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

The murky, muddy water flowed slowly through the ice shards, carrying a pungent, fishy smell.

Deep in the dry riverbed, a few clumps of withered reeds shivered in the cold wind. Wu Gu knelt in the icy mud, his hands pressed firmly against the deep, bone-revealing cut on his chest. Dark red blood gushed from between his rough fingers, melting large, charred craters into the snow.

Five steps ahead of him, Aman held the reins with one hand, and the blue horse trod the shallows, making soft splashing sounds. The cold arrowhead of the short crossbow remained steadily aimed at his brow.

Behind me, steady, powerful footsteps tread on the ice and snow.

Xu Qingshan stood with his sword drawn, his black cloak billowing slightly in the north wind, the tip of his sword pointing diagonally to the ground, dark red blood dripping down the cold-gleaming blade.

Wu Gu struggled to lift his head, his face, covered in thick flesh and grime, convulsing with pain and despair. He looked at Xu Qingshan walking slowly towards him, his throat emitting heavy, labored breaths like a broken bellows.

"Xu Qingshan..."

Wugu grinned, revealing his blood-stained teeth, and let out a bitter laugh: "The wolf packs of the grasslands... will never let you go... If the Vulture Tribe falls, the Gray Wolf Tribe and the Blackwater Tribe... and the countless tribes to the north... will surely raze this wall to the ground..."

Xu Qingshan remained calm, his deep eyes showing no ripples, and he didn't even pause in his steps.

"The north wall is right here."

Xu Qingshan stopped three steps in front of Wugu, looking down at the once arrogant and fierce leader of the grassland bandits, his voice as cold as the ice of the northern frontier:

"Whoever comes, bury them."

Before he finished speaking, a sharp, cold glint flashed from the longsword through the wind and snow!

A flash of light, and blood splattered.

A huge human head rolled into the cold mud and water, and the remaining black bones swayed before falling to the ground with a thud.

Aman dismounted and deftly cut off the wolf head ornament and banner totem from Wugu's body, which she then held high atop her spear.

When the news of their commander's execution, accompanied by the sound of longhorns, spread across the entire wilderness, the remaining hundreds of tribal allied soldiers completely collapsed.

They were routed and scattered in disarray.

With their path blocked by rolling logs and boulders from Qingya Fortress, their flanks sealed off by the chariot formations and crossbows from Tiemen Fortress, and their rear guard being harassed by heavy spear infantry and the Zhenbei Iron Cavalry, the barbarian soldiers scattered across the mountains and plains became trapped beasts in a jar. They either threw down their sabers and knelt to beg for surrender in despair, or were mercilessly cut down from their horses in the swirling snow.

This massive southward invasion, which aimed to devour nearly a thousand cavalrymen from the north wall, ended in a complete and utter defeat thanks to the iron net woven by the four fortresses.

……

As dusk fell, the leaden sky was gradually enveloped by the deep darkness of night.

The wind and snow gradually subsided, but the smell of blood and burnt flesh lingered in the air for a long time.

Along the Eagle's Beak Gully and down to the shallows of the Broken River, the vast wasteland was littered with the corpses of men and horses, broken spears and shattered bows scattered everywhere. The old patrolman, along with the laborers carrying torches, began to methodically clear the battlefield and collect the spoils of war.

Inside the council chamber, Shen Qinghe placed a thick ledger of spoils in front of Xu Qingshan.

"Centurion, the spoils have been tallied."

Shen Qinghe's voice was slightly hoarse, but her words remained clear:

"We beheaded 416 enemies, captured 230 defeated soldiers from the Canglang, Heishui, and Tujiu tribes; seized 340 intact grassland warhorses and 80 lightly wounded horses; over 600 fine iron scimitars, over 400 horn bows, and over 30,000 intact eagle-feather and wolf-tooth arrows; in addition, we seized over 200 bags of dried beef, over 1,000 catties of dried cheese rations, and 500 animal hides of various colors from the enemy's supply train."

This was a huge spoil of war, so rich that it would make even the regular camps of Yunzhou take notice.

With these cold-resistant grassland horses and archery equipment, the cavalry and long-range firepower of the Four Fortresses can be improved to a higher level in a short period of time.

However, not a single person in the entire hall could laugh.

Zhou Laoqi leaned against the doorpost, his once rugged face now etched with exhaustion. His right arm was tightly wrapped in thick burlap, the bloodstains of which were faintly visible. Guo Shan, Liang Shun, and the others, their armor tattered, remained silent.

This is not an easy victory that can only be written on paper.

Nearly a thousand barbarian cavalrymen from beyond the Great Wall, who had fought desperately to break through, charged head-on into the newly recruited defensive line. Even with their heavy armor and the cover of the terrain, the Four Fortresses still suffered the most devastating losses since their founding.

"Casualties...how?" Xu Qingshan closed the seized ledger, looked up, and asked softly.

Shen Qinghe's lips moved slightly, and her eyes reddened slightly. She pulled out another thin, yellow booklet with dark red fingerprints on the edges from her sleeve and handed it over with trembling fingers.

"The Heavy Spear Battalion... suffered 34 dead and 42 seriously wounded."

Shen Qinghe said in a low voice: "When the crossbowmen were hit by a hail of arrows, six were killed and twelve were wounded; four were killed in the scout team; nineteen were killed or wounded at Qingya and Tiemen... The entire army suffered a total of forty-four dead, twenty-eight were disabled or seriously wounded and unable to fight again, and more than one hundred were slightly wounded."

Forty-four lives were lost forever beneath that frozen ground.

Most of them were new recruits who had just received their white waxwood spears and their first set of winter clothes on the drill ground yesterday.

A long, deathly silence fell over the hall.

Xu Qingshan stood up, said nothing, and walked towards the temporary medical camp behind the council hall.

……

Inside the medical camp, the strong smell of liquor, herbs, and blood mingled together.

Dozens of makeshift wooden plank bunks filled the entire hall, and the corridors were even covered with dry straw, on which lay wounded soldiers groaning and panting.

Qin Yuenu's plain-colored dress was already soaked in blood, turning it a deep brown, and her jet-black hair clung messily to her pale forehead. She tightly gripped a sharp silver knife and a red-hot iron branding stick in her hand, half-squatting beside a new recruit who had been stabbed in the abdomen, her forehead covered in sweat.

Forty accompanying medical soldiers moved swiftly between the sickbeds, bringing hot water, brewing hemostatic medicine, and wrapping the wounds with hemp cloth.

"Don't let your hands shake! Hold his legs down!"

Qin Yuenu gritted her teeth and cut away the rotten flesh with her knife. She poured strong liquor on the wound, causing the young soldier to tense up in pain. His fingernails dug bloody marks into the dirt on the ground, but when he saw Xu Qingshan walk in, he gritted his teeth and did not cry out.

Xu Qingshan walked slowly through the wounded soldiers' camp.

He knelt down and tucked the blanket around a young veteran who had lost his right arm, then reached out and patted the shoulders of the pale-faced but determined wounded soldiers.

No one complained, and no one cried.

In this border fortress, they received unprecedented respect and medical care. The best wound medicine, the strongest liquor, and hot mutton soup that was always ready to be prepared—treatment reserved for generals in the Yunzhou camp—now truly fell upon every ordinary soldier.

Stepping out of the side gate of the medical camp, a cold wind blew, carrying away the stench of blood.

However, from the corner of the corridor in the side courtyard, a suppressed and faint sobbing sound faintly reached Xu Qingshan's ears.

Under the dim lantern light, a haggard-looking young woman dressed in a coarse, worn-out cotton coat was huddled beside the stone steps, tightly cradling an infant in her arms. Beside her stood a little boy of about six or seven years old, shivering from the cold.

Those were the family members of Li Erniu, a new recruit who died in the first platoon of the Heavy Spear Battalion.

Li Erniu was the strong man who lifted a 300-jin stone lock with both hands during yesterday's assessment. When facing the barbarian cavalry charging head-on, he thrust his spear through two barbarian soldiers, but his own sternum was crushed by the warhorse, and he died at the forefront of Yingzuigou.

Shen Qinghe was squatting in front of the woman, holding a wooden plaque in her hand, and gently comforting her.

The young woman's face was streaked with tears, and her eyes, besides the pain of losing her husband, revealed a deep sense of helplessness and panic. She clutched Shen Qinghe's clothes, her voice trembling heartbreakingly:

"Miss Shen... my husband... his name was just registered at the drill ground yesterday, and he only received his number half a day ago... and he's gone today..."

The woman sobbed, her head bowed in fear and unease: "Back when we were fleeing back home, the soldiers all said that if you didn't serve three years in the army and died on the battlefield, it was considered a 'loss of an ordinary person,' and the government wouldn't give you any food... My Erniu... is he considered a regular soldier? My child and I... will we be driven out of the village and forced to beg for food?"

In the chaotic times of the past, human life was as cheap as grass.

In the border army of the Great Qian Dynasty, it was rampant to embezzle pay. When lower-ranking soldiers died, their names weren't even recorded in the books; they were simply buried in a hole dug up, and the pay ended up in the pockets of their superiors. New recruits like Li Erniu, who died in battle just one day after enlisting, wouldn't receive a single copper coin in compensation under the old rules.

Hearing these words, Shen Qinghe felt a pang of sorrow in her heart.

She didn't speak, but simply reached out to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and then took out a heavy bronze dog tag from the wooden box in her arms.

The military tag was polished to a very smooth finish, with the six characters "Zhenbei Army Heavy Spear Battalion" deeply engraved in the center, and two smaller characters clearly engraved below it—Li Erniu.

Shen Qinghe stretched out her hands and solemnly placed the bronze plaque, stained with faint blood, gently into the woman's calloused palms.

"Sister-in-law, listen carefully."

Shen Qinghe raised her head, her gaze gentle yet unwavering, and said, word by word:

"His name is on the military register; he's from the Zhenbei Army."

Shen Qinghe pointed to the military fields in the distance, her voice clear and bright:

"Brother Li died fighting for the people of these four fortresses. According to the military merit regulations set by the centurion, he will receive twenty shi of fine grain, twenty mu of farmland, and be exempt from all miscellaneous taxes! Starting tomorrow, the land deeds will be in your hands. As long as Duanhe Fortress exists, the four fortresses will provide for your and your child's three meals a day!"

The young woman stared blankly at the cold yet heavy military tag in her palm, at her husband's name on it.

After a long while, she finally couldn't hold back any longer, pressed the dog tag tightly to her chest, knelt down in the snow, and burst into tears. But this time, her cries contained no despair of being abandoned, only endless gratitude and relief.

Xu Qingshan, standing in the shadows, silently watched this scene, his deep eyes filled with turbulent emotions.

In the past, on the border of the Great Qian Dynasty, old soldiers died like fallen leaves, their names unknown, their bones rotting on the wasteland.

Tonight, on this bitterly cold northern wall, every person who falls will become the most solid foundation of this Great Wall of Steel.

……

Late at night.

The resin torches were relit inside the council chamber.

Xiao Hongluan walked in covered in blood and placed the revised roster on Xu Qingshan's desk.

"After this battle, the more than 150 new recruits who survived have been completely transformed."

Xiao Hongluan spoke calmly, her brows revealing the sharpness that comes with the experience of a great battle:

"They've witnessed cavalry charges, smelled the blood, and dared to fight the barbarians head-on with spears. Add to that the dozens of men selected from the Black Wind Stronghold's labor corps who were redeeming themselves through merit, and the young hunters from White Wolf Village who came seeking their services, and the standing army of the four fortresses has been fully replenished, achieving a complete force of five hundred!"

The moment the words fell, a tidal wave of mechanical notifications from the system resounded deep within Xu Qingshan's mind:

[Ding! Great victory at the Battle of Sibao! A thousand-strong grassland coalition has been routed, significantly accelerating the progress of the long-term mission [Defend the Northern Wall]!]

Current Legion Standing Combat Troops: 500/500

[The current legion has officially reached the host's command limit!]

[Faction Attribute Update: The Four Fortresses Joint Defense System is now officially in place, with overall defensive capabilities, logistical resilience, and rank-and-file morale all reaching the level of a "Key Border Town."]

[System Special Note: The northern wall stretches for thousands of miles; the true northern wall is never just the four fortresses before us.]

With the system's prompt, the sand table map in the void before Xu Qingshan's eyes, which originally only illuminated the Black Stone, Green Cliff, Iron Gate, and Broken River, began to quietly extend its light towards the towering mountains further east.

Xu Qingshan stood up, walked to the map of the northern border hanging on the wall, and scanned eastward along the Duanhe Fortress.

In that desolate corner, blocked by the vast snow-capped mountains, another solitary black fortress was clearly marked.

That border fortress was eighty miles away from Duanhe Fortress, nestled deep in a ravine and surrounded by sheer cliffs, its terrain even more treacherous than that of Qingya Fortress. According to the scout camp's intelligence log, the fortress had not seen any messengers for three whole months, and even the daily morning beacon fires had been extinguished for months.

Just as Xu Qingshan was staring at the map in a daze, a series of shrill and anxious shouts suddenly came from outside the council hall!

"Report! Urgent report from the South Gate!"

The hall door was pushed open with a bang.

Two old guards helped a blood-soaked, mangled figure stumble into the hall.

The man didn't even have the strength to stand; he had just stepped over the threshold when he collapsed onto the bluestone slab with a thud. Outside the door, a thin, old horse, covered in knife wounds and foaming at the mouth, let out a mournful whinny and fell dead to the ground.

The expressions of everyone in the hall changed drastically. Zhou Laoqi and Guo Shan quickly stepped forward and turned the man over.

By the light of the torch, one could see that the man was wearing a tattered, old leather armor that was almost soaked in blood. His cheeks were sunken, his lips were dry, cracked, and purple, and many parts of his skin were blackened and ulcerated from the severe cold. Clearly, he had been running wildly in the snowstorm for several days and nights.

He was neither from Sibao nor a messenger from the Yunzhou camp.

With his last ounce of strength, the dying cavalryman trembled as he pulled a tattered bronze dog tag, stained with black blood and with a deep nick on the edge from his saber, from his bosom and desperately handed it to Xu Qingshan, who was standing directly in front of him.

"North Wall... Reject North Fortress... Request for Reinforcements..."

The cavalryman emitted broken, bloody hisses from his throat, and murky tears of blood streamed from his eyes.

"Heavy snow has blocked the mountains... The barbarians have been besieging the fortress for two months... Their food supplies are exhausted... Inside the fortress... They're about to resort to cannibalism..."

As he uttered the last word, the cavalryman's head lolled to the side and slammed heavily against the stone slab, instantly losing consciousness.

Inside the hall, you could hear a pin drop.

On the cold bronze plaque are engraved a few small characters, worn away by wind and frost: "[Jubei Fortress Garrison]".

Hou San stepped forward, and by the firelight, looked at the desolate and hopeless valley marked on the east side of the map. He hesitated for a moment, scratched his head, and asked in a low voice:

"Centurion... according to the imperial register and the seal of the General's Office, aren't we... only responsible for these four forts along the north wall?"

Xu Qingshan gripped the cold, blood-stained dog tag, shifting his gaze from the unconscious wounded soldier to the vast, desolate map of the northern border on the wall.

The hall was quiet, with only the occasional faint crackling of the pine resin torches.

a long time.

Xu Qingshan slowly closed his palms, putting the broken bronze plaque back into his sleeve, and calmly uttered three words:

"It used to be."