Chapter 22: The Wall of Separation (II)

“Waste! A bunch of wastes! Why keep you around? For what purpose?”
Mo Qizita kicked Birjin in the chest, roaring loudly.
His eyes were red, like those of a prairie wolf that hadn’t hunted in ages, desperate to tear apart anything in its path.
“Speak! How did they get in? Tell me!”
Mo Qizita wasn’t afraid of the Tang troops outside the city, but he couldn’t ignore the existence of the Tuhuon forces. The Huang and Hei tribes of the Turkic people had been at war for a long time, viewing each other as mortal enemies. It didn’t matter much if their own people fought among themselves inside the city, but he never expected the Tuhuon to strike from behind while he was engaged in battle with the Tangs. Suire City was the legacy left by their ancestors—how could he hand it over to the Tangs for short-term gain?
Mo Qizita paused for a moment before ordering Birjin harshly, “Listen! If you don’t want to die, gather all the able-bodied men in the city and defend the city walls. I’ll personally lead a guard unit to stabilize the situation inside!”
Having experienced many battles, Mo Qizita calmed his chaos in moments and made the right decision. The Tangs didn’t have heavy siege equipment, so they couldn’t break through the city gates anytime soon. The able-bodied men could easily handle tasks like throwing boulders and wooden beams!
The most important thing now was to suppress the Tuhuon forces promptly. Any seemingly strong wood was rotten inside—allowing the Tuhuon to spread chaos in the city would be even more dangerous than the Tangs.
“Ah, ah! I’ll do it right away!”
Birjin didn’t dare complain at this moment and nodded eagerly.
“Listen! I need you to hold them off for two hours. Until I return!”
Mo Qizita stepped forward quickly, grabbed Birjin’s chin, and snapped, “I’ve given you so many soldiers and allowed you to mobilize all the able-bodied men in the city for defense. If you can’t hold them off for two hours, don’t even come to see me!”
After saying that, Mo Qizita assembled three hundred soldiers and rushed down from the city wall in a hurry….
“Brother Kuo, that’s really clever! Mo Qizita must be furious now!”
Zhang Yanji laughed uncontrollably, holding his stomach. If it weren’t for the guards supporting him, General Zhang might have fallen to the ground from laughing.
“With this, we can take Suire City without any effort. Commander, what a brilliant plan!”
Dou Qing bowed to Li Kuo, his face full of admiration. No matter what outsiders thought, these elders who had followed the commander throughout their journey truly admired him deeply.

No matter what difficulties or dangers lay ahead, the commander would always come up with a clever strategy to achieve a great victory without bloodshed.
“War doesn’t disdain deception; it’s not that big of a deal.”
Li Kuo smiled as he watched the thick black smoke rise from Suiye City. “If there’s a chance to win through cunning, why risk the lives of our soldiers?”
“Commander, but if we do this, I’m afraid the reputation of our Tang army as a force of benevolence and righteousness will be completely ruined. Back in the court, I’m worried Yang Guozhong will…”
Li Sheng frowned slightly, gazing at the black smoke rising from the city, and let out a long sigh.
Though he felt quite satisfied inside, Li Sheng still expressed his concerns with a frown. Although deception wasn’t taboo in war, this tactic was too cruel. Collaborating with the Turkic tribe of Shatuk Tuohun already undermined the strength of the Tang army in Anxi, and setting fire to Suiye City’s granaries was even more despicable—how could this be something done by the Tang army?
Although the fire destroyed all the grain in Suiye City, eliminating the need to worry about the Shatuk Tuohun holding out for reinforcements, how would the people in the Suiye River region survive for the next half year?
It was already May, just after spring planting, with another six months until harvest. Without any stored grain, how could ordinary people get by?
True, there were only about one or two percent Tang people in Suiye City, and the Tang army could easily supply them with military rations. But weren’t the non-Tang people there human beings too?
“Benevolence? Benevolence is nonsense!”
Pu Dachui felt disgusted when he heard Li Sheng mention those words again. “If winning wars relied on benevolence, I’d cut off my own head and give it to you as a night pot! Those court officials live in luxury all day—how could they understand the hardships of us soldiers? Let him lead the troops and see—before he even reaches the outskirts of Suiye City, he’ll be shot to pieces by the Shatuk Tuohun!”
“That’s right. Do we really have to follow in the footsteps of Duke Xiang of Song, waiting until the Shatuk Tuohun prepare stones and logs before charging headfirst?”
Zhou Wucui snorted. “He might have been benevolent by letting the Chu army cross the Hong River, but in the end, they were still defeated by the well-organized Chu army!”
“That’s not what I mean. It’s just that back in the court, it’ll be hard for the commander to explain this.”
Seeing that continuing the conversation would make him the target of criticism, Li Sheng quickly waved his hand to explain, “Even if the commander has no faults, Yang Guozhong can still make it seem like his merits and faults cancel each other out. If he gets hold of any weakness, I’m afraid the commander’s fate will be grim.”
“Dare he!”

Wang Xiaochun glared at Li Sheng and said, “Don’t think everyone in the world is terrified of the Yang family. I, Wang Xiaochun, simply don’t believe that nonsense. If he wants to cause trouble for the governor, let him try. I want to see whether his words are stronger or my sword is!”
“Enough!”
Seeing his subordinates arguing over such a trivial matter, Li Kuo helplessly waved his hand and said, “It’s wartime now. Let’s not worry about these distractions. Although we have the Fire Breathers as allies, we must not underestimate the strength of the Moqi tribe. Since we still haven’t taken Shuiye City yet, take a break. Vent your anger on the Turgesh people!”
After a brief pause, Li Kuo continued, “As for matters in the court, what Li Sheng said makes some sense, but this isn’t something we should interfere with. I believe the emperor will handle it fairly.”
“But…”
Wang Xiaochun wanted to argue further, but Li Kuo stopped him.
“Pass my order: the entire army, launch a full-scale attack!”…
Amidst the sounds of drums and horns, the Tang army launched its most fierce assault on Shuiye City.
The two thousand-man teams that had arrived earlier at the city’s base had laid a solid foundation for their comrades. The subsequent armored soldiers only needed to hold wooden shields and push aside the occasional arrows as they rushed forward to join their teammates.
Qiao Feng, seeing more and more soldiers arriving, couldn’t feel happy. The rewards were limited, and with over ten thousand soldiers in the Tianwei Army, it was hard to distribute them evenly.
He had led his men in a fierce attack for so long. If someone else took what they had worked so hard to gain, it would drive him mad!
“Damn it, work harder! We’re about to lose this easy prey. Are you even men?”
Qiao Feng spat out a mouthful of phlegm, rolled up his sleeves, and took a battering ram from one of the soldiers. “The Turgesh brutes are just one more push away from defeat. Let’s grab the easy prey for ourselves!”
“One, two—charge!”
With his words, Qiao Feng led everyone to charge at the gates of Shuiye City with the battering rams.
Although more stones fell from the city walls, the gates remained firmly intact…
“Damn, they’re really tough!”
Qiao Feng’s palms were numb from the impact, filling him with anger.
“Work harder! There are many beautiful Turkic women inside Shuiye City. Once we break in, aside from the area around the palace, those ‘fertile fields’ are yours to ‘cultivate’!”
Noticing the growing crack in the city gates, Qiao Feng resorted to harsh words to boost morale. He heard that the women in Shuiye City were all beautiful and full-figured, and their skills in bed were beyond those of Tang women. If he could capture one or two of them to take home as concubines, his life wouldn’t have been in vain.

“Charge into the city for the beautiful Hu women!”
“Charge in for the lovely ladies!”
“Kill them all—kill every scum in the city!”
The gradually dying flames of desire reignited among the ranks of the Tang army; each soldier’s eyes showed a savage, greedy glint.
Wealth, women—after the city fell, all the wonderful things in the world were beckoning to them…
“Ah, Captain, be careful!”
One of the bodyguards suddenly shouted, pushing Qiao Feng to the ground, only to be crushed to death by a rolling log himself.
“Huh!”
Recovering his breath and still shaken, Qiao Feng began cursing.
“Damn it! Weren’t their troops all sent to suppress the rebellion in the city? How can there still be so many people throwing logs? Wait—those on the city walls don’t seem to be soldiers!”
With a closer look, Qiao Feng saw through it.
They had no armor, no weapons—only thin garments!
“That’s… that’s the city’s militia! They actually sent them onto the city walls—these bastards!”
Though his words were vile, few of these men would dare to slaughter the city’s civilians. Besides, there were many fellow villagers among them in Suiye City…
“Ah!”
Another soldier carrying a log was knocked down by it, letting out a pained cry. Qiao Feng finally shook his head and said, “There’s nothing we can do. Don’t blame me! Tell the men behind—shoot them!”
Since it was a life-or-death situation, there was no time for caution. Blame it on being born in Suiye City!
The bodyguard staggered about a hundred steps before reaching the archer ranks. After panting heavily and explaining the situation, the captain finally understood that Qiao Feng needed immediate firepower support.
The captain nodded and promptly ordered, “One squad of archers, forward! Second squad, get ready! No survivors among the enemy on the walls!”