Elite Forces Urgently Deployed to the Frontier, Competing for Merit Amidst Chaotic Formations

The roar gradually faded into the mist.

Huyan Du braced himself against the icy rock wall, his chest heaving violently as despair and fury washed over his mind again and again like crashing tides.

He stared at the mountain path shrouded in fog ahead, his thoughts a complete mess as he muttered over and over beneath his breath.

"What should I do? What do I do now?"

Countless thoughts crazily intertwined and collided in his mind. He desperately gathered every scrap of information he knew, trying to find a way out—a way to salvage the situation.

"Should I immediately send someone to inform Lord Lufan Lie, have him hurry over with reinforcements, then lead these five thousand elite soldiers and fight the enemy to the death?"

The moment the thought surfaced, he rejected it outright.

"No, absolutely not!"

Deep down, he knew that the harassment force at the front had failed even its most basic mission. Not only had the enemy suffered no losses at all, they had even secretly split off a force.

To clash head-on now would be nothing less than seeking death.

Not only would these five thousand elites be wiped out, they would completely delay Xiongnu's great undertaking. When that happened, their crimes would only be compounded.

"I have to find a way to make up for this. I have to!"

He suddenly clutched his head, his fingertips digging deep into his hair. His brows twisted into a knot, while cold sweat streamed down his cheeks and soaked through his inner garments.

He forced himself to calm down. Experience had taught him that the more critical the moment, the less he could afford to panic.

After a brief stretch of agonized thought, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him, and a potentially useful course of action