Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5168 A critical moment

The moon is crescent and the stars are twinkling.

The cool night breeze made the wild grass on the river bank sway like waves, and the sound of the river flowing could be heard.

Hundreds of people pulled small boats and wooden boards from the piled up grass in the shallows, and pushed them into the water along the mudflats on the river bank. Then, they jumped into the river without hesitation, and used ropes to pull the small boats into the center of the river and to the other side. They then used ropes to fix each small boat at a certain distance, and then transported wooden boards from the shore and laid them up one by one.

On the south bank, Fuhuman was very nervous.

All the scouts in the tribe have been sent out to investigate the movements of the Arab army. If anyone approaches this side, they will be assassinated!

After all, if the Arab scouts were nearby, they would easily find that a floating bridge was being built on the river. If an early warning was given, the Arabs would come in droves. Before the floating bridge was successfully built, it would be impossible for them to resist the Arabs' attack, and it would be very likely that their efforts would fail...

The wind was strong and the waves were rolling tonight. The boat was swaying on the river, which made the laying of the wooden boards very slow.

Sweating suddenly broke out.

……

On the north bank, Wang Xiaojie, who was standing by the river and gazing at the river with all his might, was extremely anxious.

"How stupid are these barbarians? Instead of laying three pontoon bridges at the same time, which would be a waste of time, why not finish one first to help us cross the river, set up positions, and guard the riverbank? Where are the scouts?!"

Immediately a scout stepped forward and asked respectfully, "General, what do you want?"

"Swim across the river immediately and tell that idiot Fuhuman that everyone should gather together to build a floating bridge first. As long as our troops cross the river, we can hold the river bank firmly in case of any unexpected situation. Otherwise, if the Arabs notice and mobilize their troops to attack us, can they stop us?"

"Here!"

The scout immediately understood Wang Xiaojie's meaning. He quickly took off his clothes, jumped into the river with a running start, and swam hard towards the south bank.

Fuhuman was anxiously jumping up and down on the south bank, constantly shouting at the soldiers to speed up the construction of the pontoon bridge. When his subordinates informed him that a Tang soldier had swam across the river and asked for a meeting, Fuhuman quickly had the soldier brought to him. Before he could ask the other party's purpose, the Tang soldier told him everything Wang Xiaojie said.

Fu Human: “…”

He slapped his head and quickly ordered: "Yes, yes, yes, everyone, concentrate on building a floating bridge first!"

The Kangguo soldiers in the river had to move to the floating bridge on the far left...

However, at this moment, a soldier came galloping over on horseback, shouting from afar: "Prince, the Arabs are coming to attack us!"

Fu Human was shocked: "You came so quickly?"

However, this matter had already been expected. After all, it was impossible for the Arabs to completely trust the people of Kangguo. It was normal for them to send troops to patrol along the river bank from time to time. It was just that they did not expect to be discovered at the most critical moment.

"How far are the Arabs from here?"

"Less than ten miles!"

Fu Human made a prompt decision: "The soldiers in the river should work hard to lay the pontoon bridge. We must complete it no matter what to help the Tang army cross the river. The rest of you will follow me to fight the enemy. We must stop the Arabs!"

At this point, there is no way to retreat. The only thing to do is to try to stop the Arabs and build the pontoon bridge as soon as possible. As long as the Tang army can cross the river, they will surely be able to defeat the Arab army. Otherwise, the Arabs will be angry and the whole of Kangguo will most likely suffer a massacre.

He drew out his sword, took hundreds of his trusted soldiers with him, and headed towards the city of Aludi without hesitation. Before they had gone a few miles, they saw a group of more than a thousand Arab troops rushing towards them. Fu Human raised his sword high, shouted loudly, and charged towards the Arab army.

The Arab army did not expect that the Kangguo army would dare to counterattack. They were unprepared and immediately panicked, and a melee broke out between the two sides.

Although the Arab army had the advantage in manpower, Fuhuman was surrounded by his trusted elite soldiers, and for a time the two were evenly matched and neither could do anything to the other.

……

Yezid went to Tong'e's banquet in the evening and drank a lot of wine. He fell asleep when he returned to his residence. In the middle of the night, Auf and Maslama suddenly broke into the bedroom and pulled Yezid, who was sleeping soundly, out of the bed...

Ye Qide looked confused and asked subconsciously: "What happened?"

Ao Fu said quickly: "Fuhuman secretly raised boats and built a floating bridge at the shallow upstream, he must be here to help the Tang army cross the river!"

"what?!"

A cold sweat instantly oozed out of Ye Qide, and he woke up immediately with a shock. He gritted his teeth and cursed: "You thief, how dare you do this!"

Then he said in panic: "The Tang army came suddenly, we are not prepared enough, we should escape quickly!"

He jumped up, grabbed his clothes and put them on hastily, preparing to escape.

Auf: "..."

Maslama quickly grabbed Yezid and said, "Don't worry, Marshal. Fortunately, we discovered it early. The pontoon bridge has not been completed yet, and the Tang army has not crossed the river yet!"

Yezid: “…”

It is too embarrassing for a commander-in-chief of an army to first think of escaping when facing the enemy.

He glared at Aof, feeling extremely dissatisfied. Couldn't you speak more clearly?

After calming down, Ye Qide said, "Military advisor, please lead the troops out of the city to destroy the pontoon bridge and prevent the Tang army from crossing the river. General Maslama, please follow me to find Tong'e. If we don't kill the old villain, I will never be able to let go of my hatred!"

Since the whole Kang State has betrayed the Arabs, there is no need for them to stay alive. We should kill Tong'e first, and then slaughter the entire city after destroying the floating bridge. We must kill one to warn the rest!

They immediately split up and acted separately.

Yazid put on his armor, holding a long sword in his hand, with Maslama guarding on one side, and hundreds of his personal guards rushed straight to Tong'e's residence.

When they met Kangguo guards along the way, Yeqide waved his hand without saying a word, and his personal guards rushed forward, killing the unsuspecting Kangguo guards one by one, and broke into Tong'e's residence in the city lord's mansion with great momentum.

Seeing that the garden was heavily guarded and brightly lit, it was clear that they had been well prepared.

Ye Qide shouted and rushed in first, fighting with the Kangguo soldiers guarding the place. Although he was a little timid and had no strategic plan, he was tall and strong, and his fighting power was amazing. He wielded a long sword with great vigor, slashed and killed his way through, and rushed straight into the bedroom.

However, the room was empty.

Maslama walked forward quickly, looked through the messy bedding on the bed, and shouted, "The old thief was sleeping here just now. We blocked the door and he has no way to escape. He must still be in this room. Search quickly!"

The guards who rushed in scattered, overturned the tables, chairs and benches in the house, and searched all possible hiding places, but did not find Tong'e.

Ye Qide said: "Search carefully again, there must be a secret escape route!"

Building secret passages in the palace bedrooms is the most common way to protect oneself. There is more than one secret passage in the palace of Damascus...

Sure enough, the soldiers overturned a cabinet against the wall, revealing a hole at the back that was only accessible to adults.

Ye Qide was furious that the old thief had escaped through the secret passage. However, the most important thing at the moment was to stop the Tang army from crossing the river. He immediately said, "Send a team into the secret passage and kill Tong'e if you see him! The rest of you follow me out and guard the city to prevent any accidents!"

If Aofu fails to stop the Tang army, he will have no choice but to fight a decisive battle with the Tang army in Aludi City!

……

Auf hurriedly led thousands of troops out of the city and rushed upstream along the river bank. Not long after he went out, he heard the earth-shaking sound of fighting in the front. He hurriedly rode forward and saw that a team of Arab troops were surrounding a team of cavalry by virtue of their numerical advantage. The cavalry was extremely brave. They charged left and right in the encirclement, making the Arab army extremely embarrassed.

"Divide the troops into two groups. One group will advance to support and annihilate this group of enemies here. The other group will follow me to bypass the right wing and head east directly. Find the floating bridge and destroy it to prevent the Tang army from crossing the river!"

Fuhuman, who was in the encirclement, saw a large group of Arab troops coming and then split into two, with one group going straight around the battlefield and heading east. He was shocked and led his soldiers to try to break through the encirclement and block the advance of that group of Arab troops, but he was surrounded by more enemy troops. The pressure suddenly increased, and he had to watch the enemy troops split into two groups and head for the pontoon bridge, while he was engaged in a deadly battle.

*****
On the north bank of the Sabao River, Wang Xiaojie, wearing a helmet and armor, sat on his warhorse, his thick eyebrows furrowed, his eyes fixed on the dark river surface. The boats had been tied with ropes from south to north, and the wooden planks were laid one by one, leaving only more than three feet to the north bank.

Behind him, a thousand armored cavalry stood in neat rows in the darkness, their horses occasionally shaking their tails and paddling the ground with their hooves.

At this moment, a fire dragon suddenly came from the direction of Aludi City from west to east, and soon rushed to the floating bridge.

Wang Xiaojie's heart sank, knowing that the Arabs must have noticed that a pontoon bridge was being built here, so they came to obstruct and destroy it.

I just don't know if Fuhuman can hold off the Arabs' attacks and hold out until the pontoon bridge is completed...

The wooden boards were laid one by one, getting closer and closer to the shore.

The sound of fighting suddenly broke out on the other side of the river, and the battle became fierce.

Wang Xiaojie gripped the reins tightly, pursed his lips, and looked very nervous.

If the plan to cross the river tonight is destroyed by the enemy, there will be no chance to have such an opportunity in the future. Even Fuhuman and his sons and the Kang people of the entire Aludi City will probably suffer brutal revenge from the Arabs...

Then he found that the laying of wooden planks had almost stopped. It seemed that the fighting on the other side of the river was getting more intense, and the Kang people could no longer continue to run over with the wooden planks to continue laying them.

But the floating bridge is still ten feet away from the shore...

Wang Xiaojie turned around suddenly and ordered, "Move all the wooden objects in the tent here!"

"Here!"

A group of soldiers quickly retreated after receiving the order, and soon came back with some tables, wooden boxes, stools and other things, and threw them into the river one by one. However, the current was turbulent and many things were washed away.

More soldiers jumped into the water and used their bodies to stabilize those things, forming an uneven and undulating "floating bridge".

Wang Xiaojie rode his horse forward, and the horse slowly stepped onto the "floating bridge". Suddenly, his feet became unstable and he stumbled. He quickly grabbed the reins to maintain balance. The horse then slowly moved forward and finally crossed the "floating bridge" and stepped onto the wooden board.

But even the wooden planks were very thin and brittle, and the armored cavalry was too heavy. Once they galloped, their iron hooves would inevitably crush the wooden planks and fall into the river. They could only move cautiously, step by step, to the other side...