Isolated town in northern border region

The cheers from the city walls abruptly ceased.

Everyone's smiles froze on their faces.

Er Gou's tears, which he had just wiped away, welled up again this time, not with joy, but with fear.

The veteran's hands began to tremble again. The boy, barely out of school, gripped the wooden stick, his knuckles turning white.

fifty thousand.

They just killed five thousand vanguard soldiers.

Now, fifty thousand!

A full fifty thousand Northern Barbarian Tartars!

The battle formations are wider, denser, and more terrifying!

Like a torrent pressing down on the city wall!

They dismounted and fought on foot, carrying shields and ladders.

The sea of ​​black heads stretched out like a moving ocean, with no end in sight.

The earth is trembling! It's really trembling!

The city bricks were jumping, and pebbles were falling from the cracks in the city wall, like a rain of pebbles.

No one spoke atop the city wall.

That fear was different from the one I felt before.

The fear I felt just now was the fear of the unknown; the fear I feel now is the sight of despair.

50,000 to 3,000...

Bisu leaned against the pillar, her legs too weak to stand.

Looking at the sea of ​​people, only one thought crossed her mind—it's over!

But she turned her head and glanced at the city gate.

Xiao Lie had just returned from outside the city, covered in blood.

His golden armor was stained with blood from the battle, and the wound on his left arm had reopened, with blood dripping down his wrist.

But his expression and his eyes remained unchanged.

He looked up at the city wall, then strode up.

Each step was firm and steady, the armor clanging and clattering.

When he walked onto the city wall, everyone was watching him.

Bisu suddenly wasn't so scared anymore.

Not only Bisu, but Er Gou also glanced at Xiao Lie, the old soldier also glanced at Xiao Lie, and Old Zhou also glanced at Xiao Lie.

On the city wall, everyone's eyes were fixed on the golden-armored youth.

He was sixteen years old.

He only arrived in Cangwu City yesterday.

He scared off an army of 50,000 with 500 corpses and a stone tablet.

He spent a whole night setting up an ice cone array.

He led 500 men and routed 5,000 cavalry in a direct confrontation.

He has never lost.

Maybe...maybe this time, we won't lose?

That feeling was strange.

Even though the enemy on the other side was ten times larger than before, and the troops on the city walls were not even enough to defend, everyone felt inexplicably at ease.

Xiao Lie walked to the highest point of the city wall and stood under the banner of the Great Chu army.

He didn't turn around; he knew everyone was watching him.

He took a deep breath and gripped the spear tightly in his hand.

"Archers, prepare."

The sound wasn't loud, but it was as steady as a nail driven into wood.

"Deploy the protective wall!"

The people erected the door panels they had prepared long ago and placed them on the crenellations to form a sloping protective wall.

Those door panels were taken down from each household last night.

The prisoners also stood on the city wall.

They were dressed in prison uniforms, with bloodstains on their feet from the shackles, but each of them carried a knife.

A death row inmate with a face full of scars stood at the front, his eyes bloodshot, like a wild beast that had been imprisoned for too long and was finally released.

He licked his chapped lips and gripped the knife handle tightly.

"Killing one is enough for me, killing two is a bonus."

The northern barbarian infantry are getting closer and closer.

Shields like walls, ladders like forests.

Their footsteps were even more terrifying than the cavalry charge just now; each step was on the beat of a heartbeat.

dong dong...

dong dong...

dong dong!

It was the war drums beating atop Cangwu City!

One hundred steps...

Eighty steps...

Fifty steps!

"Release the arrows!"

A rain of arrows poured down!

The northern barbarian soldiers fell in droves, but those behind them continued to charge forward, stepping over the corpses of their comrades.

Ladders were erected on the city wall, one, two, ten!

suddenly!

The barbarian archers began to fire suppressive shots.

Arrows flew towards the city walls like locusts, densely packed and blotting out the sky!

"Protect the wall!"

The door panel was stood upright!

The arrows struck the door panel, making a dense "thud thud thud" sound, like a downpour hitting the eaves.

The door was trembling, but it didn't fall over.

The person behind the door was also trembling, but did not retreat.

A barbarian soldier climbed the ladder, and as soon as his head peeked out from under the barricade, the death row inmate chopped off half of his head with a single blow.

Blood splattered all over the wall. The death row inmate wiped his face, grinned, and gave a ferocious smile.

Another barbarian soldier climbed up.

This time there were two. The veteran pierced one with a spear, and the other pounced on him, slashing the veteran's shoulder with a knife.

The old soldier grunted, but instead of falling, he held onto the barbarian soldier tightly and pushed him off the city wall.

The two tumbled through the air and crashed to the ground together; the sound of their bones cracking could be heard even from the city walls.

The veteran did not return.

Er Gou saw it.

His eyes reddened, but he didn't cry. He raised his spear, aimed at the next barbarian soldier climbing up, and pierced the man's throat with a single thrust.

His hand was still trembling, but that spear thrust was ruthless!

The boy, barely a teenager, grabbed a log and hurled it down onto a ladder.

The log struck three barbarian soldiers, who fell like dumplings into a pot, crushing those below.

The child laughed, a silly laugh, and then a stray arrow pierced his arm. He knelt on the ground in pain, but didn't cry. He gritted his teeth, pulled out the arrow, and continued moving the logs.

Old Zhou didn't go to the front of the city wall.

He stood guard at the city gate, leading his apprentices, responsible for delivering arrows and rolling logs to the city walls.

He ran faster than the young men, rushing back and forth, carrying his quiver of arrows, charging towards the city wall while cursing incessantly.

"You little brats, get your hands on that! The prince is risking his life up front, what are you all dawdling around for!"

On the city wall, everyone was fighting desperately.

No one ran away.

Because Xiao Lie was standing at the highest point of the city wall.

His golden armor was stained dark red with blood, making it impossible to tell whether it belonged to the enemy or himself.

He suffered another new wound on his left arm, his right leg was grazed by an arrow, and his shoulder was hit by a stone and swollen badly.

But he did not retreat from the city wall; he stood there like a nail, driven into the highest point of Cangwu City.

He stood there, like a flag.

The flag will not fall, and the people will not retreat!

The battle raged from dawn until noon, and from noon until dusk.

The Northern Barbarian army launched six attacks, all of which were repelled.

Beneath the city wall, corpses piled up into a small mountain.

There were barbarian soldiers and garrison troops.

Blood seeped into the snow, turning the entire land a dark red.

The air was filled with the smells of blood, burnt food, and sweat, as well as an indescribable stench of death.

Xiao Lie leaned against the edge of the battlements, panting heavily.

His golden armor was torn in several places, the plates crooked and bent. Bisu cried as she bandaged his wounds, but he didn't even have the strength to push her away. He just leaned there like a statue about to fall apart.

But he was smiling.

It wasn't the kind of nonchalant laugh, but a laugh born of relief, exhaustion, yet from the heart.

We held on.

They held on again.

On the city wall, everyone was slumped on the ground, panting heavily, covered in blood, but with smiles on their faces.

Er Gou sat on the ground, holding a spear in his arms, grinning foolishly.

The death row inmate leaned against the battlements, covered in wounds, but with a piece of dried meat he had taken from the barbarian soldiers dangling from his mouth, chewing it with relish.

The boy had a tattered cloth wrapped around his arm, and the bleeding had stopped.

He raised the wooden stick with his uninjured hand and roared at the Northern Barbarian camp outside the city.

"Come on! Come on again! I'm not afraid of you!"

A weak laugh erupted from the city wall.

Old Zhou sat on the steps of the city gate, leaning against the wall, panting heavily.

His legs were shaking, his shoulders were shaking, and he felt like his whole body was falling apart, but his eyes were shining, frighteningly bright.

Xiao Lie struggled to his feet, leaned on the crenellations, and looked out of the city.

The Northern Barbarian camp was brightly lit, but eerily quiet.

He knew that today's battle was just an appetizer.

tomorrow……

the day after tomorrow……

The day after tomorrow...

The northern barbarians will come again!

Until one side is completely wiped out!

But at least today, they won.

He was just about to order the city gates opened to seize the horses...

woo woo woo...

The bugle sounded again.

It came from the Northern Barbarian camp.

The sound was deep and resonant, piercing through the evening sunset and spreading throughout the entire grassland.

One call after another, rising and falling, like wolves calling to each other.

Xiao Lie's pupils suddenly contracted.

Bisu was confused.

"Your Highness, what are those Northern Barbarians doing?"

Shen Chongyuan's face was as white as paper.

His lips were trembling, not from the cold, but from fear.

"This is... the rallying cry of the various tribes of the Northern Barbarians."

His voice trembled.

"The leader of the northern barbarian tribes is gathering all the scattered troops that have been raiding the northern frontier..."

Everyone on the city wall heard those words.

Their smiles froze.

Er Gou dropped the spear from his hand to the ground.

The dried meat in the condemned prisoner's mouth fell onto his chest.

The boy slowly lowered his hand that was holding the wooden stick.

Fear, like a bucket of ice water, poured over my head and toes.

They all understand.

Today's attack is only a portion of the Northern Barbarian forces.

And those small groups of cavalry scattered throughout the northern border states, burning, killing, and looting...

The pack of wolves that slaughtered villages and wiped out settlements in Youzhou, Yunzhou, Shuozhou, and Daizhou has not yet arrived...

This bugle call will summon them all!

At that time, the Northern Barbarians' forces will increase from 50,000 to 80,000, 100,000, or even more.

The garrison in Cangwu City, including the wounded, numbered less than two thousand.

Bisu's eyes reddened.

"Your Highness..."

Her voice choked with emotion.

"Can we...hold on?"