“Exactly…” Bai Qingyan nodded. “The Tianfeng Kingdom began collecting fur long ago, with a merchant named Cui Fengnian purchasing from various countries and transporting it to Tianfeng. All of you should remember that the people of Xiliang abandoned their farmland for the heavy profits from jade brocade and fur, turning instead to weaving jade brocade… hunting beasts. I heard that during that period, the wild animals in Xiliang were nearly hunted to extinction.”

“This is… they were prepared long in advance!” Dong Qingping clenched his fist, feeling inevitable worry in his heart. Elephants were massive creatures – if they truly used giant elephants clad in iron armor to attack the city, the city gates would certainly be unable to withstand the assault.

“I summoned the five of you here precisely for this matter… Our Great Zhou must now sleep on weapons and wait for dawn, preparing for war.” Bai Qingyan tapped her fingers on the desk.

Hearing Bai Qingyan’s words, the several officials instinctively straightened their backs and exchanged glances.

“Troop deployment requires consultation between Minister Shen and Minister Zhang of the Ministry of War to quickly establish a plan! There’s no need to worry about the Rongdi side – while guarding against unrest in Hancheng, we must also guard against Yan Kingdom… and deploy as many troops as possible to Nan Jiang. Which generals are available? Please provide a list as soon as possible!”

“Shen Jingzhong accepts the command!”

“Zhang Duanning accepts the command!”

Both officials clasped their hands and accepted the orders.

“There’s also the matter of provisions! The Great Zhou’s territory is vast, and natural disasters are common. Minister Dong and Minister Wei of the Ministry of Revenue must ensure that if domestic natural disasters occur, food supplies can guarantee that corpses won’t litter the ground from starvation, while sending as many provisions as possible in batches to Nan Jiang for the soldiers deployed there! Remember… we absolutely cannot let the soldiers go hungry!” Bai Qingyan addressed her uncle and Wei Bugong.

“Dong Qingping accepts the command!”

“Wei Bugong accepts the command!”

Both officials also clasped their hands and accepted the orders.

“Grand Commandant Lu will remain stationed here. If any of you four have urgent matters that cannot be immediately reported to me, you may consult with… Imperial Teacher Grand Commandant Lu makes decisions directly and reports afterward.”

“Your Majesty…” Grand Commandant Lu suddenly raised his eyes to look at Bai Qingyan, clasped his hands, and straightened his back. “This old minister dares to ask Your Majesty – with such arrangements… does Your Majesty intend to personally lead an expedition to Nan Jiang?”

Bai Qingyan’s hand holding the teacup traced the rim of the sweet porcelain cup: “I have no such plan for now. Grand Commandant need not worry excessively.”

“Your Majesty is currently with child and must not take risks!” After Grand Commandant Lu advised Bai Qingyan once more, he said, “Your Majesty can rest assured. We received the news early, and judging from General Bai’s letter… General Bai should have been prepared long ago! Now, the most capable and battle-tested generals of the Bai family army are all in Nan Jiang. There’s no need to trouble Your Majesty to personally go to the battlefield! Your Majesty should consider the imperial heir!”

Dong Qingping nodded repeatedly: “Moreover, Your Majesty is our Great Zhou’s God of War, with a reputation for never losing a battle. You could be said to be our Great Zhou’s morale itself. If there’s no certainty of victory and Your Majesty rushes to Nan Jiang, should we be defeated… it would be detrimental to our Great Zhou’s morale!”

Bai Qingyan nodded: “Grand Commandant Lu and Uncle, rest assured. I truly have no such plan at present.”

Hearing Bai Qingyan say this, Dong Qingping finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

Even though Bai Qingyan was invincible in battle, she was currently with child, making going to war too dangerous.

Before long, the carriage stopped within the military camp.

Lin Kangle, having received news that Bai Qingyan and the several officials were coming, led Wang Xiping and Yang Wuce to respectfully await them at the camp entrance.

After greeting Bai Jinzhi, and then greeting the five officials who had alighted from the carriage first, seeing Bai Qingyan supporting Chun Tao’s hand as she descended from the carriage, Lin Kangle quickly led Wang Xiping and Yang Wuce forward to pay their respects.

“Where are the elephants housed? How is the situation?” Bai Qingyan asked Lin Kangle as soon as she got off the carriage.

“Your Majesty, this way please!” Lin Kangle gestured for Bai Qingyan to proceed, leading her forward while explaining, “Those elephant trainers all said the elephants cannot bear the cold. They couldn’t fit in tents, so we could only settle them in the drill ground, surrounding the drill ground to block the wind and lighting braziers. However, tents are being erected and will be ready soon.”

Bai Qingyan nodded and followed Lin Kangle to the drill ground…

Not to mention the several officials, even the soldiers who had just seen these giant beasts were startled.

Bai Qingyan observed that these massive elephants all looked dispirited. After the twenty-odd elephant trainers came forward to greet Bai Qingyan and explained the elephants’ habits, they mentioned that since elephant herds had never crossed Yushan Pass before, after crossing Yushan Pass this time, more than half of the elephants had died successively.

The elephant trainers understood that elephants feared cold, so they later gathered fur and worked through the night to sew coverings for the elephants, allowing them to survive. However, because the Great Zhou’s gradually dropping temperatures differed from the elephants’ original habitat climate, the elephants all remained listless and spiritless.

“Please follow me into the tent and tell me about these elephants’ habits, what they like to eat normally… and what they fear.”

“We common folk obey!”

Inside the great tent, Bai Qingyan sat in the seat of honor, with several officials and generals arranged on both sides. These elephant trainers knelt in the center, taking turns telling Bai Qingyan about the elephants’ habits.

Yang Wuce, having once been from Great Liang, also understood elephants somewhat and shared some of his own knowledge…

After listening, Bai Qingyan thanked the elephant trainers and asked them to rest. She leaned her elbow on the armrest, tapping her fingers on it thoughtfully before speaking: “According to the elephant trainers, elephants… fear fire and are also afraid of unfamiliar sounds. Due to their living habits, they fear the cold even more. But through training, elephants will no longer fear fire or sounds. As for cold… Tianfeng Kingdom’s method of sewing fur coverings for elephants can compensate for their inability to withstand cold.”

If so, elephants clad in battle armor would be invincible giant creatures in warfare, easily gaining an absolute advantage.

Bai Jinzhi listened with clenched fists, her face alternately bright and dark in the tent’s flickering lamplight.

“Is there truly no chance of victory then?” Chancellor Lu frowned deeply. “However, elephants are cumbersome in build and may not be able to move flexibly on the battlefield.”

“Elder Sister, I request to depart immediately for Nan Jiang!” Bai Jinzhi knelt on one knee with clasped hands.

“Prince Gaoyi, don’t be hasty. Even if we’re going to Nan Jiang… we must first discover these giant beasts’ weaknesses.” Xie Yuchang was very anxious internally, wanting to rush to the battlefield.

They were all military men – the greater the major challenges on the battlefield, the more they wanted to charge to the front lines, protect their border people, and use their abilities to thoroughly defeat the enemy’s reliance.

“Exactly…” Lin Kangle also gritted his teeth, wanting to immediately rush to the battlefield. “We must know ourselves and our enemy to win every battle. Fortunately, Tianfeng Kingdom doesn’t dare act rashly yet. Our urgent priority is to first understand this elephant army’s weaknesses!”