Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Ding ~"

"Xu~"

"Pfft~"

A dense rain of arrows, like locusts swarming across the land, came straight at the charging cavalry through the breach.

In an instant, more than a dozen riders were struck by wolf-tooth arrows, falling to the ground with cries of agony.

But soon, the Shatuo cavalry launched a swift crossbow counterattack.

"Whoosh~"

"Pfft~"

A wolf-tooth arrowhead was driven firmly into the throat of a Goguryeo soldier. His nocking motion came to an abrupt halt, and he fell backward, his face filled with disbelief.

Upon seeing this, one of his companions couldn't help but shrink his pupils.

But in that moment of distraction, the arrow representing death pierced his lungs and sent him flying.

The two sides engaged in a fierce standoff and exchange of fire through a gap in the ruins.

As the battle intensified at the breach in the city wall, Xue Yan gathered the remaining men to move all available containers for repairs, hoping to plug the gap.

"Hurry up, everyone, give it your all, don't slack off."

"Once the city falls, none of us will be spared."

"Hold on, we will definitely win!"

The shouts and cheers of the Goguryeo soldiers mingled together, frantically urging the new recruits to move the supplies.

"Pfft~"

Suddenly, an old man carrying a log lost his footing, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and collapsed to the ground, the log on his shoulder hitting his chest heavily.

"grandfather!"

Behind him, an eleven or twelve-year-old boy carrying a bamboo basket hurriedly knelt down beside the old man and began to cry loudly.

"Help! Someone, please save my grandpa! Save my grandpa!"

The child's innocent cries immediately attracted the attention of the others, who gathered around to lend a hand.

"What are you doing? What are you all doing?!"

But the next moment, a fierce-looking soldier lashed out with a whip, scattering the crowd.

"The military situation is urgent! Do you still have time to dawdle here? If this city wall isn't repaired, we'll all die here!"

As he spoke, he walked up to the old man and took a look.

The old man's face was covered in blood, and he had already lost all signs of life.

So the Goguryeo soldiers grabbed the boy and shouted, "He's already dead! Don't waste time! Hurry up and send the things up!"

The boy flung the soldiers' hands away and roared, "You killed my grandfather!"

Snapped--

Upon hearing this, the officer immediately raised his hand and slapped the boy across the face, knocking him to the ground.

"You dare to curse me? Let me tell you, brat, if this city wall isn't repaired, not only your grandfather, but everyone in this entire city will be buried with you! Do you understand now?!"

Then he pointed to the rest of the people around him: "And you guys, what are you looking at? Do you have time to slack off now? Hurry up and get to work!"

Even if it means death, you must die here! Do you all hear me?!

Overwhelmed by the intimidating power of the soldiers, the crowd could only keep quiet and continue moving the supplies.

As the crowd gradually approached the breach, both sides engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand combat after exhausting their arrows.

"Drink~"

A foreign cavalryman spurred his horse and charged up the slope, raising his curved blade to attack a spearman.

But the next moment, more than a dozen spears came thrusting at him simultaneously.

Before the foreign cavalry could even display their prowess, they were stabbed and bleeding profusely, before finally tumbling down the slope.

"Kill them!"

But soon, more alien soldiers rode their horses and charged up the slope.

Upon seeing this, Lou Tai'a immediately shouted, "Sword and shield bearers! Charge forward!"

The Goguryeo shields were immediately erected in front of the ruins, directly colliding with the oncoming warhorses.

boom.

"Xu~"

A loud bang was followed by a mournful neighing of a horse.

A foreign cavalryman, horse and all, crashed into the shield, resulting in a scene of chaos and disarray.

However, the two shield bearers also paid a heavy price.

One wrist was broken by the enormous impact, and another died instantly from internal organ rupture after his heart was subjected to tremendous resistance.

"prick!"

At the same moment, through the gaps in the shields, spears emerged and pierced through the hearts of all the cavalrymen who tried to charge forward.

"What are you doing? Get out of my way!"

Seeing that they could not break into the city for a long time, Shatuo gradually lost patience. He personally led his troops, wielding his heavy spiked club, and charged forward on horseback.

"Die!"

With a single sweep of the mace, the shield-wielding Goguryeo soldier in front of him, along with the one behind the shield, was sent flying into the air.

"Ha~"

Then, with another swift movement, the horse trampled the chest of another Goguryeo rider.

"Drink~"

At the same time, the spiked club pressed down hard, and the head of another Goguryeo soldier split open like a watermelon.

The bravery of the Shatuo people directly intimidated the Goguryeo soldiers in front of them, and for a moment no one dared to step forward.

"Get up!"

Taking advantage of the momentum, Shatuo swept two more soldiers away in an instant.

"Hahaha, I'm invincible!"

He fought with increasing ferocity, even shouting with joy.

Little did they know, Lou Tai'a, hidden behind the ruins, had already locked his cold gaze onto Sha Tuo.

He held a javelin in his hand at that moment, and seeing Shatuo so arrogant, his heart was filled with murderous intent.

Just as Shatuo raised his mace again, Lou Tai'a used all his strength to throw his javelin.

"Ok?"

The whooshing sound immediately alerted the Shatuo people.

The moment he looked up, he broke out in a cold sweat, his body leaping off the horse at an unbelievable angle.

Ding~

Sizzle—

At the critical moment, he used his spiked club to block the fatal blow from the javelin.

But after a sharp, cracking sound, the javelin's momentum didn't diminish at all; it grazed the spiked club and struck Shatuo's chest.

In a flash, a strong will to survive compelled Shatuo's body, which was half-suspended in the air, to perform another incredible side roll.

The next moment, the javelin grazed past his armor, ripping off his breastplate in the process.

Having just narrowly escaped death, Shatuo had no time to rejoice before more than a dozen spears were thrust at him.

"Uh~"

Without a second thought, Shatuo dropped his spiked club and instantly lost his balance, disappearing into the crowd that was following closely behind.

"Kill!"

After the defeat of the Shatuo, the Goguryeo soldiers were in high spirits and displayed unprecedented fighting power.

The biggest difference between nomadic and agricultural civilizations lies in their level of organization.

Although Goguryeo originated from nomadic life, after hundreds of years of development, it had long since become a member of an agricultural civilization.

Once the Goguryeo soldiers regained their organization, they used the gap in the defenses to completely repel the offensives from various forces in Liaodong.

"Let them withdraw their troops."

Shen Lang, who had been closely monitoring the previous battle, saw the mountain of corpses piled up in front of the breach and shook his head disdainfully, decisively ordering Sha Tuo and his men to retreat.

The Goryeo army's first offensive ended in failure.

Shatuo returned to the camp and went straight to Shen Lang to complain: "Duke Zhenguo, this battle is unwinnable. We have to send the Koreans as the vanguard to break through..."

"A bunch of trash."

Unexpectedly, Shen Lang showed no mercy to Shatuo this time.

"I created this opportunity for you. I thought you could really take Rangzhou City in one fell swoop."

Turns out I had too high expectations of you guys. You're a bunch of useless trash. Get out, and our agreement is null and void.

Shatuo was stunned on the spot, and hurriedly grabbed Shen Lang's hand and shook his head, saying, "Duke Zhenguo, you can't do this, we..."

"roll!"

Shen Lang shook off his hand and shouted sternly.

"I only care about the results, don't give me the details. If you didn't win, you didn't win. I really don't know what I brought you here for! A bunch of useless trash, you deserve to be stuck with horse manure your whole lives, you'll never be able to turn your lives around!"