The more than twenty Anning Garrison soldiers also ran over with Wang Wu, standing not far away and looking at Sheng Huai'an and the others.
"During last night's camp raid, we launched our attack from the left flank. The attack didn't go very smooth. Although we successfully raided and charged into the Xiongnu grand camp, our losses weren't small."
"After charging into the enemy camp, we started setting fires everywhere and fighting the Xiongnu enemy forces. Later on, as more and more Xiongnu enemy forces arrived, we were scattered."
"By the time we escaped the enemy camp, we couldn't tell east from west anymore and just fled in whatever direction we could," Wang Wu said all in one breath.
"They were also stragglers who gathered together on the run. After dawn, we discovered that we had actually fled straight behind Xiongnu lines."
"This morning we headed in the direction of Anning Pass, preparing to return, but on the road we encountered Xiongnu cavalry. They were roaming this grassland, seemingly searching for people like us who had scattered during last night's camp raid."
"Wait, Brother Wang, you mean that on the road back, there are roaming Xiongnu cavalry blocking our way home?" Sheng Huai'an asked.
"Mn, a lot of roaming Xiongnu cavalry blocking the road back. We were spotted by the roaming Xiongnu cavalry, and they chased and hunted us down, surrounding us like we were their prey," Wang Wu nodded.
"There were originally around forty of us, but these Xiongnu cavalry treated us like beasts and prey, toying and playing with us while shooting down a dozen people."
"Those damned Xiongnu!" Tang Yunshan exclaimed with extraordinary anger upon hearing this.
Those Xiongnu cavalry actually treated them like beasts and prey to be hunted and played with for amusement.
"Among you, are there any squad leaders or platoon leaders?" Sheng Huai'an looked at the twenty-odd soldiers.
"None. Just like me, we're all plain foot soldiers," Wang Wu answered first.
Sheng Huai'an nodded without a trace. Being all foot soldiers was great.
"I suppose you are all soldiers from the Seventh Battalion who raided the camp last night. I am the Captain of the tenth platoon of the Seventh Battalion. Now, by the authority of a captain, I order you to be absorbed into the tenth platoon and come under my command," Sheng Huai'an stated, directly incorporating these twenty-odd soldiers into his troop.
Now deep behind Xiongnu enemy lines, he had to maintain troop numbers and boost combat effectiveness to have a chance of surviving against the Xiongnu enemy forces.
The twenty soldiers looked at one another, and no one stepped forward to object.
They were soldiers from different units and were now considered stragglers. Since Sheng Huai'an was a captain whose rank was higher than theirs, they had no way to resist being absorbed.
Besides, Sheng Huai'an was the one who had stepped in to save them; otherwise, they would all have perished under the Xiongnu cavalry's blades and arrows.
At the same time, Sheng Huai'an alone with a bow had forced an entire cavalry squad to flee for their lives, and such formidable might also deeply subdued them.
With the addition of these twenty-odd men, his troop's numbers increased to over seventy.
"Brother Huai'an, we can't stay here long. We must leave quickly. Those few Xiongnu cavalrymen who escaped back will definitely bring more cavalry to exterminate us," Wang Wu said.
This place was too close to the enemy camp; they had to move.
With the road back blocked, they could only head deep into the grassland now.
"Let's move. Take the supplies and warhorses, and leave this place. We're heading deep into the grassland," Sheng Huai'an decided to lead the soldiers deep into enemy territory.
The group gathered their belongings and then headed deep into the grassland.
They traveled twenty-odd kilometers deep into the grassland before stopping to rest.
"Rest for a bit first and get something to eat," Sheng Huai'an ordered.
They had managed to get quite a bit of food and water from the Xiongnu cavalry, which was just enough to fill their stomachs.
After eating their fill.
"Captain, what do we do now?" Tang Yunshan inquired.
Unable to return to Anning City, they were an isolated army out in the open. If they ran into a large Xiongnu cavalry force, the outcome went without saying.
And as for food, that was also a problem.
They had come out on a camp raid and hadn't brought any provisions with them.
"Can a living person really be suffocated to death by holding in urine? We'll take it one step at a time. Rest assured, I won't lead you to your deaths," Sheng Huai'an said.
Out here now, he was the absolute commanding officer of this military force. Although their numbers were small, his word was currently the sole military order.
This was much better than being inside the city. Inside the city, even though he was a captain, to those generals he was just a little soldier who had to listen to orders and act accordingly.
"Let's go. We mustn't linger long on this grassland, or the Xiongnu cavalry will chase after us like hyenas catching our scent," Wang Wu said.
Sheng Huai'an generally adopted the advice given by these old military veterans.
After all, this was experience. He might not understand it, but he definitely had to listen to counsel.
Having eaten and rested well, the group continued forward. Since they couldn't go back, they would just roam the grassland.
Sheng Huai'an had no desire to return and obediently guard the city. Since he had finally broken out, if he didn't stir up some trouble, wouldn't his trip have been in vain?
Twenty-one warhorses carried a portion of the wounded and supplies, while everyone else walked on foot.
After all, there weren't enough horses for everyone to ride, and Sheng Huai'an didn't want to make things overly special right now. Having just taken over as captain of this troop, he needed to build camaraderie first before he could lead this group to charge and kill the enemy.
By evening, they found a wind-sheltered earthen mound and the group rested.
Only then did Sheng Huai'an continue to view the light screen.
Name: Sheng Huai'an Race: Human Realm: Martial Practitioner Early Stage (+) Techniques: "Ferocious Ox Strength" (Minor Accomplishment) (+), "Blood Fiend Saber Technique" (Minor Accomplishment) (+) Strength: Two thousand nine hundred catties Talent: Silver Archer (+) Slaughter Value: 193
Expending twenty points of slaughter value to upgrade the archer rank had left 165 points remaining out of the original 185.
After slaying twenty-one cavalrymen, the slaughter value had grown again to 193 points, an increase of 28.
Remaining with his troop deep in enemy Xiongnu territory, he felt uneasy; he still needed to raise his strength.
Otherwise, if they encountered a powerhouse among the Xiongnu, they would all be goners.
Without a second thought, Sheng Huai'an used the one-click allocation to begin raising his cultivation realm.
This upgrade directly consumed one hundred points of slaughter value.
He had thought it would cost eighty points of slaughter value, but it seemed the price had gone up.
A massive surge of strength emerged throughout his entire body, continuously tempering, refining, and strengthening his physique.
At the same time, the Martial True Essence within his body was constantly increasing and growing stronger.
Martial cultivation focused on the body, tapping into one's own potential, and emphasized returning all mighty power to oneself.
Therefore, martial practitioners placed the utmost importance on physical constitution!
Right now, Sheng Huai'an's golden finger could be considered the Slaughter System, continuously strengthening his physique in a steady stream.
Very quickly, his cultivation realm advanced to the Martial Practitioner Mid Stage.
This speed of cultivation breakthrough made progress even more rapid than martial geniuses who had cultivated for two and a half years.
Name: Sheng Huai'an Race: Human Realm: Martial Practitioner Mid Stage Techniques: "Ferocious Ox Strength" (Minor Accomplishment), "Blood Fiend Saber Technique" (Minor Accomplishment) Strength: Three thousand four hundred catties Talent: Silver Archer (+) Slaughter Value: 93
Having consumed one hundred slaughter value to raise his cultivation realm to the Martial Practitioner Mid Stage.
With the remaining 93 points of slaughter value, the plus signs behind his techniques and saber technique had vanished; clearly, that amount of slaughter value wasn't enough if he wanted to upgrade them.
Looking at the slaughter value that burned through so quickly, Sheng Huai'an didn't know what to say. Just how many enemies would he need to slaughter to raise his cultivation realm to the Innate realm?
The mere thought of it gave him a headache!
Breaking the threshold of three thousand catties in strength, he was now about on par with powerhouses who had broken through to the Martial Master Early Stage.
With his strength enhanced, a bit more stability settled into Sheng Huai'an's heart.
For the entire day, the Xiongnu army remained weak and feeble, unable to launch any further attacks.
This brought a rare moment of peace to the defenders of Anning Pass.
After half a month of bitter city-defense warfare, even men of iron would grow tired, let alone creatures of flesh and blood.
Anning Pass enjoyed a rare day of quiet.
With no continuation of battle drums and horns blaring out the sounds of slaughter, residents with slightly bolder courage even dared to venture out and wander around the city.
Night!
The north wind howled, and Sheng Huai'an and his men did not sleep peacefully.
First, it was cold; second, they had to guard against Xiongnu cavalry tracking them down and sneaking up on them.
After dawn, Sheng Huai'an continued to lead his troop forward, this time changing directions.
After traveling a dozen or so li ahead, the soldiers sent out to scout quickly returned.
"Captain, there is a situation!"
"Up ahead is a troop of Xiongnu enemy forces numbering around five hundred. They seem to be transporting supplies to the Xiongnu grand camp in front of the pass," the two scouts reported upon their return.
"Tang Yunshan, you lead the troop and wait here. Let's go, follow me to take a look," Sheng Huai'an said.
"Understood, Captain!" Tang Yunshan took the order.
"Huai'an, I'm going with you. I used to work as a scout for a period of time!" Wang Wu spoke up.
"Alright, let's go!"
Sheng Huai'an and Wang Wu followed the two scouting soldiers back to check the specific situation.
Lying prone on the grassland, the few of them looked on from afar. A troop of Xiongnu soldiers was transporting something, and their marching speed was not fast.
"Huai'an, this is a Xiongnu supply train transporting provisions to the Xiongnu army," Wang Wu said after watching for a moment.
"What, supplies!" Sheng Huai'an's eyes lit up.
Talk about someone sending a pillow right when you feel sleepy.
Right now, what they lacked most were supplies.
Seeing the moved look in Sheng Huai'an's eyes, Wang Wu felt a sense of foreboding.
"Huai'an, you surely aren't thinking of making a move against this Xiongnu supply train, are you?"
"Why not?" Sheng Huai'an countered.
"This Xiongnu army probably has around five hundred men. Are you certain that the seventy-odd of us charging up there isn't just going to our deaths?" Wang Wu felt that Sheng Huai'an's boldness was simply too great.
"Five hundred men? Who's afraid of that damn thing, it's not a thousand. Just how strong is the highest-cultivation person in this Xiongnu troop?" Sheng Huai'an asked.
"Based on my understanding of the Xiongnu, for this kind of five hundred-man transport army, the strongest person should be a Martial Practitioner Great Perfection. I just don't know if the commander of this troop is a Martial Practitioner Great Perfection or a Martial Practitioner Late Stage," Wang Wu replied.
"Let's do it. Come on, let's head back first, run ahead of this troop, and set up traps for an ambush," Sheng Huai'an decided immediately.
Upon returning, he led his troop in a frantic dash, running ahead of the path the Xiongnu transport troop was bound to take.
"Captain, with over seventy of us facing five hundred Xiongnu, I'm afraid this won't be easy to fight," Tang Yunshan warned.
"What is there to fear? I say we can fight them, so we can fight them," Sheng Huai'an said in a resolute voice.
He was going to devour this Xiongnu supply unit today; not even the Eternal Sky Shaman God could make them stay if they came, and that was final!
"Those who can ride horses, step forward!" Sheng Huai'an commanded on the spot.
Over thirty horse-riding soldiers stepped out from the ranks, with Wang Wu, Tang Yunshan, Hai Dahe, and the others among them.
"Wang Wu, Hai Dahe, the two of you pick nineteen people to form a cavalry unit. Later on, charge from the left flank," Sheng Huai'an ordered right away.
"Archers, move out with me first later. Empty the arrows in your hands, and then charge," Sheng Huai'an began arranging the tactics.
At a distance of fifty meters on both sides of the road, Sheng Huai'an began organizing men to dig pits.
On this grassland, ambushing was difficult, so they had to create the conditions for an ambush.
They only needed to dig pits deep enough for a person to squat in, cut the turf out completely intact, and cover the top with it afterward for camouflage so that no one could tell.
Once all the preparations for the ambush were complete, they quietly awaited the arrival of the Xiongnu supply troop.
Before you continue