I'm letting you win over the female lead, not conquering cities and territories!

"General, you can pretend nothing happened and let everyone fool you, but will His Majesty really pretend nothing happened?"

Qin Hao strode onto the reviewing stand, staring directly at the veteran general of the empire, whose battles had once been so illustrious, and spoke with a voice dripping with emotion:

"An army of 120,000 is imminent! It's a real encirclement with swords and spears!"

Once we lay down our weapons, we are like fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others!

What guarantees are you going to do to protect our brothers' lives?!

However, Zhao Wudi stubbornly shook his head.

"Qin Hao, you don't understand."

A blind trust in imperial power flashed in Zhao Wudi's eyes.

"His Majesty has just ascended the throne, and may simply be being misled by treacherous officials in the court."

The Crimson Flame Army is the pillar of the Qian Kingdom, the backbone of the nation in resisting foreign enemies!

Her Majesty would never do something as foolish as destroying the Great Wall. Perhaps... she just wants to dismantle the organization of the Crimson Flame Army and take back military power.

"As long as we lay down our weapons to prove our innocence, His Majesty will not kill us."

"..."

Qin Hao was completely speechless.

Indeed, in a normal world, a normal emperor with a sound mind would never be able to wipe out the elite army guarding the frontier on the spot.

But the problem is, this is a female-oriented world!

In this world, an emperor would tear down city walls and set off fireworks for a man, and a prince would lead his troops to massacre a city just to snatch a woman!

"Being mentally unstable" is the most normal phenomenon here!

How can you talk about national strategy and the big picture with a group of people who are so deeply in love that they've developed brain atrophy?

What's the difference between this and playing the lute to a cow?

Qin Hao knew that he couldn't persuade this blindly loyal old general.

Different road non-phase plan.

Qin Hao took a deep breath, took two steps back, and suddenly bent both knees, kneeling heavily on one knee in front of Zhao Wudi. He clasped his hands in a fist and shouted sternly:

"In that case, Commander! Please order that I and my hundred-odd brothers be spared!"

Zhao Wudi's cloudy eyes looked at Qin Hao, his gaze filled with confusion and complexity:

"Why are you doing this? I have said that as long as we lay down our weapons, His Majesty will not make things difficult for us."

"If you lead your troops away now, you will have confirmed the crime of desertion!"

"I just wanted to leave a way out for my brothers."

Qin Hao raised his head, his gaze resolute as iron:

"The commander-in-chief is willing to believe His Majesty, and I admire his loyalty; but I am unwilling to believe him, and I dare not gamble with the lives of my brothers!"

"If His Majesty truly breaks his promise, and all 70,000 elite troops of the Crimson Flame Army are indeed buried here, someone must survive to go and inform the families of your brothers!"

"If the Commander-in-Chief is willing, we are willing to leave with the last letters and family correspondence of all the soldiers, leaving a spark for the Crimson Flame Army!"

These words were so poignant that they brought tears to the eyes of many veterans of the Chiyan Army around them.

Zhao Wudi remained silent for a long time.

He looked at the centurion before him, whose eyes were filled with determination, and finally sighed and slowly nodded.

"Fine... go ahead."

He turned and walked to the desk, picked up his pen and wrote a military order on a parchment scroll.

Then, he took out a crumpled envelope from his pocket and handed it to Qin Hao.

"This is a letter I'm writing to my deceased wife... When you have time, go to her grave and burn it for her."

The old general's voice carried a hint of desolation.

"Your subordinate obeys."

Qin Hao solemnly accepted the letter and military order.

Soon, news that Qin Hao was going to lead his men to break through the encirclement spread throughout the camp.

Ironically, because most of the officers and soldiers, like Zhao Wudi, did not believe that the court would really massacre them, almost no one was willing to write the so-called "last will and testament".

But there are still some clear-headed people in this army.

In addition to the hundred personal guards originally under Qin Hao's command, two or three hundred more battle-hardened veterans with keen senses of strategy chose to break camp overnight and join Qin Hao's army.

They knew all too well the true colors of those people in the imperial court; laying down their weapons meant certain death!

Zhao Wudi did not stop them; in fact, before Qin Hao left, he tacitly allowed them to take away a batch of fine warhorses and ample provisions.

……

Dark as ink.

Qin Hao rode a tall horse, followed by nearly four hundred fully armed elite Chiyan Army soldiers.

Following the hidden path behind the camp, we plunged into the endless deep mountains.

The wind howled and cranes cried, and horses' hooves thundered.

Qin Hao touched the "transfer order" personally signed by the head coach in his arms, a confident sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

The idea of ​​120,000 troops besieging 70,000 elite soldiers sounds incredibly intimidating.

However, in such realistic terrain, a large-scale military operation involving hundreds of thousands of troops would inevitably result in an extremely long battle line.

A net cast so wide apart must have meshes big enough for an elephant to slip through!

"Brothers, stay close!"

Qin Hao drew his long sword and pointed it at the dark mountain range ahead.

"After tonight, we will surely have a place in this world!"

...............

The night wind rustled through the trees and leaves, sounding like the low growls of wild beasts.

Qin Hao led over three hundred fully armed elite Chiyan Army soldiers, sneaking into the rugged valley behind the camp like ghosts.

After marching for about half an hour, the scout who had been exploring ahead returned like a cat, knelt on one knee, and reported in a low voice:

"Reporting to the centurion! A temporary outpost of the city defense forces has been spotted at Shanzikou, five miles ahead!"

There were about fifty men stationed there, with barricades and tripwires!

These words caused a slight commotion in the group.

Upon hearing that there were indeed enemy outposts, the soldiers, who had initially harbored some doubts and worries about breaking out under the cover of night, now felt much more at ease.

Because this irrefutable fact proves that Lord Qin Hao's judgment was correct!

The imperial court really did mobilize a large army to launch a shameless encirclement of these soldiers who were defending the country's borders!

However, once the facts were confirmed, a deeper fear also spread.

The outer perimeter was guarded by a well-equipped city defense force of 120,000 men, while they themselves numbered only about 300.

With a troop disparity of dozens of times, can their breakout attempt, which seems like a mud ox sinking into the sea, really tear open a gap?

Just as the atmosphere in the ranks became somewhat tense, one of Qin Hao's platoon leaders stepped forward and hesitated before speaking:

"My lord, now that we have ascertained the movements of the city garrison, why don't we... why don't we send a few men back to deliver this intelligence to the commander-in-chief!"

The commander-in-chief may have just been confused for a moment. Once he realizes that the imperial court is serious, he will definitely mobilize all 70,000 brothers in the army to rebel together!

If a real fight breaks out, how could those city defense troops who have never been on the battlefield be a match for our Chiyan Army?

We only have three hundred men now, the chances of breaking through are extremely slim..."

Upon hearing these words, a glimmer of hope flashed in the eyes of many soldiers around them, and they subconsciously nodded to each other.

Humans are naturally inclined to conform and depend on others. If they had 70,000 main force members as a backup, who would be willing to lead 300 men to risk their lives in the deep mountains and forests?