“What the Commander says is absolutely right. We can’t fight mixed together with those small fry. If they were our own brothers, dying back-to-back in battle wouldn’t be unjust. But fighting back-to-back with those small fry, this old man would rather have his back against a wall.”

“What Old Qiu says is exactly right. We’re all cavalry, and the Western Regions land is naturally suitable for cavalry warfare. Looking ahead one moment, behind us the next—the vast heaven and earth are ours to roam freely. The Commander is familiar with Western Regions terrain. If we can’t devour the enemy today, we’ll eat them up bite by bite. Thirty-four thousand brothers are enough. At worst, we’ll slaughter them until heaven and earth turn upside down.”

“The Tibetan people are indeed fierce and brave. I, your brother, came from Songzhou. Those fellows, given a rope, dare to climb up city walls, completely disregarding the rocks and crossbow bolts overhead. Kill one, and the one behind immediately comes up. Later, after killing so many that this old man’s hands went soft, those fellows were still climbing up the ropes. Single-minded—won’t turn back unless killed. Brothers, be careful.”

Listening to the discussion in the military tent, Yun Ye waved his hand. Lai Chuanfeng bowed in salute, hurriedly left, and prepared to lead his troops to depart first to find a place for the army to rest and reorganize.

“Commander, since these Western Regions people have already received the court’s relief supplies, they should rapidly advance westward. Why are they lingering in Talas? Don’t they worry about eating up all that relief and being unable to advance westward themselves? Do they think our Great Tang will endlessly supply them with provisions?”

“To transport one catty of grain to Talas requires consuming no less than ten catties of grain and fodder. What are they calculating?”

Yun Ye chuckled and said: “This is precisely our work. We must not only force the Western Regions people to advance westward, but also ensure the Tibetan people don’t take advantage of the void to enter. Those people advancing westward brings many benefits to the Great Tang! The Caliphate people, Tokharians, and Chach people have long coveted the Western Regions with drooling mouths. If we drive these scourges out of Talas and make them enter Tokhara’s borders, they’ll naturally burn, kill, and plunder all along the way, greatly weakening the Caliphate people’s strength. As long as the flames of war don’t burn on our land, what concern is it to us if they burn on others’ land? Moreover, after this great change, perhaps we can alter the power relationship between Tokhara and the Caliphate’s Chach. If we can find an opportunity to break through the Pamir Mountains, we’ll be able to find what we need in the Caliphate, Tokhara, and Chach.”

“We have a great objective. It’s not worth losing manpower to these Tibetan people. We can only fight one positional battle with the Tibetan people. This time, I don’t want to use cavalry assault first. Only after ensuring we’ve effectively killed the greater part of the Tibetan people will I deploy cavalry. When we can kill enemies with weapons, we should avoid close combat as much as possible.”

“The Commander speaks correctly. If we want military merit, we can only seek it from the Caliphate people, Tokharians, and Chach people. From now on, the merit of our military families and the advancement of our sons and disciples all need to find justification from these three places. Therefore, we absolutely cannot slacken.”

Having discussed tactics, the generals began preparing in an orderly manner, each leading their troops to slowly press toward the mountain pass. The fifty-li road was slowly walked over the course of a day. Lai Chuanfeng, who had arrived early, had already established the camp. The supply battalion had even prepared dinner—this was the first hot meal the army had eaten in these past days.

The scenery in the desert was just so colorful and varied. On the other side of the mountain, it was devastation everywhere with yellow sand filling the sky. On this side of the mountain, it was green grass like a carpet, with the high mountain peaks covered in white snow. A modest river flowed from the mountain’s foot. Yun Ye knew this river was called the Tarim River, though now it was called the Sihun River.

This river was the product of melted high mountain snow water. It had changed course countless times in the desert, becoming a mysterious and unpredictable river. Every year at the spring-summer junction when water volume was abundant, it would overflow disastrously in the desert. Each flooding would bring an oasis to the desert. It was like an irresponsible mother—once tired of nurturing these oases, it would choose a new riverbed and continue wandering in the desert, continuing to give birth to new oases.

After Yun Ye’s army thoroughly rested and reorganized by the river for three days, they advanced north along the Sihun River. No need to cross the river—they only needed to walk along the riverbank. On both sides of the riverbed were tall, verdant poplar trees everywhere. They grew so enormously that the entire army advanced in deep shade. This was the best road. Stepping on soft earth was as comfortable as walking on carpet. What Wang Cai liked doing most was rolling on the ground, with all four hooves kicking toward the sky with all its might. One could see it was extremely fond of this place.

Bowstrings constantly twanged. A rabbit, pheasant, or antelope would always be pulled from the grass by soldiers on the outer perimeter. This was their final indulgence. Once they passed Peacock River, the army would drive all those Tibetan people into the desert. Yun Ye didn’t believe an army that drilled into the desert without any preparation would have any possibility of surviving.

Since you want to ambush me at the desert’s exit, then don’t blame me for driving you all into the desert to die of thirst. Dina Mountain Pass—that was the only passage to enter Loulan from the east. If one didn’t want to go through Dina Mountain Pass, one could only cross through White Sheep Plain like Yun Ye, or spend a month and a half making a detour through the desert from Weili Kingdom to return to Peacock River. Yun Ye didn’t believe those Tibetan people could persist in the desert for a month and a half without carrying water.

After walking the shady avenue for two days, being exposed once again under the scorching sun made everyone feel unprecedented discomfort. People just couldn’t enjoy good fortune! Warriors who hadn’t uttered a sound on White Sheep Plain were complaining bitterly here.

Shanshan City by Peacock River, after experiencing over ten days of fighting, finally calmed down once again. Qu Zhuo opened the shop door that had been closed for half a month and began doing business. The bloodstains on the street surface had already been covered by yellow sand. Some burly men wearing leather armor were going door to door announcing the new city lord’s orders.

Taxes had increased by another twenty percent. The people of Shanshan City had finally fattened up the previous city lord like a fat pig, and the tax rate had returned to normal. Now another hungry wild boar had arrived. His famished belly was waiting for the entire city’s people to fatten him up into a fat pig once again.

Qu Zhuo habitually lifted clear water from the well. On the small platform, he placed four small wooden basins. He filled each basin with water. In a moment, the whole family was preparing to have a good face-washing together. The children had been holed up in the cave too long—their little faces were so dirty they had lost all semblance of cleanliness. Out of habit, he hugged the two children affectionately for a while, then placed them by the water basins. Father and sons prepared to stick their heads into the basins to see who could hold their breath the longest.

This was their family’s most joyful time. As soon as Qu Zhuo shouted “Start,” the two children would immediately plunge their heads into the basins. Qu Zhuo would unhurriedly wash his hands and wash his face. When he discovered the children could barely hold on any longer, only then would he plunge his head into the basin. After holding his breath for quite a while, he would lift his head under his two sons’ worshipful gazes, tell the children the key points of breath-holding, cough once, and begin his day’s work amid Jian Niang’s laughter.

Today he still prepared to do the same. The children were growing bigger and increasingly clever—not many years left to fool them. Just as his gaze swept across the wooden basins, he discovered that ripples had actually appeared on the calm water surface. His expression immediately changed drastically. He prostrated himself on the ground, listened with his ear for a moment, then shouted loudly. Picking up his two bewildered children, he roared at Jian Niang who was looking around in all directions: “Quick, leave! There’s a large cavalry force coming!”

Same as before, Qu Zhuo shut his wife and children into the cave, then quickly came to the front courtyard and firmly barred the door. He didn’t know if this would work—he simply hoped it would.

A horizontal saber was pulled out from the woodpile by him. His face was deathly pale. He understood that this time he might not escape calamity. A large cavalry force could only be those Tibetan people guarding Dina Mountain Pass. They were the true beasts. They not only seized money, grain, and women—they also liked killing people. Massacring cities had always been their favorite thing to do. After the army passed through, only wasteland would remain behind them.

The earth itself began to tremble. Qu Zhuo felt even more desperate. Cavalry with such power numbered at least ten thousand. Crouching by the door crack, he saw that new city lord kneeling on the ground, his whole body shaking as if sifting chaff. No use hiding—before such an army, any hiding was meaningless. Whether fleeing or resisting, the final result would be no different.

Not only did the city lord walk out from the city lord’s mansion to kneel on the ground—the other residents of Shanshan City also emerged from their homes dragging children and elders, burying their heads in the sand, hoping those people outside the city could be a bit merciful and kill fewer people.

Many were weeping. Those not weeping had empty eyes. Everyone was waiting for those people outside the city to enter. Qu Zhuo gritted his teeth, pushed open the door and walked out. Since today there was no possibility of living, he didn’t want to kneel waiting for death like these people. He tied the sword hilt to his palm, hoping to die in battle rather than live ignobly.

“Qu Zhuo, what are you doing?” The city lord roared at him with a hoarse voice.

Qu Zhuo took a deep breath, trying hard not to let his legs tremble. He forced out a smile uglier than crying and said to the city lord: “City Lord, my apologies. I am a Tang man. I cannot die kneeling—I can only die in battle!”

The city lord wanted to say something more, but the earth’s trembling actually stopped. Only waves of rank odor drifted in from outside the city gate with the wind. This was the smell of warhorses—every Shanshan person was extremely familiar with it.

Qu Zhuo felt some regret. Why hadn’t he put on that leather armor? That was something he had spent fifteen silver coins to buy. Wasted! Now it was too late. So be it.

“I am Tang man Qu Zhuo! Who dares battle me?”

When these words drilled into Qu Zhuo’s ears, he almost couldn’t believe this was something he had shouted. He had suffered all his life. Even after becoming an official, he still suffered. Unable to bring glory to his ancestors, only able to walk in darkness—what a loss! His name needed someone to remember it. At least the person about to kill him must remember. So he took a deep breath, gathered all his strength, and shouted loudly once more:

“I am Tang man Qu Zhuo! Who dares battle me?”