Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5141 Capturing the Thief and Capturing the King
Outside the city, there were drums beating, people shouting and horses neighing, soldiers on the city walls were walking back and forth, but inside the city was completely silent. The Arab army had long been accustomed to the Tang army's "confusing attack strategy", and except for the troops who took turns to climb the city walls to participate in the defense, the rest were still sleeping as usual, turning a deaf ear to the Tang army's harassment.

The Tang army soldiers felt the marks carved with daggers every day in the hiding places dug out inside the well. They knew that today was the first day of the new year. They had already made preparations, and they climbed up to the edge of the well one after another by stepping on the pre-dug footholds inside the well.

He carefully stuck his head out and seeing that there was no one around, he nimbly climbed over the edge of the well and ran towards the place where the lead wire was buried, crouching down.

Either turn over the thick stone slabs, or crawl into the canals in the city, or sneak into a house... take out the tinder from the backpack, remove the cap, blow it carefully, bring the weak flame close to the fuse, and light it.

Then he quickly returned to the well where he was hiding...

The Tang army was very familiar with this tactic. When Fang Jun led the Youtun Guards out of Baidao, he used it to deal with the Xueyantuo.

The pre-buried fuses are left long enough so that the burning time is enough to ensure that the soldiers return to their hiding places.

When the fuse burns out... Boom!

Almost at the same time, dozens of gunpowder buried in the city were detonated, and the ground shook as if a dragon was turning over. Many fragile houses even collapsed. The kerosene bombs buried with the gunpowder were also detonated. The kerosene inside was ignited and thrown in all directions with the explosion, burning wood and stone wherever it went.

The huge city of Hengluo was like a huge lantern, which was ignited in an instant.

Amir was awakened from his sleep by a huge roar. He felt the earth shaking under his feet. He was so scared that he didn't even have time to put on his clothes. He ran out of the tent barefoot. The scene before him shocked him.

Everywhere you look, you see flames engulfing everything. Large tracts of barracks were engulfed in flames. Countless soldiers were wailing, running, and rolling in the flames. War horses and mules were neighing and running wildly. It was a complete chaos.

Especially when he saw that the government office building not far away was almost razed to the ground, a shudder surged up from the bottom of his heart. If he had lived there after entering the city, he would have been blown to pieces and died by now.

But even if I was lucky enough to escape the disaster, how good can things be now?

The entire city of Hengluo was engulfed in flames.

Amir's head was buzzing and he was completely confused.

……

Flames lit up, explosions sounded, and the Tang army began a massive attack.

The "Vanguard Camp" running in the front was running at a very fast pace. The Arab army on the city wall was already in a daze. Dozens of explosions occurred in the city behind them, and black and red flames rose up at the same time. The whole city was engulfed in flames, and no one knew what was going on.

Seeing that the Tang army began to attack the city, the officer barely calmed down and ordered the city to be defended.

However, before they could use bows and arrows or rolling logs to resist the attack, they felt a violent shaking under their feet. Then a roar like thunder rang in their ears. Pieces of the city walls were blown down by the buried gunpowder, bricks and wood flew everywhere, and the sky collapsed and the earth sank.

The surviving soldiers ignored their comrades who were buried under the collapsed city walls. They were terrified, their morale collapsed, and they fled in all directions in panic.

Wang Xiaojie led the way, rushed up the collapsed city wall, slashed a frightened enemy soldier who was running towards him with his sword, and shouted loudly: "Charge!"

The eyes of the hundreds of "first-to-climb camp" behind him all turned red. The reason why the "first-to-climb" camp was credited with the greatest merit was that they had to storm the city walls fiercely when capturing a fortified city, and suffered heavy casualties facing the enemy's attacks from high above. Now the city walls had collapsed, leaving several huge gaps, and the toughest bone to chew was gone. The "merit of being the first to climb" was almost at their fingertips, so how could they not be ecstatic?
"Kill, kill, kill!"

Hundreds of vanguards jumped onto the collapsed city walls like tigers, stepped on the messy blue bricks and stones, and charged towards the chaotic enemy troops.

They rushed into the city in one charge.

Wang Xiaojie restrained his subordinates and did not go to harvest the chaotic soldiers running around in the city. Instead, he formed a battle formation on the spot and charged at the enemy troops that occasionally gathered within a certain area, moving slowly towards the city gate to ensure that there would be no organized and large-scale resistance from the enemy inside the city gate, clearing obstacles for the large army to enter the city smoothly.

In fact, the enemy's command system completely failed. In the chaos, the generals did not know their soldiers and the soldiers did not know their generals, so they were unable to organize a decent defense.

By the time Wang Xiaojie led the vanguard camp and opened the city gate, teams of Tang cavalry rushed in and poured into the city like a tide. The war had come to an end, and all that was left was chasing and killing.

The entire city had turned into a huge torch. Countless Arab troops were panicking in the explosion and crying in the flames. The unprecedented fear made them at a loss and they didn't know what to do. They subconsciously looked for their officers, but how could they find them in the chaos and disorder in the flames?
The command system was completely paralyzed and unable to organize effective resistance. In addition, the Tang army was well-trained, with sharp swords and fast horses. A team of seven or eight people charged and raided everywhere in the city like a whirlwind, cutting the Arab army into pieces, annihilating them separately, and harvesting them at will.

Wang Xiaojie gathered his soldiers at the inner side of the city gate. The mission of "being the first to climb the city gate" had been completed, but this most courageous troop could not rest there. They would not gain any benefit by charging recklessly with the main force, so they immediately raised their arms and said, "Follow me, and capture the bandit chief alive!"

He was familiar with the terrain of the city, and immediately led the "Vanguard Camp" to rush towards the government office.

The enemy troops in the city had already been scattered and routed by the Tang cavalry. Seeing that there was no way to escape, teams of defeated soldiers dropped their weapons and squatted on the ground waiting to be captured. Normally, this was what the Tang army liked to do most. What merit could be easier than capturing the enemy?

But now Wang Xiaojie didn't even look at it. He moved as fast as the wind and led the "Vanguard Camp" to circle left and right. After a while, they emerged from the chaos outside and arrived near the office.

As luck would have it, I saw hundreds of people gathered here. They were not in panic or disarray like the outer troops, but were instead neat and orderly. Someone was leading dozens of war horses from a stable not far away.

One of them was standing on the side of the road, surrounded by a crowd of people. He was wearing a set of bronze chain mail, a helmet, and a slender Cambridge sword hanging from his waist, which made Wang Xiaojie's eyes widen.

The cavalry of the Arab army mostly used long sabers, and the infantry mostly used scimitars, but such a long sword was rare. It was obvious that this man must be a general of the Arab army.

As for whether it was Amir himself, Wang Xiaojie had no time to confirm it, because many soldiers had already trotted over with their horses, obviously planning to escape...

Wang Xiaojie kept walking and gave orders in a low voice: "Check the crossbows, unsheathe the swords, and take out the thunder bombs. Light them up when I tell you to. The target is the guy with the long sword on his waist. Use the thunder bombs to blow up the horses. I want this guy alive!"

"Here!"

The soldiers around him obeyed the order, trotting non-stop and whispering the order back one by one.

Although the hundreds of people did not shout "Charge" or "Kill", they inevitably made a dull sound when running together, and they were discovered before they got close to the opponent.

Wang Xiaojie shouted in a deep voice: "Ignite! Throw!"

The soldiers who still had thunder bombs left had already received the order, and had their fire starters ready. They immediately went to the fuse to light it, then ran a few quick steps and threw it out with all their might.

The others who didn't have the thunder bomb picked up their crossbows, pulled the triggers, and fired all the crossbow arrows at once, then brandished their swords and charged silently behind Wang Xiaojie.

……

Amir was awakened from his sleep by the explosion. When he went out, he saw flames everywhere. He felt as if struck by lightning, the world was spinning around him, and for a moment he felt as if the sky was falling.

In the end what happened? !

When the captain came to report that the Tang army had begun to attack the city, he was awakened from his daze...

He quickly gave orders, asking the captains of each unit to organize the soldiers to put out the fire and resist at the same time.

However, just as the order was given, another captain came to report that the city wall had collapsed in several places, the Tang army had rushed in through the gaps, and the troops in various places were resisting.

Amir quickly summoned his personal soldiers and generals, ordered them to prepare horses, and rushed forward shouting to block the Tang army. The city of Henglus must not be lost!
Once the city of Hengluo falls, won’t it be that his merits and demerits cannot offset each other?

Having fought in battles for half his life, he knew very well that at that point the entire army would most likely collapse. If the city could not be defended, they would have no choice but to retreat outside the city, with the Tang army chasing them. That would mean a crushing defeat, and even the arrival of the gods would be unable to reverse the situation.

Without these tens of thousands of soldiers, how could he be valued by Muawiyah when he returned to Damascus?

We must fight to the death!

As a result, before the guards could bring the horses from the stables, they received news that the city gate had been breached and the Tang cavalry poured into the city like a tide, killing anyone they saw...

All courage disappeared in an instant.

Death also comes with a price. If he could stop the Tang army and defend Hengrus, he would naturally fight to the death and die gloriously. After his death, he would be awarded honors, his descendants would benefit, and the tribe would be replenished.

But if even if I die in battle I can’t defend the city of Hengluo, and even cause all my troops to be wiped out, wouldn’t that be a meaningless death?
Amir made a prompt decision: "Retreat!"

But at this moment, a team suddenly came out from the side, which surprised Amir and others, because the attire of these people was completely different from that of ordinary Tang troops. For a moment, they were unable to react which unit this was?
When the firelight illuminated the faces of these soldiers and saw their obvious Tang features, Amir woke up from his dream and shouted, "Enemy attack!"

He turned around and hid behind several soldiers...

The people nearby were all Amir's close associates, all of them elite soldiers. After a brief pause, they reacted and first gathered in front of Amir to form a defense. Then hundreds of people moved together to fight against the Tang army that was rushing over.

However, the oncoming thunderbolt fell into the formation, rolled a few times on the ground, and exploded with flames.