The fiercest soldier of the border army

What are they carrying those big bags for?

"With their shields always in hand and their weapons never drawn, are they setting up camp?"

"Captain Tang, look at this..."

The local militiamen, clinging to the parapet, chattered amongst themselves, their faces full of bewilderment as they had never seen anything like it before.

"What the hell are you doing? Be my mother!"

Cheng Feng gripped the hilt of his sword and charged forward, his armor plates clanging as they clattered against the ground. His dark face flushed purple, and veins throbbed on his forehead. "This is a city wall! Quick! Smash all the boulders and logs at the city gate! Quick!"

"Pile a city?"

The two blows were like ice water being poured over someone's head, and the city wall fell into an instant silence.

The villagers' faces turned deathly pale, and the old soldier cursed under his breath before turning and rushing toward the pile of rolling logs, his footsteps echoing loudly across the city wall.

Building fortifications is the most ruthless method of attacking cities on the border.

They piled sandbags and earthen bags at the base of the wall, creating a ramp wide enough for horses to run on. Cavalry could then charge directly over the city walls, making it even more dangerous than using siege ladders.

Previously, when the Xiongnu shot and killed civilians and blocked the gate with corpses, everyone thought it was an act of venting anger, but now they have come to their senses.

That's not venting anger; it's using a corpse as a stepping stone!

The cavalry below the city walls had already charged within a hundred paces.

The lead rider maintained his speed without slowing down, crouching on his horse's back with a wooden shield held above his head to protect his head and shoulders.

The moment he reached the base of the wall, he twisted his waist and abdomen, and the sandbag weighing over a hundred pounds crashed down with a "thud," sending dust flying.

He then yanked the reins hard, and the warhorse reared up, turned around, and charged back without stopping for a moment.

He had barely stepped back when the second rider arrived, raising his shield, throwing his bag, and turning around in one fluid motion.

One rider after another, they moved like shuttles, one after another, without pausing for even a moment.

All the sandbags were precisely piled up in the main entrance area, layer upon layer, going up along the pile of corpses.

In a short time, a slope as high as a person was built up. Sand leaked out from the gaps in the cloth to fill them, and was compacted by the horses' hooves. It was spreading towards the city wall at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Loose the arrows! Archers, form ranks!" Cheng Feng shouted hoarsely, "Shoot specifically at the legs! Shoot at the horses' legs!"

Liang Enyi also brandished his sword and roared, "Fire arrows—"

Twenty archers stood in a line, their bowstrings creaking and their arrowheads gleaming coldly.

As soon as the order was given, a hail of arrows flew out, densely packed and swarming towards the base of the wall.

But with little success.

When shot at a distance, the arrow loses its strength halfway through its flight, and when it hits the leather shield, it only penetrates half an inch, unable to go through at all.

As they drew nearer, the Xiongnu pressed down with their shields, protecting most of the men and horses, while the sandbags in front of them became cover.

The arrows either struck the shield or pierced the sand, not even touching the hem of the garment.

Occasionally, an arrow would slip through the net and graze the flesh. The wounded Hun would only grunt, then immediately retreat on horseback, and the next person would immediately take their place, maintaining the perfect rhythm.

Horse archers were also mixed in with the Xiongnu cavalry.

They rushed to the edge of firing range and fired arrows at tricky angles.

A volley of arrows rained down on the city wall. Two archers were unable to dodge in time and were pierced through the shoulder by arrows, falling to the ground with screams.

The others hurriedly ducked their heads and pressed themselves against the wall, no longer daring to show their faces.

"Change to throwing logs!"

Tang Shun immediately issued an order.

The soldiers scrambled and crawled to move the logs.

Those were logs as thick as bowls. Four or five men shouted in unison as they moved the giant logs to the gap in the parapet and pushed them down the thickest part of the slope.

"Boom—!"

The giant tree fell from a height of two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), crashing into the sand dune with a whooshing sound, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

The people on the city wall held their breath, hoping that this blow would collapse half of the slope.

But the next second, everyone's heart sank.

Sand is the best material for dissipating force.

The giant log struck with a muffled thud, and half of it sank directly into the sandbag, then wobbled before settling firmly in place.

The horizontally lying logs actually became the crossbeams of the slope, holding up the sandbags on both sides. Instead of collapsing the slope, they helped to reinforce the structure.

Wei Zong's face turned deathly pale, and his voice trembled, "Squad leader... they borrowed our stuff to build a road!"

"Even the stone can't be used anymore," Tang Shun said in a deep voice.

Throwing stones down will only make the embankment sink deeper, and they'll all become filler stones for someone else's slope.

Enraged, Cheng Feng slammed his fist against the wall, drawing blood from his knuckles. "You son of a bitch!"

"Pour in kerosene! Burn it!"

Before Tang Shun could finish speaking, Wei Zong had already turned around and given the order.

There were more than a dozen barrels of kerosene on the city wall, which had extremely strong adhesive properties.

The soldiers poured bucket after bucket of oil up the slope, the dark brown liquid seeping through the gaps in the sandbags, soaking the burlap, and also dripping onto the stuck logs.

Wei Zong picked up the torch and threw it down.

"boom--!"

Flames shot up instantly, forming a sea of ​​fire.

Orange flames licked at the earthen walls and rose upwards, while billowing black smoke shot straight up the city walls, carrying a pungent smell of pine resin that choked everyone, causing them to cough repeatedly and cover their faces as they backed away.

"Good! Burn these bastards to death!" Cheng Feng clenched his fist, his eyes reflecting the firelight.

But as the black smoke dissipated and everyone squinted to look again, their hearts sank once more.

The logs crackled and popped as they burned, but the sandbags remained almost unharmed.

The flames went out once they burned through the burlap, and the sandbags were covered with a thick layer of wet mud!

The cloth burned away, but the wet mud and sand remained intact and didn't collapse. It didn't burn down the slope, and not much sand or soil leaked out.

The hardened mud crust actually makes the slope more solid, adding an unnecessary layer of hardness.

"Golden juice! Bring up the boiled excrement!" Cheng Feng's eyes reddened; in his desperation, he was grasping at straws.

The soldiers quickly brought over two large buckets of boiling manure, the hot steam mixed with the stench hitting them. The two men lifted the buckets and poured them down the slope, the yellowish manure flowing down the slope, but there was no one standing at the bottom.

The Xiongnu cavalry threw down the bags and left, moving as fast as the wind. The excrement only soaked the sandy slope, without burning a single person.

The usual defensive tactics used to defend a city are completely ineffective against cavalry that can come and go as they please, like punching cotton – they can't exert any force at all.

The city walls gradually quieted down.

No one shouted any more work chants, and no one was in a hurry to move things.

The soldiers leaned against the parapet, their bows barely able to be drawn.

Everyone sees it clearly; it can't be stopped.

Cheng Feng paced back and forth with a dark face, urging them on, but no matter how loud he spoke, he couldn't stir up any morale.

He cursed a couple of times, but seeing no one move, he choked up, gritting his teeth and staring down at the city walls, his chest heaving violently.

The sound of horses' hooves pounded incessantly beneath the city walls, neither hurried nor slow, like a tapping on everyone's heart.

Thousands of people took turns coming, one person making two or three trips, and the piles could reach the top of the city wall.

When the cavalry charge straight at the parapet, this fortified city will become a slaughterhouse where everyone can be slaughtered at will.

The city was deathly silent.

The people huddled under the shelters at the foot of the city wall, clutching their bundles and holding their children, listening to the sound of horses' hooves outside the wall, and no one dared to speak.

The woman covered the child's mouth, but tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

An old man sat by the well, holding his grandson. His white beard was covered in ash. He patted the child's back gently, muttering softly. His voice carried clearly up to the city wall: "It's all over...it's all over..."

The child buried himself in his arms, biting his lip tightly, not daring to make a sound even when crying.

Cheng Feng slammed his fist against the wall, and the plaster crumbled off.

He roared, "Are we just going to watch them pile it up?! Isn't there any other way?!"

No one answered.

We've tried everything.

Arrows cannot penetrate it, stones cannot break it, fire attacks are useless, and even molten gold is ineffective.

Going out of the city to meet the enemy would be suicide. The defending soldiers numbered a maximum of three hundred, most of whom were local militia who had never seen blood. If they went out, they would be slaughtered by the cavalry.

Moreover, the city gates have already been blocked!

The Xiongnu Right Commander didn't take this small town seriously at all.

First, they used the corpses of ordinary people to block the gates and humiliate them, then they used sandbags to slowly grind down the city.

Like a cat playing with a mouse, it calmly exhausts everyone's hopes, waiting for them to collapse on their own.

Wei Zong stood beside Tang Shun, his voice so low it was almost inaudible, "Team leader, there are several thousand of them... one person can make two or three trips, and the slope will be right up to the city wall."

"At that time, the cavalry can charge straight up."

Tang Shun remained silent.

He stared at the ever-rising sand dune.

Warhorses came and went in an endless stream, sandbags were piled up in layers, the slope was not rising fast, but it never stopped.

Like a rising tide, it slowly crept up, threatening to engulf the entire fortress.

The wall is six zhang high.

At this moment, the sand dune had been piled up to more than two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters)

At this rate, the top of the slope will be level with the city wall by tonight at the latest.

Tang Shun clenched his fists, no longer daring to underestimate the wisdom of the ancients.

All conventional defensive tactics were easily neutralized by the opponent.

They don't engage in close combat with you at all; they just use this stupidest and most unsolvable method to slowly wear you down.

Behind them lay the silent city, and the anxious soldiers and civilians.

Before them lay a dead end, a trap that seemed to close in step by step, and thousands of menacing Xiongnu cavalrymen.

The smell of gunpowder and burnt metal in the wind grew stronger, mixed with the pungent odor of sand, making my throat feel tight.

The sound of horses' hooves continued below the city walls, steady and rhythmic, like a countdown clock, each strike a life-or-death moment.

Tang Shun took a deep breath.

This was the first time the idea had crossed his mind.

This city may truly be beyond saving...