Chapter 33: Night Battle (II)

The wild grasses on the outskirts of Talas were as tall as a man, providing excellent cover for the allied forces. Moreover, Gao Xianzhi ordered his men to move silently and quietly. Thus, it wasn’t until the Tang-Tibetan alliance was just 300 steps away from Talas City that the guards on the city walls noticed something unusual outside.

With a major battle imminent, there was no need for further concealment. At this distance, the Tang army could launch a full-scale attack on Talas City.

“Pass my order: order the king of Bakhtria, Ashilanda, to lead his troops to the city gates and set up a bridge of siege!”

Gao Xianzhi narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the defenses on the city walls. From what he could see, the defending forces in the northern part of Talas City numbered no more than 2,000. If he could set up the bridge of siege before the soldiers inside could reinforce the northern section, he had a better than 70% chance of capturing Talas City.

After receiving the order, the messenger rode swiftly toward the Bakhtrian army with a dark red flag in hand, without the slightest hesitation.

“Fight!”
“Fight!”
“Fight!”

The Tang troops in Anxi raised their swords and shouted loudly. Now that all pretenses were gone, there was no need to hide anything anymore!

If they were to fight, it would be a fierce battle—today, they would fight for the honor of the Tang Dynasty!

The wind howled, the water flowed, and the bright moon cast delicate silver light onto the Talas River, making it look like a sea of stars…

Khalid burped and woke up from his drowsy sleep. In his dream, tens of thousands of Tang soldiers launched a night attack on Talas City, sweeping through the defending troops in just two hours and capturing the city.

The Tangs appeared so suddenly that his comrades hadn’t even realized what was happening before their city was taken. To save their lives, most of them surrendered to the Tang army. They believed that, given the Tangs’ reputation for mercy, they wouldn’t commit the vile act of killing prisoners. What else could they do to survive?

But who would have thought that the Tangs would tie up the captured Arab soldiers and drive them to the banks of the Talas River, then behead them one after another!

Blood dyed the Talas River red, and the Tangs used the corpses to build a wall as tall as a man on both sides of the river valley…

“Hiss!”

Khalid gasped in shock and instinctively tightened the collar around his neck. He had drunk too much, and his head throbbed painfully. Stumbling to his feet, he looked out from the battlement. Khalid saw tens of thousands of glowing torches.

He rubbed his eyes, thinking he must be hallucinating, but upon closer inspection, he realized the scene from his dream had become reality!

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! The Tang invaders are attacking the city!”

Khalid shouted loudly. The Tang forces were advancing fiercely, while their own army was almost unprepared. He didn’t want the scenes from his dreams to become reality—his troops had to take action immediately!
“Dawud, get up! Come on, old friend! The Tang invaders have launched a night attack—get up quickly!”
Seeing his friend still lying limp on the city wall like a pile of mud, Khalid rushed over to pull him.
“Leave me alone! Can’t you see I’m sleeping? What Tang invaders? Don’t think I don’t know—you’ve been talking in your sleep the whole time!”
Dawud had no desire to open his eyes and waved his hand dismissively at Khalid, signaling him to stop bothering him.
“No, it’s not a dream! It’s real! The Tangs are really attacking the city! Get up and see for yourself!”
Anxiously pacing, Khalid finally pulled Dawud by the hair.
“Ah!”
Dawud felt a sharp pain at the top of his head and jumped up instantly, cursing loudly at his friend: “What’s wrong with you? I was finally able to get some sleep, and you disrupt it!”
He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked outside the city wall using the torchlight, only to see a sea of dark figures.
“Good heavens! It really are the Tang invaders!”
Dawud was so frightened he almost collapsed, cursing the damned Tangs under his breath: “These bastards love to launch night attacks. They’re nothing but animals—always choosing to attack when people are in bed!”
“Stop complaining! Go inform General Husayl right away—otherwise it’ll be too late!”
“Okay, blow the horn! Blow it now!”
In a hurry, Dawud fumbled in a nearby leather bag for a bull horn and blew it with all his might.
“Uuuuh!”
“Uuuuh—uuuuh-uuuuh—uuuuh!”
The deep sound of the horn instantly shattered the dreams of the Abbasid soldiers, pulling them back to the cruel reality.
The Tangs had launched a night attack on the city!
The sound of the horn spread from the city wall throughout the city, from the north side to every corner!
The Abbasid soldiers still asleep in their camps sprang to their feet like zombies.
Eyes wide, they threw on their clothes in a hurry, grabbed their weapons, and stumbled out of the camps.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! A large force of Tang soldiers has been spotted outside the north gate! All soldiers, assemble at the north gate!”
The messengers rushed through the crowd, slipping through gaps, delivering the grim news of the Tangs approaching the city to every soldier.

What they need now is time—enough time to set up defenses, enough time to deploy troops to confront this enemy with iron will!
As soon as Sa’id ibn Humaid heard the horn signals, he rushed from the governor’s palace in the city with his personal guards to the city walls. He never expected Gao Xianzhi to use such a cunning tactic, attacking Talas at the moment when the Tang army was most exhausted and launching a night attack to seize the city!
“Order Muhanu to gather the able-bodied citizens to defend the city, and tell Husayl to resist the Tang army’s attack tonight at all costs! It’s a matter of buying time—once they survive tonight, the Tang army will collapse without a fight!”
“Yes, my lord governor!”
The guard bowed to Sa’id, then turned and rushed northward.
“I hope it’s not too late, General Abu Muslim… When will you come to help? May Allah protect Talas… May Allah protect Talas…”
Sa’id closed his eyes, his lips trembling slightly as he silently prayed…
Before long, the Huns from Buhara arrived at the gates of Talas. Each of them carried sacks of soil, which they quickly threw at the base of the city walls upon arrival. One sack, two sacks, three sacks… These sacks filled with soil were very solid, forming a stable barrier. At that time, the main forces inside Talas had not yet arrived to reinforce the north side of the city, so only a few arrows were shot down from the walls, posing no real threat to the Huns.
Ashilanda let out a sigh and smirked coldly. Even the supposedly impregnable city of Talas was nothing special. Once he completed his ramparts, Talas would fall!
“Push harder! The first warrior to enter the city will be rewarded with a thousand sheep!”
Greed flashed in Ashilanda’s eyes. Gao Xianzhi wanted to wear down the Abbasid army’s strength using his own forces, but he never expected Ashilanda to be able to capture Talas in one fell swoop. By then, all the glory would belong to him alone!
Yet, the Huns’ luck ran out. More and more Abbasid warriors reached the city walls and threw boulders the size of mills down from them. Some Huns couldn’t dodge in time and were crushed into flesh, their blood staining the ground red. Even the towering “earth mounds” that had been built were knocked over, and the area outside Talas was filled with cries of pain.
“Damn it! Damn it!”

Ashilanda waved her fists in fury, shouting at her trusted guards, “Bring the scaling ladders! Bring them to me at once! I refuse to believe that some tiny city like Taraz can stop the warriors of Bakhtria!”
“As you command!”
The scaling ladders mentioned by Ashilanda were fifteen zhang tall. Under the command of several Bakhtrian generals, the soldiers set up the somewhat bulky ladders at the base of the city walls.
This height far exceeded that of the Taraz walls. With the cover of arrows and fire from their comrades, some brave Taraz warriors climbed up the ladders and began scaling them swiftly.
A Hu army captain, protected by his soldiers, reached the top of the fifteen-zhang ladder and fought against the Abbasid soldiers on top of the wall, killing over a dozen of them. Yet there were simply too many Abbasid soldiers. In a moment of carelessness, he was attacked from below by several of them and fell off the ladder.
As he was about to hit the ground, he saw a rope hanging from the ladder, so he quickly grabbed it, turned himself around, and climbed back up, continuing his ascent.
One step, two steps, three steps…
It all started over again.
Those outside the city fought desperately to climb in, while those inside fought to the death to keep the invaders out!
Countless boulders were thrown down from the city walls and hurled at the scaling ladders. How could wooden ladders withstand such force? With crisp cracks, the fifteen-zhang-high ladders collapsed, and nearly a hundred Bakhtrian warriors climbing them fell along with them, torn to pieces.
But thanks to the time bought by their comrades’ desperate efforts, the soldiers building the ramp had already raised it to ten zhang high!
“Charge forward! For Bakhtria! The fire god Ahura Mazda blesses you! Fight, warriors! For Bakhtria tonight!”
Ashilanda’s eyes were nearly red as she spread her arms wide and let out loud roars.