Frontier Hero: From Receiving a Convicted Woman to Becoming an Emperor for All Time

And this wait lasted from morning until dusk.

Although they did not attack, the pressure they exerted was invisible, weighing on the hearts of everyone in the city. Some new recruits of the border army gripped their rifles tightly, breathing rapidly, as if a stone was stuck in their chests.

Shen Chuxiao stood on the city wall, his hands supporting him on the battlements, his gaze sweeping beyond the pass.

The vast expanse of white tents stood out starkly in the setting sun.

One after another, they covered the entire snowfield, stretching as far as the eye could see.

It's almost been a day.

"Boss, what exactly is this Wochijin trying to do? Surrounding us without attacking?"

"He doesn't need to fight; he's just waiting for us to collapse on our own."

Wochijin certainly knew that there wasn't enough food. Liu Wenzhao and the military governor had been working together for the past three years, and had already given the enemy all the details about Lingshuang Pass. So when the enemy came, they didn't rush to attack, but instead camped three miles away, slowly wearing them down.

This barbarian general is no ordinary man.

He was heavier than the wolf-skin boy from the Black Stone Tribe, and colder than Chi Na from the Red Wolf Tribe. Shen Chuxiao even felt that the former two combined might not be as troublesome as this person.

He looked away and asked, "Who's in charge of the supplies now?"

"His name is Xu Qingshu. He used to be the deputy commissioner of the armory. After Li Qiang died, he temporarily took over the responsibility of supplying provisions."

"Call him over."

A short while later, a tall, thin man in his early thirties walked onto the city wall. His blue cloth robe was washed until it was almost white, and the cuffs were frayed. He was somewhat similar in style to the local official.

"Xu Qingshu pays his respects to Commandant Shen."

Shen Chuxiao glanced at him, his eyes clear and his tone neither humble nor arrogant.

How much grain is left?

Xu Qingshu took out the booklet and read aloud: "Three hundred and twenty shi of rice, one hundred and eighty shi of millet, ninety shi of miscellaneous grains, plus the grain stored from various military camps, totaling a little over six hundred shi."

"How long will this be enough to eat?"

Xu Qingshu closed his notebook: "Based on the population, the civilians and garrison within the pass number about 3,500. If each person receives one jin of rations per day, it can last for a month and a half. However, the border troops need to fight, so they can't be given only one jin. Soldiers will receive two jin, and civilians half a jin, which will last for a month."

They didn't give vague statements like "saving it will make it last longer," they just gave us numbers.

This made Shen Chuxiao take another look at him, and he subsequently remembered the man's name.

"Go down."

After hearing these reports, Shen Chuxiao's heart sank once again; these provisions wouldn't last much longer.

Almost at the same moment, the bugle sounded.

"Waaaaah..."

The sound pierced through the wind and snow, and could be heard clearly from miles away.

Everyone on the city wall tensed up at the same time.

"All troops prepare for war!"

At Shen Chuxiao's command, the rolling stones and logs were already stacked up, bundles of arrows were piled up at the base of the wall, and oil canisters were lined up along the battlements, their openings sealed with strips of cloth, ready to be lit with a single pull.

The bugle sounded again, as if it were a death knell.

Then the snowfield moved.

A patch of black emerged from the snow, flags fluttering, horses' hooves kicking up snowflakes. Several miles stretched out before them, clearly visible across this flat, snow-covered plain.

Shen Chuxiao didn't pile all the men on the wall. He divided them into two groups and took turns. This battle couldn't be over in a short time. He had to conserve his strength. If he relaxed even for a moment, someone might take advantage of the situation.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the darkness reached the base of the wall.

There were about a thousand men, two hundred of whom were cavalry, and the rest were all infantry. Most of them carried wooden shields and quivers on their backs, making it a very large force.

Shen Chuxiao glanced at it.

The leader was a barbarian general, a big, burly man with a fierce face.

Wochijin did not come.

No one was hurling insults or challenging anyone to a one-on-one fight.

The general drew his sword and pointed it forward.

"superior!"

Several hundred people, shields in hand, rushed toward the city gate, spread out and not crowded together.

Once the people are scattered, it becomes difficult to aim the arrow.

"Smash it!"

When they were still dozens of steps away from the wall, Shen Chuxiao began to give the order.

The stone, accompanied by the sound of wind, came crashing down. It was bigger than a person, and the shield couldn't stop it at all.

Screams filled the air as people were smashed to pieces, their blood spraying onto the snow, a glaringly red stain.

But some people still rushed to the base of the wall and ran along it toward the city gate.

Then, the prepared logs began to fall down, hitting a large area at a time. In less than an hour, the first wave was successfully repelled.

But Shen Chuxiao dared not relax.

The Eagle Tribe knows Ling Shuang Pass's true strength all too well; they wouldn't be limited to such methods.

Strangely, they never launched another large-scale attack like before, only small-scale probing or occasionally running over to yell insults at them to come out of the city to fight.

But this only made Shen Chuxiao more uneasy.

They held out until late at night, when he began to order a rotation. The first wave went down, and the second wave came up to take their place. Tie Niu led the reserve team to wait in the back, ready to fill in at any time, and did not allow them to go up the wall.

The change of guard had just been completed when the unexpected happened.

A huge rock flew from outside the city in the darkness and crashed into a crenellation on the city wall.

With a loud bang.

The crenellations crumbled, brick fragments were scattered everywhere, and the entire section of the city wall was shaking.

Shen Chuxiao's eyes darkened.

"Oh no! They have catapults!"

He simply couldn't understand how the barbarians could possess such a thing.

And there was more than one.

One after another, huge rocks flew out of the darkness, some crashing into the walls, others flying directly into the city, the rumbling never ceasing.

This thing has an absurdly long range; it can hit targets hundreds of paces away.

When attacking a city, this thing is life or death.

It's normal that Shen Chuxiao hadn't thought of this before. The barbarians had never used catapults before, and they were a nomadic people on horseback. Their land was barren and resources were scarce. They also didn't have the smelting technology of Da Jing. How could they easily build catapults?

But now they not only have it, they're using it to attack cities.

He suddenly realized why Liu Wenzhao was so certain before he died, saying that he couldn't stop it.

So that's what they had in store.

One huge rock after another flew away.

The soldiers guarding the city looked up, their faces filled with fear. The walls were too narrow, offering no place to hide. Moreover, the catapults were concealed in the darkness; by the time they saw the stones flying towards them, it was already too late.

Another boulder flew up and landed squarely in the middle of the city wall. A deafening roar followed, the earth shook, and countless fragments of brick and stone shot into the sky, filling the air with dust.

As the smoke and dust cleared, everyone on the city wall gasped in shock.

That section of the city wall was smashed open, creating a huge gap, and the battlements and bunkers on top of it all collapsed.

The entire squad of seven or eight soldiers who had been standing guard there, ready for battle, fell down with the collapsing bricks and stones before they could even scream.

Their figures tumbled and fell in the torrent of rubble, instantly buried under countless broken logs and rocks. A deep pit was smashed into the snow below the city, and blood quickly seeped from the cracks in the rocks, staining the white ground red.

"Release the arrows!"

After giving the order, Shen Chuxiao quickly summoned Shen Qiao and said in a serious tone, "Find the location of the catapult and destroy it immediately."