Chapter 73: The Stone Castle (II)

Often, in war, it is not weapons that cause the most harm, but rather the profound sense of loss stemming from the insignificance of life.
Every individual seems so insignificant in war—a feathered arrow or a rolling boulder can end a living life in an instant. When faced with the cruelty of war and powerless to do anything, a deep sense of emptiness and guilt lingers around you.
Vengeance? Vengeance!
It seems to have become the only option. Only through vengeance can those who have been hurt regain their confidence and prove they are not weak.
Nearly a thousand Tang soldiers, led by Captain Wu Hai, struggled to climb up to the stone plain just dozens of feet away. They had no other choice but to seize that central area if they were to find a glimmer of hope in this desperate situation.
Countless huge rocks and logs rolled down from the mountain cliffs, hitting their comrades. The Tang soldiers struck by the rocks didn’t even have time to utter a cry before turning into piles of flesh, rolled down the mountain by the stones. Blood dripped everywhere, and the air was filled with a foul, sweet stench.
Wu Hai smiled bitterly but didn’t complain. As a veteran soldier, he knew full well the severity of siege battles. Even to capture a town in the Central Plains, one needed ten times as many troops to be confident—let alone this perilous Stone Castle! Since ancient times, victory in war has always meant the death of countless ordinary soldiers.
He was a soldier of the Tang Dynasty. Since he had been chosen as a vanguard officer, all he could do was ensure his own safety and that of his comrades as much as possible while completing the mission assigned by their commander. He knew this task was extremely dangerous, and any carelessness could mean certain death, but he would not avoid it.
Wu Hai wasn’t a saint—he certainly wouldn’t risk his life for the grand ambitions of emperors and generals. Nor was he greedy for money; wealth is illusory. Even if he achieved fame and glory, he still needed a life to enjoy it!
He was just an ordinary man, a dedicated soldier of the Tang Dynasty. He knew that if they failed to capture the Stone Castle, more of his comrades would lose their lives at Red Ridge. He also knew that unless they subdued the Tibetans, scared them into staying put for thirty or fifty years, his wife and children would never live in peace.
They were all people from Longyou—shouldn’t they understand this logic?
Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the Tibetans had fought against us over and over again for so many years. Fighting over passes and mountains—in the end, it was still these ordinary people who suffered.

It brings suffering to the people; its downfall brings even greater suffering!
Thus, he must fight—not for anything else, but for pride, the pride of the Tang people!
In this vast China, in this glorious Tang era, there must still be one or two men who stand firm!
Pressing his body against the cliff face, Wu Hai struggled to move forward.
He placed his left palm on a protruding rock, pushed his right knee forward, and with a slight effort, managed to climb nearly a foot higher!
He took out an iron wedge from his leather bag and drove it into a narrow crack in the rock.
“Ding!” “Ding!”
After two light taps, Wu Hai pulled his left foot back and placed it without hesitation on the iron wedge.
Using his right hand to grip a vine, he propped his left knee on a stone ledge and pulled hard, climbing another foot upward.
Closer, closer!
Twenty zhang… ten zhang…
Under the leadership of their officers, the Tang soldiers advanced fearlessly toward the rocky plain just over ten zhang away. Once they reached that plain, they would be in the Tibetans’ defensive blind spot; once there, they could rest and catch their breath!
Constantly, Tang soldiers were crushed by falling rocks, with cries of pain and wails filling the air. Yet the surviving soldiers refused to look down again. They turned hatred into motivation and fear into hope.
It was hatred that gave them the drive to storm the stone fortress and kill all the barbarians! It was fear that gave them the hope to reach the top of the cliff and raise the Tang flag!
More than half of the 600 Tang soldiers had already been lost, and the rocky plain above grew ever closer! This was a game of life and death, and only those who were both wise and brave could emerge victorious!
The Tibetan defenders clearly recognized the Tang army’s goal—they didn’t intend to capture the stone fortress in one fell swoop but rather advance step by step!
Once the Tang soldiers secured a foothold, their numerical advantage would make it only a matter of time before they seized the fortress.
The defender of the stone fortress was Tie Ren Xino Luo. The Battle of the Great Wall Fortress had left an indelible impression on him. He had led 10,000 elite soldiers to attack a fortress with fewer than a thousand defenders, only to be routed by the Tang army! After fleeing back to Tibet with just a few hundred followers, he was naturally mocked and ridiculed by his comrades. After much reflection, he finally understood two things: when fighting the Tang, one must act swiftly and never give them a chance to catch their breath!
When there were no rolling logs or stones, they used boiling oil and hot water; when those ran out, they fired arrows from bows and crossbows; and when even those were exhausted, they drew their swords for close combat.
What a resolute nation!
When fighting the Tang, one must engage head-on—never try to outwit them!

After great effort, they managed to reach the top of the city walls thanks to their numerical advantage. But what awaited them was an array of halberds, their cold blades gleaming in the light. They had worked hard to break through the city gates and were filled with joy—only to find that instead of weak Tang soldiers, thousands of armored horses appeared before them…
“Someone!”
Tie Ren Xi Nuo Luo grew angrier the more he thought about it, shouting loudly.
“Block the stone path with feather arrows! Even if all your arrows are used up, don’t let a single Tang soldier reach the stone plain!”
If the Tang army wanted to advance carefully and steadily, then he would play this game with them to the end!
He, Tie Ren Xi Nuo Luo, wanted to see whether the Tang army had more soldiers or the Tibetans had more arrows!
A Tibetan centurion clasped his fists and went to pass on the orders.
At his command, the well-trained Tibetan soldiers quickly took out their crossbows from behind them and drew feather arrows from their quivers.
The Tibetan centurion nodded in satisfaction as he took the bow and arrows from the soldiers. He pressed his ring finger against his little finger, placed his index finger on the bowstring, bent his right arm slightly, and with a single pull, an arrow shot out with a sharp sound!
At this signal, the Tibetan soldiers all drew their bows.
The bows were like full moons, and the arrows like meteors! In an instant, hundreds of arrows were shot out simultaneously, forming a massive net that swept toward the Tang army on the cliff.
From this angle, the Tibetan soldiers didn’t need to aim—they just had to draw their arrows, draw back the bowstring, and shoot them from the battlements to effectively kill the Tang soldiers.
Although the Tang army could avoid many stones thanks to the cover of the rocks, they were helpless against the rain of arrows.
With nothing to hide behind on the steep cliffs, they were completely exposed to the arrows, with no way to escape. The swift and agile Tang soldiers had now become living targets for the Tibetans!…