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

"retreat?"

Tie Niu doubted he had heard correctly.

The first barricade had just been breached when hundreds of barbarian soldiers were pushing their way through the gap, stepping over corpses.

Retreating at this point is no different from handing your neck to someone's knife.

"Miss Xiao, there are no city walls behind you!"

Xiao Hongluan forced back the barbarian soldiers who rushed in through the gap with a single strike, and coldly ordered, "Listen to my command, retreat!"

"But……"

"You want to disobey orders?"

Tie Niu glanced at her, then looked up at the mountainside.

Xu Qingshan stood beside the crossbow, his right hand already swinging backward.

It was indeed a gesture of retreat.

Tie Niu felt extremely frustrated.

He was just thinking of blocking the gap, chopping down one if one came, and chopping down two if two came.

They raised the axe, but instead made him run backward.

What is this?

He's already taken his pants off, and you're telling him to go back to sleep?

"Fine, I'll refund it!"

Tie Niu cleaved the wooden shield in front of him with an axe and shouted at the top of his lungs, "First rank, retreat! Don't panic! Anyone who dares to turn around and run away, I'll chop them down first!"

The fifty infantrymen quickly sprang into action.

The spearmen in the front row slowly retreated, and the soldiers in the second row immediately took their place.

Ten crossbowmen were divided into two groups, one firing and the other loading arrows, taking turns suppressing the barbarian soldiers pouring in through the gap.

Whoosh whoosh!

The short arrow flew past the barricade.

The first few barbarian soldiers were shot in the chest with arrows and fell backward.

But the people behind them stepped on them and continued to push forward.

"Dry Dog can't hold on any longer!"

"They're trying to escape!"

"Chase after them and cut off their heads!"

Excited shouts echoed throughout the valley.

The barbarian soldiers, who had just been pinned down by ballistae and chevaux-de-frise, suddenly seemed to have found a way out.

The front row charged forward with shields raised, while the back row scrambled to follow.

Everyone is afraid of being a step too slow, and that the military merit will fall into the hands of others.

A centurion from the Black Wolf tribe flipped over the collapsed barricade and slashed at the last retreating soldiers with his sword.

The soldier was carrying his wounded comrade on his back, and his pace slowed considerably.

Just before the blade fell, a short arrow flew in from the side.

puff!

The arrow pierced the centurion's eye socket, and he screamed as he fell backward.

Xiao Qi, holding a repeating crossbow, shouted at the soldier, "What are you looking at? Waiting to invite him to dinner? Let's go!"

The soldiers carried the wounded on their backs and gritted their teeth as they caught up with the vanguard.

Qin Yuenu, along with several temporary medical staff, guarded the area near the second line of defense.

Upon seeing the wounded soldier being brought over, she immediately knelt down to examine him.

"If you've been shot in the leg with an arrow, cut off the shaft first; don't try to pull it out by force!"

The people around were in a flurry of activity.

Qin Yuenu looked up and scolded, "What are you all trembling about? The arrow didn't even pierce your bodies! Hold him down!"

The men quickly restrained the wounded soldier.

With a muffled groan, the blood-stained arrow was pulled out.

The shouts of battle ahead grew closer and closer.

Qin Yuenu applied hemostatic medicine and wrapped the wound tightly with burlap.

"Move it to the back, next one!"

The first line of defense has completely fallen into the hands of the Black Wolf tribe.

Ashina rode outside the valley and saw the Daqian soldiers retreating continuously. A smile finally appeared on his gloomy face.

The three hundred vanguards are dead.

As long as Xu Qingshan can be killed, these losses will be worthwhile.

"Keep pushing it up!"

The lieutenant hurriedly advised, "Chief, the terrain inside the valley hasn't been explored yet. Xu Qingshan's retreat was too orderly; it might be a trap."

Ashina turned and glanced at him.

"You just said their ballistae were powerful, but now that the wooden wall is breached, you're saying it's a trap."

"Are we really going to let 1,700 Black Wolf Warriors cower outside the valley because of a few dozen Great Qian people?"

The lieutenant's face was grim.

"I just feel..."

"Enough talk! Send the vanguard to catch up and hold them off. Don't give Xu Qingshan a chance to redeploy his forces!"

The bugle sounded again.

The rear guard, which had just stopped, also began to move into the valley.

More and more barbarian soldiers crossed the pit.

The road paved with corpses was trampled into a bloody mess, and broken bones were exposed from the mud, only to be crushed down by the animal-hide boots behind them.

The valley gradually narrowed.

The rock walls on both sides narrowed towards the middle, and the number of people who could walk side by side gradually decreased from twenty or thirty to just over ten.

The vanguard was still pursuing, while the rearguard kept pouring in.

Thousands of barbarian soldiers quickly formed a long line.

Those in front want to go fast, while those behind push them forward.

Someone slipped and was trampled into the mud on the spot, and didn't even have time to scream.

Ashina's smile gradually disappeared after he rode his horse into the valley.

Although the soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty were retreating, their formation remained intact.

The spearmen took turns providing cover, while the crossbowmen fired arrows in turn.

Even those transporting the wounded moved along the narrow path that had been cleared in advance.

This doesn't look like a rout at all! It's clearly something that was planned in advance!

"stop!"

Ashina suddenly raised his scimitar.

"The rear guard halts; do not advance further into the valley!"

The order was passed down.

But the narrow valley was filled with shouts of battle, screams of agony, and the clash of weapons.

Those in front could not hear those behind, and those behind could not see Ashina's banner.

The outermost barbarian soldiers were still moving in, while those in the middle were being pushed around and staggered.

The messenger was squeezed in the crowd, sweating profusely with anxiety.

"Halt! The commander has ordered the rear guard to halt!"

"There's a rush ahead, you want us to stop?"

"They're still pushing from behind, how do we stop?"

"Get out of the way, I can't breathe!"

The orders were completely out of control.

Halfway up the mountain, Xu Qingshan looked at the main force of the Black Wolf tribe that had already entered the valley and let out a soft breath.

After waiting for so long, they've finally all come in.

Hou San leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "Centurion, is that enough?"

Xu Qingshan nodded.

"Go find Ah Man."

Hou San was taken aback.

"Why would you want to see her now?"

"She knows how to get to the sheep trail to the west."

Hou San's eyes lit up.

"You want me to go around behind them?"

"Take twenty men and burn their provisions. It would be best if you could also drive the horses away."

Hou San's smile grew wider and wider.

"I understand, I love doing this kind of behind-the-scenes work the most."

Xu Qingshan glanced at him.

"Don't say things like that again; it doesn't sound like something a good person would say."

"We're fighting against barbarians, why bother with good guys and bad guys? Anyone who makes it back alive is a good guy."

After Hou San finished speaking, he turned and left.

On the other side of the hillside, Aman was lying behind a rock, staring at the herd of horses outside the valley.

Hundreds of warhorses were tethered together, with fewer than a hundred men left to guard them.

When she saw Hou San coming over, she had already guessed what was going on.

"The centurion wants us to take the western sheep trail?"

Hou San nodded.

"Take twenty riders and go out to burn the grain."

Ah Man frowned and said, "That road is very narrow. There are several places where you can only lead a horse across. If you're not careful, you'll fall off the mountain."

"Can you walk?"

"able."

"That's fine then."

Aman stood up and patted the snowflakes off her clothes.

Before leaving, Liu Ruyan came up from behind.

"Wait a moment."

Ah Man turned around and looked at her.

Liu Ruyan handed over a piece of cloth with several patterns drawn on it.

It has an eagle's head, broken horns, and a crescent moon on top.

"The barbarian soldiers we captured earlier confessed that Ashina had three subordinate tribes. These people were always sent to the front in battles, died the most, and received the least spoils."

Ah Man understood what she meant.

"You want me to sow discord between them?"

Liu Ruyan nodded gently.

"After you go around to the back, tell them in the barbarian language that Ashina is preparing to escape through the sheep path, leaving them to die in place of the Black Wolf tribe."

Hou San couldn't help but interrupt.

"Will they believe it?"

Liu Ruyan looked down into the valley.

"If you don't harbor resentment, you naturally won't believe it. But if you accumulate enough resentment, even a single word can turn into a knife."

Hou San stroked his chin.

"You intellectuals always have to make things complicated. To put it simply, isn't it just spreading rumors?"

Liu Ruyan glanced at him.

"You can also tell them loudly that this is fake news."

Hou San quickly shook his head.

"Then let's do it your way."

The twenty Zhenbei cavalrymen quickly disappeared behind the western cliff.

At the bottom of the valley, the soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty had already retreated past the second marker.

The valley ahead suddenly narrowed.

At its narrowest point, it can only accommodate seven or eight people side by side.

The slopes on both sides are even steeper, and the top is piled with a large number of rocks and logs covered by snow.

Bai Zhi squatted behind the rock, holding a small axe in her hand.

Three thick ropes were fixed beside her.

The ropes extended outwards, connecting to several wooden wedges supporting the boulders.

Hearing the birdsong coming from below, Bai Zhi looked up at the opposite hillside.

On the other side, Xu Qingshan had already raised his right hand.

Bai Zhi took a deep breath.

The axe blade fell.

Click!

The first rope broke.

Several soldiers simultaneously pulled out the wooden wedges.

The hillside fell silent for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, the thick snow suddenly collapsed downwards.

Rumbling--

A dull, loud noise came from the rock walls on both sides.

Large amounts of gravel and logs broke through the snow and poured down into the valley.

"The mountain collapsed!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Run forward!"

The barbarian soldiers, squeezed in the middle, screamed in terror.

But there were people all around them, and steep cliffs on all sides, so they had nowhere to hide.

A boulder weighing several hundred kilograms crashed into the crowd.

Several barbarian soldiers were smashed into mincemeat on the spot.

The massive logs rolled over the target, breaking shields, bones, and weapons simultaneously.

The screams had barely begun when they were drowned out by an even louder roar.

Behind the valley, dozens of barbarian soldiers were buried in rubble.

The falling stones piled up higher and higher, completely blocking most of the entrance.

The vanguard, who had just rushed through the narrow passage, were left inside.

The hundreds of people following behind were blocked outside the rubble.

The main force of the Black Wolf tribe was instantly cut in two.

Ashina's black horse was startled and reared up.

He held on to the reins tightly to avoid falling off the horse.

Looking at the jumbled rocks blocking the valley, Ashina finally understood.

From the very beginning, Xu Qingshan never intended to hold onto the first wooden wall.

That barricade was just bait.

The breach they desperately smashed open was also a mouth that had been open for a long time.

"Retreat! Climb over the rocks!"

In the crowd, a centurion wearing an eagle skin turned around and shouted.

He came from a subordinate tribe of the Black Wolf Clan.

Seeing that their escape route was blocked, their first reaction was to leave with their men.

Ashina spurred his horse forward, his curved blade flashing with a cold light.

puff!

The centurion's head flew off, spraying blood onto the faces of the surrounding barbarian soldiers.

The riot immediately stopped.

Ashina carried a blood-dripping scimitar, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace.

"Anyone who dares to back down will suffer the same fate!"

"Our escape route is cut off. Only by slaughtering all the people of Daqian can we survive!"

The scimitar pointed deep into the valley.

Ahead, behind the second barricade, rows of spears have been raised again.