Border Soldier: My fiancée snatched credit and broke off the engagement, so I promptly became a marq

The royal messenger arrived at noon the next day.

It wasn't just one person.

Haru led sixty-three white fox riders, twelve women chained with iron chains, and a carriage covered with red felt.

The messenger's name was Haru.

He had once besieged Black Stone Fortress with Batu, and had personally witnessed Chen Mu burning the White Fox Banner and Batu withdrawing his troops. Half a year had passed, and Chen Mu had gone from a lowly cook to the master of White Wolf Pass, but Haru still didn't take him seriously.

Outside the North Gate, Haru had the red felt blanket lifted.

There were no gifts in the car.

There was only an empty iron cage.

"Lord Batu said that if Anado goes into the cage by herself, the old Ugu tribe can live."

Twelve women were pushed in front of the car.

They were all family members of the former Wugu tribe left behind in the North Mountain. The youngest was only thirteen or fourteen years old, her face covered with whip marks. One woman was holding an infant in her arms, an iron chain running from her neck all the way to the axle of the cart.

Wu Lie recognized his daughter-in-law on the wall.

The old man pulled the knife out of his hand in an instant.

Anato held him down.

"Let them in first."

Harulian himself only had sixty-four riders, yet he dared to escort the man to the gate, because he was certain that Chen Mu would not dare to kill the royal messenger.

If a fight breaks out at Bailang Pass, Batu will have an excuse to lead his troops south.

In the past, Han Wanshan always tolerated it.

The silver was handed over, the women were sent, and the envoy was invited into the inner fortress for a drink.

Su Wan stood beneath the city gate and asked, "Does the envoy wish to enter the pass?"

Haru smiled.

"certainly."

"Bring out the fine wine, meat, and women of White Wolf Pass first."

"Have Anado washed clean and brought into my room."

The north gate slowly rose.

Haru and sixty-four other riders escorted the woman and the iron cage into the barbican. Haru was even more reassured when he saw that there were not many guards on the walls on both sides.

He walked to the second door and saw Chen Mu.

Chen Mu remained seated in that nailed-down wooden chair.

Lin Qinghe forbade him to stand, nor to put on his armor. His right arm was slinged across his chest, and a black wolf skin covered his legs, making him look like a seriously injured patient going out to sunbathe.

Haru looked down at him from his horse.

"Listen carefully to Lord Batu's conditions."

"Thirty thousand taels of silver, the key to the North Gate, Anato and all the women of the old Wugu tribe."

"Prepare another hundred fine horses and two hundred jars of wine for Young Master Tamu."

"Three days later, the royal tent will give you a new flag."

Chen Mu asked, "Are you finished?"

Haru raised his whip.

"besides."

"You killed Wugudu, and ruined Lord Batu's plans twice."

"Kneel down and kowtow ten times, cut off your left hand, and you may continue to guard the South Gate."

"You only have your left hand," Anato said.

She emerged from behind the second door, a white fox fur shawl draped over her shoulders, and a black wolf flag with a missing ear in her hand.

Haru's eyes lit up.

"Wearing a white fox fur makes her look more like a woman from the royal court."

"come over."

Anato really walked forward.

Reaching Haruma, she inserted the black wolf flag into the crack in the stone and reached out to touch the empty iron cage.

"Made for me?"

"Lord Batu is afraid you'll bite someone on the road."

"Too small."

Anato looked up.

"Perfect for your head."

The dagger was thrust out from under the white fox fur.

Haru was prepared; he leaned back to avoid the blade's tip slicing through his chin. At the same time, the white fox rider beside him drew his bow.

The outer gate then closed.

With a loud bang.

All sixty-four riders were imprisoned in the barbican.

The straw mats covering the previously empty arrow walls on both sides were suddenly lifted. Of the seven hundred crossbows just issued from the armory, at least three hundred were already set up behind the walls.

The White Fox Knights wanted to use twelve women as shields against arrows.

But the chain broke first.

He Shi, who had infiltrated the escort convoy last night, crawled out from under the cart, holding the iron pliers the forge worker had given him. He cut through six thin chains along the way, and the remaining thick chain was already worn down by half.

Wu Lie jumped down from the wall, and the old Black Wolf followers also landed on the rope.

The woman was dragged to the back of the car.

A rain of arrows immediately followed.

The barbican was only a tiny patch of sky, and the sixty-four horses were crammed together with nowhere to escape. Twenty riders fell in the first round, and the carcasses of the horses had already blocked the outer gate in the second.

The white fox rider raised his shield and charged toward the second gate.

Forty-six veteran heavy infantrymen and eighty new heavy cavalrymen were all behind the gate.

They didn't ride horses; they simply pressed the Han family's heavy shields into a wall. The White Fox Riders charged forward, their front ranks unleashing spears from the gaps in the shields.

The man and the horse were hung together on the gun.

Haru wants to bypass the Great Firewall.

Anato's lasso wrapped around his ankle, dragging him off the horse. Haru broke his nose, but still pulled out the royal tent token and shouted.

"When two countries are at war, envoys should not be killed!"

"Who are your two countries?" Chen Mu asked.

He sat inside the second door, without even moving his chair.

"You barged into my territory and stole my woman."

"He's a thief."

Haru wanted to say something more.

Wu Lie had already stepped on his mouth.

The fighting in the barbican lasted only a moment.

This was the first time the new heavy cavalry had truly killed someone while wearing armor.

They had practiced mounting horses in the streets, but not shield wall. When the White Fox Riders charged, the eight men in the front row were pushed backward together, their shield feet leaving the ground, almost exposing themselves through the crack in the door.

Forty-six veteran soldiers did not take their place.

The old rider stood behind and used the rifle barrel to whip the newcomer's legs hard.

"Bend your knees!"

"Shield on shoulder!"

"Take a step back, and someone else will have to eat the food in the pot!"

The new rider was whipped hard.

Chapter 105 The fifteen-year-old girl was also behind the shield. She was short, and the heavy shield made her shoulders bleed, so she simply stuck the bottom of the shield into a crevice in the rock and used her short spear to stab randomly through the crevice.

The first shot only hit the horse's chest.

The injured white horse charged down, knocking her to the ground and sending her helmet rolling away. The white fox rider's scimitar was already at her face when the girl grabbed a broken horseshoe from the ground to block the blade, and with her other hand, she drew her dagger and plunged it into the horse's belly.

The horse and the man fell down together.

She crawled out of the blood, retrieved her pistol, and stepped back into the shield wall.

Only then did the old soldier stop whipping her.

On the other side, not all the rescued women hid behind the car.

A young woman with an iron chain around her neck recognized the white fox rider who was escorting her. The rider had kidnapped her child the night before and thrown it into a snow ditch simply because the child was crying loudly.

She wrapped the broken chain around the white fox's neck.

The white fox rider tried to cut the chain with his knife, but the other two women pounced on him and bit his wrist. The three of them dragged him behind the wheel, tightening the chain until the man's tongue stuck out and his legs stopped kicking.

The woman still wouldn't let go.

Wu Lie tapped her three times with the back of his knife before she looked up.

Where is the child?

White Fox Rider could no longer answer.

She picked up the other person's curved knife.

"I'll go back and find it myself."

Of the twelve women, seven took the victim's knife on the spot. After finishing their porridge, they did not go inside, but went to the stable with Wugu's former followers.

This battle also left behind fifty-two usable white horses, sixty-four sets of fox fur armor, two carts of bone arrows, and the empty iron cage. The fox fur armor was first given to the woman who had just been rescued, while the white horses were all left for those who would leave the pass at night.

The red felt carriage that Haru brought was not burned.

Su Wan ordered the iron cages to be removed, and the interior of the cart to be lined with thick leather, turning it into a vehicle for transporting wounded soldiers. The cage bars were delivered to the furnace, where a furnace worker with a face covered in burn scars tapped them and said there was enough to fire more than forty heavy arrowheads.

Batu sent over the iron for imprisoning women, and in the blink of an eye, he was about to shoot it back at his son.

Forty-eight of the White Fox riders died, nine lost their swords, and the remaining six were crushed under the carcasses of their horses. Haru was captured alive. On the White Wolf Pass side, twelve people died and more than thirty were wounded.

All twelve black-boned women were rescued.

Wu Lie's daughter-in-law walked up to the old man but did not immediately acknowledge him as her relative.

She first handed the baby in her arms to Wu Lie, then turned to look for her husband among the pile of corpses. Wu Lie's son had entered the pass with his old troops that day, but had died by the frozen lake yesterday. In the end, the woman only found a blood-stained leather armor.

She sat holding the leather jacket for a while, then carried the baby back on her back.

"Where is his horse?"

"Keep it for the children," Wu Lie said.

The woman nodded and led the white horse away.

She didn't cry, nor did she return to the tent. As soon as the saddle was in place, she handed the baby to an elderly woman of her tribe and put on the fox fur armor she had just peeled off.

"I'm going to Beishan tonight too."

"My man didn't live to see me, but my sisters are still there."

The other six rescued women are also going.

Anato didn't stop them, only letting them follow behind the old Wugu tribe. The Wugu tribe originally had eighty-seven riders, twenty-one of whom died yesterday, but today there were fifteen more forcibly conscripted riders and seven women carrying knives.

People were taken away once, and now they are returning in batches.

The woman holding the baby was He Shi's wife's older sister. After entering the city, she first drank a bowl of hot porridge before telling He Shi that his wife and daughter were still at the Beishan Horse Ranch, and that morning Tamu had just sent them off to sew saddles for Jiu Baiqi.

He Shi knelt in front of Chen Mu's wooden chair.

"I'll take you there."

"There is a small path for transporting sheep on the east side of the horse farm."

"Tamu's thirty grain carts will cross the glacier tonight."

Chen Mu nodded.

"Go find Anato."

"Bring the grain back tonight."

He Shi did not leave immediately.

He took a small piece of his daughter's red hair tie from his pocket and tied it to his left wrist.

"If I can't get the grain, I'll bring the people back with me."

Chen Mu said, "Bring them all."

There are fifty-six vehicles.

"It can fit."

Haru was dragged to the North Gate.

The forge worker brought two long iron nails used for shoeing horses and nailed his hands into the door panel. With each hammer blow, the city gate trembled.

Haru initially cursed.

After the fifth blow, all that remained were screams of agony.

Anato carried the empty iron cage to the door and actually forced Haru's head inside. She didn't kill him immediately; instead, she had each of the twelve rescued women whipped once.

When the last whip fell, Haru could no longer recognize his face.

Wu Lie asked, "Should we let him go back and report the news?"

Chen Mu shook his head.

"Leave three people."

Of the nine who surrendered, three were chosen from Batu's close associates.

Each of the three men was given a horse without a saddle, and then Haru was pulled off the door panel. Haru's hands were crippled, but he was still alive, and he was tied horizontally to the back of the third horse.

Chen Mu had the wooden skulls also hung on the iron cage.

"Take it back."

"Tell Batu that the person he wants is here."

"I will collect his son and the grain tonight."

Three horses charged out of the north gate.

Meanwhile, over three hundred light cavalry were changing horses and hoofing them in the stables. Forty-six veteran heavy cavalrymen also selected the best horses, while the eighty new heavy cavalrymen were only brought along half of their original horses.

Hearing the commotion, Lin Qinghe immediately stood in front of Chen Mu's chair.

"You're not going."

"I didn't say I was going."

"You're thinking."

Chen Mu looked towards the north gate.

Anato, Lu Shuangyi, and Wu Lie have already donned their armor and mounted their horses.

Su Wan then moved the fifty-six empty grain carts left behind by Xu Wandou outside the gate. The drivers, sacks, and horse ropes were all ready.

This time, Chen Mu didn't get up.

Lin Qinghe was still worried, so he took a wide cloth and tied his waist to the wooden chair, and had Er Gou, the old soldier, sit behind the chair to guard him.

Chen Mu looked down at the cloth.

"Will you need it?"

"You could crawl out of a pile of dead bodies."

Lin Qinghe tightened the last knot.

"I don't trust anyone without a rope."

Before mounting her horse, Lu Shuangyi glanced back to confirm that he was indeed bound before leading her heavy guards out.

He raised his left hand and pointed to the North Mountain.

"Bring fewer people."

"Grain, sheep, and horses—don't skimp on any of them."