I, a useless prince, started with the Xiang Yu template.

Two days later.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated.

Suddenly, a cloud of yellow dust rose up on the official road outside Hebei City.

The thunderous sound of horses' hooves, like muffled thunder rolling across the ground, grew closer and clearer.

"They're here! The barbarian soldiers are really here!"

The sentry standing atop the city wall roared loudly.

Outside the city, those people who were stranded by the official road and had not yet entered the city were terrified.

They were still hesitating, wondering whether they should go back to collect some more belongings or seek refuge with a relative.

But in the blink of an eye, a dark mass of shadows appeared on the distant horizon.

The shadow grew larger and closer, and in the blink of an eye, it became the outline of hundreds and thousands of warhorses.

They are the vanguard of the barbarian army!

"The barbarian soldiers are coming! Run!"

The people who were originally scattered along the roadside were instantly in an uproar.

Everyone disregarded everything, carrying their children and dragging their luggage, and ran frantically toward the city gate.

Chaos erupted instantly at the city gate.

The guards' faces were ashen, and their spears were trembling.

They shouted frantically, trying to maintain order: "Get into the city! Hurry! Hurry! It's too late!"

"Run! Don't push! People are being shoved!"

The garrison commander stood atop the city wall, his face ashen. He looked at the barbarian cavalry surging in from outside the city like a tide, and at the dense crowd of people blocking the gate, and roared out his orders.

"Close the gates! Close the gates now! Close the city gates immediately!"

A captain standing nearby was sweating profusely and said urgently.

"General! More than half of the people haven't gotten in yet!"

"If you don't close the gates, we're all doomed!" The commander, his eyes bloodshot, kicked the captain in the leg and roared, "The barbarian cavalry is here! Only by closing the gates can we save tens of thousands of lives inside! Execute the order! Close them now!"

The soldiers received the order to die, and no longer cared about the people outside the city.

They strained with all their might to push against the heavy bolts of the city gate.

"One, two! One, two! Heave-ho!"

The towering city gates began to slowly close.

The people outside the city went completely mad.

"Open the door! Let us in! Open the door!"

"My son is still outside! General! Please open the door!"

"You can't close the door! Leaving us out here is suicide!"

But the city gates remained closed, inch by inch.

Just as the city gate was closing down to its last two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) wide, the vanguard cavalry of the barbarian army outside the city had already rushed to within three hundred meters of the city gate.

The leading barbarian centurion, with a full beard and holding a scimitar, looked at the half-open gates of Hebei City, and his eyes instantly flashed with greed.

"Opportunity! The city gates aren't closed! Charge in!" he roared excitedly, pointing his whip at the city gates. "Take this city! Our vanguard battalion will be the first to achieve this!"

"kill--!!"

Hundreds of barbarian cavalrymen roared in unison, instantly accelerating to their maximum speed.

Dust billowed, and the sound of horses' hooves was as dense as popping beans. In the blink of an eye, they rushed to a place only a hundred meters away from the city gate.

On the city wall, the defending general was terrified and roared towards the city gate.

"Quick! Close the door! Hold the line! Fire the arrows!"

The soldiers responsible for closing the city gates were terrified. They used their last bit of strength to slam the gates shut.

"Clang—!!"

The heavy city gate slammed shut, the bolt locking it with a click.

Outside the city, countless people were locked out of the gates.

They pounded on the city gate, roaring and shouting, their voices shrill and piercing.

"Open the door! Open the door!"

"We are citizens of the Great Qian Dynasty! You cannot stand by and watch us die!"

"Let us in! Ah—!!"

The barbarian cavalry charged to the city gate, but seeing the gate was tightly closed, they suddenly pulled on their reins.

The centurion, who was leading the group, looked at the desperate people outside the city and a cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

He raised his curved sword high and roared, "If we can't get into the city, then kill!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Hundreds of barbarian soldiers laughed wildly, turned their horses around, and, wielding curved swords, chased after the Daqian people who hadn't yet managed to reach the city gates.

On the city wall, all the guards watched this scene unfold.

They watched as unarmed civilians were overtaken and hacked down by barbarian soldiers; they watched as an old woman was knocked down by a warhorse and trampled under its hooves; they watched as children were chased like prey by barbarian soldiers…

They were filled with rage, their fingernails digging deep into the bricks of the city wall, drawing blood.

But they were powerless to do anything about it.

"Hahaha! The people of Daqian are nothing but a flock of two-legged sheep waiting to be slaughtered!"

"Run! Run, then!"

"Kill them! Cut off their heads and take them to the commander to show off!"

The barbarian cavalry were arrogant and domineering, reaping lives on the official road.

........

As time passed, the atmosphere in Hebei City grew increasingly tense.

The streets were only occupied by patrolling soldiers and civilians transporting supplies for the city's defense. Everyone had a solemn expression and their eyes were filled with lingering fear.

The vanguard of the barbarian army outside the city constantly provoked the city.

They rode their warhorses around the city walls, brandishing their blood-stained scimitars and shouting insults at the defenders on the walls.

They either dragged the corpses of civilians outside the city behind their horses to display them, or they flaunted the looted valuables and clothing.

They even fired arrows at the city walls and launched small-scale feint attacks from time to time.

The soldiers guarding the city wall were all furious, their eyes bloodshot. They gripped their swords and spears tightly, wishing they could immediately open the city gates and rush out to fight these barbarian soldiers to the death.

But they dared not, and could not.

The garrison commander repeatedly and sternly rebuked anyone from leaving the city to engage in battle.

Their forces were weak and poorly equipped. Once they left the city, they would fall right into the trap of the barbarian cavalry, resulting in the annihilation of their entire army and the immediate fall of the city gates.

Everyone could only stare intently at the outside of the city, suppressing their anger and defending the city walls.

This oppressive standoff lasted for three whole days.

Until the morning of the fourth day.

Just as the sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, a deafening sound of horses' hooves and footsteps suddenly echoed from outside the city, causing the earth to tremble slightly.

The sentry on the city wall suddenly looked up and gazed into the distance, instantly freezing in fright.

On the distant horizon, a dark mass of people surged forth like a tidal wave.

Banners blotted out the sky, and cavalry and infantry stretched for dozens of miles, with no end in sight.

The news spread throughout the city walls in an instant.

All the guards peered out, looking at the endless barbarian army outside the city, their densely packed figures almost covering the entire plain.

Everyone gasped, their scalps tingled, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably.

"Damn it... how the hell can we possibly hold out against so many barbarian soldiers?"

"It's over, completely over. With so many people, even a single spit from each of them could drown us!"

"With such a long wall, our small force simply can't defend it!"

The soldiers lowered their voices, their tone filled with despair.

Zhang Zhen strode up the city wall and stood at the highest point, looking at the vast barbarian army outside the city. His heart sank, and his lips were full of bitterness.

These days, he has exhausted the city's resources, gathering the garrison and conscripting able-bodied men, but the total force he has assembled to defend the city is less than 15,000.

Fifteen thousand men sounds like a large number, but the city wall of Hebei stretches for nearly twenty miles. To fully deploy defenses, manpower was already stretched thin. If you include the old, weak, disabled soldiers and untrained civilians, there were less than a thousand soldiers who could actually fight on the battlefield.

Once the barbarian army launches a full-scale attack, its forces will be scattered, and the city walls in various places will be in danger. With such a force, it can only hold out for two or three days at most before the city is bound to fall.