Chapter 1 When the Army Moves

While Yin Bo was leading his army on a forced march, the patrols, scouts, transport teams, laborers, and religious followers they encountered along the way were stunned. The distance to the front line was considerable, both north and south. The vanguard was a mixed force of Xiling Imperial Guards and elite troops from Dongping, and the speed of their advance was nearly equivalent to marching itself. When encountering enemies ahead, the vanguard would directly accelerate for a charge, then scatter to hunt down fleeing soldiers. After a brief rest, they would maintain a relatively stable distance from the main force. Yin Bo himself was surprised by this combat efficiency. Amidst the rapid march, the soldiers discussed how long it would take to deal with the next wave of enemies.

Even viewed from the air, an army of 30,000 was an impressive and vast sight. To maintain frontal impact, the army advanced in three parallel lines. Airship support from above further reduced the troubles of this surprise force. They passed several important strongholds along the way, where they had expected to detach troops for tough battles, only to find ruins. One estate, formerly belonging to a certain family, was completely ablaze, thick smoke billowing into the sky, visible for perhaps a hundred *li*. But it was too late for the enemy to react, to mobilize heavy troops for encirclement and interception.

The movements of Yin Bo's force were quickly reported to Anqing, generally within a quarter of an hour. To achieve this, Ye Tao had long ordered the activation of a radio communication station hidden within enemy territory. Reconnaissance airships followed Yin Bo's force, transmitting the situation to the station, which then relayed the information. Ye Tao's instructions were also returned in this way. Although not at the front lines, Ye Tao had an accurate grasp of the battle situation. On a large sand table in the Anqing command post, the marker representing Yin Bo's force was constantly moving forward. The various enemy forces that posed a threat were also displayed. A barrage of flaming oil bombs was usually enough to paralyze a force of a few thousand men for several hours, which was sufficient for Yin Bo's unit.

Larger troop movements had to pass through the Daoming Sect headquarters. A core training subject for the inner court guards was message transmission, and they had always been Dongping's last line of defense. Correspondingly, they were also adept at searching for and killing messengers. If they didn't have time to kill a messenger, they would try to impersonate them and send contradictory and nonsensical orders. The Zongmo Troupe, which had been active in more distant areas for the past few days, had revealed itself slightly, attracting elite forces directly under the Daoming Sect high command to search for them. The Special Operations Battalion’s style was a mix of bizarre pranks and formal combat, and their sabotage operations were effective. From last night until now, they had attacked seventeen Daoming Sect strongholds of various sizes. To cause a significant reaction, they rarely focused on killing, instead leaving survivors to spread panic in a short time. The four most elite teams followed the airships, constantly performing airborne assaults, then setting fires and climbing back into the airships, repeating the process after a brief rest. All of this was to reduce resistance for Yin Bo's force and allow them to reach Mount Lao Jun as quickly as possible.

Yin Bo's unit was like a torrent of steel, flowing and spreading across the land. Unstoppable, they had covered more than sixty *li* from dawn to just before noon, a speed that surprised Yin Bo. But the more he advanced, the more he sensed the powerful presence of Ye Tao behind the entire operation. The destroyed strongholds along the way, the constant airship bombings, and the continuous intelligence support – all of this was not easy to achieve. The intelligence tubes constantly dropped by the airships reported enemy positions ahead and on both flanks. As for the rear, they assumed that no one could catch up with Yin Bo's force anyway, so they ignored it. It would be too embarrassing to be overtaken by the enemy from behind in this high-speed advance.

For the Daoming Sect high command, holed up in Lao Jun Hall, this was a terrifying situation. Yin Bo had made his intentions clear from the morning, launching a forceful attack. It was impossible for them to be unaware, but decision-making took time, orders took time to transmit, and troop deployments took time. They had never imagined that in just one morning, Yin Bo's force would be less than twenty *li* from Lao Jun Hall. Lao Jun Hall's current defensive force was just over 30,000, of which more than 10,000 were well-trained elite troops with good equipment. Another 10,000 were in training, and the remaining 10,000 were a mix of miscellaneous soldiers. Many of them were soldiers who had just finished healing in Lao Jun Hall's hospital. Their combat power was far inferior to Yin Bo's force, but with Lao Jun Hall's terrain and defensive facilities, they were not without a chance. The Daoming Sect needed time to mobilize troops from various locations to intercept Yin Bo's force and strengthen the defenses of the Lao Jun Hall complex. But was there enough time?

The entire Lao Jun Hall and the surrounding dozens of *li* had become a battlefield. Fires were constantly breaking out, and battles of all sizes were taking place at any moment. In this area approaching Lao Jun Hall, no small battle could be ignored. The enemy had approached their lair, and no one could allow them to operate under their noses. But now, reports were constantly arriving, neither good nor bad. The various messages were driving the Daoming Sect high command crazy. And from the highest point of Lao Jun Hall, Yin Bo's troops could now actually be seen.

The resistance encountered along the way was far less than Yin Bo had anticipated. In one morning, the 30,000-strong army had suffered fewer than a thousand casualties. But now Yin Bo encountered the largest resistance force yet. Lao Jun Hall had sent out 10,000 elite troops to block them head-on. They had arrived here less than half an hour before Yin Bo, but they had the advantage of terrain.

"General... someone is approaching under the banner of Yunzhou and requesting a meeting," the staff officer reminded him.

"Who?" Yin Bo was no longer in the mood to think about what other tricks Ye Tao might have up his sleeve. From the slightest clues, and from the various arrangements Ye Tao had made during the forced march of the past three hours, Yin Bo felt that it was a great privilege to fight under Ye Tao. As long as you controlled your own army, the main direction of attack would always receive maximum support from friendly forces.

"The Special Operations Battalion... Zhang Wei." Many of the people Yin Bo had brought with him were from the Yunzhou system, and they were familiar with Zhang Wei, a renowned general. Zhang Wei was already one of the top ten figures in the Yunzhou army, but his position was still in the Special Operations Battalion, and he had not been promoted further. Even now, Dai Yong was increasingly taking on the administrative management of the Special Operations Battalion, while Zhang Wei and Barrett, whose military ranks were above his, continued to serve as captains of Squad A and Squad B. From this, one could imagine how special the combat power and command capabilities of the Special Operations Battalion were in the Yunzhou army. Even more special was Zhang Wei and Barrett. The reason they hadn't been promoted wasn't because Ye Tao hadn't considered it, but because the Special Operations Battalion was too fascinating. They were constantly experimenting with the latest weapons and tactics, always operating behind enemy lines, and severely damaging the enemy with a variety of creative means. And for people like Zhang Wei and Barrett, whose veins flowed with the blood of battle, the Special Operations Battalion was even more special because there were always missions. Ye Tao now used different troops for each operation, always considering the balance of the various units, taking into account the emotions of the commanders of each battalion, and giving everyone the opportunity to earn merit and be promoted, and to win glory and spoils of war for the soldiers. But only the Special Operations Battalion was never idle. Now, any soldier from the Special Operations Battalion was a super veteran.

"Greetings, General Zhang Wei. I have long heard of your illustrious reputation. I never thought I would meet you here." Yin Bo had heard of Zhang Wei's name. When he saw the man, he found that Zhang Wei was only about thirty years old, lean and tanned, with a capable expression, but all the killing intent in his body was hidden within, not revealing even a trace. This kind of person was the most terrifying, completely different from those brute-force generals.

"General Yin, the Special Operations Battalion is under orders to support your unit in attacking Lao Jun Hall." Zhang Wei knew the importance of the situation. After standing at attention and saluting, he immediately stated his purpose and explained the military situation. "General, I have arranged two ballista teams with twelve operators on the summit of Flying Peak, northwest of your current position. After you begin your attack, they will continuously snipe key enemy targets. Because of the high altitude of the position, the actual range is very wide, about 1,400 *chi* in radius. But beyond 1,000 *chi*, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. I will leave a liaison officer with you to select targets. In addition, Special Operations Battalion Squad A and a detachment of the Inner Court Guards are currently at the Washing Sword Pond. I don't know when you plan to begin your operation. They are ready at any time."

Yin Bo's eyes lit up when he heard Zhang Wei's words. He wouldn't inquire about the details, nor did he want to know how the Special Operations Battalion had managed to get ballistae, of all things, onto the top of Flying Peak, the highest point in the vicinity, which was usually uninhabited. The Special Operations Battalion had a reputation for operating behind enemy lines, so it wasn't particularly surprising that they had infiltrated the Washing Sword Pond. But this arrangement immediately made the tactics he could now use more flexible and varied, instead of just blindly attacking. But Yin Bo hesitated slightly and asked, "Is this a plan of Ye Jinglue?" (Jinglue refers to a high-ranking military official)

"Where would he?" Zhang Wei laughed. "How would Commander Ye have the time for such things? He just gave us a message and told us to coordinate our operations. If we can't relieve Commander Ye's worries, we'd be too ashamed to be on the battlefield."