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

On the training ground inside Blackrock Fortress, more than two hundred warhorses puffed out white breaths as they restlessly pawed at the snow on the ground.

The supplies that Su Jinniang brought back were moved into the warehouse.

Qin Yuenu took the baskets of herbs, and a hint of joy appeared on her originally cold face.

With these ephedra, Panax notoginseng, and top-quality wound medicine, the seriously wounded veterans in the wounded soldiers' camp were able to save their lives completely and no longer had to endure and wait to die.

Shen Qinghe then directed the servants to carefully store the three large bags of coarse salt.

To maintain their strength, warhorses need to eat salt, so she took some aged wheat and soybeans from the inner fortress's ample granary, mixed them with hay, and used them as the warhorses' concentrated feed.

Xu Qingshan stood on the reviewing stand, looking down at the weathered yet hopeful faces below.

"Now that we have horses, we can no longer cower behind the city walls like before, becoming sitting ducks." Xu Qingshan drew his long sword, his voice echoing in the wind. "I want to build a cavalry force capable of charging head-on into the barbarians on the desert. This force will be called the 'Northern Guardian Cavalry'!"

He stepped down from the command platform and personally selected fifty of the 108 soldiers who were the strongest and had the best archery and horsemanship skills.

Of these fifty men, most were elites who had participated in the night raid on the Black Pine Forest with him, including four squad leaders: Tie Niu, Zhou Laoqi, Hou San, and Xiao Qi.

The remaining dozens of infantrymen were handed over to Xiao Hongluan to continue commanding, and were responsible for training the city's defensive weapons and spear formations.

In the following days, Blackstone Fortress underwent unprecedented high-intensity training.

With the "Elite Cavalry Combat Outline" given to him by the system integrated into his mind, Xu Qingshan had a thorough understanding of the habits of warhorses and the formations and maneuvers of cavalry.

He taught these tactics to the fifty newly recruited cavalrymen without reservation.

At dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves echoed across the drill ground.

Xu Qingshan personally demonstrated, galloping on the training ground without needing to hold the reins, he could precisely control the direction by simply squeezing the horse's belly with his legs.

As his warhorse galloped at high speed, he raised his repeating crossbow with both hands, looked straight ahead, and pulled the trigger.

collapse!collapse!collapse!

Three arrows flew in quick succession, each hitting a vital spot on the straw man a hundred paces away.

This superb archery skill impressed even Xiao Hongluan, who was watching from the sidelines.

She originally thought Xu Qingshan was just a fierce infantryman, but she didn't expect him to be so proficient in cavalry tactics.

"On horseback, your swords must not only be fast, but also steady! Use the momentum of the horse's charge to cut open the enemy's throat, instead of brute force to hack wildly!" Xu Qingshan spurred his horse back to the front of the formation and loudly reprimanded several soldiers who were clumsy in their movements.

He cleverly combined "The Essentials of Cavalry Warfare" with Xiao Hongluan's "Three Talents Formation".

The fifty cavalrymen were divided into five squads of ten men each.

During the charge, three men formed a team, positioned at each other's flanks, and cut into the imagined enemy lines in a wedge formation. They were required to take turns providing cover while moving at high speed. Once a gap appeared in the enemy's defenses, they would immediately use short crossbows to fire at close range, and then use steel swords to finish off the remaining enemy forces.

At first, the soldiers swayed precariously on their horses, and many even fell into the snowdrifts, getting bruised and battered.

But no one complained. The ample supply of meat and the incentive of military merit made them grit their teeth, climb onto their horses again and again, and repeat the tedious and rigorous tactical maneuvers over and over again.

Meanwhile, Bai Zhi's blacksmith shop was working day and night to create exclusive equipment for this newly formed Zhenbei Cavalry.

She dismantled the damaged barbarian leather armor she had captured, combined it with some inferior furs she had brought back from White Wolf Village, and re-sewed it into lightweight cavalry leather armor.

This leather armor abandoned heavy iron plates, protecting only vital areas such as the chest and abdomen, greatly reducing the burden on warhorses, and without affecting the rider's flexibility in drawing bows and firing crossbows.

Even more ingeniously, Bai Zhi used her mechanical skills to add a specially made wooden box to the right side of each saddle.

This wooden box can just hold three fully cocked repeating crossbows.

In this way, when the soldiers of the Zhenbei Cavalry charge into battle, they can directly draw their short crossbows from the wooden box and fire them. After firing one, they can discard it and fire another, completely saving the tedious time of reloading on horseback.

In the extremely short engagement range, this is equivalent to fifty cavalrymen unleashing the long-range suppressive firepower of one hundred and fifty men.

The transformation of combat power was completed rapidly and imperceptibly.

Ten days later, when the fifty Zhenbei cavalrymen gathered again on the training ground, their eyes had lost their former laxity and panic, replaced by coldness and composure.

The breaths of man and horse seemed to merge into one, and the entire team was like a black blade drawn from its sheath, ready to drink blood at any moment.

Time flew by amidst the intense preparations.

The one-month deadline that Xu Qingshan forged using the blood oath is about to expire.

At noon that day, the winter ice and snow began to melt, and the official road became muddy and slippery.

The chill in the air was no longer as biting as a knife, but it carried the gloomy cold of melting snow.

Chen Baihu remained under house arrest in a secluded courtyard, and all he could do each day was hurl insults at the old soldiers guarding him.

He longed day and night for the arrival of the army from Yunzhou City to tear Xu Qingshan and his traitorous foes to pieces.

Inside the lobby, Xu Qingshan was holding a dry cloth and carefully wiping the fine steel longsword in his hand.

The sound of hurried footsteps broke the afternoon tranquility.

Ah Man stumbled and crawled into the lobby, his face, which usually carried a hint of wildness, now filled with tension.

"Centurion, people are coming from the south!" Ah Man reported, panting heavily.

Xu Qingshan paused, then raised his eyes: "Soldiers from Yunzhou City?"

"Yes! They're carrying the banner of the Vanguard Commandant of Yunzhou City, about five hundred men, all regular soldiers, their armor gleaming, a mix of infantry and cavalry." Aman spoke very quickly. "They're marching very fast, less than five li from our south gate."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hongluan, Zhou Laoqi, and others, who were discussing defense matters in the main hall, all turned serious.

Yunzhou City eventually noticed the anomaly at Black Stone Fortress.

They did not receive any follow-up routine documents from Chen Baihu, and out of vigilance for unusual activity on the border trade routes, they dispatched this vanguard of 500 men to "inspect" the area.

The five hundred main border troops were far superior to the barbarian soldiers whose supplies had been burned. They had a complete organizational structure, siege equipment, and a legitimate name granted by the Great Qian Dynasty.

"You came so quickly." Xu Qingshan sheathed his longsword, the hilt striking the scabbard with a clear ringing sound.

"Centurion, what should we do? Open the door to welcome them or..." Zhou Laoqi gripped the hilt of his knife, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes.

If it were a barbarian, he would dare to draw his sword and slash without hesitation, but the opponent was the regular army of the Great Qian. Once he made a move, the entire Black Stone Fortress would truly become the rebels of the Great Qian, with no way back.

"Welcome?" Xu Qingshan sneered and strode out of the hall.

"We killed the enemy and seized military power. Commander Chen is locked up in a side courtyard. Opening the city gate is like sticking your neck out to be cut off."

Xu Qingshan swung himself onto a warhorse, his cold gaze sweeping over his assembled and waiting subordinates.

"Order the entire army to ascend the city walls. Without my command, no one is to fire an arrow."

"I want to see just how capable the soldiers of Yunzhou City really are."

A moment later.

Outside the south gate of Blackstone Fortress, the earth trembled.

A well-organized army of five hundred men from the Daqianbian region came into view.

A huge banner bearing the character "Zhao" fluttered in the wind. The Yunzhou Colonel, leading the army, was wearing bright armor and riding a tall, green horse. His gaze was scrutinizing the somewhat unusual border fortress before him.

Although the outer walls were dilapidated, the defenses on the city walls were surprisingly tight.

Swords and spears were everywhere, and arrows were nocked.

More than a hundred soldiers of Blackrock Fortress stared expressionlessly at the army below the city, the air thick with a chilling atmosphere that seemed ready to erupt at any moment.

With a wave of his hand, the captain ordered the five hundred soldiers to halt a short distance outside the city.

He spurred his horse forward a few steps, raised his head, and shouted loudly towards the city wall.

"I am Zhao Wu, the vanguard commander of Yunzhou City! I have come to Black Stone Fortress to inspect its defenses and allocate military supplies, on the orders of the garrison commander!"

"Where is the commander guarding the city? Open the city gates immediately and let Commander Chen come out to receive the order!"

On the city wall.

Xu Qingshan, his hand on the hilt of his sword, stood ramrod straight in front of the battlements, looking down at the Yunzhou army outside the city.

He did not answer; the only response Zhao Wu received was the howling cold wind and the cold, wary gazes of the soldiers from Black Stone Fortress on the city wall.

Tensions were high, and a conflict could erupt at any moment.