The rebel army's foremost master craftsman forged a million iron pylons!

Li Tian smiled slightly and said loudly, "Then let's go early tomorrow. The military camp has plenty of dry rations."

A group of local militiamen walked away laughing and joking.

Wu Laoliu patted the money pouch on his shoulder. "Sergeant, aren't we getting paid today?"

Li Tian laughed and said, "We'll distribute the money tomorrow. Let the brothers rest well for another day."

The two returned to Wolf Head Fortress, and with nothing to do all day, Li Tian continued forging his ironwork.

The clanging and clattering of metal striking metal echoed incessantly.

"Chen Jing is back."

Just then, the camp gate was suddenly pushed open, and Wu Laoliu rushed in excitedly, followed by a man in blue clothes, who was none other than Chen Jing, who was on his way to Nankai City to collect his reward.

"Chen Jing, you're back. Why were you gone for so long?" Li Tian put down the hammer in his hand and walked over.

Chen Jing, who was holding a wooden box, handed it to Li Tian. "Squad leader, the reward money has arrived. We've taken the heads of six armored men."

"General Chen recorded six military merits for us and rewarded us with thirty taels of silver."

Li Tian took the silver, glanced at it, and smiled, "General Chen, how is Nankai City?"

Chen Jingdao said, "General Chen is well, but recently there has been a lot of talk in the military camp. It is said that the imperial court has sent 20,000 troops to rush to Nankai City to annihilate our Loyal Army."

"The entire military camp is preparing for war."

As he spoke, Chen Jing took out a small bamboo tube from his pocket and said, "This is a secret letter from General Chen, who said he would personally deliver it to the squad leader."

Li Tian opened the bamboo tube; inside was a deerskin. Upon opening the deerskin, he saw a line of small characters inside—

The imperial army's southern ragtag force, the "Wansheng Army," led by Zhang Ziqian, marched straight towards the west side of Nankai City. It numbered over 30,000 men. They were sent to Langtoubao to scout out the wind direction in advance so that Nankai City could prepare a response.

Li Tian put down the deerskin, his face showing some worry.

That's an army of 30,000 men! Sending out just a few scouts would be enough to sweep through Wolf Head Fortress.

It seems that Wolf Head Fortress is about to fall.

However, Li Tian didn't take it seriously.

He discovered the underground cemetery in advance, and with just a few of them hiding there, no one could find them.

"Sergeant, what's wrong? What did General Chen say in his letter?" Chen Jing asked curiously, noticing Li Tian's unusual expression.

"Oh, it's nothing. The imperial court has sent troops to possibly besiege our Nankai City."

Li Tian didn't hide anything from everyone. He spread out the deerskin and told his men that the "Invincible Army" was coming.

Upon hearing this, Wu Laoliu clicked his tongue in amazement, "Since they are going to attack our Nankai City, why not send troops from the Sanshui Military Prefecture instead of from the south? I heard that the Sanshui Military Prefecture also has tens of thousands of armored soldiers stockpiled."

Li Tian smiled and said, "This place is close to the north, and the Sanshui Military Prefecture is mainly guarding against the wolf tribe in the north. It cannot be easily mobilized."

Wu Laoliu said "Oh," and then asked, "What does the squad leader plan to do? General Chen didn't say anything about us returning to camp."

Li Tian shook his head. "How would I know the general's intentions? I suppose he wants us to stay a few more days until the 'Invincible Army' arrives before we withdraw."

After saying that, Li Tian said to Wu Laoliu, "Laoliu, tell Chen Junshan that from today onwards, the two of you should go to Jiazi Gorge every day and wait. If there are any signs of a large army moving, we should immediately send a message to Nankai City."

Jiazi Gorge is the only passage from the south to the north. It is surrounded by towering mountains and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. After passing Jiazi Gorge, it is another sixty miles away to Langtoubao.

Wu Laoliu nodded and went to find Chen Junshan, who was guarding the city.

Just then, with a creak, a burly man with one eye blind and one leg lame walked out of the dilapidated temple.

This was Chen Jing's first time meeting Sun Sheng, and he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Squad Leader, who is this?"

Li Tian pointed to Sun Sheng and introduced him, "This is Brother Sun Sheng, who recently joined our Wolf Head Fortress. He broke this leg while protecting our Wolf Head Fortress."

Chen Jing was greatly impressed and immediately cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "Chen Jing greets Brother Sun."

Sun Sheng nodded and walked alone toward the suspension bridge. Ever since he broke his leg, Sun Sheng had become less talkative.

Chen Jing was a little unhappy and muttered under his breath, "This Brother Sun is really ignoring people."

Li Tian smiled and said, "That's just his temper. But he's loyal to Wolf Head Fortress. You two should get closer in the future."

Chen Jing nodded thoughtfully, and Li Tian smiled again.

"Chen Jing, I remember you said you used to be a carpenter, right?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Jing immediately perked up. "Yes, I used to be a carpenter, and everyone in the surrounding villages said I was very skilled."

"What, Corporal, do you have some carpentry work for me to do?"

Li Tian laughed heartily, "No, I just recruited a group of blacksmiths from the surrounding towns. If you'd like, you can teach them carpentry skills while you're at it."

Chen Jing immediately laughed, "No problem, with my skills, I can easily train a few apprentices."

After their conversation, Chen Jing went back to his room to sleep.

Li Tian then went for a stroll in the nearby mountains.

His life is very simple now; besides blacksmithing, he hunts.

The game they hunted provided nutrition for the soldiers at Wolf Head Fortress, and they lived a comfortable life.

……

Nothing happened that night.

The next day, a large number of local militiamen arrived at Wolf Head Fort in a bustling crowd. Someone shouted, "Squad Leader Li, the brothers are here. Please lower the drawbridge."

With a creaking sound, the suspension bridge was lowered, and a large group of local militiamen, led by Wu Tian, ​​entered the military camp.

When the local militia saw the three or four tiled houses and the dilapidated temple in the military camp, they immediately started shouting.

"Why is this military camp so small?"

"With so many of us, how are we going to stay? Where is Corporal Li? We need to see Corporal Li."

Wu Tian immediately snapped, "Stop making a racket! Do you think you can just see Corporal Li whenever you want? Wait here. Corporal Li is out on business and will be back soon."

Just then, Li Tian and Chen Jing walked in from outside, chatting and laughing. Li Tian was carrying a deer on his back, and Chen Jing was carrying two gray rabbits in his hands.

It turned out that the two of them had just gone hunting.

"Li Wuzhang".

"It's Corporal Li, Corporal Li is here."

The newly arrived village militiamen were immediately excited.

Seeing so many newcomers, Li Tian was very excited and chuckled, "Folks, you've all arrived!"

"Yes, Corporal Li, we're here to be blacksmith apprentices as you requested."

Some people greeted Li Tian, ​​while others complained.

"But you don't even have a place to stay, what are we going to do?"

"There's still grain, Corporal Li. You don't see much grain here. We're all farmers, you can't lie to us."

Li Tian smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, folks. There are mountains behind our camp. We can cut down the trees on the mountain and build our own houses there."

"We can build a blacksmith's furnace in the open space behind the camp."

There's a saying that goes, "Self-reliance leads to abundance."

"We'll rely on ourselves!"

"As for food, don't worry, you will see plenty of food in three days."