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

As dawn broke, the morning mist lingered in the dense forest.

Qin Hao led over three hundred elite Chiyan Army soldiers who had survived the ordeal, speeding northward until they plunged into the endless primeval forests of the north.

This place is the border area between the Great Qian Kingdom and the Great Yan Kingdom.

Upon entering this border forest, commonly known as the "no man's land," everyone's nerves, which had been tense for a day and a night, finally relaxed completely.

This forest has a complex terrain and a dense canopy that blocks out the sun. Even when the Empress of the Great Qian Dynasty mobilized an army of 100,000 to search the mountain, it was like finding a needle in a haystack.

More importantly, this place gave Qin Hao tremendous strategic depth.

If the pursuers from Daqian really keep at bay, they can either defend their positions from a strategic location or retreat directly across the border to escape to Da Yan.

The Crimson Flame Army has guarded the northern frontier for many years and is famous throughout the world. If the ruler of the Great Yan Kingdom were to learn that the remnants of this invincible army were to surrender, he would most likely not only refrain from annihilating them, but would also treat them with great hospitality and fanfare, thus giving the Empress of the Great Qian Kingdom a good slap in the face.

However, Qin Hao did not intend to slink away and seek refuge with the Great Yan.

"Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox."

Qin Hao sat on a thick, fallen tree, wiping the blood off his scabbard while secretly making plans in his mind.

He barely escaped death and now has over three hundred absolutely loyal veteran soldiers under his command.

If he were to surrender to the Great Yan, his military power would most likely be immediately taken over. Even if he managed to obtain an official position, he would only be able to continue serving as someone else's lackey and start all over again.

His real goal is to conquer a city of his own along this border!

Although there were constant frictions between the Great Qian and the Great Yan, their private border trade was very prosperous.

Therefore, many border towns and passes are scattered around this area.

Qin Hao naturally wouldn't dare to touch those important towns with tens of thousands of troops stationed there.

However, there are also many remote border towns along the border. These places are far from the emperor's reach, with low city walls and weak military forces.

Some even had a combined garrison and yamen runners, totaling only a little over three hundred men.

For Qin Hao, who desperately needed a base to settle down, this was a godsend.

"grown ups."

An adjutant approached with a grave expression, interrupting Qin Hao's thoughts, and reported in a low voice:

"The battle casualties have been tallied. Last night's final breakout battle... eight brothers died, and seventeen others suffered varying degrees of knife and arrow wounds."

Upon hearing this number, Qin Hao's hand, which was wiping the knife, suddenly stopped, and his face instantly darkened.

According to his estimate last night, in that one-sided massacre, which was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, the enemy suffered at least two hundred casualties, with a casualty ratio of a staggering twenty to one!

To any general, this was a glorious victory worthy of being recorded in history.

Even so, Qin Hao's heart was still bleeding.

"Eight brothers..."

Qin Hao gripped the hilt of the knife tightly and took a deep breath.

This was the foundation upon which he built his empire!

Which of these three hundred-plus people wasn't an elite soldier who had fought his way through countless battles in the dead bodies of northern Xinjiang?

An ordinary farmer would need to spend at least ten or eight years training, fighting, and getting bloodshed in the military to develop such mental fortitude and combat strength!

Let alone eight deaths, he would be heartbroken if even one died.

"Have the army medics treat the wounded immediately with the best wound medicine; we absolutely cannot allow our brothers' injuries to worsen!"

Qin Hao suddenly stood up and decisively issued the order.

"In addition, select a few clever scouts and dress them in the uniforms of the city defense troops or in the coarse linen clothes of civilians."

Go down the mountain to the nearby villages and towns to purchase some grain and medicinal herbs. Most importantly, find out for me everything about the troop deployments and garrison commanders of all the border towns within a hundred miles!

"yes!"

……

Time flies, and most of the day has passed.

As evening approached, several scouts in disguise, carrying large and small bags of medicinal herbs and dry rations, entered the dense forest camp, their brows slick with sweat.

"Sir! We've found out everything!"

The lead scout took a big gulp of water and excitedly ran to Qin Hao to report.

Qin Hao immediately unfolded a simple sheepskin map: "Speak."

"About thirty miles to the north of this forest, there is a small border town called Qingmu Pass."

That place was originally a trading hub, and the city walls were only a little over ten feet high.

The scout pointed to a point on the map and said.

"The troops are few, at most only five hundred city defense soldiers, and the garrison commander is named Zhao De."

"Five hundred people?"

Qin Hao raised an eyebrow slightly.

Five hundred against three hundred. Although the enemy has the advantage of city walls, if it is an elite force like the Crimson Flame Army attacking the city, as long as the tactics are appropriate, taking it is not a difficult task.

"However, sir, the morale of the troops at Qingmu Pass is currently low; they would crumble at the slightest touch!"

As the scout finished speaking, a strange and mocking smile appeared on his face.

"Oh? How so?" Qin Hao became interested.

The scout swallowed hard, barely suppressing a laugh as he reported to his superior:

"When my subordinates were inquiring about grain prices in the villages outside the city, they heard from the porters that the garrison commander Zhao De was a notorious 'womanizer'."

"His wife suddenly fell ill a while ago and craved fresh lychees, which are abundant in Lingnan."

To win a smile from the beauty, Zhao De actually used the army's "800-li express courier" to send lychees south day and night!

"Now the military post system at Qingmu Pass is completely paralyzed. The soldiers not only have their pay deducted to buy expensive fruit, but they also have to go to the post station every day under the scorching sun to pick up and drop off those ice cream containers filled with lychees."

The soldiers below were already full of complaints, and some even privately cursed him as a muddle-headed official bewitched by a vixen!

After hearing the scout's report, the veterans of the Crimson Flame Army around them were stunned, and then burst into a series of incredulous murmurs.

He abused the urgent military postal service just to buy lychees for his wife?!

A rider gallops through the dust, bringing smiles to the imperial concubine's face, but no one knows it's lychees that have arrived.

Qin Hao listened to this utterly absurd intelligence, but instead of getting angry, he laughed, a chilling smile curving his lips.

He finally understood how absurd the setting of this female-oriented world was.

A dignified general guarding a pass, instead of reorganizing military affairs in the face of a formidable enemy, abused his military power and mistreated his soldiers for the sake of his so-called "doting husband persona," incurring the wrath of both heaven and man.

In normal history, this kind of fool would have been beheaded by the mutinous soldiers who sneaked into his tent in the middle of the night!

"interesting……"

Qin Hao reached out and tapped heavily on the Qingmu Pass on the sheepskin map, his eyes revealing a murderous intent:

"Since General Zhao dotes on his wife so much, we, as his subordinates, should at least present her with a generous gift."

Qin Hao suddenly turned around, looked at the more than three hundred soldiers behind him who had rested and were as fierce as wolves, and raised his right arm high:

"Pass on my order! The entire army is to eat its fill and rest for a day! In a few days, we will personally deliver a grand gift to General Zhao!"