Chapter 34: Qigo (III)

Fusi City, on the west bank of Qinghai.
From early morning, thick mist enveloped this pearl of the Western Sea. Layer upon layer, it created an illusion as if one were standing atop the clouds.
A torrential rain had fallen the previous night, suppressing the dust from the east and making the air much fresher.
Yet Jie Yuchan, the defender of Fusi City, felt no sense of relief at all. Ever since Meng Chai led a thousand elite cavalry to reinforce Qingshi Fort, his eyelids had been twitching nonstop. Although Meng Chai led the city’s finest troops, the Tang invaders were cunning—had their army not returned after a whole night? Could something terrible have happened?
The more Jie Yuchan thought about it, the more anxious he became. Suddenly, he stood up abruptly and said to his personal guard, “Send someone immediately with my handwritten letter to Qingshi Fort. It must be delivered personally to General Meng Chai. Tell him the city’s defenses are weak and that he should return swiftly after suppressing the Tang invaders!”
After saying this, he went to the desk and handed a sealed letter to his guard.
“As you command!”
The guard bowed and gladly took the task upon himself.
“Gods of Shambhala, Dragon King of Qinghai, please protect your people! Tubo can no longer bear such torment from the Tang invaders!”
Jie Yuchan knelt on the ground and bowed devoutly toward the north.
“Open the city gates quickly! Open them now!”
A group of five messengers rushed to the north gate of Fusi City, shouting loudly while waving their whips.
“Hurry up and open the gates! Can’t you hear me?”
The centurion guarding the gate kicked a new recruit in the back and cursed loudly.
“Ugh…”
The recruit, though kicked, dared not show anger. He quickly got up, ran to the gate, and pulled out a three-zhang-long wooden wedge.
With a rumbling sound, the red pine doors slowly opened. Before they were fully open, a squad of light cavalry rushed through the gap like lightning, splashing mud everywhere.
The centurion’s armor was covered in filth, and he was furious. Pointing at the retreating cavalry, he spat out a thick glob of phlegm and cursed, “Going to reincarnate, you bastards!”
The cavalry left Fusi City and headed toward Qingshi Fort along the horse path, their hooves clanging as they stepped into puddles and mud pits. They didn’t stop for a moment—they wanted to deliver the letter to General Meng Chai as quickly as possible.
“Damn it!”
Seeing the Tubo soldiers reach the corner, Pu Dachui, who was hiding behind a tree trunk, shouted loudly. Along with a few Tang soldiers, he jumped down from the tree. The Tubo cavalry were galloping fast; they never expected someone to appear out of nowhere. Before they could react, they were pulled off their horses by the Tang soldiers.

A few Tang soldiers and Tibetans fought together in a chaotic mess, battling in a brutally primitive manner. Pu Da Chui swung his fist with force, hitting a Tibetan soldier right in the nose. The soldier couldn’t withstand Pu Da Chui’s iron fist at all—his nose instantly collapsed like overripe fruit. Blood streamed from his ruined nostrils as he screamed in pain, reaching for the dagger at his waist. But Pu Da Chui wouldn’t give him that chance. He stepped on the soldier’s wrist with his right foot, drew his sword, and slashed down instantly. The Tibetan soldier let out a agonized cry before collapsing unconscious. The other Tibetans who tried to resist were also punched hard in the face, their faces swelling up like pig heads. “Pfft!” A Tibetan soldier spat out a mouthful of blood, splattering Pu Da Chui’s body with blood. Pu Da Chui kicked him hard in the groin. The soldier, unable to dodge, was crushed painfully, screaming like a castrated pig. “Still trying to send a message? Your deputy commander has already been killed by me!” Seeing that all the Tibetans had been subdued, Pu Da Chui spat out phlegm and cursed. “Search them!” He kicked the Tibetan soldiers like dead pigs and ordered his men. One Tang soldier bent down to search the Tibetans’ bodies, finding nothing unusual from their chests to backs. “Damn it! They hid it well!” Pu Da Chui kicked the soldier in the groin again. “Don’t play dumb with me. Hand over the letter now, or I’ll castrate you right here.” The Tibetan soldier seemed to understand Pu Da Chui’s intent and instinctively tried to back away, his eyes filled with fear. “Here, here!” He reached down and pulled out a sealed letter. “Boss Pu, he can speak Tang language!” One Tang soldier exclaimed in surprise. “Give it to me!” Pu Da Chui didn’t want to waste time arguing and snatched the letter. After opening it, he immediately grinned. “I told you! The Tibetans took their best soldiers to Qing Shi Fort. Now Fusi City is full of old, weak, and disabled soldiers—less than five hundred!” “Boss Pu is brilliant!” A few Tang soldiers subtly flattered him and gave thumbs up. A new recruit poked his head in and said, “Boss Pu, if we want to get the letter, we just need to shoot them from the trees. Why go through all this trouble?”

Pu Da Chui wrapped an arm around his neck and said, “You know nothing. If it were just to seize the letters, I would have shot these bastards to pieces long ago—would I have kept them alive until now? The commander explicitly ordered that we capture them alive!”
A few Tang soldiers nodded hesitantly in agreement, but none of them understood the reasoning behind it.
“Tie them all to the horses and bring them back to me!”
In the council hall of Qing Shi Fort, Li Kuo frowned as he looked at the blood-soaked Tibetan messengers before him.
“How did they all end up like this?”
Pu Da Chui saluted militarily and said with a grin, “These brats weren’t obedient, so I showed them who’s in charge.”
Li Kuo smiled bitterly. “Brother Pu, you really know how to handle things. But this is good too—some injuries will help them deceive the city guards.”
Upon hearing this, Li Sheng raised his eyebrows. “Deceiving the city is a tactical trick to outflank the enemy. Using it occasionally might work, but if done too often, the Tibetans will become wary.”
Li Kuo waved his hand. “Brother Li, let me finish first. I’m not trying to deceive the city guards; I just want to use these messengers as bait!”
A glint appeared in Li Sheng’s eyes as he clasped his fists. “Please explain clearly, sir.”
Li Kuo smiled and said, “In ancient times, Jin Bo used a mouth bell to break through the enemy city. Though I’m not as talented, I’d like to follow in his footsteps!” (Note 1)
Upon hearing this, all the Tang generals were completely confused. Only Li Sheng slapped his thigh and said, “The commander is truly talented! I admire him!”
Pu Da Chui shouted, “Hey, Li Sheng, can you stop being vague? One uses allusions, the other expresses admiration—how exactly are we going to fight this battle? As long as the commander gives the order, I, Pu Da Chui, will lead my men to attack the city walls first.”
Li Sheng waved his hand and smiled. “We don’t need to attack the city in this battle. If everything goes well, we’ll take Fusi City without losing a single soldier!”
Pu Da Chui dismissed him with a dismissive wave. “Don’t think I’m stupid. History says that Han Xin believed the more soldiers, the better. Even the military god relies on the number of soldiers to win—so how can it be that you claim to do it without a single soldier? That’s too mysterious, way too mysterious.”
Li Sheng smiled and stepped forward to whisper in Pu Da Chui’s ear for a while.
After listening, Pu Da Chui punched Li Sheng on the shoulder and laughed, “That’s really satisfying! Then let’s give those Tibetan brats a proper gift!”

Note 1: During the transition period between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States eras, in 458 BC, Zhi Bo of the Jin state faced difficulties attacking Qiu Yao City of the Zhongshan state. The city’s high walls and deep moats caused heavy casualties, preventing a successful siege. Eventually, Zhi Bo came up with a plan: since the Zhongshan state loved musical instruments like zithers and sevens, he had a large bell forged large enough to fit between two chariots, sending it to the ruler of Qiu Yao under the pretense of ending the war and establishing friendship. Despite the warnings of his general Chi Zhang, the ruler of Qiu Yao ignored them. He filled the moats and reinforced the city walls to welcome the large bell. On the night of the celebration, Zhi Bo’s army launched a sudden attack, capturing the city and killing the ruler of Qiu Yao.