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

On the sheer cliff between the two mountains, collapsed boulders and frozen wood fell like a violent black rain, cascading down onto the mountain path and camp below.

Pebbles flew everywhere, and icy dust filled the air.

The third stone beam defense line, which had been tightly guarded by the Blackwater tribe, was completely reduced to a blazing wasteland by the reverse crushing force of their own rolling stones. Hundreds of barbarian archers were buried under the rubble, their cries of agony echoing across the land, while the hastily assembled cavalry at the rear were scattered and broken apart by the frightened horses.

In a low, damp, sheltered cave in the front camp, two makeshift wooden cages enclosed by rough wooden fences trembled violently from the impact of flying stones.

Inside the wooden cage, a dozen or so ragged, emaciated soldiers and civilians of the Great Qian Dynasty were huddled haphazardly.

Those were soldiers and sentries captured by the Blackwater tribe a few days earlier from the outskirts of Jubei Fortress, intended as provisions. Each of them was wrapped in tattered rags stained with blood, their cheeks sunken, their hands and feet frostbitten and bluish-black, their eyes filled only with numbness and despair as they awaited their slaughter.

However, when the mournful and high-pitched bugle call of the Zhenbei pierced through the swirling snow and resounded across the top of the cliff, an old soldier with a broken leg deep inside the wooden cage suddenly trembled.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Laoqi's thunderous roar swept in with the raging winds of the valley—

"The Northern Garrison draws its sword! Slaughter all the barbarian dogs—!!"

"The Northern Garrison..."

The old soldier leaning against the wooden fence suddenly opened his cloudy eyes wide, and his two withered hands grabbed the blood-stained wooden strips, his knuckles turning bluish-white.

He was once a veteran scout on the border of the Great Qian Dynasty, and ten years ago he was transferred from the Four Western Forts to the Jubei Fort Garrison. This title, along with the black iron armor and imposing battle flag that came with it, was like a red-hot branding iron, forcefully waking him from his nearly frozen mind!

Gazing at the figure in a dark cloak standing against the wind atop the stone beam, hand on a long sword, the old soldier's chest heaved violently. With the last of his strength, he raised his blood-stained face, and with a hoarse, cracked throat, roared fiercely into the depths of the snowstorm ahead:

"It's the Zhenbei Army! Is it General Xu Qingshan of Black Stone Fortress?!"

This roar, filled with sobs and blood, crashed back and forth in the narrow, deep stone valley wind tunnel, carried by the howling north wind, and surged upwards, pouring straight into the city wall of Jubei Fortress atop the hundred-foot cliff!

……

The walls of Jubeibao.

The dilapidated city tower swayed precariously in the cold wind. More than thirty remaining soldiers, whose eyes had just been drenched in tears by the three short and one long horn signals of reinforcements, clung desperately to the edge of the icy arrow emplacements, their chests heaving violently.

When the cry of "Xu Qingshan of Black Stone Fortress" faintly echoed through the wind and snow from the valley below to the city wall, the once silent and solemn cliff fortress was instantly engulfed in a storm of emotions!

"Xu Qingshan...is it really Xu Qingshan?!"

An old soldier who had lost half an ear trembled all over, and his long, chipped sword nearly slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

"It's that Commander Xu from Blackstone Fortress!" Another young soldier, his eyes bloodshot and his voice trembling uncontrollably, said, "The traveling merchants from the west mentioned a while ago... Blackstone Fortress has produced a killing god. First, he annihilated the Black Wolf tribe, then he wiped out five hundred elite cavalry from the Vulture tribe at Luoergou... A few days ago, he even led the troops from the four fortresses to completely wipe out Wugu's thousand-cavalry army!"

"It's him...it really is him who led the troops to rescue us!"

The thirty-odd Han soldiers who had been waiting to die in hunger and cold erupted with long-suppressed restlessness at this moment. The deathly place that had been filled with despair for two whole months seemed to be suddenly torn apart by a raging fire that fell from the heavens, and everyone's blood almost boiled at this moment.

"Lord Chitoge! Open the door!"

Several veterans drew their swords, their emaciated bodies standing ramrod straight in the wind, and hoarsely volunteered: "The reinforcements are fighting the barbarians down at the foot of the mountain. We must fight our way down and join forces with Commander Xu, even if it means biting our teeth!"

"Stop right there, all of you!"

A sharp shout rang out like a thunderclap.

Old commander Lu Zhen strode to the center of the arrow emplacement. His weathered face, etched with the marks of time, was not clouded by elation, but instead exuded the sternness and vigilance characteristic of a seasoned veteran.

Lu Zhen held his sword horizontally in front of him, his gaze sweeping down like a hawk over the dark and chaotic mountain path below. He spoke in a deep voice, ordering them to stop:

"Those barbarians are cunning and treacherous. Black Kui of the Blackwater Tribe has besieged us for two months; what kind of underhanded tricks haven't they used?!"

Lu Zhen's chest heaved as he gritted his bleeding teeth: "The snow-capped mountains to the west are a full eighty miles away from us. Chen Huaishan wouldn't even pluck a single grain of moldy wheat. Which fortress would risk total annihilation to wade into this mess? Don't fall for the barbarians' trick of luring us into a trap!"

The commotion on the city wall suddenly stopped.

The soldiers gripped their sword hilts, their initial fervor gradually turning into disbelief and anxiety. They had been trapped for too long and dared not easily believe in hope anymore.

At this critical, stagnant moment—

Below the mountain path, amidst the billowing dust and scattered rocks, a tall, imposing figure in black strode out, sword in hand.

Xu Qingshan stood on a wide stone platform less than a hundred paces from the city wall, and took out a tattered and mottled bronze military tag with dark red bloodstains from his pocket with one hand.

He gathered all his strength, his right arm like a drawn bow, and the bronze plaque in his hand transformed into a bright streak of light, accurately sweeping across dozens of feet of empty space, and with a thud, deeply embedding itself half an inch into the thick wooden arrow post in front of Lu Zhen!

At the same time, Xu Qingshan's deep, resonant, and penetrating voice traveled straight to the city wall on the mountain breeze:

"Lu Yong, the right flank commander of Jubei Fort, has safely arrived at the Duanhe camp!"

"Half of the military license plate is here, but where is Commander Lu?!"

Lu Zhen's pupils suddenly contracted, and he stepped forward, pulling the bronze plaque nailed to the wooden pillar.

Rough fingers traced the broken metal cut, and Lu Zhen pulled out the other half of the right sentry's seal, which he always carried with him, from the gap in his inner armor.

Two pieces of broken copper, stained with blood, touched gently in the palm of their hands.

"Click".

The cross-sections are interlocked, fitting together perfectly without any misalignment!

Lu Zhen's body trembled violently, and the hot tears in his eyes could no longer be stopped from rolling down his cheeks.

it is true.

It wasn't a deception, it wasn't an illusion; Lu Yong really did survive and break through the eighty-mile snowfield, and his comrades from the North Wall truly braved the swirling snow and fought their way to the city gate!

"Open the city gates! I will personally lead the troops out to meet Commander Xu!"

Lu Zhen wiped away the hot tears on his face, drew his sword and shouted, and more than thirty remaining soldiers immediately went to operate the winch.

"Commander Lu, wait!"

From the stone platform below the city wall, Xu Qingshan's deep voice once again pierced through the clouds, immediately halting the actions atop the city wall:

"The soldiers inside the fort have been without food for a long time and are exhausted. We must not open the gates and risk our lives, lest we suffer even greater losses!"

Xu Qingshan's gaze swept over the swaying figures on the city wall, his tone steady yet carrying an undeniable authority:

"You don't need to go out of the city to fight the enemy, you just need to do one thing for me—"

"Keep beating the drums!"

"Get all the drumsticks in your entire fortress ready! The louder and faster the better!"

Lu Zhen on the city wall was slightly taken aback, and then a clear glint flashed in his old eyes.

He instantly saw through Xu Qingshan's tactical intentions.

Although the passage between the two mountains had been breached by boulders, the Blackwater and Snow Wolf tribes still maintained nearly four hundred elite cavalry and infantrymen with formidable fighting power in the mountain pass. Xu Qingshan's reinforcements were limited in strength, and if they were to engage in a head-on battle on the narrow mountain path, the casualties would certainly be considerable.

If Jubei Fort were to sound the war drums on the city wall at this moment, creating the impression that its main force was about to launch a full-scale attack from both the front and the rear, it would completely disrupt the barbarian army's formation, forcing the enemy chieftain to divide his troops and return to defend, thus creating an excellent opportunity for the Zhenbei Army to defeat them one by one!

"What a brilliant feint!"

A surge of heroic spirit welled up within Lu Zhen. He abruptly turned around, strode towards the war drum platform, and grabbed two heavy hardwood drumsticks:

"Brothers! If we can't bring out our knives, we still have our strength!"

"Beat it! Smash this broken drum to pieces!!"

"Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump thump thump thump—!!"

The low, slow drumbeats suddenly changed at this moment. More than thirty remaining soldiers took turns stepping forward and pounding the drumheads with all their might. The grand and violent sound of the war drums was like rolling thunder, pouring down the cliff face and shaking the surrounding area!

……

Behind the mountain valley lies the main base of the Blackwater tribe.

Commander Hei Kui had just crawled out of the collapsed rubble of the front camp, his body covered in mud and blood.

Hearing the sudden, deafening, and frenzied drumbeats from the walls of Jubei Fort behind him, Hei Kui's fleshy face turned deathly pale.

"President! Something terrible has happened!"

A cavalry leader from the Snow Wolf tribe rushed forward in a panic, pointing towards the main gate of the fortress and shouting, "The Han dogs inside the city are all beating drums, and there are torches everywhere behind the water gate. They're going to open the gate and break out!"

Black Kui's forehead veins bulged.

The sudden attack from the mountaintop by the Zhenbei Army, who were attacking from both sides with rolling stones, and the sudden drumbeats of the besieged fortress that had been besieged for two months, made this fierce general of the grasslands lose his composure.

"Splitting the troops! Quickly splitting the troops!"

Black Kui roared in fury, swinging his blade to cut down a tent post beside him:

"The Azure Wolf Cavalry is to dispatch 150 men immediately to defend the main gate of Jubei Fortress and the secret water passage. Keep those starving devils firmly inside the city gate and absolutely prevent them from breaking out!"

"The rest of you, line up with me in front of the stone path and tear these dozens of Han cavalrymen who have charged into the mountains to shreds!"

Upon receiving the order, the barbarian army's formation was thrown into chaos. Nearly two hundred barbarian cavalrymen were forced to abandon the main battlefield, turning their horses around and hastily returning to defend the line below Jubei Fortress.

The once impenetrable main position of Langya Road had nearly half of its troops forcibly withdrawn in an instant, leaving the front line of defense extremely weak.

……

"The enemy formation is complete; now is the time to defeat them."

Above the mountain path, Xu Qingshan's deep eyes were as cold as stars.

He gave the barbarian army no chance to regroup, pointing his long sword forward with his right hand and shouting in a deep voice:

"Zhenbei cavalry, advance with crossbows!"

Forty fully armed Zhenbei Army soldiers, like a moving black iron square formation, steadily pressed down along the stone path cleared by boulders.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Precise crossbow volleys rained down in a continuous barrage on the narrow bend, the steel arrows gleaming with a ghostly blue poisonous light like the lash of death, systematically whittling down the panicked Blackwater tribe soldiers who had broken up into disarray.

Zhou Laoqi charged forward, wielding a broadsword. Wherever his blade flashed, heads rolled. He advanced with unparalleled force, nibbling away at the outer defenses of the barbarian army.

Just when Hei Kui was leading his remaining troops in an extremely critical situation, being relentlessly suppressed and retreating by the Zhenbei Army—

Above the "Ghost Ladder" cliff, a hundred feet high and said to be so steep that even birds cannot land, a dazzling crimson light suddenly burst forth amidst the wind and snow!

"call--!!"

A billowing flame, ignited by pine resin and kerosene, rose up like a torch piercing the sky atop the towering cliffs behind Jubei Fortress!

Immediately afterwards, three long and two short bugle calls rang out sharply and piercingly from the depths of the valley where the barbarian army's rear camp and supply depot were located!

Hou San and A Man's elite flanking force, after overcoming countless difficulties, finally broke through the formidable Ghost Ladder and firmly planted a deadly steel nail in the enemy's vital rear!

Flames soared into the sky from the front, while raging fire rose from the rear.

Having just regained his footing, Hei Kui suddenly turned around and looked at the towering flames rising into the sky from the main camp behind him. In his fierce eyes, boundless despair and terror finally welled up.

A pincer attack from both sides, surrounded by iron netting!