Gu Qingwan had spent the entire afternoon training them, and only after confirming they had all mastered the basics did she begin dividing them into teams.

There were a total of ninety squads and ten battalions.

Each of the ninety squad leaders would train and manage two hundred people.

Each battalion leader was in charge of nine squads.

As for selecting battalion leaders, Gu Qingwan had to handpick them herself — they no longer had the luxury of holding competitions or elections.

“Rong Yunfei, Meng Xingzhou, Zhang Kui, Jin Zhengyang, Li Baojiang, Tian Yi, Di Wu, Zheng Shaofei, Chen Liang, Wei Cheng — the ten of you will serve as battalion commanders. Each of you will oversee nine squads. You can divide the squads among yourselves, but once assigned, no changes are allowed.”

Tian Yi and Di Wu were young officers she had trained personally.

She had renamed over thirty people using characters from the Thousand Character Classic to make it easier to remember.

Tian Yi and Di Wu were the oldest among them and the most skilled — more importantly, they were clever.

That’s why Gu Qingwan chose them to serve as battalion leaders.

As for Zheng Shaofei, Chen Liang, and Wei Cheng, they had stood out during the elimination matches. Gu Qingwan had observed their performance during the competitions and thought highly of them, so she selected them as well.

After assigning the tasks, Gu Qingwan had them return to divide their squads.

Once that was done, they could bring their teams over to collect repeating crossbows and return to continue training.

The production of repeating crossbows was still limited, so each squad could only receive twenty for practice at this stage.

Zhao Zhuo also thought Gu Qingwan’s weapon production was progressing too slowly, so he helped her recruit more blacksmiths and carpenters.

Perhaps because the commotion in Suzhou City was so intense, the surrounding prefectures had already caught wind of it.

However, most of the officials appointed in the northern cities were under Beichen Yuan’s control.

So even if trouble arose, no one would leak it to outsiders — on the contrary, they would likely help cover it up.

“Milord! Bad news! Yanzhou City is under attack again — hundreds of thousands of enemy troops have it completely surrounded. The city may not survive this time!”

When the news reached the government office, Zhao Zhuo was busy setting up Suzhou’s defenses.

Although he knew the Battle King wasn’t one to abandon a city, with such a huge disparity in numbers, all he could do was prepare.

Suzhou City had only five thousand garrison troops and three thousand government soldiers.

Even if they added in the militia, it totaled just over twenty thousand.

The Battle King’s thirty thousand elite Northern Army troops couldn’t even hold Yanzhou City — how could their small force hope to stop the enemy?

But resistance was still better than waiting for death.

In recent days, many civilians and merchants had begun leaving Suzhou City.

Zhao Zhuo didn’t stop them — no one wanted to stay and die. On the other hand, those who had nowhere else to go — the refugees — remained.

Perhaps they knew leaving would also mean death.

Beichen Yuan had estimated they could hold out for three days, but thanks to Gu Qingwan’s weapons, they managed two extra days.

Although it was only two more days, that time allowed her to fully equip every soldier with a repeating crossbow — even the war chariots, over three hundred of them, were ready. Now, only the arrows and giant bolts for the war chariots were still in urgent production.

Aside from those, Gu Qingwan had also prepared for the worst — she managed to produce a batch of “Thunder Bombs” and grenades.

Although there were just over a hundred made so far, it was enough to intimidate the Northern Rong.

Because the formulas were top secret, Gu Qingwan couldn’t outsource the task.

Instead, she had Lu Wenguang lead a group of village men to work in the breeding farm to produce them.

Since these weapons were dangerous to make, Gu Qingwan repeatedly reminded them to be extremely cautious.

She was afraid they didn’t understand the danger, so she took them far away to test a sample.

They thought she meant the weapon might just injure someone — they didn’t expect it to be powerful enough to obliterate everything nearby.

One explosion had such impact — what if a hundred went off at once?

They didn’t dare imagine. But having witnessed it, they became much more careful in their work.

Gu Qingwan stored the completed Thunder Bombs and grenades into her dimensional space.

Suzhou City had been sealed off for two days already, and now on the fifth day, Gu Qingwan’s anxiety grew stronger.

Her militia had long been ready for battle, but no news had come.

While no news might be good news, Gu Qingwan couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

She used the token Zhao Zhuo gave her to enter the city, and after meeting him at the government office, she felt even more worried.

“Lord Zhao, do you have any news? How is the battle at Yanzhou City?”

She had already sent people to investigate, but they hadn’t returned — she couldn’t wait any longer.

Zhao Zhuo’s expression was grave, eyes full of sorrow. “The Northern Army has suffered heavy casualties. His Highness has led charges out of the city many times and is seriously wounded. I fear Yanzhou City won’t last past today.”

“Why didn’t he fall back to Suzhou City?” Gu Qingwan felt like a boulder had lodged in her chest.

Zhao Zhuo gave a bitter smile. “Retreat? He’s the War King — the War God of Great Xia. How could he retreat?”

Yes, of course.

He was Beichen Yuan.

He would never retreat.

“Princess? Where are you going?” Zhao Zhuo saw Gu Qingwan turn and rush out, and quickly followed her a few steps.

Gu Qingwan didn’t answer.

She mounted her horse and rode off swiftly. Watching her bold and decisive figure disappear into the distance, Zhao Zhuo sighed again.

Gu Qingwan returned quickly to the militia garrison, ordered Rong Yunfei to gather all the repeating crossbows, and had the chariots moved to a secluded area — then she stored everything into her spatial space.

She made a stop in Dahe Village to collect all remaining weapons and Thunder Bombs.

Upon learning she planned to support Yanzhou City, Rong Yunfei and Meng Xingzhou insisted on going with her.

Other squad leaders wanted to follow as well, but due to limited horses, Gu Qingwan could only take a dozen of her best men — the rest were ordered to remain in Suzhou City on standby.

Before leaving, Gu Qingwan gave each of them a large bag of grenades — to clear the way into the city if needed.

She had no other choice.

There simply weren’t enough horses. If she brought the militia, they’d be traveling on foot.

Though Suzhou and Yanzhou weren’t far apart, a march would still take a full day.

By then, it might be too late.

So Gu Qingwan had to get the weapons there as fast as possible.

She had always believed that once Beichen Yuan could no longer hold the city, he would retreat to Suzhou. With the help of the Northern Army and her militia, Suzhou City could definitely be defended.

But she didn’t expect Beichen Yuan to have no intention of retreating — he meant to hold Yanzhou to the bitter end.

All the way there, Gu Qingwan cursed him endlessly — frustrated that he never told her his plan.

If she had known, she would’ve gone to support Yanzhou immediately — even without bringing the militia. At the very least, she would’ve stayed by his side to help, rather than sitting in Suzhou waiting like a fool.

Yanzhou City.

From the night raid the previous evening all the way until the afternoon, the city had held on.

But the walls were nearly destroyed by enemy catapults. The walls had been doused with fire oil and set ablaze repeatedly, trying to stop enemies from climbing — but they couldn’t stop flying rocks.

The main gates were battered and on the verge of collapse.

Over ten thousand of the thirty thousand Northern Army soldiers were dead or wounded, yet Beichen Yuan continued to hold the line.

“Your Highness! The north gate has fallen! Enemy forces have entered the city — General Zhenyuan has already led troops to reinforce it!”