The advantage gained by the counteroffensive within the city lasted only a brief moment.
Soon, new movement stirred among the beastfolk ranks.
On the high ground beyond the walls, several enormous figures slowly emerged.
They were not ordinary beast soldiers, but Beast Generals clad in jet-black bone armor.
They did not charge.
They simply stood there—silent, immovable—like hunters patiently awaiting the exhaustion of their prey.
Fu Jian climbed the half-ruined battlements and followed Hong Lei's gaze.
His heart sank instantly.
"They're wearing us down," he said grimly.
"When we're spent, they'll press forward with everything they have."
Hong Lei did not deny it.
He drove the butt of his battle-axe hard into the stone, sending a tremor through the bricks.
"Then we won't let them wait."
Kali stiffened at once.
"General… you mean to leave the city?!"
Hong Lei looked toward the shattered gate.
Outside stood the main body of the beastfolk, not yet fully committed.
Inside, soldiers and civilians alike fought on with clenched teeth, barely holding their ground.
"They think White Horse City has already been torn open," he said coldly.
"Then let them see—what's been torn apart isn't necessarily the defense."
Fu Jian turned sharply, his pupils constricting.
"You're planning a countercharge?!"
Hong Lei met his eyes.
There was no fervor there—only a judgment so calm it bordered on cruelty.
"Not a countercharge," he said.
"A decapitation strike."
After a brief silence, Kali was already reshaping the formation.
The shield wall split into two, spears shifting into angled ranks—
a shock formation of the Holy City's Iron Army, designed specifically to pierce enemy lines.
Fu Jian took a deep breath, then laughed.
There was no ease in it—only the resolve of a man wagering everything.
"White Horse City has few cavalry," he said,
"but I'll ride with you and carve this path."
Hong Lei nodded. He did not refuse.
Inside the gate, the horn sounded once more.
This time it was not a warning of defense—
it was the call to attack.
Before the smoke of the breach had even settled, heavy cavalry thundered forward, trampling corpses and shattered timber as they burst from the gate.
The beastfolk froze in shock.
They were used to overwhelming others by sheer momentum—
never had they imagined that a city already breached would dare strike back.
"Advance!" Hong Lei roared.
The shield formation drove forward like a sharpened wedge, cleaving through the enemy mass.
The cavalry followed like a blade, and the first beastfolk line was torn violently in two.
On the walls, White Horse City's soldiers stared in disbelief—then erupted into hoarse cries.
"The general has ridden out! Follow him!"
Men poured down from the battlements.
Others seized fallen weapons and joined the charge.
In that moment, White Horse City was no longer a force awaiting rescue.
It had become a fire of battle, fully ignited.
On the distant high ground, the Beast Generals finally moved.
They lowered their heads, as if confirming something.
Then one of them slowly raised an arm.
Full assault.
When the first Beast General entered the fray, the ground itself seemed to quake beneath his steps.
His massive axe crashed down, smashing a gap clean through the Holy City's shield wall.
Hong Lei met him head-on.
Axes collided.
Bone shattered.
Steel thundered.
This was not a contest of technique, but a brutal collision of strength and will.
A second Beast General struck from the flank.
Kali led his men to lock them in place, holding the line with flesh and blood, refusing to yield a single step.
Fu Jian was wounded in two places—his shoulder armor shattered, blood seeping beneath his ribs—
yet he remained atop the tower, commanding without retreat.
The streets of White Horse City became a meat grinder.
Wave after wave of beastfolk surged forward, paying for every inch with piles of corpses.
Until dusk fell, and the sky darkened, steeped in blood.
The third Beast General fell—not to a clean execution, but impaled by countless spears on the earthen slope outside the gate.
The fourth was cut down while retreating.
When Hong Lei's axe split his bone armor, it also shattered the beastfolk's belief in their own invincibility.
The beastfolk broke.
Not from an order to withdraw—
but from the complete loss of direction.
They still howled, but no longer knew where to charge.
Hong Lei did not pursue them far.
He knew that beyond this point, it would only be trading living men for more corpses.
Before the gate, bodies lay piled into low mounds.
Hong Lei stood among them, his battle-axe buried in the earth to support his weight.
His cloak was shredded, only a few tatters clinging to his shoulders.
He did not raise his weapon in triumph.
He simply exhaled a long, blood-tainted breath.
Kali stepped to his side, his voice hoarse beyond recognition.
"Less than sixty percent… survived."
Hong Lei closed his eyes, his fingers trembling faintly.
Fu Jian was helped forward by soldiers.
He gazed out at the silent battlefield for a long while before speaking.
"White Horse City… has held."
No cheers answered him.
Yet the words were heavier than any declaration of victory.
Night fell.
Fires were lit throughout the city—not in celebration,
but to illuminate the work of clearing the battlefield.
Bodies were counted.
The wounded were searched for.
Each time a living soul was found, eyes reddened with tears.
Hong Lei stood just inside the gate and realized something at last:
He had won this battle.
But what he had won was nothing more than the right for a city to continue living.
The true war had only just begun.
城内的反推优势,只维持了短短片刻.
兽兵后方很快有了新动向城外高坡上,几道巨大身影缓缓现形,不是普通兽兵,是披着玄黑骨甲的兽将.他们没有贸然冲锋,只是静静伫立,像在等一场注定的消耗.
傅坚登上半毁的城楼,顺着洪雷的目光望去,心瞬间沉到谷底"他们在耗我们的气力...等咱们筋疲力尽,再全力压上来."
洪雷没有否认,只是将战斧往地上重重一顿,震得石砖微颤"那就不让他们等到!"
卡里立刻会意,声音紧绷"将军,你要出城?!"
洪雷抬眼看向破开的城门城外是尚未完全投入的兽兵主力,城内是咬着牙却站不稳的军民.
"他们以为白马城已经被撕开缺口."他声音发冷,"那就让他们看看,被撕开的,不一定是防线!"
傅坚猛然转头,瞳孔骤缩"你要打反冲锋?!"
洪雷看他一眼,眼神里没有半分狂热,只有冷静到近乎残酷的判断"不是反冲锋!是斩首!"
短暂沉默后,卡里已开始调整阵型,盾阵一分为二,长枪斜列换位这是圣城铁军专为穿阵破敌设计的突击编制.
傅坚深吸一口气,忽然笑了,笑意里没有半分轻松,只有赌上一切的决断"白马城骑兵不多,但我陪你杀出这一段!"
洪雷点头,没有拒绝.
城门内侧,号角声再次响起这次不是防守的警示,是出击的战令!
破城的烟尘还未散尽,重甲骑兵已踏着尸体与残木冲出去.兽兵瞬间愣住了他们习惯了冲锋碾压,却从未想过,被破城的一方竟还敢主动杀出!
"推进!"洪雷一声令下,盾阵如尖锐楔子劈开敌群,骑兵如利刃紧随其后,第一道兽兵防线被硬生生撕成两半.
城墙上,白马城的士兵先是发愣,随即爆发出嘶哑呐喊"将军出城了!跟上!"
有人自发冲下城墙,有人拾起兵刃追随而上.这一刻,白马城不再是被动待救的一方,而是被彻底点燃的战意之火.
远处高坡上,兽将们终于动了.他们低头似在确认什么,随后,一名兽将缓缓抬手.
全军出击!
骨甲兽将亲自下场,第一名兽将踏入战圈时,地面都似被重物碾过般震颤.巨斧劈下,圣城盾阵竟被砸开一道缺口!
洪雷迎头撞上,斧刃相交,骨甲碎裂声与金铁轰鸣同时炸开这不是技巧的较量,是力量与意志的硬碰硬!
第二名兽将从侧翼杀入,卡里率队死死咬住,用血肉之躯换阵线不退;傅坚两处挂彩,肩甲碎裂,肋下渗血,却始终立在城楼指挥,半步未退.
白马城的街道,从防守线变成了绞肉场,兽兵一波波冲来,每前进一步都在用尸体铺路.
直到黄昏降临,天色被血浸得发暗.
第三名兽将倒下,不是被斩首,是被乱枪攒刺在城门外的土坡上,第四名兽将在撤退时被洪雷追上,战斧劈开骨甲的刹那,也劈碎了兽兵心底"不可战胜"的恐惧.
兽兵开始溃散不是因命令撤退,是彻底失去了方向.他们仍在嘶吼,却不知该往何处冲.
洪雷没有追击太远,他清楚,再往前,就是拿活人的命去换更多尸体.
城门前,尸体堆成了低矮的丘坡.洪雷站在其间,战斧插在地上撑住身体,披风碎得只剩几缕挂在肩头.他没有举斧高呼胜利,只是缓缓吐出一口带着血气的浊息.
卡里走到身侧,声音沙哑得不像样"活下来的...不到六成."
洪雷闭了闭眼,指尖微微发颤.
傅坚被士兵扶着走过来,望着城外死寂的战场,良久才开口"白马城守住了."
这句话没有欢呼相和,却比任何胜利宣言都沉重.
夜幕落下,城中点起火光不是庆祝,是为了照亮清理战场的路.人们开始清点尸体,搜寻伤者,每找到一个活人,都忍不住红了眼眶.
洪雷立在城门内侧,忽然意识到:这场恶战,他打赢了.但赢下的,不过是一座城能继续活着的资格.
而真正的战争,才刚刚开始.