The fiercest soldier of the border army

"Open the door!"

Ignoring the repeated attempts by Cheng Feng and Wei Zong to dissuade him, Tang Shun coldly gave the order.

Eliminating superiors through the hands of the enemy may seem like a bloodless and silent act, but in reality, it has endless consequences.

The reason is simple: the city is crowded with people and eyes, and if the secret is revealed, it will be a disaster.

Two soldiers rushed toward the city gate winch.

It was a heavy stone door made of three old pine logs, with thick iron wheels underneath, and it was opened by pulling ropes by manpower.

At first it creaked, then it became heavier and heavier as it was pulled, the rope taut, the wooden frame creaked, but the door only opened half a foot.

"Add more people!" Tang Shun roared.

Four villagers rushed forward to push open the door, but their feet slipped, and mud splashed everywhere.

The force applied by the group was uneven, and the door became stuck in the groove.

Seeing this, Wang Xianghong's eyes widened in fury, and he roared, "You want to watch us die out there?!"

His voice was hoarse, filled with anger, and he couldn't hide the slightest tremor.

The crowd was thrown into a frenzy by his shouts, and in their desperation, they pushed with all their might, using every trick in the book.

However, it only opened the stone door by one foot, and it got stuck in the groove, unable to move even an inch.

Tang Shun stood atop the wall, his gaze deep and thoughtful, fixed on the land outside the city.

Wang Xianghong's six personal guards had all dismounted and were crowding in the open space in front of the city gate, pushing the gate open with all their might, panting heavily.

One of the guards reached out to squeeze through the gap, but his shoulder and back got stuck in the wooden groove, unable to move forward or backward, and he groaned in pain.

"Reinforcements! Open the gate!" Tang Shun ordered.

Three soldiers rushed forward, braced their shoulders against the broken winch frame, and, with their feet on the slippery mud, pulled together.

The wooden frame creaked, the iron wheels spun, and the stone door trembled slightly, sinking even deeper.

Two of the ropes had already snapped, leaving several strands of hemp rope hanging on both sides like arms with severed tendons.

Wang Xianghong completely broke down, kicking over the guard who was pushing open the door beside him, and pointing at the city wall, he cursed, "Tang Shun, what kind of good guy are you pretending to be?"

"Back in the camp, you disobeyed orders, so I punished you by sending you to Xiushui Town to die, but you survived!"

"Now that I've fled here in defeat, you can't even open the door? Military regulation number three: anyone who refuses to open the door to rescue a comrade attacked will be executed! Are you truly not afraid of military law?"

He spoke more and more urgently, his words becoming incoherent, his eyes sweeping over the black line to the north behind him, his body trembling uncontrollably.

The ground trembled more and more, gravel rolled down the hillside, and the sound of horses' hooves grew louder as they approached, raising dust like a curtain.

No one inside the city responded.

Several soldiers were still struggling to hold the door open, sweat beading on their foreheads, their feet slipping, and mud splattering onto their trousers.

The door seemed to be held firmly in place by the earth, remaining completely still.

"Tang Shun! Good! Very good!" Wang Xianghong almost gritted his teeth, then suddenly turned his horse around and pointed west.

A Hun cavalry force galloped in from afar, advancing to within three hundred paces, their figures indistinct, their arrows gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

If we don't leave now, it will be too late!

Wang Xianghong completely abandoned the idea of ​​entering the city and ordered his remaining troops: "Retreat! Head west!"

A dozen or so riders turned their horses around and hurriedly galloped more than ten paces.

Just then, a rain of arrows suddenly descended from the sky.

It wasn't a sporadic probing attack, but a salvo from the entire rank.

The cavalry, rising from the northern black line, had pressed within three hundred paces, with archers in formation, firing volley after volley, their momentum exceptionally terrifying.

Arrows rained down like locusts, covering the open space in front of the city gate.

One of the guards had only run a few steps when three arrows were suddenly driven into his back. His body stiffened abruptly, and he fell heavily to the ground, where he remained silent.

The other man clutched his throat, made two gasping sounds, rolled off his horse, and died instantly.

The open space at the city gate was completely bare, without walls or barriers, offering no cover whatsoever. They could only use their bodies to withstand the deadly rain of arrows!

"Whoosh—"

The third, fourth, and fifth shots hit in succession, and several more people rolled into the dust, twitched a couple of times, and then stopped moving.

At first, Captain Wang Quanhu was able to fight back with all his might to cut down the arrows, but the rain of arrows was too dense and overwhelming.

He was caught off guard and shot in the right arm by a stray arrow. Before he could even cry out, another stray arrow pierced his neck.

Blood gushed out, and Wang Quanhu fell from his horse with a thud, dying on the spot.

Faced with a life-or-death situation, Wang Xianghong spurred his horse fiercely, daring not to linger for even a moment.

The accompanying officers and personal guards suffered heavy casualties.

Only three men remained behind him, their horses' hooves kicking up waves of mud.

Before they had gone fifty paces, a rope flew from the flank, thrown out from the Xiongnu cavalry formation, and soared into the air like a venomous snake, looping around Wang Xianghong's neck.

He cried out in alarm and yanked hard on the rope with both hands, but the rope had already tightened and dug into his flesh.

The warhorse was startled and ran wildly for a few steps before being dragged to the ground.

Wang Xianghong was thrown heavily, his helmet flew off, and he crashed face down into the frozen ground.

The other end of the rope was tied to the saddle of the Xiongnu cavalryman, who gave a whistle and spurred his horse back.

Wang Xianghong left two long marks on the ground with his limbs, his fingers dug into the soil, his nails cracked, and blood mixed with mud.

He opened his mouth to shout, but could only make a "ho ho" sound, his neck turning blue and bruised from being strangled.

He glanced one last time in the direction of the city gate, his eyes now devoid of arrogance, filled only with fear and resentment.

The horse dragged him for over a hundred paces, then his body gradually came to a standstill. His robes tore, and blood seeped from his back. Finally, he was pulled into the black cavalry formation and disappeared into the depths of the dust.

The remaining two guards turned to flee, but three arrows struck them simultaneously, piercing their chests and abdomens, and they fell to the ground in the snow.

All of this happened too fast, far too fast!

In the blink of an eye, Wang Xianghong's thirteen-man cavalry had been completely swallowed up by the Xiongnu.

On the city wall, Cheng Feng and his men drew their bows and shot arrows, but they couldn't reach the Xiongnu cavalry formation and could only sigh in vain.

The wilderness returned to silence, save for the snorting of warhorses.

Corpses lay strewn across the ground before the city gate, their blood seeping into the frozen earth, glistening black.

The stone gate was open, but no one who wanted to enter the city was welcomed in.

Only a few horses, having lost their owners, spontaneously snorted as they entered the city.

Tang Shun remained standing atop the wall, his robes billowing in the wind, his sleeves dusty.

His gaze passed over the corpse and landed two hundred paces away.

The Xiongnu cavalry stopped here, and like him, quietly observed the high wall.

The entire force halted, not forming ranks, and at first glance appeared scattered and disorganized, but it was actually a cross-formation ready to launch an attack at any moment.

The horses stood still like an iron wall, with no flags in sight and no commands heard.

The archers in the front row held their bows and bows, while the cavalry in the back row gripped their scimitars. They neither attacked nor retreated, but simply surrounded the north gate, like a pack of wolves besieging an isolated fortress.

Tang Shun's hand slowly fell, still resting on the hilt of the knife, his palm sweaty, but he did not loosen it.

The city was silent; the people huddled against the walls, barely breathing.

The torch was half extinguished, and the embers drifted in the wind.

He stared into the depths of the enemy formation, where he could vaguely see several riders in the center, wearing lamellar armor and carrying curved swords, their mounts exceptionally tall.

One of them seemed to have looked up, his gaze coming from afar, but the distance was too great for him to see his face clearly.

The wind stopped.

The rain of arrows stopped.

The sound of horses' hooves also stopped.

Tang Shun stood there, like a nail driven into the city wall.

Beneath the city walls, the night was pitch black, and the massive Xiongnu cavalry, like ferocious tigers, had already bared their fangs.

Tang Shun knew that Wang Xianghong being dragged away was not the end, but the beginning.

The all-consuming torrent of war has reached this isolated city at our feet...