Chapter 37: The Wasteland (II)

“But, General Houssein, there are still many of our own brothers on the Fish Bridge Road!”
Hearing this, one of his bodyguards gritted his teeth and still tried to persuade Houssein: “If we use the trebuchets now and the Fish Bridge Road collapses, our brothers fighting against the Tang army up there will have no chance of survival!”
The trebuchets were the secret weapons of the defenders of Talas City and would only be used at the last moment. Now that the Tang army was about to storm the city walls, using the trebuchets seemed reasonable. But General Houssein intended to use them to destroy the Fish Bridge Road, which was crucial to the lives of countless soldiers.
He couldn’t accept this—no one with a conscience could! Allah taught them to treat their brothers well. Though they might not share life and death, there was certainly no reason to backstab them!
“Are you blind?”
Houssein stepped forward, grabbed the bodyguard’s chin, and roared, “The Tang army is about to break through! They’re about to reach the city walls! Are you blind? They can’t stop the Tang army—they’re a bunch of useless idiots! I won’t risk my life for a bunch of fools! Order the trebuchets to fire and destroy that damned Fish Bridge Road! Smash it to pieces!”
Houssein suddenly released the bodyguard’s chin and sneered, “If we don’t want them to die, we’ll have to die ourselves. If the Tang army seizes the city gates, how long do you think these good-for-nothing guys can hold out?”
The bodyguard was stunned, his mind completely blank.
Ah, ah, ah!
So in General Houssein’s eyes, they were nothing but good-for-nothing fools, their lives worthless in the eyes of these officers!
Haha, haha…
The bodyguard staggered like a soulless man toward the trebuchets on the city wall.
Yes, they were indeed worthless—their lives meant nothing. They had deceived themselves, thinking that as devout believers in Allah, they would receive His blessings.
Heh, where was Allah when the Tang army attacked the city walls? Where was Allah when their brothers were about to die? There was no such thing as Allah in this world! If there was, it was only a god who favored the powerful and flattering!
Haha, haha…
Though it was only twenty steps away from the trebuchets, it seemed like miles to him. After struggling to reach the captain in charge of the trebuchets, the bodyguard’s throat tightened, and he couldn’t speak.

That’s his brother! And now he’s supposed to carry out General Houssein’s orders to end their lives! Why does he have to do this? Why, why!
Houssein’s roar was so loud that although the captain didn’t hear every word, he still understood the general’s intention. With sympathy, he patted the bodyguard’s shoulder, and the captain in charge of the trebuchet resolutely gave the order to fire.
He was a Persian soldier who knew only how to obey, to follow every order from his superiors. Even though the order seemed cruel and unreasonable, he had no choice but to obey, for he was a soldier.
The dark, bulky trebuchet was pushed to the battlement. With the help of a dozen men, the monstrous machine twisted its body, emitting a series of eerie noises.
The screeching friction sound was agonizing, as if they were using a curved sword to cut into their wounded comrades’ arms.
Screech! Screech!
It was them who did this—they themselves killed their own brothers!
What irony! Had Allah taught them to kill each other?
Everyone’s face turned pale. They knew full well what would happen if they pulled the trigger, but they had no choice. General Houssein forced them to do it—unless they destroyed the Fishbridge Road, everyone in Talas would die with them!
Don’t blame them; they had no way out, they were trapped!
Screech! Screech!
The wooden arm was fully extended, and several soldiers placed several huge stones on the iron disc tied with hemp ropes. At this angle, the trebuchet’s arm was stretched to its limit, and the rubber straps holding it in place snapped loudly.
“One, two, fire!”
At the captain’s command, the dozen Persian soldiers released the arm. The rubber straps snapped back, and stones the size of grinding mills were launched with a whooshing sound.
They were aimed straight at the Fishbridge Road!
“No, not like this, no!”
The Persian soldiers still fighting desperately on the Fishbridge Road felt a chill in their backs and quickly turned around. Before they could even understand what was happening, they were crushed by the stones and turned into piles of flesh.
The Persians on the city walls clearly didn’t want the Tang army to get a moment’s respite. Soon after, a second, then a third stone followed.
The immense force shook the already unstable Fishbridge Road violently, causing many hastily built sacks to slide down. Some Tang soldiers lost their footing and slipped off the bridge suddenly.

The Arab soldiers also gained no advantage at all; everyone was equal in the face of those giant rocks. Some Arab soldiers in the back were fine, but those at the front suffered immediately—some rocks landed right in the center of the “floating bridge,” pulling down large bags of cloth and creating deep pits, while others came from behind them, shattering their leg bones. Chaos reigned on the Fish Bridge Road! Both Arabs and Tang soldiers forgot about fighting and frantically rushed in different directions, covering their heads. “Bang!” “Bang bang!” Three more rocks struck. Worse still, they were thrown slightly off course, hitting the sides of the Fish Bridge Road. The bridge had been built in great haste, and although it could ensure soldiers crossed safely, it wasn’t indestructible. Under such force, the bridge could no longer bear the weight; the “floating bridge” made of tens of thousands of cloth bags instantly collapsed sideways. The thousands of soldiers on it were like grains of sand in the ocean—humble and insignificant. From the city, they looked like ants trapped in oil, struggling desperately. They clung to anything they could—chipped swords, bloodstained cloth bags, arms of unidentified dead people, corpses with exposed bones… They didn’t want to die; they didn’t want to fall from a height of over ten zhang and be crushed to pieces! The rocks struck in patches, and since the Fish Bridge Road was wide, not everything collapsed. From a distance, the middle section was the most damaged—the main structure of the bridge had mostly collapsed, and the soldiers there, whether Arabs or Tangs, mostly fell along with those millions of cloth bags, being crushed to death. Further away, the situation wasn’t as bad. Although rocks also struck there, most bounced off from the middle section, losing much of their force after the second impact. Aside from a few cloth bags at the bridge base being displaced, this part of the floating bridge mostly retained its original shape. Though the trebuchets were powerful, they couldn’t fire continuously. After a round of attacks, these massive machines took a brief “rest.” The soldiers who survived on the Fish Bridge Road tried their best to climb over the slanted cloth bags… In just a few moments, nearly a thousand people died on the bridge. Those who survived were secretly relieved but also filled with deep fear. Death came in an instant—either killed by a rock or crushed to death by falling from the bridge—only a moment of pain!

But fear lingers on endlessly; it seeps into every corner and invades your body at your weakest moments, tormenting you slowly.
Waiting is the most painful thing—endless waiting, with no idea of the outcome…
They could hear the sound of the soldiers on the city walls loading giant stones, the creaking of the wooden frames of the trebuchets, and the pounding of their own hearts from extreme fear.
They didn’t want to die, not yet—they had managed to escape from the King of Hell, and they certainly didn’t want their lives taken so easily!
“Stop throwing them! Stop it!”
Seeing some of their comrades rushing along the Fish Bridge Road, General Houssein’s messenger suddenly stood up. He had already given up hope, believing he was to blame for the deaths of so many of his brothers. He thought he would spend the rest of his life in endless guilt and self-reproach, as if trapped in a dark cave with nothing to see.
But then, a beam of white light suddenly shone into the cave, giving him a glimmer of hope!
“Stop throwing them! Those are our brothers—let them come through!”
No one paid him any attention. The captain in charge of the trebuchets still waved his hand expressionlessly, giving the order to continue throwing.
“Creak! Creak!”
The long arm lowered again, though this time by a slightly smaller distance.
He wanted to destroy the Fish Bridge Road completely—he really wanted to destroy it utterly!
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Sure enough, this time the stones were thrown at a much shallower angle, hitting the end of the Fish Bridge Road near the city walls. Although the angle was reduced, the force behind the throws remained unchanged!
The Fish Bridge Road was already unstable, and after this heavy impact, the makeshift structure, built in the pitch-black night, completely collapsed!
The Fish Bridge Road was destroyed entirely, taking with it all thoughts—good, evil, proud, and inferior.