"Whoooo! Hey!"
The taunting howls and the sound of galloping hooves echoed over Jiming Fort, instilling fear in the hearts of the defenders, who cowered behind the walls with bloodshot eyes.
For three days, the Qiang soldiers had surrounded the fort without attacking, but day and night, groups of cavalry patrolled nearby, keeping the defenders in a constant state of high tension.
The meager garrison had to rise at midnight every day, and the relentless pressure had worn them down to exhaustion, making their eyelids heavy with fatigue.
What worried them the most was the absence of the expected reinforcements.
Where were the reinforcements?
Now Luo Yu was a squad leader, and several new recruits had joined him, responsible for guarding a section of the fort's wall.
Hiding behind the wall, Luo Yu carefully observed the movements of the Qiang soldiers, his brow furrowing: "Brothers, be careful; the Qiang are going to attack today."
"Why?" Meng Hu retorted. "They've been lingering for three days without attacking. Today is probably just another feint."
"They've worn us down for three days; the Qiang are banking on us being exhausted. Now is the best time to attack. Look at their numbers—aren't there considerably more than yesterday?"
"Actually, yes! The cavalry that was patrolling used to be only twenty or thirty, but today it's increased several times!"
"Whoosh!"
Just as he finished speaking, a piercing war arrow sliced through the air—a signal commonly used by the Qiang to initiate an attack.
The cavalry that had just been patrolling the outskirts swiftly changed direction, splitting into three squads as they rushed toward the fort. Each soldier was armed with a bow and arrow, their quivers brimming with pointed arrows, and ropes with hooks hung from their saddles.
"Defend! Prepare for battle!"
"Swish, swish, swish!"
The first wave of Qiang cavalry shot their arrows as they approached the fort. The defenders either crouched behind the walls or raised bamboo shields, unwilling to expose themselves.
It was well-known that the Qiang excelled in mounted archery.
The three teams of Qiang soldiers took turns shooting—one team would shoot while the next would follow, applying relentless pressure in a cycling attack that allowed no breathing space.
After several waves of arrows, abruptly, a dozen Qiang soldiers leaped from their formation, galloping swiftly and reaching the base of the fort walls. They deftly threw their grappling hooks, which caught securely onto the walls.
Following this, the cavalry leapt off their horses, gripping the ropes tightly and using their feet against the wall, climbing with the agility of monkeys.
With archery suppression, grappling hooks, and fearless scaling, the Qiang executed this tactic to perfection—a strategy that had conquered numerous border forts.
"Counterattack! Fight back! Don't just hide!"
You could evade the rain of arrows, but once the Qiang soldiers scale the walls, hiding was no longer an option.
Under Wang Shuang's persistent urging, someone finally mustered the courage to peek out, nocking an arrow to shoot at the Qiang soldiers climbing the wall.
"Whoosh!"
As soon as he exposed himself, an arrow pierced through his head, brain matter splattering everywhere—a gruesome scene.
Luo Yu was shocked; the speed of the Qiang's archers was far superior to that of the Qian army.
Arrows crisscrossed in the air, and more soldiers fell into pools of blood, screams sending chills down everyone's spine.
The veterans might handle it, but the rookie recruits were utterly paralyzed by fear. One young recruit, under Luo Yu's command, lost all composure, holding his head and running around in panic:
"No! I don't want to fight anymore! Let me go home!"
"小伍, get down!"
Luo Yu shouted repeatedly, but the new recruit seemed to hear nothing. Having completely lost his mind, he only knew to run around wildly.
In just two or three days, Luo Yu couldn't turn these newcomers into elite soldiers; all he could do was repeatedly remind them of the key points for staying alive on the battlefield.
They nodded, thinking they had grasped the essence, but when their comrade's brain splattered on their faces, who could remember the important points Luo Yu had mentioned?
"Damn it!"
With arrows raining down and the Qiang pressing closer, Luo Yu couldn't afford to think anymore. He kicked the panicking recruit down to the ground and shouted:
"Stay in the corner! Don't move!"
The kicked recruit curled up in the corner, sobbing, his pants slightly wet.
"The Qiang are coming!"
Meng Hu's voice echoed in Luo Yu's ears. The soldiers under his command were in disarray, and the Qiang seemed to have noticed the weakness in their defenses, choosing to attack here.
A nimble Qiang soldier had already leaped onto the wall and, relying on his agility, swiftly killed a panicked new recruit trying to flee.
From a distance, Zhang Gui, directing the battle, cursed loudly:
"Luo Yu! Keep your men in line! If we lose the wall, I'll have your head!"
Luo Yu ignored him and turned towards the Qiang soldiers. With a powerful stomp and a leap, he brought his blade crashing down.
His youthful appearance initially didn't attract the Qiang soldier's attention, but when Luo Yu's fierce strength pushed him back several paces, the Qiang soldier's face twisted with rage as he retaliated:
"You're seeking death!"
In a series of exchanges, Luo Yu maintained the upper hand, ultimately delivering a blow that cleaved the Qiang soldier's head almost in half—brutal and fierce.
In the midst of this, three more Qiang soldiers scaled the wall. Seeing Luo Yu entangled with them, Meng Hu gritted his teeth, discarded his curved blade, and grabbed a heavy cylindrical post weighing dozens of pounds, swinging it with ferocious power.
He startled the three Qiang soldiers so much they jumped off the wall; facing such a powerful strike, they certainly didn't want to die.
This show of strength nearly dropped the jaws of both sides' soldiers—this was pure muscle!
Luo Yu glared at the new recruits:
"Grab your swords and stay behind me and Meng Hu! If you don't want to die, you can only rely on yourselves!"
...
The Qiang soldiers retreated.
In just an hour of attacking, everyone was exhausted, and there were several corpses strewn across the wall, soaked in blood.
A heavy scent of blood filled the fort, mixed with the odor of sweat and fear.
The fading rays of the setting sun cast a bloody hue over the wall, shrouding the aftermath of the brutal battle.
"Are you okay?"
Luo Yu slumped down next to the crying young recruit, who couldn't even meet Luo Yu's gaze:
"Brother Yu, I'm sorry. I really am afraid. My parents are waiting for me to return home."
Though his backside ached, the recruit didn't hold it against Luo Yu; he knew that kick had saved his life.
"Who isn't afraid?"
Luo Yu didn't blame him because he understood that if it weren't for the unusual memories in his mind, he would be trembling like the recruit.
"But this is a battlefield. The Qiang won't spare you just because you're scared.
When a person is afraid, they exude a scent of fear; arrows, knives, and the Qiang can smell it and come for you. Who else would they kill if not you?
But if you remain unafraid, these things will avoid you— even ghosts will run from you."
Luo Yu gently patted the recruit's back:
"You must remember, if you want to go home to see your parents, the first thing you need to do is survive."
"Really, really?"
"Really."
The seventeen-year-old recruit was taken aback, half-believing, half-doubting.
"Whooo!"
"Whooo whooo!"
Before the defenders could sit for a moment, the horn of the Qiang soldiers blared again, prompting everyone to instinctively crouch back at the walls, faces set in determination.
Company Leader Wang Shuang and Zhang Gui cursed angrily:
"Can't they leave us a moment to breathe? Damn Qiang thieves!"
But when they looked outside the fort, they found not a massive army of Qiang soldiers approaching, only a few riders coming closer, holding long spears with bloody heads impaled on the tips.
What was going on?
A hint of confusion flickered in Wang Shuang's eyes as the severed heads looked eerily familiar.
As the Qiang soldiers reached the edge of bowshot, they halted and thrust their spears into the sand, sneering:
"Open your eyes and see clearly; these are the heads of the squad leaders from your eastern and western forts. No reinforcements will come to Jiming Fort! You are completely trapped!
Surrender, and you may live!
Fight, and you will find no place to bury your bones!"
In that moment, all the defenders felt their limbs grow cold.