Preparation

"You're going to send troops out of the city?"

Xu Yuan hesitated slightly upon hearing this.

"Hmm." Li Qingyan nodded.

"Isn't this too risky?" Xu Yuan hesitated and asked in a low voice, "The Barbarian Tribe camps are all located twenty miles Beifeng City."

Twenty li.

This is an experience that the Barbarian Tribe learned through bloody lessons.

The defensive equipment of Beifeng City is mostly crossbows with higher accuracy, and they also fire thick and large Source Crystal arrows.

It can hit targets more than ten miles away.

If the Barbarian Tribe camped too close, they would be sitting ducks, receiving daily "caresses" from the high ground of Beifeng City.

To this end, the Barbarian Tribe even modified their siege weapons into catapults, which had no accuracy whatsoever. But accuracy wasn't necessary, since Beifeng City was so large that as long as they could hit Beifeng City with overwhelming force, it would be fine.

However, the 20-mile distance for setting up camp also presents a problem.

For the Barbarian Tribe to attack a city, they would have to run twenty miles across the plains before they could even reach the city walls.

However, from the perspective of the barbarian Barbarian Tribe who had the advantage of timing and location, none of this mattered.

In the blizzard-stricken weather, if the Barbarian Tribe were to attack a city, they would typically sneak up to within three or four miles of Beifeng City before the high-level cultivators on the city walls could detect them.

Yesterday, the Black Scale Guard were able to achieve some success in their raid on the camp because the Barbarian Tribe side's vision was also affected by the blizzard, and their foothold was not yet firmly established, catching the enemy off guard.

Now that the blizzard has temporarily stopped, the garrison in Beifeng City can no longer obstruct their view if they want to leave the city to raid the camp. They will have to run twenty miles on foot to do so.

Li Qingyan had naturally considered this as well, and his voice remained calm:

"Your Highness, while the destruction of the sect's warehouses in the city has its advantages, it has also created a problem that urgently needs to be addressed."

"Imminent?" Xu Yuan's eyes flickered.

From a macro perspective of the entire Northern Border, sects do have drawbacks, namely, a lack of food.

Cultivating immortality is not a perpetual motion machine. Even high-level cultivators above the Fusion Realm need to breathe in Source Qi to go without eating or drinking, let alone the soldiers below them.

However, food supplies are not an urgent matter at the moment, and the city can still last for more than half a month thanks to the imperial granaries.

Li Qingyan's eyes held a hint of helplessness, as if he were looking at an idiot.

"Morale and fighting spirit."

"."

Xu Yuan paused for a moment, then shut up.

Because of his different position, there are many things he cannot consider.

He completely forgot about the morale of the troops.

In those war games from my past life, morale was crucial for the collapse of armies; the same applies to the real world.

Li Qingyan slowly walked to the sand table inside the barracks, looked at the scaled-down terrain around Beifeng City, and said in a serious, low voice:

"Although the City Protection Array Beifeng City, and the officers and captains above are keeping quiet about the true situation, only reporting good news to the soldiers and not bad, the soldiers below are not fools."

Xu Yuan sighed and replied:

"The battle hasn't even started yet, and the city gate tower was almost blown up, damaging the battle formation. Last night, the warehouses were also bombed. The soldiers below must be going crazy with discussion, right?"

Li Qingyan nodded and said:

"Even among the Feather Forest Guard under my command, many have begun to discuss the impending fall of Beifeng City, not to mention the border troops of those sects. If the Barbarian Tribe didn't only regard the people of my Great Yan as two-legged sheep, these people might already have other ulterior motives."

Xu Yuan lowered his eyes:

"You want a victory to boost morale?"

Li Qingyan at the sand table:

"It's not a matter of wanting, it's a matter of having to."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

Humans are, after all, individuals. When the minds of most people in a group begin to spiral out of control, that is the beginning of a riot.

The Barbarian Tribe did not accept surrender, and the situation of being surrounded on three sides but missing one would cause them to try every means to escape to the Houting County area.

after all,

What if he survives?

After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan tentatively asked:

"But if this mission fails, the morale of the troops in the city will be completely shattered."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingyan remained silent for a few moments, then suddenly turned and smiled. Once the decision was made, there seemed to be no trace of solemnity on her face; her armor accentuated her stunningly beautiful and exceptionally heroic features.

"My lord, now Beifeng City has no choice but to take a desperate gamble to have any chance of survival."

"."

Xu Yuan looked at Li Qingyan's smiling eyes and was speechless for a moment.

It's only a matter of time before Beifeng becomes a ghost town; this is basically an accepted fact among those in the know.

Including Xu Yuan, he had even made arrangements in advance for the fall of Beifeng.

Li Qingyan couldn't possibly be unaware of this situation, yet she still insisted on defending Beifeng City.

Letting out a breath, Xu Yuan asked seriously:

"Are you telling me all this because you want to use the Black Scale Army's beast farm in the city?"

Li Qingyan smiled slightly and shook his head:

"No, I want the Black Scale Army to hold the destroyed South City to the death. If I make any move in the east of the city, the Barbarian Tribe Alien King will definitely launch a full-scale attack on the south."

Although he didn't understand warfare, Xu Yuan instantly grasped Li Qingyan's meaning.

Going out to harass is indeed dangerous, but the South City will become even more dangerous.

As a madman, that Barbarian Tribe Alien King wouldn't let this opportunity slip by. Once he confirmed that the Yulin Army had gone to the east of the city, he might even directly deploy the war beasts.

Given this situation, she dared not entrust the defense of the South City to the sect's border troops.

It wasn't that I was worried about them betraying me and defecting to the enemy, but rather that I simply didn't trust these bastards to hold out.

Although the number was around 100,000, they were all second-line troops of the eighth or ninth rank.

This type of unit was already considered elite in Shengshan County at the time, but it was simply not up to par in the Northern Border, a place of national warfare.

Xu Yuan raised his hand and stroked the smooth edge of the mahogany table, his voice steady:

"But the Black Scale Guard only has a battalion (a little over five thousand men) right now, they might not be able to hold it."

Li Qingyan immediately replied:

"I have arranged for 30,000 sect border troops to assist in the defense."

"Won't they cause the Black Scale Army to collapse?"

"." Li Qingyan.

She wasn't sure about that either.

Xu Yuan was silent for a moment, then slowly exhaled and asked in a low voice:

"Your Highness, how long until your plan can be implemented?"

"Four-quarters of an hour."

"."

Xu Yuan frowned in thought, his fingers lightly tapping the mahogany table. A moment later, he stood up and said:

"Does your military camp have any Communication Crystal?"

Li Qingyan's eyes showed surprise, and the corners of her lips curled slightly:

"What, does your Prime Minister's Estate have a backup plan within Beifeng City?"

Xu Yuan grinned:

"Yes, but it's for me to use when I run away."

Li Qingyan gave a soft snort and called out towards the outside of the tent:

"Qi Fengjie, come in and take my personal guards to the Communication Crystal."

As soon as he finished speaking, the guard outside immediately entered the barracks, saluted, and said, "Yes."

Half an hour later,

When Xu Yuan came out of the secret room containing the Communication Crystal, he immediately saw Li Qingyan standing at the door.

She held the sword, clad in heavy armor.

What did you do?

Xu Yuan looked north and smiled slightly:

"Lou Ji left two ' Cloud Qi Bomb ' in the Houting County Houting County beforehand, and I just had one detonated there."