In the 238th year of Tianwu, on the Dingwei day of the Xinmao month, at Tianxiong Pass, the Beiliang rebel army returned in force, pressing its troops up to the city walls.
Outside the border, the west wind howled. On the northern plain, the Beiliang Iron Cavalry stood arrayed in a dense black mass; dark clouds weighed upon the city, and the heavy tide of soldiers drove straight toward Tianxiong.
Over ten thousand Iron Cavalry pressed to the foot of the walls, warhorses all lowering their heads and stifling their neighs, iron hooves pawing at the withered grass beneath them, gathering strength to charge.
At this moment, atop the walls of Tianxiong Pass, stretching like a mountain ridge, the defending soldiers stood armored and still, in tight formation, rooted firmly behind the crenellations. Banners were yanked by the gale, snapping and crackling in the wind.
