despite being scattered, it was as if they were hiding a sense of pressure.

  Like countless sharp swords, at the same angle, the same speed, and a fixed distance apart, they pierced straight into the forest, leaving no gaps or loopholes for the enemy.

  Even Medici had to admit that the Scarlet Chorus was indeed one of the most powerful armies in the Principality of Vellermar, and the greatest military force at the disposal of House Scesis.

  Unfortunately, they faced the most familiar forest spirits and the fog witch with unpredictable moves.

  A thick fog began to spread quickly.

  The fog was not thick and did not even obstruct their view, it just added a bit of dampness to the soldiers' clothes.

  However, with this degree of concentration, the area that the Fog Demon's "Night Banquet" can cover has become unimaginably large.

  Every move of the Scarlet Legion is under Alice's control.

  Whether it was encirclement, interdiction, or rapid pursuit, all were fed back to Middy. Various opportunities also exposed themselves one by one in front of Middy.

  However, Middy did not launch an attack. Although doing so would have made the Red Fox General feel very uncomfortable, it would not have been able to form an effective killing blow. After all, this was a chance encounter battle, and apart from having the geographical advantage, Middy did not have any opportunity for a one-hit kill.

  Moreover, and more importantly, if an attack is launched with the help of the information fed back by the Fog Demon, then soon, the information that "the enemy can completely grasp the battlefield situation" will be grasped by General Akatsuki, and further, be put on guard against, or even turned around to take advantage of.

  So Midea did not choose to attack, instead he led his troops to start withdrawing.

  The power of the high-ranking spirit "Wind Guardian" made the spirits' marching speed always a bit faster than that of the Flame Legion's soldiers, and thus the spirit troops could leave with ease.

  But Meddi would not simply retreat, but rather launch wave after wave of attacks while retreating.

  This offensive was not aimed at the main force of the Red Flame Legion who were busy chasing, but at the scouts roaming around.

  Scouts are the eyes and ears of an army, especially in wooded areas. The more scouts that are killed, the slower the reaction time of the army will be.

  In addition, this is also the only part where the military strength comparison does not make much difference. After all, although the total number of scouts in the Flame Legion is not small, most scouts act individually, and at most, they form a six-person team for long-distance reconnaissance. In battle, there was no gap between the two sides.

  The Witch of Fog began to chant a long and obscure incantation, like the melody played by a cello, sonorous and profound.

  Having received the master's command, the fog demon activated its second ability, Strengthening.

  The elves were originally better at forest warfare than humans, and with the slight but real acceleration, stimulation and recovery of the fog demon, this gap was further expanded to a level that could decide life and death.

  Then, unilateral hunting began.

  A lone Red Viper scout was hiding in the treetops, clad in a suit of green leather armor that blended seamlessly with the dense foliage, feeling perfectly safe. But the next moment, accompanied by a gentle breeze, an extremely fine arrow shaft had flown in and instantly nailed itself into this scout's left eye.

  The scout was killed instantly and fell among the green leaves. Until his death, he did not understand how he had been exposed.

  "Wearing emerald green clothes and hiding in the deep green and dark green tree crowns is too eye-catching." A scout elf commented, shook his head, put away his longbow, and quickly changed positions.

  In the eyes of elves, "green" is not just a color, but includes pea green, tea green, onion green, jade green, stone green, leaf green, ink green, spring green, winter green, tender green, brown green, blue-green, olive green, apple green, moss green, grey lake green, crystal green, peacock green, fluorescent green...

  Even the most famous painter wouldn't dare claim to be good at painting green in front of a fairy, let alone a scout.

  Another flame scout, slowly but steadily approached a bush. He had already discovered that an elf was hiding there and prepared to go over and take care of this fellow traveler first. This scout used to be a hunter in the forest and wasn't inexperienced in dealing with elves, so he was quite confident about not being detected.

  But this elf scout's hearing seemed to be somewhat extraordinary, and when the scout reached out to prepare his knife, the elf had already prepared himself and launched a preemptive attack!

  The two men could not conceal their animosity and immediately clashed, the two poisoned daggers flashing back and forth, emitting a dangerous cold light.

  But he's just an assassin one level lower than me, how can he be so strong? Akahane Jūkō thought in his mind with surprise, and then, he was stabbed in the heart by a knife.

  Having defeated his opponent, the elf was also panting heavily, with injuries that were not light. However, at this moment, the surrounding fog gradually gathered over, washing away the toxicity from the wound and even healing it at a visible speed to the naked eye.

  Soon, the elf recovered his strength and once again slipped into the depths of the forest, leaving behind only the lifeless body of his enemy.

  Similar scenes like this are happening in every corner of the birch forest all the time.

  The elves also suffered casualties, however, the blood and death did not intimidate these proud elves, but instead stirred up their stronger will to fight. The two armies remained at a distance, with skirmishes between scouts becoming more frequent.

  Until this moment, General Red Fox, who was focused on pursuing, only discovered that his vanguard troops had been severely killed and wounded without realizing it.

  "This little rabbit, is he preparing for guerrilla warfare?" Fenrir gritted his teeth and said on the side, "Should we call back our scout?"

  Although thinking of Midgard makes me gnash my teeth, Fenrir's judgment is quite reasonable. Eliminating the scouts is to block vision and hearing, and blocking vision and hearing is naturally for that future guerrilla warfare that focuses on harassment and escape.

  However, General Red Fox shook his head: "Continue to chase, this white birch forest is not deep, I don't believe he can escape like this all the time! Let the scouts strengthen their vigilance, but absolutely do not retreat, and must keep a close eye on him!"

  Under this death order, the Scarlet Flame Legion disregarded the casualties of its scouts and chased after Middy like a mad dog, biting tightly onto his back without any hesitation.

  At last, as the sun was about to set and the new moon rose quietly, both sides finally walked out of this birch forest and came to a vast plain. There is almost no effective cover here, the field of vision is extremely wide, even at night, you can borrow the moonlight and starlight to gaze at a considerable distance.

  "Did you think you could still run away?" General Red Fox sneered, making a decision without hesitation. "Let the remaining scouts keep a close watch, don't let those long-eared ones quietly slip away again tonight. Tonight, we will launch a surprise attack!"

  The Red Fox General did not think that the surprise attack would bring any surprises to the opponent, after all, Midie's military talent had already emerged, and he had lost several times. The elves' large camp was probably absolutely watertight.

  Moreover, after a long pursuit of more than half a day, the soldiers' physical strength was also greatly depleted. A night raid, facing a well-prepared and vigilant enemy who had the advantage of their camp, might result in even greater losses for the Scarlet Flame Army.

  But what's the difference?

  We have seven thousand men, while the enemy has only two thousand. As long as we continue to pursue and exert pressure from dawn till dusk, launching wave after wave of relentless attacks, a force of merely two thousand will inevitably collapse.

  Even if he couldn't force Midie into a head-on battle, General Akako believed that he could still directly exhaust Midie.

  "Master Fenrir." The red fox general turned to the blond-haired young man beside him, his future master.

  "Are we going to battle? This time, please let me go with you. I won't be satisfied unless I personally kill that bastard!" Fenrir was already fully armed and looked eager for action.

  "No, I hope you can stay in the central camp tonight and get a good rest to conserve your strength," said General Red Fox.

  "What do you mean?" Fenrir's face suddenly fell.

  The red fox general who was directly called out by name smiled and said, "Tomorrow's general attack will be your responsibility, Mr. Fenrir."

  "Me in charge of the general attack?" Being able to obtain command of the Scarlet Flame Legion, even if only temporarily, was precious enough that for an instant, even Fenrir, who had some city manners, suddenly turned from anger to joy, and his delight was written all over his face.

  "That's right. Tonight's night raid is crucial, and whether we can hang on to that kid Medina and boost morale depends on the outcome of this battle. So I have to take matters into my own hands, lead by example, and launch a surprise attack. As long as this battle drains enough of the enemy's forces, tomorrow might just be the day we win!" General Red Fox spoke confidently, his eyes shining with self-assurance.

  It's worth noting that although he is a general, at the same time, he is also a swordsman with a full 40 levels, and is the highest level among the tens of thousands of soldiers on this plain!

  What kind of outcome would a surprise attack by 40th-level powerhouses have? Just thinking about it makes Fenrir's blood boil with excitement.

  That night, the fairy's troops and the Scarlet Flame Legion set up camps on two highlands twenty kilometers apart. Under the cover of darkness, the campfires responded to each other from afar, looking unusually warm.

  In the dark disguise, a team of two thousand five hundred people quietly flowed out of the camp like water, and went to the side of the elf's camp.

  "Mediocre! Alex, let me show you what a real battlefield is, and what real tactics are!" General Red Fox said with a cold smile.

  Just over ten minutes after the raiding party left, from the two armies that had been fighting all afternoon, now thrown to the rear in the white birch forest, countless eyes of fierce beasts shining with a faint green light lit up.

  Those were the eyes of the Night Blade Leopards.