Chapter 1 A Matter of Life and Death

Even though Mei Pengfei had reached a deal with other large tribes regarding such heavy casualties, he still faced considerable opposition.

"You are completely disregarding human life!"

Mei Pengfei simply smiled in silence, listening to the rebuke from the person beside him.

"I strongly suspect that you are a spy sent by those guys. The Khan was deceived by you and chose to believe you, you despicable man!"

Just as everyone was denouncing Mei Pengfei, the raging fire outside the city finally subsided, followed by an utterly unbearable stench.

Perhaps due to the fire, the sky, which had been relatively clear, suddenly became overcast with dark clouds.

"Your Majesty, it may be impossible to hold Shimen Pass."

Looking at the Xiongnu outside, who were still itching for action, the faces of several generals looked grim.

They had prepared to confront and resist the Xiongnu here, never retreating, and were ready to defend to the death. But they never expected that this fire would ignite the ferocity in the hearts of the Xiongnu.

Now, after the great fire, the outer walls of Shimen Pass had slightly changed due to the high temperature. If a heavy downpour were to fall at this moment…

Just as they were all worried and at a complete loss, at Jiang Chen's request, the numerous civil officials finally couldn't sit still any longer. They carried boiling water and poured it onto the city walls to cool them down.

However, as soon as the water touched the city walls, it instantly evaporated.

"If you want to watch Shimen Pass fall, then drag your feet as much as possible. If you can't cool the city walls to a safe temperature before the heavy rain falls, no one will be able to escape from here."

As Jiang Chen spoke, he ordered the city gates behind them to be locked.

Perhaps realizing that they had nowhere to retreat, everyone desperately tried to cool the city walls.

Seeing this, Mei Pengfei naturally didn't stand on ceremony. Without saying a word, he organized a team to rush towards Shimen Pass.

"These people are basically at the end of their rope. As long as we press on, we will definitely be able to break through this pass."

Encouraged by Mei Pengfei, the Xiongnu, like locusts, launched another charge towards Shimen Pass.

The catapults they had previously built were also pushed forward.

Realizing that the Xiongnu did not intend to hold back any longer and were launching a savage attack, the reserve teams that Jiang Chen had previously assigned were all transferred to the city walls.

The war preparations, which had seemed adequate, began to deplete rapidly as the unreserved attack began.

The Xiongnu's catapults seemed to have eyes, destroying several ballistae fixed on the city walls as soon as they came up.

Ensuring that there were no more threats, they pushed the catapults step by step, approaching the walls of Shimen Pass.

Feeling the scorching heat radiating from the ground, these Xiongnu fearlessly continued to advance.

Without the ballistae to counter the catapults, the people of Shimen Pass could only watch helplessly as the menacing catapults wreaked havoc outside the city, unable to do anything about it.

"Your Majesty, let me lead a group of brothers for a charge. If we continue to be passively beaten like this, I'm afraid we really won't be able to hold on. If I lead the brothers for a charge, there may still be some hope of survival."

Seeing the enormous damage caused by the catapults to the city walls, many people frantically requested orders. If the catapults were allowed to continue attacking like this, the city walls would collapse under the bombardment of the boulders, even before the heavy rain arrived.

Looking at the Xiongnu catapults, each time a boulder was thrown, there was a scene of wild jubilation.

Jiang Chen looked extremely indifferent. After all, if they charged out now, it would likely be a death sentence.

But if these Xiongnu were allowed to continue attacking…

Thinking of this, Jiang Chen had already made a decision.

"You lead five thousand elite cavalry and be sure to destroy all their catapults. I will do everything I can to provide cover for you."

"All archers, prepare! Use the most concentrated rain of arrows to force back all these Xiongnu and open up a broad path for our brothers' charge!"

With Jiang Chen's order, the city walls, which had been filled with shouts of battle, instantly fell silent. Countless people quietly made preparations, waiting only for Jiang Chen's command to be issued.

Jiang Chen personally fastened the armor for the general of this expedition.

"You must come back alive."

At the time of departure, Jiang Chen's words instantly moistened everyone's eyes.

While the numerous cavalrymen were waiting in formation, Jiang Chen blew the horn in his hand. Ten thousand arrows were fired from the city walls, and the dark mass of arrows even obscured the little remaining light in the sky.

The Xiongnu, who had already approached the city walls, were naturally shot and overturned.

Just as these Xiongnu were wondering what these people were doing, with the sound of the attack horn, the previously closed Shimen Pass gate instantly opened, and an elite cavalry quickly charged out.

This sudden change caught the Xiongnu off guard.

Before they could react, this cavalry had quickly approached the catapults at the fastest speed.

"These guys are planning to destroy the catapults! Stop them!"

With shouts, the Xiongnu who had survived all woke up as if from a dream. Holding sharp weapons, they quickly surrounded the cavalry.

Although the archers on the city still wanted to provide assistance as much as possible, the situation was a chaotic melee. Any attack would inevitably cause friendly fire.

Everyone could only continuously attack the empty space around them, targeting those Xiongnu who rushed up from behind to provide support.

While the rear was doing its best to provide assistance, the general who had charged into the crowd was directly waving the broadsword in his hand, and was fighting with the Xiongnu and several tribal leaders.

"Brothers, I will delay them as much as possible for you. You must smash all these things, so that the brothers in the city can gain a path to survival."

Although his martial arts skills were already considered excellent among the imperial guards, he was ultimately no match for many opponents, not to mention he had to delay these Xiongnu tribal leaders.

After several exchanges, the armor on his body was no longer as mighty as it had been at first, and was covered in marks from swords and axes.

And the arm holding the long knife was also constantly trembling at this moment.

"You gang of dog thieves who only know how to burn, kill, and loot, if you want to ruin my brothers' affairs, then step over my dead body. Otherwise, forget about it!"

Tightening the somewhat loosened armor, he once again urged his horse forward and fought with these Xiongnu tribal leaders.

It was a pity that, already in poor condition, how could he be a match for these Xiongnu leaders?