Robbing all along the route, the city lords of the Tocharian city-states were constantly changing, so they only needed to kill very few people to achieve their objectives. Yun Ye was quite satisfied with this, and Cheng Chumo breathed a long sigh of relief. Ever since arriving in the Western Regions, the killing had become so numbing. As a general, no matter how many enemies he killed, he would never feel weary, because this was the source of his military achievements. But now it was different. Yun Ye coldly ordered his cavalry units to satisfy all the needs of the camel city. Tian Yuanyi was like a vampire, constantly making all sorts of demands to the cavalry, encompassing everything from iron nails to grain and fodder.

No matter how many supplies he sent over, Tian Yuanyi would always hand him new requisitions with a beaming smile. Now it was good—they had found a once-and-for-all solution. The enemy would plunder from their own people, which could greatly reduce Cheng Chumo’s sense of guilt.

The martial valor inherited from the previous generation was not meant to be used for slaughtering civilians. As a professional soldier of the Great Tang, Cheng Chumo had always been filled with resistance toward the killing of civilians.

After plundering three city-states, Tian Yuanyi finally told Cheng Chumo that the army’s supplies had been fully prepared. From now on, the cavalry need not follow his commands.

“Every nation has spineless people, people whose eyes are blinded by immediate interests. Such people are our greatest help in the western expedition. Taking power that originally belonged to them to appease them—I believe this should be vigorously promoted in the future, and at the same time, we need to report this matter to the homeland. Our own citizens need to have a clear understanding of such things.”

Yun Ye and Du Ruhui were inspecting the grain and fodder. After carefully examining all the material reserves, Du Ruhui took a deep breath and said this to Yun Ye.

Yun Ye smiled bitterly. Only now did he understand why patriotic propaganda was conducted in later generations. Du Ruhui had already considered this issue—the entire nation’s citizens needed to learn.

The lead camel let out a long bellow, and the camel city began its slow movement again. The long column had no visible beginning or end, bringing the strongest震撼 shock to the Tocharian people.

Zhang Jian returned to his commander’s tent and removed the armor from his body. This was the first time in half a month that he had taken off his heavy armor. Four beautiful Korean female slaves used a sedan chair to lift Zhang Jian and carry him to the steaming bathhouse, beginning to bathe him.

His sour-smelling large feet stepped on the slave girl’s full bosom, accepting the slave girl’s most gentle massage. Zhang Jian tilted his head back, staring blankly at the ceiling. The consecutive days of campaigning had squeezed out every last bit of his energy until it was completely drained.

The Silla people and Baekje people had finally retreated. Mountains of corpses could not fill the moat of the Goguryeo capital. The Gongshu family had personally designed the fortifications of Pyongyang City ten years ago, and they were indeed impregnable.

Niu Jinda’s reinforcements were still trudging with difficulty. The endless rebellions forced the reinforcements to attack as they advanced. Zhang Jian knew how difficult their march was, so he never urged them. Niu Jinda was not a new recruit; he knew how critical the situation in Pyongyang must be.

Zhang Jian was just very puzzled—why would the Silla people, who had always fought in a chaotic manner, so accurately know his defensive deployments this time? Each attack struck precisely at the weakest points of his defense. After fifteen consecutive days of fierce battle, the army had suffered heavy casualties. The soldiers of the Great Tang, relying on their formidability, had barely managed to repel the enemy’s attacks. Why was this?

Lying on his large bed, he inadvertently caught sight of the Korean slave girl helping him tidy up the desk. Zhang Jian closed his eyes in pain. By now, as long as they were Koreans, they were all his enemies.

The personal guard captain walked in. Zhang Jian expressionlessly ordered: “Kill all the Koreans in this mansion. When I wake up, we’ll move to the military camp.”

Seeing that the slave girl who had always claimed she couldn’t understand the Tang people’s language had begun to tremble, Zhang Jian had no more hesitation. The personal guard captain acknowledged with a sound and dragged that beautiful Korean slave girl toward the rear courtyard…

The entire world was full of enemies, countries and people filled with hostility toward the Great Tang. Excessive emotions would only affect his combat ability. Zhang Jian believed that what he needed most at this moment was adequate sleep. Only by maintaining a strong body could he cope with the coming storm.

Just as he was falling asleep, he seemed to smell a heavy scent of blood. Within this heavy bloody smell, there seemed to be mixed a trace of sweet fragrance…

He slept for a full four hours. When Zhang Jian got up, he found the sky was still pitch black. Tilting his ear to listen to the sound of the watchman’s clapper, he confirmed it was the fourth watch. The guard standing at the door heard Zhang Jian cough and pushed open the door to enter. After lighting the candle, he began to serve Zhang Jian in dressing.

“Don’t wear civilian clothes, put on armor.” Zhang Jian gave a light instruction and stretched out both arms to let the guard armor him. The guard was clumsy. When fastening the silk cords of the armor, he nearly cinched Zhang Jian in two. Zhang Jian knocked away the guard’s hands, undid the armor himself, refastened the silk cords properly, and then sat down at the table to enjoy his breakfast.

The breakfast was very unappetizing. He called out for Heji, but seeing the guard look at him strangely, he remembered the order he had issued before going to sleep last night. With a bitter smile, he realized that Heaven ultimately did not permit him to have any connection with Koreans, even though Heji had already conceived his child.

To ensure Heji’s safety, he had deliberately not taught her the Tang people’s language, never expecting that she had already known it. What he thought was an impregnable general’s mansion had long been riddled with holes. The Wuli司马 Marshal had long warned him about this, but he hadn’t taken it seriously at the time. Now that such a thing had happened, he could only grit his teeth and bear it.

A pale fish-belly white appeared on the horizon. Dawn was about to break. Zhang Jian picked up his horizontal blade and hung it at his waist. As he rode out on horseback, he said to the guard captain: “Give her a proper burial!” After finishing these words, he spurred his horse toward Zhengyang Gate.

Zhengyang Gate was where the battle had been most fierce. The mottled bloodstains on the city wall had not yet dried, attracting a large swarm of flies that densely covered the wall, preparing to lay eggs in the blood traces.

Flies were always inseparable from death. Where flies were most numerous was where corpses were most numerous. Ever since hearing that the Turks had been disastrously defeated at Yun Ye’s hands, the Silla and Baekje people had gone mad, always wanting to annihilate him completely at Pyongyang in the shortest time. Only by retaking Pyongyang and pushing their battle line to the banks of the Yalu River, with the great river in front and their backs against the treacherous mountain ranges, would they have the capital to fight against the Great Tang. Otherwise, when the Great Tang withdrew its elite forces from the west and north, all that awaited Silla and Baekje would be a dead end.

He wondered how much the Silla Queen must be regretting at this moment, and how much fear the timid Baekje King must be feeling.

Whether it was regret or fear, when pushed to the extreme, it would transform into a kind of hysterical hatred and madness. In this battle, the kings of both countries had personally taken to the battlefield, preparing to stake everything on a single throw.

Zhang Jian’s heart was bitter to the extreme. After fifteen consecutive days of intense combat, his subordinates were already exhausted. The entire city of Pyongyang now had fewer than thirty thousand defenders. Of the army of over fifty thousand, more than half had already been lost.

The military’s fire oil, crossbow bolts, and gunpowder had long been exhausted. They had already consumed more than half during the battle at Wonsan, and during these fifteen days, to make up for his mistakes and ensure the city would not fall, the remaining small amount of explosive shells had also been used up completely. Now in defending the city, he no longer had any advantageous weapons to rely on. He could only depend on the horizontal blades and horse lances in their hands to fight a desperate battle with the enemy forces.

Overhead, a line of wild geese formed a V-shape, slowly flying south toward warmer places. Zhang Jian couldn’t help but look toward the south. Zhang Liang’s naval forces could no longer provide him with support. The Silla people had long since completely sealed off the waterway. If it were the open sea, Zhang Liang wouldn’t care, but now taking sea vessels into inland rivers would be complete suicide.

Yun Ye had such good fortune! Under those circumstances, he could still triumph over the strong with the weak. What exactly was his camel city like? By what means was he formidable to such an outrageous degree? The Turkic cavalry were famously fierce—how did he manage to make the Turks docilely accept death?

This matter gave Zhang Jian a severe headache. The situation in the east had originally been very similar to that in the west—part of the forces were besieged in cities, while another part prepared to go rescue them. In the west, Guo Xiaoke, who had been besieged, was said to have already died in battle with his entire army annihilated. Yet Yun Ye had turned the tide, achieving victory from defeat at the last moment, and was now advancing westward.

Could it be that he too needed to die in battle? “Commander, the enemy forces seem very quiet today, as if they have no intention of attacking the city,” Vice General Wang Junke reported hurriedly after seeing Zhang Jian ascend the city wall.

“Junke, you go rest. I’ll take over the city defense now. Where did Wuli Marshal go?” Not seeing Wuli Marshal, Zhang Jian asked Wang Junke curiously.

“Zhang Tai went into the city to rest. This subordinate saw that he was really unbearably drowsy, so I replaced him for a while.” Wang Junke hastily explained clearly—he didn’t want Zhang Jian to think Zhang Tai was slacking off.

Just as the two were talking, a blanket in the corner was suddenly thrown back. Zhang Tai sat cross-legged, staring at Zhang Jian with bloodshot eyes and asking: “Has the traitor been found?”

Zhang Jian nodded and said: “Found and already killed.”

Zhang Tai sighed and said again: “This matter was difficult for you. If the traitor isn’t eliminated, the army’s morale cannot be stable. But I, Old Zhang, also know your difficulties. The Zhang family has difficulty with descendants. Now you’ve finally had a bit of good news, and it’s been severed just like that. Even if you want to curse me a couple of times, I have absolutely no complaints.”

“Now is not a good time for bearing children. As long as we win this battle, there will always be children in the future.” Zhang Jian was not at all surprised that Zhang Tai knew his every word and action. The Wuli Marshal had a special authority—he specialized in supervising such matters. He had the right to inspect the general.

Zhang Tai cupped his fists toward Zhang Jian and said: “This matter ends here. It’s good that just the three of us know. Since you’ve already awakened, now it’s my turn to sleep.”

After speaking, he flopped down on the ground, covered himself with the blanket, and continued sleeping…