The Turks were singing, melodious yet desolate. The Tuyuhun people were chanting scriptures, prolonged yet impassioned. Only the Xueyantuo people shouted “Heiyou, heiyou” as they struck their shields loudly in chorus—”We must defeat the Tang, we must defeat the Tang!” The people of the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu loosened their hair and stripped off their clothes, having already prepared for the attack. Tonight they would be the first to charge forward.
They had delayed too long beneath Kucha City. The Tubo people could barely hold on any longer. Li Jing’s offensive was swift and vicious. Cheng Yaojin’s army firmly held Songtsen Gampo at Greater Fei River, while Li Daozong seized the opportunity to kill his way along Nanzhao into the warm valleys of Tubo. Gar Tongtsen’s hometown lay beneath Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and could not withstand Li Daozong’s massive destruction.
The glory of the Turks had been exhausted completely by the Anxi Army. If they still could not break through Anxi, the Tubo people planned to withdraw their entire army back to the plateau and await a new opportunity.
Tushi’s inner bitterness was unmatched. He had been full of confidence wanting to establish his prestige among the Turkic people. Who would have expected that beneath this not-so-tall Kucha city wall, all his confidence would vanish with defeat after defeat.
Tonight was the final battle. Tushi prepared to use human wave tactics to end this war that caused him such immense suffering and had dragged on so long. The Tang soldiers on the wall seemed to show no signs of surrendering or leaving. When the great wind arose, it was the day of death battle. As an old adversary, Tushi understood what those two characters represented. Tonight was a day for people to die. The gates of King Yama’s hell would swing wide open.
Guo Xiaoke was carried onto the city wall by his personal guards. Standing at the highest point, he was like a flagpole, his back still ramrod straight. No one would know that inside his armor was stuck half a spear shaft. Zhang Tingyue stood beside him. They were old comrades-in-arms—at this moment there was no need for excessive words.
Very unexpectedly, it was the Tang army that began attacking first. Gunpowder packages were continuously thrown down from the hot air balloons, falling into the crowds and bursting into great sheets of firelight. Tonight’s wind was extremely suitable for their operations—not strong, and after taking off from the distance, it happened to pass over the Turkic encampment. Unfortunately, the effect was very limited, bringing only minor casualties to the Turkic allied forces. The remaining gunpowder was all handed over to Zhang Tingyue when passing over Kucha City.
The half-round moon illuminated the Gobi in a ghastly white. The Turks were waiting for the moon to emerge before beginning their attack. This time everyone had prepared very thoroughly. The barbarians carried enormous wooden shields and slowly pressed toward the city. Behind them, tall siege towers were also slowly approaching the ancient city of Kucha, pulled by livestock. This time, the siege towers were equipped with large ramps. Once placed against the wall top, cavalry would charge into the city along these ramps.
The few remaining catapults continuously hurled fire oil to the places soldiers were about to attack, marking the path for them. The Tang soldiers standing in the hot air balloons watched this spectacle in a daze. Kucha City was like a divine miracle, illuminated by the surrounding flames as bright as day. Ant-like crowds continuously bustled about on the city wall, yet inside the city it was as quiet as a ghost realm.
The leading commandant watched the human tide slowly pressing toward Kucha City and sighed helplessly. Who would have thought the Turks would actually dig sixteen successive trenches along the main army’s inevitable route? Otherwise, at this moment the camel city should have already reached beneath Kucha walls.
“Commandant, the city can’t be held, can it?” the young soldier beside him asked in a low voice.
“The battle hasn’t been fought yet. Whether it’s victory or defeat, only heaven knows. However, this time there are really too many Turks.”
“How about we descend and take a few people away?” the young soldier asked again hesitantly.
The commandant raised his hand to strike, but seeing the young soldier hugging his head and huddling in the corner of the bamboo basket sobbing, he lowered his hand again and said: “Save whom? At this moment they’re relying on a single breath of spirit to avoid scattering. If someone leaves first, military morale will be thrown into chaos, and everyone will die.”
The wind became very light. The hot air balloon drifted very slowly. Standing on high ground watching their comrades fight to the death while they themselves were helpless—this feeling made the soldiers on the hot air balloon lose their last bit of courage to speak.
“Elevation three, high trajectory fire! Range five hundred paces, destroy the enemy’s wooden shields!” The commandant gave the order. The eight-ox crossbows atop the wall raised their heads in unison. With a tremendous humming sound, countless gunpowder crossbow bolts trailing flickering sparks traced beautiful parabolic arcs and landed precisely in the crowds. Amid thunderous explosions, the wooden shield formation of the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu immediately scattered into chaos. Shattered wooden shields flew everywhere, smashing bloody the heads of those beneath the shields. Some people were flung high by the explosive blast and impaled on protruding long spears.
Tushi watched helplessly as Cheng Chumo’s cavalry slaughtered herdsmen on the periphery, yet was powerless to act. To break through the barbed wire and crossbow formations Cheng Chumo had deployed would require paying an extremely heavy price. A small Kucha City plus ten thousand roving cavalry had caused such enormous trouble for the massive Turkic allied forces. Once the main army entered the Central Plains densely dotted with walled cities, wouldn’t they be unable to take a single step?
Cheng Chumo drove those herdsmen like herding sheep. To attack Cheng Chumo’s army, they would have to circle around mountain passes. In this short time, the herdsmen hidden behind the military formation were already rivers of blood.
Watching Tushi remain indifferent to his own slaughter, Cheng Chumo sighed deeply. He could only withdraw the crossbow formation and once again flee to the distance. Otherwise, if caught by Tushi’s cavalry, he faced the danger of total annihilation. His numbers were too few—he could only harass from the periphery and could not achieve the objective of shaking Tushi’s entire army.
Guo Ping’s mind now thought of nothing. He simply smashed down the eight-ox crossbow’s trigger mechanism over and over, releasing crossbow bolts one after another. There was no need at all to aim—right under his eyelids were surging masses of heads.
After the crossbow bolts ravaged through the crowds, they exploded with thunderous booms, creating bloody spray like flowers in the human sea that instantly vanished. Chen Shu stood right beside him. Each time he fired, he roared, tearing open the wound on his face, his expression ferocious like an evil spirit crawling out of hell.
Right now those people below the city wall were the evil spirits, glaring with bloodshot eyes and howling as they surged forward. Anyone who dared retreat would immediately be beheaded by the red-clothed men in the crowd. Five hundred paces—this was the distance between life and death.
Fire oil bombs ignited the siege towers. Startled livestock pulled over the tall siege towers, which crashed into the crowds with roaring flames. Soldiers with nowhere to hide could only cry out in despair.
“Elevation one, direct fire, one hundred fifty paces! Fire oil bombs ready!” The commandant began howling with a hoarse voice.
Guo Ping emptied the gunpowder crossbow bolts mounted on the powerful crossbow. He laboriously cranked the eight-ox crossbow handle to reload. The fire oil bomb was a thick hollow tube. After being shot out by the powerful crossbow, it would tumble through the air. Upon landing it would explode, the viscous oil inside splattering everywhere with sparks. He had heard they added lots of sugar inside. Guo Ping did not know why fire oil bombs would have sugar added, but he knew the Academy would absolutely not be sending sugar for enemies to eat.
After the fire oil bombs flew out, he finally understood why sugar was added. The ghostly blue flames were like will-o’-the-wisps emerging from hell. Wherever they fell, that place would burn. Those enemies holding large shields now looked like they were holding torches. They hurriedly threw away the burning large shields in their hands, only to face the next volley of fire oil bombs with bare fists…
The enemy’s footsteps were forcibly checked beyond one hundred paces. Little did they know this was precisely the distance where the eight-ox crossbows’ power was greatest. Under the threat of death, finally one man swung his blade to kill the red-clothed man holding the line and ran backward like a headless fly. All Tang soldiers without exception abandoned pursuit of those running backward, continuing to direct their firepower at those Turkic allied forces stepping forward.
The chaos started from one small area, then became a great disturbance, and ultimately became a collective mass rout. Not everyone could calmly face death.
Guo Ping and Chen Shu were so delighted they wanted to jump up, but then they heard earth-shattering roars from the city wall behind them: “The city is breached!”
The two were suddenly alarmed and turned to look. They saw dust flying toward the rear city, a yellow-black column of smoke shooting straight into the sky. The city wall had collapsed. Cities built of rammed earth—stone cities were almost never seen in the Western Regions. Red sandstone was unsuitable for building cities; they could only use earth mixed with wheat straw rammed into earthen walls. After enduring over thirty days of attacks, it had finally completely collapsed.
The two exchanged a glance, then looked away, silently reloading the eight-ox crossbows. Except Guo Ping’s eight-ox crossbow faced outward, while Chen Shu’s eight-ox crossbow faced inward. Matters had reached this point—there was only fighting for life left.
Earth-shattering tremendous booms rang out one after another. This was the brothers in the rear igniting the gunpowder crossbow wall, triggering a chain of massive explosions. Half the sky turned red. Flames shot into the air. The fire oil bombs also exploded. All the civilian residences of the rear city were ignited by the great fire in an instant. It looked extremely spectacular in the dark night.
Chen Shu pulled a flat bottle from his boot, took a sip himself, then handed it to Guo Ping saying: “We’ve gained something—we can live another two hours. This great fire can’t be extinguished within two hours, right?”
Guo Ping took the wine bottle, vigorously rinsed the bottle with his water pouch, then brought it to his mouth and took a large gulp. Returning it to Chen Shu, he said: “The last drink of this lifetime, and it’s taken out from a damn boot. What bad luck!”
“Don’t complain. You’re not unaware how strict your old man’s military orders are. If he knew I was drinking in military formation, a military caning would be unavoidable. Now that there’s wine to drink, just complain a bit less.”
Guo Ping said to Chen Shu with a smile: “Drink without worry. My old man will never cane you again. He’s already gone.”
Chen Shu turned to look at Guo Xiaoke still standing like a javelin on the city wall and gave Guo Ping an annoyed shove, saying: “Nonsense! The old master is standing fine at the wall top displaying his power. His back is straighter than mine. I’ll die before that old man ever does.”
Guo Ping took Chen Shu’s wine bottle again. Kneeling on the ground, he poured the remaining wine from the bottle onto the ground, kowtowed three times heavily, then said with a smile to the bewildered Chen Shu: “Do you know how I know my father has passed away?”
Chen Shu looked at Guo Xiaoke whose hair was disheveled by the wind, then looked at Guo Ping with red eyes, and shook his head indicating he did not know.
“Because my father never once in his entire life bowed his head, especially facing enemies. Now his head has lowered. Apart from having already passed away, I can think of no other reason…”