Chapter 90: Right and Wrong (III)

With war imminent, everyone must set aside all differences and personal grudges to fight together against the enemy!
Gao Xianzhi demonstrated the qualities of a military commander in times of crisis by assigning Li Siyeh, Duan Xiushi, Li Kuo, and Li Huaizhong to guard the four gates of Julan City, distributing the troops evenly—about 5,000 soldiers per gate.
He himself led more than 2,000 elite troops and over 1,000 civilian fighters to defend the city, ready to send reinforcements swiftly if one of the gates was under attack. After all, as the defenders, they had the advantage of terrain, and as long as they didn’t make mistakes, the Arabs had no chance of breaking into the city.
Gao Xianzhi assigned Li Kuo to guard the north gate, the main entrance to Julan City, so the young man faced greater pressure than the guards of the other three gates. Yet he showed not the slightest hint of resentment. He was a soldier, and as such, he must obey unconditionally and remain resilient. Moreover, as compensation, Gao Xianzhi gave Li Kuo all of Julan City’s most elite troops, allowing him to face the enemy with his own forces, which would clearly give him a significant advantage.
Li Sheng, Pu Dachui, Zhang Yanji, Zhou Wucui, Xianyu Yucheng, Dou Qing… Each of them had a resolute expression. They were not fighting alone—never alone!
With his trusted friends by his side, Li Kuo felt much more at ease. Looking down at the vast army of Arabs below the city walls, the young man smirked coldly. “In the Battle of Talas, you deceived me by not fighting on the front lines and won through treachery—fine. But now you want even more, aiming to take control of my four garrisons in Anxi. I will never tolerate such national humiliation!”
“Brother Kuo, look! Look at these arrogant Arab brutes. They dare to besiege the city without even ladders or battering rams. If it were up to me, we’d just hold our ground here. These barbarians will give up after a month or so without achieving anything, so we don’t even need to fight.”
Zhang Yanji sneered, casting a disdainful glance at the Arab army below. The Arab forces consisted mainly of infantry and cavalry, who might have an advantage in close combat, but expecting them to capture a well-fortified city was pure delusion.
These guys were stunned the moment they saw the well-prepared defenders below and could only keep shouting insults and challenging them. If he had spoken Tang language, he might have really gotten angry, but since he was using some strange Arab dialect, he simply didn’t understand a word. No matter how much they insulted him, he would just treat it as them insulting his ancestors.

“Don’t underestimate them. They outnumber us, so we must not be careless. It’s possible this is just a feint; they might wait for us to relax before launching a full-scale attack.”
Li Kuo’s nerves remained tense. His intuition told him that the power of the Arabs was not limited to this. Abu Muslim aimed to seize the four towns of Anxi, and Kulan was the stepping stone to those towns—he would surely try to take it. If they could use the opportunity to capture the city to wipe out the remnants of the Anxi army, it would mean the end for the Anxi forces, and the four towns would be almost in their hands.
How could Abu Muslim neglect such an important city? Something strange must be going on—there surely were hidden forces among the Arabs, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
“Commander, how can we be sure these Arab brutes know we’re in Kulan? Logically, we should have reached Suiye by now, right?”
Pu Da Chui, frustrated, spoke up to ease his boredom.
“That’s indeed strange. I suspect there are spies in the city.”
Li Kuo shook his head and offered his analysis. In his view, even if the Arabs were certain that General Gao would pass through Kulan on his way back to the four towns of Anxi, they wouldn’t be able to pinpoint his return time so accurately. The only explanation was that there was a traitor inside the city.
As soon as he said this, chaos erupted on the city walls. Pu Da Chui, unable to contain his anger, snapped, “I told you! That Li Huaizhong isn’t trustworthy. In my opinion, he’s clearly colluding with the Arabs, leaking military information to them. He deserves to die!”
Li Sheng sighed. “It’s not certain. Li Huaizhong is also in Kulan now. Although betraying us would bring him great benefits, isn’t he afraid that if things go wrong and the city falls, General Gao will execute him first as a sacrifice?”
Li Sheng’s reasoning made sense. After all, the Anxi army’s strength inside the city already outnumbered the Kulan troops. If they were truly trapped, it was uncertain whether they could survive, but Li Huaizhong would definitely lose his head.
“Then who do you think it is? Could it be someone from our own Anxi army?”
Pu Da Chui muttered dejectedly, drawing everyone’s attention.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Li Kuo quickly glared at Pu Da Chui. “Da Chui, stop talking nonsense. We’re all comrades who’ve shared life and death—don’t discourage the others.”
“Hey, I was just saying it.”
Pu Da Chui shrugged resentfully and fell silent.

In fact, what Pu Dachui said wasn’t entirely impossible. After all, throughout history there have been many cowards who switched sides at the last moment. If Abu Muslim promised them a bright future, it’s possible some in the army might consider betraying everyone’s whereabouts. But with war looming, internal strife must be avoided at all costs. Whether such a possibility existed or not, Li Kuo had to put a stop to it.

“Brother Kuo, look! The Arabs can’t wait any longer—they’ve brought out lots of battering rams from the jungle!”

Zhang Yanji had sharp eyes and spotted the Arab soldiers by the jungle hundreds of steps away from afar. Those soldiers hidden in the jungle were clearly under Abu Muslim’s orders and had remained concealed. After shouting and cursing without success, Abu Muslim, growing impatient, resorted to this tactic. Yet these battering rams were rather crude—not only were their surfaces uneven and unpolished, but the branches and dead leaves on them hadn’t even been removed. Dozens of soldiers rushed forward, breathless, carrying such rams, which made everyone laugh heartily.

“Hehe, this is hilarious! You Arabs had better cut off those branches first before trying to fight my grandpa. With that look of yours, I really feel embarrassed even thinking about attacking!”

Pu Dachui was so amused by the scene that he bent over with laughter.

“Hehe, they’re acting so hastily—they definitely won’t gain an advantage. Commander, we just need to hold our ground and wait for reinforcements.”

Dou Qing spoke up at just the right time, further easing the tense atmosphere. Gao Xianzhi sent generals to guard the city gates while dispatching messengers to Kucha for help. Although it would take a long time for the Anxi army to reach Kulan City via Suiye, having reinforcements was better than none. Everyone believed they could hold out until General Bai Yuanguang arrived.

“Mm.”

Li Kuo replied softly, but his heart wasn’t as calm as his comrades’. Watching the Arab warriors carrying battering rams get closer and closer to the city walls of Kulan, Li Kuo issued his first order to defend the city.

“Pass my order: have the soldiers load the catapults and throw stones at the Arabs from 300 steps away to hold them back. Order the archers to be ready—once the enemy gets within 200 steps, fire in unison to suppress them with firepower.”

After a brief pause, Li Kuo added, “Also, have Xiao Chun prepare the civilians to roll stones and logs. If the Arabs break through the defenses and reach the city walls, smash them hard!”