Great Wilderness Demon Lord

Han Zhong nodded upon hearing Lu Zheng's name.

Lu Zheng was a general he had personally promoted; brave yet meticulous, he was indeed a suitable candidate: "Your Highness's considerations are thorough; Lu Zheng is certainly capable. With him, working in conjunction with Commandant Xiao, they will complement each other perfectly."

"As for the required equipment and supplies," Li Xuan looked at Gu Yan, "Mr. Gu, this matter is entrusted to you to handle in conjunction with the quartermaster. It must be of high quality and sufficient quantity, but the packaging must be easy to carry and conceal, and not conspicuous."

The necessary funds will be drawn from the palace's private treasury, not from public accounts, to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

Gu Yan sighed inwardly. The eldest princess was determined to support Xiao Yunlan, and had even used her private treasury.

He showed no emotion on his face, bowed and replied, "Your subject obeys the order and will certainly handle this matter properly."

Li Xuan concluded, "This matter is confidential and should only be known to the four of us. Vice Commander Han, you will personally oversee the liaison and troop deployment; there can be no mistakes. Mr. Gu, the preparation of supplies must be swift and discreet."

Once Lu Zheng leads his team to join Xiao Yunlan, our army's strategy of harassing and exhausting the enemy can be fully implemented.

At that time, through a combination of overt and covert operations both inside and outside the pass, Hechi will surely be restless and reveal a weakness!

"Your subjects obey!" Han Zhong and Gu Yan replied in unison.

As the order was given, a subtle yet resolute undercurrent began to stir within the massive war machine of Zhenhuang Pass.

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That night, the wind and snow were even fiercer than the night before.

The gate opened a crack without warning, and a troop of cavalry quietly slipped out.

After leaving the city, they quickly dispersed, forming groups of three to five. Their shadowy figures, like drops of ink in clear water, swiftly blended into the howling wind and snow and the darkness.

They wore dark cloaks, slightly different from the garrison, which were more conducive to infiltration in the field. Their horses' hooves were covered with thick cloth, and instead of standard long weapons, they carried short swords, crossbows, and specially made rockets, which were better suited for close combat.

After these teams left the pass, they did not rush to the northeast. Instead, they spread out in different directions like a net, taking detours.

After confirming that there were no wolf-like sentries following them, they changed direction and quietly headed towards the agreed first rendezvous point—a bend in a dry riverbed far from the main battlefield and not marked on the map.

Leading one of the squads was none other than Captain Lu Zheng.

He was about thirty years old, with a angular face, deeply etched with lines from the winds and frosts of the north, and his eyes gleamed with a restrained sharpness in the night.

He silently calculated the time and route, constantly mentally simulating possible situations and corresponding countermeasures.

Before his departure, Vice Commander Han's words still echoed in his ears: "On this mission, everything is under the command of Commander Xiao. This man has achieved such a feat in a desperate situation; his courage, strategy, and methods are all extraordinary. Do not underestimate him because of his age or background."

Your responsibility is to assist him in commanding troops, to make up for his shortcomings, and, at crucial moments, to speak frankly.

Lu Zheng was not an arrogant person. He was curious about Captain Xiao, whom he had never met but who had already made a name for himself, but he also felt a soldier's respect for the strong.

Being able to turn the tide in such a desperate situation as Shuofeng Plains is definitely not just a matter of luck.

Almost simultaneously, on the wall, two figures, like geckos, silently fell down using ropes and the shadow of the wall, tumbling a few times after landing before disappearing into the darkness at the base of the wall.

These are Zhou Ting and Wu Rui, the liaison officers sent by Han Zhong.

Both were renowned night spies in the army, skilled in stealth, disguise, tracking and counter-tracking, and also agile and resolute.

Their mission was the most crucial and also the most dangerous—to locate Xiao Yunlan's troops, whose exact location was unknown, in the vast snowy night and enemy-controlled territory.

The two did not ride horses, but trudged through the snow on foot, yet they were not slow.

They seemed to blend into the harsh environment, using every inch of the terrain for cover, avoiding all possible light sources and open areas, like two silent ghosts, infiltrating towards the northeastern hills.

That night, the Wolf Rong camp was still far from peaceful.

Xiao Yunlan seemed to have sensed something, and the intensity and frequency of his attacks became more methodical than the night before.

The arrows were no longer just aimed at lone sentries; they began to try to kill the leaders or buglers of patrol teams. The locations for the feints were chosen to be closer to the core area of ​​the Wolf Rong's main camp.

On one occasion, several rockets nearly hit a makeshift shed where arrows were stored; and a small group of men deliberately left some traces to lure small groups of wolf-like pursuers into complex terrain, then used crossbows and traps to kill them before quickly escaping.

The atmosphere inside Hechi's central command tent was heavy.

Within a single day, reports of attacks on flank patrols, small fires, and ambushes of pursuing troops were received one after another. Although the losses were not significant each time, they accumulated to more than a hundred men. More seriously, the morale and defense system were being continuously depleted.

"General, this is no small band of bandits or defeated soldiers!" a centurion said angrily. "Their actions were quite methodical, their advances and retreats were measured, and they specifically targeted the weak points in our defenses. This is clearly a deliberate harassment by an elite squad of the Yong army!"

"This humble general requests permission to send more troops and expand the search area; we must find these rats!"

He Chi's face was ashen as he tapped his fingers on the map spread out on the table.

On the map, several attack locations are circled in vermilion ink, seemingly scattered, yet subtly pointing towards the northeast.

"Rats? Hmph, these aren't ordinary rats, daring to operate right under our noses. Any news from Shuofeng Plains?"

The officer in charge of liaison lowered his head: "The wolf riders sent towards Shuofeng Plain have not returned. The last message came back five days ago that Centurion Wugu was still besieging the city..."

A cold glint flashed in Hechi's eyes.

Five days without news is abnormal in itself.

Considering the attacks behind him, a possibility he didn't want to think about deeply, yet which was becoming increasingly clear, surfaced in his mind—something had probably really happened in Shuofeng Plain.

The detachment he left behind to guard the flank of the supply route and besiege the isolated city is likely in grave danger.

And the one stabbing us in the back right now is most likely the remnants of the Shuofeng Plain garrison, or even... they have received reinforcements?

"Double the number of scouts, focusing on patrolling the northeast and northwest directions, especially the routes leading to Shuofeng Plain. Raise the alert level within the camp to the highest level, with each camp on duty in shifts, and no slackening is allowed."

"If any more harassers are discovered, do not pursue them rashly. Focus on holding your ground and driving them away. At the same time, send a signal for the surrounding teams to immediately surround them!" Hechi ordered in a deep voice.

He sensed danger approaching, but the pressure of a direct assault prevented him from diverting too many troops to completely resolve the troubles behind him. He could only strengthen his defenses and stabilize the situation first.

Unbeknownst to him, at the very moment he issued the order, two forces from Zhenhuang Pass, like trickling streams, pierced through his reinforced security network and converged on the dark hilly area to the northeast.

One of them will infuse the "ghost" behind him with new and more powerful energy.