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

The stables of the Han family's personal guards have two gates.

The first door was locked.

Twenty armored guards stood at the second gate.

They were unaware of what had happened at the foot of the north wall; they only saw Chen Mu leading a group of soldiers covered in mud and grime as they approached.

The head stableman raised his hand to block the way.

"Deputy General Han is a key figure; unauthorized personnel are prohibited from entering."

Chen Mu did not stop walking.

"Open the door."

The stable chief sneered.

"You, a mere sergeant cook, dare to say you're not worthy—"

Before he could finish speaking, a military license plate with old scratches hit his breastplate.

The head constable glanced down and his expression changed slightly.

Chen Mu lifted the wooden pole and tapped his neck.

"Take it off."

"On what grounds?"

"Your people drew the foundation for the northern barbarians' walls, your treasury keys opened the defensive boxes, and the south gate and north wall were guarded by others with their lives."

Chen Mu stood in front of him.

"Because I'm currently short of horses."

The headman looked back.

Twenty guards gripped their swords in unison.

There were even more people behind Chen Mu, but most of them were unarmored. The half-armor that Shi Tou had just put on didn't fit properly, with a gap at one shoulder. Er Gou held a new knife, his injured leg still slightly lame. Lao Chai even carried a stove-dismantling axe.

But these people had just come down from the train at the south gate and the tunnel at the north wall.

They saw no way out.

The captain gritted his teeth and said, "Military horses recognize their masters; anyone who dares to lead one will be kicked to death."

Ma Liu poked his head out from behind.

"A horse recognizes its fodder, not its father."

The constable was furious and raised his sword to strike.

This was the strike Chen Mu had been waiting for.

The wooden pole slanted into the opponent's elbow, the blade grazing the cotton-padded coat as it fell. Just as the constable was about to change his move, Chen Mu had already crashed into his arms, his shoulder wound causing his vision to blur, while his knee slammed hard into the opponent's groin.

The head let out a strange cry and bent down to kneel.

Chen Mu grabbed the back of his head and slammed him against the manger.

boom!

Blood flowed down the edge of the trough into the frozen grass.

"Have you acknowledged God yet?"

The captain's mouth was full of blood, and he couldn't speak.

Just as the imperial guards were about to rush forward, the back gate of the stable suddenly opened.

Lu Shuangyi and Zhou Tie blocked the way inside.

"The back door has been taken down."

She glanced at the kneeling captain.

"The front gate will be open soon too."

The imposing manner of the twenty guards immediately dissipated.

One knife after another was put down.

The stable gate opened, and a mixture of heat and a fishy smell rushed out. A total of eighty-six warhorses were crammed behind the wooden fence, including black horses, blue-maned horses, and twelve charging horses clad in thin iron breastplates.

The manger was piled high with fine black beans and hay.

The guards at the south gate were eating frozen, hard coarse grain cakes.

The Han family's horses, however, were well-fed and robust.

Old Chai's eyes burned with rage.

"People are so hungry their legs go weak, yet animals are considered more precious than humans!"

He grabbed a handful of black beans, stuffed them into his mouth, chewed them twice, and then spat them out.

"No sand was added."

Chen Mu said, "Take the black beans to the south gate to cook porridge, and keep half of the dried grass."

The stable chief struggled to raise his head.

"That's military horse feed!"

Chen Mu kicked him back.

"The goalkeeper fell, and the horse climbed over the wall by itself?"

All eighty-six horses were led out.

The best twelve horses were given to Lu Shuangyi's personal guards, thirty to Zhou Tie, and the rest were distributed among the border soldiers who could ride horses. No one asked about merits, and no one waited for orders from above. Whoever had blood on them, whoever had just come down from the wall, was chosen first.

Ma Liu may not be good at fighting, but he is a master at judging horses.

He limped over the horses' legs, picked out six with loose horseshoes, and then rummaged through the hay barn for two boxes of new horseshoes.

"They all come from the Red Iron Treasury."

"The Han family had long been prepared to travel a long way."

He Dashan, leading the guards with severed fingers, also arrived at the stable.

Sure enough, he found an iron ring behind the haystack on the west wall. The two of them pulled together, and the seemingly nailed-down wooden wall flipped open inward, revealing a hidden storage room without windows.

In addition to the three light wagons, the latrine also contained sixteen bags of fine feed, eight new saddles, and two bundles of brand-new lassoes.

The guard with the severed finger stared at him.

"You knew all along?"

He Dashan nodded.

"I've moved things for Liang Qi."

"Why are you only saying this now?"

"I've said it before, my whole family won't survive."

"Can you survive now?"

He Dashan looked at Chen Mu, who was dividing the horses.

"Han Wenshan's knife has now been taken away."

"I want to take a gamble."

The guard with the severed finger remained silent for a moment, then tucked his brother's old plaque into his inner garment.

"Let's finish guarding the north wall first."

He Dashan grunted in agreement and shouldered two saddles.

The two men, who had been struggling in the snow just moments before, were now carrying things out one after the other. Chen Mu saw this but didn't go over to stop them or let them shake hands.

Hatred cannot be erased with a single word.

Let them all live to see the dawn.

Chen Mu looked into the depths of the stable.

There were three light carts parked there, covered in dust. The wheels were covered with iron, and the shafts were narrow, perfect for fast travel on the snow. On the corner of the tarpaulin of one of the carts, there was still some black dust from the old South Warehouse.

Er Gou rushed over and lifted the tarpaulin.

There was no one in the car.

There were twenty excellent crossbows, six boxes of short arrows, and three large barrels of lamp oil.

Zhou Tie's expression changed.

"The south gate is desperately short of arrows, so they've hidden them in the stables?"

Chen Mu picked up a short arrow.

The arrow's fletching has a small character "梁" (Liang) engraved on it.

Liang Qi sent shields to the Northern Barbarians and left arrows for the Han family.

Neither end will be neglected.

Chen Mu handed the short arrow to Shi Tou.

"Send the crossbow to the north wall, keep two buckets of lamp oil, and throw one away."

"Pour it out?"

"Reverse onto the wheels."

Before anyone could understand what was happening, a rapid gong suddenly sounded from the direction of the north wall.

"Enemy troops have breached the city walls!"

"The northwest corner has collapsed!"

Although the tunnel had been blocked, the Northern Barbarians outside the wall used the collapsed pit to create a slope, and dozens of them stepped on their companions and wooden shields to rush towards the top of the wall.

Chen Mu grabbed the reins of a blue-maned horse.

Lin Qinghe squeezed through the crowd and grabbed the horse's bit.

You can't ride it.

"I can ride."

I was referring to the injury.

Chen Mu wrapped the reins around his wrist.

"I won't go up on the wall."

"Where are you going?"

"Bump the person who's climbing the wall back down."

After he finished speaking, he mounted his horse.

With a tug on the shoulder, the freshly changed dressing immediately turned red.

Lin Qinghe's eyes changed.

Chen Mu didn't dare look at her, and only left a sentence.

"Come back and I'll let you sew it for me."

The blue-maned horse charged out of the stable.

More than thirty border guards who had just been assigned warhorses followed behind. Some rode unsteadily, and some couldn't even get the stirrups right, but as they passed through the long street in the fortress, the guards along the way still burst into shouts.

The Han family's horse finally carried the city guards.

The northwest corner wall collapsed by more than ten feet.

The northern barbarians surged up the earthen slope, and the heavily armored barbarian soldiers at the front had already jumped into the city. He chopped down a guard with an axe, then used his shoulder to smash open the wooden fence, trying to make way for the people behind him.

Chen Mu did not rush towards the wall.

He had twenty riders line up at the end of the long street and placed three light wagons across the gap behind the collapse.

"The first vehicle was loaded with stones."

"The second truck is loaded with ash."

"The third one is empty."

Zhou Tie asked, "What are you doing with an empty train?"

Chen Mu kicked over the last bucket of lamp oil.

The oil flowed down the iron wheels and onto the frozen ground.

"Make it run fast."

He personally lit a bundle of rags and stuffed it into the empty carriage.

There was only one layer of dry straw in the car.

Flames suddenly shot up.

"push!"

Four pawns loosened the chariot wedge.

The light carriage rushed down the gentle slope of the long street toward the collapse. The oil-filled iron wheel rolled faster and faster, and the flames inside the carriage swelled in the wind.

The heavily armored Northern Barbarian soldier who had just jumped off the wall turned around and saw a ball of fire crashing into his eyes.

He raised his shield to block.

He was slammed back down the slope, shield and armor still attached, and seven or eight people behind him rolled into a heap. The train got stuck in the embankment, burning sideways, keeping the Northern Barbarians who were continuing their charge outside the wall.

"Stone cart, follow!"

The second vehicle crashed into the rear of the train, and a load of rocks spilled into the gap.

"Gray car!"

The third cart was pushed against the wall, and soot and lime powder rose up, blinding the archers outside.

Chen Mu then drew his sword.

"Cavalry, dismount and kill!"

A horse can't break through a narrow passage, but a person can use the horse's momentum to get there.

More than thirty border soldiers dismounted and surrounded the dozen or so heavily armored northern barbarian soldiers trapped inside the city. The enemy's armor was thick and could not be cut through with ordinary swords, so Chen Mu ordered his men to use iron hammers from the stables to strike their knees and to use lassoes to pull their legs.

Once a heavily armored soldier falls, he can never get up again.

Chen Mu set his sights on the barbarian leader who was the first to jump in.

The man's face was painted with white wolf stripes, and the guard's blood still clung to the axe blade.

He noticed that Chen Mu was injured and swung his axe straight for his right shoulder.

Chen Mu didn't go far.

He took a half step forward, letting the axe handle graz his chest, grabbed the opponent's wrist guard with his left hand, and thrust the short knife into his jaw with his right.

The knife tip went straight into his throat.

The barbarian leader stared wide-eyed, his hot blood splattering half of Chen Mu's face.

Chen Mu drew his sword, and the corpse fell heavily at his feet.

When the northern barbarians outside the wall saw that their leader with the white wolf pattern was dead, their offensive immediately stalled.

Lu Shuangyi seized the opportunity and led her archers to fire from both sides. Zhou Tie led his men to reinforce the wooden palisade and used captured cowhide shields to seal the gap.

They regained their footing in the northwest corner.

The battle lasted less than half an hour.

The city now has eighty-six warhorses, twenty powerful crossbows, six boxes of short arrows, four-sided digging shields, and eleven sets of Northern Barbarian heavy armor.

After the first battle, the soldiers didn't need to wait for a nod; their armor and swords were already on their bodies.

Stone touched the metal plate on his chest and laughed like a fool.

"Sergeant, this armor really blocked the knife."

Chen Mu wiped the blood off his face.

"Come back alive, and we'll get you something better."

Lin Qinghe rushed over with her medicine box, saw that his shoulder was all red, and said nothing.

She kicked Chen Mu in the shin first.

not heavy.

But Chen Mu didn't dare to dodge.

"sit down."

He obediently sat down on the stone cart.

Lin Qinghe cut open the bandage, her eyes red with anger.

"You promised to come back and let me sew for you."

"Um."

"No drinking, and no mounting the horse again."

"Previous line."

Lin Qinghe plunged the needle deeper into her hand.

Chen Mu was in so much pain that sweat beaded on his forehead.

Anado suddenly tore a string of wolf fangs from the body of the dead white wolf-patterned leader.

She flipped over the largest wolf tooth and pointed it out to Chen Mu.

A crow with outstretched wings is carved into the root of the tooth.

"This is Ugut's scout centurion."

"He won't come alone."

Chen Mu asked, "Where is Ugut?"

Anato did not answer immediately.

She looked towards the receding torches outside the city.

A gray-covered cart was mixed in with the northern barbarian troops, heading west along the old southern road.

The driver glanced back.

Even through the wind and snow, Chen Mu could still recognize that thin face.

Liang Qi.

He sold the walls of Blackrock Fortress to the Northern Barbarians, and now he wants to leave alive.

Chen Mu stood up.

Lin Qinghe was still holding the needle in her hand.

"What are you going to do now?"

Chen Mu looked at the gray car.

"To collect a life that has been owed for too long."