Chapter 489: The Blood Battle of Qiemo (Part 2)

The two wounded men discovered by the Tang soldiers were survivors who had escaped from Ulan Lake. Initially, three of them had fled together, but one was killed in a pursuit by the Tubo army, leaving only two. They returned to Sabi City, only to find it burned to the ground and the Tang troops missing. They then went to Qiemo City, but the battle there was in full swing, preventing them from entering. Eventually, exhausted, they collapsed in the wilderness. Fortunately, they were found by Tang scouts; otherwise, they would have become prey for wolves.

A dozen personal guards carried the two blood-soaked Tang sentries on stretchers into the main command tent. The sentries had regained consciousness and, upon seeing Li Qing’an, struggled to get up and kneel in reverence. Li Qing’an stepped forward and held them back, saying, “You’re injured—don’t try to get up.”

“Thank you… General. We are sentries from Sabi City, and we have… important information.”

Their voices were weak, and they spoke with great difficulty. Li Qing’an nodded and said, “Speak about the important information first. We’ll treat your wounds right away. I will reward you according to your merits.”

“We don’t want rewards… The information is too crucial. If we don’t tell it to you in person, General… it would be a disservice to… our fallen comrades…”

One of the soldiers could no longer speak, so the other continued, “Ulan Lake is a vital logistics hub for the Tubo army. They also have 20,000 troops supporting Qiemo City. Please send troops to Ulan Lake at once, General.”

“I understand. Go and rest first. Get your wounds treated properly, then tell us your experiences.”

With a wave of his hand, Li Qing’an ordered the guards to carry the two away. He quickly turned back to the sand table and located Ulan Lake, as described by the soldiers—about 180 li from Sabi Lake, at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, on the edge of the Qaidam Basin. It was a necessary route from Longyou, via the southern foothills of the Qilian Mountains, to Anxi.

Li Qing’an had been at war with the Tubo army for years and knew their customs well. Initially, the Tubo were organized in tribes, with entire tribes participating in battles—men fighting at the front, while women and the elderly followed not far behind. When the Tubo army retreated, the women, children, and the weak often couldn’t escape in time and became captives of the Tang army. “Weak logistics” had always been a weakness for the Tubo.

Over the past few years, he had also heard that some reforms had taken place within Tubo, with a specialized military logistics force called “slaves” being established. Although they still followed the army while herding livestock, they were no longer the family members who accompanied the troops in the past; they were essentially slaves of the Tubo people, mostly young and strong men. Among them were Han slaves captured from the Tang Dynasty, but more were young men from ethnic minorities such as the Tuhun, Di, Man, Qiang, and Dangxiang.

Regardless, for the Tubo expeditionary forces to set out from Luoshe and cross the plateau, they would be unable to carry out such expeditions without a strong logistics support team. It could be said that logistical support was crucial for the Tubo people, which was why they were eager to seize Turfan as a logistics base.

Li Qing’an pondered for a moment before waving at An Baozhen, who was standing by the tent. An Baozhen stepped forward quickly and bowed, saying, “Your humble servant is here!”

“General An, I have a task for you.”

An Baozhen was overjoyed. He knew what it was and immediately knelt on one knee, saying, “Your humble servant will obey!”

Li Qing’an couldn’t help but smile. An Baozhen had obeyed before even hearing the details, so he nodded and said, “I’ll give you five thousand elite cavalry. You must immediately head to Ulan Lake and raid the Tubo army’s stronghold. If you encounter any supply convoys along the way, kill them all—no survivors allowed.”

“Your humble servant understands. I’ll set out right away.”

An Baozhen saluted militarily, stood up, and left in a hurry. At that moment, Li Qing’an said to the other generals, “Pass down my orders—the entire army will set out at midnight!”

……

Although it was already dark, the fierce battle around Qiemo City continued. Shang Jiasu had deployed as many as 30,000 troops to attack the city. Though the late hour made night battles unfavorable for both sides, the fighting had reached its most intense stage, and no one could stop it.

Nearly 25,000 Tubo soldiers had already crossed the moat, and corpses piled up like mountains below the city walls. The blood flowing from these corpses formed streams that poured into the moat, turning its water red.

The Tubo soldiers below also fired arrows in large numbers. Arrows rained down from both sides of the city walls, creating a dense web of arrows. The Tubo soldiers held up their shields, braved rolling boulders and missiles, stepped on their comrades’ corpses, and climbed the siege ladders in a desperate attempt to attack the city. At every moment, Tubo soldiers were hit by arrows or crushed by boulders and logs, falling or tumbling down from the ladders in agony.

On the city walls, a dozen Tang soldiers defended a battlement. Three or four of them were fighting against Tubo soldiers trying to climb up, while the others shot arrows at the Tubo troops from the sides or threw boulders to knock them off.

At that moment, a Tang soldier let out a scream as an arrow from below hit him in the face, causing him to fall backward. Another Tang soldier quickly stepped forward to take his place. After nearly an hour of fierce fighting, the Tang army also suffered heavy losses, with over a thousand casualties, most of whom died from arrows, while some were killed in battles with the advancing Tibetan troops.

At that time, a Tang soldier fetched a long iron fork, used it to block the siege ladder, and pushed hard outward. “Come and help me!” he shouted loudly.

Dozens of Tang soldiers stopped shooting arrows and rushed to assist him. Together, they shouted, “One, two, three!” The heavy siege ladder was pushed upward, gradually tilting outward. The nearly hundred Tibetan soldiers on the ladder let out long screams. Some jumped off the ladder, while most fell heavily along with it. With a loud crash, the ladder shattered, leaving the over a hundred people on it dead or injured and unable to move.

But on the west side of the city, the Tang army faced a crisis. The nearly hundred-zhang-long section of the city wall there was where the trebuchets were positioned. The Tang forces there were few, mainly consisting of 300 Tang soldiers and over a thousand laborers. The Tibetan commander leading the attack noticed this weakness in defense and immediately ordered three siege ladders to be used to attack from this area. He also summoned 600 of the most elite Tibetan Red Shield soldiers, the imperial guard of the Tibetan king—30,000 men selected from hundreds of thousands of troops, all tall, strong, and fierce in battle. For this western expedition, the Tibetan king also sent 8,000 Red Shield soldiers, two thousand of whom participated in the attack on Khotan.

In the darkness of night, amid the chaos, Helou Yurun failed to detect the Tibetan troops’ intentions. Hundreds of elite Tibetan soldiers quickly climbed up the wall. The laborers guarding the western section of the south wall became panicked. Some threw stones down, while others stabbed at the siege ladder with their spears, shouting and panicking.

In moments, a dozen Tibetan soldiers appeared at the far western end of the wall. The leading Tibetan centurion was extremely fierce. With a single sword swing, he severed the heads of two laborers. His face was covered in black sand, giving him a terrifying appearance. The other laborers at the battlements were terrified and fled, dropping their spears. A gap appeared on the wall. Seeing the critical situation, several Tang soldiers rushed forward. But the Tibetan centurion seized this brief opportunity, leaped onto the wall, holding a shield in his left hand and swinging his sword in his right. In an instant, three more laborers were killed. Seeing the Tang soldiers charging, he shouted loudly and jumped down from the battlements to fight among them.

At that moment, another dozen Tibetan soldiers rushed onto the city wall through this gap. These soldiers were clad in chainmail, tall and strong, with fierce appearances. They charged into the crowd of laborers like tigers into a flock of sheep. In just a short while, forty or fifty laborers were killed. The laborers were terrified and turned to flee, causing chaos on the city wall.

The defense of this section of the wall was under the responsibility of General Luo Shengjun. He was leading over a thousand Tang soldiers in battle against the Tibetan troops on more than thirty scaling ladders. Suddenly, he heard cries of pain and alarm. Some Tang soldiers shouted, “The Tibetans have climbed the wall!”

Luo Shengjun turned around. In the darkness, he saw the Tibetan troops emerging like an ant swarm at the westernmost part of the wall. Over two thousand laborers were scattered in panic, while only dozens of Tang soldiers were still fighting back. Filled with shock and anger, he roared, “The first battalion of Tang soldiers, follow me!”

Waving his spear, he led over four hundred Tang soldiers forward with loud shouts. By then, nearly two hundred Tibetan soldiers had already climbed the wall through the western gap, and more were continuously arriving. However, the Tibetans made a mistake—they did not immediately support their comrades at other sections of the wall but focused their efforts on destroying the trebuchets.

There were ten heavy trebuchets deployed here. Having suffered greatly from being hit by boulders during previous attacks, the Tibetan troops rushed at these trebuchets as soon as they reached the wall, slashing with swords, throwing stones, and pushing hard to bring them down. In moments, seven trebuchets collapsed one after another and tumbled down from the wall, prompting cheers from the Tibetan soldiers.

Of course, destroying the trebuchets was advantageous for subsequent attacks, and the Tibetans’ actions were not wrong. But priorities must be considered. At this critical moment, destroying the trebuchets was like neglecting the essential to focus on trivial matters.

At that instant, Luo Shengjun led hundreds of men to the scene. With swords and arrows, they caught the more than two hundred Tibetan soldiers off guard. Luo Shengjun swung his spear like falling pear blossoms, instantly piercing the throats of three Tibetan soldiers. The Tibetan centurion who first climbed the wall shouted loudly and charged at Luo Shengjun from the side of the wall, descending like an eagle pouncing on a rabbit. But Luo Shengjun dodged swiftly, thrusting his spear backward. The tip pierced through the gap beside his shield and into his chest. With a pained scream, the massive body of the Tibetan centurion was lifted high into the air. Luo Shengjun swung his spear and shouted, “Die!”

The Tibetan centurion was thrown outside the wall, falling into the moat with a long scream and a loud crash.

The death of the Tubo centurion boosted the Tang army’s morale. They fought bravely, forcing the Tubo soldiers to retreat in disarray. The Tang forces quickly blocked all paths through which the Tubo army could expand, trapping them in a corner west of the city.
…
He Lou Yurun learned that the Tubo army had reached the west side of the city when the trebuchet fell. He flew into a rage—day four hadn’t even arrived yet, and the city of Kucha was already on the verge of being captured.
“Where is that bastard Luo Shengjun?”
He roared, “Tell him if he doesn’t drive the Tubo army back within fifteen minutes, I’ll take his head!”
The situation was now extremely unfavorable for the Tang army. The 50,000-strong Tubo force had all pressed forward. Thirty thousand of them attacked the south side of the city. Despite heavy losses, more than 20,000 had reached the city walls. Another 20,000 Tubo soldiers lurked 700 steps north of the city, ready to launch a full-scale attack at any moment. This forced He Lou Yurun to send 2,000 of his 7,000 troops to defend the north side of the city. The Tang troops defending the south side had already lost over 1,000 men, leaving less than 4,000 fighting desperately. Four thousand men were trying to hold off over 20,000 Tubo soldiers in a fierce assault. In the darkness, the Tang archers lost their accuracy, making it even harder to stem the Tubo army’s advance. If not for the tall and sturdy city walls, the Tang army would have already been defeated.
He Lou Yurun was not only angry about the lack of troops but also hated those bastards in the Suiye Political Council—a bunch of corrupt scholars! Over a month ago, he had requested a batch of Thunder Bombs, and Li Qing’an had approved sending 100 of them from Chang’an. But things went wrong because of those scumbags in the Suiye Political Council, especially Pei Mian, the person in charge of military supplies, who kept delaying Li Qing’an’s approval. To this day, not a single Thunder Bomb had arrived. If they had those bombs, even with 100,000 Tubo soldiers, he wouldn’t fear them!
“Kill them! Twenty silver coins for each Tubo soldier killed!”
His fury turned toward the Tubo army, but even that wasn’t enough to quench his anger. Once Li Qing’an arrived, he would definitely complain.
…
When He Lou Yurun’s orders reached the west side of the city, Luo Shengjun couldn’t help but sigh bitterly. How was he supposed to fight? Could it be possible to drive the Tubo army back from the city walls within fifteen minutes?

Luo Shengjun’s brows were furrowed tightly. Although the Tubo army was suppressed into a corner by the Tang forces, as more Tubo soldiers poured into the city, their territory expanded again. Moreover, the western corner of the southern city had become a gap through which the Tubo army could breach the defenses of Qiemo City. More and more Tubo soldiers were streaming toward that area, while he had no reinforcements. The situation was extremely dangerous. If the Tubo army advanced another three or four steps, they could bring in hundreds more soldiers, and then the balance of power between the two armies would shift. Once a gap was broken through by the Tubo forces, it would be like a dam breaking—uncontrollable waves of Tubo soldiers would flood in, and Qiemo City might fall from there.

The fighting continued fiercely in the darkness. The two sides clashed in a chaotic mess, each holding shields and armed with sabers and long swords. Shields met shields, sabers and long swords collided, as soldiers pushed and shoved at each other, shouting. The battle reached its climax, with corpses piling up on top of one another. Some were still alive but trembling, trampled underfoot by both sides, dying from suffocation as they pleaded for mercy. Near the densest parts of the city walls, the soldiers could no longer use swords and knives; they could only use knives to stab, daggers to pierce, and fists to strike. The clashing of swords and knives produced a ringing sound, while the sound of knives cutting through bones echoed, along with the groans of the wounded and the terrifying gurgling sounds of those dying.

The red-clad Tubo army was exceptionally strong, pushing the Tang forces back step by step. But the Tang forces fought back from a desperate position, driving the Tubo army back again. The two sides fluctuated like waves in the wind.

By now, Luo Shengjun was sweating profusely. He racked his brains for a solution. Archery was no longer possible—the two sides were too close, and the shields made it impossible to shoot arrows, unless water was used, which might still work.

“Water!”

An idea flashed through Luo Shengjun’s mind like lightning. They had it! But it hadn’t been brought out because the laborers had fled.

Luo Shengjun immediately whispered a few words to a squad leader. The leader waved his hand and said, “Follow me!”

More than twenty soldiers immediately followed him to a small stone house about dozens of steps away. That was where some parts of catapults were stored, guarded by laborers. Since the laborers had fled, the catapults were useless, and the stone house stood empty with no one to watch over it. But there was still one thing inside—the thing that was originally meant for launching projectiles.

The soldiers carried out leather bags from the stone house. The bags were quite heavy, filled with a swirling liquid. They rushed forward, holding the bags and spraying the liquid at the Tibetan army. Black liquid gushed out of the bags, dousing the dense ranks of Tibetan soldiers. This black liquid was, of course, kerosene. Although the use of thunder bombs was strictly controlled, kerosene was a standard supply for the Tang army, available in every city. It had originally been intended for use as incendiary bombs in Kucha, but before it could be used, the Tibetan army attacked, leaving it unused. Amid the intense battle, no one remembered its existence.

Yet in this crisis, Luo Shengjun suddenly recalled its purpose. In moments, a hundred bags of kerosene were sprayed into the Tibetan ranks. The pungent smell caused the Tibetan soldiers to become restless, and the Tang army, struggling to hold back, began to retreat step by step.

At that moment, a torch was thrown into the Tibetan ranks. With a loud “boom,” fierce flames erupted among them. This kerosene wasn’t crude oil extracted directly—it was refined using metallurgical techniques learned from the Byzantine Empire, making it lighter and more flammable. Though not as powerful as Greek fire, it far surpassed crude oil.

The fire quickly spread throughout the western part of the city. Four or five hundred Tibetan soldiers fled desperately as if their nest had exploded. By then, the Tang army could no longer stop their desperate struggle, and a gap ten feet wide opened up. Countless Tibetan soldiers, engulfed in flames, screamed as they rushed out through the gap. They were no longer fighting; the flames burned fiercely on their heads and bodies. Many spread their arms and collapsed after just a few steps, curled up from the heat. Dozens of Tang soldiers were also affected by the fire, rolling on the ground and screaming in agony.

Most of the four or five hundred Tibetan soldiers were set ablaze. In the corner near the city ladder, those who hadn’t been sprayed with kerosene were terrified. Seeing the fire spreading, they tried to descend the ladder. In the chaos and crowd, many were pushed off, falling to their deaths with screams.

The sudden upheaval in the west of the city stunned all the soldiers. The blazing flames shone brightly against the night sky. Kerosene reversed the situation in the western part of the city and the entire battle. First, a dozen city ladders in the west were set on fire, followed by dozens more near the middle of the city wall, also ignited by the Tang army using kerosene. Flames burned fiercely both above and below the city walls, lighting up the night like day. Just then, the sound of bells signaling the withdrawal came from the Tibetan camp.

Amid the dull and grating sound of bells, the Tibetan army retreated like a tide. The Tang troops on the city walls were overjoyed. Helou Yurun was so excited that tears welled in his eyes. He murmured to himself, “Three days, just three days—I’m going to get promoted!”