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

Chen Mu left the training ground with five Lu family guards.

There was no arrangement.

No troop mobilization was conducted.

He didn't even glance back at Su Wan.

The south gate is already being rammed.

Every second counts in the death toll.

Among the five guards, the leader was a man in his early thirties with an old scar on his face, named Zhou Tie.

Zhou Tie glanced at Chen Mu.

"Do you really know the barbarians will go through the south gate?"

Chen Mu said, "I don't know."

Zhou Tie was taken aback.

Chen Mu continued forward.

"But I know that someone who wants to steal the door definitely doesn't want everyone to be guarding it."

Zhou Tie frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Chen Mu stopped under a sheltered wall and reached out to touch the snow at the base of the wall.

The snow surface is clean.

There were no signs of troop movements.

He pointed to the south gate.

"If a fire breaks out on the north slope, according to the rules of Blackstone Fortress, at least ten people from the south gate should be sent to support the north slope."

"But there are no footprints here."

"This means the guards at the south gate didn't move."

"It's not that they disobeyed military orders."

"Someone told them in advance that they didn't need to move."

"This is the first piece of evidence."

Zhou Tie's expression changed slightly.

At this moment, Zhao Chenglie and Su Wan were also brought over by Lu Shuangyi's people.

Zhao Chenglie originally did not want to come.

But Lu Shuangyi only said one sentence: "The Zhao family should recognize Nanmen the most."

He dared not not come.

Su Wan had lost her cloak and was only wearing a red dress; her face was pale from the wind.

She watched Chen Mu's retreating figure, wanting to speak several times, but ultimately remained silent.

Chen Mu ignored them.

He walked to the intersection of South Gate Street and suddenly stopped.

There was a smell of oil in the air.

It's not kitchen oil.

It's mutton fat.

Chen Mu said in a low voice, "The second piece of evidence."

Zhou Tie asked, "What?"

Chen Mu pointed to the city gate.

"Sheep fat burning rope."

"The latch wasn't broken by impact; someone loosened it from the inside by burning it."

Su Wan's face turned even paler upon hearing this.

Zhao Chenglie forced a cold laugh: "You can tell just by smelling it?"

Chen Mu glanced at him.

"The fire station has been burning firewood for three years."

"I dare not say anything else."

"I know better than your father how to burn oil and how to break a rope."

Zhao Chenglie's face turned pale and then flushed.

Another loud bang was heard in the distance.

boom!

The South Gate looked as if it had been struck by the entire mountain.

The sentry shouted outside the city gate:

"The latch is cracked!"

"The guard is dead!"

"I can't hold on any longer!"

Chen Mu quickened his pace.

Inside the south gate, only two torches remained.

According to the rules, there should be six guns here at night.

Four are missing.

Moreover, the city cave is too quiet.

It was so quiet it didn't feel like a vigil.

Zhou Tie said in a low voice, "Should we just go in?"

Chen Mu shook his head.

He squatted down, picked up a speck of dust from the ground, and smelled it.

There was a burnt smell in the ash.

"The third piece of evidence."

"Someone just burned the rope."

Zhou Tie's hand rested on the hilt of the knife.

Chen Mu walked in step by step.

There were two guards standing inside.

It's not guard duty.

It's against the wall.

Head down.

It looks like it's asleep.

Chen Mu approached and gave him a push.

One of the guards fell straight down.

There was a thin, bloody gash on his neck.

It's frozen solid.

The other one died too.

Su Wan stood at the street corner, covering her mouth, almost crying out.

Zhao Chenglie also took a half step back.

Chen Mu squatted down and glanced at the wound.

"That's not how you cut with a barbarian's sword."

Zhou Tie gritted his teeth: "Killed by an inside man?"

Chen Mu suddenly looked up and gazed into the depths of the city cave.

There was a very soft sound.

Like a mouse crawling across a wooden board.

He raised his hand.

Five guards drew their swords at the same time.

It was very dark inside the city gate.

The wind squeezed in through the crack in the door, making a whistling sound.

Chen Mu walked in step by step.

He saw that half of a charred hemp rope was wrapped around the door latch.

The rope was already half broken.

Just a hair's breadth away from the south gate being able to be pushed open from the outside.

A person was squatting next to the door latch.

The man was wearing the leather armor of a Blackrock Fortress garrison and held a short knife in his hand.

He was taken aback when he saw Chen Mu.

Chen Mu was also taken aback.

It's not because we know each other.

It's because this person is too young.

He looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, with a touch of childishness on his face.

But his hands were very steady.

There was blood on the knife.

The young guard stared at Chen Mu, then suddenly smiled.

"You're Chen Mu?"

Chen Mu gripped his spear tightly.

"Who let you open the door?"

The boy did not answer.

He suddenly raised his hand and blew a sharp whistle towards the door.

Almost simultaneously, low wolf howls echoed from the darkness outside the south gate.

It's not a wolf.

It's a barbarian bone whistle.

The next moment, a crossbow bolt shot in through the crack in the door.

With a soft thud, it pierced the throat of one of the Lu family's personal guards.

Blood splattered on the door latch.

The young guard grinned.

"It's too late."

"The person outside has arrived."

Chen Mu stared at the half-broken latch, his voice as low as a knife in the snow.

"It's not too late."

"The door isn't open yet."

He thrust out with his spear.

The young guard's smile froze on his face.

The spear pierced the young guard's shoulder, pinning him to the door.

The boy screamed in pain as his short sword fell to the ground.

Zhou Tie rushed forward and dislocated his jaw to prevent him from biting his tongue.

Chen Mu picked up the short knife that the boy had dropped on the ground.

There is a small engraving on the handle of the knife.

Zhao.

It is not Zhao Jiaming's seal.

It was a secret mark used by private soldiers.

Chen Mu threw the knife to Zhou Tie.

"Keep alive."

Zhou Tie understood.

This person cannot die now.

He is evidence of the Zhao family's treason.

Zhao Chenglie's expression changed instantly when he saw the character "Zhao".

Su Wan saw it too.

She suddenly felt a chill in her chest.

It turns out the Zhao family wasn't just vying for credit.

They are really letting barbarians in.

Another loud bang came from outside the door.

Click.

The latch cracked open.

The wind and snow seeped in through the cracks.

Along with it came the laughter of the barbarians.

"Open the door!"

"Han dog!"

"The person inside is complete!"

"Charge in! Burn the granary first!"

"Don't steal another woman!"

Su Wan's legs went weak.

Stealing women.

The three words poured down on her back like snowmelt.

She remembered being dragged onto a horse last night, the stench of the barbarians, and the moment Chen Mu rushed over to shield her from the blade.

She finally understood.

If it weren't for Chen Mu last night, she wouldn't have had the chance to wear that red fox cloak today.

Zhao Chenglie stood beside her, his hand on his knife, but he dared not take a step forward.

Su Wan turned her head and glanced at him.

With just that one glance, the last shred of hope in her heart shattered.

At last night's victory celebration banquet, Zhao Chenglie, clad in armor and holding a cup of wine, stood on a high platform, as if he could shield her from all the wind and snow.

But when the barbarians started ramming the gate and the sound of swords echoed through the city gate, he stepped backward.

He didn't even look at the dead guards.

He only stared at the short knife in Chen Mu's hand, and at the small Zhao character on the hilt.

That's not because I'm afraid of barbarians.

It's because they're afraid of being recognized.

Chen Mu didn't turn around, but it was as if he knew what she was looking at.

He thrust the dagger into the ground, the character "Zhao" on the hilt facing the firelight.

"Miss Su."

Su Wan trembled all over.

This was the second time he had called her that tonight.

Distance is as cold as a knife.

Chen Mu's voice was very flat.

"Look carefully."

"The one who put you on the back of a barbarian's horse last night may not have been a barbarian."

Sometimes, people wearing heavy armor want you to shut up more than barbarians do.

The color drained from Su Wan's face even more.

She wanted to argue.

But the sound of banging on the door, the two dead guards on the ground, the gun on the young accomplice's shoulder, and the character "Zhao" on the hilt of his knife all stuck in her throat.

She couldn't utter a single word.

Chen Mu did not look at them.

He looked at Zhou Tie.

"Do you have any mutton fat here?"

Zhou Tie was taken aback.

"What?"

Chen Mu asked, "The cooks delivered night food to the south gate; where's the mutton fat?"

One of the guards reacted.

"Behind the city gate, there is a half-full vat."

Chen Mu immediately said, "Move it here."

"Where's the firewood?"

"have."

"Stove ash?"

"Yes."

Zhou Tie looked at him: "What do you want to do?"

Chen Mu stared at the constantly shaking door.

"Guard the gate."

The iron hooks outside have already been hung on the door panels.

Two guards died inside, and one of their personal guards was also killed.

There were no reinforcements behind the city gate.

The drums in the drill ground hadn't stopped yet, and only a few people truly knew that the south gate was about to fall.

The barbarians outside had no idea how chaotic the situation had become within Blackrock Fortress.

The Zhao family members inside were unaware that Chen Mu had nailed his mole to the door panel.

These few short moments were the only chance they could fight for survival.

Once the door is fully opened, the barbarian soldiers will rush into the street, exposing the granaries, medical tents, and military merit hall to their blades.

Chen Mu quickly went through the route behind the South Gate in his mind.

Thirty paces to the left is a firewood shed, piled with dry firewood and tattered felt.

Fifty paces to the right is the back alley of the granary. The alley is narrow; a cart can pass through, but cavalry cannot.

Further inside were the wounded soldiers' tents.

Dr. Lin and a group of wounded soldiers were there.

If the barbarians enter the gate, they will not kill Zhao Chenglie first.

They would burn down the granaries, seize the medicine chests, and cut down the wounded soldiers who could barely hold a knife.

Su Wan would also be on that street.

Zhao Chenglie will not save her.

If the Zhao family's personal guards were truly clean, two soldiers wouldn't have died at the south gate.

Therefore, this door must not be broken.

We must not break through until reinforcements arrive.

Zhou Tie was still looking at him.

The look in his eyes was different from before.

Just now, Zhou Tie looked at him as if he were a small fry who had managed to turn his life around by sheer luck.

Now, Zhou Tie sees him as someone who can dissect the entire South Gate into a single diagram amidst the dead, the smell of oil, footprints, and the sound of the wind.

Chen Mu didn't need to explain much.

All he needed to do was tell them where to stand, what to take, and when to make their move.

If five people each do their own thing, they won't even last half a cup of tea.

If five people become a stove, a door, and a trap, even if thirty barbarians come, they will have to pay with their lives first.

Including Chen Mu, only five people remained who could wield a sword.

Chen Mu slammed his spear to the ground.

Five people.

"Guard a gate."

"No one should retreat before the door is breached."