Chapter 164 Special Forces

Special Operations battalions always had the best soldiers and the best equipment, but they also weren't in the habit of self-torture. It was simplest to just toss the trebuchet parts onto the mountaintop late at night, then have some soldiers assemble them right there. And when this battle was over, they wouldn't bother hauling the trebuchet down; they could just set it on fire or toss it off the mountaintop to destroy it. But at least for now, the two trebuchets were performing in a way that would have been absolutely impossible under normal circumstances.

Shooting under these conditions, aiming at such extreme distances, really tested the operator's trebuchet skills. But the Special Operations battalion was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. The soldiers from the heavy equipment battalion already had a considerable foundation, and they had been tempered by the Special Operations battalion. Plus, they had all sorts of ingenious gun-sighting tools available. Concentrating their fire on a target didn't seem especially difficult. The first volley of fire oil bombs shot from Flying Peak accurately struck the crowd.

Originally, this Daoming Sect unit had wanted to take advantage of the terrain, hide their tracks a little, and carry out a short ambush. But because of the aerial reconnaissance, because of this newly exposed artillery emplacement to their side and rear, the Daoming Sect troops had nowhere to hide. They had no choice but to deploy their formation in front of Yin Bo.

"Lao Sun, take two battalions and charge for me. The rest of you, follow me and charge directly from the left flank. Remember, we're just charging through." Yin Bo thought for a moment and then issued his orders. His deputy and his staff officer and his team immediately went to work. Those soldiers from Dongping were especially skilled in these matters. They quickly made a series of decisions, including which targets the airships would attack and how the troops would be organized for gradual advance. Soon, they had a plan. Yin Bo could only nod in praise. The Dongping officers who had come with Yin Bo only commanded a small-scale unit, but their abilities were truly formidable.

"Zhu Fei, take a thousand men and seize that pavilion on the right, control it. Ding Bigmouth, you take three thousand men and launch a frontal assault on the first line. I'm only giving you one chance. If casualties exceed twenty percent, pull back. Er Mao, you take the second line, also with three thousand men. A Jin, you and your two thousand longbowmen prepare to provide support. We'll have to rely on you for support here." Having arrived at the Lao Jun Temple, Yin Bo didn't have a very detailed map of the terrain. After a glance at the terrain in front of the Lao Jun Temple, comparing it to the markings on the map and the explanations from the Special Operations battalion, he immediately began to make arrangements. Yin Bo only allocated a little over six thousand men to deal with the ten thousand men blocking their path, while the remaining twenty thousand immediately attacked the Lao Jun Temple.

"General Yin, our command airship is here... looks like there's a larger airship group behind it." Zhang Wei remained by Yin Bo's side to assist him in command. Zhang Wei looked up and saw the airship hovering in the air, signaling to him. Sure enough, after a while, the airship sent a message confirming that two fully organized airship wings would arrive within ten minutes. This news cheered Yin Bo up again. But Zhang Wei was somewhat unimpressed. Zhang Wei believed in having enough troops to conduct a thorough battle. In his opinion, since these thirty thousand men were able to reach a point eighty *li* from the Lao Jun Temple before starting their final assault, it meant that the abilities of these soldiers, as well as the abilities of the commanders and the non-commissioned officers, were sufficient. It was no problem for thirty thousand men to capture the Lao Jun Temple. They didn't need much other support at all. But the support that Ye Tao was providing to this unit, from an overall combat strength assessment, exceeded the capabilities of thirty thousand men. Two wings of airships, what a majestic presence! The two wings from Dongping, in terms of pure combat strength, were even stronger than the entire Xiling airship squadron combined. But Zhang Wei also understood Ye Tao's thinking. If Ye Tao himself had led the army, he probably wouldn't have gone so overboard, but since Yin Bo was in command, it was different. He had to ensure that Yin Bo succeeded, or rather, ensure that if Yin Bo didn't succeed, he would have no excuses to make. Therefore, the current support could be said to be excessive. This final eighty *li* was too easy for a general; it was far less of a test than the previous few days. Basically, as long as a commander with a clear head shouted "Charge!" at the right time, they could win this battle. Yin Bo thought so too.

The Yin family's descendants naturally understood the political wisdom behind Ye Tao's efforts in providing so much support in the surrounding areas. But good generals, generals with ambition and aspirations, wouldn't take this level of support for granted. At this moment, Yin Bo was thinking about how to fight this battle well, not to let down Ye Tao's support, not to let himself become a leader that just anyone could replace. He had to become that unique person, the one who could lead the army to create miracles. And this should also be the hope of the entire Yin family. The lord had said at the time that he could certainly achieve an easy and simple victory, but at this time, a tragic and precarious victory might be more in line with the Yin family's interests. The Yin family needed to prove their worth, but they also needed to gain sympathy and friendship points from Ye Tao. The key to this lay in Yin Bo's control.

If he still had to fight a tragic victory in this situation, then Yin Bo would simply commit suicide. After he decisively allocated his troops, he personally led the main force and charged all the way up the main road. Yin Bo's skills were already quite good, and he had the Yin family's retainers guarding him on both sides. He led his soldiers like a hot knife through butter. Although it was inevitable that he would suffer minor injuries in the chaotic battle, the armor covered in the blood of enemies and allies made Yin Bo look even more valiant. Under his leadership, six thousand soldiers had already eliminated the enemy troops blocking their path before the main force even attacked the Lao Jun Temple, joining the most important combat operation. Yin Bo took less than an hour to attack the main hall of the Lao Jun Temple.

Religion is such a thing. When it is strong, it is always eroding all the surrounding resistance forces, always hoping that no one will resist them. But when it faces a stronger force, it always seems weak, so difficult to muster the courage, probably because they really don't have the courage to face violence.

Yin Bo, with a murderous aura, led a group of elite attendants, accompanied by Zhang Wei, and kicked open the closed door of the Lao Jun Temple. What came into view was a group of people wearing gorgeous priestly robes, shivering. The guards who were still protecting them were also full of fear.

"Who is the Daoming Sect Pope? Step forward!" Yin Bo pointed at the crowd with his blood-stained saber and shouted loudly.

The hall was silent, no one said a word, and Yin Bo's voice echoed throughout the space.

"Third from the right, the one wearing the blue robe is him." Zhang Wei's voice was so indifferent. No wonder Xiling's reaction to the Daoming Sect's rebellion was still so slow. It turned out that their understanding of the Daoming Sect was so limited. At least they should know what the leader of an organization looks like, especially one who has made many public appearances, right? There were already half a box of photos of this middle-aged man named Chen in various occasions in the archives of Gandor.

The crowd in the hall was shocked and immediately gathered around the Pope, as if trying to protect him with their lives. Yin Bo and Zhang Wei exchanged a glance and waved their hands at the same time. Arrows shot out, undoubtedly nailing the enemies to the ground one by one. The guards wanted to rush out and fight to the death, but they died even faster. Now, those in the main hall were undoubtedly the best of the best, the most trusted of the trusted, and they were very unscrupulously using hand crossbows to kill people. The high-level figures of the Daoming Sect were instantly wiped out. Neither Yin Bo nor Zhang Wei had any intention of holding anyone hostage; it was cleaner to kill them all. When Yin Bo pointed a short crossbow at the Pope's head, he only hesitated slightly before pulling the trigger. A short crossbow bolt directly pierced the Pope's head, leaving a trail of blood and embedding itself in the wall behind him.

"Since you were planning to kill them all anyway, why bother asking?" Zhang Wei said to Yin Bo.

"Alas, wasn't that to see if this Pope really had any skills? He's just an ordinary person." Yin Bo said with a chuckle.

"It's better not to know. Don't forget, there are tens of millions of Daoming Sect disciples. Don't let them push you out to take the blame when it's time to appease the believers. What's the point?" Zhang Wei teased.

But Yin Bo didn't care: "So what? Let them come. The Daoming Sect disciples on all sides outnumber me a hundredfold right now, and I'm not afraid. What can they do to me in the future? Someone, drag the bodies out and hang them on the mountain gate. Prepare for defense throughout the army."

Yin Bo was really ruthless now. He fought this battle thoroughly, capturing the Lao Jun Temple with lightning speed. None of the high-level figures left by the Daoming Sect escaped. This was also related to the fact that the Special Operations battalion at Xi Feng Pond had left an opening at a critical moment, blocking the enemy's team that was preparing to evacuate urgently in the main hall complex. The cooperation of all parties allowed this raid to be completely successful. But the next thing was not so pleasant. The original evacuation plan could no longer be used. The troops summoned by the Daoming Sect from all directions had blocked the dozens of *li* around the Lao Jun Temple. It would be difficult for them to slip through the gaps between the troops as they had come. And to kill their way out? They would probably only be surrounded and killed by several times or dozens of times the enemy troops on the way.

Since they couldn't leave, then they wouldn't. Yin Bo urgently contacted Ye Tao and prepared to take root in the Lao Jun Temple, defend for a period of time, and then see the surrounding situation and try to evacuate from other directions. Anyway, there were three directions they could go. As long as they could meet their own people, it would be a good plan. The area of the Lao Jun Temple was still a bit too large and didn't meet the requirements for defense. After hanging the corpses of those high-level Daoming Sect figures on the mountain gate, the army slowly deployed defenses in the back mountain area while setting fire to the main hall and surrounding buildings. Soon, thick black smoke rose into the sky... Now, people of the Daoming Sect within hundreds of *li* should know that their headquarters had been taken by him, Yin Bo. Even though he expected that some people would be grief-stricken and desperately want to take revenge, Yin Bo wasn't afraid at all. This battle was fought in such a bullying manner. Now that Yin Bo had fully understood the gap between the two sides in terms of combat strength and all other aspects, he wouldn't care too much about the other side's numerical advantage. Instead, he was somewhat excited and looking forward to the upcoming series of fierce battles.