60: Chapter 60 The Fierce Military Flag, Post-War Summary

Zhao Feng stood on the city wall with a grave expression, a small black flag floating before him, emitting faint, eerie light.

The screams of the Halberdiers made the muscles on his face twitch. Although these Halberdiers would be reborn from the barracks again, that was a Rebirth without their previous memories, and the connections to their past were completely severed; they had still lost their former friends and family.

But he could not intervene. Under his protection, these soldiers would never grow.

"Meng, can the reinforcements be dispatched yet?"

"The cavalry is scouting. We need to ensure there are no more Corpse Beasts in the distance."

Every time a Halberdier fell in battle, a wisp of black Qi entered the small flag, making it appear more spirited.

Meng watched the desperate slaughter below, unmoved. Only brutal, intense battles could cultivate stronger soldiers and a stronger army!

"Lightning Spell!" The White-robed Warlock waved his bamboo staff, and bolts of ferocious lightning emitted ear-piercing roars within the herd, with dense sparks jumping about as large numbers of Corpse Beasts perished.

The White-robed Warlock was worthy of the title of an Advanced unit.

Once the Halberdiers were engaged at close quarters by the Corpse Beasts, they lost their combat effectiveness, and the swordsmen quickly approached to replace them.

The herd charged over, first having to break through the obstacles of pits and three layers of caltrops, and only then reaching the Halberdier formation. After breaking through the Halberdier blockade, their momentum had completely vanished, leaving no sufficient distance to accelerate.

The swordsmen wore full leather armor, with bronze plates inlaid at vital points, providing strong defense. They rushed forward, thrusting their sharp swords with force.

"Kill!" The wide-bladed short swords, less than a meter long, viciously stabbed into the eye sockets of the Corpse Beasts. The swordsmen gave a forceful twist, and the Corpse Beasts collapsed with a thud.

A comrade nearby rose to fight, pushing him away with force just as a giant Rhino Beast trampled past.

Looking at his fallen comrade, the swordsman's eyes turned blood-red. He leapt with all his might onto the back of the Rhino Beast, stabbing his short sword into its eye socket. The other swordsmen of his squad swarmed over, and in a few quick strokes, they killed the Rhino Beast.

The swordsmen organized into squads of five to surround and kill the Corpse Beasts. Although they suffered significant losses, the results were remarkable.

"All troops, attack!" On the city wall, seeing that the time was ripe, Meng waved his command flag.

Two cavalry squads rushed out from behind the city wall, charging in from the flank. The Archers' arrows flew like locusts, and the Warlocks' Spells roared...

"A mediocre victory!"

"Casualties: 31 Halberdiers, 25 swordsmen."

"Results: 345 Corpse Beasts eliminated. The remaining soldiers need to rest; the strength of all troops has increased."

Zhao Feng silently put away the System notification. He had underestimated the combat power of the Corpse Beasts, causing the Qin Army to suffer heavy losses.

The wounded soldiers were gathered for treatment by the monks, and all melee soldiers came before the Bodhi Spirit Tree to cleanse the corpse Qi. Some Farmers were dispatched to clean the battlefield and bury the corpses.

After the nearby Corpse Beasts were cleared away, no large-scale groups of Corpse Beasts came to disturb them again, and the Farmers could build and plant in peace.

In the newly built barracks, the high-ranking officials of Qin City were conducting a post-battle reflection.

The blazing torches emitted an orange light that shone on the faces of Zhao Feng and the others, making their expressions look flickering and uncertain.

"I take responsibility!" After a moment of silence, Zhao Feng suddenly said.

"We deserve to die!" The generals seated below were shocked. The saying goes that if the master is humiliated, the subjects should die; having already developed a sense of Rank, hearing this was like a bolt from the blue for them.

Zhao Feng waved his hand and said, "After the previous battle at Beast Control Pass, I underestimated the strength of the Corpse Beasts, which caused heavy casualties among the soldiers today. Tonight's meeting is not to assign blame, but to find the weaknesses of the Corpse Beasts so we can deal with them more easily."

"City Lord, allow me to offer a few humble remarks first." Meng stood up and said loudly, "The Corpse Beasts have no intelligence and only know how to charge in groups. We cannot go head-to-head with them. I believe the pits and caltrops used today played a very significant role."

"That's right, City Lord. If it weren't for the pits and caltrops, our Halberdiers would not have been able to block the Corpse Beasts' charge." A guard general stood up and said loudly. He had been commanding the battle below the city wall and remembered it vividly.

"Small Corpse Beasts are more threatening; half of today's casualties were caused by the influence of small Corpse Beasts," another guard general stood up and said.

Iron Feather General Gu also stood up and bowed, saying, "City Lord, the Archers are struggling to deal with the Corpse Beasts. I ask that the City Lord research fire arrows as soon as possible." Iron Feather General was the commander of a regiment and was already a high-ranking officer in Qin City. Above him, only Meng, as the Legion Commander, the Copper Wing General, held a higher position.

Zhao Feng understood Gu's opinion. Without fire arrows, Archers were indeed struggling to deal with these lifeless monsters.

"Good, everyone's ideas are quite good. Meng, summarize them and come up with the best methods as soon as possible to reduce our casualties."

"Yes, City Lord."

In the barracks, soldiers began to be replenished gradually. It would only take one night for the troops to be fully restored and continue the campaign.

The night passed without incident. 100 Farmers worked through the night, finally completing the construction of this small fortress. This fortress had four towering arrow towers, was firmly protected by city walls on all sides, and had city gates for entry and exit, making it a small city in its own right.

The fortress contained a market, a warehouse, and barracks, sufficient to replenish the consumption of the garrison troops. The Bodhi Spirit Tree in the center continuously exerted its purifying power, allowing the soil in the vicinity to gradually recover.

After leaving behind a portion of the garrison, the main army continued its campaign. Zhao Feng, however, rode the Cloud-Soaring Sparrow and returned to Qin City.

Meng and the other generals all needed training. As for construction, as long as the direction was planned, there was Wu, the Prime Minister of Qin City, to handle it, so he did not need to worry.

Resources were constantly being consumed in large quantities, and he could not help with that aspect, so he might as well take this opportunity to properly improve his own strength.

He exercised his Martial Skill every day, and it was slowly improving. For his Steel Body, since there was no sunlight, he could only rely on the True Qi within his body for help.

Zhao Feng sat cross-legged on a bamboo mat, entering a state of introspection.

His spiritual power was slightly stronger than it had been a few days ago, but the growth was not significant; this was a slow, grinding process. Zhao Feng continued to control his spiritual power to scour the small grey particles within his body in microscope mode.

Faint white radiance and black divine light intertwined, and wisps of Impurities were washed out of his body, while his Steel Body was also slowly improving.

He did not know how much time had passed, but Zhao Feng felt mentally exhausted and could no longer enter the microscope mode, so he had to continue visualizing the Nine Palaces to restore his mental energy.

Another day passed quickly.

The farmland near Fortress No. 1 had been completed. Because of the Spirit Tree, it was already possible to plant crops and trees nearby. The plan was proceeding on schedule.

Calm days passed by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the day agreed upon with the Mad Wolf Tribe was approaching.

The expeditionary army had also returned. All eight planned fortresses were completed, and the auxiliary farmland, forests, roads, and other infrastructure had also been completed according to the plan.

Next, he would have to face the orders coming from the Mad Wolf Tribe.

Since the Mad Wolf Tribe was using a mobilization order, there would inevitably be major actions, and the dispatched troops would be in great danger, so they must have sufficient self-preservation capability.

This time, fighting outside must also establish the reputation of Qin City. Conquering and making other tribes submit could earn transformation points; if Zhao Feng wanted to plant a planet tree, he had to embark on the path of unifying the world.

Let's start establishing that reputation with this mobilization order.

There was one last day left, so he would exchange for scarce supplies at the market and recruit quickly.