A veteran of the frontier army, after marrying a wife, fought his way through the northern border.

However, with his initial martial arts master level strength, he was no match for Luo Yunxiao's full-force strike.

The curved sword in his hand was cut in half with a single stroke.

Then he cleaved him in two from the right shoulder, blood splattering as he fell from his horse.

He didn't even utter a sound.

Zhou Hanniu, Li Ergou, and Wang Shitou couldn't help but admire Luo Yunxiao's prowess.

If he hadn't intervened in time, the three of us would probably be dead here.

After dealing with the squad leader, Luo Yunxiao returned and joined forces with Qin Hongxiu to fight Nawu.

Na Wu was originally evenly matched with Qin Hongxiu, and it would be difficult for him to defeat her.

Then Luo Yunxiao appeared, and he immediately felt immense pressure.

It was too late to escape at this point; all they could do was fight to the death!

The Naw was blinded by rage.

He roared loudly and swung his knife wildly, like a trapped beast in a desperate situation.

Luo Yunxiao unleashed his full power, each strike aimed at a vital point.

The blade struck Naw's head like a storm.

Nawu dared not confront them head-on and could only fight ambush.

Qin Hongxiu waited for an opportunity to deliver the final blow. Na Wu was exhausted and was swaying precariously on his horse.

Ultimately, he was no match for the combined strength of the two, and Qin Hongxiu found an opening and stabbed him in the left rib.

Naw roared in a low voice, blood gushing out.

He glared angrily at Qin Hongxiu, still wanting to fight to the death.

Luo Yunxiao, wielding his horse-slaying saber, slashed at the waist again, knocking the Nawu curved sword away.

Then he was cut in half at the waist!

Naw did not die immediately after landing; he crawled on the ground with difficulty using his arms.

A trail of blood was left on the ground.

He died shortly afterward.

The battle is now over.

From discovering the enemy's presence to setting up the ambush and then annihilating all twelve men, it took nearly two hours.

At this moment, the setting sun slanted down the horizon, dyeing the hills a blood red.

The ground was a mess, with severed limbs and broken arms scattered everywhere, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder and burning.

Zhou Hanniu bandaged the wounds of Li Ergou and Wang Shitou.

Qin Hongxiu began collecting the spoils of war.

Luo Yunxiao checked Wang Shitou's injuries and found that he was the most seriously injured.

He kept vomiting blood, his face was deathly pale, and he was breathing more out than in.

It looks like his lungs are damaged. If he doesn't get treatment soon, he might not make it through the night.

Luo Yunxiao remembered that before he took up his post, Su Yunshang had given him the Hundred Herbs Life-Sustaining Powder, which he still kept close to his body.

So I took out two packets.

I opened a packet and applied half of it to Wang Shitou's wound.

The other half fed it to him.

A moment later, Wang Shitou's breathing became steady, and he fell into a deep sleep.

Li Ergou suffered an arm injury and lost too much blood, but his life is not in danger.

Luo Yunxiao handed him the Hundred Herbs Life-Sustaining Powder and told him to take it himself.

Five of the Tartar warhorses were killed by the bomb, two were burned, and five remained intact.

"Squad leader, I found a map on the Tartar squad leader."

Qin Hongxiu handed a sheepskin to Luo Yunxiao.

In front of her subordinates, she felt it was more appropriate to address Luo Yunxiao as "Squad Leader".

Luo Yunxiao unfolded it and his eyes lit up.

This map depicts the defenses of the five counties conquered by the Wuhuan allied forces.

Beiwu County and Junmi County are marked with red circles and skull symbols.

This signifies that the defending general is dead and the entire city has been slaughtered.

There is also the terrain and landforms near the Bailang Mountain Pass.

This includes the five border beacon towers at the pass.

The nearby trade routes and smuggling lines, and two temporary supply points for the Tartars.

Location of the Tartar scout outpost.

Only partial topographic maps are available for the east and south, indicating that they are still exploring.

Luo Yunxiao nodded after looking at it: "Not bad, the areas controlled by the Tartars are drawn on it."

This helps us analyze the Tartars' next move, and it also serves as a map for us to gain military merit.

Other spoils included 30 catties of roasted millet, 30 catties of dried meat, and 10 curved knives.

Six birch bark water jugs.

Five horn bows and a number of arrows.

Twenty taels of silver ingots and two pairs of gold earrings were found on Motuo's body.

As for gold and silver, Luo Yunxiao naturally pocketed them.

There were also two sets of wrought iron lamellar armor, two sets of leather armor, and some personal belongings.

Including the three Tartars killed earlier, there were a total of fifteen Tartars.

If counted as military merit, it would be level 41.

According to the standards for promotion to the rank of Dubo, leading a team to kill a skilled armored squad leader and twenty Tartar commoners would grant direct promotion.

Although he was still nine Tartar soldiers short of achieving the required merit, he had already killed two squad leaders.

It should be enough to make up for it.

However, the thought of his superior Wang Kui's face made him feel uneasy.

That kind of despicable person needs to be chopped off sooner or later before his mind can be at peace.

After everything was ready, the men cut off the heads of the Tartars, strung them together with ropes, and hung them on the saddles.

The bodies of the Tartars were hidden in the bushes.

Several men used curved knives to cut some horse meat from the dead horse.

The rest was burned.

Zhou Hanniu, carrying the unconscious Wang Shitou, followed Luo Yunxiao and Qin Hongxiu back to the beacon tower.

The harvest was plentiful, and Luo Yunxiao divided the captured food equally among everyone.

Li Dakai, Sun Tieshou, the Liu siblings, and Cuihua stared wide-eyed at the sight of the strings of Tartar heads and spoils of war.

This was the first time Liu Qinghe had ever seen so many Tartar heads.

The strong smell of blood made her nauseous, and she covered her mouth and nose tightly.

"The squad leader is too amazing! He killed twelve Tartars, two squad leaders, and two sergeants?"

"You don't know how powerful incendiary bombs and wildfire bombs are."

The Tartars were stunned by the bomb and were so terrified that they ran away in a panic, not even having time to save their own lives.

Luo Shizhang and Madam Qin, working together with their swords, killed the Tartar squad leaders one by one.

Zhou Hanniu, Li Dakai, Sun Tieshou, and the Liu siblings recounted their experiences of sniping the Tartars.

The Liu siblings listened with rapt attention.

"If our firearms are so powerful, how did Er Gou and Shi Tou get so badly injured?"

Sun Tieshou asked curiously.

"This...this...that Tartar squad leader is too powerful, the three of us can't beat him alone."

"If Chief Losh hadn't arrived in time, I would likely be in grave danger too."

Zhou Hanniu shook his head and sighed.

"Did you realize the gap between yourself and the Tartars in this actual battle?"

If we hadn't set up an ambush and hadn't had firearms, the three of you would already be dead.

You must at least reach the level of a samurai before you have the ability to fight the Tartars.

Luo Yunxiao said calmly.

"Squad leader, thank you for saving me. It was my fault for being useless."

"I threw two Wildfire grenades too far; they didn't hit the Tartars at all, otherwise Brother Stone wouldn't have been so seriously injured."

As Li Ergou spoke, he burst into tears, his nose running and his eyes snot streaming down his face.

"Alright, recover from your injuries, practice your aim properly, and improving your combat strength is the most important thing."

Let bygones be bygones, and don't bring it up again!

Luo Yunxiao, fearing that Li Ergou would blame himself, patted his head to comfort him.

"Yes! I will work twice as hard to improve my combat strength. Next time, I will definitely kill the Tartar squad leader alone!"

"Remember what you said today."

After this battle, Luo Yunxiao established extremely high prestige in everyone's hearts.

Everyone was completely convinced of Luo Yunxiao's abilities.

"Zhou Hanniu and Sun Tieshou, you two will take the Tartar heads, armor, and weapons back to Liuhebao tomorrow and report your military achievements."

Remember to ask the military commander for the leave and rest order.

He thought for a moment and added, "They may not believe our record."

Also, bring one incendiary mine and one incendiary bomb.

"Yes, sir!"

In the past battles of the border troops against the Tartars, there had never been a case where a ten-man Tartar squad was completely wiped out by only five men.

It is almost impossible.

In the memories of all the border soldiers, one Tatar cavalryman was worth at least ten border soldiers.

Fifteen Tartars, including one battle-hardened squad leader, could at least hold their own against a hundred border troops!

Without carrying powerful firearms, no one would believe in one's military achievements.

They might even be turned on by a villain like Wang Kui.

Luo Yunxiao instructed Zhou Hanniu and Li Dakai to sprinkle lime on the Tartar heads.

Liu Honghe and his sister have already built a warm hut.

Luo Yunxiao was very satisfied. He went inside, lit an oil lamp, and began writing the battle report.

Border troops stipulated that if a soldier earned merit in battle, he or she must write down the details of the battle.

Without written documentation, merit is not recorded.

Therefore, when Luo Yunxiao wrote the battle report, he clearly wrote down the time, location, enemy situation, his own deployment, and the reason for the battle.

The fact that they obtained the map and the silver was simply omitted.

The reason for participating in the battle is written as follows.

Go out hunting.

Originally, the guards were not allowed to leave the beacon tower without permission, otherwise they would be punished according to the law.

However, a messenger had previously conveyed a military order that the border troops' food and pay would be halved due to the impending battle at Tuyin City.

Border guards can procure their own food, cultivate the land, and hunt.

Going out to hunt or gather provisions is not considered a violation of the rules.

In this attempt to ambush the Tartars, each of the five men carried twenty incendiary bombs and one prairie fire bomb.

There are eight incendiary bombs and five wildfire mines remaining.

Luo Yunxiao ordered people to continue production.

After Wang Shitou returned, he was placed on the second floor to recuperate. He was seriously injured and remained in a coma.

Cuihua and Liu Qinghe took turns caring for them.

"Squad leader, will Stone die?"

Li Dakai asked.

"I've already given him the medication. Whether he survives or not depends on whether he can make it through the night."