Chapter 53: The Wind Rises (6)

The silver saddle glints on the white horse, swift as a shooting star. Kill one in ten steps, leaving no trace over a thousand miles!
This slash is for the millions of people in the River Region who have suffered under the oppression of the Arabs; this slash is for the countless soldiers of Anxi who died beneath their hooves. It is not for heaven or earth—it is for themselves!
“For ourselves! Kill them all, for ourselves!”
Li Kuo drew his sword—its edge as cold as ice, stunning the Arab soldiers present. The blade swept through, and instantly three soldiers who tried to block him fell to the ground in pain.
No fancy moves, no complex techniques—only desperate strikes, each one drawing blood! There was no time for thought on the battlefield; a moment of distraction could cost your life. Strike again, strike again—only continuous attacks could intimidate the enemy and prevent them from launching an assault!
“Charge forward! Open the gate!”
Li Kuo shouted loudly and led the way north. At his command, countless Tianwei soldiers disguised as Arabs drew their swords and followed.
Abdullah was dead. Li Kuo intended to take advantage of the Arabs’ chaos to break through their defenses and open the massive wooden gate blocking the army! To avoid arousing suspicion, he brought only a hundred soldiers into the camp, so they had no time to waste—they had to strike the Arab army hard while the fire raged!
“Form up! Form up! Gather under my flag—don’t panic!”
Hu Jiahe Lian finally woke from his sleep and, escorted by his trusted guards, gathered the soldiers in the small training ground at the center of the camp.
Clearly, not many Tang soldiers had entered the camp; otherwise, they wouldn’t resort to such crude tactics as setting fires to buy time. His task was to gather his forces and seal the gates, trapping those Tang soldiers inside like fish in a jar—soon, he, Hu Jiahe Lian, would suffocate them to death!
“The general orders: form up! Fifty men per group, a hundred men per formation—form up, form up!”
“The general orders: form up, don’t panic…”
The guards shouted desperately, spreading their general’s orders so more soldiers could gather under his command quickly and avoid unnecessary casualties.
Gradually, the atmosphere of chaos and collapse stabilized, and the Arab camp gradually returned to its usual order.
One hundred, two hundred, two hundred fifty, three hundred…

By the time his troops reached three hundred, Hu Jiahe Lian was already brimming with confidence. In his judgment, the Tang forces infiltrated should not number more than 150. With three hundred men, crushing 150 was as easy as chopping vegetables, wasn’t it?
“One group to block the fortress gate, another to guard the small training ground, and the rest to follow me, ready to provide reinforcements at any moment!”
Hu Jiahe Lian quickly assessed the situation and gave concise orders. With a decisive numerical advantage, he could ensure full coverage of every area. Even if the Tang forces had some help, escaping the fortress was now utterly impossible!
The synchronized footsteps and the clashing of armor sounded so pleasant to Hu Jiahe Lian’s ears, as if the Tang spies would soon be tied up and kneeling before him.
“General, general! The Tang forces are attacking!”
A bodyguard stumbled over to Hu Jiahe Lian and reported loudly.
“Hmm, follow my orders!”
Hu Jiahe Lian narrowed his eyes, staring at the winding alley about 200 steps away. He had enough strength and confidence to defeat these Tang men. Abdullah’s death was just an accident, and now he would use the head of the Tang bandit leader to claim credit before Governor Abu Muslim!
This was his territory—any intruder would die!… Soon, a glimmer of light appeared at the curve of the alley, gradually forming into a fire dragon that rushed toward the small training ground.
Hu Jiahe Lian was momentarily stunned before roaring, “Go meet them! Leave none alive!”
If their numerical advantage couldn’t be utilized on the narrow path, the situation here would definitely tilt in their favor.
“You all go too—leave twenty behind, and the rest, charge!”
The enemy numbered barely over a hundred, while he had 200 elite soldiers. The best strategy now was to launch a full-scale attack and wipe out the Tang bandits without giving them a chance to breathe.
Nearly 180 Arab soldiers rushed to the end of the training ground adjacent to the path, completely blocking the Tang forces’ path to escape. In other words, if the Tang men wanted to pass through, they would have to kill all 180 Arab soldiers.
Li Kuo frowned slightly, thought for a moment, then waved his right arm and ordered, “Change formation!”
At that command, the originally conical formation instantly expanded horizontally and rushed forward.
They were moving at full speed—and yet they could still make such a rapid change!
“Fire!”
The Tang soldiers pulled out a box as black as ink jade from their sleeves and hung it on their left arms with leather straps.
“Shoot!”
With the Arabs only 80 steps away, Li Kuo gave a firm order.

At the command, nearly a hundred Tang soldiers quickly turned the protruding knob on the top of the black box.
“Scritch! Scritch!”
The black box emitted strange, eerie noises as it shook violently. The Tang soldiers deliberately leaned back, and moments later, nearly a thousand silver-tipped crossbow arrows were fired straight ahead!
What was inside the black box were actually crossbow arrows—or rather, the black box itself was a powerful crossbow capable of firing multiple arrows at once!
The firing rate of such a crossbow far exceeded that of ordinary bows, and even surpassed that of regular crossbows!
From a distance of eighty steps, no one could react in time. Though the Arab soldiers instinctively tried to turn away from the flying arrows, they were as if petrified, unable to move even an inch no matter how hard they tried.
Nearly a thousand crossbow arrows effortlessly pierced the bodies of the Arab soldiers, turning those at the front into mere piles of flesh. The immense explosive power of the arrows easily tore through the armor crafted by the Arab blacksmiths, ripped through their clothes, and penetrated their muscles to reach their blood and flesh!
In just a moment, nearly eighty Arab soldiers died without even realizing what the Tang soldiers were holding.
“Change formation!”
Li Kuo seemed utterly unshaken by such a bloody scene and calmly issued orders.
As soon as these words were spoken, the Tang army’s formation changed again! Soldiers at both ends of the horizontal formation quickly moved to the sides, while those in the middle continued moving forward at the same pace. In just a few moments, the Tang formation transformed from horizontal to triangular!
At the apex of this triangle was Li Kuo—the brave young man in black armor, wielding a dark-colored sword!
The Arab soldiers first faced a sudden attack from the Tang army and then encountered such a ruthless formation. How could they possibly resist? The outcome of the battle was immediately clear! The triangular formation had the same penetrating power as a pyramid formation but was more stable, leaving little room for the enemy to break through!
With Li Kuo at the apex, the Tang army swiftly carved a deep gap into the Arab formation. With swords flashing, everywhere there were severed limbs of the Arab soldiers.
Hu Jiahe never expected the Tang army to change formations several times in just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, catching them off guard. Now, although his soldiers outnumbered the Tang troops, their morale was far inferior. If the battle continued like this, the situation would become critical.
“Pass my order: send a unit from the fortress gate to the training ground to fight the enemy!”
“General, the fortress gate is extremely important. What if the Tang army…”
“There is no ‘what if’!”

Hu Jiahe Lian glared fiercely at his bodyguard and said, “The most important thing now is to hang these Tang invaders; we can deal with other matters later!”
“As you command!”
The bodyguard gritted his teeth but swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He had wanted to warn Hu Jiahe Lian that the Tangs might be using a feint, with their true aim being the fortress gates, but since Hu Jiahe Lian wouldn’t listen to advice, he had no choice but to stay silent.
Half a cup of tea later, a group of Abbasid soldiers stationed at the fortress gates rushed to the training ground to join the battle against the Tang forces. With nearly a hundred fresh troops joining in, the Abbasid morale soared.
In contrast, the Tang forces’ initial vigor had been greatly diminished by the Abbasids, and their advance slowed significantly. The newly added Abbasid troops effectively filled the gaps created by the Tangs, forming a human wall to hold back their advance.
The Tangs felt as if they were hitting a wall of cotton, unable to exert any force!
“Change formation!”
Li Kuo looked up at the flames outside the camp, took a deep breath, and issued another order!
The Tang forces changed formation again!
This time, they adopted a phalanx formation—ten men per side, a hundred men per formation, known as a phalanx!
The Abbasids learned from their previous rashness and did not rush to attack the Tangs. They still did not understand the secrets of this formation, so launching an attack at this moment would only play right into the Tangs’ hands.
The two sides remained locked in a stalemate, with hundreds of strangers armed with weapons standing in the pitch-black night, facing death head-on!