Chapter 93: Right and Wrong (6)

Watching nearly half of his men, armed with clubs, die right before his eyes, General Hu, in charge of command, was filled with rage. These Tang invaders were nothing but cowardly weaklings, hiding behind city walls like turtles, lacking the courage to fight him outside the city.

At that moment, he seemed to have forgotten the Battle of Talas from a month earlier—just as they had treated the Tang army that attacked their city. War itself had no concept of right or wrong; when war became inevitable, it became just.

The nail-covered clubs were raised in a swirling motion by the Anxi army, with bits of flesh dangling from the nails. Blood dripped steadily from them, seemingly mocking the incompetence of the Hu soldiers. If this continued, even ten thousand more men would not be able to capture Julan City—fundamentally, the morale of the soldiers on both sides was not on the same level.

The Hu soldiers could only gain some rewards by capturing Julan City, while if the Anxi army lost it, they would have nowhere to retreat and would be forced to engage in open combat with the Arab cavalry. Given the current situation, the Tang army would surely lose in such a battle. Thus, they absolutely could not lose Julan City—its fall would mean the death sentence for nearly ten thousand Tang soldiers.

Li Siye commanded calmly from the southern city wall. As a general who had seen many battles, he knew well that the Hu soldiers’ morale had already changed. By exploiting their hesitation, with a little provocation, he could achieve unexpected results.

“Bring the bow!”

Li Siye shouted and stretched out his right arm. His personal guards handed him his special five-stone hard bow. Taking it, he drew an arrow from the quiver and drew the bowstring taut, aiming at the red flag 100 paces away.

He took a deep breath, narrowed his eyes, and counted silently in his mind.

Three, two, one!

With a whoosh and a thud, the arrow with its eagle feather flew through the air and struck the pole of the Hu army’s flag, snapping it in two!

“The enemy’s flag has fallen! The enemy’s flag has fallen!”

“The enemy general has been killed! The enemy general is dead!”

The veteran generals who had fought alongside Li Siye knew exactly what effect their commander needed at this moment, so they shouted loudly. If just one person shouted, the Hu soldiers might not believe it; if two people shouted, they might ignore it. But what if those words came from hundreds or thousands of soldiers?

The Hu soldiers in the front row glanced back and saw that their flag had fallen, and they also noticed the Tang forces’ overwhelming momentum; they saw no sign of deception. In the blink of an eye, they made their choice—throwing down their battering rams and ladders, they abandoned their armor and fled in panic.

The Hu general in charge, enraged to see Li Siye resort to such despicable tactics, stamped his foot in fury: “Damn it! This general is still alive! This general is right here! Raise the flag, raise it now!”

Though he was shouting at the top of his lungs, the battlefield was so noisy that the retreating soldiers couldn’t hear him. Even the slightest mistake on the battlefield could lead to disaster, and now that the Hu soldiers were in disarray, not even the gods could save them.

Below the gray city walls, the demoralized Hu soldiers were retreating in droves…

The sun was setting, coloring the sky a deep red.

Although it was already the hour of You, the soldiers on the walls of Julan City felt not a hint of coolness. Whether it was the climate of the river region or simply because they had been exhausted from fighting earlier, a scorching heat overwhelmed them, causing sweat to stream down their foreheads.

The air was filled with the putrid smell of corpses and the scent of blood. The humid, hot, and thick air made them curse constantly.

Earlier, General Li Siye had single-handedly turned the tide by shooting an arrow that repelled the first wave of the enemy attacks, buying them precious time to catch their breath. But that didn’t mean they could leave the walls to go to shops and drink cool tea—another wave of Hu soldiers soon charged at them with fierce determination.

Those who retreated would be executed on the spot!

The hundreds of heads hanging on poles beside the enemy’s execution squad served as proof. It seemed the enemy was determined to fight to the death. Though they cursed the enemy ancestors endlessly in their hearts, they had no choice but to keep throwing boulders and arrows from the battlements to hold back the overwhelming enemy forces.

By the end, even the hooks were bent and the spikes had broken off. At the most critical moment, more than a dozen Hu soldiers climbed onto the walls, trying to engage in hand-to-hand combat. But under General Li Siye’s leadership, they struck down these reckless soldiers before they could gain a foothold, sending them straight to the underworld.

Nearly two hours of intense fighting had drained everyone’s strength. Even a battle-hardened general like Li Siye ended up lying sprawled on the stone ground atop the wall, gasping for breath and cursing.

Although these barbarian troops were weak in combat strength, they had the advantage of numbers. The initial reports from scouts that there were only 30,000 of these man-eaters surely didn’t include them. The Arabs were truly cunning—first using these barbarians to drain everyone’s strength, then launching a full-scale attack once everyone was exhausted.
Damn it, if that were the case, they might not be able to hold out at all.
Taking advantage of this rare break, the Tang soldiers began eating barbarian cakes with cold water on the city walls. Though hard to swallow, they were the best thing to stave off hunger. With the Arabs potentially emerging from the darkness at any moment, there was no time to sit down and eat a bowl of plain boiled noodles.
The bloody smell in the air was nauseating, and some soldiers even had pieces of flesh on their hands, yet they continued to chew on their barbarian cakes and flatbreads, untouched by the horrors around them.
Under such circumstances, eating was necessary. If they didn’t eat, how would they have the strength to withstand the next wave of attacks from the Arabs and barbarians? They could only attack the city walls in turns—there were simply not enough people to spare!
“Tang Yan, you’ve done well!”
Li Siye tossed his water pouch to his trusted subordinate and praised him.
This kid truly lived up to his expectations—he had demolished all the houses near the southern city and sent laborers to bring stones to the city walls. With these stones, if the barbarians dared to attack again, he could use trebuchets to deal heavy blows to them.
“Hehe, how would I dare not follow your orders?”
Tang Yan gulped down the cold water, feeling much better. Demolishing houses below the city walls wasn’t any easier than fighting on the city walls. Those damned ignorant barbarians thought they, the Tang people, were bandits trying to destroy their homes. If not for his calm nature, he might have clashed with those fools.
“Hmm, they must have suffered repeated defeats and their morale is low!”
Li Siye glanced at the enemy watchtower 500 steps away and sneered. The enemy had started setting up camp, indicating they had given up taking Kulan City today. Yet Li Siye wouldn’t be careless, just in case the Arabs launched a night attack. After all, in war, anything could happen.
“Leader Li, what are our chances of winning if we go all out?”
Tang Yan, half full after eating, belched and chatted casually with Li Siye. Everyone had been on high alert earlier and needed a break to relax.

Li Siyeh was slightly stunned upon hearing this. To be honest, he had never considered this issue at all. If a real confrontation were to take place, with equal forces engaged in a cavalry battle, what were his chances of winning?
But after a moment, he found this question meaningless. He slapped Tang Yan’s head hard and said, “You kid, asking such pointless questions! Right now, we just need to defend firmly—there’s no need to worry about so much. Let’s think about these things after we drive back those Arabs.”
“I was just saying that.”
Tang Yan shrugged resentfully and muttered under his breath.
“By the way, Li, do you think the defenders at the other city gates will have it easier?”
Tang Yan took a bite of his flatbread and asked while chewing.
“Hmm. Probably. But who the hell knows for sure?”
Li Siyeh clearly had no mood to think about these things. He was exhausted and just wanted to rest.
“That’s strange. When I went to recruit civilians to demolish houses, I saw soldiers running from the city toward the northern city from time to time. Could it be they’re going to reinforce them?”
Tang Yan mentioned it casually, but it shocked Li Siyeh: “What did you say? General Gao’s personal troops reinforcing the northern city?”
“Yes. I was wondering at the time. The commander of the northern city is General Li, the governor of Shule. He leads the Tianwei Army, the elite among our defenders. Why would they need reinforcements? Could it be…”
At that point, Tang Yan suddenly stopped speaking and swallowed hard.
Li Siyeh slapped his own forehead angrily and cursed, “Damn! I’m such an idiot. I didn’t even see through the enemy’s simple feint tactic. No matter how many barbarian soldiers they send, without a skilled commander, they can’t capture the city walls. They’re clearly using these soldiers to wear me down so they can take advantage to attack.”
With his rich experience, Li Siyeh immediately saw through the Arabs’ intentions.
He looked up at the blood-red sky and rushed toward the city walls.
“I’ll leave this to you. Defend it well!”
He only hoped it wasn’t too late, only hoped it wasn’t too late! Li Siyeh clenched his fists, silently praying in his heart.