The commander of the Second Cavalry regiment of Beishuo City, Chen Xi, spoke out in agreement, “Whoever made this plan is humiliating us Yan Bei warriors! We need war! We want to fight the enemy fair and square!”

　　“Indeed!” The various tribe leader shouted excitedly, “Yan Bei men are all brave souls! We will not hide from the enemy!”

　　Chu Qiao was overwhelmed with a sense of nausea from their attitudes. She had just seen the mess beyond the city gates, and with them blabbering their ill-informed decisions non-stop, she felt nothing but annoyance. Lifting up her head, her sharp gaze glanced at the various commanders, and she solemnly informed, “The plan was made by me. What issues do you have with it?”

　　The crowd instantly quietened down. After the last ten days, no one dared to question this young lady anymore. In just a few days, she had reorganized the entire military structure and revolutionized the administration behind the entire headquarters. Through that, the efficiency of the management had been greatly increased. Moreover, she created this magical red color stone which she named “brick”. Although it was not as sturdy as stone, it would allow for the construction of forts at an unprecedented speed. To increase the strength of the city walls, she brought over large amounts of ice from the nearby Chishui river, and with that she built a second city wall that was over 30 feet in height With that, not only had the city had been fortified, but it became almost impossible for the enemy to scale the city walls. Using her extraordinary military prowess, she had created large amounts of traps and ditches outside of the city. As of now, the entire city of Beishuo had been turned into an impregnable fort, completely unlike how weakly defended it had been originally.

　　Indeed, even if anyone was unsatisfied with her, no one would dare to speak out directly. Especially when she had accomplished yet another task of settling the refugee problem.

　　“I have some issues,” a deep voice suddenly boomed. Everyone turned their gazes at the source of the voice—the representative of the vanguard of the Second Army.

　　Xue Zhiyuan coldly stared at Chu Qiao, while grimly stating, “For this one battle, we prepared for eight years. In these eight years, we worked nonstop, recruiting men and talent, stockpiling weapons, training soldiers in secret. We will never forget the humiliation of Huolei Plains. The Huoyun flowers that grew atop our predecessor are still blooming; they are waiting for us to take revenge and wash away our humiliation. Yet, we have quietly waited for eight years and only ended up becoming cowards?” His melancholic and frigid gaze even turned to Yan Xun, who was sitting in the center seat. With a freezing tone, he questioned, “What happened to the fearless attitude of the Yan family? Has the grandiosity of the royal capital scorched Your Highness’ bones?”

　　The moment he finished his sentence, the entire meeting room sank into a deafening silence. Wearing a jet-black robe, with his expression calm and collected, Yan Xun raised an eyebrow upon hearing that speech. His gaze swept past Xue Zhiyuan, and the corners of his lips curled upwards slightly. Softly, he chuckled, except the sound he made was absolutely devoid of humor, and sent chills down everyone’s spine.

　　Sitting near him, the Vice Commander of the Second Army, Yu Xin, abruptly stood up, and anxiously said, “Zhiyuan’s personality has always been brash, but I beseech Your Highness to pardon his words, as he always thinks of the country.”

　　The mayor of Beishuo, Xia An, also stood up, and pleaded for Xue Zhiyuan, “General Xue’s words may not have been phrased appropriately. He has good intentions for Yan Bei’s current war. Your Highness, please let him off this time in consideration of his loyalty and achievements for Yan Bei.”

　　With that, the other generals all stood up and pleaded for Xue Zhiyuan, the only exception being the representative of the First Army. His expression was a mix of feelings, as though he could not decide what he should do.

　　“General Xue is straightforward with his words, and that is something I like.” Yan Xun’s eyes curled into a smile, and calmly pacified everyone, “Gentlemen, please take your seat. Everyone here has contributed greatly to Yan Bei, being able to gain your assistance, I, Yan Xun, should feel honored. How can I punish someone? In the first place, General Xue was merely describing his thoughts and was not being disrespectful to me. What mistake was there in the first place? General Xue, am I right?”

　　Yan Xun’s tone was flat, and his eyes were frigid, hiding the sharp gaze underneath. Hearing this question, General Xue had no choice but to stand up and reply with deference, “Your Highness is truly wise. This warrior is clumsy with words and did not know how to express myself. I had no intentions of being disrespectful to your highness. I beseech your understanding.”

　　With that, the group sang praises to Yan Xun’s wisdom before anxiously returning to their seats. But General Xue had not sat down. Instead, he turned around and faced Chu Qiao. Grimly, he inquired, “As for my question just now, may I implore Master Chu to enlighten me?”

　　With that said, even Yu Xin, who was from the Second Army, started frowning. Just now, General Xue had shown contempt to Yan Xun. Despite Yan Xun not minding, General Xue still persisted. Ultimately, Yan Xun was still the spiritual leader of Yan Bei. If this fiasco continued, it might turn out rather badly for the Second Army.

　　But before he could stand up to speak, Chu Qiao had already stood up. With a frosty expression, Chu Qiao gazed at General Xue indifferently, and calmly replied, “General Xue, I did not think that the one who would end up asking this childish question would be you. It is truly regretful.”

　　Xue Zhiyuan’s gaze froze. Just as he was about to counter, Chu Qiao’s expression turned rigid, and she solemnly declared, “War is not simple arithmetic! In a regular battle, the strength of the two armies will not simply be determined by the difference in manpower! There are many decisive factors, and manpower is merely one of them! Other factors include the morale of soldiers, individual strength, the overall capability of the army, the quality of weapons, the accuracy of their intel, the speed at which messages can be delivered, the capabilities of the general commanding the battle, the experience of the soldiers fighting a battle, and even the terrain, and reinforcements and logistics. All these are enough to create decisive impacts on a battle. Purely using manpower to discuss victory, and merely discussing prospects of victory using the ratio of fielded manpower is something that only the uninitiated strategist would do!”

　　The disdainful chiding was like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone’s heads. Her speech just now had clearly included almost everyone that was present. Vice-General Chen Xi snorted and stood up. “So all of us are novices at strategy, and only Master Chu is a master strategist, right? Having fought in Yan Bei for over ten years, you are the first I have seen to be so arrogant.”

　　“History has already told us, those who always speak about their past achievements never have any future. What’s more, some people’s past achievements may not be worth remembering in the first place.” Mercilessly Chu Qiao shot down his acrid remark, and continued, “I implore that everyone here is to objectively understand our situation here! We are not facing one battle. Victory in one battle would be of little impact to the entire stage. To the Xia Empire, we are but a breakaway province. They have control over the entire Hongchuan plains. They could always send hundreds of thousands, or even millions of troops at us. If Zhen Huang City gives the mobilization order, they could muster a hundred thousand troops in two days. As for us? We are going toe to toe with such an empire while putting the survival of our entire country on the line! Victory means continued survival, while defeat meant total annihilation. We do not fear death, but we cannot die without any value. A localized victory has absolutely no impact on the entire war. This victory here in Beishuo, what we must achieve is not just a strategic victory, but to grab an opportunity to tilt the scales of war to our favor!”

　　Clenching her fist, Chu Qiao swung it in front of herself. With an unwavering gaze, she declared, “What we need is not merely to defeat the Xia army in one or two battles. What we need is to drag them to our pace, exhaust them, and strike them deep in their heart, and bestow upon them utter destruction!”

　　At this point, Yan Xun stood up and grimly stated, “Gentlemen, AhChu is right. In this battle of Beishuo, what we must achieve is not just one simple victory, but to maximize the destruction of the enemy while preserving our strength. This is a battle of life and death. The survival of Yan Bei will be within everyone’s hands.”

　　Calmly looking at everyone, Yan Xun’s iris seemed deep like the sea, with waves of passion and fighting spirit roaring within. Facing everyone, Yan Xun bowed, to the shock of everyone present.

　　Following that, Yan Honghuan kneeled onto the ground, while declaring, “I will follow Your Highness!”

　　With that, the entire meeting room followed suit and kneeled down, proclaiming “I will follow Your Highness!”

　　The winds were still strong, as though bringing news of the arrival of the Xia army. Standing in front of the gates of Beishuo, Chu Qiao faced the 3,000 vanguards of the First Guangfu army along with the 20,000 soldiers from Black Eagle Army. Yan Xun stood in front of the massive columns, fully armored, and wearing a black overcoat. The cold air brushed against his hair, further bringing out his well-defined features. Looking at him, Chu Qiao suddenly felt slightly cold, as she lightly pursed her lips as though she wanted to speak. Her throat tightened, and ultimately, no voice came out. It was as though all words that were supposed to be spoken had already been said, and only an intense worry and reluctance to part remained.

　　“Let me go with you.” She still said this sentence out after much hesitation. Even though she knew it would not happen, she still tugged at Yan Xun’s sleeves.

　　“AhChu, be obedient.” Yan Xun held her hand, and blew in her palms to warm her up, before gently caressing her hand. “The Meilin Pass is located over a thousand miles away, and with the uncertain weather and your poor health, how can I allow you to travel for so long? In the first place, I need someone I can trust to manage the situation here, and transmit any news to me as soon as anything happens. The Xia Empire will not head over here quickly, and Beishuo will not become the main battlefield anytime soon. Later, I will send someone to escort you to Lan City in the backlines. Lady Yu is stationed there. You will be safe there, and only then will I feel at ease.”

　　This conversation had been repeated countless times the night before, and Chu Qiao also knew that requesting to follow him would not change his mind. Yet, she still felt disappointed, as she pouted and lowered her head in silence.

　　“Your Highness, it is time to set off,” AhJing walked up and quietly informed them.

　　“Wait a while.” Yan Xun lifted his head up with an extremely unhappy expression. “Can’t you see that I am currently discussing important military matters with Master Chu?”

　　AhJing had clearly stepped on a landmine there, as he quickly apologized and skulked away from the “important military discussion” that the Yan King and Master Chu were having.

　　“AhChu, do not be stubborn. I will be back in at most one month.” Yan Xun bent his back and lowered his head to a level lower than Chu Qiao. Gently, he pinched her cheeks. With a gentle smile, he was like a mouse that had just stolen some honey. “I know that AhChu is really amazing. With you around, it would be equivalent to having a dozen regiments, hundreds of strategists. As long as you stand before Meilin Pass, those people would immediately surrender because of your reputation, as all form of defense would be immediately nullified, and those brutes from the Xia Empire would immediately abandon their weapons and bow to your strength. But what can I do? We need you here as well! Without you guarding this front, I cannot sleep well. I hope Master Chu can shed some sympathy for this weak person, and help me to oversee the development of the situation here at Beishuo.”

　　Chu Qiao burst into laughter. She punched onto Yan Xun’s shoulder as she pouted, “Such smooth words.”

　　Yan Xun exaggeratedly heaved a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead before flinging his hand, as though there would really be a huge amount of sweat coming off from his hand. He then said, “Finally, I see the sun after the storm. This was even tougher than fighting a war.”