The fiercest soldier of the border army

The Xiongnu stopped, and a hundred paces away, their cavalry formed a line, like protecting piled-up sandbags.

The corpses of the people below the city had long been buried by horses' hooves and sandbags, with only half of their patched and tattered sleeves sticking out, as if silently pleading for help.

The city gate was unusually quiet.

The whistling wind whistling over the parapet and the thudding of horses' hooves on the ground only served to accentuate the fact that the fortress resembled a dead city.

Tang Shun slowly turned around and glanced around the city wall.

The soldier lowered his head, gripping his weapon, unsure of whom to attack.

The people huddled together under the shed for warmth. A child would occasionally cry out, but the woman would quickly cover it up, leaving only soft sobs.

This isn't quiet; it's the numbness of someone who's exhausted themselves to the point of exhaustion.

If they continue like this, the Xiongnu will collapse on their own without even needing to build fortifications.

"Cheng Fengwei, Liang Enyi, come here." Tang Shun said, then plopped down on the pile of boulders.

The stone was icy cold, but Tang Shun seemed oblivious to it.

"You've all seen it, they're all veterans, what can you do?"

Cheng Feng's face lost its usual carefree expression, and he smiled bitterly, "What can we do? Fire attack? The oil thrown down from both sides won't burn anyone."

"The molten gold was poured down and seeped into the soil, and not a single person cried out in pain."

"Not to mention the logs and boulders, they just sink into the soft soil and actually help them build their foundation."

Wei Zong remained calm and replied, "They dropped the bags and retreated without engaging us in close combat. They knew they were short of arrows and manpower."

"Unless we can break through the south gate, we're doomed once the sandbags are piled up on top of the wall."

"Charge out? These old, weak, and disabled people tremble at the sight of the Xiongnu barbarians, and you think you can fight them off against overwhelming odds, with infantry and cavalry?"

Leaning against the parapet, Liang Enyi muttered under his breath, "How about we let them pile up? When they really charge up, we can have a good fight?"

No one responded.

This sounds tough, but it's actually tantamount to resigning oneself to fate.

Fighting is the last step.

But in the current situation, even delaying the inevitable is nearly impossible.

It's not that they don't want to fight, it's that they can't.

There were no ballistae, no catapults, no oil emplacements, and no reinforcements.

All told, the local militia and soldiers numbered no more than two hundred, and they had only a few dozen old bows and a few hundred stones.

How do we fight this battle?

Good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly.

In the brief silence between them, Zhu Hang, panting heavily, climbed up the north city wall step by step, using both his hands and feet.

He felt himself leaning against the city wall, bending over, and couldn't straighten up for a long time.

Upon seeing him, Cheng Feng shouted, "Zhu Hang, why aren't you guarding your south gate? What are you doing here? Are you worried the Xiongnu will sneak up on you!"

"South Gate... South Gate..."

Zhu Hang was panting heavily, his chest heaving violently, clearly having run all the way here.

He swallowed hard and shouted, "There's no one outside the south gate! The Xiongnu have all retreated; the south is completely deserted! Not a soul in sight!"

Before Tang Shun and his companions could even finish speaking, the villagers erupted in a commotion.

"real?!"

"The Xiongnu barbarians aren't attacking the south gate anymore?"

"Is there no one at the south gate?"

"Let's hurry and escape towards the south gate, it's better than staying here to die!"

"I'm not going to stay here and wait to die! I'm leaving!"

The people had long been filled with despair, but now, upon hearing that the South Gate was deserted, they were all incredibly excited.

They were like drowning people grasping at a last straw; in an instant, the news spread.

Tang Shun's heart sank. This was the Xiongnu Right Commander's final killing move!

The act of piling up earth to besiege a city is an open and blatant killing, wearing down their strength and hope, and letting panic spread throughout the city.

Emptying the south gate is to destroy the spirit, to destroy the spirit of everyone inside the city.

This is only human nature.

If there is a glimmer of hope, who would be willing to cling to a hopeless situation?

Several village guards threw down their weapons and tried to run down the city walls.

Liang Enyi led his men forward, drawing their swords and shouting, "Stop! All of you, stop right there!"

"No one is allowed to move! Obey the squad leader's orders!"

Several local militiamen had red eyes:

"Get out of the way! Are you trying to starve us to death?!"

"The Xiongnu are all gone! What are you still doing stopping them?!"

"My mother is still down there, I must go find her! I must take her out of the city!"

"I'm not going to wait here to die, get out of my way!"

Cries and curses mingled together.

Some people knelt on the ground and kowtowed, while others, residents of the city below, began packing their belongings and preparing to run towards the south gate.

Their eyes were filled with the light of survival.

Seeing that Liang Enyi remained unmoved, several village militiamen knelt down before Tang Shun:

"Squad leader, let us go, let's go together!"

"The south gate has been evacuated, let's escape through the south gate!"

Countless expectant eyes, both on and below the city walls, were fixed on Tang Shun.

Cheng Feng's expression also changed. "Squad leader, this... this is public opinion..."

Tang Shun raised his hand to stop him from speaking.

He knew that these people were begging him to open the door because they still respected him as the team leader.

If we forcefully suppress it, it will likely create even bigger problems.

but……

Tang Shun stood up, facing everyone's gaze, and decisively ordered, "Close the south gate tightly, bolt and lock it, and no one is allowed to open it without authorization."

"What? You're not allowed to go?"

"Why is that?"

"I say, no one is allowed to leave the south gate." Tang Shun's gaze swept over the chaotic crowd below the city. "All personnel are on high alert. Private discussions about desertion are strictly prohibited. Violators will be punished according to military law."

Not only the local militia on the city walls, but even the soldiers began to stir.

The people below the city were in uproar, and the protests grew even louder.

"He's insane!"

"This team is insane!"

"You want us all to starve to death?!"

"The north gate is going to be bulldozed! They won't let us leave through the south gate! They're telling us to just wait to die!"

"Why? The Xiongnu people in the south have all left!"

"Damn corrupt officials! They want us to be buried with them so they can easily escape when the city falls!"

The insults came like a tidal wave.

Several women sat on the ground wailing, and the children were too frightened to make a sound.

The men clenched their fists, their eyes shifting from hope to hatred.

Wei Zong walked over, stood next to Tang Shun, and whispered, "They don't understand."

"These people are blind. The Xiongnu are making such a big show of things, why would they abandon the south gate? They're digging a pit for us to fall into."

"It's normal, the common people don't think that much." Tang Shun looked down at the wall and into the distance, where the Xiongnu cavalry were moving. It wouldn't be long before they launched another round of besieging the city.

Turning my head again, I saw the South Gate in the distance, silent, yet hiding an unseen mouth, waiting to swallow all those who fled for their lives.

For the first time, Tang Shun realized that the problem with this city was not just that it couldn't be defended.

They've been thoroughly outmaneuvered, both inside and out.

Wei Zong approached, his voice low: "Squad Leader, what's the next step...?"

Tang Shun did not answer.

He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his gaze fell on a thatched hut in the city—where a person was lying.

Then we have no choice but to take a gamble!

"Li Lang, how is he now?"

Wei Zong was slightly taken aback, seemingly somewhat surprised. Why would he think of Li Lang at such a critical moment?