A looming bird flew across the sky.
Under Doyle's forced march order, only fifty of the more than 150 prisoners were eventually killed.
The Beheaded Bandit Group also successfully arrived less than five kilometers away from Nuoer Village at noon.
An excited bandit cavalry scout came flying from a distance. Doyle waved his right hand and the team stopped immediately.
"How's it going?"
"Boss, no trace of us has been found in Nuoer Village. The villagers are lighting fires and cooking at the moment. The whole village is very peaceful. I have asked other brothers to go around to the back of Nuoer Village. No one can escape from our hands!"
"Have you caught those people going in and out of the village?"
"No? How can anyone run around in the middle of the day?"
"No one?"
"No……"
"Boss? How about we just go up and do it?"
The big head scratched the back of his bare head, with a bloodthirsty smile on his face.
Doyle shook his head, thought for a moment, and spoke to Zach beside him.
"Zach, you take 200 people to rob the village. I will take the remaining people to ambush to avoid being ambushed."
"Ambush? Boss, all the brothers have seen it, how could there be an ambush?"
The bandit scout looked confused.
Doyle's face was extremely serious.
"Let me ask you, when we plundered Beinuo'er Village before, did anyone come in and out of the village? Was he caught by us?"
"Yes, it was near evening and we captured several woodcutter and hunters who were out of the mountains."
"So this time, can you capture the people entering and leaving the village?"
The bandit scout shook his head.
"No, the brothers have been guarding for a long time, and it is true that no one comes in or out of the village."
Turning his head to look at the lush Gorel Mountains to the west, Doyle said in a deep voice.
"This is not normal. The villagers in the Gorel Mountains have always been up and down at night, making a living by plowing the fields and hunting. Hunters like to bring their own dry food and go up to the mountains to hunt some wild animals and make fires to roast them. But there is no such thing in the mountains here. signs of human habitation,
There are hundreds of people living in the village, but no one walks in or out at noon. This is too coincidental. "
"Boss Doyle, I think what you said makes sense. It's possible that some Noxians have gotten the news about our going south and stationed themselves in Noel Village to set an ambush for us."
"Ah? How is that possible? We have always been operating secretly here, and we have not let anyone escape alive. Moreover, the Immortal Fortress is so far away from Nuoer Village. How could they come to support in such a short time?"
The big head felt a little weird.
"Perhaps there really was an oversight that we didn't know about, or maybe the barbarians in Mostak leaked our information. In short, this matter must be guarded against. The matter is settled like this. Zach, you command the cavalry and Two hundred people enter the village first, remember to be careful, I will cover you outside the village, if you are ambushed, withdraw quickly."
"I understand, boss."
Watching Zach and others who left first, Doyle frowned, as if he felt something was wrong, but after thinking about it carefully, he couldn't figure out where his guess was wrong.
"Perhaps I'm too worried, but be careful and sail the ship for thousands of years..."
On the other side, in Noel Village, Lester was doing his final battle deduction on the simple village terrain map on the ground.
"Lord Leicester, since you already know that banning people from entering and exiting will make bandits wary, why don't you use the old and the weak to confuse the enemy, introduce the enemy who has not yet discovered us into the village, and then trap and kill us?"
After hesitating for a moment, Meredith couldn't hold it back and asked.
Using a wooden stick to add a line near the village entrance, Lester said without looking back.
"Ms. Meredith, there are at least 400 members of the Decapitated Bandit Group. They are fully equipped with weapons and armor. Not counting the five of you and the old people, there are only more than 200 of us who have integrated the young and middle-aged villagers. An armed villager who has no combat experience and can barely afford weapons does not have enough equipment and weapons. Do you know what this means?"
"Uh, does this mean we can't win?"
After thinking for several seconds, Meredith, with a grimace on her face, couldn't figure out how to win if she was allowed to command this battle.
"This means that our numbers and overall strength are at an absolute disadvantage."
Standing up, Lester straightened his collar.
"This is a gap that cannot be made up by any strategy or ambush. Even if we put people in to fight, we will fall into a hard fight after gaining a small advantage. In the end, we will be annihilated by the opponent in reverse. No matter how brave we are, a group of people will not even grow a horn. How can all the sheep defeat a pack of tigers with sharp teeth and claws that are twice their number?"
"Then does this have anything to do with you deliberately exposing your flaws, sir? Doesn't it mean that we simply can't defeat these..."
Before Meredith could finish her words, Uzair's crystal ball glowed brightly, and the female mage shut her mouth.
Just a few seconds later, after the light of the crystal ball went out, Uzair opened his eyes.
"Lord Leicester, Cernos said that his illusory crow saw the bandits dividing their forces. In addition to the cavalry that had surrounded the village, there were nearly two hundred soldiers who attacked the village first, and the remaining bandits dispersed. Hidden in the north of the village."
"Tell Cernos to continue monitoring the bandits outside the village."
"yes!"
Looking at Meredith who suddenly realized, Lester smiled.
"I get it now?"
"Compared with adults, I am really too stupid."
Meredith respectfully gave Lester a mage salute that she had only given to Ms. Rose in the past, and the female mage's eyes shone brightly.
"Your Majesty deliberately showed some abnormal signs and asked the bandit leader, who is cautious by nature, to divide his troops into the village to explore the way first. In this way, the opponent's absolute advantage in numbers was broken. We relied on surprise and the ambush that had been prepared. The opportunity to directly kill the first batch of enemies entering the village and gain the opportunity to win this battle...
Sir, you are really amazing. "
After hearing Meredith's explanation, behind Lester, the thirteen young people who had been given priority to be armed finally understood and suddenly felt a little more admiration for their commander.
Epsol, who had been semi-'forced' to kill 'innocent' villagers before and had some minor objections to Lester, now had to admit that if he wanted to be loyal to the Noxian army, such a commander would be the right choice. It is the most suitable, and it is much stronger than those Roxy Centurions who charge immediately.
"As expected of Lord Lester."
The first person behind Lester was Margaret. The girl with admiration in her eyes was appointed by Lester as the captain of the 'Noxus Black Guard', commanding the remaining twelve young people. .
Because of the cold girl's harsh methods, the rest of the people were convinced.
"Margaret, you have to think more. If you have any questions, you can ask me directly without restraint."
"Understood! Lord Lester!"
Seeing Lester talking to her, the girl tightened her face and immediately stood at attention with her feet together.
After touching the head of the somewhat restrained blond girl, and looking at the other young men of the Black Iron Guard, Lester's voice became a little softer.
"You are still young and should not be on the battlefield, so I feel sorry for you and use such drastic methods to force you to adapt to this cruel world.
If possible, I would rather create an era where children of your age can learn safely in the arms of their parents, rather than picking up heavy weapons and piercing the enemy's body..."
Looking at the man in front of him with complicated eyes, Epsol lowered his head.
He recalled his mother who cried to stop him from going to the battlefield before leaving the Immortal Fortress.
My mother seemed to have said that she should not go to the battlefield.
Maybe, I should... help him...
