"Just the three of you?" I worried their fighting prowess wouldn't be enough to deal with over a dozen demon hunters armed with weapons.
The sable turned into a human and smiled at me, "They're all here, just behind us!"
As she spoke, she transformed back. It happened so quickly I barely caught a glimpse of her human form, but she was quite fair.
Before her words faded, the sound of animals breaking through the forest echoed from the foot of the mountain. The other demons made their appearance, with the bear demon being the last to arrive, panting heavily and frothing at the mouth. Among the seven demons, only the leader, the snake demon, remained in human form, clothed. She had ridden on the back of the deer demon. The snake demon dismounted, glanced at the number of demon hunters below, and with all this commotion, the demon hunters had also noticed the activity and directed their searchlights towards us.
Seeing the snake demon wave her hand, preparing to order a charge up the mountain, I quickly stopped her, "Liya, they have weapons. A direct confrontation is not advisable."
"Then how should we fight?"
"They can only fight on the road; they wouldn't dare enter the forest. We'll use the forest to our advantage, outflank them, and catch them by surprise," With soldiers at my disposal, I could finally leverage my expertise as a human who had read numerous war histories. "Qingshuang, you're the biggest. You and I will engage them head-on to draw their attention."
After speaking, I mounted the deer, and we veered left. The demon hunters' searchlights indeed followed us to the left. The other demons melted into the darkness (hidden by the trees, they were invisible from below, only the height of the deer antlers was visible).
"Liya, you and Xiao Xian'er will circle around from the left. Once in position, do not attack. Wait for the right flank to initiate. Mengmeng, you and Zizi will go to the right. Make a big show of moving through the forest and create noise. Once you're near them, briefly reveal yourselves as a feint, but don't get hurt. When they turn to face you, Liya and Xiao Xian'er will attack from behind. When the enemies turn again, Mengmeng and Zizi will join the fray. By then, Qingshuang and I will also be on the road. We'll attack from three sides, driving them forward. Xuanxuan, Kun Kun, you two will also sneak around from the left and lie in ambush at that bend. When the enemies are driven there, push their vehicles into the ditch beside the road!"
It was a simple tactic of a four-sided ambush, creating diversions, and avoiding the enemy's strength while attacking their weakness. Any company or platoon leader from the Volunteer Army era could have executed this with ease, let alone me, who had read about the brilliant battles of our predecessors.
Demons aren't scary; what's scary is having a commander like me!
After the plan was laid out, it was immediately put into action. I rode the deer demon, slowly descending the mountain. The demon hunters, thinking all of us were on this side, formed a formation of four in front and eight in the rear, preparing to intercept. As the deer demon and I emerged onto the road, the demon hunters were about to surround us when Mengmeng let out a bear roar from the left. The sable darted out, quickly bit one of the demon hunters on the neck, and then retreated back into the woods.
As expected, the demon hunters' formation shifted to the left. At that moment, a large snake emerged from the right, directly charging into the demon hunters' ranks and coiling around three of them. Due to the close proximity, the other demon hunters couldn't attack the snake demon for fear of hitting their comrades. The weasel demon also rushed out, but instead of attacking, she farted in the crowd, immediately engulfing the area in a yellow mist. The deer demon seized this opportunity, lowered its antlers, and charged forward, knocking over two demon hunters.
Ugh, that smell!
It was so potent it made me roll off the deer's back. I quickly ran back. Forget it, I wouldn't interfere; I'd let them handle the fight.
The deer demon looked back at me. I gestured for her to continue and not worry about me, as there were no enemies on my side!
The deer demon continued to charge and butt its way through the crowd. Mengmeng and the others also rushed forward. The demon hunters' formation instantly collapsed. Those who could still move scrambled into their vehicles and fled.
Only three vehicles managed to escape. As they reached the bend, the tiger demon leaped out, first causing the leading vehicle to swerve sideways. The two vehicles behind couldn't dodge in time and collided with the one in front. While the demon hunters inside were disoriented, the tiger demon pushed the two vehicles into the mountain ravine. The deer demon rushed over and, along with the bear demon, pushed the third vehicle into the ravine as well.
I had observed that ravine from the mountain; it was at least twenty meters deep. I figured the people in the vehicles were either dead or severely injured...