After forcing back the person in front of her with a final strike, a Hun who had circled around behind her slyly threw a prepared flying noose, tripping the warhorse beneath him.

He was pinned to the ground by the warhorse. Exhausted from the battle, he had no chance of lifting the heavy horse to rise again.

Perhaps realizing that their opponent was completely unable to resist, several Hun leaders rode their warhorses around him, watching his struggles on the ground with almost insulting amusement.

"What a pity. You could have had a chance at survival by surrendering. Why did you have to resist? Now you've become our defeated foe!"

"I'll give you a chance. Seeing your courage, we can spare your life if you join us. We have plenty of cattle, sheep, and women."

The man spat disdainfully at their attempted recruitment, then suddenly lunged out from under the horse.

But he was at his limit. How could he be a match for them? Before he could even knock one of them down, he was pinned to the ground.

Seeing the trebuchets collapsing one by one, he roared at the sky.

"Anyway, I've achieved my goal. Kill me or cut me, it's up to you. I'd rather die standing than live on my knees!"

With that, he drew his personal blade and stabbed fiercely at the nearest leader.

Realizing their recklessness, the remaining Hun leaders attacked together, but he still managed to take one of their lives with him.

"Your Majesty, you must avenge your general!"

With a roar, perhaps unwilling to be captured by the Huns, he ended his own life decisively.

Seeing this, the soldiers who were destroying the trebuchets went berserk, their eyes bloodshot, and they continued to hack at the huge machines in front of them.

"We must not let the general sacrifice in vain!"

Fueled by such rage, they managed to destroy all the trebuchets that the Huns had pushed forward.

But after smashing the last trebuchet, they realized that only a few hundred of the original five thousand remained.

And all around them, countless Huns had them completely surrounded.

"His Majesty will avenge us!"

Remembering the general's valiant act, none of them hesitated. They roared and charged at the nearest Huns.

For a moment, the Huns were caught off guard.

But in the end, they were outnumbered. No matter how hard they fought, they couldn't change the fact that they were surrounded.

Watching them fall one by one, Jiang Chen, standing on the city wall, clenched his fists, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

The civil officials beside him were still desperately cooling the city wall. They finally breathed a sigh of relief when a bucket of boiling water flowed normally to the base of the wall.

The oppressive atmosphere dampened any desire for celebration. Just as they were lamenting the fate of these soldiers, a sudden clap of thunder rang out, and a torrential downpour obscured the view outside the city.

Looking at the sudden mist rising outside the city, no one spoke, just stood silently on the city wall.

"Since you civil officials can't help with the defense, then go and carve a monument. All the soldiers who sacrificed themselves again must be engraved on the stone tablet. I want everyone to remember their sacrifice today."

As Jiang Chen spoke, he gripped the city wall with both hands, staring blankly outside the city.

This battle with the Huns could last indefinitely, but judging from the current situation, he was ultimately too passive.

The special terrain of Shimen Pass left Jiang Chen with no options. The surrounding narrow paths were completely impassable for large armies, not to mention that he had already sent people to destroy most of them, and the few remaining were tightly controlled.

Now, all he could hope for was that the reinforcements from the rear would arrive as soon as possible. Otherwise, if things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before Shimen Pass fell, no matter how high the morale of his troops. The practical problems were simply insurmountable.

Perhaps it was because of this rainstorm that the land outside the city became muddy, or perhaps the Huns no longer had the ability to launch a strong offensive. For a time, the rain became a signal for a temporary truce between the two sides.

Watching the soldiers sleeping on the ground, Jiang Chen knew that the Hun's attacks would be even fiercer after the rain, but fortunately, the muddy roads outside the city could, to some extent, hinder the Hun cavalry's突袭.

"Your Majesty, I must tell you something. We don't have many arrows left. Everything in the city that could be taken apart and used for production has been sent to the blacksmith shop, but the consumption is too great, and we can't replenish them in time."

Hearing the quartermaster's reply, Jiang Chen closed his eyes in pain. If they lost their means of远程抗衡, they would have to watch the enemy strut around.

"But fortunately, we have repaired three ballistae. We can fight back if we encounter trebuchets again."

Just as the quartermaster felt that this would provide enough help in the future.

In the pouring rain, Jiang Chen vaguely saw several silhouettes resembling trebuchets slowly advancing towards the front line.

"No way, are they attacking at this time?"

Thinking of the tacit truce they had reached earlier, now unilaterally broken by the Huns, Jiang Chen cursed and quickly woke everyone up.

As those behemoths gradually approached in the rain, everyone finally saw their true appearance. These were not trebuchets, but special ladders almost as tall as the city walls. Hearing the voices of the Huns on them, Jiang Chen cursed and quickly ordered the archers to counterattack.

However, the arrows could not penetrate the defenses on top.

Just as someone was about to use the ballistae, Jiang Chen quickly stopped them. Judging from the Huns' current cunning, they probably had many trebuchets hidden behind, waiting in ambush. Once the ballistae's position was exposed, these precious things that had been repaired with such difficulty would probably be smashed to pieces again.

"Your Majesty, the rain is so heavy, we can't set these things on fire. Once they lean against the city wall, we can't push them down. These aren't the old ladders."

Hearing this, Jiang Chen closed his eyes in pain.

"Do everything you can to stop them."