Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5259: Capture Alive
The fireworks signal was meant to wake up the secret agents lurking in the city lord's mansion, but it also alerted the guards of the city lord's mansion. When Wang Xiaojie led his soldiers to the junction between the inside and outside of the city lord's mansion, they were blocked by dozens of guards who rushed out in a panic and whose clothes were disheveled.

The other side was clearly startled, not expecting that someone would sneak into the city lord's mansion and arrive here so quickly. There was some chaos for a moment, and they shouted loudly while raising their weapons to try to form a formation to block them.

"shoot!"

Wang Xiaojie gave a low shout, raised his crossbow, and pulled the trigger. The bowstring vibrated, and the crossbow bolt shot out, hitting a man in the chest. The man screamed and fell backward.

Upon hearing the order, the soldiers behind him opened fire, and a dense rain of arrows pierced through the swirling snow and struck the enemy ranks. Countless men were hit by arrows almost instantly, and some in front were covered in crossbow bolts like hedgehogs. Screams filled the air, and the nascent formation completely collapsed.

The two sides were too close to reload their crossbows in time. The soldiers hung the crossbow bolts on their waists, drew their swords, and silently charged forward, rushing into the enemy ranks in the blink of an eye. Their swords flashed, and the splattered blood melted the snow on the ground. The enemy screamed and fell to the ground, watching helplessly as this group of enemies descended from the sky and marched over them in an orderly fashion before dying. They rushed into the inner courtyard without any hindrance, their movements swift and agile, like tigers released from their cages.

……

However, upon entering the inner quarters, they encountered real resistance.

The outer residences were guarded by the city lord's mansion and were subordinate to Xie He, the envoy of the Eastern Route and the city lord of Mulu. These guards were used to living a life of luxury and bullying men and women in the city. They had neither strong martial arts nor strict discipline. In front of the elite Tang army, they could only be regarded as a rabble and were no match for them.

However, the inner quarters consist of Ye Qide's personal guards who followed him to Suyab City and then retreated to this place. They are not only incredibly skilled in individual combat, but also adept at forming formations to fight the enemy. Their discipline and morale are also clearly superior. After all, protecting Ye Qide's safety is their duty. Ye Qide's life or death is equivalent to the life or death of these guards and the entire family. How could they not fight to the death?

Pairs of guards rushed out from all parts of the inner courtyard, surrounding the enemy force that had descended from the sky like a tidal wave.

Wang Xiaojie remained calm in the face of danger and shouted, "Don't linger in battle! Follow me and charge straight for the enemy chief!"

"Here!"

Despite being surrounded, the Tang soldiers responded loudly and were in high spirits!
With his horizontal sword, Wang Xiaojie sliced ​​through the enemy's weapon from top to bottom. The momentum of the sword did not diminish. The blade then sliced ​​open the enemy's leather armor as easily as cutting tofu. The leather armor, the inner lining, and even the chest were split in two. Blood gushed out, and internal organs spilled out. The enemy screamed in agony as Wang Xiaojie kicked him away. His horizontal sword flew like a tiger among sheep, and no one could withstand him. The other soldiers followed closely behind, protecting his left and right flanks. He fiercely plunged into the enemy formation and fought his way through a gap, charging towards the main hall of the inner courtyard. Wherever he went, corpses lay strewn and blood flowed like rivers.

In terms of weapon quality, individual soldier skills, and morale, the guards were completely outmatched. Seeing that this mysterious army was unstoppable, the guards' morale finally wavered. They dared not meet the enemy's attack head-on and had to fight and retreat. The guards facing the Tang army even hurriedly dodged to both sides, until the Tang army broke through to the front of the main hall.

Wang Xiaojie charged ahead fiercely, but as he looked at the main hall getting closer and closer, he hesitated.

The city lord's mansion is mostly made of stone, and this main hall is no exception. It looks spacious and sturdy. Once you rush in, whether or not you can kill Ye Qide, you will inevitably be surrounded by the guards outside. They will then form a line with spears and shields and snipe with bows and arrows. Your troops will be like wild beasts locked in a cage. No matter how sharp their claws are, they will only be surrounded and killed.

Death is not a concern. Being able to ride a hot air balloon and risk such great danger to carry out a "decapitation mission" already shows that they have put life and death aside. Otherwise, what kind of "suicide squad" would they be?

What I fear most is that Ye Qide might be on guard and not be in the main hall.
Death is acceptable, but failing to complete the mission, resulting in the deaths of another group of comrades attacking the North Gate in the chaos, and ultimately the failure of the entire plan, is unacceptable.

But with more and more enemy troops around him, how could he afford to think things through carefully?
Once entangled, he would be forced into a bitter struggle, with no further opportunity to assassinate Ye Qide.

Wang Xiaojie gritted his teeth, ready to give the order to rush into the main hall...

Just then, a loud "boom" rang in his ears. Wang Xiaojie looked in astonishment and saw a ball of fire bursting out at the entrance of a house on the left, which was particularly conspicuous in the night. The stone gate of the house was blown open, and more than ten guards were lying on the ground, struggling and screaming in agony.

Thunder of the sky!
Wang Xiaojie perked up and, without further hesitation, shouted, "Follow me!"

He turned his blade around and charged towards the house.

The Arabs could not possibly possess thunderbolts, and even if they did, they would not use them in an inconspicuous place more than ten feet away from their own side. The only explanation is that the secret agents lurking in the city lord's mansion received the signal from the fireworks and used thunderbolts to guide their attack direction.

As expected, Ye Qide was not in the main hall!
The enemy's heavy troop deployment outside the main hall was meant to mislead them into believing it was Ye Qide's residence; those who actually rushed in would have fallen into the enemy's trap...

so close!

Tang Jun's feint and subsequent charge in another direction not only thwarted the enemy's plans but also allowed them to escape the enemy's heavy encirclement. They broke out of the encirclement and surged into the courtyard like a tidal wave through the open gates.

Wang Xiaojie rushed into the courtyard first, and saw a dark figure flash out from behind the door, shouting, "Come with me!"

It's a genuine Guanzhong accent.

Without a word, Wang Xiaojie grabbed his sword and chased after the man, rushing into a courtyard on the left. Dozens of guards were waiting in the courtyard, but they were scattered by the Tang army as soon as they engaged. Wang Xiaojie followed the man and kicked open a door. He saw someone yelling and trying to rush out of the door in the darkness. Wang Xiaojie kicked the person away and then blew on a tinderbox to light up the room. A person was writhing and struggling on the ground, clutching his stomach.

……

Although Ye Qide was reckless, violent, and lacked strategic ability, he was definitely not stupid. Although Mulu City was under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, it was not his territory. Who knew who was behind the host envoy Xie He and which camp he was on? What if he had ulterior motives towards him? Wouldn't he be at the mercy of others?
Therefore, when going to sleep at night, Yeqide did not stay in the beautifully decorated, safe and comfortable main hall, but secretly went to the guards' quarters to sleep, so that even if the Sheikh was against him, he could buy some time to react.

Sure enough, things changed in the middle of the night!
Hearing the sounds of fighting and shouting in the outer courtyard, Ye Qide was woken up from his bed by his personal guards. He was immediately terrified. While directing his guards to surround and kill the assassins who had broken into the main hall, he was also glad that he had the foresight to do so, otherwise he would probably have been hacked to death by the assassins by now.

However, an explosion startled him awake. He learned that the courtyard gate had been blown open and the guards had suffered heavy casualties. Ye Qide felt a chill run down his spine, knowing that something terrible was about to happen. The explosion not only destroyed the courtyard gate but also pointed him in the right direction.

Sure enough, the enemy charged at them the next moment.

Seeing his carefully selected Arab warriors utterly defeated by the enemy's charge, Ye Qide was terrified.

Having fought against the Tang army for a long time, this group of assassins displayed the same strength, discipline, and ruthlessness as the Tang army. How could they be mistaken?

He cursed Xie He in his heart, convinced that Xie He had lured the Tang people into the city to assassinate him, otherwise how could the Tang army have entered the city without anyone noticing?
Could it have flown in with wings?
He wanted nothing more than to tear Xie He to pieces, but hiding inside was useless; he was captured alive by the Tang army who kicked down the door...

……

The person who had led the way stepped forward to examine him closely, then stood up and said to Wang Xiaojie, "This man is Ye Qide!"

Upon hearing this, several soldiers nearby raised their swords, ready to swiftly kill Ye Qide and complete their mission for the day.

"stop!"

Wang Xiaojie quickly shouted to stop them, and after halting several soldiers, he turned to look at the spy.

"Was it you who detonated the deafening thunderbolt just now?"

"Yes."

"Is there anything left?"

"There are still a dozen or so left."

Wang Xiaojie looked him up and down, slightly surprised: "Why would a secret agent hide so many thunderbolts?"

The spy glanced at him, expressionless: "Wait for orders to assassinate, sabotage, or commit suicide."

Wang Xiaojie was filled with awe. Hidden deep within the enemy's heartland, they faced the constant danger of being exposed. For a secret agent, once exposed, there was only one path left: death.

Even though they had already disregarded life and death, who would want to die after being tortured?
It's better to leave yourself a thunderbolt, so you can end your own life when necessary. A short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one...

Ignoring the threat of death, Ye Qide stared wide-eyed at the spy, wishing he could dig up Xie He's ancestors for eighteen generations and grind them to dust. How could you be completely unaware that such a Tang Dynasty spy was openly infiltrating the city lord's mansion?

Wang Xiaojie then asked, "Where is Xie He?"

“After Yezid entered the city and lived in the city lord’s mansion, Sheikh moved outside the mansion. He had a house not far from there where he kept a Persian beauty.”

"how far?"

"About the distance of an incense stick's burning."

After careful consideration, Wang Xiaojie estimated the time it would take for Xie He to receive the news, gather troops, and rush to the city lord's mansion for rescue...

"Send all the Thunderclap Bombs over here; I will defend this place to the death."

"Here!"

Without asking a single question, the spy turned to retrieve the hidden thunderbolt.

Wang Xiaojie pointed at Ye Qide: "Two men, tie this guy up and gag him. If we can hold out until the army enters the city, the living Abbasid prince will be very valuable. If we can't hold out, you two don't need to do anything at the last moment, just finish him off."

"Here!"

Ye Qide was also very perceptive. When he saw that the Tang army did not kill him immediately but instead used ropes to tie him up and gag him, he was overjoyed. He realized that the Tang people knew his value and were waiting to extort ransom from the Abbasid Caliphate in the future.