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

Tang Su took the horsewhip handed to him by his personal guard and stepped onto the drawbridge.

Twenty guards followed behind.

Zhao Wu also dismounted and strode up to Xu Qingshan.

As the two passed each other, he lowered his voice and said, "Xu Qingshan, you'd better pray that the things in the city can save your head."

Xu Qingshan glanced at him.

"Commander Zhao, you've come all the way from Yunzhou, and your mouth hasn't stopped chattering."

Zhao Wu snorted coldly.

"Once your crimes are investigated, I, the captain, will personally escort you back to Yunzhou."

"OK."

Xu Qingshan stepped aside to make way.

"Let's go in and take a look first, so we don't miss the chance later."

Zhao Wu paused in his steps.

Why does that sound like a threat?

The city gate slowly closed.

The Yunzhou army was left outside the city, leaving only Tang Su and his party of about twenty people inside.

On both sides of the main road, fifty soldiers from Blackrock Fortress stood in formation with spears.

Their armor was not complete.

Some were wearing old armor from the Great Qian Dynasty, some were wearing leather armor that had just been seized from barbarian soldiers, and several had bloodstains on their shields that had not yet been cleaned.

The entire team stood perfectly straight.

As Tang Su walked by, the soldiers simultaneously raised their right fists and slammed them heavily onto their breastplates.

boom!

A series of resounding impacts echoed from behind the city gate.

Yunzhou's personal guards instinctively gripped the hilt of their swords.

Tang Su raised his hand to stop them.

"Is this a military salute from Blackrock Fortress?"

Xu Qingshan nodded.

"It was just decided not long ago."

"Why don't you kneel before your superior?"

Zhao Wu stood behind and questioned him coldly.

A soldier with burlap wrapped around his leg looked at him.

"Does Commandant Zhao want to see me kneel?"

"There's a hierarchy in the army; of course you must kneel before your superior!"

The soldier, bracing himself against his spear, slowly raised his injured leg.

"I was shot below the knee with an arrow. The army doctor said that because I've been bending over too much these past two days, my leg might be ruined."

Another soldier chimed in, "I also have a wound on my buttocks; it wouldn't look good for me to kneel down."

A few low laughs rang out from the ranks.

Zhao Wu's face turned black.

"presumptuous!"

Tang Su turned around and glanced at him.

"They have just returned from a bloody battle with the barbarian soldiers, so let's skip the formalities for now."

Zhao Wu could only shut his mouth.

The group continued forward along the main road.

On the left side of the road, hundreds of warhorses were separated and enclosed in wooden fences.

The healthy warhorses were fed hay, while the injured horses were led to another location where Zhao Lihua and her men examined their injuries.

A black horse's hind legs were slashed open, and it was about to kick someone when Zhao Lihua raised her hand and slapped it on the head.

"Behave yourself!"

The black horse snorted and actually fell silent.

Tie Niu stood to the side, his face full of admiration.

"Miss Zhao, your technique is much gentler than Miss Qin's."

Zhao Lihua didn't even look up.

"Would you like me to take a picture of you too?"

Tie Niu quickly retreated behind Xu Qingshan.

Tang Su looked at the endless line of warhorses.

"Were all of these seized from Luoyan Valley?"

Shen Qinghe stepped forward.

"There are 427 intact warhorses, more than 100 wounded horses, and a group of horses that ran away after being frightened. We have already sent people to search for them."

Zhao Wu frowned.

"All the seized items should be registered and handed over to Yunzhou for unified disposal."

Shen Qinghe looked at him.

"Where were the reinforcements that were mobilized from Yunzhou during the war?"

Zhao Wu's face darkened.

"Military supplies mobilization has its own rules."

"Does the Black Wolf Tribe have rules too?"

Shen Qinghe spoke calmly.

"When they attacked Blackrock Fortress, they didn't give us time to wait for reinforcements."

Zhao Wu wanted to say something more, but Tang Su had already walked forward.

"Let's watch it first before we talk."

The wounded soldiers' camp was located on the east side of the inner fortress.

Several wooden beds were laid out outside to dry, still bearing traces of dark red blood that could not be washed off.

The smell of medicine mixed with the odor of boiling linen wafted out from the courtyard.

Qin Yuenu is changing the dressing of a wounded soldier.

The man's abdomen was wrapped in thick burlap, his face was pale, and sweat was constantly dripping from his forehead.

Tang Su stopped at the door.

Where is this person injured?

Qin Yuenu cut open the old linen.

"I had a scalpel cut into my stomach."

The wound was covered with stitches, making it look particularly gruesome.

One of Yunzhou's guards couldn't help but gasp.

"How could it survive?"

The wounded soldier opened his eyes.

"How dare you talk like that? I'm not dead yet."

The guard was somewhat embarrassed.

Qin Yuenu cleaned the wound with medicine.

The wounded soldier trembled with pain, but he didn't utter a sound.

Tang Su asked, "How many wounded soldiers are there at Black Stone Fortress?"

"Seven people were seriously injured, and twenty-three people were slightly injured."

"What about those who were killed in action?"

The noise in the courtyard quieted down a bit.

Qin Yuenu whispered, "Eight people."

Tang Su remained silent for a moment, then turned and left.

Further on, the sounds of hammering could be heard continuously coming from the armory.

Bai Zhi led a dozen people to dismantle the barbarian armor.

The usable iron pieces are piled on the left, while the severely damaged iron is placed on the right, to be smelted and reforged into arrowheads.

More than ten short crossbows with repeated firing were hanging on the wall.

Zhao Wu walked over and reached out to take it.

Bai Zhi raised the iron hammer and pressed down on the crossbow.

"Don't move."

Zhao Wu's eyes turned cold.

"Does this captain need your permission to inspect the military equipment?"

"There's an arrow in the crossbow."

Bai Zhi retrieved the hammer.

"Take it."

Zhao Wu's outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

"You just hang a cocked crossbow on the wall like that?"

"Just brought down from the city wall, waiting for inspection."

Bai Zhi looked at his chest.

"Pull the trigger there, and five arrows will be fired at once. If Commander Zhao is curious, he can try it on himself."

Hou San couldn't help but say, "Miss Bai, you underestimate Commandant Zhao too much. With five arrows stuck in his body, how is he going to return to Yunzhou?"

Zhao Wu suddenly turned his head.

"What did you say?"

Hou San looked completely innocent.

"I told you crossbows are dangerous, so be careful."

Tang Su glanced at the short crossbow on the wall.

"Did you make this kind of weaponry yourself?"

Bai Zhi nodded.

"The original crossbow could only fire one arrow at a time, but after the mechanism was modified, it can fire continuously."

"How many were built?"

"More than fifty, of which more than forty are usable."

Tang Su seemed to be deep in thought.

A border fortress that has been dilapidated for many years, with hundreds of warhorses, repeating crossbows, and three ballistae.

The city walls were repaired, wounded soldiers received medical treatment, and military households began cultivating wasteland outside the city.

How did a centurion manage to integrate all of this in such a short time?

Tang Su looked at Xu Qingshan, who was walking ahead.

Xu Qingshan seemed to notice his gaze and turned around.

"Lord Tang, is there anything else you would like to see?"

"Falling Goose Valley".

Tang Su said, "You said there are still more than a thousand corpses there. I want to see them with my own eyes."

Zhao Wu immediately spoke.

"My lord, Falling Goose Valley is not close to Black Stone Fortress. What if Xu Qingshan sets up an ambush along the way..."

Xu Qingshan couldn't help but laugh.

"Commander Zhao, if I really wanted to kill you, would I have needed to come all the way to Luoyan Valley?"

Zhao Wu clenched his fist.

Tang Su said calmly, "Send fifty cavalrymen from outside the city to accompany us."

"This subordinate obeys."

An hour later, the group left Blackrock Fortress.

Xu Qingshan accompanied Xiao Hongluan, Aman, and ten Zhenbei cavalrymen.

Tang Su led twenty personal guards, and Zhao Wu transferred fifty Yunzhou cavalrymen from outside the city.

Most of the snow on the official road has melted.

The closer you get to Luoyan Valley, the stronger the stench of blood becomes in the air.

Many of the warhorses in Yunzhou began to snort restlessly.

After entering the valley, the doubt on Zhao Wu's face gradually disappeared.

Corpses, corpses everywhere.