Chapter 35: Qigo (IV)

In the afternoon, a light cavalry unit suddenly appeared outside Fusi City. This group was quite unusual—aside from a few Tubo soldiers at the front, it was followed by a long convoy of flat ox carts. There were over thirty large chests tied to the carts, and the roads were covered with muddy puddles. As the carts moved over them, they jolted, causing the chests to tilt and topple. If not tightly bound with hemp ropes, they might have fallen into any of the puddles at any moment.

As they neared the north gate of Fusi City, the captain of the sentries on the city wall loudly ordered the convoy to stop. The guards on the north side had just changed shifts and were clearly nervous. The captain nocked an arrow and stared intently at the newcomers, demanding, “Hand over your tokens for inspection.” He then placed a small basket down.

The Tubo soldier took out his identification badge and placed it in the basket without saying a word, allowing the captain to carry the basket shakily up to the city wall. After checking and confirming they were his own people, the captain nodded and asked, “What’s in those chests?”

The Tubo soldier’s expression darkened. “Is that something you should ask? If we delay our mission, the commander will blame us, and we won’t be able to bear it.”

But the captain wasn’t fooled. He shot an arrow at them immediately. “Stop talking nonsense and open the chests right away!”

Furious, the Tubo soldier laughed. “Fine, fine! I’ll open these chests so you can take a good look!” He then ordered someone to open the wooden chests.

As soon as the chests were opened, the captain on the city wall gasped in shock. Inside each chest lay a dozen or so heavily made-up Tang women.

“Open the gates quickly! Open the gates now!” Overjoyed, his eyes gleamed.

The city gates creaked open, and the convoy slowly entered the city. The Tubo guards at the gates gathered excitedly, rubbing their hands together as they unloaded the chests.

“These bitches are really damn heavy!” one gatekeeper joked as he stepped forward to open a chest. The commander must really care about his men—bringing back so many beautiful women!

But as soon as he lifted the lid of a chest, a cold glint flashed before his eyes—a sword slashed across his neck! The Tubo officer was none other than Chen Xu, who had just achieved great glory!

With a splash, a fountain of red blood sprouted three feet high. The seemingly gentle and beautiful Han women in the chests instantly turned into Tang soldiers wielding swords.

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! The Tang invaders have entered the city!”

The captain ran away, shouting loudly to alert others.

A carved-feathered arrow pierced his armor with a swift motion, and amid a cry of pain, the sentinel captain collapsed to the ground.
“Brothers, kill those bastards!”
Pu Da Chui roared, raising his iron hammer and charging ahead at the 300 Tibetan soldiers who had rushed over upon hearing the news.
Five or six hundred elite Tang soldiers leaped out of the iron boxes in an instant, swinging their swords and charging at the Tibetan defenders. Since crossing the Chilin Mountains, the Tang army had won successive battles; even 300 Tibetan soldiers, let alone an equal number, would likely not stand a chance against them.
This was a battle without suspense—the Tang soldiers, whose blades had soaked in the blood of countless invaders, possessed an iron will, while the Tibetan defenders were mostly inexperienced recruits who had never fought before and were just waiting to die in the rear.
Li Kuo watched silently as all this unfolded. As the old saying goes, training prepares one for battle, but it can never replace actual combat. Only soldiers who have killed with their own hands will fearlessly charge to the front lines to protect themselves with swords; only armor stained with blood will not fade or corrode in the face of wind and rain, remaining bright and strong forever.
The more experienced soldiers were scattered at various city gates, while the Tibetan soldiers before them were like chicks that had never seen blood.
“First and Second Brigades, charge at the enemy head-on; Third and Fourth Brigades, flank them and launch attacks. The rest, follow me to the Fusi City garrison!”
Li Kuo issued orders, leading nearly 200 of his trusted soldiers toward the Fusi City garrison.
The task of leading the frontal attack naturally fell to Pu Da Chui. He swung his several-hundred-pound iron hammer with fierce momentum at the Tibetan barbarians. With each swing, a Tibetan soldier who stepped forward had their ribs shattered and they spat blood. Pu Da Chui was like a tiger among sheep, reveling in the prey before him.
“Come on! Whoever dares to resist, fight me a few hundred rounds!”
Seeing that the surrounding Tibetan “warriors” were so weak, Pu Da Chui spat and cursed.
A Tibetan centurion noticed Pu Da Chui’s bravery and quickly waved his command flag to direct his troops.
“Kill him! Kill that Tang thief with the hammer! Don’t let him get through!”
The centurion roared loudly, his dark green military flag fluttering in the wind.
“If you’ve got guts, come fight me alone! Relying on your brothers to take the hits—what kind of hero is that?”
Pu Da Chui also noticed the Tibetan centurion; his dark green flag stood out sharply among the gray armor.
“Brothers, follow me to take his command flag!”

Since the Zhuque Regiment was reorganized and expanded, Pu Dachui and Xianyu Yu had both been promoted to brigade commanders. Because of Pu Dachui’s fearless bravery in battle, everyone held him in high esteem. Hearing that their brigade commander had ordered the capture of the flag, they all gathered around him, pushing forward like a sharp spear toward the dark green flag.

A dozen Tibetan soldiers armed with spears charged at them, trying to use the length of their weapons to stop Pu Dachui’s advance. Their fierce thrusts were indeed intimidating. But how could the Tang soldiers under Pu Dachui let their commander be in danger? Guards wielding rhinoceros wood shields stepped forward to protect his vital sides. The spears pierced the shields, emitting a harsh buzzing sound—like a carpenter’s saw cutting into a crooked tree—a sound so annoying that both sides instinctively wanted to cover their ears. However, the Tibetan spears were clearly not as sharp as the Tang soldiers’ lances; they managed to pierce the shields but not completely, giving the Tang army an opportunity.

The Tang soldiers who rushed forward to protect him saw that the Tibetans couldn’t pull out their spears stuck in the shields. They exchanged glances and then kicked the shields hard. The Tibetan warriors, struggling to pull out their spears, fell backward under those extra blows.

The soldiers who rushed in from behind hadn’t even seen what the brave commander looked like when they were crushed under their comrades, crying out in pain. How could they get up now? The advancing Tang soldiers swung their swords and chopped down the fallen Tibetan warriors, turning them into pulp. They didn’t bother to cut off their heads but continued to push forward with Pu Dachui toward the flag.

Seeing all his soldiers killed, the Tibetan centurion shrunk his shoulders, dropped the flag, and ran away.

Seeing this, Pu Dachui was overjoyed and shouted loudly, “The Tibetan flag has been captured! The Tibetan flag has been captured!”

His personal guards pondered his actions for a moment before realizing what had happened. “The Tibetans have been defeated! Their flag has been captured!”

The brave soldiers cheered in response and used this momentum to advance another twenty steps. The Tibetan centurion’s escape completely shattered their already demoralized morale. With the flag suddenly gone, more than a hundred Tibetan soldiers in the center of their army began to push back in panic. Crowded together, shoulder to shoulder, curses could be heard everywhere among the Tibetan soldiers.

They didn’t aim to outrun the Tang army—they just hoped to outrun their own comrades! (Note 1) The Tang forces attacking from the flanks, under the command of generals Zhou Wucui and Zhang Yanji, began slowly closing in on the center. They wanted to encircle all the Tibetans, leaving not a single barbarian behind! The Tibetan army’s formation grew increasingly chaotic, and the space they occupied shrank further. As the eastern and western detachments met, the Tibetans were completely surrounded by the Tang forces! (Note 1) The remaining hundred or so Tibetan soldiers stood back to back, gripping their curved swords and staring intently at the tightening encirclement. They didn’t understand why the Tang forces had seemingly appeared out of nowhere across the vast Chiling Mountains, nor why the previously made-up Han women had suddenly turned into elite Tang warriors wielding broadswords.

“Death is death anyway—let’s fight to the end!”
A Tibetan soldier shouted, waving his curved sword and charging forward. The other Tibetan soldiers, realizing they had no chance of escape, gritted their teeth, closed their eyes, and charged as well, determined to take a Tang soldier with them to the grave!

But how could the overwhelmingly superior Tang forces give them such a chance? At Zhang Yanji’s command, the archers in the rear stepped forward, and a barrage of arrows turned these “fearless” Tibetan barbarians into porcupines. The soldier who had shouted earlier wasn’t yet dead; his bulging eyes stared fixedly at Pu Dachui. Pu Dachui leaped in front of him, snatched a broadsword from one of his men, and slashed down on his head.

“My name is Pu Dachui—don’t die without knowing who killed you!”
After cutting off the head and tossing it into a reward bag, the blood-soaked Tang warrior gazed at the thick black smoke rising from the west side of Fusi City and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Note 1: In war, fear itself is often more terrifying than the enemy. This is why there’s a classic tactic called “rolling back the curtain”: although primarily used by cavalry, it can also be employed by infantry. Its essence lies in “using the weak to resist the strong, using the strong to attack the weak, driving the enemy’s retreating forces to attack their own main force, and spreading fear throughout the army.” Eventually, defeat comes like an avalanche. Only well-trained heavy infantry can form a solid formation to withstand cavalry charges.