With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

That day, Liu Yun was meditating and regulating her breathing in her tent when she suddenly heard cheers coming from outside.

He immediately lifted the curtain and went out, only to see the soldiers in the camp all looking up and pointing to the sky.

It turned out that the Northern Xiongnu had launched another air raid, but this time, unlike before, the Northern Han's air force had finally arrived.

Three streaks of silver light pierced the sky, and the crane-shaped Dao soldiers with wingspans of ten feet gleamed coldly in the sunlight. The three leading ones were the acquired Dao soldiers of the imperial court, the Silver-Winged Black Cranes.

Their appearance caused a burst of long-suppressed cheers to erupt on the previously tense city defense line.

The silver-winged black crane took flight, leading the Northern Han's air force to meet the Northern Xiongnu's flight formation.

Among the aerial shamans of the Northern Xiongnu, apart from a few dedicated combat shamans, the rest carried shaman warriors.

These Daoist soldiers were not fast to begin with, and they had no chance of escaping the pursuit of the Northern Han.

Six top-tier aerial soldiers responsible for combat, led by two acquired aerial soldiers, the Sky-Splitting Golden Eagles, bravely confronted the Silver-Winged Black Cranes of the Northern Han Dynasty, attempting to buy time for the manned soldiers to retreat.

Liu Yun and his squad members stood on the city wall, looking up at the sudden aerial battle.

From the very beginning, the Northern Han had an absolute advantage.

The numerical advantage, coupled with the formidable fighting power of the Silver-Winged Cranes, caused the Northern Xiongnu's Daoist troops to suffer repeated defeats.

Those three acquired Dao soldiers were particularly astonishing; their silvery wings were not only tools for flight but also deadly weapons.

They use their incredible speed to slice through the bodies of their enemies with their wings, the sharp edges of their feathers tearing through the air and flesh.

Its long beak, like a spear, pierces through the opponent's body time and time again.

Although the Golden Eagle was fierce, it could not withstand the attack from the three Silver-Winged Cranes.

Soon, a golden eagle with a splitting wing had one of its feathers severed by the wing of a silver-winged black crane, causing it to lose its balance and fall from the clouds.

The three top-tier combat soldiers were also annihilated under the intense attack, turning into fragments that fell to the ground.

The Taoist soldiers carrying shaman warriors were not spared either.

Several Taoist soldiers carrying martial artists were also annihilated, and the shaman warriors on them fell directly from the sky, their fate unknown.

In the following days, the Northern Xiongnu army did not launch any more aerial raids by warriors.

Without the support of flying soldiers and shaman warriors, and facing the nearly ten-zhang-high Beiyuan City and the roughly equal number of Northern Han defenders, even the bravest Northern Xiongnu soldiers had to abandon the idea of ​​forcibly conquering it.

The city walls were too high, limiting the effectiveness of siege ladders and siege towers, and casualties would only continue to increase.

So they simply stopped attacking the city and instead set up camp, completely surrounding Beiyuan City.

The Northern Han was equally cautious. The difference in troop strength between the two sides was not significant, but the Northern Xiongnu were mostly cavalry. If they went out of the city to pursue, they would be easily attacked in return.

The General of Zhenbei strictly ordered a defensive posture, forbidding anyone from engaging in battle without authorization.

As a result, the city walls were only subject to routine patrols and probing arrows each day, leading to a stalemate between the two sides.

A few days later, the four groups of 10,000 Northern Xiongnu cavalry that had been separated earlier finally returned one after another.

The procession included a large number of vehicles and people, men, women, and children, pushing carts and herding livestock, clearly having plundered from a small town.

The Northern Xiongnu made no further provocative moves, and they were well aware that the Northern Han would never risk leaving the city to seize the abducted people and supplies.

Doing so would only disrupt our own defenses and give the main force of the Northern Xiongnu outside the city an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Thus, Liu Yun and countless soldiers on Beiyuan City quietly watched as the Northern Xiongnu army, carrying their spoils, slowly retreated northward.

On the horizon, scouts circled high in the sky, watching the massive force leave the territory of the Northern Han and retreat step by step into the depths of the wilderness.

Winter is coming.

The battle in Kitahara finally came to an end before the chill of this season arrived.

A few days later, the city of Beiyuan was bustling with noise, and the victory celebration banquet lasted from the afternoon until late at night.

The surviving soldiers raised their wine bowls, laughing and talking loudly, celebrating the end of the long war and feeling fortunate to be alive and sitting here.

The campfire illuminated their faces, and the sounds of singing, laughter, and clinking glasses mingled together, dispelling the bloodshed and exhaustion of the past few days.

Not only Beiyuan City, but the entire Beiyuan County was immersed in jubilation.

As long as the Northern Xiongnu army continues to linger on the border, the entire Northern Plains will be hanging on the edge of a knife.

Now that the enemy has retreated, the people can finally spend the winter in peace, and caravans can travel freely.

However, at the same time, the Zhenbei General's Mansion in Beiyuan Prefecture was completely silent.

Inside the main hall, there was no celebratory aroma of wine, only cold tea on the table and newly delivered imperial documents.

General Cheng Enjiang, the General Who Guards the North, sat upright in the main seat, holding the letter bearing the imperial seal in his hand, his gaze deep and serious.

Below, trusted soldiers and staff members of the general's mansion spoke in hushed tones, whispering among themselves, but no one dared to raise their voices.

"Gentlemen," Cheng Enjiang finally spoke, "what is your opinion on the imperial decree?"

The chief advisor stepped forward and said, "The great battle has just ended, and the court has summoned the general back to the capital. I'm afraid something bad might have happened."

He paused, looked around, and said, "Although the general managed to defend Beiyuan City this time, Shuofang Prefecture was breached, and several other small cities were also looted. This will ultimately be a flaw in the report. The court may hold us accountable."

Another aide chimed in, "In addition, the Nangong family has always been at odds with the general. This time, the general publicly killed a second-rate martial artist from their family in front of the enemy, which is tantamount to slapping the Nangong family in the face."

The Nangong family has always had spies within the Emperor's inner circle; I fear they might speak ill of me.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Enjiang frowned.

He had considered this aspect.

The warrior from the Nangong family turned and fled when the shaman warriors launched a surprise attack, even using his teammates as shields, nearly causing a section of the city wall to collapse.

If such people are not severely punished and allowed to live, morale will collapse and Beiyuan City will have been captured long ago.

"Furthermore, General, you have been in Beiyuan for five years. Although you have firmly held the defense line and prevented the Northern Xiongnu from advancing south, you have been holding a large army and guarding the region for a long time, which inevitably makes the court suspicious."

The room fell silent the moment those words were spoken.

The loss of Shuofang and the offense against the Nangong family can still be explained away. Cheng Enjiang is not without allies in the court, and there are people who speak up for him.

But the word "suspicion" is a sword hanging over one's head.

The Northern Plains army, led by General Zhenbei, repeatedly repelled the Northern Xiongnu.

If the imperial court becomes suspicious and reassigns troops, or even strips them of their power and holds them accountable, that would be the real crisis.

"Therefore," the chief advisor said slowly, "the general must return to the capital immediately to explain the battle situation in person, so as not to give others any ammunition to attack him."

Cheng Enjiang remained silent for a long time before finally nodding.

Thus, amidst the cheers of soldiers and civilians outside the city, the General of the North finalized his plan to return to the capital.

Before the jubilation had even faded, the armies of the various lords began to set off to return home.

Liu Yun bid farewell to the martial arts squad and rejoined the Chen family army.

Along with him, Lin Hu and his companion, who had stayed in Shuofang City due to injuries, returned to the team. They rushed over after receiving the support order, but because Beiyuan City had been besieged for a long time, they could only stay on the outskirts of the city until the siege was lifted recently and they were able to enter the city.

Of the three companions who remained in Shuofang, one was too badly injured and has been sent to the rear to recuperate; it is still unknown whether he will fully recover.

Of the ten third-rate martial artists the Lin family sent on this expedition, only seven remain, one of whom is seriously injured. Whether he can return to the battlefield in the future is uncertain.

However, compared to the casualties of ordinary soldiers, the casualties of the warriors were already considered good.

The Chen family sent 1,500 soldiers to this battle. Chen Hai, a second-rate martial artist who led the troops, was killed in action, and the soldiers suffered heavy casualties.

In the end, fewer than 800 people were able to leave with the team, nearly half of them were lost.

Nearly a hundred of them were seriously injured and disabled, and will never be able to take up arms again.

Even so, it was because there were a few rare medical soldiers in Beiyuan City.

They provide emergency treatment to the wounded during wartime, stopping bleeding, repairing bones, and stabilizing injuries.

Otherwise, eight or nine out of ten people who have lost limbs or suffered severe injuries will not survive, and the death toll will be even higher.

Liu Yun and Lin Hu heard from soldiers who had participated in previous wars that the casualties in previous battles had never been so severe.

The Northern Xiongnu's offensive this time is alarmingly unusual.

Not only did they besiege Beiyuan City for so long, but four post-natal martial artists also appeared on the battlefield at the same time.

In the past, the battlefields of Beiyuan County usually only had one or two acquired martial artists.

After all, this is not Yanmen County; that is the main direction of the Northern Xiongnu's attack.

After passing Yanmen Pass, the land stretched out flat as far as the eye could see. With horses drinking from the Lancang River, the entire northern part of the Northern Han Dynasty was now under their iron hooves.

Historically, Yanmen Commandery was once captured, and the Northern Xiongnu advanced all the way to the Lancang River.

The lords in various regions were cut off and surrounded, fighting their own battles, and the six northern counties became their hunting grounds.

In the end, it was only through the intervention of the Tang Dynasty that the Northern Xiongnu were driven out in one fell swoop.

For this reason, the appearance of four Acquired martial artists in a major battle usually only happens in Yanmen County.

This time, Kitahara Castle was attacked with such ferocity, which was truly rare.

When Liu Yun and Lin Hu found out, they could only smile wryly.

Perhaps they were just unlucky and stumbled upon the extraordinary actions of the Northern Xiongnu.

Hopefully, we won't encounter such a battle situation again in the future.

After all, the Lin family's future recruitment will most likely take place in Beiyuan County.