Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5140 Earth-shattering
Inside the general's tent outside Baishui City, Xue Rengui took off his helmet, put on his mountain-patterned armor and sat in the middle, surrounded by a group of officers.

Wang Xiaojie couldn't help but ask: "General, are we using the 'strategy of confusing the enemy'?"

For three consecutive days, the Tang army harassed the Arab army stationed in Hengrus day and night. Each movement was quite loud, but the entire army took turns to fight. During the day, branches were tied to the horses' tails, and at night, each person carried two torches. In short, the number of people dispatched was small, but the momentum was fierce. The enemy troops in Hengrus were frightened three times a day.

He was only responsible for burying gunpowder during the retreat, but he did not know the specific strategy.

At this moment, Xue Rengui gathered the people to discuss matters. It was obviously the last assignment of tasks before the battle. There was no such thing as "secrecy"...

Xue Rengui said frankly: "It has the original intention of 'confusing the enemy' to make it difficult for the enemy to sleep, and it can also take the opportunity to put pressure on the enemy so that they will not want to search the city in a large scale, so as to avoid the hidden soldiers or buried gunpowder being discovered."

As soon as Amir entered the city of Hengrus, he started large-scale civil construction, demolishing houses, dismantling foundations, collecting building materials and repairing the city defenses. What if the buried gunpowder and fuse were dug out?
Although this situation had been anticipated and precautions had been taken when the gunpowder was first buried, there was always a chance of something happening...

Wang Xiaojie nodded and volunteered: "I know Hengluos inside and out. I beg you to lead our troops as the vanguard of the army!"

Xue Rengui glanced at him and remembered that this young general had come to the Anxi Army with Fang Jun's recommendation letter, and he had personally arranged his position and post for him. He was deeply impressed.

Then he nodded and said, "The task is arduous, what are the chances of success?"

"Go through fire and water, and never turn back!"

"Okay! During the attack, you will be the vanguard of the army. If you are the first to reach the target, I will personally ask the Marshal to recommend you for merit in the Ministry of War!"

"Here!"

Wang Xiaojie responded loudly, extremely excited.

The officers and generals on both sides could not hide their envy. If this boy could really make achievements in this war, he would surely rise rapidly to the top. Now, at such a young age, he is already a general. In a few years, wouldn't he be second only to Xue Rengui?
Ability, age, background, the only difference is merit.

Xue Rengui looked around and said, "Everyone, at dawn on the first day of June, we will start the assault on Heng Ross. No matter what, we must defeat Amir!"

After defeating Amir and pursuing him closely, Ashina Helu pushed the battle line to Yaoshashui in one fell swoop. Only then was he able to attack the enemy's rear in Tuozhe City, causing great panic and thus completing the initial strategy.

"Here!"

All the officers and soldiers responded with an unanimous response.

*****
Amir was restless in the city of Hengrus.

He is now in a dilemma. His original plan was to rush all the way to Suiye City, to break the Tang army's strategy of holding out regardless of victory or defeat. Now he has easily occupied Hengluo City, and the Tang army has unexpectedly sent troops. Should he hold on to Hengluo and use it as a frontline stronghold for conquering Suiye City, or should he lead his army out of the city as planned to fight the enemy in the field?

Amir understood that the Tang army probably deliberately handed over the city of Hengrus in order to disrupt the established plan of the Arab army. But the problem was that since the city of Hengrus was in hand, his share of the credit was certain. Was there any need to risk leaving the city and fighting the enemy in the field?

Although he was a radical, he could not risk losing Hengluo City. After all, this city had a great impact on the strategic situation of the entire Transoxiana region. It was a great achievement to capture Hengluo without any soldiers, but if Hengluo was lost again in his hands, it would not be as simple as offsetting the merits and demerits...

Therefore, Amir hid himself in the city and ignored the provocations of the Tang army, blindly strengthening his defense. At the same time, he sent people back to Kesan City to ask for instructions on whether to defend or attack, and asked the commander-in-chief Yazid to decide.

He was not in a hurry either. Although Hengluo City was severely damaged, its foundation as an important city in the Central Asian region was still there. The city walls were high and thick, and the defense was rigorous. Now the collapsed parts of the city walls were being urgently repaired. In addition, more than 30,000 direct troops were hiding in the city and holding their ground. The enemy must have twice the force to threaten the city defense.

But how many people are there in the Anxi Army?

Even with the addition of many Mobei Hu tribesmen who came to rely on and submit to the Tang Dynasty, it would be impossible to capture the city of Hengluo.

……

When the battle report was sent back to Kesan City, the generals and soldiers were encouraged and captured Hengluo City without bloodshed. However, they were hesitant about Amir's request.

There are risks in fighting, but if we don't fight, all the previously determined strategies will be negated.

The most taboo in the military is inconsistent orders and changes in orders from day to day. It can't be that "it is me tomorrow morning who will deny me", right?

This happens again and again. Where is the authority and credibility?
If there are further orders in the future, who will carry them out unwaveringly?

In the city of Kesan, Yazid called Auf and Maslama together to discuss the matter.

Maslama was in charge of logistics, fodder, and baggage dispatch, so how could he say anything about such a difficult matter? He would not get any credit, and if his suggestions were wrong, he would be held responsible, so he refused to say much and sat quietly on the side drinking jujube wine.

As the "military advisor" of this battle, Auf has an obligation to take part.

After hesitating for a moment, Auf said, "Let's change the strategy. Let Amir defend Hengluo City and use it as a bridgehead to attack Suiye City. With Amir's ability and the combat power of his troops, it won't be a problem to resist the attack of the Tang army. In addition, the commander-in-chief should also send light cavalry to various places to urge those tribal armies to quickly come to Kesan City to join forces. There is no time to delay any longer."

Yezide nodded in agreement. In fact, it was a choice between two options. He was also inclined to hold on and wait for help. Now that someone had helped to come up with ideas, he decided on a strategy immediately.

After delivering the order, Ye Qide sighed and said, "The reinforcements from various places have been delayed in arriving, and the assembly cannot be completed. I don't know when the whole army can launch a fierce attack on Suiye City. If we delay any further, I'm afraid it will be too late."

Whether in the Central Plains or the Seven Rivers Basin, because there are no high mountains in the north, the cold current from the Far North moves southward recklessly, causing winter to come early. The distance from Kesan City to Suiye City and Gongyue City is long, and the Tang army only needs to fight and retreat, which will take several months. By the time they enter the hinterland of the Western Regions from Gongyue City, winter has already arrived.

The entire journey from Damascus to Khosan was spent marching in winter most of the time. The Arab army, lacking food, supplies, and warm clothing, lost tens of thousands of soldiers. If they were to attack the Western Regions in winter, how much of the Arab army's combat effectiveness would be left?

Ao Fu said: "General, don't worry too much. We will march eastward along the Silk Road. Everywhere we pass is a place with a prosperous economy and abundant soil and water. No matter how hard the Tang army defends itself, they will leave behind some supplies that they didn't have time to clear. We can just fight to support the war."

After a pause, he continued, "But we can't delay this indefinitely. If those tribes don't arrive, will we not destroy Yecheng? In my opinion, we should start the attack immediately, no matter how many reinforcements arrive, by mid-June at the latest."

Yezid nodded.

The last battle in the Western Region left him with a huge shadow, and only more troops would give him enough confidence, but he also knew that he could not delay any longer, and would have to go all out when necessary.

……

The order was quickly passed to Hengrus, requiring Amir to hold on and wait for reinforcements, while also giving positive affirmation to his ability to capture the important city of Hengrus without bloodshed.

Amir was very happy. He had achieved the credit and he didn't have to lead his troops to charge into battle or capture a fortified city. How wonderful was that?

He then ordered the army to defend the city, ignore all provocative actions of the Tang army, and never fight outside the city.

In the blink of an eye, it was the first day of June.

There is no moon on the new moon day.

Light breeze, no rain.

The weather is dry.

Just after midnight, the Anxi army arrived outside the city of Hengluo again. The dull sound of war drums broke the darkness and echoed far away on the land. The sleeping Arab soldiers were awakened. At the urging of their generals, they grabbed their weapons and climbed to the top of the city wall. They yawned and looked at the clusters of torches below the city with sleepy eyes, feeling listless.

Even though Amir asked his troops to be on alert all day long, they could not let down their guard just because they knew it was the enemy's "strategy of confusing the enemy with a new attack". Since it was a "strategy of confusing the enemy with a new attack", a sneak attack might be launched at any time. If everyone from top to bottom was absent-minded, what would they do if the enemy broke into the city?
However, the human spirit is not steel, but a string. It cannot be kept tense all the time. Once it is relaxed, it will be extremely difficult to tighten it again.

Besides, people always have a sense of luck. Since many times before were just bluffs, how come this time it happened to turn from bluff to reality?
Faced with the Tang army's renewed harassment, the whole city did not take it seriously. Although they also took a defensive posture according to Amir's order, it was just a posture and they did not take it seriously at all.

I just waited for the sky to brighten and the Tang army to retreat, then I went back to have a good sleep...

At the foot of the city, Xue Rengui was wearing a helmet and armor, with a phoenix-wing gilded hammer across his body, and his eyes were staring at the brightly lit Hengluo City in the distance.

Beside him, hundreds of people from the "Vanguard Camp" moved from the back to the front and lined up neatly. Each of them was a burly man full of bravery. They wore leather armor for ease of movement. Their pockets and bags were filled with daggers, crossbows, thunder bombs and other melee weapons. Some of them even cut their fingers and painted a grimace on their faces, like ferocious beasts ready to devour their prey, with an aura of fearlessness and bravery all over their bodies.

Wang Xiaojie, who was dressed in the same attire, strode to Xue Rengui's horse, knelt on one knee, and said loudly: "I have led the 'Vanguard Camp' to assemble and are waiting for the commander-in-chief's orders!"

The so-called "first-come-first-served camp" is actually a suicide squad. They are always at the forefront of the charge into battle, ready to die and unparalleled in their bravery.

The casualty ratio was extremely high. Among the hundreds of "first climbers" in front of us, only a few survived the war. But precisely because of this, their military merits were extremely great and the rewards were extremely high, and their status in the army was incomparable to that of ordinary soldiers.

Xue Rengui withdrew his gaze from the neatly lined-up "Vanguard Camp" and fell on the distant Hengluo City.

A moment later, there was a flash of fire in the city, then it became bright as day, and then a series of extremely dull explosions were heard.

Xue Rengui waved his hand and said, "Attack the city!"

Wang Xiaojie stood up and led hundreds of "vanguards" to march forward at high speed, rushing towards the city wall without saying a word.