Chapter 102: Ambush arrives

5 days to reach the capital-

The topology of the pathway was a bit irregular. The most dangerous aspect was the various blind spots it created, for possible attacks to occur from. Long Tao asked the group to halt in a particular region for some time. Walking a bit far from the group, Long Tao was sitting on a branch when a figure appeared before him holding a package." The leader sends his welcome regards to you." Long Tao nodded. The figure soon faded from sight. Long Tao looked into the contents of the package and then returned to the group. "Let's go"

In some place, within the mountains-

Tiger Zheng was sitting on his throne, a black figure standing in front of him. "What do you need?". "Have you thought of the proposal that we have provided you with." Tiger Zheng was left in a thought. Sometime ago a group of people approached the bandit stronghold asking them for assistance in an ambush of a particular group. Tiger Zheng didn't want to get involved in these matters as it attracts unnecessary attention. But the rewards offered were quite lucrative.

"Tell me the details regarding the group." Tiger Zheng didn't allow his greed to overcome his sanity. He knew that one needed to be alive to enjoy the riches earned during their life. "You don't need to know the details; we will give you the headcount and their cultivation levels. You just need to ward them off, until we succeed in killing the target.". Tiger Zheng looked at him" The deal is off then.". "How dare you "A person within the group was approaching Tiger Zheng ferociously, but when Tiger released his cultivation, the person was blasted back.

Qi general level 3. Tiger Zheng was as powerful as Lin Bao was. Maybe even stronger. The figures took a step back." There is no reason to get hostile. The target is the eldest daughter of Jiao Sheng, the king of the Jiao country." Tiger Zheng was taken back. Sweating all around. What was he going to do? His whole group would be exterminated if this were to happen. "You don't need to worry about the consequences."

"If you agree to help us, we will make sure that in addition to the riches, we will open the pathway for your group to a new distant location. You can open a new power there, and you will have all the financial backing you would need. Also, you will have our organization as a friend." The words had some allure to them. He would benefit quite a bit if that were true. Recently the situation in this area was not profitable at all. He needed to open a new business somewhere else.

"I will wait for the arrival of information before the decision can be made." The figures agreed. Tiger Zheng had a nervous feeling. Something in his instincts was screaming at him to not accept this proposal, but he went on with it after he saw the information. The convoy had as single Qi general guarding it and the rest were Qi master practitioners. "I will take on the job. Prepare your men. A Qi general is not easy to kill. The pay needs to be doubled."

The plan and the details arrived after some time-

"they will be approaching from this route. The barricades need to be put here and here, blocking all the pathways of getting out. These are the three directions, where the barricades would be a perfect fit. We need to isolate them, and then the attack will arrive. You need to divide your people into four groups. The first three groups need to be consisting of hardly three to 5 people. These three groups are just to stop outside help and bare anyone forms getting out of the isolation."

He then drew a bigger circle on the map." This will be the area of ambush and the biggest group along with our people should be present. The general strategy remains the same. Form a two-line ambush formation. You need to surround them. Using random and multiple tactics is best. You should just take care of having them busy. The kill would be carried out by us." Tiger Zheng scrutinized the plan once more, before making some addition on the ambush. The planning was done, and the groups set out to formulate battle tactics and traps.

The convoy-

Long Tao was within the princess's caravan. "I have set up an inquiry and it looks like we would be surrounded as soon as we reach this location. My sources say that this area is controlled by a bandit organization led by Tiger Zheng, a QI general practitioner, and a known criminal. I suppose the assassins have reached out to them and asked for their assistance. This will be a difficult battle. We need to verify the location from the details given below."

Long Tao drew multiple positions where the ambush could occur. Looking at the marks the princess was quite surprised. Even the captains of the team accompanying them were surprised. There were just so many spots." I think these are the best locations for the ambush. Now if you ask me about my choice of place, these 5 would be great spots. I would have the advantage of the terrain. What do you people suggest we do to get out of this situation." The princess was quite impressed by Long Tao's preparation. This guy managed to send in spies so deep in the country and even have planned so ahead.

It was the time she proved her worth." I think there are two spots I would choose as optimum ambush locations. The specialty of these two paces is the fact that they have fewer exit routes, so the enemy would have the least chance to escape. Also, I think they would be having multiple barricades at these locations to prevent any direct escape of ours. We need to talk on team division. Also, there needs to be a call for back up from the other side. It would provide assistance on this situation." The princess lives up to her name as one of the chief strategists of the Jiao empire.

The group division was finally done and three groups were created. The best thing about the three convoys was their alike looks. Each of the convoys had a central cart, with a princess figure sitting in them. The first group moved out. The path of the three was the same, but the idea was the prevention of harm to the princess's group and the convoys were going to act as a back-up for the attacked group. Even the bandits were confused as to which group to hit. If they were wrong and let the group containing the princess go, their mission fail.

If they attack a group that was not including the princess in it, they will make the other groups aware of it and the back-up will be requested. Either way, the mission will be a failure. They need to ward off any chance of that. "What is our strategy going to be?" "Let's attack all three of them. Although the collective strength would be divided, so is theirs. Hence will be on the same grounds as before. From my assumption, the princess's convoy should be in the farthest, getting the highest chance of escaping once the attack happens.

The mountainside-

The first convoy arrived in the pathway. The same arrangement was made by the troops surrounding the convoy. Just as they were approaching the exit, a vibration suddenly occurred. The land slid down and the path was blocked. The group of bandits showed up as planned. They surrounded the convoy. "Please allow us to have your possessions. The black-mountain bandits are here.".

"Heed to the order. We will act fast. No need to show mercy to these people. Each one of them will be killed as of now." The soldier nodded in return of the voice. Even the bandits were surprised, but the attacks happened soon. The bandits were being killed. A single figure was taking on and leaving multiple bandits at the same time. The soldier at the back was ganging up and killing those on the side-lines. The whole affair was a bloody one. The bandits were surprised by the merciless actions of the soldiers. They were not taking any prisoners. It was just killing.

The prediction of the bandits was logical, but they missed on the specification that Long Tao was a part of it. Long Tao was part of the first convoy and the fight ended soon. As the princess predicted, they concentrated their major power for the groups that were behind. The thinking was based on the fact that the princess might be in the later caravans, but the use of reverse psychology worked. "Take the princess to safety. I will go ahead and take care of the back-up for the other groups." The soldiers proceeded with the princess to reach a safe hiding location.