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

Zhou Baihu's name was Zhou Xiang. He had read some books and knew what "righteousness" meant.

Since the time of the Hundred-Household Commander, I have seen people who steal credit, claim credit, and kill innocent people to claim credit, but I have never seen anyone who actively distributes their war merits to others.

"Have you thought this through? Once the war merits are distributed, they're distributed. Your name won't be on the merit list, and you won't be among those who receive rewards later," Zhou Baihu said unhurriedly.

"I've made up my mind." Shen Du said without the slightest hesitation.

Zhou Baihu did not try to persuade him further. He ordered the white-faced, beardless deputy Baihu to pick up a blank scroll of official documents from the table, spread it out, and pick up a pen.

"Name?" asked the pale-faced, beardless deputy centurion.

Shen Du reported them one by one.

"Zhang Tiezhu, Liu Shitou, Zhao Da..." Shen Du tried his best to recall all the names this body could remember.

Some of these people were trampled to death during the rout, while others were knocked away by cavalry.

The fair-skinned, beardless deputy centurion took notes one by one.

"There were eleven people in total, and nineteen heads. When divided among the eleven people, each person had more than one head and less than two."

"According to the imperial court's regulations on compensation for those killed in action, each family can receive an extra sixty taels of silver."

This is not a small amount.

"Just doing my bit of effort," Shen Du said calmly.

Commander Zhou ordered his men to bring out the wine jug and pour four bowls of wine. He picked up one bowl for himself, handed the other two to the two deputy commanders, and presented the fourth bowl to Shen Du.

"It's a blessing that Yanshan Left Guard has someone like you."

"Brother Jingzhong, bottoms up!"

Shen Du took the bowl of wine. The wine was a coarsely brewed sorghum liquor, so strong it choked his throat. He drank it all in one gulp, then turned the bowl over, leaving not a drop.

Shen Du put down his bowl and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"Thank you, Commander."

Meanwhile, at the other end of the Yan army camp, the campfire of the Imperial Guard was burning brighter than anywhere else, and a squad of armored cavalry had just finished their shift and were roasting meat around the fire.

Deep inside the camp, a burly middle-aged man sat cross-legged behind a desk with several scrolls of documents spread out in front of him.

The document was filled with names; it was the roster of Zhu Di's personal guards, from the lowest-ranking officers to the most ordinary soldiers, not a single one was missing.

This person's game ID is Thor, with the prefix "Shan Hai Jing" (Classic of Mountains and Seas).

It was the highest-ranking official in the Yan army's personal guard, a military officer of a thousand households, as described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

The Yan army's personal guard cavalry currently numbers around 5000, mainly composed of elite cavalry drawn from the Left Guard and the Central Guard.

Thor's fingers traced lines of text, reading down one by one.

After crossing the Baigou River, he sent people to verify the records of all the elite Iron Cavalry soldiers with unusual battle records.

There were seven people in total, all of whom were veterans of the Yan army; there were no new faces among them.

One of those beheaded at fifteen was an old comrade who had followed Zhu Di in raising an army in Beiping, and another beheaded at sixteen was a cavalryman from Yanshan Zhongwei whose ancestors had served for three generations.

There is none like "Taotie".

Thor rolled up the document and tossed it aside, then picked up another scroll, which was a roster of officers and above in the Imperial Guard.

Thor has flipped through this register at least ten times, and each time he does, his doubts only grow stronger.

Thor carefully recalled everything that happened that day.

On the day of the Baigou River incident, Zhu Di personally led his imperial guards to attack from the flank.

Those who managed to achieve an S-rank in that wave of attacks must be listed in these volumes.

A captain? A centurion? Or something higher?

Thor's finger stopped on a name. It was a centurion, who had been in the second assault echelon following Zhu Di that day at Baigou River, leading his team to behead twenty-one enemy soldiers—a feat worthy of an S-class achievement.

But Thor secretly verified that it wasn't him.

Thor tossed the scrolls aside, leaned against the table, and closed his eyes.

Thor remembered what Bai Ze had told him yesterday.

"Two possibilities. First, he quietly rose to a higher official position right under our noses. Second, he wasn't in Zhu Di's personal guard cavalry, but in another unit."

If it were any other battalion, such as the Yanshan Left Guard, Yanshan Right Guard, Yanshan Central Guard, Daxing Left Guard, and Daxing Right Guard, these five guards together had nearly 90,000 infantrymen. After the war, they were reorganized and reorganized. If "Taotie" were hiding among them, the search would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Moreover, Thor doesn't believe that someone with such battlefield judgment and ruthlessness who achieved an S rank would be content to be just an ordinary soldier.

If such a person intends to conceal their identity, the best place to hide is not among the lowest-ranking foot soldiers.

Those at the bottom are more likely to be noticed because their exceptional performance is too eye-catching.

The best hiding place was actually among the high-ranking officers, especially the high-ranking officers of the Imperial Guard.

Thor opened his eyes and picked up the roll of names of officers of the rank of centurion and above again.

The firelight danced on his face, reflecting his hawk-like eyes.

"It's not in the banner commander's office, and it's not in the centurion's office either." His voice was low, as if he were talking to himself. "Then let's investigate further up the chain of command."

He picked up a pen and circled three names on the bamboo slip: three deputy commanders.

These three men were all in Zhu Di's personal guard cavalry on the day of Baigou River, and each of them had more battle achievements than the fifteen men combined.

Moreover, these three men had one thing in common: none of them were veterans from the time of the uprising in Beiping, but rather were transferred to the Imperial Guard from other garrisons shortly before the Baigou River uprising.

The timing of the transfer and the timing of the appearance of "Taotie" were exactly the same.

Thor couldn't help but smile, rolled up the bamboo scroll, got up, lifted the curtain, and went outside.

Around the campfire, several guards were dividing up roasted horse meat. When Thor came out, each of them handed him a piece.

They were also people from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

"Military Advisor Lei, how's the investigation going?"

Thor took the horse meat, tore off a piece, and stuffed it into his mouth. "Almost there."

He chewed on the meat, his gaze passing over the campfire and landing on the low tents on the west side of the camp, where the infantry of the Three Guards were stationed.

Thor didn't look in that direction for long, firmly believing that "Taotie" couldn't possibly come from among the infantry. His intuition told him that the answer lay among those three deputy commanders.

The campfire crackled and popped, sparks carried by the night wind into the sky and scattered among the lights of the entire camp.

After Shen Du finished drinking and took his leave, it was already night, but he did not stop. Instead, he walked through the camp toward the supply depot.

Shen Du was certainly confident enough to sign a military pledge, but he dared not be careless at this moment.

What Zhou Baihu said was true. Attacking a city is extremely dangerous no matter what. The Yan army's great victory does not mean that he can return unscathed.

Furthermore, the involvement of guild factions has added many variables, and Shen Du currently knows far too little about this game.

Shen Du thought to himself, "The next step is to find an opportunity to find out the true situation of the guild and the Texas region."

But this time we have to take the risk.

On the one hand, we need to train these twenty people; on the other hand, we need to find an opportunity to test whether our siege tactics are effective.

This is to prepare for Jiyang, Jinan, and Dongchang after Dezhou, as those are the places where you really need to show your true abilities.

The siege team will be mobilized tomorrow, and Shen Du needs to make full use of every minute to prepare.

The veteran soldiers from the supply battalion verified the token and led Shen Du to the entrance of the warehouse.