Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

The underground river was pitch black, with only the glow of torches illuminating the limited surface of the water ahead. The current was sometimes gentle and sometimes swift, and the raft repeatedly struck hidden reefs, requiring manpower to propel it out of the water.

After an unknown amount of time, a faint glimmer of light finally appeared ahead.

"Exit!" came the voice from the ground, filled with ecstatic joy.

The raft emerged from the underground river mouth as dusk fell. A swift river rushed past, its banks lined with unfamiliar mountains and forests.

"This is downstream." Su Xuanji surveyed the terrain. "It's still over two hundred li from Iron Wall City, but at least it's safe now."

Lin Feng stood by the river, looking at the tired yet joyful faces of the crowd. What they carried on their backs was no longer cold stone, but military pay that could relieve Ironwall City's urgent crisis.

Lin Feng counted the number of people and the silver. The silver brought out from Moon Spring amounted to about three thousand taels. Although it was less than a fraction of the silver mountain seen in the mine, it was enough to solve the current crisis in Ironwall City.

"Di Ting, you go first. Hurry up and notify Han Tao to prepare to receive the animals, and keep the news strictly confidential," Lin Feng said. "Tell him that I hunted some 'wild animals from Blackwater Ravine,' and have him prepare a storeroom."

"Understood!" Di Ting mounted his horse and disappeared into the dim mountain path.

Lin Feng and the other two, carrying the silver, slowly made their way along the mountain path towards Ironwall City. They didn't rush, but deliberately slowed down, taking advantage of the darkness to choose less traveled paths.

They were even more vigilant on the way there than on the way there. Their eerie experience at Moon Spring left them with lingering fears, and no one knew whether there was anything else hidden in that abandoned mine, or perhaps remnants of the previous dynasty.

The next day at noon, the majestic city walls of Iron Wall City came into view.

At the city gate, Han Tao and his personal guards were already waiting. Seeing Lin Feng and his group looking travel-worn and disheveled, yet each with bulging backs, Han Tao's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

Inside the garrison commander's residence, in the study, the doors and windows were tightly shut.

Lin Feng opened the bag of silver ingots and dumped them onto the desk with a clatter.

"What is this?" Han Tao's heart pounded as he caught sight of the "Tianyou Tongbao" mark.

"Military pay." Lin Feng said succinctly, pointing to the silver ingots, "The imperial court will pay 30%, and we will make up the remaining 70%. From today onwards, Ironwall City will no longer wait for the pitiful amount of pay from the imperial court."

Han Tao asked, "How much silver is in this batch?"

"That's enough to expand the army by three thousand," Lin Feng said, "but we don't want a rabble."

He looked at Su Xuanji: "Miss Su, are there any records from the previous dynasty regarding the establishment and training manuals of private armies?"

Su Xuanji nodded: "Yes. In the late period of the previous dynasty, the border troops were in disarray, and some local powerful figures did indeed train elite troops privately in order to protect themselves. Their training manuals did not emphasize fancy moves, but rather practicality and coordination, and especially stressed 'using war to sustain war'."

"Okay." Lin Feng immediately made the decision. "Han Tao, you'll be in charge of three things."

"First, spread the word that the imperial court has increased the military budget for the northern border, thereby covering up the truth of our sudden wealth and diverting the conflict to external forces."

"Second, recruit refugees and retired soldiers. Don't recruit law-abiding citizens, but those who are starving and willing to fight. There are 3,000 positions available, to be incorporated into the 'Tuntian Guard Battalion,' ostensibly for land reclamation and farming, but in reality for military training."

"Third, don't use this money to buy government-made weapons. Go to the black market, go to Jiangnan, and buy swords and spears made by private craftsmen. Also, expand your blacksmith shop. And warhorses. I want to get the best equipment as quickly as possible."

Han Tao took a deep breath and looked at Lin Feng: "Commander, this is an unauthorized expansion of military forces. If the imperial court finds out, it will be a serious crime that results in the confiscation of property and the extermination of the entire clan."

"The imperial court?" Lin Feng sneered, slamming his Broken Mountain Blade heavily on the table. "The imperial court can even lose the Yanshan mines, and the three officials it sent died mysteriously. What can I expect from them? The stability of the northern border and the well-being of the people are more important than anything else. As for the charges..."

His gaze swept over the crowd: "As long as Ironwall City stands, no one will dare to condemn us. If the city falls, we'll all be nothing but bones; what meaning will our crimes hold then?"

These words were cold, yet no one refuted them.

Han Tao accepted the order and said, "Commander, in this way, we will be locked in a life-or-death struggle with those upright officials in the court."

"If they understand the bigger picture, I'll treat them as colleagues. If they try to hinder me..." Lin Feng drew his sword, the blade gleaming coldly in the candlelight. "I'll show them what a border army's blade is like."

Over the next month, undercurrents surged in Ironwall City.

The blacksmith shop was secretly expanded and moved to a secluded location in the south of the city, where the sound of hammering never ceased day and night. It was refined iron smuggled back from the Yanshan mines, and under Mo Yan's guidance, it was being used to forge a new generation of armor and weapons.

Every day, strong and healthy men are secretly taken away from the refugee settlement in the west of the city and sent to the deep mountains for training.

Han Tao navigates between various factions, weaving a protective network with money and lies.

Expanding the army by three thousand isn't as simple as just recruiting them and giving them hoes. Iron Wall City is a harsh, cold frontier region with a fierce and warlike populace. Once the money is offered, outlaws and veterans from the Hexi Corridor to the foot of the Yanshan Mountains will flock there.

Han Tao was efficient and decisive. In just half a month, the western camp was filled with unfamiliar faces, and the shouts of battle during drills shook the city walls to the bone.

But this brought about a new problem: we had the men and the knives, but not enough horses.

A border army without cavalry is like a flock of fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered. To build an elite force capable of rivaling the wolf cavalry of the northern deserts, at least eight hundred warhorses are needed. And warhorses, especially the "grey hippopotamus" unique to the north, are strategic resources strictly controlled by the Great Yan court; smuggling even one is a capital offense.

"The black market." Lin Feng stood in front of the sand table for half the night, his finger tapping heavily on a mark at the junction of "Blackwater River" and "Wild Fox Ridge." "Only the 'Ghost Market' has the quantity we need and dares to do this business."

"The garrison commander," Han Tao frowned, "those people in the Ghost Market are ruthless characters who eat people without spitting out the bones. Especially that 'Horse King,' who specializes in black market horse trading, he only cares about money and not people, and... it is said that he also has collusion with caravans in the northern desert."

"A perfect match," Lin Feng sneered. "I was just worried about not finding a buyer to sell the stolen goods, so I might as well 'sell' his horse too."

Three days later, Lin Feng, accompanied by only ten personal guards, disguised himself as a horse trader from the Western Regions and infiltrated the "Ghost Market" located at the border between the two countries.

There are no laws here, only rules. Low earthen walls enclose the market, and the air is thick with the mixed smells of horse manure, cheap liquor, and blood. Lin Feng had just stopped in front of a fodder stall when several shady-looking hooligans surrounded him.

"Hey, this gentleman looks unfamiliar." The leader, a scarred-faced man, glanced at Lin Feng sideways. "Buying or selling a horse? Don't you know the rules? You'll have to leave something behind."

Lin Feng, too lazy to waste words, took out a silver ingot from his pocket, weighing about fifty taels, and casually tossed it onto the dirty table.

"Clatter".

The scarred man's eyes lit up, but he immediately sneered, "This little bit of money isn't even enough to pay the tolls for the old folks."

Lin Feng raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a knife: "I want eight hundred gray hippos, top-class warhorses. Delivery within three days. Plenty of silver."

"Eight hundred horses?" Scarface exclaimed as if he'd heard the biggest joke in the world. "You think this is like buying cabbages at the market? Even the King of Horses wouldn't have that many in stock!"

"Then go and raise the money for me." Lin Feng's voice turned cold. "Tell Lord Ma that either we do business, or I'll tear down his ghost market's signboard and burn it for firewood."

Scarface flew into a rage and reached for the dagger at his waist.

The bodyguard beside him immediately stepped forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword, exuding a murderous aura.

Just then, a hoarse voice came from behind the tent: "Wait."

The crowd parted, and a middle-aged, overweight man with a greasy face, wearing a large fur coat, stepped out. He had a smile on his face, but his small eyes gleamed with cunning.