In this realistic war game, only I understand the course of the battle.

"Nobody taught me."

Shen Du's voice was calm.

"On the Baigou River, I saw the Ming cavalry charging towards us. Once their formation was disrupted, no matter how many men there were, they were just sheep waiting to be slaughtered. At that time, I was thinking about how to get a single bannerman to hold off the cavalry."

Zhou Baihu fought for twenty-three years and had seen some people who were born to do this kind of work.

Without being taught or guided, just throw them onto the battlefield and roll around a few times, and they'll grasp things that others can't grasp in decades.

Li Jingzhong is probably that kind of person, but today is not the time to praise him.

"This battle is unlike any you've fought before."

Zhou Baihu steered the conversation back on track, tapping his fingers on the table.

"General Zhang Yu, the Vice Commander of the Left Guard of Yanshan, has ordered that each commandery and centurion must select their elite troops. We need to select a squad leader here to be included in the first batch of the siege team."

Shen Du's heart skipped a beat when he heard the name; he was all too familiar with it.

General Zhang Yu! A famous general during the Jingnan Campaign, he was then the Vice Commander of the Left Guard of Yanshan, and later the Vice Commander of the Central Guard of Yanshan, the first vanguard under Zhu Di!

In the Battle of Dongchang, he was surrounded by Sheng Yong and fought to the death. Zhu Di wept bitterly and later posthumously conferred upon him the title of Prince of Hejian.

After Zhou Baihu finished speaking, the tent suddenly fell silent.

The bearded deputy commander slammed his teacup heavily onto the table.

"Commander, the siege team is a suicide mission. They're hurling boiling oil and boulders down from the city walls. Of the first batch to climb, less than two out of ten will survive!"

But a military order is a military order, and there is no room for negotiation.

Zhou Baihu's gaze swept around the tent, and the small flag officers all lowered their heads, fearing that they would be chosen.

Shen Du suddenly stood up and knelt on one knee.

"My lord, I volunteer."

The tent fell silent.

The two deputy centurions looked at him at the same time. The deputy centurion with a thick beard had his mouth open and his teacup held in mid-air.

"What did you say?" The bearded man's voice changed.

Shen Du's voice was calm, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.

"I am willing to volunteer for the siege team."

Zhou Baihu did not answer immediately, but instead picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then put it down heavily.

The teacup landed on the table with a dull thud.

"Li Jingzhong".

Zhou Baihu's voice suddenly changed. It was no longer the official tone he used when giving military orders, but a tone that Shen Du had never heard before.

It's like a veteran who's fought half his life, sincerely instructing a new recruit.

"To be honest, I've never seen a junior officer figure out formations to this extent in all these years, what you practiced on the training ground today."

Zhou Baihu tapped his finger on the table.

"But that's a field battle formation, deployed on the plains. Your formation can withstand cavalry and infantry, and it's well-organized for advancing and retreating. But what about the Battle of Texas..."

He paused for a moment,

"It's a siege."

Zhou Baihu stood up.

This was also the first time Shen Du had seen Zhou Baihu's appearance clearly.

Zhou Baihu was not tall, but he had broad shoulders and a thick back, which made his armor fit him perfectly.

His face was dark red, with two patches of rough skin on his cheekbones from years of wind exposure. His eyebrows were short and thick, and an old scar on his brow bone had faded to almost nothing.

Zhou Baihu slowly walked around the table to Shen Du, speaking as he went.

"Siege warfare and open field battles are two different things. Open field battles rely on formations, while siege warfare relies on human lives."

"What's the use of bringing twelve-foot and fourteen-foot spears to the city wall? The city wall is only so big; you can't set up your spear formation at all. When the defenders come up from behind the crenellations, they'll stab you with long spears, and you won't even be able to turn around."

"Your bows and arrows, maces, and throwing axes may be effective on the plains. But what about when you're besieging a city? You're climbing ladders with molten rocks raining down on you from above. You can't even draw your bow, let alone use maces or throwing axes."

Commander Zhou slowly placed his hand on Shen Du's shoulder. The warmth of his palm penetrated the armor with a heavy weight.

"Jingzhong, you are a promising talent. Precisely because you are a promising talent, I cannot stand by and watch you throw your life on the walls of Dezhou."

The voice was lowered. So low that only a few people inside the tent could hear it.

"Your men were taken to the city wall, and they were all gone in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

"I'm afraid you yourself won't be able to come back."

Zhou Baihu removed his hand from Shen Du's shoulder.

"I advise you to reconsider your offer to volunteer."

The torchlight flickered on the tent, casting long and short shadows of everyone present.

Shen Du didn't look at them; his gaze remained fixed on Zhou Baihu's face.

"Lord Hyakuho is absolutely right."

The voice wasn't loud, but every word was pronounced very clearly.

"I know all of this, but for the siege team, I am willing to sign a pledge."

Zhou Baihu frowned, unable to understand Shen Du's purpose for a moment.

"You knew that, yet you still went?"

"Today I practiced field formations, but I know the tactics for siege warfare."

"I am willing to lead twenty men, train them for three days, and take them up to the city wall of Dezhou and down with them."

Zhou Baihu looked into Shen Du's eyes. Those eyes were calm, showing neither excitement nor fear.

Commander Zhou had seen people volunteer for battle. Some were driven by sheer courage, some by a desire for military merit, and some simply didn't know how brutal a siege could be.

Zhou Baihu suddenly remembered the battle report from Baigou River and Li Jingzhong's meritorious service, having single-handedly beheaded twenty-three people.

Perhaps he really does know.

Zhou Baihu walked back to the desk, sat down, and looked at the junior officers who had breathed a sigh of relief.

"OK."

Zhou Baihu picked up a token from the table and handed it over.

"Go to the supply depot and collect whatever you need with my token. You can choose any twenty men you want."

"Report from the Left Guard Assault Team tomorrow."

Shen Du accepted the token and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"Thank you, Commander, but I have another request."

"Please feel free to speak."

"In the battle of Baigou River, the military merit book recorded nineteen heads of my subordinates," Shen Du said calmly. "But those achievements were not entirely my own."

Zhou Baihu was completely baffled as to what this little flag was trying to do.

"They were part of the brothers who didn't make it back alive too." Shen Du's gaze fell on the flame of the oil lamp on the table. "Without them holding the line, I wouldn't have been able to cut down so many."

"So? You want to share the war merits with them?" Zhou Baihu asked calmly.

Shen Du's voice was unwavering. "Nineteen pills, not one left. Consider it a compensation payment for their families."

The pale-faced, beardless deputy centurion spoke first, his voice filled with disbelief: "Are you crazy? Those are nineteen heads! With such extraordinary merit, their future potential is limitless. You want to distribute them all?"

"The brothers who were lucky enough to survive received meat and wine, while the dead received nothing."

Shen Du's voice was very soft, as if he were talking to himself.

"I still have my elderly mother, my wife, and my young children at home."

"They can't go back, so someone has to get them something to eat."

Shen Du wanted to reduce the suspicion that his unusual battle record would be discovered by the guild.

On the other hand, these military achievements are of little use to Shen Du, so it doesn't matter.

War is cruel.