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

At the edge of the vast snowfield, a black tide surges forward with the force of collapsing mountains and splitting rocks.

Nearly a thousand steppe warhorses simultaneously unleashed their power, their heavy hooves pounding the frozen wasteland with a deep, continuous roar. Snow was violently hurled into the air, transforming into swirling white dust. Under the wolf-headed banner, barbarian cavalrymen lay prone on their horses, their throats emitting sharp, eerie howls like those of a hunting pack of wolves, their heavy scimitars gleaming coldly and bloodthirstyly in the setting sun.

The fierce killing intent generated by the charge of a thousand cavalrymen pressed down on us like an invisible wall across the open ground, two hundred paces away.

On the flat ground in front of Eagle Beak Gully, 160 heavy spearmen formed a tight formation.

However, under this terrifying sense of oppression, the front ranks of the battle formation began to tremble slightly and uncontrollably.

Nearly half of the troops were new recruits who had just donned their uniforms yesterday. Although they had experienced severe famine and exile in the refugee camp, and even demonstrated extraordinary strength in the recruitment assessment, when they truly faced this overwhelming, all-consuming cavalry frenzy, the instinctive fear still spread wildly through their bones.

A young recruit standing in the third rank gripped the thick, long, white waxwood spear shaft with both hands, his palms slick with cold sweat. His teeth chattered uncontrollably, his throat bobbed laboriously, and the increasingly large, ferocious faces of the barbarian soldiers in his vision almost completely consumed his mind.

The spearhead was swaying.

The once seamless spear line was now rippled with unsettling waves due to dozens of subtle tremors and retreats.

Zhou Laoqi, who was standing in front, changed his expression and was about to shout and curse when a tall and agile red figure quickly stepped out from behind the formation.

Xiao Hongluan did not stand in a safe position to supervise the battle, nor did she loudly proclaim any heroic words about defending the country.

Her expression was cold, and her dark red cloak billowed wildly in the fierce wind. She strode straight through the thicket of spears with steady and powerful steps, and stood directly at the forefront of the entire formation, in front of all the new recruits!

"when!"

A crisp, piercing metallic clang suddenly resounded at the front of the formation.

Xiao Hongluan gripped the longsword in reverse, without drawing it from its sheath. Instead, she used the sturdy steel scabbard to strike the center of the breastplate of a trembling recruit beside her.

The young recruit swayed slightly from the knock, his previously unfocused and terrified eyes suddenly focusing on Xiao Hongluan's frosty face.

"Clang! Clang!"

Xiao Hongluan walked without stopping, following the front row of the formation. The scabbard in her hand struck the breastplates of the cold-forged lamellar armor pieces one after another, producing a dense and clanging sound of metal.

The crisp sound of the impact tore through the suffocating feeling of the horses' hooves and reached the ears of every new recruit.

Xiao Hongluan stopped and turned to the side, her sharp, star-like phoenix eyes slowly sweeping over the pale, young faces. She raised her long sword, the tip pointing directly at the bluish-black armored leaves below, her voice clear and cold, each word like a knife:

"Take a good look at what you're wearing."

Xiao Hongluan's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly drowned out the howling wind:

"These three hundred sets of fine iron lamellar armor were sold to the barbarians as merchandise three years ago by corrupt officials of the Yunzhou General's Office! Thirty-five veterans of Qingya Fort, wearing tattered leather armor, were hacked to death by these barbarians with sabers in the snow!"

Xiao Hongluan pointed to the rapidly approaching black cavalry formation ahead, her eyes showing no fear, only an unyielding pride and fierce determination that soared to the heavens:

"Today, Commander Xu and his men retrieved this batch of life-saving armor and put it back on you poor bastards!"

"Armor on my body, knife in my hand!"

"If we let those barbarians pull the armor off your corpses again today—"

Xiao Hongluan sneered, her tone filled with undisguised contempt and lashing:

"Whether it's shameful or not, think about it yourself!"

This question was like a bucket of ice water mixed with raging fire, poured over the chests of all the new recruits.

Shame, anger, resentment, and the ferocity deep within their blood, driven to the brink of despair, were all ignited in that instant!

Yes, they are no longer those refugees who were driven and slaughtered on the wasteland. They wear first-class heavy armor that even the elite border troops may not be issued, and they hold armor-piercing heavy spears forged by Baizhi Workshop with the finest steel!

If even this is enough to make you lie on the ground waiting to die, then this worthless life is truly not even worth as much as a wild dog in the wilderness!

"I...I'm not ashamed!" The recruit who had been trembling the most earlier had his face flushed red, and a beast-like roar burst from deep in his throat. He stomped heavily into the mud and snow, and with a burst of strength in his arms, he pressed the twelve-foot-long spear firmly against his waist.

"Don't retreat! Keep your spears raised!"

"Put on your armor and don't you dare lie down!"

The previously swaying formation of heavy spears instantly became completely stable.

One hundred and sixty thick spears leaned forward, their tips gleaming with a bloodthirsty cold light, forming an impenetrable forest of steel. The soldiers in the front row knelt on one knee, their large iron shields deeply embedded in the frozen earth, while the soldiers in the back row leaned back against the ground. The entire formation resembled a steel wall rising from the ground, standing tall and firm in the wind and snow.

100 steps!

Eighty steps!

The charging barbarian cavalry had already entered within sight. Wugu spurred his horse forward, his pupils contracting slightly as he looked at the infantry phalanx ahead, which hadn't collapsed as expected. He then grinned maliciously, raised his greatbow, and roared, "Loose the arrows! Crush them!"

Hundreds of heavy bone arrows were launched from the galloping horses, like a dark cloud obscuring the dim light of day.

At the same moment, on the high ground behind the heavy spear formation, Xu Qingshan swung his right hand down heavily.

"Crossbowmen—fire!"

Zhou Laoqi's loud voice exploded like thunder.

One hundred elite crossbowmen, concealed behind the heavy spear formation, suddenly rose to their feet. They held their improved twin-barreled crossbows, modified by the Angelica Workshop, level in their hands, and pulled the triggers simultaneously!

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The vibrations of the machinery continued in unison.

Two hundred armor-piercing short arrows, gleaming with a matte black luster, transformed into a deadly storm that shot out horizontally within a deadly range of fifty paces, crashing head-on into the charging barbarian cavalry!

"Puff puff puff puff puff—!"

The dull thuds of sharp blades piercing flesh and bone echoed incessantly.

The dozens of steppe warhorses at the forefront didn't even have time to fully utter a mournful cry before their faces and chests were pierced by several heavy steel arrows. The galloping warhorses suddenly lost control, neighing and rolling to the ground, ploughing deep furrows of blood into the frozen snow.

The barbarian soldiers on horseback were thrown off by the immense inertia, crashing heavily onto the gravel ground, their bones broken and tendons snapped.

The cavalry behind them couldn't avoid the collision and crashed into their fallen comrades one after another. The once neat and fierce charging formation instantly turned into a chaotic scene of men and horses falling over.

At the same time, a barbarian rain of arrows fell like a storm upon the heads of the heavy spear formation.

"Jingle bells!"

The dense clanging of metal objects pierced my eardrums.

The vast majority of bone arrows were deflected or broken upon contact with the hard, cold-forged plates of the Xuan-grade lamellar armor. The heavy armor, forged from Xuan iron, demonstrated astonishing protective power, shielding the recruits from the vast majority of deadly stray arrows.

But the battlefield is never a one-sided massacre.

Several new recruits standing at the edge of the formation were caught off guard and had heavy arrows deeply embedded in their necks and thighs, causing blood to gush out. Two more young soldiers were shot through the face by barbarian armor-piercing arrows, and with a muffled groan, fell backward into a pool of blood.

Killed!

This was the first real loss of personnel experienced by this newly formed army.

Seeing their comrades, who had been alive just moments before, turn into cold corpses in the blink of an eye, and feeling the strong stench of blood filling their nostrils, a flicker of panic flashed in the eyes of the new recruits once again.

"First team substitutes, move up!"

Xiao Hongluan's cold and composed voice rang out instantly at the front of the formation, without the slightest hesitation or ambiguity.

The veteran in the back row stepped forward expressionlessly, stepping over the body of his comrade, and his large shield heavily filled the gap.

Less than twenty paces behind the heavy spear formation, on the second line, Qin Yuenu, along with forty female soldiers and skilled medics from the accompanying medical battalion, were already on high alert.

Two burly medics carried a specially made canvas stretcher, rushing forward despite the stray arrows falling from above. Qin Yuenu moved with extreme efficiency, her sharp silver scissors cutting through the tattered cloth at the wound, and a large wad of cotton soaked in strong liquor was pressed heavily onto the rolled-up flesh, followed by two burlap bandages quickly wrapping and securing it.

"Apply hemostatic powder! Move him back to the rear tent for stitches!"

Qin Yuenu's crisp and decisive commands stood out clearly amidst the noisy battlefield.

In just a few breaths, the four wounded soldiers were orderly dragged out of the battle and quickly transported to the medical camp cellar in the rear, where charcoal was burning.

The entire defense line remained unshaken despite the bloodshed; on the contrary, it became even more resilient thanks to this efficient and meticulous treatment system!

At this moment, the remaining hundreds of barbarian cavalry, fueled by raging fury, crashed into the heavy spear camp's ironclad defenses!

"boom--!"

That was the most brutal collision between flesh and iron.

The heavy chests of the warhorses slammed against the thick iron shields, the sound of bones shattering sending shivers down the spines. Dozens of twelve-foot-long spears were forced into terrifying arcs by the immense impact, their tips piercing deep into the chests of the warhorses and barbarian soldiers, scalding blood gushing like a fountain onto the soldiers' faceplates.

Several new recruits were jolted by the immense recoil, their mouths and noses bleeding, their arms dislocated. But they braced their feet firmly against the mud, while those in the back row used their shoulders to brace against the backs of those in front. With their flesh and blood and steel armor, they managed to stop the ferocious cavalry charge at the front of the battle line!

On the high slope, Xu Qingshan stood facing the wind.

He looked down at the formation below, which stood firm amidst the raging storm, and at the new recruits whose faces were covered in blood but who gritted their teeth and refused to retreat. A deep light appeared in his profound eyes.

He turned his head slightly and spoke softly to Liu Ruyan behind him:

"This group of people is ready to be used."

The bloody battle at the front line of Yingzuigou remained deadlocked.

Their frontal charge was thwarted. Heavy spears rained down like a forest, and crossbow bolts struck like a storm. The barbarian cavalry's proud charge was gradually worn down by the solid infantry formation. In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, hundreds of barbarian soldiers and their horses had piled up in front of the formation.

Wugu, watching from the rear, had a face so dark it was almost dripping with water. He stared intently at the infantry formation, which was as hard as a tortoise shell. Seeing that the Han soldiers, whom he had originally regarded as a rabble, were now wearing heavy armor that should belong to the grasslands and resisting stubbornly, his anger almost burned away his reason.

"Chief, the terrain in front is too narrow, we can't charge any further!" The leader of the Canglang tribe rode up and shouted, "The Han people's spears are too long, and their armor is too thick. If we keep charging, all the brothers' horses will die!"

A sly glint flashed in the narrow, eagle-like eyes of the black-boned bird.

He reined in his horse and turned it around, his gaze sweeping over the flank of Eagle's Beak Gully and landing on the white, shallow riverbed several miles away.

"Xu Qingshan has deployed all his elite troops and heavy armor in this narrow trench; his flanks must be vulnerable!"

With a swift swing of his black-boned longsword, he issued a stern command:

"The Azure Wolf Tribe, divide your forces into three hundred cavalry!"

"Avoid the main battlefield, advance along the shallows of the broken river, raze their military settlements, and outflank the Han army's main force from the rear!"

Three hundred elite barbarian cavalrymen roared away from the main force, like a black serpent, and sped towards the shallows of the broken river!