124: Chapter 124 Tyrant Baal!

On the battlefield, the soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion, having shaken off the pursuing troops by crossing the swamp, were all visibly excited, even cheering for Li Mo one after another.

"Commander is awesome! We actually managed to escape from the encirclement of tens of thousands of enemies!"

"Unprecedented! With only two thousand men, we actually managed to tip the scales against half a million!"

"Haha! We completely wiped out the enemy's medical unit! This achievement is worth bragging about when we get back!"

To be honest, although everyone was excited before, deep down they felt more fear.

After all, they only had two thousand men; for the half a million of the Black Earth Tribe, dealing with them would be as easy as crushing chicks. Everyone had come with the mindset of a suicide squad.

After all, if they fought, even if they died here, it would allow their families to transcend their social class, and the pension for those killed in action was an astronomical sum.

But Li Mo not only led them to achieve military exploits but now had also led them to escape alive. They were now completely in awe of Li Mo and deeply grateful to him.

For the Vanguard Battalion with only two thousand men, this was nothing short of a massive victory and was indeed something to celebrate, but Li Mo's expression remained relatively calm because he understood that this was just the beginning.

The enemy had only temporarily stopped marching; once they confirmed that our main force had not arrived, they would inevitably seize the opportunity to occupy the Qiyuan Mountains.

Their combat mission was far from over!

There would likely be more sacrifices in the future.

Li Mo stood up and slowly said to everyone, "Everyone, don't get too excited yet. Rest for a while. In twenty minutes, we will continue our march to rendezvous with the Heavy Artillery Position troops that retreated earlier!"

"Also, we lost over two hundred brothers in the battle just now. Compile the list of the fallen, and I will claim military honors for them from our superiors!"

Facing tens of thousands of enemy troops, the Vanguard Battalion only lost two hundred men, which theoretically was the most optimistic scenario. However, don't forget that the Vanguard Battalion was small to begin with; two hundred men meant they had lost one-tenth of their strength.

Converted to the opposing Black Earth Tribe army, that would be equivalent to losing a full fifty thousand!

This meant that the Vanguard Battalion's next mission would inevitably be even more difficult.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the soldiers calmed down at that moment.

Li Mo's handling of this victory was very appropriate. He did not overly reprimand everyone—after all, a victory did deserve celebration—but at the same time, he used the two hundred fallen to remind everyone that they had not been without sacrifices.

As the saying goes, a proud army is bound to fail. It was understandable to be a bit arrogant with military achievements when there was no fighting, but when it came to real war, being blinded by victory was fatal.

"Yes!"

Everyone immediately agreed.

After giving instructions, Li Mo called Zheng Jiahao aside.

"Lao Zheng, I have an exciting task for you; are you up for it?"

Zheng Jiahao usually loved doing exciting things. Hearing Li Mo say this, his eyes immediately lit up. "Li Mo, just say what it is, no need to beat around the bush! Is this task quite dangerous? Don't worry, no matter how dangerous it is, I'll do it!"

Among the people under Li Mo's command, the one with the highest IQ was probably Zheng Jiahao; often, he even thought further ahead than Li Mo.

Therefore, if there was a dangerous mission, Li Mo was truly reluctant to let him go.

But as it happened, he was the most suitable person for the most dangerous missions.

In fact, Li Mo had been studying Morpheus these past few days. As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. He had already guessed that Morpheus would likely have the Black Earth Tribe army stop and then send small units to continue pursuing Li Mo and his men, in order to determine whether the Great Xia army had arrived in the vicinity.

Li Mo certainly couldn't let Morpheus know the truth, so he planned to use the remaining eighteen hundred or so men of the Vanguard Battalion to wipe out the unit Morpheus sent.

But before that, he had to leave some people in the vicinity to scout out the enemy's movements!

Clearly, Zheng Jiahao was the most capable for this!

"Lao Zheng, you pick a few good men from the army, wait for the enemy's pursuers to come near here, and then report the enemy's numbers, strength, and other intelligence to me!"

As soon as Li Mo said this, Zheng Jiahao immediately guessed his purpose.

"I get it. You intend to rendezvous with the people at the Heavy Artillery Position first, and then wipe out the enemy's pursuers, right? Good idea!"

Zheng Jiahao gave a thumbs up, affirming Li Mo's battle plan.

At this moment, Li Mo hesitated and said, "This mission is very dangerous. Once you few are discovered by the enemy, I'm afraid…"

Suddenly, the corners of Zheng Jiahao's mouth turned up, and he patted Li Mo on the shoulder. "You're underestimating me! It's just a reconnaissance mission! It's not like I'm going to assassinate the enemy commander! Rest assured, leave this task to me!"

Li Mo nodded slightly; to be honest, this was the only mission he felt at ease entrusting to Zheng Jiahao.

Then Li Mo stood up and continued to command the group, "Everyone, follow me to rendezvous with the people at the Heavy Artillery Position. Remember, make your footprints deep along the way! Try to leave as many traces as possible!"

The purpose of Li Mo doing this was actually to let the enemy's small unit catch up to them, luring the enemy deep.

Not long after Li Mo and his men left, some figures slowly emerged within the swamp.

These people were the ones Morpheus had sent to pursue Li Mo, about five thousand in total, a regiment's strength.

Among them, the leader was a man as sturdy as an ox; his physique was more than three times that of an average person, looking like a human tank.

From the military medal on his shoulder, it was clear that his rank was not low.

Zheng Jiahao, hiding in the shadows, couldn't help but gasp the moment he saw him.

"It's actually Baal! How did this guy come here to pursue us in person?"

Baal, commander of the 1st Division of the 6th Army of the Black Earth Tribe, was nicknamed "Tyrant" on the battlefield.

True to his name, this man was brutal and merciless. On the battlefield, he liked to torture and kill enemies, tearing them limb from limb. Because of his immense strength, he often liked to smash an enemy's head with a single palm when killing them on the battlefield.

Mentioning this person, both the people of the Baiou Empire and the people of Great Xia felt deep hatred.

He was like a killing machine, and he was even extremely brutal to his own subordinates!

His strength had already reached the Sanhe Realm, similar to General Walter whom Li Mo had killed earlier. Because of his meritorious service in killing enemies, Baal's rank in the Black Earth Tribe had also reached Major General.

But Walter was famous for his battlefield command tactics, and his own strength wasn't really that great. However, Baal was different; this guy was a battle-hardened general who had truly fought his way up.

This man alone was enough for the eighteen hundred men of the Vanguard Battalion to handle, let alone the fact that he had brought a full five thousand men.

Although Li Mo had shaken him off through the swamp, it didn't mean he could defeat him on the open battlefield!

Zheng Jiahao sighed. "This is going to be troublesome!"

Just as Zheng Jiahao was feeling that it was tricky, Baal suddenly looked in his direction and roared, "Who is there!"