Chapter Seventeen: The Howling Wind (Seven)

“Uuu—uuuuh—uuu!”
A deep horn sounded as the mighty Tang army launched its most fierce assault on Shuiye City.
In ancient times, the ancestors of the Huaxia people conquered the lands and subdued the barbarians to establish their rule over the nine provinces; now, the men of the Tang Dynasty fought bravely to seize Shuiye City, unafraid of death!
They had no choice—their nation determined their stance. They could not retreat; their blood descended from the Yellow Emperor and the Huaxia people!
“Brothers, fight them to the death!”
Zhou Fanghu, his eyes blood-red, raised his sword with one arm and shouted hoarsely. Perhaps many of them would never see the next sunrise or return home to their families, but at this moment, they would not take a single step back!
From time to time, someone was pinned to the ground by arrows shot from the walls of Shuiye City, but no one felt fear anymore. Whenever a comrade fell, another would step forward quickly to fill the gap.
They were one unit, their purpose to create opportunities for those behind them and lay the foundation for finally capturing Shuiye City!
Two hundred paces, 193 paces…
With each step forward, the Tang army paid a heavy price. The closer they got, the less effective their shields became, and at this range, crossbows could unleash their full destructive power!
“Ugh!”
“Ugh!”
A handsome Tang soldier had his throat pierced by an arrow. Instinctively, he reached for his throat in an attempt to pull out the arrow. But it was futile. Before he could even remove a fraction of the dark arrowhead, he felt a sweetness in his throat as hot blood gushed out.
Another burly man with a beard carried a square shield and moved forward methodically, but suddenly felt a chill in his lower body. His knees gave way, and he collapsed.
In the advancing ranks, those who fell never stood up again. They let out a groan before dying. In their final moments, all they saw were countless pairs of standard black Tang army boots embroidered with auspicious clouds…
At that moment, on the walls of Shuiye City, the Turki Shahi warriors were overjoyed. Mo Qizi smirked, thinking the Tang army was nothing special. That Li Kuo was nothing but a myth—nothing surprising after all.
“Pass my order: launch boulders!”
A cold glint flashed in Mo Qizi’s eyes as he drew his curved sword, soaked in countless bloods and bringing him endless glory. He raised it high toward the sky. He intended to sacrifice these Tang corpses to the Eternal Heaven, proving that the Turki Shahi could still rule the Western Regions with pride!

Just a dozen steps away from the battlements, there were stone-throwing machines. Most of these were crafted by Tang craftsmen inSuiye City at the orders of the Turkic warriors. Though not as standardized as those used by the Tang army, they were more than sufficient to deal with the Tianwei Tang forces at the moment.

Upon receiving Mo Qizhi’s orders, a centurion waved his hand to his subordinates. In an instant, dozens of cowhide covers were lifted, revealing thirty or forty stone-throwing machines with “ugly faces” exposed to the open sky!

“Get ready!”
The centurion glanced at the approaching Tang army and stretched out his voice.

“Throw!”
The command that determined life and death was so brief and decisive that it was hard to believe such a single order could end the lives of hundreds or even thousands of people.

The Turkic soldiers pulled the pole connected by cowhide straps backward with all their strength. When they reached the bottom, they released their hands simultaneously at the centurion’s command. Dozens of boulders the size of grinding mills, carrying immense force, rushed toward the Tang army with a howling sound. Some Tang soldiers who failed to react were instantly crushed into flesh pies, their bright red blood seeping out and quickly staining the dark yellow ground.

“Boom!” “Boom!”

More boulders flew toward them. A few Tianwei soldiers instinctively ran backward but couldn’t escape their fate—their legs were crushed by the boulders.

“Ah!”
The agonized screams were enough to chill anyone to the bone—suffering from broken bones and shattered nerves, those wounded could only wait slowly for death to come.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

More and more boulders struck the Tianwei soldiers. Despite the initial panic, these well-trained soldiers, having discarded their round shields, were able to dodge the boulders more easily and slip through the gaps between them. But the price for this was that they would soon be riddled with arrows.

More and more Tianwei soldiers fell, their eyes wide in despair.

“Brother Hu, we can’t hold on anymore! The others can’t take it either!”
A platoon leader approached Zhou Fanghu, wiped the blood from his face, and pleaded desperately, “If this continues, even if we manage to reach the base of the city walls, at least seven out of ten of us will die right there. And with such a small force, how can we ensure that the ladders are set up without being destroyed by the Turkic warriors?”

“We have to hold on. Can’t you see thousands of our comrades right behind us? Besides, if we retreat now, it will be considered desertion, and we’ll surely be beheaded by the deputy commander!”

Zhou Fanghu spat out a thick clump of phlegm and roared, “We’ve already taken two hundred steps. If we push forward another hundred or so, we’ll be out of range of the catapults. By then, the brothers will be much better off!”
“He’s clearly trying to make things hard for us on purpose!”
The officer, his face full of resentment, spread his hands and said, “It’s natural he won’t care for those not born of his own womb. We’ve had differences with him before; that kid must hate us and wants to use those Turkic cavalry to kill us!”
With no hope left, the officer was on the verge of collapse, spouting vile words just for momentary satisfaction.
“Nonsense!”
Zhou Fanghu glared at his subordinate and said, “There are always deaths on the battlefield. You’ve seen the brutality of siege battles before—how many of our brothers died during the attack on Shibao City? It wasn’t fewer, was it? Besides, he’s the deputy commander of the army camp and holds great power. If he wanted to kill us, would he need to go through all these twists and turns? Stop talking nonsense and charge ahead with me!”
“But, but it’s our Tianwei Army soldiers who are at the front. His own elite troops haven’t even moved!”
The officer refused to back down and said something that left Zhou Fanghu extremely embarrassed.
“This…”
Whether Zhou Fanghu admitted it or not, it was the truth. It was the Tianwei Army soldiers who were covering the front, while the deputy commander’s own troops hadn’t even gotten a single drop of blood on them!
“Huh!”
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Fanghu shook his head and said, “What’s the point of thinking too much at this moment? Even if he does have ulterior motives, there’s nothing to complain about. After all, we’re not his own men. Besides, we’re not yet at the worst stage, are we? Who says those at the front will definitely die? The brave win in battle. Does that Turkic cavalry really have the power to kill us all? Stop talking nonsense and charge ahead with me! Cut off those Turkic bastards’ heads and plant our Tang Dynasty flag there!”
“Yeah, yeah!”
The officer wiped the tears from his face hastily and agreed repeatedly. Though he knew Zhou Fanghu’s words were mostly meant to comfort him, he still felt much better.
Right, the battle isn’t over yet. Why assume those Turkic cavalry can hold Xueye City? Maybe they’re already out of arrows and stones, at their last gasp!
“Charge ahead! Don’t look up at the sky!”
Zhou Fanghu kicked aside the bodyguard beside him and charged toward the foot of the city walls, waving his sword.

One hundred and fifty paces already—just another hundred or so paces, and all of the Turgesh’s long-range weapons will become useless!
“Captain, be careful!”
Out of the original twenty or thirty bodyguards, only less than five remained by Zhou Fanghu’s side, some dead and some injured. The captain’s sudden move worried them greatly. He was the courage of their army; if anything happened to him, their newfound momentum would be instantly doused like water thrown on cold ashes.
But Zhou Fanghu couldn’t care less about such things. At this moment, he could only use his own bravery to boost the demoralized troops. They had only one last breath left—only by sustaining that breath could the Tang army hope to capture Suire City.
“For the Great Tang!”
A look flashed in Zhou Fanghu’s eyes—something even he couldn’t fully explain. Wherever he fell, he would get back up. What was it but a hail of stone-tipped arrows? What kind of battles had he not seen? Would he be afraid of such tricks?
“Haha, haha! Charge!”
One hundred and twenty paces, one hundred paces, ninety paces…
“Ah!”
Just as the Tang army’s vanguard reached eighty paces from Suire City, a powerful arrow tipped with eagle feathers pierced Zhou Fanghu’s arm, penetrating his armor and flesh.
The force of the hit sent Zhou Fanghu stumbling back several steps. After regaining his balance, he looked toward the city walls and saw a Turgesh warrior clad in silver wolf skin smiling as he stared at him.
“It’s the chief of the Turgesh! Damn it!”
From the warrior’s attire and bearing, Zhou Fanghu recognized his identity. Silver wolves were revered by the Turks, and only the bravest warriors—chiefs—could wear their skins. Zhou Fanghu cursed inwardly, thinking the chief had excellent eyesight, targeting him with just one arrow.
“Captain, captain! You can’t keep charging! Go back quickly and find a medic to treat your wound! I heard, I heard the Turgesh are ruthless—they often poison their arrows. If the poison spreads throughout your body, it’ll be too late!”
One of Zhou Fanghu’s trusted bodyguards rushed over, worried after seeing his captain hit by an arrow, and tried to persuade him.
“Get out of the way!”
Zhou Fanghu pushed the concerned bodyguard away. “The Turgesh think one arrow will scare me, but I’m not that weak. As long as I haven’t shed my last drop of blood, no one can stop me!”