Hot flashes

Spring comes late to Cangyun Ridge. The snow has not yet melted and the cold wind is still biting, but the flow of the spring on the ridge is obviously more abundant, bringing a bit of vitality.

However, this glimmer of life could not dispel the increasingly heavy gloom in the camp.

More than a month has passed since Wang Hui brought back the blood-stained fragments of the accounts and the chilling truth.

Huo Yi seemed to have aged ten years overnight. Although his straight back was not bent, his eyes were filled with a layer of unyielding ashes.

The imperial "supplies" continued to arrive sporadically, in small quantities and of poor quality, and the officials who delivered them became more and more perfunctory, as if they were just going through the motions.

Meanwhile, rumors spread more and more within Ningwu Pass about the military supervisor and his cronies reselling military funds, falsifying troop numbers, and withholding rations and pay. Several low-ranking officers were even imprisoned for "slandering their superiors."

The information brought back by Huo Yi's secret investigators pieced together a shocking picture: at least 40% of the funds and provisions allocated by the court for the northern expedition had "disappeared" before leaving Nanjing, and 20% were "lost" during transit, leaving only a significantly reduced amount that actually reached Ningwu Pass.

Meanwhile, within Ningwu Pass, the military supervisors manipulated the system, either embezzling or secretly selling supplies that should have been provided to the frontline army, and possibly even... diverting them to border caravans that had close ties with Xiao Jue.

"They're profiting from the war!" Wang Hui's voice was hoarse and broken from his injuries and anger. "They're using our brothers' blood to stain their ledgers! General, for whom are we fighting this war?!"

The few remaining high-ranking generals inside the tent remained silent, their faces ashen. Despair and anger, like poisonous vines, coiled around their hearts.

Huo Yi sat idly behind the simple desk, his fingers tracing the stone that had once been used as a slab for writing memorials.

"For whom are we fighting?" Huo Yi slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. "For the country and the people behind us."

His voice was not loud, but it carried a kind of resolute determination that burst forth from a desperate situation, a determination that was like destroying everything in the process: "Xiao Ni wants to bring chaos to the world, and his ambition is not small."

Even if the court has betrayed us, we cannot stand idly by and watch our country crumble and a foreign ruler seize power!

"Issue the order," Huo Yi stood up, his figure still as steady as a mountain, "gather all remaining provisions and allocate them uniformly. Starting today, reduce rations by another 30%, prioritizing those soldiers who can still fight."

Seriously wounded soldiers... should be housed in the caves at the rear if possible. Inventory all arrows and weapons; repair what can be repaired, and melt down and recast the spearheads and arrowheads of what cannot be repaired.

Cangyun Ridge will be our last stand. We will either defeat Xiao Ni here, or... we will use our lives as a boundary, sacrificing ourselves for our righteous cause!

There were no grand pronouncements, only a quiet resolve to face death. The generals, their blood boiling, clasped their hands in unison: "We are willing to fight to the death with our General!"

However, determination alone cannot bridge the enormous gap in strength.

Huo Yi's army, after suffering losses from winter, disease, small-scale battles, and most fatally, the disruption of logistics, had reduced its fighting force to less than five thousand.

Of these five thousand men, a considerable number suffered from frostbite or disease and were physically weak. They had less than a thousand quiver of arrows, their armor was severely damaged, and their warhorses were almost entirely lost.

In contrast, Xiao Jue's troops, after a winter of rest, replenishment, and training, have recovered to and exceeded pre-war levels. They have ample supplies, excellent equipment, and high morale.

---

At Eagle Beak Cliff Camp, the signs of spring were not obvious, but the atmosphere inside the camp was completely different.

The battle cries on the drill ground were deafening. The new recruits had already shown some fighting ability. They were mixed with veterans for training, their formations were strict, and they exuded a murderous aura.

Inside the central command tent, Xiao Jue was listening to a summary of Huo Yijun's latest situation.

"...There are about 4,700 men capable of fighting, but their morale is low, though their will to die is evident. Arrows are scarce, armor is incomplete, and the grain reserves are estimated to last only half a month, mostly low-quality coarse rice," the intelligence officer reported carefully.

"In the direction of Ningwu Pass?"

"The military supervisors' faction suppressed dissidents, causing widespread resentment within the pass, but there were no signs of a mutiny for the time being."

The latest batch of "supplies" was sent out three days ago, but the quantity was only 30% of the declared amount, and most of it was old grain.

The escorting officers complained that most of the silver allocated by the Ministry of Revenue in the Southern Capital had been deducted for "fire loss" and "discounting."

Xiao Jue listened expressionlessly, his fingertips lightly tapping the table. Everything was as expected, even faster than anticipated.

Huo Yi, this fierce tiger, is being slowly drained of his blood and dulled in the system he serves from within.

"Order all units to launch a full-scale attack three days from now, at dawn, according to the 'Tiger Hunt' plan."

Xiao Jue's voice was as cold as a knife. "The First Army will attack the eastern ridge, the Second Army will accompany the attack on the frontal pass, and the elite Third Army will climb the western cliff 'Ghost's Sorrow' at night. We must seize the western high ground before the general offensive begins."

The Fourth Army's cavalry will patrol the outer perimeter, intercepting any enemy attempts to break through. The objective in this battle is not complete annihilation, but rather to cripple their main force and capture Cangyun Ridge!

"Yes!" The general inside the tent responded with a resounding roar, his fighting spirit surging.

Zhou Heng stood aside, listening to the battle plan, his feelings complicated.

He knew this was war, a life-or-death struggle, but the thought of Huo Yi and his soldiers, who were perhaps just following orders but ended up like this, still made him feel depressed.

After everyone left to carry out their orders, only Xiao Jue and Zhou Heng remained in the tent.

"Do you think Huo Yi will surrender?" Zhou Heng suddenly asked.

Xiao Jue walked to the window, gazing at the blurry outline of Cangyun Ridge in the distance, and remained silent for a moment.

"He won't. He and my father are the same kind of people; some things are more important than life itself."

"Persuading him to surrender is the last respect I can show him, and also... to give myself an explanation." He turned to look at Zhou Heng, "But there is no mercy on the battlefield. Since he has chosen to fight to the end, I will respect his dignity as a soldier."

Zhou Heng remained silent. He could understand Xiao Jue's inner conflict. There might be complex feelings for Huo Yi stemming from his father, and respect for his opponent, but more importantly, there was a cold-blooded consideration based on the reality of pursuing hegemony.

The best course of action is to persuade them to surrender; if they refuse, they must be destroyed to prevent future troubles.

Three days later, in the darkest hour before dawn, the first wave of attacks erupted suddenly and without warning on the eastern ridge of Cangyun Ridge.

A dense, precise barrage of crossbow bolts, mixed with rockets, rained down on Huo Yijun's relatively weakly defended eastern camp.

The terrain there was relatively gentle, which was one of the directions Huo Yi judged Xiao Jue might attack, but the forces there were limited.

Almost simultaneously, the sound of drums thundered and torches flew like dragons at the main pass, as the Second Army adopted a posture of strong attack, attracting the attention of the main defending force.

The real killer move is on the west side.

Five hundred elite soldiers of the Third Army, carrying hooks and short blades on their backs and gags in their mouths, silently climbed the hundred-zhang cliff known as "Ghost's Sorrow" like geckos, led by guides familiar with the mountain terrain.

Huo Yi had set up a sentry post here, but the number of soldiers was very small, and the tension and fatigue of the past few days had made the sentries react a beat slower.

A fierce close-quarters battle unfolded on the edge of the cliff. At the cost of dozens of casualties, the Third Army successfully seized a key high ground on the west side, opening a gap to the core area of ​​the ridge!