Chapter 18: A Life-or-Death Moment

“Let’s draw lots!”
He Yanming held two straws in his hand, smiling as he nudged Han Jinping with his elbow. “Old rule—shorter one goes first.”
“You’ll lose again, kid.” Han Jinping randomly picked one straw. He grinned; his straw was longer.
“Damn it, so unlucky!”
He Yanming sighed and said to his men with a wry smile, “I’ve gotten you all into trouble again.”
“Go!” Li Qingan gave a low order. He Yanming and several Tang soldiers immediately leaped out of their cover like monkeys, rushing to the enemy corpses. With great agility, they cut off the arrow quivers from the enemies’ bodies. Suddenly, an injured but still alive Turkic rider got up from the ground. He slowly raised his knife at He Yanming’s back. The other two soldiers were too late to shout. In that instant, a wolf-toothed arrow shot like lightning, piercing the Turkic rider’s neck. The arrow’s momentum still lingered, its feathers trembling.
Caught off guard, He Yanming jumped in fright and ran back like a rabbit, dragging dozens of arrow quivers. His men followed suit.
“Damn, I almost lost my life.”
He angrily threw the arrow quivers on the ground. “Next time, even if I lose, I’m not going anymore.”
“Shut up!” Li Qingan snapped. He Yanming immediately fell silent.
……
These invading Turkic riders had entered Tang territory three days ago. Yesterday, Du Luoxian and his bodyguards discovered a caravan of foreign merchants. They almost succeeded in robbing them before being defeated by the Tang army.
Although the merchants were protected by Tang soldiers, the Tang forces were few in number. Hundreds of camels loaded with wealth and dozens of beautiful women strongly attracted the Turkic riders. Moreover, Du Luoxian strongly suspected that the Tang army’s leader might be the enemy who had severed his arm.
At that moment, Du Luoxian was thinking coldly about a strategy. The Turkic cavalry he led was not a regular army but consisted of several tribal herders living near He Lie City. Their equipment was very simple—they had no shields and could not withstand the Tang army’s powerful crossbows. To capture the enemy’s camp, it was crucial to effectively defend against their crossbow arrows.
Du Luoxian lowered his head in thought. Suddenly, his gaze accidentally fell on a poplar forest in the distance. His eyes lit up as he came up with an excellent idea.
……

In the valley, the Tang army stood on high alert, waiting for the enemy’s second attack. The night wind grew stronger, carrying sand and stones that swept across the landscape. A shrill wailing sound echoed among the stalactites and stone pillars in the valley. Hundreds of camels lay in a circle, asleep. Within that circle, over a hundred foreign merchants lay scattered beside their large chests, staring at the stars in the sky, silently praying for the protection of the God of Light.

A dozen or so girls huddled in a corner, their faces pale. None of them could fall asleep; worries about their fate gnawed at their hearts.

At that moment, Sardar’s eyes were also filled with anxiety. He had faced countless life-and-death situations throughout his life, but nothing had ever worried him as much as yesterday and today. If only he had not agreed to take Princess Julan on a trip to the Tang Dynasty. If anything went wrong, how could he explain it to the king? Perhaps there would be no need to explain at all—he would die too. Sardar let out a long sigh.

Shi Julan, who was leaning against a camel, was not afraid. She had deep trust in Li Qing’an. She kept recalling the embrace and the kiss on his forehead he had given her. She knew that his embrace was merely a sign of concern, a way to comfort her before the battle—something he would do for anyone. But that kiss belonged only to her.

A smile gradually appeared in Shi Julan’s deep, pool-like eyes. It was that kiss that allowed her to perceive a hint of affection from Li Qing’an.

Shi Julan felt her face burn hot. She used the back of her hand to cool her flushed cheeks, then quietly stood up to look toward the valley entrance. A stone pillar blocked her view, so she sat down again in disappointment, instinctively touching the short sword at her side. How she longed to fight alongside him!

……

A signal was sent from the top of the mountain. Dozens of Tang soldiers who had been resting half-lying on the ground sprang to their feet, grabbing their crossbows and rushing toward the cover. Under the moonlight, another hundred or so enemies were indeed advancing toward them. But they had learned their lesson—they no longer charged recklessly like easy targets. Instead, they lay on the ground and crawled toward them like snakes, clearing away the thorns on the ground.

Li Qing’an watched intently as the enemy forces approached. He had already identified the weaknesses of this Turkiš army. Throughout his year of military service, he had fought against them countless times. Ordinary Turkiš cavalry were equipped with shields, but this army lacked them. Their weapons were also varied—some wore leather armor while others had none at all. Moreover, their arrows were of uneven quality, some finely crafted and others quite crude. From these clues, it could be inferred that this Turkiš force was not a regular army but likely a ragtag group assembled by a tribe on short notice. If that was the case, he might have a way to deal with them.

“General Li, look!” a soldier exclaimed in alarm.

Li Qing’an had already seen it. More groups of Turkiš soldiers were emerging on either side of the obstacle rocks—no, more precisely, a row of tree walls. They had cut down poplar trees without removing their dense branches. Dozens of men held one end of each tree, and seven or eight large trees were arranged in a crescent shape, slowly moving forward to form a thick wall of trees.

The Tang army began to feel uneasy. With this, the enemy now had a natural shield—would their own crossbows and arrows still be effective?

Li Qing’an bit his chapped lips. Suddenly, he turned around and asked, “How much fire oil do we have?”

Han Jinping rushed to check and returned after a moment. “General, there are thirty bags.”

“Prepare rockets!”

The soldiers immediately got to work. They set up several pots, poured in some fire oil. He Yanming obtained several bundles of cotton cloth from Arab merchants, and a dozen young Arab merchants also came to help. They tore the cotton cloth into strips, tied them to arrow shafts, dipped them in fire oil, and thus created rockets.

The tree wall grew closer, now only a hundred paces away, within shooting range. Li Qing’an lit a rocket on a torch, slowly drew back his bow. The blazing fireball danced before his eyes. With a “whoosh!” the arrow, carrying the fireball and thick smoke, soared into the air, tracing an elegant arc before embedding itself in a tree trunk. The poplar branches, dried out by wind and sun over the winter, were highly flammable. The rocket immediately ignited the branches, and in an instant, the fire spread.

The Tang army cheered, and countless rockets were launched into the air, flying like fiery snakes. Some hit the tree branches, feeding the flames, while others struck the Turkic warriors hiding behind the trees, setting their clothes on fire. The fire grew more and more intense. The Turkic warriors could no longer hold on; they abandoned the burning trees and fled. Under the Tang army’s continuous barrage of arrows, nearly a hundred of them were hit and fell to the ground. The second attack ended in another crushing defeat.
But in less than fifteen minutes, the Turkic warriors launched a third attack, and this time the Tang army faced an even greater challenge.
……