Song Hongyang and two other officers led the spirit warriors to encircle the imperials from behind the ridge and approach the riverbank from three directions. After receiving Luo Ling's order, they would launch an attack at the same time, so that the imperials, who were still completely unaware, would lose sight of the big picture when the battle began.
About twenty minutes later, the three troops were in position and reported to Luo Ling through the communication between the spirit servant and the host mage. Luo Ling had recovered some of her spirit by then. She walked to a hillside in an invisible state and came to the top of the camp again from a high position.
Luo Ling danced with her hands, and a sleep spell with an expanded range erupted from her hands. The fan-shaped ripples swept down from the mountain, silently passing over the imperial soldiers one by one. This sleep spell did not make any sound, but the spiritual magic swept through the people in the camp, and those who were originally asleep fell into a deeper sleep, and those who were awake but a little sleepy fell into a dream. Even those who were still awake suddenly felt sleepy, their eyes were a little drowsy, and they wished they could fall down and sleep.
There was a young imperial officer who was on patrol post and walking around the makeshift camp with two soldiers. He yawned loudly, thinking it was the natural sleepiness of the summer afternoon, not expecting that this was the prelude to the attack.
After walking a few more steps, he heard a thump behind him. He turned around and saw one of his soldiers fell to the ground. The fallen soldier did not get up, but actually snored on the spot and fell asleep. Another soldier was going to help him up, so he squatted behind him, but he also sat down next to the sleeping soldier and dozed off.
The officer was startled, and his sleepiness was dispelled. He knew that only magic could produce such an effect, so he immediately shouted loudly: "A magician is attacking us!"
However, this warning came too late. As he shouted, strange whistling sounds came from all directions. The sound was light and sharp, like something gently tapping on armor, making a rattling sound.
Air gun shooting! After fighting the Chinese for so long, the Imperials had already gained a basic understanding of the Chinese's pneumatic weapons. Then, the screams that followed made him realize that the enemy's sneak attack had succeeded.
"Lord Moret!" The officer rushed to the center where the general was. Countless metal bullets shot out from the dense forest behind him and hit the officer and his comrades. He was a step slower in his self-defense action, and the bullets made four or five blood holes in his body. The officer felt a piercing pain in his back. His steps became messy. He ran a few more steps, his legs became weaker and weaker, and finally fell to the ground. He saw the imperial soldiers around him fall down one by one. Some of them were knocked down by the bullets like him in panic, and more people were killed in their sleep. In his dying moments, he vaguely saw General Moret in the center of the camp wake up and start to organize people, but it was too late, just like his shout.
Song Hongyang and his companions did not lead the team out of the forest. Instead, they took advantage of the cover of the forest and the height difference of the terrain to shoot at the enemy from top to bottom. The mage in the team would release fireball magic at the gathered enemies.
Because the mages were better protected, far fewer mages fell ill than soldiers during the Blackwood Pass plague. The configuration of Morlet's team was very abnormal. Among the more than 500 people, there was only one mid-level mage and two low-level mages. The three mages had just cast some shield magic when they were taken special care of by the spirit servants. Bullets and magic were thrown at them like water. The dispel magic first removed the shield, and then the three imperial mages were beaten into sieves.
Mollett organized several breakouts, but even if his mid-level and high-level soldiers could withstand a certain amount of bullet damage, it was difficult for them to rush into the forest under the concentrated fire of the mages. Luo Ling's spirit servants had more than 20 mages, and although the highest was only mid-level, they used the resonance casting method to greatly increase the power of magic. The result of each breakout was that several corpses fell, and then they were beaten back by the elemental magic.
One of Mollett's guards said, "Sir, the Chinese have occupied the hills on three sides. Their magicians have too much advantage. We have no hope if we continue to fight like this. We have no choice but to cross the river and go deep into the forest."
Mollett looked back at the river behind him. Although the river was only more than ten meters wide, it had a large drop in height and the current was fast. It was basically impossible for soldiers who were not strong enough or could not swim well to cross the river.
"Do you want to abandon most people and escape with only a few?" asked Mollett.
The guard said, "Sir, you know what our situation is. For us, what difference does it make if we die here or die in the enemy's town in two days? However, it is very different for the enemy. Shouldn't we conserve our strength and deal the greatest blow to the enemy?"
Mollett snorted coldly.
The guard said anxiously: "It is not the time for you to lead the Black Guards. You don't have any real masters under you. It is useless to break through by force. We, we have no other way to go."
Mollett said: "Then you cross the river first and investigate the situation on the other side."
The guard took the order and left. He was also a mid-level warrior, and a river more than ten meters wide was just a matter of leaping over it. He rushed to the riverside and burst out his fighting spirit to jump to the other side, but when he jumped to the highest point, an ice spear suddenly appeared from the higher sky, breaking through his fighting spirit defense and piercing through his body.
A human figure appeared from the air. It was Luo Ling who had arrived at the other side of the river at some point and blocked the last gap alone.
Mollett looked at the body of the guard falling into the water and sneered to himself.
The imperials who had been hoping to escape across the river all drew their bows and shot arrows at Luo Ling, but a light shield appeared in front of Luo Ling, and these weak attacks were easily blocked by her shield. She cast an ice storm towards the river bank, and white ice crystals and snowflakes covered the attackers almost instantly. The cold froze their movements, and the ice spikes pierced their bodies. After the great magician's ice storm, the river bank was in ruins, and there were only a few people standing.
Being attacked from all sides, the space of the Imperials was getting smaller and smaller. They could only use rocks, tree trunks and terrain as cover to avoid bullets. But there were not many places to hide. Only the dozens of soldiers around Moret were able to maintain their basic formation. Most of the soldiers on the periphery were beaten and collapsed. (To be continued)