Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 381 - 267: Provoking Battle

Chapter 381: Chapter 267: Provoking Battle

The massive army continuously broke camp and marched southward, leaving behind deep ruts and animal hoof prints on the hardened frozen ground.

Before setting off, Li Qingyan summoned her subordinate commanders for a military meeting aimed at the Barbarian Tribes.

Although much was said, in essence, it could be summarized into three words.

Discover, catch up, destroy.

The most crucial among these was the first, discover.

Just like the champion marquis from history before, the difficulty lay not in winning the war, but in finding the main force of the Barbarian Tribes.

Under the lead of the Strange King, although the Barbarian army had been continuously victorious, its strength had significantly diminished compared to when they had initially bypassed Northern Border City from the south.

Many died in Li Qingyan’s surprise attack on the camp, many died in the fierce assault on Northern Border City, and even more perished when they routed the thirty thousand-strong Sect army.

According to Xu Yuan’s words, although the Barbarians were fierce, they had already used more than half of their manpower.

The shortage of manpower forced the Barbarian Tribes to keep winning big victories, to pull off the grand feat of ants devouring an elephant, whereas the affluent Dayan Empire could afford losses but as soon as it wins a battle, the Barbarian Tribes would be utterly doomed.

This was probably the tragedy of the Barbarian Strange King, or the entire Barbarian Tribes.

The days of marching south were busy, but for Xu Yuan, they were quite boring.

It was for the same reason that he, an outsider and an uninvolved bystander, was not qualified to partake in military matters.

However, Li Qingyan became very busy, so much so that she no longer had time to sleep together with him.

A new day dawned,

when Xu Yuan woke from his sleep, he immediately saw Li Qingyan sitting across from him at a simple table, reviewing military reports.

He figured this woman had gone another night without sleep.

Once the war machine started operating at high load, a lot of tasks required the Commander, Li Qingyan, to review and make decisions.

An excellent officer was responsible for much more than simply leading troops in battle.

The marching speed of tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, the marching route, communication with allied forces, the wear and tear of military equipment, and the supply of goods to the grassroots all needed her review.

Rising from the soft couch and rubbing his brows, Xu Yuan drew back the curtains of the carriage window to take a look outside.

The carriage was converted from a military supply beast cart and was very spacious, even larger than the two motorhomes Xu Yuan had in his previous life.

Outside the beast cart, as far as the eye could see, stood the Northern Border Army dressed in white armor.

A hundred or so guards, riding tall demonic horses, escorted the Commander’s beast cart, their armors glistening with a metallic sheen. The friction between the armors of the heavy infantry resounded with a passion-inducing sound. Meanwhile, colossal beast carts loaded with supplies groaned occasionally, leaving thick ruts on the ground.

The journey southward was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

However, compared to the clear skies when they set out, the clouds above had once again condensed, as if ready to bestow their essence upon the mortal world at any moment.

Withdrawing his gaze, Xu Yuan looked at the red-armored woman inside the carriage:

"Where are we now?"

Without lifting her eyes, Li Qingyan softly replied:

"About a hundred or so miles away from Northern Border City."

"What about the Barbarian Tribes?" Xu Yuan asked the question that concerned him most.

Li Qingyan’s Northern Border Army was essentially the vanguard of the allied forces. If an encounter battle was to occur, it would be they, the vanguard, who would first come into contact with the Barbarian Tribes.

Li Qingyan shook her head slightly:

"No sign of them, I have already arranged for flying scouts to work with the Sects’ heavy cavalry to scout the vicinity of Northern Border City. However, it seems the Barbarian King has directly abandoned Northern Border City."

On hearing this, Xu Yuan let out a chuckle:

"How could Northern Border City, with its collapsed northern wall, possibly hold out?"

Finally lifting her eyes, Li Qingyan spoke with a hint of a smile on her lips:

"You had already considered that when you decided to blow up the city wall, hadn’t you?"

Xu Yuan stood and walked over to the opposite side of the simple table, took out a cushion, and sat down:

"No, I simply wanted to use the Barbarians’ blade to chop down the thirty thousand elite troops of the Northern Border Sects. And even if the northern wall was still standing, the Barbarians would not stay and defend Northern Border."

Li Qingyan gently put down the document in her hand and chuckled lightly:

"Yes, without the Cloud Qi Bombs, the Barbarians might have chosen to hold Northern Border City, taking advantage of the blizzard to attack any relief forces outside the city at any time. But with the Cloud Qi Bombs, for them to steadfastly defend Northern Border City would be a death sentence."

But halfway through her speech, Li Qingyan suddenly changed the subject with a slight sigh:

"However, the Barbarian King guessed that we don’t have many Cloud Qi Bombs and has retreated into Dayan Territory, hoping we will exhaust all of them."

A straightforward deduction,

If Dayan had plentiful Cloud Qi Bombs, they would not be proceeding so cautiously but would instead forge ahead, blasting their way southward.

Upon this realization,

Xu Yuan didn’t say a word, simply picking up and glancing at the report Li Qingyan had set aside.

It documented some non-combat casualties from the night before; in simple terms, violent clashes occurred between the defeated Sect troops and others.

After a moment of reflection, Xu Yuan, with furrowed brows, asked:

"The Sects are acting up?"

In an unconcerned tone, Li Qingyan replied:

"It happened last night during the handover of supplies. They complained about the meager rations, and those Border Soldiers are well aware they’ve become expendable. It’s normal for conflicts to arise under such emotions. But none of that is important. As long as we control the supplies, the Sect commanders will figure out their own solutions."

Xu Yuan gave a rueful smile:

"Right, they don’t realize their Sect is doomed. On the surface, they’re still one family. If they chose to rebel, they would simply give the Imperial Court an excuse to act against them."

After a pause,