The fiercest soldier of the border army

Tang Shun lowered his head, looking at the dying Li Lang.

He knew things wouldn't be that simple.

Why did Wang Xianghong want to kill him?

"Team Leader Tang... Team Leader Tang..."

Perhaps it was Cheng Feng's loud voice that stirred Li Lang's will to survive. Li Lang struggled to open his eyes, grabbed Tang Shun's clothes, and cried out, "Save me...save me..."

He exerted too much force and rolled off the cart, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

puff--

Li Lang didn't wipe his mouth, struggled to kneel up, covered in dirt, his feet were cracked and bleeding, and he was panting like a broken bellows.

He looked up at Tang Shun, his eyes filled with terror and a desperate glint of hope. "Captain Tang, please... save me!"

Cheng Feng placed his hand on the hilt of his knife, took a half step forward, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Everyone on the construction site stopped what they were doing and stared at Li Lang with curiosity in their eyes.

Tang Shun remained motionless, standing beside the cart, ignoring the soldiers' shouts and killing cries, his eyes fixed on Li Lang's face.

"Li Lang, why did Wang Xianghong want to kill you?"

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..." Li Lang's voice was hoarse, and he could barely make a sound.

"Give him some water," Tang Shun said.

A soldier brought over warm water, roughly lifted Li Lang's chin, and forced it down his throat.

Cough cough--

Li Lang choked half to death, but refused to stop. Water flowed down his chin to his chest, and his eyes gradually cleared.

"Speak," Tang Shun gestured for the soldiers to step back.

"Captain Tang, I...I'm so sorry..." Li Lang caught his breath, and then, as if remembering something, suddenly burst into tears.

Tang Shun remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"A few days ago, Lieutenant Wang received orders from the commander to lead the C-class corps to garrison Linhe County."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked.

Xiushui Town is under the jurisdiction of Linhe County, and the two places are not far apart. Linhe County is located northwest of Datong City, which was a place where the Xiongnu often raided for resources.

"Before we left, the nine of us from the third squad were locked in earthen cages by Captain Wang on charges of desertion."

The earthen cage was a place in the army to punish troublemakers—a pit half a person's height where one couldn't stand up straight, lie down, or sit comfortably, a truly agonizing ordeal.

Those nine people were all those who were unwilling to risk their lives with Tang Shun in the first place.

Li Lang was filled with remorse: "I thought a few days of imprisonment would be the worst punishment... but I never imagined he wouldn't be satisfied! On the way to break camp, he publicly killed eight people as a sacrifice to the flag!"

hiss--

The soldiers present were shocked.

Those people were once comrades-in-arms, and knew each other well, yet they were all slaughtered?

They felt a chill run down their spines and instinctively looked at Tang Shun.

If he hadn't made a decision that night, they would be the ones lying in the bed today!

"Strange," Cheng Feng sneered. "All eight are dead, how are you still alive?"

Li Lang joked, "I'm perfectly healthy, and having received advance notice, I bribed the guard with five taels of silver and escaped. I was discovered halfway there, but luckily, Squad Leader Liang rescued me."

After saying that, he lowered his head and slumped down, saying nothing more.

"Damn, that's incredible..." Zhu Hang muttered under his breath, "Does that guy surnamed Wang really dare to make a move?"

Tang Shun frowned.

It was expected that Wang Xianghong would kill the old, weak, sick, and disabled. But why was he suddenly transferred to Linhe County?

"Li Lang, what happened in Linhe?"

Li Lang opened his mouth, his voice like the friction of sand and gravel: "The Xiongnu...the Xiongnu...three 10,000 cavalrymen are pressing south."

Everyone fell silent.

"Where did you get this information?" Wei Zong stepped forward.

"Datong... is under martial law." Li Lang struggled to speak each sentence. "Captain Wang also said... that nine of us deserters defected from the Third Squad, and Captain Tang... Captain Tang is to blame."

After saying this, his head lolled to the side and he fainted.

Cheng Feng gripped the hilt of his knife tightly, gritting his teeth: "My eight brothers, they've all shed blood for the Great Qian Dynasty, are they just going to be cannon fodder like this?"

"He's trying to pin the crime on us," Wei Zong said in a deep voice. "He's using military law to intimidate people, killing to establish his authority, and even setting a trap for the squad leader."

Liang Enyi walked in, his left arm still bandaged, his face ashen: "This isn't a flag-offering ceremony; it's clearly a cover-up!"

The soldiers' anger began to rise.

"I almost stayed, thank goodness I made it!"

"His life was given to him by the team leader, his meals were distributed by him, and yet he embezzled his pay, used people's lives as offerings, and then swindled their pensions!"

Discussions arose.

Wei Zong turned around and smiled: "They finally understand that only by following you can they truly control their own lives."

Tang Shun shook his head: "Help Li Lang down and let him recover from his injuries first."

The crowd erupted in uproar.

"Squad leader! Let him live? He took the money and ran away, and now he's crawling back, gasping for breath?"

"Those brothers are dead, what right does he have to live?"

"We can't keep them! They'll break people's hearts!"

Tang Shun scanned the crowd: "Did he deserve to die?"

No one answered.

"He took my money but did not follow me; that is indeed unjust."

Tang Shun said, "But I won't kill him. I said before that staying or leaving is voluntary."

"He did nothing wrong. Those who stayed behind all died under Wang Xianghong's blade. In times of crisis, every extra person helps."

"From today onwards, Li Lang will be assigned to Zhu Hang's class and will be taken care of by Zhu Hang."

After a moment of silence, some nodded, some sighed, and the anger gradually dissipated.

Zhu Hang felt resentful, but he couldn't bring himself to say no.

Without realizing it, he had begun to obey the squad leader.

For the next seven days, Tang Shun personally supervised the construction.

Cement was ground into fine powder, mixed with stones and river sand, and poured into the wall formwork basket by basket. The people carried stones and mortar, their legs trembling but they didn't stop, and at night they would fall asleep directly on the rammed earth.

On the fourth day, the south wall was closed.

On the fifth day, the northern section was capped.

On the sixth day, the wooden frame was assembled.

On the seventh evening, the last basket of pulp was filled into the gap, and the wooden frame was secured.

The exhausted people looked at the six-zhang-high wall and their eyes lit up with hope.

According to Tang Shun, once the mortar dries and the wooden planks are removed, it will become an impregnable pass.

Half a month later, the pass was initially completed.

dong... dong... dong...

Just as everyone was resting on the ground, the earth began to tremble.

"Oh no!" An old man rolled over and lay face down, ears pressed to the ground, his face changing drastically. "The sound of horses' hooves... the Huns are coming!"

thump... thump...

Tang Shun suddenly looked up, feeling a tremor beneath his feet.

The Xiongnu had 300,000 archers, but before winter, the grass withered and food was scarce, so it was the season to gather grass and grain.

He leaped onto the north wall, which was still covered by wooden planks, with cement slurry seeping out from under his feet.

Cheng Feng, Wei Zong, Liang Enyi, and several other household members climbed the wall and looked out to the north.

The thunderous sound of horses' hooves drew near, and dark dots appeared on the distant mountain ridge.

One, two, ten, a hundred!

"Three hundred riders!"

Dust billowed as three hundred Xiongnu cavalrymen charged along the valley, their hooves pounding the ground and mortar seeping from the cracks.

Liu Laosi clung tightly to the edge of the still wet wall.

The town of Xiushui was thrown into chaos in an instant.

Herdsmen, who were grazing their sheep outside, heard the noise and abandoned their flocks, rushing back to town, only to be turned away by the tightly closed town gates.

Amidst cries of agony, the Xiongnu squad swept away the sheep, while the remaining troops surrounded the herdsmen and, laughing and joking, slaughtered them one by one.

They circled the town once, reaching the eastern end, where they lit oil-soaked arrows and shot them into the town.

The houses against the wall caught fire instantly, and cries of pain filled the air.

The Xiongnu laughed and left without launching a full-scale attack.

Although Xiushui Town only had a few dozen constables and fifty soldiers, all the able-bodied men were local militia.

They farmed when busy, wielded weapons when in war, and might even become bandits when at leisure—this is the backbone of the town's defense.

"They're here!" Liu Laosi roared, "They're coming for us!"

Three hundred riders turned their horses around and headed straight for the pass built by Tang Shun!

Crying... Crying...

"Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!" Cheng Feng roared. "Bows and arrows, logs, boulders—bring them all up!"

The households on the walls were restless, and the townspeople below the city were in a panic.

"The wall isn't dry yet! The mortar is too soft; it'll collapse at the slightest touch!"

"Run!"

The previous agreement was rendered meaningless in the face of life and death.

The townspeople scattered like headless flies. Even Tang Shun's soldiers were mostly ashen-faced and trembling with fear.

Even when the Xiongnu army was within a hundred paces, there were still only a few people, including Tang Shun, on the wall, with no organized defense.

The Xiongnu cavalrymen reined in their horses a hundred paces away.

Among the three hundred riders, a dark-skinned leader with matted, unkempt hair surveyed the unusual "city".

Tang Shun remained calm.

He wasn't flustered.

These Xiongnu came lightly armed, intending only to plunder. Even though the city walls were not yet dry, they would find it difficult to breach them easily.

The leader whispered a few words, and more than ten riders spurred their horses forward, drew their bows, and shot arrows.

"Get out of the way!"

The arrows flew in, but before they could cross the city wall, they all embedded themselves in the wooden planks, their fletchings trembling slightly.

The Xiongnu people laughed, seemingly mocking the wooden planks that surrounded the city.

The hundred riders swiftly swept past the fortress and turned towards the surrounding villages.

This was a test, and also a sign of curiosity.

They had never seen a wall completely covered with wooden planks.

In their eyes, it was just a wooden stockade that could be burned to the ground with a single fire.

Liu Laosi's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, saying, "He's gone... really gone..."

"Damn it, I knew this wall could stop it!"

"Bullshit! You were so scared you peed your pants!"

"But what about next time? What if they come again..."

ding... ding... ding...

Suddenly, a series of nail-sounding sounds came from the south; it was the sound of iron objects being driven into wooden planks.

Tang Shun's expression changed drastically!

From the direction of the south wall, a hail of arrows rained down!

The arrowheads were wrapped in straw and driven firmly into the wall!

The Xiongnu hadn't left; they circled around and launched a surprise attack from behind!

"Enemy attack!"

"Liu Laosi, leave half the men to guard the north wall, in case they try to circle around again!"

"The rest of you, follow me to the south wall!"

At Tang Shun's command, he led his soldiers and panicked civilians to rush towards the south wall!