If I made you cannon fodder, how did you manage to achieve your goal of conquering the wolf's l

The mountains outside Qingya Fort were covered with a thick layer of white frost by the howling north wind.

Veteran soldier Gao Bai lay prone in a concealed observation post on the outermost side, draped in a worn white fur coat that matched the color of the snow. His eyebrows and beard were covered in ice crystals, and even his breathing was unusually slow and shallow.

As one of the most senior scouts in Qingyabao, Gao Bai's eyesight was even sharper than that of a hunting eagle on the grassland.

At the edge of the line of sight, in the direction of the old White Wolf Road, a cloud of grayish-yellow dust mixed with snowflakes suddenly rose.

The plume of dust was inconspicuous in the snowstorm, but it moved very quickly. Gao Bai wiped the frost off his eyelashes, took out a monocular telescope from his pocket, and squinted to look closely.

More than 120 riders.

This cavalry unit did not display the banners of the Great Qian Border Army, nor did it have the bulky supply wagons of a merchant caravan. The riders mostly wore rough animal hide armor and felt hats, with lassos, short bows, and scimitars hanging from the sides of their horses. At the very front of the column, a tattered banner fluttered in the wind, bearing a crudely painted image of a bird with outstretched wings.

"It's the vulture tribe of the grasslands."

Gao Bai muttered something under his breath, his expression suddenly turning serious.

The cavalry's route was very clear. They did not approach the strategically important and easily defensible Qingya Fortress at all, but instead bypassed the complicated mountain roads and headed straight for Duanhe Fortress along the flat river valley.

The Vulture Tribe is a notorious raiding tribe on the grasslands, and as their name suggests, they prey on those who are weak. This time, they didn't even bring siege ladders or heavy shields, only light cavalry scimitars and empty sacks of grain. Their target was clearly the newly established refugee camp outside Broken River Fortress and the newly reclaimed wasteland.

"Light the fire! Send out smoke urgently!"

Gao Bai gestured to his deputy behind him without hesitation.

Beside the beacon tower of Qingya Fort, the soldiers on guard immediately pushed the ignition source into the beacon pit.

A moment later, two extremely thick plumes of black smoke shot into the sky, rising straight into the air as the night wind blew.

According to the newly established communication code in Sibao: a single smoke signal indicates safety, while a continuous string of broken smoke signals indicates a request for assistance.

The two plumes of smoke rising simultaneously represented only one dangerous signal—the discovery of a large number of cavalry, their direction unknown.

……

Inside Duanhebao, the night training session had just ended.

The new recruits dragged their weary bodies toward the mess hall, the air filled with the aroma of food.

Xu Qingshan stood on the gate tower, checking tomorrow's food and fodder consumption with Shen Qinghe. Suddenly, the Zhenbei cavalryman on the city wall, who was on lookout duty, turned around and shouted in the northwest direction.

"Commander! Urgent smoke! There's urgent smoke coming from the direction of Qingya Fort!"

Xu Qingshan walked quickly to the wall.

On the twilight-shrouded horizon, two plumes of black smoke stood out conspicuously. Soon, these two plumes of smoke, relayed through the beacon tower of Iron Gate Fortress, clearly and unmistakably conveyed the enemy's movements.

"One hundred and twenty riders bypassed Qingya Fort and headed straight for Duanhe Fort."

Liang Shun gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his brow furrowed. "We just caused such a commotion at White Wolf Village that even Black Wind Stronghold retreated. How dare those nomadic cavalrymen of the Vulture Tribe come south to raid at this time?"

Xu Qingshan looked at the map on the table, thought for a moment, and then connected all the clues.

"This is a 'real enemy' that we brought upon ourselves."

Xu Qingshan turned to look at Shen Qinghe and Xiao Hongluan beside him.

"Do you remember the Yunzhou spy that Hou San deliberately let go a few days ago? The message he took away was that 'the four fortresses are short of troops, the new recruits are in disarray, and the main force is heading to Bailangji.' This false information reached Yan's Trading Company in Bailangji, and it was obviously seen as a way to make money, so it was resold to the Vulture Tribe."

Shen Qinghe suddenly realized: "The Vulture Tribe thinks Broken River Fortress is now an undefended granary, so they want to take advantage of our situation to rob us of our grain and kidnap our people!"

"One hundred and twenty cavalrymen, they think they can swallow Broken River Fortress? They certainly have a big appetite." A cold glint flashed in Xu Qingshan's eyes as he methodically issued military orders, "The four fortresses' communication system has finally met its true test in real combat. Issue my orders!"

"First, have the scouts at Qingya Fort continue to follow the enemy's tail and report their positions continuously, so they don't escape our sight!"

"Secondly, Iron Gate Fortress must immediately close the trade route. Su Jinniang is in charge of organizing the caravans, forming a wagon formation with all the carts lined up end to end to protect the goods and travelers!"

"Third, send a message to Blackstone Fortress: Zhou Laoqi is to lead the main force of the Zhenbei Cavalry to set off immediately, flanking Broken River Fortress from the river valley and cutting off their retreat!"

Military orders were issued one after another. The four border fortresses, which had once been a disorganized mess, now displayed a terrifying speed of coordinated action.

Outside Broken River Fortress, a refugee camp.

Zhao Dahe was leading several craftsmen in the final reinforcement of the waterwheel by the river. In the nearby wasteland, dozens of refugees were scrambling to turn over a few more furrows before nightfall.

The piercing sound of a gong suddenly rang out from the walls of Duanhebao, breaking the tranquility of the evening.

Liang Shun led a group of armored veterans, riding fast horses out of the barbican, shouting loudly.

"Enemy attack! Everyone, stop what you're doing immediately! Take your families and retreat into the barbican!"

The refugees were stunned at first, then burst into screams of terror. They had all fled here to escape war and famine, and their fear of the steppe cavalry was ingrained in their very bones.

"Stop grabbing pots and pans! Take care of the people first! Hurry up!"

Liang Shun drew his long sword and used the back of the blade to drive away the refugees who were still reluctant to abandon their broken belongings. Under his strong suppression, more than a hundred refugees and craftsmen poured into the sturdy barbican of Duanhe Fortress in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

With a dull thud, the heavy iron outer door slowly closed, keeping out the blizzard and the impending carnage.

Just as the refugees caught their breath inside the barbican, the earth began to tremble slightly.

On the distant horizon, a dark mass of cavalry, whipped up by the wind and snow, roared in.

The minor leader of the Vulture Tribe, named Hu Gu, reined in his warhorse and stopped a short distance from Duanhe Fortress, surveying the border fortress before him.

The city gates were tightly closed, and the figures of the guards could be vaguely seen on the city walls, indicating that the defenses were extremely tight.

"Chief, the information from White Wolf Village is wrong! Broken River Fortress doesn't look like it's lacking in troops at all!" A bandit next to him shouted, brandishing his scimitar.

Hu Gu sneered, his gaze passing over the city wall and landing on the shallows of the broken river.

"So what if the city gates are closed? The commander of the Zhenbei Army is an idiot, leaving such an important place as the shallows open!"

Hu Gu pointed to the seemingly flat riverbank.

"Forget about those sturdy city walls! Charge across the shallows! First, seize the granaries and the refugees' dilapidated huts outside. These Daqian people just built an irrigation canal and cleared the land; there must be good stuff hidden there! Kill all the men, and take all the women and grain!"

At Hu Gu's command, 120 riders formed the vanguard, brandishing their scimitars and emitting chilling cries, and stepped directly into the shallows of the broken river.

On the city wall, Bai Zhi silently watched the surging cavalry below. The cold wind ruffled the hem of her clothes, but her eyes were as cold as river water.

"Release the sluice gates."

Bai Zhi raised her hand and softly uttered two words.

Standing in front of the mechanism, Liang Shun flexed his muscles and pushed down the huge wooden winch.

With a dull thud of machinery engaging, the river water, which had been accumulating in the culvert for a long time, was no longer obstructed by the sluice gate. Instead of flowing along the open channel to the farmland, the water surged back into the low-lying area on the east side of the shallows.

This is the sluice gate defense line that Bai Zhi had just renovated a few days ago.

The riverbed, which was originally covered with a thin layer of ice and appeared to be hard and flat, quickly disintegrated due to the soaking and backflow of large amounts of river water.

The dozen or so Vulture Tribe warhorses at the forefront let out a mournful neigh as soon as their front hooves touched the low ground, and their entire bodies involuntarily leaned forward.

"There's a trap!"

The warhorse struggled in terror, only to find that the ground beneath its feet had turned into a soft, sticky swamp. The more it struggled, the deeper it sank. The mud quickly submerged the horse's legs, and the rider on its back was thrown into the mud by the immense inertia.

The heavy leather armor, soaked with mud, became as heavy as a boulder. These riders, who usually swaggered on horseback, could not even stand up straight and could only thrash about in despair in the mud.

The Vulture Cavalry behind them hurriedly reined in their horses, which huddled together at the edge of the shallows, colliding with each other and throwing their formation into disarray.

Hu Gu's face was ashen, and his eyes twitched violently.

Unable to cross the shallows, and with heavily fortified repeating crossbows mounted on the walls of Broken River Fortress, a direct assault on the city gates would be suicidal. They had been completely misled by that false intelligence.

He turned to look at the other side of the outer perimeter of Duanhebao.

There were newly reclaimed wasteland fields by the refugees, newly built waterwheels were turning along the river, and in the distance were several rows of thatched houses built by the refugees themselves and unused timber.

"Since we can't take their people, then burn their land! Destroy their waterwheel and houses, so they won't even have a full meal this winter!"

A vicious glint flashed in Hu Gu's eyes. He led the remaining hundred or so cavalrymen, turned their horses around, abandoned the attempt to cross the river, and swept towards the wasteland.

More than a hundred warhorses galloped wildly across the snow, their hooves thundering like muffled thunder. The cavalrymen lit their torches, preparing to reduce the barren field that symbolized hope to ashes.

However, when they rushed to the edge of the wasteland, they found that it was not deserted.

In front of the barren field, eighty new recruits who had not yet passed the final assessment stood in a line.

They were originally scheduled to undergo ten days of intensive training at the camp, but were instead brought here directly.

In the cold wind, the formation of eighty men looked rather frail. Most of the new recruits had sweaty palms and their arms, gripping their spears, trembled slightly. Many of them had been farmers wielding hoes just days before, but now they had to face more than a hundred fierce steppe cavalrymen.

A deserter from Yunzhou swallowed hard, his voice trembling, "Instructor, those are cavalry from the Vulture Tribe! We...we're not even fully armored! How are we supposed to defend ourselves?"

Xiao Hongluan, dressed in light leather armor and carrying a white waxwood spear, rode a blue horse and stood alone at the very front of the formation.

She neither ordered the new recruits to retreat back into the city nor commanded them to launch an attack to confront the cavalry.

She simply sat quietly on the horse, letting the cold wind blow through her hair, her gaze fixed coldly on the approaching smoke and torches ahead.

"Scared?"

Xiao Hongluan's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of every new recruit amidst the howling wind and snow.

The recruits instinctively glanced back out of the corner of their eyes.

"Those are the irrigation ditches you dug shovel by shovel, the houses you built with your own hands, and the land you want to be allocated to support your families in the future."

The sound of hooves grew closer, and the tremor of the earth spread from the soles of their feet throughout their bodies. The Vulture Tribe cavalry had even begun to draw their shortbows, preparing for the first volley of fire.

Xiao Hongluan turned her horse around, pointing the tip of her spear diagonally at the enemy cavalry charging ahead.

There was no fear in her eyes, only the iron will and determination unique to a military family.

"The land you want to be divided is right behind you."

Xiao Hongluan's voice suddenly rose, booming like thunder over the barren fields.

"Hold the line today, keep practicing tomorrow!"

"If we can't hold on, we won't wait to be eliminated; we'll leave our lives on this land!"