A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Li Erlong lifted the tent flap after reporting the news and strode into the tent.

"Sir, the battle results and casualty statistics for today are in!"

Li Erlong's face was filled with undisguised excitement. Today they had achieved an unprecedented victory, enough for him to boast about for the rest of his life.

Zhao Daxuan stood up, took a step forward, and asked with a hint of concern in his eyes, "Tell me first, what about the casualties?"

"Sir, sixty people were lightly injured, one was seriously injured, and there were no deaths!"

"Those with minor injuries are all in good health and still have the ability to fight!"

"One person was seriously injured due to an accidental laceration of a blood vessel, resulting in excessive blood loss. The bleeding has been stopped with medication, and their life is not in danger!"

Zhao Daxuan nodded. It was similar to what he had observed; the one who was seriously injured was mainly due to bad luck.

Li Erlong grinned, his face beaming with delight, and chuckled, "My lord, not only did we pay a minimal price, but we also achieved remarkable success!"

"In this operation, nearly five hundred enemy soldiers were killed and five were captured; not a single one escaped!"

"In addition, nearly three hundred undamaged warhorses and over five hundred sets of weapons and equipment were captured!"

"A victory against overwhelming odds, a perfect battle, my lord!"

Zhao Daxuan smiled slightly, not too surprised; it was all within his expectations.

"Excellent! Properly process the spoils of war, tally the battle achievements, and then distribute rewards accordingly!"

Zhao Daxuan then adopted a serious expression and asked, "Were the prisoners interrogated? Did you get any useful information?"

Upon hearing this, Li Erlong's expression turned solemn. He nodded and replied in a deep voice, "Reporting back to Your Excellency, the interrogation has been completed, and there is both good and bad news!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Daxuan's expression turned serious. "Then tell me the good news first, so I can be happy."

Li Erlong nodded, a hint of schadenfreude on his face.

"The good news is that internal strife has broken out among the Tartars! This autumn, the Tartar Khan suddenly died before he could pass on the throne, and as a result, his two brothers simultaneously declared themselves Khans!"

"After months of infighting, Möngke finally emerged victorious, but now, many tribes on the Tartar side are unwilling to recognize his Khanate!"

"Now their internal morale is low, there are many contradictions, and their overall national strength has greatly decreased! Hahahaha..."

As Li Erlong spoke, he couldn't help but grin and burst into laughter.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Daxuan's eyes lit up, and he smiled and said, "That's excellent. The Tartars have always been a major threat to the Great Xia Kingdom. Now that the Great Xia Kingdom is in decline, it is indeed rare that the enemy country is also experiencing internal strife."

As the border guard, he was naturally pleased to see the enemy's strength diminished.

Although he himself doesn't care, it's a good thing for his family and friends to live in a stable environment.

"Then what bad news are you talking about? What other bad news can compare to this good news?" Zhao Daxuan asked with a puzzled look after laughing.

Upon hearing the bad news, Li Erlong's expression changed, and he looked at Zhao Daxuan with a grim face.

"That new Tartar Khan, Möngke, has gone mad for some reason and decided to mobilize all the Tartar tribes to launch an attack on the Great Xia Kingdom!"

"We have already mobilized more than a dozen tribes, forming 30,000 cavalry, who have set off south. These 500 cavalrymen today are merely the vanguard!"

Before Li Erlong could finish speaking, Zhao Daxuan frowned. This bad news was unexpected, but also reasonable.

Zhao Daxuan sneered, "That Tartar Möngke isn't crazy; he's just trying to divert attention from internal conflicts, win over the people, and establish his own authority!"

"This is a win-win-win situation, I would do it too!"

Zhao Daxuan paused, then asked, "Have you confirmed the true strength of these 30,000 cavalry? When exactly will they arrive?"

Li Erlong shook his head. "They don't know either. It's said that they were sent here as a vanguard to scout out the situation before the main force had even assembled."

"As for when they'll arrive, according to their schedule, they should arrive in three days!"

At this point, Li Erlong looked at Zhao Daxuan with a solemn expression.

"My lord, an army of 30,000, even if reduced by half, still numbers 15,000! We are no match for a mere hundred men. We must retreat immediately!"

Zhao Daxuan nodded in agreement, even though his hundred swordsmen and shieldmen could easily take on five opponents each with his skills.

However, he was not confident that they could take on 150 or even 300 opponents at once!

"For the sake of our brothers' lives and property, regardless of the accuracy of the information, we should definitely evacuate."

"However, when to withdraw and how to withdraw are still questions. Let me think about it."

Zhao Daxuan paced back and forth in the tent, his brows furrowed, stroking the stubble on his chin, deep in thought.

Suddenly, a soldier announced from outside the tent, "Sir, Village Chief Qin from Wangbei Village requests an audience!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Daxuan looked up at the outside of the tent and smiled slightly, "Let him in. He's come at just the right time."

As soon as he finished speaking, the tent flap was opened, and Qin Lide's hunched body darted in and rushed to Zhao Daxuan's side, looking nothing like an old man with half his body buried in the ground.

Qin Lide gave a thumbs-up and looked at Zhao Daxuan respectfully, "Sir, excellent skills!"

"I heard shouts of battle coming from here, and I was afraid that coming over would delay your battle, so I waited until the sounds had stopped for a while before sneaking over."

"Upon arriving, we saw corpses everywhere; they were actually Tartars!"

"Ten years! Ten years! This old man has never seen anyone in Wangbei Village kill so many Tartars at once!!"

As Qin Lide spoke, he became increasingly emotional, gesturing wildly with his hands and feet, but his voice gradually choked up.

Infected by his emotions, Zhao Daxuan's somewhat heavy heart relaxed considerably, and he grinned.

"Village Chief Qin, please don't get agitated. There's something else I want to tell you."

Upon hearing this, Qin Lide slowly put away his smile and looked at Zhao Daxuan with a puzzled expression.

"Lord Zhao, please speak plainly."

Zhao Daxuan nodded, his face regaining its seriousness.

"We just wiped out three hundred of Dazi's vanguard, and deliberately left a few prisoners behind. After some interrogation, we received some bad news."

"The Tartars are preparing a major military campaign to march south and attack our Great Xia border this year. They have already assembled 30,000 cavalry and are heading towards the border. They are expected to arrive here in three days!"

"Village Chief Qin, quickly organize the villagers of Wangbei Village to evacuate from this place to avoid being slaughtered!"

Qin Lide first showed a surprised expression, looked at Zhao Daxuan, and then looked at Li Erlong beside him to confirm that he was not joking, but after taking a deep breath, he calmed down again.

Qin Lide gave a helpless bitter laugh. "In that case, Lord Zhao, you should quickly take your men and leave this place. Thirty thousand troops are far beyond what your hundred men can withstand."

"The three hundred people in our Wangbei Village are all elderly, weak, sick, or disabled. Let them die if they want; we can't leave. Please don't make things difficult for us!"

Zhao Daxuan frowned and looked at Qin Lide seriously. "Village Chief Qin, I know you told me why you are unwilling to leave this place."

"Village Chief Qin, I can assure you that in the near future, I will bring the villagers of Wangbei Village back to their homeland!"

"But please cherish your lives now. You wouldn't want to one day reclaim our lost territory of Beiting, only to find that you haven't had the chance to see it, would you?"

Upon hearing this, Yelü De first showed a hint of excitement, but then a bitter smile appeared on his lips as he slowly shook his head.

"How easy is it to recover lost territory? The old man has given up hope; perhaps dying here would be a relief."

Seeing Qin Lide's pained expression, Zhao Daxuan sighed softly, pulled Qin Lide out of the tent, and pointed to the wreckage scattered in front of him.

"Village Chief Qin, look at all this! I believe these corpses scattered here are enough to prove the weight of my words! I, Zhao, always keep my promises; you can simply trust me!"

Qin Lide opened his mouth upon hearing this, looked at Zhao Daxuan's serious expression, then turned to look at the corpses on the ground. After a moment of silence, he finally nodded and spoke.

"Okay! I believe you! I'll go back right now and persuade the villagers to evacuate Wangbei Village!"

He paused, then continued, "But we old, weak, sick, and disabled people are afraid that we will fall victim to the Tartars before we even reach the rear of Zhenbei City."

Zhao Daxuan grinned upon hearing this, "It's alright. We don't have much of anything right now, except for warhorses. Providing some for your evacuation shouldn't be a problem."

"I will also arrange for the main force to evacuate with you. With them protecting you, a safe evacuation will not be a problem."

Qin Yide keenly sensed the implied meaning in Zhao Daxuan's words and asked疑惑地问道, "What do you mean, Lord Zhao? Aren't you going to evacuate with us?"

Zhao Daxuan nodded upon hearing this, his face serious.

"That's right, I'm not evacuating with you."