Battle for Northern Frontier: The game begins with the grassland woman buying him.

The hoofbeats were like muffled thunder, and withered grass flew up under the iron hooves.

Su Zhan lay prone on the horse's back, his body pressed low, the whistling wind and his own heavy heartbeat filling his ears.

The injury on his shoulder throbbed with pain from the jolting, but he was oblivious, his gaze fixed on the outline of Stone City, which was already faintly visible to the southwest.

"We have to go faster!" His voice cut through the wind and reached the ears of every soldier behind him.

The 1500 elite soldiers of Stone City were like taut strings, their faces ashen, but their eyes burning with intense fire.

The news that the vanguard of the Royal Court's Golden Wolf Cavalry was less than 300 li away weighed heavily on everyone's minds. This intelligence and everyone else had to be brought back to the city before sunset.

Pheasant Neck rode closely beside Su Zhan, his face equally grim and iron-like.

The failure of the intelligence network was a thorn in his side. If it weren't for the unexpected intelligence obtained from the spies during this raid, Stone City would have been caught off guard.

"Third Master, the brothers escorting the slaves and supplies behind us..." he said worriedly, "The team is missing 500 elite soldiers and many burdens. Although the speed is faster, it means that those people may be in danger."

"We can't worry about that now." Su Zhan's voice was resolute. "The second-in-command is inside the city and hasn't received any news yet. Although some preparations have been made, the city's defenses haven't been reinforced. Our main force is very scattered. If the Golden Wolf Cavalry reaches Stone City before us, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Everyone understood what he meant; the scene would be extremely tragic.

With Huyan Zhuo's blood feud looming, Agudamu's vengeful army will surely tear everything apart with its most ferocious might! At that time, Stone City will be finished!

Time has become everyone's most deadly enemy!

Su Zhan kept urging his warhorse forward, his mind racing as he calculated whether Stone City's existing defenses could withstand the Golden Wolf Riders' attack until their reinforcements arrived, and whether Bai Zhanqiu could stabilize the situation before he got there.

He had no time to delve into the strange parchment in his arms, but his intuition told him that it might be another key, related to the deeper movements of the royal court.

As the sun set, it dyed the sky blood-red, stretching the rushing procession into cold, lifeless silhouettes.

In the distance, the majestic outline of Stone City gradually became clear in the twilight.

Closer! Closer still! Su Zhan's heart was pounding in his chest!

However, on a high slope about 20 miles away from the city, Su Zhan, who was at the forefront, suddenly tightened the reins!

The warhorses reared up with neighing, and the cavalrymen behind them also stopped abruptly, raising a cloud of dust.

Below the high slope, on the only road leading to Stone City, the sight before them caused their pupils to shrink instantly.

Before the city gate, a force of several hundred men stood ready for battle.

That wasn't the attire of the grassland people; it was clearly the flag of Stone City.

The leader sat upright on his horse, his posture tall and dignified, his face unusually cold and stern; he was none other than the second-in-command, Bai Zhanqiu.

He was surrounded by his core stewards and hundreds of menacing Stone City warriors.

At this moment, they all nocked their bows and drew their swords and spears, setting up a solid temporary defensive line.

Clearly, Bai Zhanqiu had already gotten wind of the situation and had begun preparations.

Su Zhan felt a sense of relief, followed by a sudden tightening.

The loose end is that Bai Zhanqiu is not completely unprepared, but the tight end is that Bai Zhanqiu actually led a team out of the city to set up defenses and intercept them. Does that mean that the vanguard of the Golden Wolf Cavalry is already very close?

Just then, suddenly, a torrent of steel appeared on the distant horizon, accompanied by a muffled, thunderous roar, and abruptly entered everyone's field of vision.

The torrent, reflecting the last rays of the setting sun, gleamed with a cold, piercing light. Like a giant scimitar tearing through the grassland, it rolled toward Stone City with an aura of annihilation.

It was the Iron Guards of the Golden Wolf Cavalry; they had finally arrived.

Bai Zhanqiu rode forward slowly, his gaze sweeping across the distance, meeting Su Zhan's gaze from atop the high slope.

His face revealed little emotion, only a calm as solid as a rock.

When his gaze met Su Zhan's eyes, he nodded slightly.

At this moment, no words were needed, yet the message was crystal clear: the intelligence had been received, the city's defenses were ready, and the surging torrent of death before them required them to join forces and fight side by side to build a dam and buy Stone City the last bit of time.

Su Zhan took a deep breath, the cold air filling his lungs and suppressing the stinging pain in his shoulders and the fatigue from the long journey.

He suddenly drew the curved sword from his waist, the azure blade slicing an arc in the twilight, pointing directly at the surging, approaching golden tide ahead.

Behind them, 1500 exhausted but fiercely fighting Stone City warriors, who had just completed a long march, roared at the same time, followed by the sound of hooves and the roar of the mountains and the roar of the sea.

The two elite forces of Stone City converged into an iron torrent, charging towards the grassland ahead without hesitation, joining forces with Bai Zhanqiu's defense line, and fearlessly crashing into the golden scimitar on the horizon.

The twilight on the grassland was instantly ignited, and a great battle that would determine the fate of Stone City was about to begin.

Su Zhan led the charge, with his men at the forefront. The soldiers behind him followed without hesitation. Everyone knew that if they didn't fight desperately now, they would only be able to collect the bodies of their loved ones. So everyone rushed forward with lightning speed, without any hesitation. At this moment, they no longer cared about their own lives.

Everything they are defending is behind them, so what is there for them to hesitate about?

At this moment, the steppe cavalry in the distance had also charged up.

The other side was merely the vanguard of a minor leader, who came to Stone City to show off their power.

But when they saw the main force of Stone City, they rushed forward without hesitation.

In their view, the Han people on the grasslands were nothing more than a bunch of mutts, and could not possibly deal with real grassland warriors and cavalry. Therefore, they did not need to wait for the arrival of a large army; a single charge would be enough to wipe out all the Han people.

The city behind them will be the best reward for them.

They could easily defeat these people and storm into the city to fight freely. After all, in their minds, the Han people were nothing special and had no right to oppose their brave and skilled grassland warriors. Killing these Han people would be a piece of cake, and then they could directly storm into the city and take the spoils back.

Therefore, the junior leader did not hesitate at all and immediately led his men to charge forward, aiming to tear apart the Han Chinese army that was blocking their advance.

A great battle was about to break out between the two sides. The scene in front of Stone City was terrifying, with people from both sides fighting fiercely.

The few hundred warriors Bai Zhanqiu brought were only the city's main defenses, but each of them was extremely calm and well-trained, possessing formidable combat power. Even though they numbered only a hundred, they displayed the imposing presence of thousands. From this perspective alone, they were not to be feared.