The merciful cannot command armies

The zombie placed the wooden box in front of Xu Qi'an and turned to leave.

"Crack!"

Xu Qi'an placed his fingertips on the brass lock, using his internal energy instead of a key to make the bolt spring open.

The moment the wooden box was opened, he smelled the scent of preservative and insect repellent powder; inside the box was a roll of animal hide.

If it weren't for the deliberate use of animal hide as the material, this map would definitely be over two thousand years old. In the era of Confucianism, books were written on bamboo slips, while animal hide was even older than bamboo slips. Xu Qi'an thought to himself as he unrolled half of the animal hide.

Only when unfolded can one see that this map was torn in the middle, and is the left half of a complete map.

The map was drawn in a strange way, covered with distorted, irregular lines, somewhat similar to the map in Xu Qi'an's previous life.

There is no font other than lines.

I remember when I was in school, the topographic maps were also made up of these messy lines. Xu Qi'an looked at You Shi and said:

Has this image been deciphered?

This map is certainly not the same as the topographical map from my previous life.

Yu Shi shook his head:

"My father studied it and believed that the lines in the diagram symbolized the mountains and ley lines of the earth, which only Warlock could understand. Even for Warlock, finding the corresponding area in the Nine Provinces was like finding a needle in a haystack."

It was precisely because they were so hard to find that he readily traded them to Xu Qi'an.

Since it will most likely remain sealed away forever if left in the Corpse Gu Tribe, it's better to use it to exchange for that ancient corpse to be preserved in the tribe for a few days.

Thinking of that near-perfect corpse, You Shi's heart raced and his blood boiled.

Xu Qi'an's ears twitched as he heard the woman's moans from deep within the courtyard suddenly become much louder and more intense.

He didn't take it to heart, and immediately took the coffin out of the fragments of the Earth Book, then carefully put away the wooden box containing half a scroll of map.

"By the way, let me give you a piece of advice: don't do anything strange about it, lest you get entangled in karma. Although I think the karma on it has been completely eliminated."

Xu Qi'an reminded him with a smile.

"You Shi" glanced at him with his white eyes and said:

"In our Corpse Gu tribe, there is an old saying: 'Those who cannot control their desires will not achieve anything.'"

"Anyone with the potential to reach the fourth rank can resist the temptation of their natal Gu. Although our clan does not prohibit such matters, those who transgress with corpses are nothing but worthless dogs."

Xu Qi'an's face slowly stiffened.

"You Shi" didn't notice his unusual expression, completely absorbed in admiring the ancient corpse, and waved his hand:

"Let's go, don't bother me."

Xu Qi'an returned to the Li Gu tribe. The sun was high in the sky, and it was 3:45 AM. He first went back to his room to see Luo Yuheng.

The Imperial Preceptor sat cross-legged, practicing her breathing exercises. When she saw him enter, she opened her beautiful eyes and smiled sweetly, like a stunningly beautiful woman smiling amidst flowers in springtime.

Oh, Xiao Xi. Xu Qi'an breathed a sigh of relief. Like Xiao Ai, Xiao Xi had a positive personality, always with a happy expression and no negative emotions. She was also willing to go along with his wishes during dual cultivation.

"Southern Frontier is wonderful; the climate is warm, the birds sing, and the flowers are fragrant. I am very happy."

Luo Yuheng said with a smile.

"There are so many mosquitoes. Last night I helped the Imperial Advisor swat them, and my buttocks are all red from swatting them."

Xu Qi'an smiled.

Luo Yuheng glared at him, a hint of shyness in her eyes, but no anger; her face remained lighthearted.

Switching to the "Angry" personality, one sword strike would send me to heaven. Xu Qi'an then looked at Xu Lingyin, who was fast asleep on the bed, and asked:

"Why is Lingyin sleeping here?"

Luo Yuheng said helplessly:

"Not long after you left, she ran in, saying she suspected Master Lina wanted to eat her, and came to find you in fear, but you weren't there."

Xu Qi'an pondered for a moment and asked, "Did you notice bite marks on your wrist?"

Luo Yuheng nodded.

After Lingyin's promotion, her appetite increased significantly. When she returns to the capital, her aunt will cry. Xu Qi'an didn't know how to comment, so he could only pray for his aunt in his heart.

On the third day, the warriors of the Heart Gu Division, Corpse Gu Division, Strength Gu Division, and Dark Gu Division had all assembled.

Among them, there are 500 flying beast soldiers from the Heart Gu Division, 400 warriors from the Strength Gu Division, 600 skilled corpse controllers from the Corpse Gu Division, and 800 elites from the Shadow Division, totaling 2,300 Gu clan members, plus 1,000 extremely powerful walking corpse puppets.

The large group of more than 3,000 people left the Southern Frontier and headed towards Qingzhou.

It's worth mentioning that Lina's older brother, Mosang, was also in the Li Gu tribe's expeditionary force.

Lina herself planned to consolidate her power Gu and, after absorbing the power of the Gu God's Qi and Blood and qi, head north to Qingzhou to participate in the war and hone her Gu Dao skills.

The Li Gu tribe felt both happy and worried about the departure of their four hundred elite troops. They were happy because the provisions for these men would now be provided to the Great Feng. The elders secretly gave instructions to the young men going on the expedition:

"Eat as much as you want, eat the granaries of the Central Plains into poverty."

The concern is that after this group left, there will be a shortage of hunters. The elderly who used to just farm or not work at all will now have to roll up their sleeves and go hunting in the mountains.

Late at night!

Inside a military tent ten miles outside Songshan County, Zhuo Haoran sat at a conference table with a copper basin in front of him containing a freshly roasted leg of lamb.

He held a leg of lamb in his left hand, tearing at it forcefully, while the long knife beside him was stained with blood.

On either side of the conference table sat the silent generals.

A major battle had just ended, with Zhuo Haoran's Yunzhou army repelling the Great Feng garrison that had launched a night-long attack. Such attacks had occurred frequently in the past few days.

The generals glanced furtively at Zhuo Haoran, but dared not speak. The atmosphere in the tent was tense, broken only by the sound of Zhuo Haoran tearing into a lamb leg.

The five-day deadline has long passed, and Songshan County has still not been captured.

Not only did they fail to capture it, but the Yunzhou army also suffered heavy losses.

Zhuo Haoran was a fierce general with exceptional personal combat skills and outstanding leadership abilities. His strategy for capturing Songshan County was to organize refugee soldiers to deplete the enemy's artillery shells, crossbow bolts, and arrows for the first three days.

And defensive equipment such as logs and oil.

During this period, skilled individuals were sent to infiltrate among the refugees, waiting for an opportunity to scale the city walls and sabotage the cannons and ballistae.

This tactic proved remarkably effective.

On the third day of the siege, the defending army had only two cannons and one ballista left, which was not enough to gain a significant advantage. They could only fight against the attacking Yunzhou army with logs, oil, and archers.

Upon seeing this, Zhuo Haoran immediately dispatched his elite infantry, who had been lying in wait for three days, to attack the city.

However, just as the elite infantry of the Yunzhou army charged into the range of the cannons, the city walls suddenly erupted in a barrage of cannon fire and the clatter of bowstrings. The fierce barrage stunned the elite infantry.

After failing to capture the city, they abandoned seven or eight hundred men and hastily retreated.

Xu Xinnian still had a batch of cannons and ballistae, but he refrained from using them for the first three days, even though the defending army suffered heavy casualties in the process.

Judging solely from the saying "a kind heart cannot command an army," Zhuo Haoran had to admit that the guy was a qualified commander.

As the general once said, the essence of war is to achieve victory at all costs.

Unable to break through head-on, Zhuo Haoran secretly divided his forces, sending elite soldiers to launch an attack from the dangerous southern peaks under cover of night. However, they stumbled upon animal traps scattered all over the mountains and deep pits with sharp wooden stakes stuck in them.

Aside from skilled fighters who managed to break through, the soldiers suffered heavy losses.

Zhuo Haoran was concerned that Songshan County had not seen rain for more than half a month, and the mountains were dry. He worried that Xu Xinnian might set fire to the mountains, so he abandoned his plan to bypass the dangerous peaks and launch a surprise attack on the defending army.

On the fourth night, drums suddenly sounded from the city walls, followed by the loud clatter of horses' hooves.

Exhausted from their daytime siege, the Yunzhou army, fearing an enemy attack, led their troops to meet them, only to discover it was a feint by the enemy and no real attack.

After several such attacks, the Yunzhou army was exhausted.

At dawn, the drums sounded again from the city walls, but the Yunzhou rebels paid no attention, only symbolically sending scouts and a small number of men out of the camp to check the situation.

As a result, they encountered a charge of a thousand light cavalry, and the Yunzhou army suffered more than two thousand casualties.

One-third of the six thousand elite troops were lost.

On the fifth day, Zhuo Haoran disregarded the losses and launched a forced attack on the city, but was defeated and returned in disarray, with both sides suffering heavy losses.

But at night, the defending army used the same trick again, causing great disturbance to the Yunzhou army.

It has been seven days now. The refugee organization's four thousand men have been almost completely wiped out, and of Zhuo Haoran's six thousand elite troops, only three thousand remain.

The defending army still had nearly two thousand men.

Based on the current numbers on both sides, it seems unlikely that Songshan County can be captured.

Zhuo Haoran swallowed the last bite of meat, coldly sweeping his gaze over the assembled generals, and said:

"Let the soldiers get a good night's sleep; there will be no more attacks tonight."

"Having slept enough, dawn breaks through the city!"

His expression was calm and composed, and he spoke with complete confidence, as if dawn would surely break through the city.

Miao Youfang and Zhu Jun led five hundred cavalrymen through the city gate and returned to their main camp.

"General Zhu, Erlang has cooked a beef on the city wall. Shall we go up and have a few drinks?"

Miao Youfang extended a warm invitation.

Zhu Jun was a thin, middle-aged man, taciturn, the only fourth-rank official in Songshan County, responsible for guarding the north gate.

It was because of his presence that Xu Erlang dared to send cavalry to attack the enemy camp; otherwise, they would have been sent to their deaths.

He shook his head and said calmly:

"Have Lord Xu escort us to the north gate; we can just have a drink."

Having said that, he led his men and galloped away on horseback.

"Boring!"

Miao Youfang shook his head, dismounted, and climbed the steps to the top of the city wall.

Iron pots were set up on the horse path, and soldiers were sitting around them eating meat.

Their faces beamed with happiness as they ate the meat with gusto and great enthusiasm.

Looking at the excited faces of his soldiers, Miao Youfang recalled his conversation with Xu Erlang during the day.

Xu Erlang forcibly requisitioned the cattle, dogs, chickens, and ducks of the county's people to reward the soldiers defending the city, compensating them with a small amount of rice.

Miao Youfang initially felt something was amiss, thinking to himself, "Isn't this a disguised form of plundering the people's property?"

But Xu Erlang told him that during times of war, the interests of soldiers must always come first, and the interests of the people second. The soldiers had been fighting bloody battles for days and were exhausted. Eating meat could boost their morale.

As for the common people, if they cannot defend the city, their fate will be even more tragic.

Miao Youfang now realizes that what he said makes sense.

He walked straight into the barbican and saw Xu Erlang bent over his desk, examining a map, frowning and silent.

"Erlang, according to you, they should withdraw their troops tomorrow."

"That would be true if there were no reinforcements."

Xu Erlang looked up:

"But I believe that reinforcements from the Yunzhou rebels are on their way."

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