Chapter 1018

“Your Majesty truly has foresight.”

Qi Guangyi thought, sighing at the warning in the telegram.

Feng Dongjin’s expression was strange; sometimes he truly felt that the current Emperor was omniscient and omnipotent. “Commander, what should we do now? Dolgor is right in front of us. Are we just going to give up?”

Gubat’s face turned pale when he heard this. He could not go back now. If Qi Guangyi and the others also left, he would have nowhere to go but death.

Looking at his remaining tribesmen behind him, Gubat suddenly knelt on the ground. He said, “General Qi, I beg you to save us. A Cossack cavalry is closely pursuing us from behind. If they catch up, our tribe will be completely wiped out.”

“A Cossack cavalry is chasing you?” Qi Guangyi was somewhat disbelieving. He said, “Dolgor cannot possibly not know that we are near Tian Shan. Is he not afraid of encountering us?”

Gubat was a little helpless. He said, “I betrayed a Tsarist Russian officer during the Battle of Yakutsk. They must hate me to death now. It is precisely because of this that Dolgor has always been dissatisfied with me since I returned from Yakutsk. And this is why I decided to help you. This time, Tsarist Russia personally sent Cossack cavalry, one is to help Dolgor, and the other is probably to get rid of me, because Tsarist Russia is always very cruel to defectors.”

Qi Guangyi’s eyes darted around, then he exchanged glances with Feng Dongjin. He asked, “Then where is the Cossack army now?”

He had also heard the name Cossack and was very interested in cavalry that could make barbarians afraid.

This time, he might have to engage with the Cossack cavalry.

Compared to Qi Guangyi’s high fighting spirit, Feng Dongjin’s mind was more meticulous. He asked again, “Getting rid of you might be one reason, but the Cossack cavalry are surely not fools. There’s no reason for them to continue chasing you here.”

Gubat shook his head. He said, “You don’t understand Cossacks at all. They are a pure light cavalry, moving very quickly. Even if they encountered you, they would be perfectly capable of easily escaping.”

Qi Guangyi nodded. This was consistent with what he knew. After a moment of thought, he said, “In that case, we will meet them.”

Feng Dong said, “We can catch the Cossack army by surprise now, before they know we are here. It would be even more perfect if there was a suitable ambush location.”

“There is an ambush location.” Gubat said excitedly. What he feared most now was that Qi Guangyi would ignore him. He eagerly said, “There’s a wide valley to the southwest. Both sides of the valley have woods, which are very suitable for an ambush.”

At this time, the captain of the hunter cavalry responsible for reconnaissance said, “That’s right, there is indeed such a place. If Gubat lures them into this valley, we can fight an ambush battle.”

Upon hearing that he would be used as bait, Gubat’s expression changed. But after a moment of thought, he bit his lip and said, “To prove my sincere surrender, I will now gather the remaining cavalry and go to meet the enemy.”

Gubat had already understood that he had no other choice. Without the Empire’s protection, he would truly be a stray dog.

“Very good. Let’s discuss the countermeasures now. Gubat will be responsible for leading the troops to lure the Cossack army into the ambush. Our army will then ambush them there, first attacking them from the woods on both sides with carbines and grenades. Then, we will sandwich them from front and back, annihilating the pursuing Cossack army in one fell swoop.”

Gubat’s face lit up with joy. He said, “This is truly a perfect plan.”

Qi Guangyi and Feng Dongjin smiled. They said, “Then you will be responsible for collecting their heads.”

After agreeing on the matter and resting briefly, Gubat mustered his troops and headed in the direction they had come from. Qi Guangyi and Feng Dongjin, on the other hand, led the rifle cavalry to the ambush valley.

The valley mentioned by the hunter cavalry was a narrow valley more than ten li (approximately 5 kilometers) long and over three hundred meters wide. This was merely one of the valleys formed by the uplift of the Tian Shan mountain range.

After reaching the valley, Feng Dongjin said, “Commander, the cavalry is yours. I will lead some soldiers to dismount and hide on both sides of the woods for an ambush.”

“Good. I will lead the cavalry to ambush on the other side of the mountain.” With that, Qi Guangyi led the cavalry to the other side of the valley. More than twenty thousand cavalry quietly waited for the great battle to begin.

Seeing Qi Guangyi leave, Feng Dongjin scanned the valley, attempting to find a place advantageous for the soldiers’ carbine fire.

Then he deployed over ten thousand soldiers to positions with good visibility, awaiting Gubat’s arrival.

At the same time, Gubat soon encountered the relentlessly pursuing Cossack cavalry. Remembering his tragically killed tribesmen, his heart was filled with both hatred and anger.

“Kill!”

A furious shout came from Gubat’s mouth. Twenty thousand cavalry charged towards the Cossacks with orderly steps. Feigned defeat was also a technical skill. If it wasn’t convincing, it could easily make the enemy suspicious. An accidental feigned defeat could even turn into a real defeat, so Gubat was extremely apprehensive in his heart. But thinking of the Cossack soldiers wantonly slaughtering civilians, he could no longer tolerate it.

The Cossack soldiers clearly did not expect Gubat to run back willingly. In brief panic, they scattered in all directions, but the barbarian cavalry on their warhorses were faster. A stream of blood shot into the sky, as Gubat’s saber slashed across a Cossack soldier’s throat.

“Kill!” The barbarian cavalry charged towards the Cossack cavalry. Horses collided with horses, and people collided with people. The surprise attack caught the Cossacks off guard. For a time, only the screams of the Cossack cavalry remained.

But this one-sided slaughter did not last long. The Cossack cavalry behind quickly readjusted their formation, drew their sabers, and charged towards Gubat’s cavalry.

At the same time, continuous gunshots kept ringing out. The Cossack cavalry drew their short-barreled firearms and began to fire.

Gubat’s tribesmen began to suffer increasing casualties.

“Banner head, it’s time to go now.” At this point, a general reminded Gubat.

“No, we must engage them in battle. Otherwise, with the cunning of the Cossacks, they will certainly become suspicious.”

The commander of the Cossack army this time was named Kasimov. After engaging him, Gubat discovered that this Kasimov was very cautious. A simple feigned retreat would certainly arouse his suspicion.

“Form ranks!” Gubat commanded. After charging, he quickly re-adjusted his cavalry’s formation.

At this moment, a Cossack cavalry unit was also re-forming its ranks, commanded by Kasimov.

“Kill!” Gubat gritted his teeth and shouted. The cavalry immediately surged like a tide towards the Cossack army. At this point, they were meeting their sworn enemies, their eyes burning with hatred. But he still remembered the agreed-upon strategy. Charging into the Cossack army, Gubat fought fiercely once more, and after truly showing signs of decline, he turned and left.

[Translator’s Note]

Check my another translation project:
Title: Bloodstained Soldier. On Yuanling Planet, due to a food and oil crisis, the various nations that had not experienced large-scale war for a hundred years suddenly erupted into conflict. Tens of billions of civilians were swept into the war. As an Earthling, Hu Hao transmigrated for the second time. He originally intended to travel the world, but war broke out instead.