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

As soon as Zhao Daxuan finished speaking, Li Erlong, who was standing next to him, turned pale, took a step forward, and suddenly raised his voice.

"My lord, how can this be allowed!"

Qin Lide also frowned and began to offer his advice.

"An army of 30,000 is approaching. You cannot resist them alone. Let's go together!"

Zhao Daxuan chuckled and shook his head, saying calmly, "Of course I can't fight against an army of 30,000 alone, but this information was only obtained from prisoners."

"Whether it's true or not is still unknown! If we withdraw all of us now, we will definitely be held accountable. At best, we will be accused of dereliction of duty, and at worst, we will be accused of desertion."

"Therefore, someone must go and scout out the enemy's strength!"

"My lord, let me go!" Just as Zhao Daxuan finished speaking, Li Erlong's face tightened and his words came out rapidly.

"Our team can do without anyone, but not without you! Sir, I could have just sent men to investigate; why did you have to go yourself?!"

Zhao Daxuan pursed his lips, turned around and patted Li Erlong on the shoulder, laughing and scolding, "What's your hurry? I didn't say I was going alone. You can take four of the best horsemen with you and set off with me."

Li Erlong was taken aback upon hearing this, his tense face relaxing slightly, but he couldn't help but speak again, "My lord, let me take men...!"

Zhao Daxuan sneered, interrupting Li Erlong, "Are you a better horseman? Or a better scouting expert? Enough talk, do as I say!"

"This..." Li Erlong opened his mouth, but in the end he could only nod awkwardly and agree.

"Village Chief Qin, I've seen the autumn harvest underway these past few days. I wonder how it's progressing? We can't leave this grain to the Tartars. If we can't harvest it in time, we'll have to destroy it."

Zhao Daxuan turned to look at Qin Lide again.

Speaking of the autumn harvest, Qin Lide's face fell, and he immediately replied, "We're a bunch of old guys, we simply can't keep up with the harvest. At the current pace, it will take at least another five days to finish."

Zhao Daxuan frowned slightly upon hearing this, then shook his head. "Five days is too slow. How about this, I'll have my soldiers help you harvest. They can harvest as much as they can by sunset, and we'll all set off first thing tomorrow morning!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Lide showed a pained expression and sighed softly, "Well, that's all we can do."

"Erlong, I'm leaving this matter to you." Zhao Daxuan turned his head slightly and said to Li Erlong beside him.

Li Erlong nodded slightly, responded, and then turned and left.

Seeing this, Qin Lide also said goodbye, turned around and looked back at Beicun to arrange the villagers' autumn harvest and evacuation work.

The soldiers cleaning up the battlefield cut off the heads of the Tartars and piled them up in several carts. These were all their military achievements!

Unfortunately, the dozens of cavalrymen that Zhao Daxuan had shot down earlier were all dealt with because they returned at some unknown time.

The dead and severely wounded warhorses were then bled and deboned, leaving the tenderest parts to be made into jerky. The carcasses of more than 150 warhorses were enough to feed them for a long time.

After finishing all that, the soldiers, led by Li Erlong, rushed to the wheat field in Wangbei Village to help with the autumn harvest.

Although there were still large fields of ripe wheat, time was of the essence, and everyone rushed straight up.

Some people grabbed the wheat stalks, and since they didn't have sickles, they directly drew their horse-chopping swords, bent down, and carefully drew the blades at an angle. Their movements were clean and neat, as if it were just a routine training exercise from a different angle.

Then, he quickly bundled the cut wheat stalks into bunches, surrounded the heavy wheat harvesting barrel, raised the bundles high, and lashed them hard against the barrel wall.

"Crackling! Crackling!..."

The muffled sound of whipping wheat ears echoed across the fields, wheat awns mixed with dust fluttering in the sunlight, and the air was filled with a fresh wheat fragrance and the smell of soldiers' sweat.

Golden wheat grains fell like a torrential rain, filling the entire wheat barrel at a visible speed, and then someone stepped forward to pull up the sacks to fill them.

Finally, before sunset, the villagers completed the task that would have taken five days to accomplish with the full strength of the village in Wangbei in less than an afternoon.

Looking at the barren wheat field, Qin Lide's old face beamed with joy, and he led the villagers in bowing repeatedly to Li Erlong and the others.

"Lord Li is truly grateful. If it weren't for you, this vast wheat field would have been ruined!"

Faced with the villagers' gratitude, Li Erlong and his men smiled like children who had just received a sweet treat, waving their hands repeatedly and humbly saying, "It's our duty! It's our duty!..."

As he was talking, he seemed to suddenly remember something, turned around and ran back to the camp, pushed over a cart of horse meat, and put it in front of Qin Lide.

"Village Chief Qin, please share this horse meat with the villagers so they can have a taste. It was all freshly slaughtered today, so it might be a little tough. Please don't mind!"

"How can that be!" Qin Lide exclaimed, his eyes widening as he declined.

After the two sides declined for a while, Qin Lide finally accepted the gift from the villagers amidst his gratitude.

Today's experience was something Li Erlong and the others had never had before.

Although they hadn't bullied the common people before, they always looked down on these peasants because of their status as city guards.

But now, under Zhao Daxuan's leadership, they have experienced the feeling of unity between the military and the people.

That night, Li Erlong selected several of the best horsemen, and the next day they set off with Zhao Daxuan to the north to investigate the situation.

Only then did everyone realize that Zhao Daxuan was not retreating with the main force, and the camp erupted in chaos. Zhao Fubao was so excited that he rushed into Zhao Daxuan's tent.

"Sir, let me handle the reconnaissance. You should take the main force back first!" Zhao Fubao said urgently.

Zhao Daxuan raised his eyes slightly, not blaming Zhao Fubao for his rudeness, and spoke in a calm tone.

"Fu Bao, you have another important task!"

"You'll be leading the return journey this time. You must promise me that you will bring everyone safely to the rear of Zhenbei City!"

Zhao Fubao wanted to persuade him again, but Zhao Daxuan's face turned cold, and an invisible pressure pressed down on Zhao Fubao.

Zhao Fubao felt a sudden tightness in his chest, and swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue, his lips moving slightly.

Finally, with a tense expression, he nodded heavily and said in a low voice, "I understand. I guarantee I will complete the mission."

Then, looking dejected, he lifted the tent flap, lowered his head, and walked out. Zhao Daxuan watched Zhao Fubao's retreating figure, chuckled, and shook his head.

If it weren't for the fact that only he could accomplish the objective this time, why wouldn't he want to return to Zhenbei City as soon as possible?

He didn't say it, but he had another purpose for this trip besides finding out the basic situation of the Tartar army.

If this can be accomplished, it will be a heavy blow to the Tatar army, effectively cutting off their supply lines and largely thwarting their military operation.