Chapter 746: Ambush
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Benjamin continued flying towards the border, and after about three hours spotted some vague figures in the distance.
He quickly landed and hid behind a large rock.
"Those... they are priests from the church, right?"
Benjamin saw that some of the figures came from the ground, while others flew in the sky. As their distance got closer, he confirmed his speculation.
An army of almost ten thousand soldiers, with many priests and even bishops among them. They were rushing forward aggressively, following the trail which Icor’s army had used as they retreated.
When Benjamin saw this, he had a bad feeling.
Since a large number of pursuers were here, it meant that the people left behind to cover the retreat have been defeated.
Moreover, the Church’s pursuit was very fast, based on the System’s calculation, they should be able to catch up with Icor’s retreating army in just half a day. If they were to catch up with Icor’s army...... Benjamin could not predict who would win, but he was certain that it would not end well.
At that moment, he realized that he might have to do something.
"Don’t be impulsive." The System reminded him, "If the Church is getting into a war, then Grant should be there with the army. If you appear on the battlefield, then that guy will certainly charge straight for you; it’s impossible for you to deal with both Grant and the bishops at the same time."
"...I know."
"Besides, you should not underestimate this army. After scanning through them, there are at least ten bishops among them, so you might not even be able to help much anyhow."
"..."
Benjamin shook his head helplessly.
Did the System really think that he would fight ten thousand people by himself?
Ever since the war began, Benjamin found it difficult to turn the tables all by himself. Bishops, the huge army, Grant, and unknown magic tools... These were all factors that would constrain him, and he could no longer thoughtlessly slaughter paladins and priests like he did before.
He needed to think of another way.
After thinking about it for a moment, Benjamin turned around and quickly flew back.
His speed was much faster than that of the military forces, so he immediately caught up with Icor’s retreating army in just a few hours and told them the news about the pursuers.
"This... we can have no choice but to fight them to death!"
After listening to what Benjamin saw, General Kent was astonished and said with a straight face.
"We must figure out a way to defeat them." Benjamin nodded and said, "However, I feel it is possible to win by going against them head on."
General Kent frowned, "Then what do you mean..."
"We set up an ambush during our retreat." Benjamin turned around and looked at the mages in the army. "Aren’t there a few thousand mages left here? We just need to look out for dangerous terrain to use as a trap and lure the pursuing army there. Then, we can retaliate!"
Although he did not have any experience in leading an army into the war, he had read "Master Sun’s Art of War" and "Records of Three Kingdoms", so he had a certain level of understanding. Generally, an ambush was the best way to stop a pursuing enemy.
Icor’s soldiers were all in low spirits because they had just been defeated, and an ambush might not be able to eliminate the entire pursuing army in a short period of time. But because Benjamin was there with them, he would help make up for the army’s low combat effectiveness!
After hearing this, General Kent’s eye shone brightly, and he nodded enthusiastically.
"With the help of the director, we will surely be able to defeat the pursuing army!"
Therefore, an ambush plan was prepared as fast as they could.
The terrain right now was all just flat plains, but if they were to go a little further ahead, they would enter a dense forest. That place was not convenient for marching, so an army would generally bypass it, but, if they wanted to continue pursuing, they would have no choice but to enter the forest.
If they enter the forest, the enemy’s combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.
Benjamin led the two thousand mages and flew towards the forest. They did not have much time, so he could not group the mages based on their magic; he merely used the sound of an explosion as a signal. When they heard the explosion, they were to start launching all the water magic that they knew. As for those who were not skilled in water magic, they could also use the magic of other elements, but they needed to avoid using fire magic so that it would not clash and to avoid starting a fire in the forest.
"Actually, isn’t it better to use fire magic?" The System murmured. "Have you heard any famous ambushes in history where they used water to flush away their enemies instead of attacking with fire?"
"...shut up."
Benjamin shook his head helplessly.
There were just a few hours left, so he was too lazy to start a fight with the System, he would rather spend more time on preparing the ambush. The two thousand mages should hide quietly in the woods, but they needed to arrange themselves in an orderly manner, and Benjamin spent quite some time trying to get them to do so.
Eventually, when they finished preparing the ambush, a signal came from the other part of the army.
"The pursuing army has appeared, and the rest of the army have begun to accelerate and run towards the forest." After analyzing the vibration of the ground, the System said, "They are now only a few kilometers away from the forest."
After Benjamin heard this, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.
This was an unprecedented experience for Benjamin. He had only just flown out of Regina and was at the border trying to investigate what was happening, and now, he was leading thousands of people to set up an ambush against the Church as a counterattack. He could not help but imagine what would happen to the army if he did not get to them in time.
He was fortunate, but at the same time, he was uneasy about the fact that he had given up many options to help the army.
History was constantly changing, and every choice that he makes might lead to an entirely different outcome.
Benjamin shook his head and dismissed these thoughts. Either way, he was already here, so the only concern he should have was how to lure the Kingdom of Helius pursuers here and how to keep the Icor soldiers alive.
He activated the water element domain, one after another ice blades gathered around him, hidden among the dense forest...
Ten minutes later.
"They are here!"
Through the water element sensing technique, Benjamin saw the rest of the army who were acting as bait running towards the forest. He could not help but take a deep breath and say silently in his mind.