Chapter 18: The North Wind (8)

On the battlefield, those who persevere to the end are often the victors.
For the cowardly have already died, serving as stepping stones for others, who can then easily climb the city walls atop their fallen comrades’ corpses!
Having survived the repeated attacks from trebuchets and the relentless barrage of crossbows, the first thousand soldiers of the Tianwei Army finally reached the foot of Suire City. From this angle, those deadly weapons that had inflicted heavy losses on them would be useless, giving them more time and space to set up siege equipment.
Indeed, the Tianwei Army did not bring heavy siege equipment when passing through Shule City, but this did not stop Li Kuo from devising a way to capture Suire City. In fact, the Suire River basin was rich in water, nurturing many massive trees.
Before issuing the order for a full-scale attack, Li Kuo had already ordered the Tianwei Army to cut down these huge trees along both banks of the river for use in the siege. Although these natural trees could not compare to the battering rams used by the Tang army, after some basic modification, they would certainly pose a significant threat to Suire City.
Now, these ugly-looking “monsters” were in the hands of the second thousand soldiers, carried on their shoulders! The leader of the second thousand soldiers was Qiao Feng, also a colonel. It was his first time commanding such a large force, and he felt somewhat uneasy, but since it was an order from the deputy commander of the army, he had to obey. With the cover of the first thousand soldiers led by Zhou Fanghu and others, they safely made it to the foot of Suire City, avoiding stones and arrows. What remained was to use these trees to break down the city gates!
“Brothers, push harder! Break down those city gates! The deputy commander said that the first one to enter the city will receive a reward of a thousand taels of silver and two rank promotions!”
In Qiao Feng’s view, Suire City was within reach. With such a lucrative prize right before him, how could he let others share it? The Turgesh people had clearly run out of stones and arrows. If he could just bite the bullet and break down the gates, the Turgesh barbarians would collapse like a deflated raft!
Each of these trees was over thirty feet long, and it took more than twenty Tianwei soldiers to lift one. There were also shield-bearing guards on either side. In total, nearly fifty people were needed to operate one of these trees effectively against the city walls of Suire City.
There were as many as twenty such trees, all rough, ugly, and enormous in size.
At Qiao Feng’s command, the second thousand soldiers, under the orders of their squad leaders and fire commanders, attacked Suire City in sequence according to the planned order.
“One, two—charge!”
“Again!”

“One, two, charge!”
Under the leadership of a squad leader, another ram was hurled at the city gate. With a loud crash, the city wall trembled violently, and many fragments of soil mixed with glutinous rice fell off the earth-yellow walls.
“One, two, push harder! Haven’t you eaten yet?”
Seeing a soldier slowing down, the squad leader started cursing loudly, “Use the same fierce determination you show when fighting your wife—don’t make me annoyed!”
“Uh, uh.”
The soldier quickly nodded in agreement, exerting all his strength as he rushed forward alongside his comrades toward the city gate.
“Boom, boom, boom!”
Though Suoye City was built very firmly, it couldn’t withstand such repeated attacks. More than twenty giant trees crashing against it made the ancient city groan, like an old man resisting death.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
Hearing the loud noises from the city walls, Mo Qizi’s face turned ashen. He never expected these Tang people to break through his repeated blockades and reach the gates of Suoye City!
What surprised him even more was that the Tang people had cut down so many giant trees on both banks of the Suoye River for use in attacking the city!
“Cunning Tang people! They’re all nothing but weaklings who rely on schemes and tricks!”
Mo Qizi waved his arms and cursed loudly, his chest heaving violently with anger, rising as high as a set of teeth.
“Tark, Tark, what should we do? What do we do?”
His deputy, Birjin, with a grayish face, rushed to Mo Qizi and knelt down, crying, “We’ve run out of boulders in the city, and our arrows are also exhausted. There are still some crossbows, but from this distance, they can’t pose any real threat to the Tang army.”
He clung tightly to Mo Qizi’s legs, pulling at the hem of his own trousers desperately. “If the Tang people break through the city gates, what will we do?”
“Idiot!”
Angered by his weakness, Mo Qizi kicked Birjin in the chest. Birjin cried out in pain and fell backward. He felt a surge in his chest, and warm liquid rushed up his throat.
“Tark, Tark! I deserve to die! I deserve to die!”
Realizing he had said the wrong thing, Birjin kept kowtowing. “Tark, Tark! I’ll find a way right away. Even if we have to fight them one by one, we won’t let a single Tang invader climb onto the walls of Suoye City!”
But Mo Qizi dismissed him with a cold snort. “If all the people of the Xiongnu were as stupid as you, there would be no need for the Tang to attack. They’d just surrender on their own!”

After a brief pause, Mo Qi Zhi ordered, “Send my officers to instruct the Tang slaves and wounded soldiers in the city to dismantle the houses near the city walls and use the stones to build up the walls. As for the others, have them prepare large pots to boil water. I don’t believe the skin of the Tang people is thick enough to withstand this boiling water!”
“Ah!”
Bi Er Jin was initially stunned, then suddenly realized what to do. He kept slapping his own head and saying, “Tark is wise! How could I not think of this? Look at this…”
Bi Er Jin tried to flatter Mo Qi Zhi but couldn’t come up with any effective words, so he just stared at him with a foolish smile.
“Shut up! Stop wasting my time with nonsense. If you delay military operations or let the Tang people escape, I’ll be the first to execute you!”
Mo Qi Zhi had no time to listen to Bi Er Jin’s flattery. He glared at him fiercely, scaring him half to death.
“Ah, I’m going now, right away. Rest assured, Tark!”
Bi Er Jin instinctively touched his neck and staggered toward the stone stairs leading to the city gates.
“Trying to break through the gates of my Suire City?”
Mo Qi Zhi glanced at the bright red flag of the Tang army a few hundred steps away, a cold smile forming on his lips.
“Let’s see if you have the ability to do it!”