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

Across the barren field, the cold wind was like a knife, whipping up the snowflakes on the ground and hitting the faces of the new recruits.

At Hu Gu's command, the 120 Vulture Tribe cavalrymen abandoned the impassable shallow river and, like wolves smelling blood, turned their horses around and roared as they pounced on the newly cultivated land.

Even before the cavalry got close, the oppressive feeling of the earth trembling could already be felt through the frozen soil.

Several new recruits, clutching spears, were deathly pale, their teeth chattering uncontrollably. Just days before, they had been hunched over digging mud for half a grain cake; now they faced the scimitars of the steppe cavalry. Instinctive fear made their legs weak, and a slight commotion even broke out at the edge of the formation, with some instinctively trying to retreat.

No refunds allowed!

As Xiao Hongluan rode her blue horse, her clear, cold voice boomed like thunder in the howling wind and snow, resounding clearly in everyone's ears.

Instead of ordering the inexperienced recruits to launch a counter-offensive, she quickly set up defensive positions based on the traces left from digging the canals during the day.

"Use the wooden stakes, ditches, and half-finished field ridges to form three lines of defense!" Xiao Hongluan pointed her spear forward and issued commands methodically, "First rank, hold your shields! Crouch down! Use your shoulders to brace your shields!"

"Second row, spears resting above shields, the butts of the spears braced against the stones in the ground!"

"Hunter, retreat to the rear, draw your bow and arrow, but don't shoot men, aim only at the horses' legs!"

The results of ten days of nighttime terror training were evident at this moment. Although the recruits were terrified, their bodies had already developed a conditioned reflex to the commands. Accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps, three makeshift defensive lines were formed in just a few dozen breaths.

Upon seeing this, Hu Gu revealed a cruel sneer.

"They're just a bunch of farmers with sticks! Scatter! Disrupt their formation!"

The Vulture Cavalry skillfully dispersed into several small squads, spreading out in a fan shape. They attempted to use the momentum of their warhorses and their dispersed attack points to force the recruits' formation to collapse; once an opening was created, the rest would be a one-sided massacre.

The warhorses galloped, less than fifty paces from the defensive line.

A young recruit, holding a spear, looked at the warhorse charging towards him with its gaping maw. Finally, unable to withstand the pressure, he let out a desperate cry, dropped his spear, and tried to run away.

"stop!"

A deafening roar came from the most dangerous left flank of the formation.

Gao Bai, a veteran of Qingya Fort, strode into the formation, grabbed a new recruit by the collar, and forcefully pulled him back. Gao Bai himself stepped forward and stood at the very front of the first rank, directly facing the cavalry charge.

He held a worn-out iron-clad wooden shield in his hand, his broad shoulders and back resembling a boulder rooted in the frozen earth.

"Level your spears! Eyes forward!" Gao Bai didn't turn around, but his voice carried the calm and fierceness of someone who had survived countless battles. "Even barbarian horses are made of flesh and blood! As long as your spears don't fall, your warhorses won't dare to charge directly at you! All of you, stand firm! Anyone who dares to run, I'll stab them first!"

The veteran's composure was like a stabilizing force, allowing the panicked recruits around him to barely regain their footing. They gritted their teeth, closed their eyes, and thrust their spears forward with all their might.

"Release the arrows!" Xiao Hongluan seized the opportunity and swung her spear.

Seven hunters hidden in the rear simultaneously released their bowstrings. They were seasoned hunters who hunted wild animals in the mountains year-round, and their accuracy was superb. Several arrows whistled out and accurately pierced the legs of the leading warhorses.

The warhorse, in pain, neighed and collapsed to the ground, throwing its rider off its back and onto the cold, damp embankment.

But this minor obstacle did not stop the Vultures. The cavalrymen quickly bypassed their fallen comrades, their scimitars flashing coldly as they slashed at the wooden shields of the first rank.

"Bang! Bang!"

A series of dull thuds echoed. The immense impact forced the first rank of recruits to take a half-step back, and several wooden shields even cracked. But they held on tightly to their shoulders, and miraculously, the defensive line was not breached.

"Stab!" Gao Bai roared.

The recruits in the second rank instinctively thrust their spears forward with all their might. The sharp spearheads pierced through the leather armor, directly knocking two of the most ferocious bandits off their horses. Blood splattered all over the recruits' faces, but they suddenly realized that these seemingly invincible grassland bandits were also people who could bleed and die.

Just as the Huangtian defense line was struggling to hold on, a rapid sound of wheels rolling suddenly came from the snowy road on the outer edge.

"Drive all the cars over there! One after another!"

Su Jinniang's clear voice drifted from afar. She led the Iron Gate Fortress caravan, arriving at the edge of the battlefield like a timely rain.

Under Su Jinniang's command, the caravan's guards and drivers moved swiftly, and dozens of heavy wagons loaded with supplies quickly surrounded the wasteland. The wagons were lined up end to end, with grain sacks and wooden boxes stacked like walls, forming a sturdy semi-circular wagon formation in the blink of an eye.

The wagon formation not only tightly protected the transported grain in the middle, but also blocked the weakest side of the new recruits' formation, and firmly protected the wounded soldiers' camp where Qin Yuenu was located and the refugee camp behind.

"Go all out! We'll handle the flanks!" Su Jinniang stood on a grain cart, holding a repeating crossbow in her hand, her gaze resolute.

Seeing that his flanks were blocked by the chariot formation and that the new recruits' formation in front, though shaky, remained unbroken, Hu Gu felt a surge of frustration and a desire to retreat.

This is hardly a poorly defended border fortress! It's clearly a tough nut to crack!

He turned to look in the direction of Duanhe Fort, and saw that the city gate was wide open, and Liang Shun was leading dozens of garrison soldiers out to fight their way out.

"Reinforcements from Broken River Fortress have arrived! Retreat! Retreat to the valley to the north!"

Hu Gu decisively ordered his horse to turn around, preparing to lead the remaining cavalry to escape the quagmire.

However, he had only run less than a mile when a thunderous sound of hooves suddenly came from the wind and snow ahead.

Xu Qingshan led the charge, clad in armor, his long steel saber gleaming coldly in the snow. Behind him followed over a hundred menacing Zhenbei cavalrymen.

The main force of the Blackstone Fortress's Northern Cavalry arrived just in time to encircle the Vulture Tribe from the rear of the valley, like divine soldiers descending from the sky, directly cutting off their retreat.

"Come and go as you please? Do you think the north wall is your backyard?"

Xu Qingshan swung his longsword, the blade pointing directly at the Vulture Tribe.

"All troops, kill!"

The Zhenbei cavalry, like a black torrent, decisively crashed into the retreating formation of the Vulture tribe. Already demoralized from their prolonged siege, the bandits' ranks crumbled instantly under the onslaught of this fresh force. Amidst the flashing blades, Vulture tribe cavalrymen fell from their horses one after another.

In front of the barren field, Xiao Hongluan watched the enemy army in defeat and did not rush to send the new recruits to seize the spoils of war.

She raised her spear and gave the order in a stern voice.

"All hands on deck! Maintain formation and advance!"

Eighty new recruits, following commands, marched forward step by step through the snow and mud in neat formation.

When they encountered bandits who had fallen from their horses but were not dead, they did not rush up and kill them indiscriminately. Instead, they strictly followed the rules of their training, with the spearmen mercilessly finishing off the fallen bandits while the shield bearers continued to provide vigilance and cover.

On their first battlefield experience, these new recruits did not break formation despite the enemy's retreat. This ingrained discipline pleased Xiao Hongluan far more than simply killing a few enemies.

The battle ended completely half an hour later.

More than forty corpses of the Vulture Tribe were left in the valley and wasteland. More than twenty bandits who had not had time to escape were captured alive by the Zhenbei Cavalry, stripped of their armor, tied up like dumplings, and pressed down in the snow.

More than seventy warhorses were captured, along with a considerable number of scimitars and leather armor.

The casualties at the Four Fortresses were mainly concentrated during the first wave of attacks by the Vulture Tribe. Several new recruits were seriously wounded, but they had already been carried back to the fortress by Qin Yuenu's men. Most importantly, the refugee camp was intact, the newly built irrigation canals and waterwheels were still functioning normally, and the barren fields where hope had just been sown were firmly preserved.

After counting the number of people, Xiao Hongluan strode up to Xu Qingshan.

"Reporting to the garrison commander, of the remaining eighty recruits, fifty-four have passed the combat assessment. Facing the enemy cavalry charge, they did not retreat, their formation remained intact, and they decisively finished off the enemy."

In Xu Qingshan's line of sight, a blue system notification popped up.

Current combat-ready forces: 302.

The target number of participants has finally been reached.

"Bring the ringleader here." Xu Qingshan sheathed his sword, his tone icy.

Liang Shun dragged Hu Gu, the leader of the Vulture Tribe, who was bound hand and foot, in front of Xu Qingshan and kicked him in the back of the knee, making him kneel in the snow.

"Sir, this guy has confessed." Liang Shun gritted his teeth, wishing he could chop the villain to pieces. "Their route south, and the false news that Duanhe Fort was weak, were all bought from Yan's Trading Company in Bailangji!"

Xu Qingshan's eyes darkened slightly: "Yan's Goods Storehouse?"

"Yes! It wasn't just Yan's Trading Company!" To save his life, Hu Gu spilled the beans. "The manager of Yan's Trading Company not only sold the information, but the person who handed it to us was wearing a Yunzhou patrol badge! We thought it was all tacitly approved by someone in the Zhenbei Army, which is why we dared to come here to raid!"

Yunzhou patrol cavalry license plate.

A hint of mockery flashed in Xu Qingshan's eyes. Those people at the Yunzhou military supply depot had used every despicable means imaginable to kill him. They'd even used the surrounding grassland tribes as tools for their own purposes. The spy they'd let go earlier had indeed sent the false intelligence back to Bailangji, and the people of Bailangji had immediately sold it to the Vulture Tribe.

He glanced at the system panel again.

Although the number of combat-ready troops had reached 302, meeting the mission requirements, the large-scale mission of "Rebuilding the North Wall Defense Line" did not immediately display a completion notification.

On the system interface, the last requirement was still flashing slightly, indicating that it was being verified.

[The survival rate and stability of the military and civilians in Sibao are being verified...]

Xu Qingshan looked at the soldiers who were clearing the battlefield, and then at the refugees who gradually peeked out from the barbican and began to cheer after confirming that it was safe.

He knew that this final verification required a truly stable and well-accounted Sibao. Tomorrow, he had to thoroughly investigate Sibao's situation.