Chapter 67: Defying Fate (III)

As long as there was one of them left, as long as that one could still stand and wield their spear, they would never surrender!
Even if you conquered the Tang soldiers’ bodies, you could never conquer their souls!
Captain Min Xia wiped the blood from around his eyes with his arm and gripped his steel spear tightly. Out of over five hundred men, less than fifty remained, and it was likely they too would soon turn into piles of corpses. Yet he had never felt so proud as he did today, never valued his identity as a soldier so much! It was they who used their bodies to block more than ten thousand Persian soldiers outside their camp, who sacrificed their lives to add more uncertainty to this fierce battle!
At that moment, they were hiding behind the last cart of supplies, and it was clear the Persians could not yet overcome this obstacle. But everything was temporary—within half an hour, this last line of defense would be breached, and then General Gao would truly have nothing left to rely on!
Looking at the piles of corpses around him, Min Xia suddenly burst into laughter: “Brothers, do you want to be cowards for life, or be heroes—even if only for a short while?”
No one answered his question. Ever since the Persians launched their cavalry attack, everyone had been too busy coping to think about such things. In other words, their minds had grown numb—what was a hero, and what was a coward? Why had they come all this way to Talas to fight a life-or-death battle?
They hadn’t thought about it, or perhaps didn’t want to.
So when Min Xia suddenly raised this question, they didn’t know how to respond.
Death itself was not terrifying; what was terrifying was the fear of facing death and the willingness to destroy everything in the name of survival.
Undoubtedly, everyone wanted to survive a battle, whether they were Persians or Tang soldiers. But war meant bloodshed and death. When faced with death, what attitude would you adopt?
After a long silence, a young recruit around eighteen years old replied through tears in the darkness: “I want to be a hero! I want to be a hero with Captain Min!”
As soon as he spoke, more soldiers joined in: “We want to be heroes! We won’t be cowards. Even for just a moment, we’ll be heroes!”
“Yes, Brother Min! Tell us what to do! We’ll follow you!”

“Yes, Brother Min, just say it—your men will follow you. What’s the harm in dying? It leaves a big scar on the head, but in eighteen years, I’ll be strong again!”
“Good, good! Truly my good brother!”
Min Xia nodded and pressed his palm to signal everyone to be quiet.
“The main cavalry of the Arabs has already crossed our three barriers and is heading straight for our flag. With just over fifty of us left, we surely can’t hold out much longer.”
After a brief pause, Min Xia continued, “So, I’ve decided to set fire to these dozen or so barrels of tung oil and burn this place to the ground!”
He slammed a fist against one of the oil barrels and uttered words that shocked everyone. While dying bravely was a fate acceptable to any soldier, setting fire to oneself was simply too cruel.
Though these soldiers hadn’t received much education, they understood some basic principles. If they died at the hands of the Arabs on the battlefield, there would be nothing to say. But forcing them to set fire to themselves was truly unreasonable.
“Brother Min, aren’t we being disloyal to our parents by doing this? As the old saying goes, our bodies and hair come from our parents. By destroying ourselves like this, aren’t we becoming unfilial?”
One of the soldiers replied nervously, shrinking his neck. Ever since joining the army, he had been taken care of by Min Xia and regarded him as his brother, obeying whatever he said. But he really couldn’t accept this plan.
“Shut up!”
Min Xia spat out phlegm and glared fiercely at the soldier. “Wu San, say that again. Say it again, and I’ll crush your balls! Do you even understand what ‘bodies and hair from parents’ means? What are parents? What are bodies and hair? The land of the Tang Dynasty is our bodies and hair—the Tang Dynasty is our parents! Do you know those damned Arabs are about to defeat our Anxi Army? Do you understand? There are only five thousand soldiers stationed in the Anxi Protectorate—five thousand can’t hold it for long!”

Min Xia took a deep breath and said, “Anxi is the gateway to our Tang Dynasty. Once Anxi falls, those Arab barbarians will rush into Hexi and Longyou with even more force. You must know about Ge Shu Han, right? How can you expect him to win a battle that even our great General Gao can’t win? If Guanlong falls, the Arabs will surround Chang’an along the Wei River. Do you really expect those imperial guards to turn the tide and save our people from disaster? If I remember correctly, your grandfather lives in Zhouzhi. Can you just stand by and watch them get slaughtered by the Arabs? Our Tang Dynasty is like our parents in the sky—to stand by and watch its lands ravaged by barbarian cavalry is true unfilialness!”

Wu San’er’s face was already red with shame as he buried his head in his chest, silent thereafter.

Brother Min was right. Those Arabs were so fierce in battle. If we couldn’t even stop them, those barbarians might indeed break through and attack Chang’an. By then, not only his grandfather and mother, but even the imperial tombs in Longling would be desecrated by the barbarians!

“We may not be able to stop them, but we must buy time for General Gao! Even if we lose this battle, if he can lead some of his men back to Anxi, those damned Arabs will surely be wary, delaying their plan to invade eastward. Every moment we can gain is a victory; every second we can delay is progress. Who knows, maybe just one more hour, and General Duan can lead his men to tear down the Arabs’ banners!”

Min Xia sighed. “I never wanted things to come to this, but there’s really no other way right now. Look around—everything here are weapons and supplies. Can we just give them to the Arabs for free? We’re doomed to die anyway; might as well burn it all down!”

His words made sense and were filled with passion, moving many young soldiers to tears. Wu San’er even raised his head and said, “Brother Min, I was an idiot just now. Treat it as nonsense from me—I’ve failed our Tang Dynasty! Tell me how and where to burn it. If I say another word, I’ll be reborn as a pig or dog in my next life!”

“Heh, kid, who wants your deadly oath?”

Finally, a smile appeared on Min Xia’s face as he patted Wu San’er’s arm. “Good brother, I wasn’t wrong about you!”

“Who wants to fight with me? Step forward! Those who aren’t involved can go fight the Arabs—I’m not forcing anyone! But let me make it clear: if anyone dares to flee and bring shame to our men in Anxi, even if I have only one breath left, I’ll chop you into pieces to use as sacrifices!” Min Xia scanned the crowd and threw out those fierce words.

“Brother Min, I’ll fight with you!”
“Captain Min, I’m in!”
“What’s the difference between dying? It’s still death anyway. Who’s picky isn’t a real man!”
“Right, let’s fight with Captain Min! Fuck them!”
“Kill one, gain one; kill two, gain a pair!”
The soldiers all gathered around Min Xia, none of them complaining.
“Hehe, we’re all good brothers, all Min Xia’s good brothers!”
Min Xia nodded in satisfaction. “There are over a dozen barrels of tung oil here. We just need to start a flame on it to create a wall of fire. Aside from the Talas River behind General Gao, there’s no other source of fresh water in this area. The Arabs can’t break through our defenses as long as the fire isn’t extinguished! Even if the fire gets too intense in the end, General Gao and his men can swim across the Talas River!”
Min Xia swallowed hard and said, “Of course, we can’t die for nothing either. We must drag one or two of those Arab brutes down with us! So, everyone, start a flame in your torches. When those Arab cavalry charge in, ignite the tung oil. Once all those barrels catch fire, they’ll be reduced to ashes in no time—not even the cavalry can escape!”
Seeing Min Xia’s well-thought-out plan, the soldiers agreed unanimously.
“Alright, whatever Brother Min says, we’ll do it. I’m sure we can burn them to death!”
“Right, let’s be heroes together with Brother Min!”
“Yeah, brother, we’ll follow your orders. At your command, we’ll turn this place into an ocean of fire!”
“Good brothers, hehe, good brothers!”
Min Xia nodded, tears welling in his eyes for some reason.
“Let’s sing to boost our courage. Yeah, let’s sing our Tang Dynasty’s military song!”
Wu Saner, unable to bear the overly solemn atmosphere, forced a smile and suggested it.
“Heh, you’ve actually been through something real once!”
“Yeah, let’s sing it!”
“Okay, I’ll start. Everyone, sing along!”
Wu Saner cleared his throat and said, “Can we say we have no clothes? I’ll share my robe with you! …”
“Can we say we have no clothes? I’ll share my robe with you. The king has launched a campaign; let’s sharpen our spears. We share the same hatred. Can we say we have no clothes? I’ll share my cloak with you. The king has launched a campaign; let’s sharpen our halberds. Let’s fight together. Can we say we have no clothes? I’ll share my skirt with you…”
The Arabs, perhaps unable to wait any longer, launched a fierce attack on the remaining defense line under their commander’s orders. The moment their vanguard cavalry rushed into the defense line, countless supply wagons instantly caught fire, turning into a vast sea of flames.
The fire quickly devoured everything within its reach—righteous and wrong, good and evil, all reduced to ashes by the raging flames.
Boundless love, everything is beyond words.