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

Treading on the snow-covered ground, Xu Qingshan led nearly a hundred remaining soldiers from the outer wall to a large courtyard in the center of Black Stone Fortress.

This was the former residence of military leader Liu Sandao, and it was also the largest and most sturdy barracks with the outer walls.

Tie Niu stepped forward and forcefully pushed open the heavy wooden door covered with iron sheets.

The courtyard is spacious and flat, paved with blue bricks. The main building is tall and wide, with rows of side rooms and a sturdy storeroom with its own entrance on both sides.

Compared to the dilapidated mud house that used to be drafty, this place is practically a small fortress.

Not long after, Zhou Laoqi, along with eight women including Shen Qinghe and Xiao Hongluan, brought in a cart full of their belongings.

Looking at the high walls and large courtyard, the women's tense expressions, which had been lingering for days, finally eased a little.

Xu Qingshan threw a bunch of bloodstained copper keys onto the stone table in the courtyard.

"Qinghe, this was found on Liu Sandao's body. Go check the warehouse."

Shen Qinghe picked up the key and led Zhao Lihua toward the warehouse.

The door opened, and the scene inside made people gasp.

Dozens of bags of pure rice without sand and rows of dried pork were neatly stacked on the ground, with several heavy wooden crates piled in the corner.

Shen Qinghe picked up the account book hanging on the wall, quickly flipped through a few pages, and frowned slightly: "This grain is enough to feed a hundred people for three months. The wooden boxes are full of the military pay that has been squeezed out. Give me this account book, and I will sort out the details within half a day."

Xu Qingshan nodded, then turned to look at the west wing.

Inside the side room, more than thirty seriously wounded soldiers lay on the ground covered with dry straw, groaning in pain.

Qin Yuenu carried her medicine box and walked in. Her face was cold and her movements were decisive.

She instructed Xiaoqi to boil water, wash the wound with strong liquor, sprinkle on the wound medicine she had obtained from the black market, and finally bandage it properly with clean strips of cloth.

An old soldier, his stomach ripped open in pain, gasped for breath. Looking at the medicine powder applied to his wound, his eyes reddened. "Centurion Xu," he said, "our worthless lives should just be buried alive. Why are you giving us such good medicine?"

Xu Qingshan stood at the doorway, his voice steady: "You have shed blood for me, your lives are mine. No one is allowed to die without my order!"

One sentence brought tears to the eyes of the wounded soldiers in the room, and they all clenched their teeth.

In this border region where life is as fragile as grass, someone is willing to use real money and medicinal herbs to save their lives; this kindness is greater than the heavens.

In the center of the courtyard, the barbarian weapons captured last night were piled up into a small mountain.

Su Jinniang squatted on the ground, sorting the intact scimitars and the damaged leather armor into categories.

"These scimitars are made of excellent steel; keep them for the brothers to use as new armor. Give the tattered leather armor to Aman to dismantle, and the cowhide can be used to make wrist guards and winter boots. As for the extra horse tack and damaged swords, I'll take them to the black market in a few days to exchange for salt and cloth."

Bai Zhi picked through the damaged arrowheads and scrap iron, her tone confident: "With this iron, plus the wood in Liu Sandao's yard, I can quickly make ten repeating crossbows, and enough chevaux-de-frise to fill the gap in the north wall that was breached."

Looking at the group of women who were all doing their jobs in an orderly manner, Tie Niu and Hou San were secretly amazed.

They had initially thought these eight criminals were a burden, but now they realized that the men under the command of the corporal... no, the centurion were all invaluable treasures.

After arranging the logistics, Xu Qingshan went to the open space outside.

More than seventy soldiers who could still stand lined up, their armor tattered, their posture slouching, revealing the laxity of years of just getting by.

Xu Qingshan stood on the steps, looking at the group of people.

"From today onwards, you will no longer be cannon fodder to be bullied." He pointed to Xiao Hongluan beside him, "This is Instructor Xiao. She is in charge of the defense, formation, and training of the outer wall."

Some people in the group looked puzzled, and a tall, spiky guy muttered, "Let a woman teach us how to kill?"

Without a word, Xiao Hongluan stepped forward, carrying a white ash wood pole, and with a single flick of her wrist, said, "Come out."

The troublemaker snorted coldly, drew his waist knife, and slashed.

Xiao Hongluan shifted her feet slightly to avoid the blade, and the wooden stick in her hand, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, emitted a sharp whistling sound as it precisely struck Citou's throat.

If the wooden pole had been replaced with an iron spear, this troublemaker would have been dead on the spot.

The audience was silent.

Xiao Hongluan retracted the wooden pole, her voice cold and clear: "Within three paces, a spear is no match for a sword. Beyond ten paces, form ranks and fight. From tonight onward, three men per squad, ten men per platoon, and military regulations will be re-established. Those who disobey orders will be punished according to military law!"

The fierce soldiers on the outer wall were stunned by this swift and decisive action, and no one dared to raise any objections; they all agreed in unison.

In the afternoon, the heavy snow stopped.

Xu Qingshan sat alone in the main seat of the main hall. Liu Sandao had sat in this large wooden chair for many years, but now it had a new owner.

He closed his eyes and brought up the system panel.

[Current Territory: Blackrock Fortress Outer Wall Barracks]

[Size of Influence: Centurion ranks (full)]

Number of subordinates: 108

Loyalty: Extremely High (Morale Soars)

[Current Military Merit: 55 points]

Last night's series of bloody battles, coupled with the ten military merits earned from killing Centurion Zhuo Lu, brought his military merit reserves to an unprecedented level.

Xu Qingshan opened the exchange interface he had recently unlocked. His eyes swept across the screen; he needed something that could quickly improve the combat effectiveness and equipment of these new recruits.

[Exchange: Beginner Battle Formation Manual (Requires 10 Military Merit Points)]

[Exchange: Hundred Refinements Technique (Requires 20 Military Merit Points, can increase the strength of iron forging)]

Upon seeing these two items, he promptly exchanged them.

The battle formation diagram will be handed over to Xiao Hongluan later, and the Hundred Forging Technique will be given to Bai Zhi to study.

With the remaining 25 military merits, he exchanged them for five doses of [Powerful Qi and Blood Powder], intending to save the lives of several seriously injured core veterans.

Everything is moving in a positive direction, and the centurion's team has been fully established.

Just as Xu Qingshan was sorting out his thoughts and preparing to plan the next steps for the defense of the north wall, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Liu Ruyan pushed open the door and entered. She had just returned from gathering information outside the barracks, and her eyes were filled with a hint of vigilance.

"Xu Qingshan, there's movement in the inner fortress." Liu Ruyan stepped forward, her voice low. "Commander Chen sent out his trusted men, saying that he's hosting a banquet in the inner fortress tonight to welcome you, the new centurion."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qingshan picked up the coarse tea on the table, took a sip, and a cold glint appeared in his eyes.

No banquet is a good banquet.

Command of the outer wall troops had just fallen into his hands, and morale was high. Chen Baihu, that old fox, was clearly uneasy and was preparing to test his strength and bottom line on the inner fortress.

"A welcome dinner?" Xu Qingshan put down his teacup and tapped the table with his fingers. "Then let's go meet him. I want to see just how difficult it is to cross the threshold of this inner fortress."