Post-War Summary, Analyzing the Reasons for Victory

Dawn was just beginning to break. The campfire at the center of the camp had dwindled to nothing but blackened remains, wisps of blue smoke drifting through the cold air. Chen Wuya still stood atop the remnants of the raised platform, the Armor-Piercing Awl slanted into the ground at his side. The bloodstains on his coarse clothes had dried a dark brown. His shoulder and arm trembled faintly, yet he did not sit.

He raised a hand and lightly tapped the ground three times. The sound was soft, yet it silenced the generals talking around him.

"Report the casualties," he said, his voice hoarse but clear.

A captain stepped forward and cupped his fist. "Thirty-seven dead, forty-nine severely wounded, and over a hundred lightly wounded. Most of them fell along the first two lines of defense on the northern slope."

Another took over. "The captured weapons are all accounted for: eighty-three curved sabers, forty-seven spears, and five jars of fire oil that were not detonated. Seventeen prisoners, all rank-and-file soldiers. None held command positions."

Chen Wuya nodded, his gaze sweeping over their faces. These generals included swordsmen from Greenwood, veterans of the border army, and representatives nominated by martial sects. Exhaustion from last night's slaughter still lingered on their faces, but there was now a greater measure of conviction in their eyes.

"We won," he said. "But not because of our numbers, nor because of our weapons."

Someone frowned and muttered under his breath, "Then what did we rely on? That... 'Staggered Formation'?"

Bai Zhi stood half a step behind Chen Wuya's left side, leaning against a chevaux-de-frise to regulate her breathing. Hearing that, she slowly raised her head. "What you saw last night was the enemy throwing their own ranks into disarray."

"But without that dagger of yours cutting