Thirty li northeast of Luo County.
An abandoned city.
Five days ago, Ding Yuan, an official of the Bingzhou Governor's Office, escorted tens of thousands of catties of salt and iron goods out of Pianguan and to Luo County to hand them over to the Xiongnu.
This was a delaying tactic employed by the Han Dynasty to appease the Xiongnu.
Tens of thousands of kilograms of salt and iron were a drop in the ocean for a giant like Han.
Along with it were a thousand sets of armor, which were also defective products that had been sitting in the warehouse for a long time.
When Ding Yuan arrived in Luo County, the Xiongnu people had been waiting for him for a long time.
However, Ding Yuan was ordered to meet with two imperial envoys before signing the contract and making the handover.
The Xiongnu who came to meet them could not hand over the missing persons, so they launched a fierce attack.
Ding Yuan attempted to break through the encirclement, but was surrounded. Fortunately, his subordinate Lü Bu, the bravest of the three armies, fought his way out with his halberd.
However, their attempt to return south to Pianguan was already blocked by the Xiongnu cavalry.
The group had no choice but to head east towards Yanmen Pass to break through the encirclement.
The Xiongnu pursued relentlessly until they reached this abandoned city. Ding Yuan was eventually caught and had no choice but to enter the city to defend it.
Although the city is now deserted, its walls, which are over two zhang high, still remain.
Ding Yuan commanded his soldiers to use local materials to dismantle houses within the city to reinforce the city gates and build defenses.
Considering that he only had enough food for three days, he ordered Lü Bu and Zhang Liao to break through the encirclement and seek help from Yanmen Pass.
They ate only three days' worth of rations sparingly.
There is an old well in the abandoned city, which solves the water problem.
In addition, he had a hundred warhorses, so when he ran out of food, he would kill the horses to eat.
They held out for five days, and Ding Yuan led his soldiers to repel more than ten attacks by the Xiongnu.
More than 200 of the more than 1,000 soldiers were killed or wounded.
The 50,000 catties of pig iron, 10,000 catties of coarse salt, and 1,000 sets of armor were piled up in the city, completely undamaged.
"Brother Jianyang, five days have passed, and Fengxian and Wenyuan have not returned. We need to consider breaking out on our own!"
Zhang Yang couldn't stay put any longer.
They are just waiting to die.
Despite their tenacious defense, the Xiongnu refused to retreat.
"What the Xiongnu are after is this pile of supplies, isn't it? We are just following orders."
"We've already sacrificed two or three hundred of our brothers for these supplies; it's not worth it!"
He was covered in blood, his armor was tattered, his lips were split open, and his eyes were filled with deep sorrow.
"Uncle Zhi, it seems too late. Even if we hand over these supplies, the Xiongnu will definitely not let us go!"
“In the past five days, we have killed no less than a thousand of them.”
Ding Yuan shook his head, "Since we chose to protect these supplies in the first place, we must protect them to the very end!"
"We've been out for so many days now, the Bingzhou governor's office must have noticed something amiss and will take appropriate measures to strongly condemn the Xiongnu's actions!"
Zhang Yang scoffed, "What's the use of condemnation and protests against the Xiongnu?"
"And Governor Zhang has long disliked you. He hopes something bad will happen to Brother Jianyang. Why would he come to your rescue?"
Ding Yuan fell silent for a moment.
As soon as Zhang Yi took office, he suppressed Ding Yuan so that his own people could completely control the governor's office.
Zhang Yi could have sent someone else on this business trip, but he insisted on sending Ding Yuan, revealing his true intentions.
"It seems we can only look to Yanmen Pass. Zhang Liao's brother, Colonel Zhang Xun, is guarding Yanmen Pass. He is an upright man and will not stand by and watch someone die!"
"But Fengxian and Wenyuan have been here for five days already."
"It's only a two-day journey from here to Yanmen Pass. We'll arrive long ago after a round trip."
Zhang Yang said, "Could it be that the Xiongnu are too powerful, and they were intercepted by the Xiongnu and are gone?"
"The two of them are highly skilled in martial arts, and no one can defeat them. In particular, Fengxian's skills are unparalleled in the world. The mere Xiongnu people are no match for him."
When Ding Yuan spoke of Lü Bu, his eyes were filled with kindness and admiration.
He came from a poor family, was resourceful, brave and strong, and skilled in horseback riding and archery.
Unfortunately, he was nearly forty years old and had no children, so he intended to adopt Lü Bu as his son.
"Then...why haven't they come back yet?"
“All one hundred warhorses have been killed, leaving only a few mounts for you and me!” Zhang Yang stamped his foot and said.
“Kill them!” Ding Yuan said coldly.
"If we kill these, we'll have no horses left!"
Zhang Yang shouted, "Without warhorses, how do we break through?"
"Have a good night, Uncle Zhi. I have a feeling that Fengxian will bring his troops first thing tomorrow morning!"
Just then, a soldier ran up and shouted, "Sir, the Xiongnu are attacking again!"
"And this time, all of them, come up!"
"Hold them off at all costs and repel this attack! Our reinforcements will arrive tomorrow!" Ding Yuan shouted.
"Reinforcements! Reinforcements!" This was the man's mantra every time the Xiongnu attacked; he had lost count of how many times it had happened!
The soldier muttered to himself, but said aloud, "Yes, sir!"
"Uncle Zhi, let's go up to the city and fight the enemy!"
When the two arrived at the city wall, a dense swarm of Xiongnu soldiers launched a frenzied attack.
With the sound of hooves, groups of Xiongnu cavalry drew their bows and unleashed a hail of crossbow bolts, pinning down the Bingzhou soldiers on the city walls.
The Han army's crossbows were stronger and more powerful, but unfortunately they had already run out a few days ago.
Now they can only retaliate with bone arrowheads fired by the Xiongnu, which greatly reduces their offensive power.
In less than half a quarter of an hour, the Xiongnu began to approach the city wall and climb up.
One section of the city wall was already dilapidated, with a large gap, and the Xiongnu immediately launched a full-scale attack on it.
Ding Yuan and Zhang Yang led dozens of soldiers and personally went into battle to fill the gaps.
The setting sun was like blood!
The battle quickly escalated to a fever pitch.
This attack by the Xiongnu was quite fierce.
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