Once again a camel sank into a sand pit. The outermost row of camels had their spines snapped by the sheer weight that tilted entirely onto them.
Yun Ye’s face was full of dejection. Standing in the center of the camel city watching the officers and soldiers busily at work, he said to Du Ruhui: “There are always problems cropping up. This is very different from what I envisioned.”
Du Ruhui, however, didn’t wear a gloomy expression like Yun Ye. Pointing to his graying hair, he said to Yun Ye: “During the Late Emperor’s time, this old man served as Director of the Bureau of Military Affairs in the Ministry of War, managing military supply matters. It’s been twenty-one years now. No matter how my official position has changed, I’ve never put down this burden. Not yet sixty years old, my appearance has already been tormented into that of an octogenarian by it. Ever since you entered the Ministry of War, this old man has wanted to put down this burden and relax for a few years. You’re very dissatisfied with the camel city, but in this old man’s view, it’s already as good as it could possibly be.”
“A sixteen-hundred-li long-distance rapid assault—we’ve already covered most of the journey, yet the camel city remains intact. The officers and soldiers still haven’t felt any fatigue and can mount their war horses to fight at any moment. Marquis Yun, what more do you want?”
Yun Ye pointed at the toppled camel city, wanting to say something, but helplessly closed his mouth.
“This old man knows what you mean. That truly is just a minor setback. After running continuously for over a thousand li, the livestock naturally shows signs of fatigue, causing the camel city to topple. This is to be expected. Being able to persist for over nine hundred li has already greatly exceeded this old man’s expectations.”
“You are a military commander. How could you forget the defects of an army making a thousand-li rapid assault? In eighteen days, a city has moved a full nine hundred li—your demands are too high. If you had followed military regulations and traveled forty li per day, such defects would not have occurred.”
“I wanted to spare the livestock, but Guo Xiaoke’s army is completely surrounded and trapped inside Kucha City. How can you expect me to have peace of mind and walk slowly?” Yun Ye watched as the camel city was set up again, then ordered the march. The entire army began its slow movement once more.
Du Ruhui sighed: “An army’s commander has an immeasurable influence on that army’s style. Guo Xiaoke is rigid and upright in character, never takes credit or shifts blame, and never shrinks from difficulties. When the great upheaval occurred in Kucha, he believed he bore inescapable responsibility and wanted to repel the Turks by his own strength alone, stubbornly defending the territory he had occupied. Who could have predicted that the Turks would be so frenzied this time, mobilizing all the manpower of the Western Regions to launch this counterattack? With no way to retreat, he could only hold fast and wait for reinforcements.”
“From a lone city besieged by heavy forces, messengers still broke through the encirclement to reach us. Marquis Yun, what you previously mentioned about besieging the city to strike at reinforcements is extremely likely to become inevitable.”
“Cheng Chumo has already taken ten thousand elite cavalry ahead to Kucha. He doesn’t need to make any offensive moves—as long as he harasses the Turks on the periphery, that’s enough. It would be good if he could help reduce some of Guo Xiaoke’s pressure.”
“Once men have arrived at the battlefield, it’s like money arriving at a gambling house. At this point, what more is there to say? Marquis Yun, strategies have been formulated—victory or defeat now depends on Heaven. Don’t think too much. Your camel city is excellent, the officers and soldiers under your command are extremely brave, and your material reserves are abundant. This is sufficient. When His Majesty faced Dou Jiande in battle back then, he didn’t have conditions as good as yours. The soldiers didn’t even have a spare pair of shoes, yet didn’t he still capture Dou Jiande alive?”
Hearing Du Ruhui’s words, Yun Ye looked him over with a pale face and said dejectedly: “You’re truly someone who, as a spectator, doesn’t fear things getting out of hand. When His Majesty told me about his past exploit of charging into battle lines with a hundred cavalry, he still had a face full of lingering fear. Only after drinking too much did he say that back then he really had no other choice—ahead was Wang Shichong’s fortified city of Luoyang, behind was Dou Jiande’s three hundred thousand troops. Back then, he was truly doing it for that slimmest chance of victory that he steeled himself to charge.”
“If the charge had failed, His Majesty planned to run away immediately. You were in the army at that time, sir. I’m thinking, with your wisdom, you probably had your luggage strapped to your horse’s back already, didn’t you?”
“Nonsense! This old man only prepared two horses. At that time, who had the leisure to pack luggage?” Du Ruhui rarely cracked a joke, finally giving Yun Ye a bit of relief.
The camel city’s march was extremely spectacular. Everywhere were the sounds of muleteers shouting at camels. Short horn blasts always came from the hot air balloon—as long as everything was peaceful, the horn would sound every sand clock interval.
The most arduous duty fell to the cavalry roaming ahead. Although the march times were all chosen for early morning and evening, the rapidly changing climate of the desert still caused them considerable impact.
The people on the camel city appeared relaxed and carefree. Messengers nimbly jumped from one grid to another. Most of the soldiers lay sleeping under the camel city’s canvas. When the soldiers managing the water had nothing to do, they would press the handle in the water bucket a few times to keep the water in the bucket naturally flowing. Once the lower bucket filled up, they would raise it and lower the empty upper bucket, cycling back and forth. The effect of doing this was excellent—the water no longer had that rotten smell.
Na Rimu dragged her large belly leisurely taking shade under the canvas. Huan Niang had traveled all the way from Guanzhong to Beiting just to care for Na Rimu. Pregnant women couldn’t tolerate heat the most. Beside her were placed two large basins of ice. Yun Ye didn’t allow her to eat cold food, so she could only sip sour plum soup intermittently to relieve the heat.
“I told you to come back to Guanzhong with me, but you refused. Now look—the Marquis still has to take you, this big-bellied woman, into battle. When the time comes and it’s dangerous with weapons flying everywhere, who will be able to look after you?” Huan Niang complained to Na Rimu in a low voice.
“I don’t need others to manage. I’ve given birth to children before—I can handle it myself. Back when I was on the grasslands, it was common for women to give birth on the road while herding sheep. Boys need to have some wild spirit—children born this way will be strong.”
“Be careful or Madam will strangle you when you return. If anything happens to either the big one or the little one, you’ll have no way out.”
Na Rimu happily stroked her belly: “That’s a matter for later. My husband is capable and will surely defeat the enemy. When that time comes, I’ll carry the child through the door and I don’t believe she could bring herself to do it. At most, she’ll give me a few swats with a feather duster—what’s the big deal? It’s not like I haven’t been swatted before. Let’s see if she dares to swat me again in ten years. Even if my husband doesn’t intervene, my child won’t agree to it. Yun Mu is an ungrateful wretch—raised her all this time for nothing, yet she always takes Madam’s side when speaking. It infuriates me. When I get home, I need to properly discipline her.”
Where they stayed was a grid specially opened up for family members and women. Over a hundred women and children lived here. Wooden boards were laid over the wooden frame, and seven or eight boys and girls were making a ruckus on the floor.
Na Rimu, pregnant, loved most to watch small children. She added ice to her sour plum soup and gave it to these children to drink, earning countless compliments. Just as the sun was about to reach its zenith and the camel city was preparing to stop and set up camp, a long horn blast suddenly sounded from the hot air balloon. One-armed Liu Zhengwu shouted loudly, “Form the city!” The camel city, originally arranged in a single long line formation, formed into a square fortress within the time it takes to burn an incense stick. Thick timbers fell from the grids. With the muleteer’s shout, the camels that had separated from the camel city immediately knelt on the ground, stretching their necks to tear at the fodder placed before them. Some even opened their mouths to receive water flowing from bamboo pipes.
The horn on the hot air balloon sounded again—only five short blasts. This meant the enemy had already arrived within five li.
“Deploy armor, raise shields, prepare eight-ox crossbows, prepare fire oil, prepare gunpowder crossbow spears!” Liu Zhengwu’s voice was carried far by a huge trumpet. As for Na Rimu and those women chatting under the awnings, they immediately crawled into the wooden houses. Where they stayed was the safest central area of the entire camel city.
Such warnings had already occurred no fewer than ten times and weren’t considered unusual. Everyone was very composed. Those who truly hoped the enemy would charge up for a test were people like Yun Ye, Du Ruhui, Liu Zhengwu, Fan Hongyi, and Tian Yuanyi. Some wanted to test the camel city’s combat effectiveness, while another portion wanted to establish military merit and achievements.
A long note came from the hot air balloon—this meant the enemy had drawn close. The thick bowstrings of the eight-ox crossbows were already drawn. The crossbow spears with oil wiped off were also positioned. The cavalry inside the camel city had already stood beside their mounts, ready at any moment to leave the city for battle.
Yun Ye’s armor was already donned. Standing on the commander’s platform holding a telescope, he surveyed the approaching enemy forces. He could even see those fierce Turkic faces.
The arriving enemy wasn’t numerous. Just by looking at the dust raised by the cavalry’s war horses, one knew these people didn’t exceed three thousand. These were here to die, so he turned his telescope to the small hill on the right. Sure enough, many people stood on that hill—probably all important figures among the Turks, who had specifically come here to observe this camel city.
As if it could be that easy! Yun Ye pointed at the hillock. Fan Hongyi immediately led a cavalry force to bypass the death-seeking Turks and outflank the hillock from afar. Intelligence from the hot air balloon confirmed there were no large Turkic forces there. If they could capture these people, it would be extremely useful for the army.
The Turkic cavalry didn’t rashly charge forward but galloped around the camel city on their war horses outside the range of the eight-ox crossbows. Yun Ye also didn’t order an attack. The entire fortress maintained an eerie silence. The Turks couldn’t discern any tricks by looking this way. However, these people’s horsemanship was extremely masterful—they could even release the reins and shoot arrows from afar. Unfortunately, the distance was too great. The feathered arrows fell to the ground before flying even half the distance, provoking roaring laughter from the Tang army.
Horn sounds suddenly rang out from the Turks’ rear formation. Yun Ye saw those Turks suddenly hide their bodies under their war horses’ bellies and charge desperately toward the camel city.
This way of seeking death had already occurred twice before. This time seemed different. The ox horn hadn’t stopped, and on the hillock there were even shamans dancing. It was very strange. Could it be that with shamans dancing, these Turks would become even more formidable?
This time it finally wasn’t a motley crew of various peoples assembled to die. Just by looking at the Golden Wolf Banner in the formation, veterans who knew battlefields all knew one thing: under the Golden Wolf Banner were all death warriors. They would rather fight an enemy twice their number than encounter the Golden Wolf Banner.