Inside the tent, the generals were gathered around the sand table, but no one noticed Lin Zhao entering with Cen Daoxi.

Several braziers were placed in the tent, and Lin Zhao immediately felt the warmth on her face as her frozen hands and feet began to thaw.

With just one glance, she spotted Lin Yao, but he was standing close to Chu Chengji, so Lin Zhao didn’t want to attract too much attention.

Instead, she found a corner to stand in.

The generals from Lianqin’s side were discussing in front of the sand table. “In these several battles for the city, every time we managed to fend off the fierce attacks from the Northern Barbarians and they seemed to retreat, they would suddenly launch another assault. After several rounds, our soldiers on the city walls were all exhausted.”

As Lin Yao arrived earlier in Northern Territory.

Lin Yao had fought against the Northern Barbarians once he arrived at Beiting, he knew that they often used feigned retreats.

If it hadn’t been for Lianqin’s prior advice warning him not to be careless even if he saw the enemy retreating, he would have fallen for the Northern Barbarians’ trap.

Lin Yao said, “With the Northern Barbarians using this tactic, our soldiers defending the city don’t know whether they’re feigning retreat or truly being repelled. Every time the Northern Barbarians turn back to attack again, our soldiers’ morale drops.”

Because the soldiers on the city walls didn’t know when this would end, they began to feel exhausted and anxious, greatly reducing their combat effectiveness.

Chu Chengji pondered, “Aoying?”

With just one mention of “Aoying,” Chu Chengji hit the nail on the head regarding the Northern Barbarians’ tactics.

Lin Yao recalled the previous defense battle he led and said with a frustrated expression, “Indeed, those Northern Barbarians always make us believe that we’re about to win, only to turn back even more ferociously. Many of our soldiers are starting to hesitate when facing the Northern Barbarians in battle.”

In battles, it’s crucial to maintain momentum.

By using such tactics, the Northern Barbarians undermined their morale, leaving shadows in the minds of some soldiers.

After all, seeing hope extinguished time and time again can shake even Lin Yao’s composure during command, not to mention the lower-ranked soldiers.

Seeing that Chu Chengji had pinpointed the root of the problem, Marquis Lianqin asked, “Does Your Highness have a strategy to counter them?”

Chu Chengji’s lips curled up slightly, and his slender fingers lightly tapped the edge of the sand table. “To defeat the enemy, one must use their tactics against them. The Xie Family’s Iron Cavalry has fought against the Northern Barbarians for decades and is evenly matched. Since the Northern Barbarians want to use the Aoying tactic to break our morale, when they attack the city again, we can let the soldiers on the city walls pretend to be exhausted. Then, when the Northern Barbarians attack with full force, we can suppress their momentum. With the strength of the defenses at Qiangliu Pass, attacking the city is harder than defending it.”

After the people in the tent exchanged glances, they realized the brilliance of Chu Chengji’s proposed tactic and couldn’t help but feel ecstatic.

Marquis Lianqin had long heard of Chu Chengji’s strategic brilliance, but now he truly appreciated it, sighing, “Your Highness’s expertise in military strategy is beyond our reach.”

Chu Chengji’s tone was modest but carried an aura of imperial nobility. “Marquis, you are too modest.”

The reason why the Northern Barbarians were able to undermine the morale of the soldiers at Qiangliu Pass lay in their well-planned tactics.

After launching one round of attacks, they would make the defenders believe they were retreating, only to launch another fierce assault.

The joy of victory would quickly turn into intense anxiety for the defenders.

With such tricks repeated several times, the soldiers at Qiangliu Pass didn’t know which time would be the true victory over the Northern Barbarians.

Their physical and mental exhaustion made it difficult to maintain their morale.

Meanwhile, on the Northern Barbarians’ side, one army feigned retreat while another launched a surprise attack, allowing the soldiers to rest and maintain their vigor.

Chu Chengji’s proposed counterattack aimed to let the soldiers at Qiangliu Pass adopt the Northern Barbarians’ tactics, turning the tables on them.

If they wanted to play with morale, then everyone would play together.

Qiangliu Pass is the northernmost gateway of Great Chu. Over the past few decades, its defenses have been continuously strengthened, making the walls higher and thicker.

The military provisions inside the city are more than sufficient. Compared to the Northern Barbarians’ attacking tactics, they have the upper hand in defending the city.

With a direction for counterattack established, that night, the generals and staff officers discussed detailed strategies.

Lin Yao didn’t realize Lin Zhao was there until the meeting was over.

He picked up the hot tea brought by his attendant and drank two bowls before noticing Lin Zhao sitting in the corner.

Seeing that the general and his advisors were leaving in groups, Lin Yao couldn’t help but ask in a stern tone, “When did you come over? Didn’t I tell you to stay at home and recover?”

Lin Zhao knew her brother’s stern expression was out of concern for her injuries.

Knowing this, she straightened her neck and replied, “I had to see Wang Biao.”

Lin Yao was helpless when it came to her.

He sighed heavily.

Wang Biao, seeing Lin Yao not around, glanced around and saw him with Lin Zhao in the corner.

He walked over with wide steps. “Brother.”

Seeing Lin Zhao looking somewhat exhausted, just as before, he showed his concern, “I heard that Miss Lin suffered a serious injury. How are you feeling now?”

When Lin Zhao heard him speak, she couldn’t hold back her emotions.

Her eyes quickly turned red, “Brother Wang Biao, I’m sorry, it’s because of Aunt Wang…”

As soon as Aunt Wang was mentioned, Wang Biao also felt uncomfortable, but he still smiled and interrupted Lin Zhao, “Miss Lin apologizing to me? My mother treated Miss Lin like her own daughter, protecting her and guarding Beiting.

She left feeling relieved.

His Highness posthumously bestowed my mother the Title of Captain, and the people of Liangyan Mountain even made a statue for her.

The fortune-teller said that my mother, in the afterlife, will either become a goddess in heaven or be reborn into a wealthy family.

I’m happy for my mother. Miss Lin should be happy too. Otherwise, my mother would be reluctant to leave us and wouldn’t reincarnate into that wealthy family.”

Tears welled up in Lin Zhao’s eyes, but she held them back firmly, “Okay, I’ll be happy and let Aunt Wang rest assured.”

Wang Biao forced a smile, “That’s the way. Miss Lin, recover from your injuries. When you’re better, we’ll chop off the head of that Northern Barbarian prince!”

Lin Zhao nodded vigorously, “I will definitely kill that barbarian to avenge Aunt Wang!”

Not far away, Cen Daoxi glanced at the three people talking in the corner, shook his folding fan, and walked away.

As expected by Chu Chengji, in the following days, soldiers from Jianghuai fell ill one after another.

Due to the previous epidemic in Jianghuai, many soldiers were anxious, but fortunately, the number of sick soldiers was not large, and with the treatment of medical officers, it was just common colds.

After Chu Chengji led the troops northward and fought the first battle against the Northern Barbarians, it began.

The Northern Barbarians were most skilled in cavalry archery.

The Xie family army had gained experience from years of fighting with the Northern Barbarians and knew better than to engage in open-field battles with their cavalry.

When besieging a city, the Northern Barbarians preferred to use their cavalry as the vanguard.

To first suppress the Northern Barbarians’ morale, Chu Chengji ordered the setting up of ambushes outside Qiangliu Pass.

Every ten miles, deep trenches were dug with sharp stakes planted at the bottom.

In conjunction with the trenches were bed crossbows, similar to those used against the troops of Huaiyang Wang outside Minzhou City. Any Northern Barbarian cavalry within the range of the bed crossbows would be shot into sieves.

As the Northern Barbarian cavalry advanced towards Qiangliu Pass, the Chu army used bed crossbows to kill a small group of soldiers and horses, which undoubtedly enraged the Northern Barbarians.

The Northern Barbarian Prince Kadan ordered one cavalry unit to lure the enemy while sending two other units to flank from the sides.

However, the Chu army did not linger in battle but instead withdrew, pushing the bed crossbows back.

As the Northern Barbarians chased them, they poured oil and set fire to the bed crossbows.

The Northern Barbarian cavalry thought the enemy was fleeing in panic and chased after them joyfully.

As they reached the trap of trenches, they fell into the hollow ground covered with branches and straw, hidden beneath the snow.

The bodies of Northern Barbarian soldiers and horses impaled by the sharp spikes at the bottom of the trenches turned the trenches into death traps, causing heavy casualties.

Kadan gritted his teeth in hatred, “That Crown Prince Chu does have some skills, but these tricks won’t work when attacking the city!”

His tactic was not to attack the city but to attack the enemy’s morale.

In the middle of the battle, through repeated feigned retreats and fierce attacks, he instilled despair and a desire to retreat in the enemy, creating psychological shadows.

In the previous battle where Kadan almost killed Lian Qinhou, he had already shattered the morale of the defenders of Qiangliu Pass with the Aoying tactic.

Later, when Great Chu reinforced with thirty thousand troops, he employed the same tactics, continuing to toy with the army that came from Jianghuai.

This kind of tactic didn’t necessarily kill many enemy soldiers, and the commander might even feel lucky, thinking it was a narrow victory.

Little did they know that Kadan was actually instilling fear and psychological pressure intentionally to the soldiers, retreating on purpose to let that fear ferment among the enemy forces.

When attacking the city again, the enemy’s army would be like loose sand.

When the Northern Barbarian army crossed the last trench and was less than five miles from Qiangliu Pass, a scout had already sent the news back to the pass.

Chu Chengji personally supervised the battle on the city tower, with Lin Yao and Lian Qinhou by his side.

The city tower was extremely high, and Lin Yao saw a vast expanse of snowy plains in the distance, with a dense mass of soldiers and horses appearing, vaguely able to see the wolf head totem on the banners.

He whispered, “They’re here.”

Chu Chengji stood at a battlement, his fox fur coat fluttering in the wind, the vast snowy landscape reflected in his eyes, making his eyes even paler. “They will use the tactic of Aoying warfare to attack the city. Prepare below to cooperate with Kadan’s performance.”

Lin Yao took the command to deploy and command the army.

The first wave of the Northern Barbarians’ attack on the city was not particularly fierce, merely advancing with shield walls to protect siege towers and ladders.

On the Chu side, not only did they use arrow rain to suppress, but they also rolled out small catapults to throw boulders at the shield walls within short range.

Although the arrows might not penetrate the shield walls, the hundred or so pound boulders falling from the sky would knock down a Northern Barbarian soldier holding a thick shield, exposing a gap in the shield wall.

The archers on the city tower would not miss the opportunity, and a dense rain of arrows would shoot towards that spot, turning the unprotected Northern Barbarian soldiers into sieves.

The loss of the Northern Barbarian soldiers and horses near the city tower was not light.

When they reached the bottom of the city tower, only a few dozen men remained.

Kadan quickly feigned a retreat, and the Chu army on the city tower erupted into cheers.

Kadan, watching the jubilant Chu army on the siege tower, knew that the enemy had fallen into the trap, sneered, and said, “Let them laugh for now. They’ll be crying later.”

When the Northern Barbarians turned to launch the second wave of attack, the assault from the Chu army on the city tower was indeed not as fierce as before, seemingly somewhat exhausted.

The Northern Barbarians rejoiced and rushed forward, but just as they reached the bottom of the city tower, ladders were placed on the city wall, and buckets of oil were poured down, igniting a fire.

The archers on the city tower fired arrows, turning the area below into a sea of flames.

The second wave of attack by the Northern Barbarians was not a feigned retreat but a genuine defeat.

Kadan vaguely felt something was wrong, but now that the arrow was on the string, he had to release it.

He had to recall the troops from the second wave of attack and let another rested unit continue the siege.

The difference between a feigned retreat and being driven back was that the former was a tactical retreat, while the latter was a genuine defeat and retreat.

Obviously, the attacking Northern Barbarian troops belonged to the latter.

They thought they were about to lose, but the Chu army on the city tower, which seemed tired a moment ago, suddenly erupted in renewed vigor, beating the just-roused Northern Barbarian army to near annihilation.

As the battle dragged on, the Northern Barbarian soldiers began to hesitate to approach the gates of Qiangliu Pass.

The siege seemed to never end.

Seeing his soldiers growing weak in the attack on the city, Kadan, however slow, realized that he had been outsmarted by the forces of Great Chu.

He was furious but had no choice but to grit his teeth and order a retreat.

The Northern Barbarian soldiers fled like defeated dogs, leaving a relieved atmosphere among the defenders of Qiangliu Pass, who cheered and celebrated.

Lin Yao and Wang Biao both volunteered to pursue and annihilate the Northern Barbarian army.

Chu Chengji said, “If we cannot capture Kadan alive when we reach the desert, we must not pursue further.”

The desert terrain was complex, and the Northern Barbarians were more familiar with it than they were.

Pursuing into the desert was likely to fall into the Northern Barbarians’ trap.

Both of them agreed.

Lin Yao and Wang Biao led ten thousand troops to chase the retreating enemy.

The previous defensive battles at Qiangliu Pass had been difficult, but this time they finally had a chance to fight back against the Northern Barbarians.

From generals to soldiers, everyone’s morale soared.

However, as Lin Yao and Wang Biao went on, by nightfall, they had not returned.

Torches were lit around the military camp, and Chu Chengji sat in his tent reading reports.

When a soldier lit the candlestick beside him, Chu Chengji asked, “What time is it now?”

The soldier replied, “It’s already past the hour of Shen.”

Chu Chengji frowned and put down the report in his hand. “Has General Lin not sent any news back?”

The soldier shook his head.

Chu Chengji’s expression turned cold.

At that moment, an urgent report came from outside the tent, “Your Highness, the troops who pursued the Northern Barbarian Prince have returned.”

Chu Chengji’s expression eased slightly. “Let General Lin come to see me immediately.”

The soldier delivering the message trembled slightly. “General Lin… hasn’t come back.”

A moment later, a junior officer who had followed Lin Yao in the pursuit was summoned to Chu Chengji’s presence.

The officer choked up as he spoke, “General Lin led us to pursue and intercept the Northern Barbarian Prince, but he still managed to escape to the desert.

The Northern Barbarian Prince taunted us, saying that he would capture Captain Lin and make her his concubine after breaking through the city gates in the next attack.

General Wang, enraged, went after him alone.

General Lin, to save General Wang, took only a dozen riders into the desert, and asked us to return to report.”

“I was worried, so I kept men waiting at the original location. Seeing that General Lin and General Wang did not return, I led the men into the desert to search, but found no trace of General Lin and the others.

It was dark and we didn’t dare venture deep into the desert, so we came back.”

Although they had repelled the Northern Barbarians, if they were to lose two valiant generals in succession, it could hardly be called a victory.

Chu Chengji’s face was stern.

After waving for the junior officer to leave, he ordered someone to go to Lian Qinhou and ask for help in finding some soldiers familiar with the desert, to search for Lin Yao and Wang Biao along with the scouts.

The soldiers from Jianghuai brought by him were unfamiliar with the desert, while those under Lian Qinhou were mostly natives of Beiting, among whom were many who were familiar with the terrain outside the pass.