I am not a seventh-generation descendant of Lord Wu'an from the Qin Dynasty.

The Qin army advanced swiftly, and the Wei army suffered repeated defeats.

Then, the Wei army was wiped out.

Therefore, the key to victory or defeat in the Battle of Yique was never the order in which Wei and Han were attacked.

Instead, they planned to take advantage of the Wei army's disrupted supply lines and the Wei general Gongsun Xi's eagerness for victory.

Once Bai Qi leads his elite troops in a surprise attack, Wei general Gongsun happy will inevitably be tempted to join forces with the Han army, with both sides working together to annihilate the Qin army in the narrow terrain of Yique.

Then, Wei general Gongsun happy would find that Han general Bao Yuan remained firmly rooted to the spot.

The Han army believed that the main force of the Qin army was determined to attack Han, and that this must be a Qin army's plan to lure the enemy by feigning an attack on Wei.

If you ask again, how could the elite Wei Wuzu not even be able to defend against the Qin army for more than ten days?

Sixteen thousand Wei troops, even if they were fighting two against one, or even three against one, you still couldn't win?

As it turns out, the current Wei infantry are no match for the fierce and powerful Qin elite troops.

After the main force of the Wei army suffered a major defeat, the Han army's commander, Bao Yuan, reacted, but by then his flank was exposed.

The Han army, caught in a pincer attack by the Qin army, was doomed to failure.

As long as we seize this time lag in thinking and cognition, and aim at this fleeting opportunity...

A great victory belongs to a renowned general!

The biggest defeat was due to empty talk!

Having figured all this out, Bai Qi finally lost the youthful impetuosity that had been etched on his face.

[Your Excellency Bai Qi, commander of the 2500-strong army, is hereby granted command of 500 of your own troops. I also grant you 500 elite light cavalry, forming a detachment of 1,000 men, and you will serve as the commander of that 1,000-strong force.]

"Oh, so his commander of a thousand men, leading a detachment, is waiting for him here? A reward on the battlefield, a legitimate promotion—another trick of exploiting loopholes in Qin law."

The primary objective of this battle is to disrupt the supply lines of Wei and Han, thereby demoralizing their armies and ultimately securing victory for Wei as the leader and Han as the support.

Bai Qi quickly realized that this was a false message given by the Qin army to the Han general Bao Yuan.

"Look, even the Han supply route has been seized. Why would the Qin army attack the Han supply route if their main force isn't attacking us?"

"Yes, General!"

Bai Qi bowed and accepted the order.

Next, Bai Qi began assigning soldiers to him, so meticulously that he could call out the name of any one of the hundred generals.

He randomly picked up a battlefield map and sketched out mountains, rivers, villages, and intersections, as if he knew them by heart and could do it effortlessly.

Every word and action he took was a profound teaching, as if he wished to impart all his knowledge to others.

Finally, as if with a sigh or a sense of nostalgia, she reached out and patted his shoulder, giving him some advice.

[The great battle will begin in two weeks. I hope to hear news of your triumphant return.]

This is both a tacit approval of his freedom of action and a testament to the unspoken expectations of the Sword Spirit of Lord Wu'an.

Its first owner was Lord Wu'an, and even if the second owner was not as good as him, he could at least not be too bad.

Bai Qi naturally understood, but looking at the black-haired Bai Qi turning and entering the tent, he still asked the question he had been wondering about.

Why did he commit suicide?

This was Bai Qi's biggest question after carefully reading about the life and history of Lord Wu'an, facing both the recommender Rang Hou and the Qin Zhaoxiang King who questioned him in every way.

This doesn't seem to be a difficult choice, and given the prevailing concept of trust and loyalty at the time, choosing Ranghou doesn't seem like a mistake.

Looking at the entire life of Lord Wu'an, Bai Qi, it seems he never considered the option of becoming Marquis Rang.

The sword spirit of Lord Wu'an turned his back to him, remained silent for a while, and then shook his head.

The setting sun cast a blood-red glow that day, and behind him stood the elite Iron Eagle warriors sent by King Zhaoxiang of Qin, holding the king's decree.

He simply walked to the eastern hill on the outskirts of Xianyang and glanced at the banks of the Wei River, where he was born and raised.

Then, facing the direction of Xianyang City, he knelt down, drew his sword, and committed suicide.

He hasn't confided his thoughts to anyone, and I don't want to misinterpret his meaning.

If you insist on an answer, as a sword, you can only offer one piece of advice.

Don't kill people you believe shouldn't be killed!

"Is it a blood nerve?"

Bai Qi waved, wanting to ask again, but found that the sword spirit of Wu Anjun, who had been facing away from him, had already disappeared.

Is it sad?

Furthermore, Bai Qi noticed that the sword spirit, which had been using the figure of Wu Anjun to face him, had surprisingly used the self-reference of "I".

He wasn't sure whether it was the death of Lord Wu'an that awakened the sword spirit, or whether the sword spirit absorbed the remnant soul of Lord Wu'an.

But he thought that perhaps the key to a cold longsword giving birth to a sword spirit lies in possessing complex emotions with its own thoughts.

Happiness, joy, sorrow, selfish thoughts...

"Shouldn't we kill people who shouldn't be killed?"

"Then, who are the people who shouldn't be killed?"

……

The Crimson Trial Space.

One day later.

A battlefield marked by broken flags and ruins.

Bai Qi sat alone on a half-broken wheel, his feet resting on a large Wei-character grain transport banner, his mind still pondering this idealistic proposition.

"This is merely a trial space for the Battle of Yique, simulated by the sword spirit of Lord Wu'an. Going on a killing spree here without increasing my blood spirit seems fine, right?"

The spirit of the Wu'an Lord's sword explained it very clearly: go out and make two rounds, intercept the Wei army's supply lines, and after half a month, you will win the great battle and become the master of the Wu'an Lord's sword.

But if the current owner of a sword has to listen to the sword spirit and follow the rules of the former owner, then what fun is there for him in participating in this trial game?

He is the master of the sword, not its slave!

He's about to show off his skills!

"My lord, all the grain from the Wei army's supply convoy that we intercepted in this battle has been loaded onto the wagons, enough for our thousand-man squad to eat for three months."

A Qin army lieutenant with a dark red face strode forward, shouting, "Commander, let's go quickly. If we're too late, the Wei scouts will be sneaking up on us soon."

Bai Qi silently unfolded the map and pointed to the location of a village in the northeast direction.

"Let's go here!"

The black-and-red lieutenant glared and approached, but upon seeing it was a Korean village, he immediately expressed his displeasure:

"My lord, this place is close to the battlefield. The surrounding Korean villages have been looted by the Allied forces. There are no able-bodied men, women, or food left in the villages."

"Going to this place is pointless!"

Bai Qi closed the map, offered no explanation, stood up, leaped onto his horse, and swung his arm.

"Set off!"

As he spoke, he leaped onto his horse and galloped off.

The black-and-red lieutenant stared wide-eyed, panting heavily, and grunted as he swung his fist twice.

"If it weren't for the fact that you're a young master from Xianyang, if General Zuo hadn't given instructions beforehand, if it weren't for the fact that your surname is Bai... I would have beaten you to death, you bastard!"

Two or five hundred men nearby crowded around, "Lieutenant General, what do you think of this..."

The black-and-red deputy general glared at him with his big, bulging eyes. "What are you looking at? Get back here! He's the commander!"

Lord Erwu rolled his eyes in annoyance, chuckled, and waved to his infantrymen to push the repaired grain carts onto the road.

In the distance, cavalrymen roared and galloped back and forth, gathering and dispersing like clouds.

Behind them, the banners of the Wei Kingdom's five hundred grain transport teams, all annihilated, were trampled into the mud.

Soon, the Qin army left.

A flock of carrion-eating crows gathered.

Immediately following, Wei's scattered scouts arrived on horseback to investigate.

Before long, smoke signals rose.

Wei scouts roared in, silently following the deep ruts in the ground.

The battlefield is never a turn-based hack-and-slash game; it's a fight to the death.

The roles of hunter and prey have subtly shifted.

Here.

The furious hoofbeats of the Qin army instantly shattered this dilapidated Han village.

One by one, the huddled figures crawled up from the ruins, and then, under the pressure of the armored cavalrymen's spears, gathered at the village entrance.

A kind-looking young general sat there, with grain sacks scattered at his feet.

One by one, burly Qin soldiers were gathering firewood, building stoves, and cooking thick porridge.

As the remaining villagers had almost all gathered, the aroma of thick porridge wafted through the air.

Bai Qi stood up and bowed deeply to the group of emaciated old men, women, teenagers, withered women, and infants.

"I am Bai Qi, serving as a detachment general. I have been ordered by the Supreme General to lead my troops to bypass the Wei army and recruit cooks to attack the Wei dogs."

The Koreans fell silent, exchanging bewildered glances.

After a long while, an old Korean man spoke in a strange accent with a Korean-Qin tinge, in a low voice.

"General, the village is out of food."

Bai Qi waved his hand, "The Qin army is not collecting grain."

"General, there are no able-bodied men left in the village."

"The Qin army did not employ young and strong men."

"General, all the village girls are gone too."

"The Qin army did not serve the young girls of Han."

The Korean old man gestured with his lips, and after saying those three sentences, he was at a loss for words.

Bai Qi stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said kindly, "Old man, our army travels lightly and is mostly composed of soldiers who fight. We are currently short of cooks to accompany the army."

"The army cooks only help with chopping wood and cooking; they don't fight, but they're provided with enough to eat and wear..."

Bai Qi saw the old man's cloudy eyes light up at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The old man asked incredulously, "Enough food? Enough clothing?"

"Yes, that's not all."

Bai Qi smiled gently, "The Qin army is about to win a great victory. After the battle, they will definitely occupy this place and then distribute land and houses to everyone."

"If any of you succeed in being selected for the cooks' army, Bai Qi will report this to the General and, in the name of the cooks' army's merits, each person will be awarded at least twenty acres of land."