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

The snow outside the broken courtyard gate was stained red with blood.

The barbarian infantry found that the main gate was blocked by a formation of wooden spears and could not break through. The leader of the strong men shouted in the barbarian language.

The remaining dozen or so barbarian soldiers immediately changed tactics. Four or five of them held up their shields and continued to press forward from the front, while the other seven or eight dispersed and went around to the sides, attempting to climb over the already low earthen wall.

Xu Qingshan squatted on the woodpile, seeing everything clearly.

He quickly drew his bowstring taut and aimed at the shield-bearer who was putting pressure on Tie Niu from the front.

Whoosh!

The armor-piercing arrow pierced through the gap and stabbed into the eye socket of a barbarian soldier.

The barbarian soldier let out a scream and fell backward, instantly relieving some of the pressure on the front.

Meanwhile, on both sides of the courtyard wall.

Several barbarian soldiers grabbed the top of the wall with both hands, and with a powerful leap, they jumped over the wall and overboard.

The moment their boots hit the ground, screams rang out from the base of the courtyard wall.

Bai Zhi had already scattered barbed wire under the snow at the base of the wall, and even buried sharp short thorns at several footholds.

The barbarian soldiers scaled the wall and landed heavily, their leather boots offering no protection against the caltrops.

The excruciating pain of their feet being pierced caused the barbarian soldiers to lose their balance instantly and fall to the ground in the snow, howling in agony.

"Forget the main entrance! Go to the side and finish them off!"

Xiao Hongluan astutely seized the opportunity and quickly gave the order.

Hou San and Zhou Laoqi immediately abandoned their positions at the main gate, grabbed the barbarian scimitars they had just captured, and rushed toward the barbarian soldier who had fallen against the wall.

Beating a drowning dog is what these veteran border guards are best at.

With a swift movement, the two men swiftly brought down their blades, and several barbarian soldiers who had not yet had a chance to get up were killed on the spot without any chance to resist.

But the crisis at the main gate was not over.

The tallest barbarian leader, seeing his companion who had scaled the wall being ambushed, let out a furious roar.

He actually grabbed his companion's corpse from the ground and used it as a human shield, bracing himself against the wooden spear thrust out by Tie Niu, and slammed it into the already broken door frame.

The enormous impact forced Tie Niu back two steps, causing him to fall onto the snow.

Although the wooden spear in Xiao Hongluan's hand pierced his chest, it slid to the side of the cast iron breastplate and failed to break through the defense.

The barbarian leader threw aside the corpse, strode into the courtyard, raised his heavy battle axe, and swung it down at Xiao Hongluan.

Just as the axe blade was about to fall, a dark figure leaped down from the woodpile to the side.

Xu Qingshan abandoned his bow, and the woodcutter's knife in his hand flashed with a sharp, cold light. At the same time, he ducked and slid, narrowly avoiding the sharp edge of the battle axe.

Taking advantage of the gap between the two men, the machete cut into the crevice under the armpit of the barbarian leader as he swung his arm.

The blade pierced the flesh, cutting straight to the heart.

The barbarian leader froze in mid-air, his battle axe slipping from his hand and falling to the ground.

He clutched his bleeding armpits with both hands, his burly body swayed twice, and finally collapsed into the snow, motionless.

[Slayed one elite barbarian. Military merit +3.]

[Currently, Qi and blood levels have significantly improved.]

The familiar system notification sounded again.

A surge of warmth coursed through my entire body.

Xu Qingshan felt his legs were no longer unsteady, and his arm holding the knife was full of power. His weak body, which had long suffered from hunger, finally shed its weakness and became strong and sturdy through repeated replenishment of qi and blood.

The three or four remaining barbarian soldiers outside the gate, seeing their bravest leader die a gruesome death, finally lost their will to fight.

They abandoned their companion's body, turned and fled into the dark alleyway amidst the wind and snow, never daring to look back.

The courtyard fell silent, save for the howling wind and the crackling of burning firewood.

A strong stench of blood filled the air.

Tie Niu sat on the snow, panting heavily.

Hou San wiped the blade in his hand with snow, his hand trembling uncontrollably.

Even Zhou Laoqi, who was used to seeing all sorts of things, was now covered in cold sweat.

Xu Qingshan pulled the woodcutter's knife from the barbarian soldier's corpse, wiped the blood off on a tattered cloth, and sheathed the knife.

"Miss Qin, apply the medicine. Miss Shen, distribute the food." Xu Qingshan quickly adjusted his breathing, as if he had just done a trivial matter.

Qin Yuenu carried the medicine box and walked out quickly. She went to Tie Niu's side first, washed his shattered tiger's mouth with warm water, sprinkled hemostatic powder on it, and then bandaged it properly with clean cloth strips.

Then he went to treat Hou San's injured arm.

Shen Qinghe and Zhao Lihua carried steaming hot brown rice soup and freshly baked military rations to distribute to the participants.

"Eat something to replenish your strength." Xu Qingshan picked up a military ration biscuit and began to chew it heartily.

The four veterans accepted the food.

The dry, slightly salty military rations, eaten with hot soup, immediately warmed my stomach, and my depleted strength began to recover miraculously.

Zhou Laoqi swallowed the last bite of his biscuit, looked at the barbarian corpses lying haphazardly in the courtyard, and then looked at Xu Qingshan with a deep sense of awe.

"Squad leader, these barbarians are all dead in our hands," Zhou Laoqi asked in a low voice. "What do we do now? Just hold out in this yard?"

Xu Qingshan walked to the door, his gaze passing over the dilapidated courtyard gate and looking towards the main road of Black Stone Fortress, where flames were raging in the distance.

"We can't hold it." Xu Qingshan's voice was exceptionally clear in the wind and snow.

Everyone was taken aback.

"These twenty-odd men are just stragglers from the Black Wolf tribe. Once their main force assembles, or the centurion in charge discovers organized resistance here and leads his troops to surround us, a few fires will be all it takes to kill us all in this courtyard."

Xu Qingshan's analysis hit the nail on the head.

Passive defense, in the face of overwhelming troop superiority, is nothing but a slow death.

Xiao Hongluan walked over, holding a wooden spear, and looked at him with bright eyes: "You want to take the initiative?"

Xu Qingshan nodded.

"Now the entire Blackstone Fortress is leaderless. Liu Sandao is dead, and Chen Baihu is hiding in the inner fortress pretending to be dead. Although the guards on the outer wall have been scattered, there are still many survivors hiding in the shadows, barely clinging to life."

Xu Qingshan turned around and pointed to the sorghum flour, refined wheat flour, and herbs piled up in the room.

"We have food, medicine, and weapons."

He glanced at the veterans and women before him, his tone revealing a resolute ambition.

"Take food and hot soup and go into the streets to gather the scattered, defeated soldiers. In this freezing weather, whoever comes with us will have food to eat and will survive. Once we get them together, the outer walls of Blackstone Fortress will be ours to control."

Hou San swallowed hard and tentatively asked, "Squad leader, are we going to become mountain bandits?"

"This isn't about being a bandit leader; it's about finding a way to survive."

Xu Qingshan bent down and picked up a fine steel scimitar dropped by a barbarian soldier. This scimitar was much more convenient to use than his chipped woodcutter's knife.

He tucked the scimitar into his belt and raised the powerful bow.

"Take off the barbarians' leather armor and put it on them. Distribute the weapons." Xu Qingshan gave the order. "Miss Shen, pack up the dry rations. Zhao Lihua, fill the wooden bucket with hot soup and carry it."

"Come on, follow me out to recruit people."