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

Five days later, the smoke and dust on the northern horizon rolled in like an ink dragon. Outside Lulong City, the sound of horses' hooves and horns shook the heavens and the earth. The Northern Xiongnu army was pressing in as scheduled.

Fortunately, after five days of emergency drills, Lin's army has a thorough understanding of the more than two-mile-long defense zone.

Lin Qiang, along with a group of captains and battalion commanders, repeatedly rehearsed the plan on the city wall, identifying blind spots that needed to be heavily guarded, how martial artists should provide rapid, echelon support, and how supplies should be deployed at designated points. All of these had been clearly outlined in the plan.

Adjacent to Chen Jiajun on the left, the two sides are advancing and retreating together this time, and can support each other with just a gesture.

On the right side was a third-rate baronial family.

Fortunately, Lin Ye won three consecutive matches at the training ground, earning a formidable reputation. Lin Qiang seized the opportunity and took the initiative to deliver an invitation to Lin Ye's home.

After some discussion, the two sides finalized the details of their mutual support agreement.

Although according to the military regulations of the Northern Han, those who are defending the same city should help each other and should never sit idly by while their ally's city walls are breached.

But on the brutal battlefield, rules often cannot prevail over human nature.

If the two tribes have always been at odds, they can wait until you have fought to the last man and suffered heavy casualties before slowly sending reinforcements. As long as the city walls are not lost, the court will not be able to find fault with you afterwards.

Therefore, Lin Qiang had already made arrangements with the families on the right side, extending a favor to ensure that no one would stand idly by when it came to a life-or-death situation.

Standing atop the city wall, which was nearly ten zhang high, Lin Ye looked down and saw the massive, dark Northern Xiongnu army surging forward like a tide, the sound of their hooves making the city walls tremble slightly.

According to the reconnaissance reports from the air force, the Northern Xiongnu army besieging the city numbered approximately 100,000.

With 200,000 troops defending the city, and relying on a fortified city for defense, as long as we do not repeat the mistake of losing Lulong Prefecture during the Wang family rebellion last year, the Northern Xiongnu cavalry will have no chance of breaking through.

However, when Lin Ye's gaze passed over the forest of spear tips and landed on the tall siege towers and catapults that were being pushed in from behind the enemy lines, his brows furrowed tightly.

Looking back at his own city walls, he saw only a few catapults, a sparse number of crossbows, and a meager pile of stones and logs. A heavy sense of worry rose in his heart.

In previous years, the long-range bombardment by catapults alone could destroy most of the Northern Xiongnu's siege equipment, forcing them to rely on long ladders to swarm the city.

At that time, with sufficient stones and rolling logs, it would be enough to effectively prevent the enemy from scaling the city walls and drag the battle into the rhythm of close combat between warriors.

But now, the great fire that the Northern Xiongnu set on Lulong City last year before they left not only destroyed the houses, but also most of the defensive equipment, and the skilled craftsmen in the city were all plundered.

Although the imperial court provided some supplies, it was merely a drop in the ocean compared to the enormous gap. After all, repairing the more than two-mile-long city wall had already exhausted most of the manpower and resources.

The enemy has clearly figured this out as well.

After advancing to a safe distance, the Northern Xiongnu army did not hesitate at all, and launched a volley of catapults, thus beginning the siege.

"Thump—!"

With a muffled thud, stones the size of human heads, accompanied by a fierce wind, came hurtling towards the city wall, interspersed with burning oil cans, raining down on it.

"Take cover! Everyone take cover!" Lin Qiang's roar echoed throughout the area.

Lin Jiajun immediately followed training, quickly crouching into the ear holes or close to the blind spots at the base of the city wall.

Even with a swift response, tragedy still occurred.

Lin Ye watched helplessly as two soldiers were unable to dodge in time and were hit directly by the boulder. One of them was struck in the torso and instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

Another person was hit in the head, and his entire head was forcibly removed. His headless torso remained standing before slowly collapsing.

"collapse--!"

Our own catapults finally roared, sending boulders slicing through the air and crashing into the enemy's siege positions.

The Northern Xiongnu seemed to have anticipated that the Northern Han soldiers would evade, and that a simple barrage would not cause any real damage. Therefore, after locking onto the location of the Northern Han catapults, they immediately adjusted their targets and began a targeted exchange of fire.

Thus began a long and brutal exchange of catapult fire between the two sides.

Although our side had the advantage of height on the city walls and better accuracy, we were still outnumbered.

For half a day, accompanied by the terrifying muffled thuds of boulders crashing against the city walls, Lin Ye's heart pounded wildly.

All he could do was hide behind the bunker, listening to the clatter of falling stones and feeling the mournful cry of the city wall beneath his feet with each impact.

Half a day later, the smoke cleared.

The Northern Xiongnu's catapults were mostly destroyed, but very few of the catapults remaining on our own city walls were also destroyed.

The city walls were in ruins, and the air was thick with the smell of dust and a faint stench of blood.

Finally, the heart-pounding roar of the catapults gradually subsided, replaced by a sharp and clear sound of a huqin (a type of reed pipe instrument) coming from outside the city.

"Stand up! Prepare for battle!" Lin Qiang's roar pierced through the smoke of gunpowder.

The soldiers huddled in the ear holes and corners immediately grabbed their weapons, filed out of their hiding places, and quickly returned to their battle positions.

Everyone's face was covered in dust.

In the distance, hundreds of giant siege towers, several meters high, were pushed by countless Northern Xiongnu soldiers, approaching the city wall like moving fortresses.

Each well curb was filled with archers with bows drawn and arrows nocked, the dark mass of arrows resembling a cloud hanging overhead.

Two of the well ramps were directly facing the section of the defense line that Lin Ye was in charge of.

Meanwhile, on the flanks of the siege tower, more Northern Xiongnu soldiers carried massive siege ladders and charged toward the city wall with shouts.

At this time, there were very few catapults left on the North Han city wall, and they were powerless to inflict effective damage on the approaching siege towers.

As the Northern Xiongnu army entered their archery range, both sides unleashed a barrage of arrows, filling the sky with interwoven trails of death.

Lin Ye took the longbow off his back, drew the bowstring taut, and channeled his inner strength into the arrow.

He set his sights on a centurion on one of the well curbs.

The archery skills he had painstakingly honed to challenge the gargoyles were now proving invaluable.

"Whoosh—!"

The long arrow, accompanied by a piercing whistle, instantly pierced through the outer barrage of arrows and shot straight at the centurion.

As a centurion, this man clearly possessed the skills of a third-rate martial artist.

Amidst the rain of arrows, he keenly sensed the deadly threat posed by this particular arrow and almost instinctively raised his thick wooden shield covered with leather.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the wooden shield shattered, and the long arrow, imbued with internal force, continued its trajectory, piercing straight through his chest.

Before the centurion could even scream, he fell from the high well curb.

Lin Ye remained expressionless and continued to draw the bowstring, but no longer channeled his inner energy into it.

After all, even a first-rate martial artist, with his abundant internal energy, cannot withstand such squandering. The consumption of that arrow just now was too great, even for him.

If he were an ordinary soldier, what right would he be to waste his inner strength like this?

Although Lin Ye and others' accurate shooting caused considerable chaos to the Northern Xiongnu on the siege tower, the Northern Xiongnu, who had lived on the grasslands for many years, were clearly superior in terms of archery skill and accuracy.

In addition, the warriors in the Northern Xiongnu army were constantly sniping at specific points, and the Lin family army on the city wall gradually began to falter.

Screams rose and fell as many soldiers were shot in the face and neck, collapsing in pools of blood before they could even scream.

At the crucial moment, it was the Taoist soldiers who played a vital role.

Ten Rainstorm Arrow Guards fired arrows expressionlessly. In a few breaths, each of them fired more than a dozen arrows, and hundreds of arrows instantly covered the firing surface of one of the well ballasts.

Each arrow was as powerful as a full-force shot from an ordinary soldier, forcefully suppressing the Northern Xiongnu archer on the well ledge.

Unfortunately, the number of Storm Arrow Guards was too small, only ten.

They could barely hold down one siege tower, while the other, under the command of the Northern Xiongnu warriors, quickly adjusted its angle and approached the city wall.

"Click!"

With a sickening scraping sound, the iron hook on the well curb slammed into the crenellation of the city wall and got firmly in place. Then, the second, the third…

The Northern Xiongnu's siege ladders followed closely behind, heavily erected on the city walls.

"Prepare to engage the enemy!" Lin Ye drew his longsword and shouted coldly.

The battle on the city walls has officially begun.