Tang Dynasty Swordsman

Page 55

Furthermore, the main target of the Tibetans is still Shancheng. They can't possibly leave the city empty and let them all rush to Xiaoxia. If that were the case, Guo Xin would dare to cut off their rear and attack Lhasa in one fell swoop! It's hard to say how many Tibetan troops we can tie down here, and we may not necessarily face certain death.

Upon hearing Li Yuanzhong's reply, Li Ji smiled and said, "In that case, I request permission to leave the ramparts and go—to stir up trouble."

After receiving Li Yuanzhong's approval, Li Ji led a hundred cavalrymen out of the camp and rode straight to within two arrow-lengths of the Tibetan army before stopping. The Tibetan army was on high alert and ready for battle—if the Tang army came in large numbers, they would have to quickly escort Da Lun and Da Shang back to camp. Since the number of Tang soldiers was so small, although there was nothing to fear, they were afraid of some trickery. It was better not to engage in battle for the time being and to observe the situation.

A Tang soldier appeared at the forefront, his general holding a long spear high in his right hand, the tip of which bore a human head. As he drew nearer, the general finally reined in his horse and shouted, "Yesterday I killed a barbarian bandit, but I don't know his name, so I can't report my victory. Does anyone here recognize him? Come and identify him, what his name is, what his rank is!"

The barbarians were all astonished—this guy has such a loud voice! Ma Chongying understood Tang language, so he immediately relayed it to Shang Xidongzan and ordered a general to go forward and "go see whose head it is, and whether you can recognize it."

The general, holding his weapon and on high alert, slowly rode closer. A quick glance from afar caused his face to turn pale. He then turned back and reported, "It's Qiangba Luobu!"

Hearing the Tang general shout again, "Judging from this situation, you must recognize him. This thief looks like one of your plateau warriors, yet he can't even last a round before my horse—well, he's rough-skinned and red-faced, a wild man like an ape, only able to roam the plateau, supporting an ape king and calling himself some kind of Zanpu; when he was hungry, he came down the mountain, and when he saw me, a Chinese, he could only stick out his buttocks and expose his neck, waiting for me to chop him down! Yesterday I killed no less than a hundred apes, it was so easy, so pleasant!"

Shang Xidong, having received a translator's reply—which Ma Chongying refused to relay—was so enraged that his three spirits leaped wildly, his beard bristling. He slapped the saddle and shouted, "You scoundrel! You've gone too far!" He pointed and demanded, "Who will kill this scoundrel and avenge Qiangba Luobu!"

Ma Chongying hurriedly stopped him, saying, "Wait! Since this scoundrel dared to come and hurl us such insults, he must have some skill. If we lose another general because of this, it will only dampen our morale..." After all, Qiangba Luobu was no weakling. Yesterday, he heard from the defeated soldiers that although they were attacked almost without warning, they probably didn't even use a tenth of their full strength, and they were indeed knocked down with a single spear thrust. Do we have any soldiers among our ranks who are significantly stronger than Qiangba Luobu? No, we don't think so...

"Why bother with a mere commoner who only knows how to talk big?"

Shang Xidong thought to himself, "You don't care? Qiangba Luobu isn't one of your men..." Still feeling indignant, one of his generals pleaded, "This scoundrel is spouting nonsense and has deeply insulted our country. How can we ignore him? I know a little about Tang language and am willing to go forward and, with just a few words, make him retreat in shame."

Upon hearing this, Shang Xidongzan exclaimed, "That's great!" and immediately ordered, "Go and drive that Tang traitor away... If you can make him feel ashamed and voluntarily return Qiangba Luobu's head, that would be the best, and you will be credited with the greatest merit."

The Tibetan general stepped forward as ordered—he had no choice, his voice wasn't loud enough, so he needed to be closer for both sides to hear him clearly—pointing his halberd at Li Ji, he roared, "You ignorant rat, how dare you compare my Zanpu to a beast! Yet your Tang dynasty has twice married princesses to my Zanpu, does that mean the Tang emperor is also a beast?!"

Li Ji curled his lip: "Oh ho, so she can speak human language. Too bad, 'Apes can talk, but they're still beasts.'" Then he said seriously: "The country is just choosing two distant relatives to raise beasts. You actually took it seriously... The one who married into the Uyghurs is the real princess. The previous ones were all fakes. What's there to be happy about?"

He silently prayed: I'm sorry to those two. Now that our motherland is in trouble, you must understand that you have suffered some verbal abuse.

His words drifted far to the west, and Ma Chongying, upon hearing that he dared to insult Princess Jincheng, was enraged. He spurred his horse forward...

/♂

Chapter Thirteen, Foul Language

Princess Jincheng was originally the daughter of Li Shouli, the Prince of Bin of the Tang Dynasty. She was adopted by Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian and sent to Tibet to marry the Tibetan king Chidai Zhudan as his principal wife.

Li Bi had previously explained this to Li Ji: what is a princess? A princess is an official title. Even a biological imperial daughter must be granted the title to be considered a princess—many imperial daughters who died young in history didn't have time to receive this title, and if they weren't posthumously granted one, theoretically they couldn't be called princesses. Conversely, even if someone was found in the wild, even if they came from a lowly palace maid background, if they were given the title of princess, then they were a true princess—although there are no precedents for this—so where does this fake princess come from?

Well, logically speaking, if An Lushan or An Qingxu had a daughter who was made a princess of the Yan Kingdom, and the Tang Dynasty did not recognize her, then she would indeed be considered a fake princess.

Therefore, when Li Ji immediately called Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng "fakes," Ma Chongying was furious. In particular, in his mind, Princess Jincheng, who had given him the Tang name, was not only the wife of the previous Zanpu, but also like a goddess descended from heaven. How could he allow others to insult her? Ma Chongying immediately jumped up, pulled on the reins, and was about to go forward.

This time, it was Shang Xidongzan who reached out in time, grabbed his reins, and then returned the words that Ma Chongying had just used to persuade him—"Why bother with a mere commoner who only knows how to talk big?"

Although Ma Chongying and Shangxi Dongzan ruled together and maintained a relatively harmonious relationship on the surface, there were bound to be some resentment regarding the division of power and interests. Therefore, Ma Chongying wasn't particularly saddened by the death of Qiangba Luobu—after all, he wasn't one of my men, and I've advised you many times to restrain that guy and prevent him from becoming arrogant, but you didn't listen, and now you've made a fool of yourself. Similarly, Shangxi Dongzan wasn't particularly angry about Li Jiru and Princess Jincheng—he was more inclined to side with the Tibetan concubine who came from Nepal—and was actually happy to see Ma Chongying fly into a rage.

But despite his rage, you are still the commander-in-chief of this expedition. If you rush forward and end up being killed on the spot, causing great harm to the country, I might not even benefit. Therefore, he hurriedly stopped Ma Chongying, but he returned Ma Chongying's words verbatim, and he could still sense the sourness in them.

Then Shangxi Dongzan said to Ma Chongying, "How can we atone for his crime of insulting the Zanpu if we don't tear this traitor to pieces? Is the Grand Master still unwilling to attack the Xiaoxia Tang camp first?"

Ma Chongying gritted his teeth: "As Da Shang said, we will send more troops to attack Xiaoxia!"

Just then, the barbarian general who had shouted returned, looking sullen. Ma Chongying then instructed him, "Go again and tell that thief to wash his neck clean. I will send troops to attack Tanglei in two days. If we capture him, we will dismember him alive! If he is afraid, leave behind Qiangba Luobu's head."

The general accepted the order and turned his horse back.

Over there, Li Ji displayed his old skills from online flame wars—the saying goes, "On the internet, who knows if the person behind the screen is a human or a dog." Therefore, a major characteristic of online flame wars is their "filth." No matter how shameless the words, they might not say them face-to-face, but anyone can dare to type them on a keyboard behind a screen, and they must display literary talent and use elaborate rhetoric to demonstrate their skill. Li Ji felt that if Chen Lin, Chen Kongzhang, or even Luo Binwang, the author of the "Proclamation Against Wu Zetian" he had just read about, were to reincarnate and engage in online flame wars, they might not be a match for an ordinary high school student.

Because cultured people care about their reputation, while keyboard warriors don't.

Of course, these days there are no keyboards to type on, no screens to hide one's face, so Li Ji's few curses weren't exactly his real specialty. Seeing that after he finished speaking, a general in the distance seemed to be pushing his way out, he thought to himself, "Fine, Ma Chongying, if you dare to step out of your guards' protection and take one more step forward, I'll pierce your heart with an arrow!"

Unfortunately, the one who finally came to the front was the same self-righteous barbarian general. However, this time he dared not be verbally aggressive. He simply declared that he would attack the Tang fortress in two days and threatened Li Ji, demanding that he return the head on the spearhead with both hands.

Li Ji then learned that the general he had killed the day before was named "Qiangba Luobu," but unfortunately, he still didn't know his position or rank...

So he lowered the spear he had raised high with his right hand, and with his left hand he took off Qiangba Luobu's head, shouting, "What use is this stinking thing? If you want it, take it." He then made a gesture as if to throw it away.

The opposing general instinctively spurred his horse forward—the two sides were still quite far apart, and if he were to throw the spear to the ground and let it roll a few times, it would be disrespectful to the dead—and opened his hands to catch it. Unexpectedly, Li Ji merely raised his head slightly, and almost simultaneously, his right hand, which was holding the spear, changed from a regular grip to a reverse grip, suddenly raised it above his head, and with his waist leading the movement, his shoulder leading the movement, and his shoulder leading the movement, he threw it directly out of his hand.

With a whoosh, the lance came hurtling towards the enemy. Caught off guard, the barbarian general was unable to dodge and was struck squarely on the shoulder by the spear tip. Fortunately, the distance was far enough that the spear's momentum had weakened and it could not penetrate the armor. However, the impact caused him to cry out in surprise and tumble off his horse.

Li Ji thought it was a pity, but shouted again, "This is a warning! If you beasts dare to violate the borders of my Great Tang again, I will first pierce that bald eagle with my spear, and then pierce that Zanpu Ape King with my spear!"

Enraged, Ma Chongying ordered his men: "Make sure you recognize this traitor's face. On the battlefield, you must capture him alive and I will personally chop off his limbs! Whoever captures this traitor will be promoted to general and rewarded with a thousand Tang slaves!"

Then he turned his horse around and left—if he stayed any longer, who knew what other disgusting things that bastard would say? It was better to hurry back, gather the troops, and make arrangements for the attack.

Li Ji originally thought that the Tibetan army, unable to bear the humiliation, would charge straight at them in formation. Since their forces outnumbered his own several times over, he certainly couldn't afford to fight them head-on. He planned to feign a retreat, luring them into the range of Tang Lei's arrows, thus inflicting casualties on them beforehand. Perhaps this would even disrupt the enemy's formation, giving him a chance to assassinate Ma Chongying!

To everyone's surprise, the barbarian bandits retreated on their own initiative. Even the one who had been knocked off his horse by his spear got up, mounted his horse, and rode away. Li Ji thought to himself, "I didn't curse them harsh enough. I should have gone straight for their groin the moment I saw them..." Not wanting to give chase, he could only raise Qiangba Luobu's head high with his left hand, shout, "The ape is afraid of people and has already retreated!" The hundred riders who had followed him also shouted in response.

Upon returning to the Tang camp and seeing Li Yuanzhong hand over the order, Li Ji said, "They boasted that they would come to attack our fortress in two days, and they will probably send more troops." If they didn't send more troops and generals, we could have seen the battle today. Why wait two more days?

Li Yuanzhong merely clicked his tongue and slowly said, "That Ma Chongying is quite tolerant... But if you were to insult me, the Emperor of the Tang family, I would rush forward and chop off your dog's head even if my army were wiped out..."

The generals standing nearby all nodded, feeling a sense of shared sympathy.

Li Yuanzhong then beckoned Li Ji closer and asked in a low voice, "It's one thing to curse the barbarians and the Zanpu, but why insult the two princesses of the previous dynasties?"

Li Ji smiled awkwardly, quickly lowered his head, and pleaded, "I hope the general will cover for me."

Li Yuanzhong said, "I don't care to listen to such vulgar language." He looked at the generals and asked, "You have never heard of this either, have you?" The generals replied, "We have only heard Inspector Li say that the barbarians have rough skin and red faces, like apes... but that is too far away. We have never heard of the rest."

Li Yuanzhong agreed, then changed the subject: "If the barbarian bandits only come with five thousand cavalry, I am not afraid; if they increase to ten thousand cavalry and infantry, I have a plan to resist; I fear that even more will come... But the more barbarian bandits come, the more secure Shancheng will be. Gentlemen, hurry down and discipline your soldiers, and prepare for battle."

"The barbarian bandits say they'll be here in two days. Who knows if it's not a ruse to deceive us? From this day forward... from this very moment, we must all be on high alert and not slacken our efforts for even a moment. If there is any negligence, even if it doesn't harm the overall situation, our military law will show absolutely no mercy!"

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Li Yuanzhong wanted to lure the Tibetan troops to Xiaoxia as much as possible, but Guo Xin, who was defending Shancheng, had the opposite idea.

In Guo Xin's mind, it didn't matter if you couldn't support Shancheng; as long as there were Tang soldiers in Xiaoxia, if I really couldn't hold the city, there would be a way to break out, and the soldiers and civilians would have a last hope.

Therefore, seeing that the barbarian army intended to reinforce its troops to the east, Guo Xin personally led his cavalry out of the city several times to launch surprise attacks, attempting to keep the main force of the barbarian army tied down under the city walls. However, after being scolded by Li Ji, Ma Chongying returned to his camp under the city walls and took command, decisively thwarting Guo Xin's schemes one by one.

The command was divided on how many troops to send to attack Xiaoxia. Shang Zanmo and Ma Chongying initially shared the same idea: that the Tang army only needed to monitor and blockade Xiaoxia, and there was no need to send troops to attack it. He said, "Guo Xin attacked our camp outside the city. Although he suffered repeated defeats, it shows that there are brave and fierce soldiers in the Tang army, and their morale has not been broken. If we attack Xiaoxia, we will not have enough troops, and if we have too many troops, we will weaken the siege. If Guo Xin takes the opportunity to abandon the people and lead his cavalry out alone, I am afraid we will not be able to stop him."

Ma Chongying said, "If Guo Xin is willing to break through the siege and leave all the Tang people in the city to me, then let him go."

Shang Xidongzan also said: "There is a Tang bandit in Xiaoxia who is very hateful. He not only insulted us on the front line, but also insulted the Zanpu... If Da Shang hears this, he will definitely change his mind."

Shang Zanmo then asked, "What did the Tang people say in their curses?"

Shang Xidong frowned: "The words were extremely vulgar and malicious, I do not wish to repeat them..."

Shang Zanmo countered, "Is it the proper course of military strategy to mobilize troops to attack based on one person's words? Wouldn't that play right into their hands? I hope you two will not act on emotion and will instead plan carefully."

After a night of meetings, it was finally decided that General Qilibuzang would lead 8,000 infantrymen to assist the 5,000 cavalrymen who were still monitoring Xiaoxia in attacking the Tang fortress in Xiaoxia. The remaining troops would remain under the city walls to build weapons and prepare for the siege.

Qilibuzang accepted the order and left. With the time allotted for the journey, the troops reorganized and prepared for battle, it was indeed two days later that they officially launched an attack on Xiaoxia.

Li Yuanzhong stood behind the fortified camp and personally commanded the troops, placing all the infantry at the forefront and leaving only four hundred reserves behind. As for Li Ji, he and Yi Tiechui each led two hundred cavalrymen, positioned on the two flanks of the camp, waiting for an opportunity to charge out as soon as the order was given, in order to relieve the pressure on the infantry.

Before the formal engagement, Li Yuanzhong summoned Chen Fu and instructed him, "Since you seem more mature, I'll entrust you with a task."

"Please give me your orders, General."

"If the camp is truly indefensible, or if I am killed in battle, you must escort Inspector Li to quickly board a raft and float back to Shanzhou. My family is all in Hexi. If Inspector Li falls here, it will anger the military governor and may implicate my family..."

Chen Fu turned his head and glanced sideways at Li Ji, who was sitting upright on the saddle bridge in the distance. Then he faced Li Yuanzhong and said with a wry smile, "I have known Inspector Li for several years. Based on my understanding of him, he is most likely unwilling to leave..."

Li Yuanzhong sighed softly and ordered Chen Fu: "Go up the mountain to command the crossbows and cannons..." He then took out a military order written by Li Ji himself from his bosom: "Even if only one of the five hundred men on the mountain is left, no matter how hard it is to travel, you must return to Shanzhou and present this letter to the commander-in-chief. Do not make any mistakes."

Chen Fu took the book with both hands, kept it close to his body, and then comforted Li Yuanzhong, saying, "As you said the other day, this may not be a certain death situation. I will keep this book for now and return it to you after the enemy has retreated."

Li Yuanzhong smiled slightly: "Thank you for your kind words." Then he waved his hand: "I'm overthinking it. If I really die for my country, would the commander make things difficult for my family? Go!"

Shortly after Chen Fu climbed the cliff using a rope ladder, the Tibetan army lined up and attacked. Seeing the red flags waving below, he immediately gave the order, and the powerful bows, crossbows, and simple artillery pieces on the mountain fired simultaneously. Arrows and cannonballs whistled as they flew straight into the Tibetan ranks.

The Huangshui River Valley is surrounded by steep cliffs, at least seventy zhang (more than two hundred meters) above the flat ground. If the Tang soldiers were to climb to the top of the mountain and set up their formation, the arrows would likely only reach their own camp. Therefore, the location of Chen Fu and his five hundred men was actually a depression halfway up the mountain, only five or six zhang higher than the flat ground—already exceeding the height of the city walls of Chang'an and Luoyang.

The crossbows and cannons launched from this height could cover a large area, but unfortunately, the Shanzhou government treasury did not have any extra crossbows that Li Ji could bring—and even if he did, they probably couldn't be transported up there—and the makeshift artillery vehicles were quite rudimentary, with short range, poor accuracy, and often malfunctioning after only three or five shots, or even falling apart entirely…

Even so, it was a heavy blow to the Tibetan side—the number of casualties wasn't actually high, but the fact that the enemy could reach them while they couldn't reach the enemy created immense psychological pressure. As a result, the Tibetan army's first offensive that day failed to even reach the range of Tang fortress's arrows before it automatically retreated.

The key Tibetan elite troops were all cavalry, often with one man riding multiple horses. Even with the entire nation's resources, they could only muster a force of just over 40,000—the vast majority of whom were under the command of the "Three Shangs and One Lun." As for the infantry, they were mostly serfs, poorly equipped, and lacking in organization and training. Therefore, when Qilibuzang led his infantry to attack the Tang fortress, they were defeated before even reaching it.

Qilibuzang dared not hold back any longer, and immediately beheaded more than a dozen people to uphold military law. Then he dispatched a thousand cavalrymen to coordinate with, and more importantly, to supervise, the infantry, and launched a second offensive in the afternoon.

This time, after leaving behind a dozen or so corpses and three times that number of wounded, the barbarian army finally entered the range of the Tang fortress's arrows. At Li Yuanzhong's command, a thousand arrows were unleashed. The barbarian cavalry charged forward, charging with their horse bows in exchange with those inside the fortress. Soon, the Tang army suffered its first casualty, followed by ten, then a hundred…

/♂

Chapter Fourteen, Now a Gambler

This was the first time Li Ji had ever witnessed such a large-scale battle.

He immediately stood to the side of the fortress, his eyes wide open, observing the battle. At first, he only stared at the Tibetans, but after the Tibetan cavalry's arrows had entered the Tang fortress, he turned back to look at his own comrades.

Li Ji asked himself, if he were in the Tibetan army, without the protection of large shields and with inferior weapons—as was the case for most Tibetan infantrymen—would he have dared to brave a hail of arrows and stones and charge headlong into the Tang fortress?

Even though the accuracy of cannonballs was poor, and arrows were mostly volleyed, whether they hit or not was basically a matter of luck... Although not all Tang soldiers were lucky, and Tibetan soldiers were not entirely careless, if one arrow missed, they could shoot a second one. Conversely, if one arrow hit... well, hitting one arrow was probably fine, but hitting a stone would be troublesome, and there would be no next time.

Therefore, the thought of being in their shoes, charging through enemy lines and fortified positions with flesh and blood, made Li Ji's heart tremble. Every time he saw a Tibetan soldier fall, struck by an arrow, his heart tightened—regardless of friend or foe, they were all living, breathing human beings! Killing someone himself was one thing, seeing someone killed was another; being killed because of insufficient strength might be deserved, but being unlucky enough to be struck by a stray arrow was yet another matter entirely…

Of course, the real Tibetan infantrymen, caught up in the massive formation, surrounded by their comrades, and bound by military orders, had no choice but to accept their fate once they entered the battlefield; they probably had no time to consider the question of life and death. And the slight pity that had just arisen in Li Ji after he turned his gaze from the enemy to his comrades was immediately cast aside in Java.

Finally, the time has come when both sides have suffered casualties. It is no longer a one-sided slaughter. In this case, benevolence is useless. The only useful force is shared hatred of the enemy!

Basically, the attacking side was at a disadvantage. Even though there were wounded soldiers and even those killed by arrows in the Tang fortifications—although most Tang soldiers were armored, if they were accidentally shot in the face, they would most likely die—their numbers were several times fewer than those of the Tibetan side. This was not only due to the earthen fortifications that provided cover, but also largely due to the difference in weapons and armor between the two sides.

Unlike the Tang army, most of the Tibetan infantrymen were unarmored, and some even wore only a leather hat on their heads—there were also many who wore no hat and had their hair down. As for ranged weapons, the Tibetans mainly had bows for their cavalry, but the range and power of the horse bows were incomparable to the Tang people's foot bows.

Furthermore, the Tibetans lacked any siege weaponry...

Tibet and Tang had been locked in fierce battles for a century. Tibet's initially crude military thinking and weaponry had been continuously learned from and even supplemented by its enemy, resulting in significant progress. They even knew how to manufacture advanced weapons like ballistae and catapults. This is why Shangxi Dongzan said, "Are we not barbarians who don't know how to attack cities?"

However, due to their inferior technology and limited number of craftsmen capable of building large siege weapons, they had to concentrate their efforts on the area below Shancheng, rather than deploying them to the Xiaoxia Tang formation, which appeared to rely solely on earthen ramparts. The Tibetan forces currently attacking the ramparts only had a few hastily erected ladders and door panels salvaged from nearby villages to facilitate scaling the ramparts.

While the Tang army lacked ballistae, they did possess catapults.

The principle of a catapult is simple. While it's not easy to build a sturdy and accurate projectile, it's not difficult to simply throw stones a certain distance. In fact, those simple catapults on the cliff were not built by master craftsmen—because they needed to defend Shancheng and Shanzhou and couldn't be mobilized—they were just temporarily built by a few ordinary carpenters under the guidance of Li Ji.

This relates to the breadth and depth of knowledge acquired. In the past, with nine years of compulsory education, the vast majority of teenagers understood basic physics and chemistry—a catapult is simply based on the lever principle, what's so difficult about that? But in these days, let alone illiterate soldiers, even highly learned scholars might not be able to reassemble a well sweep and windlass even if you took them apart in front of them. The reason is simple: unless one is a craftsman, few people delve into physics, especially scholars. They can barely memorize the Nine Classics and historical texts; how could they possibly indulge in esoteric skills and trivial mechanical pursuits?

Therefore, Li Ji was ultimately an anomaly in this life. With a background in literature, if you asked him to improve iron smelting technology or manufacture guns and cannons, he would surely run away in defeat. Making simple machines, especially not high-tech ones, was entirely within his capabilities—he wasn't some useless college graduate from a coastal fishing port. Besides, in his previous life he studied ancient history and loved military history. Not only was he an expert on cold weapons, but even with firearms, given enough raw materials, he could whip up a Molotov cocktail for you anytime!

The Tibetans lacked such extraordinary individuals. It's no exaggeration to say that even if they breached the Tang fortress and captured those few simple catapults, probably only one in a thousand Tibetans would be able to use them. Therefore, in the first half of the battle, they were completely helpless against the Tang army's cannons and could only charge forward relentlessly. Only when they finally approached the Tang fortress and set up wooden ladders and door panels did the balance of power begin to shift.

While the defenders had strong fortifications and a superior position, giving them an advantage in one-on-one combat, the attackers could ultimately break through key points, while the defenders could only spread out. Once a point was breached, the defenders' morale would be severely damaged, and the attackers could seize the opportunity to reinforce their troops, hoping to share the fortifications with the enemy. Therefore, the fighting was quite fierce. Li Ji looked from the side and saw a forest of swords and spears, heard the deafening shouts of battle, and saw his comrades falling or being carried back to the rear. The sight made his blood boil and his eyes bloodshot.

Seeing a barbarian bandit bravely scale the earthen rampart, Li Ji instinctively reached for the bow hanging at his waist… However, without orders, he couldn't act rashly. Let alone rushing to the rescue, even firing arrows or throwing stones would be considered disobeying orders. Li Ji wasn't afraid of disobeying orders; he figured Li Yuanzhong wouldn't actually dare to behead him. But since he had promised, he couldn't go back on his word unless it was a matter of life and death. Especially as a cavalry general, he couldn't set a bad example for his cavalrymen.

Fortunately, the barbarian was quickly riddled with spears and turned into a pincushion.

In total, more than a dozen Tibetan soldiers climbed the ramparts, but they were all blocked in time. It wasn't until the attackers' morale was low and their strength was exhausted that they abandoned more than a hundred corpses and retreated in disarray. Then, around dusk, Qilibuzang launched a third fierce attack of the day, which, unsurprisingly, also ended in failure.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Li Yuanzhong only gave the cavalry one order: to dismount and rest, even a short nap would be acceptable. Li Ji could only grit his teeth and watch his comrades fight valiantly, but dared not advance even slightly. One can imagine how frustrated he felt.

Counting casualties that evening, the Tang army suffered no fewer than a hundred wounded, roughly a third of the enemy's losses—more than sixty heads of barbarian bandits had been taken from the fortified positions before they could be collected. Li Yuanzhong inquired about the situation in various places; arrows were still sufficient, but most of the makeshift catapults on the cliff were broken, and it was estimated that they might not be able to be repaired until tomorrow.

After dinner, all the soldiers except those on patrol returned to their camp to rest. Li Yuanzhong summoned Li Ji and Yi Tiechui and asked them, "You two have been sitting and observing during the day, so you must have plenty of energy. Are you capable of fighting at night?"

Li Ji was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly replied, "I am willing to obey your orders and raid the bandit camp!"

Li Yuanzhong smiled and said, "Raiding a camp isn't that easy." He then called to his two generals, gathered the cavalry, and said, "Follow me."

In the dead of night, Li Yuanzhong led his cavalry out of the fortified camp and approached the barbarian camp. The barbarian camp was naturally on guard, and before the Tang cavalry even got close, the horns sounded. Li Yuanzhong ordered his soldiers to light fires, and then divided into groups to advance and launch fire arrows into the barbarian camp. But when the barbarian cavalry charged out to meet them, the Tang cavalry quickly retreated.

Li Yuanzhong's goal was simple: to cause trouble and keep you from sleeping well.

The next day, the battle continued. Li Ji couldn't help but ask Li Yuanzhong, "General, you command during the day and then go out with us to fight the enemy at night. You only get about an hour of sleep. Aren't you tired?" Li Yuanzhong laughed and said, "In the past, when fighting the enemy, on nights with a full and bright moon, it was common to go without sleep for several days. I'm used to it and don't know what fatigue is. But a general must not only be able to endure, but also be able to sleep. If the enemy doesn't come, I can fall asleep the moment I close my eyes on the spot—Li Ji, you should learn from that."

The fighting was even fiercer than the day before. By the afternoon, Li Yuanzhong was forced to withdraw his troops and abandon the two camps on the south side. Originally, Li Ji's deployment was indeed a bit too large to mislead the enemy, which gave Qilibuzang some confidence.

According to Li Yuanzhong, "These 10,000-plus troops are not a concern for me. I fear that if I defend too firmly, the enemy will not dare to send more troops, which would be of no benefit to the war."

On one occasion, Li Ji and Yi Tiechui were sent to lead cavalry out of the fortress to attempt an attack on the flank of the Tibetan army. However, Tibetan cavalry quickly arrived and exchanged fire. Immediately, gongs sounded from within the fortress, summoning Li Ji and his men back. Li Ji managed to fire an arrow, but failed to kill the enemy—unfortunately, it only hit his arm—but dared not disobey the order and had to return disappointed.

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The strategy for deploying troops at Xiaoxia had already been reported back to Shanzhou to Li Tan—Li Ji was worried that Li Tan would remotely command, but he was even more afraid that the other party would remotely command without a clear understanding of the situation at the front.

Upon seeing the report, Gao Sheng and the others were greatly alarmed and immediately raised objections: "If we station our troops east of the gorge, we can block the roads, shut down the barbarian bandits, and protect the farmland east of the gorge; but if we station our troops west of the gorge, we will be in a dead end. If the barbarian bandits launch a large-scale attack, I'm afraid not a single horse will be able to escape back to Shanzhou. If our troops are defeated, we will not be able to protect the east of the gorge either, and Shanzhou will be in even greater danger. We earnestly request that the commander-in-chief issue a military order immediately, question Li Ji, and order him to withdraw to the east entrance of the small gorge."

Li Ji had already explained the reasons for deploying defenses west of the gorge in his military report, so Li Tan countered, "If we station our troops east of the gorge, Shancheng will be without reinforcements, and the enemy can surround it from all sides. Wouldn't we also be doomed?"