The fiercest soldier of the border army

The distinctive dry, earthy smell of quicklime seeped out through the gaps in the burlap, making one's throat tighten.

Tang Shun glanced up and swept his eyes over the dark mass of cavalry approaching from outside the city. The sound of horses' hooves pounding the ground was already carried in the wind, each thud striking his heart.

Without further ado, Tang Shun gave the order in a deep voice, "Squint, scatter the ashes!"

He reached in with his right hand, scooped up a handful of powder, flipped his wrist, and swung it fiercely against the north wind.

Fine white ash suddenly billowed up to about half a person's height, like a smoke screen that spread out suddenly, slanting over the parapet.

The north wind caught the white fog, swirling and pushing it, making its momentum surge even stronger as it hurtled towards the city.

Tang Shun remained unfazed, grabbed another handful with his backhand, and swung it out.

Along the western section of the wall, Liang Enyi had already led five local militiamen to stand against the wall, each with a bag of quicklime stuck at their feet.

Upon hearing Tang Shun's command and seeing the white mist rush out, Liang Enyi immediately lowered his waist and roared:

"Do as instructed! Squint! Sprinkle dust!"

Before he finished speaking, he tore open the bag himself, swung his arm in a wide arc, and threw handfuls of lime over the wall.

The local militia followed suit.

Clumps of white powder rolled over the parapet and quickly dispersed in the night wind, like frost falling from the sky, covering the enemy formation as it attacked the city.

Hearing the commotion, Cheng Feng from the eastern section glanced back at the billowing white mist in the western section and immediately kicked the back of the leg of a stunned villager next to him.

"Scatter ash! Are you deaf?!" Cheng Feng's voice was filled with anger, and the blood and mud on the soles of his boots smeared into the cracks between the bricks.

The man stumbled and hurriedly reached into the sack, his fingernails instantly filling with dry, white ash. Ignoring the choking smell, he closed his eyes and flung it over the wall.

His arm was shaking so badly that half a handful of dust spilled onto the wall. Cheng Feng, who was standing next to him, grabbed his wrist and said, "Swing it outwards! Against the wind!"

On the observation platform, Wei Zong leaned against the wall with one hand, his body halfway out.

His leather armor jingled in the wind as he stared intently at the movement of the gray fog below the city walls. Then he turned and shouted back to Tang Shun:

"The north wind is strong! And the wind is very steady!"

Beneath the city walls, the vanguard cavalry had already charged to the front of the sandbag slope.

The knights in the front row held up wooden shields covered with leather, the shields studded with copper nails, gleaming coldly.

The warhorses in the rear row trotted about, their hooves pounding the hard sandbags with a dull thud.

At the very front, a Xiongnu man with a full beard had already half-stood up in the stirrups, his scimitar raised high, the blade reflecting the firelight, almost reaching the parapet.

He seemed to catch a strange, earthy smell, glanced up at the white figure drifting down from the city wall, and a ferocious smile appeared on his lips.

The Han people have truly run out of ideas, resorting to scattering dust to embarrass themselves.

Just as he was about to scoff, fine powder suddenly flew into his eye socket.

First, there was a slight itch, followed by an excruciating burning pain!

When quicklime comes into contact with tears on the eyeball, it instantly produces a burning, corrosive sensation, like countless red-hot needles piercing deep into the eye.

The Xiongnu man screamed, his knife clattering to the ground on his horse. He covered his eyes with both hands, and murky tears mixed with white ash streamed from between his fingers.

The more you rub it, the more intense the burning sensation becomes, as if it's melting your eyeballs.

All he could see for a moment was a blinding white light, and he couldn't see anything at all.

The warhorse beneath me reacted even more fiercely than its rider!

The lime powder got into the horse's nostrils and eye slits, and the horse suddenly let out a long, mournful neigh, raised its front hooves high, and its body jerked backward.

The man, who had already lost his balance, was thrown heavily to the ground and landed squarely on the sandbag pile, his ribs throbbing painfully from the impact.

Before he could even get up, the frightened warhorse, in a panic, trampled him on the waist with one hoof, and then crashed into the cavalry formation behind him.

When the first wave of white dust swept by, many Xiongnu cavalrymen didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just dust blown down from the city wall.

But in the blink of an eye, screams of agony rose from the front row.

The lime getting into their eyes was a burning pain worse than being cut by a knife, and they all loosened the reins and raised their hands to cover their eyes.

Some were in so much pain that they arched their backs on the horse, letting out hoarse growls.

The warhorses couldn't take it anymore; one by one, they reared up in fright, staggering and bumping into things.

The cavalrymen next to them had no time to dodge and were knocked to one side along with their horses, causing the shield formation to tilt immediately.

A skilled rider, using the momentum of his charge, leaped onto the wall, stepping on his saddle.

The scimitar in his hand gleamed coldly. He was only three feet away from the nearest villager, who was so frightened that his face turned pale and he couldn't even lift his wooden spear.

But the moment he landed, a cloud of white ash landed squarely on his face.

"ah--!"

His piercing screams broke his voice as he frantically scratched his face, drawing blood from his skin in just a few strokes.

Then his foot slipped, and he fell backward from the high city wall.

He landed with a "plop" on his companions below the city, and together they crashed into four or five other barbarians who were also attacking the city, rolling off the sandbags.

The heart-wrenching cries of pain were carried by the wind up to the city wall, making the local militiamen on the wall feel a chill run down their spines.

No one expected that this seemingly inconspicuous white powder would be more deadly than a bow and arrow.

The once menacing Xiongnu formation quickly descended into chaos.

"My eyes! My eyes!"

"I can't see! The wind is poisonous!"

"Back up! Back up quickly!"

The roars, screams, and neighing of horses mingled together, making one's ears ring.

Dozens of cavalrymen covered their faces and howled in pain on their horses, which had completely gone out of control. Some spun around in place, while others charged forward, knocking their companions off their horses.

Others fell to the ground, and just as they struggled to get up, their heads were stomped hard by the warhorses behind them, which could not stop their momentum, and they fell silent with a muffled thud.

The shield formation at the front shattered instantly, and the cavalry that charged forward couldn't rein in their horses, resulting in a collision between men and horses, with weapons and shields scattered all over the ground.

A Xiongnu cavalry commander tried to organize his troops, but as soon as he spoke, he inhaled a mouthful of lime, which burned him so badly that he frantically tried to scratch it off.

Tang Shun stared intently at the chaos below the city with a deep look in his eyes.

The enemy formation was only in disarray at the front ranks, not yet completely broken. He immediately gave a low shout, his voice piercing through the commotion, "Keep spraying! Hold them off! Don't stop!"

"Yes, sir!"

Liang Enyi responded and swung his arm even faster.

Six people took turns stepping forward, grabbing lime and throwing it over the wall. When the powder on someone's side ran out, a villager immediately dragged a new cloth bag and stumbled up to fill it.

Clumps of white mist flew out of the city walls one after another, carried by the north wind, drifting further and further away, expanding wider and wider, like a large white net, covering the Xiongnu formation more and more deeply.

The second batch of cavalrymen caught in the dust were even more numerous. Even those in the back who weren't directly covered in dust were terrified by the sight of the carnage in front of them, and by the heart-wrenching screams. They all pulled on their reins and retreated.

Warhorses were constantly startled and reared up, throwing their masters violently off their feet.

A horse crashed headfirst into a pile of sandbags, its forehead bleeding profusely. It whimpered and collapsed to the ground, its limbs twitching uncontrollably.

Beneath the city wall, a Xiongnu barbarian with a nose ring was repeatedly banging his head against the cold wall.

He rubbed his eyes hard with both hands, blood seeping from between his fingers, and let out a roar that sounded inhuman from his throat.

"Sorcery! The Han people are using sorcery powder!"

"It's the gods punishing us!"

"There's a ghost! There's a ghost in the wind!"

Panic spread like a plague...