Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

After Han Da gave the order, the soldiers by the city wall poured buckets of prepared kerosene onto the slaves lined up below the city.

After the slaves were doused with oil, they rushed out without stopping at all.

They charged toward the heavily armed shield-bearing cavalry, who resembled war machines.

After grabbing one tightly, he shouted to the slaves beside him, "Light a fire!"

The slaves nearby immediately understood.

He grabbed a wooden stick from the side and threw it up.

The slaves were set ablaze, their bodies covered in oil, as were the shield-bearers.

The two of them were ignited together.

No matter how hard the shield-bearers fought, the slaves clinging to them couldn't shake them off!

The shield-bearers were instantly ignited.

Seeing that it was effective, these surviving slaves risked their lives and followed one after another.

"You bunch of damned Turks! I'll kill you all!"

They roared with fury from the depths of their souls, and like moths to a flame, they rushed toward the shield-bearers.

One side was prepared to die.

The surviving shield riders watched as their fully armed shield riders turned into charred fire, and the thought of retreat began to take root in their hearts.

Fortunately, the Turkic reinforcements arrived quickly, but the Turkic forces were simply too numerous.

The cavalry sent to provide support were also very experienced in attacking cities.

Holding a shield in one hand and controlling his horse with the other, he charged forward, instantly breaking through the suicidal attacks of the slaves. They found it difficult to inflict damage on the shield-wielding cavalry!

Although the defenders on the city wall fired round after round under Han Da's command, the Turks charged fiercely.

It's unlikely to be effective in stopping them.

After the cavalry charged into the slaves' positions, the slaves' suicidal attacks were greatly restricted by the horses.

They had no choice but to take down the cavalrymen nearby with them.

The spies mixed in with the enemy, now completely dropped their pretense, revealing their true colors and jumping out to join the Turkic attack team, shouting repeatedly, "I am a Turk! I am one of our own!"

From the city wall, Handa watched the battle unfold. The slaves were completely outmatched; they were facing an overwhelming one-sided disadvantage.

Immediately issue an order to roll the boulders they threw at the city wall back down and launch an indiscriminate attack.

The war was extremely brutal.

In less than half an incense stick's time, the Turks had killed almost all the slaves.

Although the Turks also suffered many casualties, their greatest losses were actually to the shield-bearers who were killed in a suicide attack by the slaves!

This infuriated the Ashina tribe, who then commanded the Turks to act like they were possessed by mad dogs.

They originally planned to attack the city gate.

However, when their breaching wagons arrived, they found that the city gate had become as solid as a mountain wall, and they could not break through it even slightly no matter what they tried.

They attacked the city while hurling insults at each other!

"What the hell is this thing?! It's harder to carve than a mountain wall!"

Actually, this was before the Turks launched their attack.

Han Da used the first batch of cement produced under Xiao Ce's guidance to demolish the main gate of the city and replaced it with a concrete gate using cement, yellow sand, and gravel, just as Xiao Ce had suggested.

After replacing it, I tested it and it's indeed indestructible!

However, the first batch of cement produced was too small and could only reinforce the city gate. Han Da was confident that if he had enough cement and time, he could build this place as solid as a fortress!

When the Turks realized they couldn't breach the gates, they resorted to traditional siege ladders and shield-bearers digging into the walls in an attempt to create an opening.

However, they encountered fierce resistance from Han Da and his garrison.

Several times, the Turks managed to climb over the city walls.

Although those on the city wall were new soldiers, they were completely fearless of death!

They fought to the death and managed to repel several waves of them.

The battle of attack and defense lasted from nightfall until dawn, and both sides suffered enormous losses.

The Turks, having failed to capture the city after a prolonged siege, were already exhausted and their horses and men were worn out.

Unable to break through after a prolonged siege!

At this moment, the khans behind the siege looked extremely grim.

"Ashina, we can't continue fighting like this! Just this one city, Yanbei, has cost us 20,000 of our general's troops in a single night! And we still haven't taken it! Those cheap lives of the Xiao people are worthless; they're not afraid to die! But the lives of our Turkic warriors, like eagles, are precious! We can't afford to use the lives of our Turkic people to pay the price!"

"Yes, Ashina. I know your shield cavalry suffered heavy losses! However, our losses are also considerable! I feel there's something wrong with our intelligence!"

"That's right, those people on the city wall are like they've been injected with chicken blood, they're completely fearless! They can't be conscripted disaster victims, they're just ordinary civilians. This is their first time fighting, and this kind of scene must have scared them so much they wet their pants!"

"Yes! These defenders must be the elite troops of the Xiao Kingdom, otherwise we would have already breached the city! Let's retreat first. Otherwise, even if we take it, our losses will be extremely heavy!"

Following the advice of the group of leaders, Ashina's face turned ashen: "That's right, our intelligence must be flawed! The defenders on this city wall are putting up such a stubborn resistance. We've attacked several times, but they've driven us back each time! These can't be new recruits; any new recruits facing this level of intensity would have collapsed long ago!"

Ashina, as the leader of the united tribes, was unwilling, but he truly did not want to step down.

However, he then remembered the reminder that Mr. Qianlong had given him.

He finally decided to retire!

He looked at the already dilapidated city wall with resentment, but it would take at least another day and night to breach it.

However, this one day and one night may cost tens of thousands of lives.

This is totally not worth it!

Ashina, his face ashen, shouted, "Attention everyone! Rear lines become front lines! Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"

Han Da stood on the city wall, his face covered in blood, his eyes bloodshot, and his lips cracked.

He watched as the Turks receded like a tide.

His voice was hoarse from shouting all night!

"Soldiers, the Turks have retreated! We have won the first battle! We held our ground! You did it!"

With an arm dangling beside Han Da, an arrow still lodged in it, and covered in blood, Sun Qiang said, "General Han, should we send another wave of archers to stop them? We can't let them escape so easily!"

Han Da waved his hand: "Such an attack is meaningless. They retreated very methodically and are still under protection. Arrows will hardly be effective, so let's save them."

As she spoke, she turned to look at Sun Qiang and noticed that he had been shot with an arrow.

"Deputy General Sun, your hand!"

Sun Qiang forced a smile: "It's nothing! Just a minor injury..."

Han Da immediately shouted, "Medic! Medic! Come and treat Vice General Sun's wounds!"

A military doctor ran over from the side to treat Sun Qiang's injuries.

The surviving soldiers, covered in blood, supported each other as they faced the rising sun.

They looked at the departing Turks, feeling no joy of victory, their eyes filled with sorrow, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

The corpses on the city walls were piled up, and the area below was covered with charred pieces of flesh. What were originally corpses had been reduced to pieces by the trampling of the Turkic horses.

The smell of burnt meat still lingered in the air!

After the Turks completely disappeared, the tense nerves of these new recruits immediately relaxed.

A host of negative emotions welled up inside me.

One person burst into tears, and everyone else followed suit.

Most of these new recruits are young people who are seventeen or eighteen years old.

Seeing this, some of Sun Qiang's lieutenants were about to speak up when Han Da stopped them: "Let them cry. Think about yourselves when you first went to the battlefield, when you first killed someone. You weren't necessarily as strong as them, were you?"

Upon hearing Sun Qiang's words, the lieutenants were speechless and nodded.

Han Da said, "Have the reserve team waiting below the city come up and carry all the corpses down. Then, have another group of people take over the guard duty! Everyone, go and rest!"

"Sun Qiang, you should go get treated right away!"

As he spoke, Han Da began to direct the cleanup efforts.

...

Yanbei City faced considerable difficulties, while Xiao Ce, in the rear of the Turks, thrived.

Taking advantage of the night before, he launched a night raid on two of Helu's sub-tribes.

Xiao Ce showed no mercy, killing some of the Turks and capturing others.

It wasn't that Xiao Ce was soft-hearted; he simply wanted to restore the slaves' courage.

Xiao Ce discovered that the slaves were completely terrified by the Turks' bullying.

Only by letting them witness the weakness of these Turks firsthand and by letting them kill them themselves can their confidence be built.

Xiao Ce led the prisoners, the freed slaves, and the money, food, horses, cattle, and sheep to the gathering place where Zhang Yunqing and his group were.

Zhang Yunqing came to greet them upon hearing the commotion.

Seeing the dark mass behind Xiao Ce, his eyes lit up.

"Your Highness, you've really made quite a haul this time."

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "Yes, the slaves from several small tribes add up to 20,000, plus cattle, sheep, money, grain, and jewels. Go and count them yourself."

Zhang Yunqing cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Your Highness! Today, our scouts spotted quite a few cavalry scouts approaching, but they didn't get close. However, they probably saw that our side is covered with Ashina tribe flags, so they all went back!"

Xiao Ce nodded, a sly glint in his eyes: "That's good. It seems we can help Han Da and the others alleviate a lot of pressure in Yanbei City sooner!"

Zhang Yunqing said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, you mean..."

Xiao Ce said to Zhang Yunqing, "For the next period of time, I need to speed things up; this is too slow. I'll tell you my marching route. I'll go and attack first, and then you can go and finish them off and collect supplies."

As they were talking, Xiao Ce saw Wei Wuji riding a horse, waiting in the distance, seemingly wanting to see him.

Xiao Ce knew that Wei Wuji was a person with a sense of propriety, so he smiled and waved to Wei Wuji.

Wei Wuji then approached with a smile and utmost respect.

"Your Highness, did you have a safe journey?"

Seeing that Wei Wuji seemed to have something to say, Xiao Ce said to him, "Just say what you have to say!"