Start with a red name

The red sun gradually rose higher, slowly moving away from the cool, dark blue sea.

Just as it was about to reach its zenith, a sound like muffled thunder, accompanied by a wave-like vibration, rushed rapidly from the north of Youzhou.

Raise your gaze slightly and look into the distance, and you'll see a massive cavalry force, like a torrent, coming from the north.

On one side is the cold and clear Xuanqing Sea. The waters that stretch for more than 300 miles are the eastern shore of Xuanqing Sea, where Dong Guan and his troops are stationed.

On the other side lies the vast and boundless wilderness of Youzhou.

Upon receiving the message, the elite cavalry force rushed to the scene at top speed, but they all stopped in their tracks the moment they saw the military camp in the distance.

All eyes were focused on a desolate wasteland ahead.

This messy land, as if trampled by countless iron hooves, has solidified into a dark, almost blackish red.

The thick stench of blood lingered long after this desolate wasteland had settled in.

Although no complete corpse could be seen, some fragments of limbs and flesh were mixed with congealed blood.

Dozens of scavenging vultures circled in the sky.

On the wasteland, there were also twenty or thirty sand wolves greedily searching for edible "snacks" in the congealed bloodstains.

The figure on horseback stared at the "blood plain" for a while, then shifted his gaze to a very conspicuous, high mound next to it.

At the top of the mound, a huge and conspicuous wooden board was stuck in the ground, resembling a simple tombstone.

The words on this simple tombstone were all written in blood, stroke by stroke.

Because of the distance, it was not very clear.

The figure on horseback squinted at the words but couldn't make them out, so he spurred his horse closer.

The riders following him naturally moved forward as well.

Then, just as he saw the blood-written words on the wooden board and his brows furrowed deeply, gasps of cold air rose from his side.

[The burial site of 35,867 lives]

After a series of hissing sounds as if they were clicking their teeth, all eyes turned to the leading cavalry general.

They all seemed to be waiting for his orders and following his lead.

After a moment of silence, the cavalry general said to the rider beside him:

"Go, take some men and see what's going on in the military camp."

The man immediately responded and led over a hundred riders to rush towards the military camp several miles away.

Soon, all of the hundred or so figures rushed into the military camp and quickly dispersed to various places.

At the same time, several hundred more riders received orders and quickly dispersed into the depths of the wilderness, to the west of the military camp.

Before long, the hundred or so riders who had entered the camp regrouped in front of the camp gate and galloped straight toward them.

The man who received the order rode up to him, bowed respectfully, and solemnly reported:
"The general's camp is now empty."

Men, horses, carts, provisions, equipment… everything except this tent has been completely looted!

The rider on horseback had a cold and stern expression. He neither responded nor replied, but simply listened silently.

A moment later, the riders who had scattered into the depths of the wilderness returned one after another.

"General, we have discovered traces of a large number of people traveling west."

The tracks were very clear, with absolutely no attempt to conceal them... This is very likely the direction the enemy troops fled in.

The mounted general, upon hearing this, showed no surprise or astonishment. After a moment's thought, he asked:

Can you tell the size?

The person who reported this looked troubled, and after a moment, he hesitated before saying:

"Based on the size and range of the kick marks, I guess that there are more than 30,000 Xuanyou horses and no less than 60,000 Canglan horses."

There were also at least a thousand large wagons used for transporting supplies.

He paused for a moment, then added, "...This is also a judgment I made based on experience, and there may be a large margin of error."

As the cavalry general pondered this, a rider beside him suddenly whispered a reminder: "General, a ship is approaching from the sea."

Upon hearing this, the cavalry general abruptly turned his head to look to the left.

Then they saw two small boats skimming the surface of the water, speeding towards their location from the depths of the Xuanqing Sea.

As the two small boats drew closer, they could see them more and more clearly.

There were only four figures on each small boat.

Each person held a wide and long paddle.

With each person's rhythmic, rapid gliding, the oars acted like peculiar wings, propelling the small boat gliding close to the water like an arrow released from a bow.

In the blink of an eye, the two small boats arrived at the shore.

The speed did not decrease at all. The two small boats, propelled by the inertia of their high speed, rushed directly onto the shore, gliding along the ground for dozens of meters before coming to a stop.

Before the two small boats stopped, all eight people on board had already jumped out and landed steadily on the ground.

One of them, from a distance, cupped his hands to the cavalry general and said, "This humble servant greets General Tian."

The cavalryman looked at him, asking in confusion, "Who are you?"

“Young Luo Ang, Luo Zheng is my uncle.”

The cavalry general, whom this man called "General Tian," raised an eyebrow. He was unfamiliar with the young man in front of him, but he knew Luo Zheng very well.

He was also one of Dong Guan's confidants and quite capable. What was even more remarkable was that he was one of the few high-ranking generals in Xuanyou Province who was quite familiar with naval warfare.

For this reason, the important task of commanding the naval assault was handed over to Luo Zheng by Dong Guan.

The cavalry general looked at the man before him, his gaze softening considerably, and asked, "Did you wait for me here on purpose?"

"Yes, my uncle specifically arranged for me to wait for the general here."

At this point, he added, "My uncle also arranged for a fast boat to go north to your military camp to deliver the message. Fearing that he might miss it, he left me here specifically to wait for you to come."

The cavalry general was slightly taken aback, then asked seriously, "Does he have something to say to me?"

"Yes."

Luo Ang responded and quickly recounted how they had witnessed the "steel hurricane" rapidly engulfing the 20,000 cavalry and 20,000 guards in the military camp.

Because the memory was so vivid, Luo Ang's face still showed fear as he recounted it.

At the same time, Roon also gave a brief account of the various naval battles, especially the losses suffered by his side.

After he finished speaking, he quickly added:
"...My uncle left me here to remind the general."

This gang of thieves is far more powerful than we anticipated. Whatever your next move, General, please be extremely careful!

He paused here, then said softly:
"Including the more than 40,000 lost in this military camp, we have lost more than 100,000 men at the hands of these stubborn bandits!"

This has become a major concern for us, and we must exercise utmost caution in all our actions.”

"It's better to be conservative than to lose any of our troops!" The cavalry general understood, nodded slightly, and then asked:

"Where is your uncle? Where is he now?"

"He took the thousands of captured ships and headed to the east bank. He wanted to inform the emperor of the dramatic changes here as soon as possible, and also to ship the troops from there over there as quickly as possible," Luo Ang said softly.

The cavalry general nodded slightly again, feeling that Luo Zheng's arrangements were not wrong in the current situation.

This place is only 300 li away by water from the east bank where Dong Guan and others are located.

If a large number of ships are not used to pick them up, Dong Guan and his group would have to travel more than a thousand miles around the northern coast along the Xuanqing coast to get here.

Even though the Xuanyou horse is fast, it doesn't squander its horsepower like that.

Moreover, many more guards could only travel on Azure Horses, or even on their bare feet.

In large-scale battles, having only the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry without auxiliary forces will not only increase the risk of losses for the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry, but also prevent them from fully unleashing their combat power.

Therefore, in non-combat situations, sending the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry to break away from the main force and make rapid maneuvers of more than a thousand miles is an extremely risky thing to do.

Now, our own forces are suffering successive losses, with the loss of the Iron Cavalry alone exceeding 60,000.

This is an unprecedented blow since the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry became a large-scale armed force.

In this situation, all radical, adventurous, and high-risk actions should be approached with extreme caution.

Having figured all this out, the cavalry general named Tian Liang was about to make arrangements.

Just then, he suddenly paused, looked sharply at Luo Ang, and asked:

"You captured thousands of ships?"

A hint of embarrassment appeared on Luo Ang's face as he said softly:

"Although it was captured, it was actually left there intentionally by the other side after they landed."

At first, we also thought it was a trap, but when we tentatively arranged for some people to retrieve all the ships, the stubborn bandits who were still resting in the military camp simply let it go and made no move.

Tian Liang frowned deeply. It could not only kill a mosquito, but even break a steel bar.

"Didn't they realize they were aiding the enemy? Didn't they consider setting a fire after landing?"

Luo Ang shrugged innocently, indicating that he was also puzzled by this.

His uncle had some speculations about this in private, but such things were best left unsaid in private.

Saying it outright would be a bit of a slap in the face.

Up to this point, following Dong Guan's wishes, they still define this group of enemies as "thieves".

Words that boost the morale of others while diminishing their own should not come from their mouths.

After a moment of stunned silence, Tian Liang gradually came to his senses, nodded slightly, and stopped dwelling on the issue. Instead, he issued several orders in succession.

Arrange for people to turn back along the route they came from, so that the guards who were still "dawdling" behind could catch up with them as soon as possible.

At the same time, we need to arrange for some supplies from the military camp to be transported over as soon as possible.

Otherwise, all 20,000 of them, along with their 20,000 horses, would just be eating sand.

Humans can be somewhat patient, but the delicate Xuanyou horse cannot tolerate this.

Finally, he said to the man who had just returned from his scouts and reported back to him:
"You lead your men to follow the trail..."

Upon hearing this, the man's face immediately fell.

He heard everything Luo Ang said very clearly.

What's more, there are burial pits here for 30,000 to 40,000 people.

Giving him such an order at this time is tantamount to sending him to his death, isn't it?
"...You don't need to get really close to track them. Just follow them from a distance, making sure you don't lose them."

Tian Liang had no choice. If even this arrangement wasn't made, what would he say to the emperor after he met up with Dong Guan?
You can't exactly say, "I did nothing but wait for you," can you?

Hearing his explanation, the man's expression softened slightly. With a sour face, he merely gave a perfunctory bow before leading his hundred-odd riders into the depths of the wilderness.

……

Just as Tian Liang and his group arrived and saw the horrific scene left behind by the "Black Wind Army," they discussed their next course of action with fear in their hearts.

The "Black Wind Army," which had not been gone for long, was moving westward at a speed of thirty kilometers per hour in the depths of the wilderness forty or fifty miles west of this military camp, getting further and further away from Xuanqing Sea.

Such a large team, carrying a huge amount of supplies, can still maintain such speed, which must be due to some special methods.

More than half of the Xuanyou horses that Dong Guan's men cherished were used as "packing beasts".

It was their addition that freed up the massive herd of Azure Horses, allowing them to fight with ease.

In addition, Geng Xuan used his "Horse Judging Technique" at the Perfect Realm, allowing all the horses to run at their best, even at the cost of their own lives, so that they would not fall behind. This is why the "Great Migration" of the "Black Wind Army," which has exceeded 110,000 in size, has maintained such a "high speed".

Geng Xuan made the most of his short rest in the military camp.

He first recruited and converted all the prisoners.

Although the time was a bit too rushed, perhaps this fair and square battle directly shattered a certain obsession in these people's hearts that was like a steel stamp, and the efficiency of the transformation far exceeded that of the past.

Whether they were surrendered cavalry prisoners or disillusioned guards, the conversion rate was at least 80%, approaching 90%.

However, due to the intense fighting and heavy casualties, even though the conversion rate was extremely high during the recruitment phase, the situation was dire.

Ultimately, of the more than 40,000 enemy troops, only about 20,000 were converted and absorbed.

The enemy cavalry suffered over 13,700 casualties, while the guards suffered nearly 6,500 casualties.

From this perspective, with 20,000 new recruits, the "Black Wind Army" has certainly made a good profit.

However, in this battle, our own cavalry also suffered losses of nearly five thousand.

Those troops who swarmed around the iron cavalry and entangled the enemy guards suffered even more horrific losses, with more than 16,000 killed in action.

Of the more than 10,000 people who died, the vast majority were newly joined, fanatical "Celestial Followers".

With low cultivation level and filled with hatred, he would immediately rush forward without hesitation whenever he had the chance to take revenge.

Not even afraid of death.

This brought amazing results, but also caused amazing casualties on our side.

With this increase and decrease, compared to before the war, the total size of the "Black Wind Army" only increased by more than 4,500.

The total strength reached over 111,300.

However, although the increase in troop strength is not significant, a closer look at the proportions of different cultivation levels reveals the true extent of the difference.

You'll find that the proportion of people in the Skin Refining Realm has decreased significantly.

The number of people in the Blood Refining and Bone Refining realms has increased significantly.

From one perspective, this is a structural improvement brought about by the self-sacrifice of those "wolf followers".

Of course, a small portion of it is due to good fortune and blessings.

This blessing has depleted the good fortune, breaking records once again. (End of Chapter)