Niu Zida briefly organized his troops and led them out of Duōléi City the next day.
Previously, he had received news from Goblin outposts that the knight punitive army had been spotted outside the city.
To lure the enemy deep in, Niu Zida had to intercept the enemy outside the valley of the ambush site.
The knight punitive army probably hadn't expected the opponent to dare to leave the city and fight in the wilderness.
They had also received intelligence that Duōléi City was currently occupied by a group of Goblins, so the propaganda within the territory was that this time they would avenge Lord Spring, drive out these innocent-slaughtering Goblins, and liberate Duōléi City.
Originally, according to Goblin habits, even if they plundered human cities and villages, they would often retreat quickly after succeeding, absolutely not daring to fight human armies head-on, let alone confront human armies led by knights in broad daylight.
The several knight lords who organized this knight punitive army also believed that Duōléi City, after being looted by Goblins, would certainly be in a power vacuum, and they would simply go to quickly claim Spring's inheritance.
By the time their troops arrived, the Goblins would have long since fled to who knows where.
However, even so, these Knights did not look down on the poorly equipped Goblins; they were more curious that there was actually a human army following the Goblins daring to engage them, and there were even a few Knights mixed in.
"You actually defected to the Goblins. Have you truly lost your aristocratic pride?"
"If you Militia of Dore Territory can quickly defect, your crimes can be pardoned after the war ends."
The shouts from the expeditionary army at the front line quickly caused the human army following Niu Zida to waver. This was within Niu Zida's expectations; he ignored them completely and continued to command his subordinate troops to charge towards the Knights' expeditionary army.
"Haha… As expected, Goblins are truly foolish."
Seeing that the Goblin Army dared to use the surrendered human army as vanguards, the Knights' expeditionary army burst into laughter and began to command their own subordinate Militia to meet the attack.
The wavering troops, upon hearing the order to lead the charge against the Knights' expeditionary army, became even more dissatisfied. Many of them, even as they charged, began to defect, even bringing the gradually approaching Knights' expeditionary army to turn against Niu Zida's side at the front line, now attacking his own forces.
After Yor casually killed a few people, Niu Zida led the Goblins and the remaining small portion of Militia and a mixed human force of thieves who had not yet defected, retreating towards the pre-arranged valley ambush. For the suddenness of the ambush, Niu Zida had never told the human troops about this plan from beginning to end, so at this time, many thieves and Militia deserted during the escape. By the time they reached the designated ambush location, only a few human troops were left.
"Indeed, making humans accept Goblin rule is not so easy."
This retreat could also be seen as a test. Although Niu Zida was mentally prepared, he had suddenly occupied Duōléi City and had not given any favors to the locals. Let alone Goblins, even humans would probably not fully pledge allegiance to him. So, it was not surprising that most people abandoned him during this sudden retreat. However, he still felt that this taste of being "betrayed" was unpleasant. It seemed that he must manage this territory well in the future, lest he truly end up isolated and abandoned.
"Master, the enemy seems to be catching up."
Seeing Niu Zida's army crumble, the Knights' expeditionary army did not suspect a trick and all charged forward. After all, what kind of strategy could a stupid and clumsy Goblin have? Moreover, the front-line defection and subsequent rout were all witnessed by them. The Knights believed this was just a Goblin Chief from the mountains who had risen during the recent chaos, ignorant of his own limitations, and after attacking the weakened territory, thought he could face the enemy head-on. This fit their stereotype of Goblins.
Now, the Knights' biggest concern was hoping that the beautiful Lady Amelie would not be ravaged and killed by the Goblins. After all, as Spring's widow, they would have to marry her if they wanted to inherit Dore Territory. Therefore, to achieve the greatest merit, they vied with each other to pursue the Goblins into the valley, fearing that falling behind would prevent them from being the first to attack Duōléi City, thus losing their say when contending for spoils of war and dividing the territory's inheritance.
"These fools, indeed, human greed is their greatest weakness."
Niu Zida lay on Yor's beautiful back. He had not expected the Knights' expeditionary army to fall for the trap so easily. Hundreds of people swarmed into the valley in a disorganized rush, without any formation, jostling together, afraid of falling behind others.
Seeing that all the enemies had entered the ambush circle, Niu Zida quickly led his people out of the valley entrance, then swiftly blew the Goblin bone whistle. Upon receiving the command, the mountains instantly rained down a large number of rolling logs and boulders, which fell from the sky and heavily smashed onto the heads of the pursuing Knights' expeditionary army.
Screams immediately echoed within the valley. The Knights' expeditionary army fell into chaos. The falling logs and boulders stirred up clouds of dust. In the crowded valley, the exit was completely obscured. Some tried to push forward to rush out of the valley, but Yor blocked the entrance, killing anyone who emerged from the dust, sparing no one. Those at the back who wanted to quickly leave the valley entrance and return the way they came, managed to run out only to be blocked by a tall, black-haired beautiful girl, Misato Shizuku, who also killed anyone who emerged. Trapped and slaughtered in this pocket, the several hundred-strong Knights' expeditionary army suffered heavy casualties in less than an hour.
Niu Zida did not hold back. Once the rolling logs and boulders from the valley above were mostly used up, he led his people back into the valley to charge the heavily wounded human Knights' expeditionary army. The expeditionary army, already in disarray, could not withstand such a charge, especially with Yor's incredibly swift movements. Wherever she moved quickly through the crowd, wails erupted. After more than a dozen people were cut down in an instant, the Knights' expeditionary army's last bit of resistance vanished, and they all retreated, trying to flee backward, only to be surrounded and killed from behind by Misato Shizuku.
Under this two-pronged attack, the three to four hundred Knights' expeditionary army, plus many defected human troops, suffered approximately 80% casualties in less than three hours. The remaining people had no choice but to surrender to Niu Zida. However, this time, Niu Zida was not polite at all, ordering everyone, except the Knights, to execute the Militia on the spot, leaving no survivors. At the same time, those Knights who had surrendered once also received the same treatment as the Militia.
By the end of the battle, only seven Knights remained from the entire Knights' expeditionary army; all others were killed. This became a famous example of winning against greater numbers in later generations: the "Battle of Dorei Valley."