Chapter 143: A Desperate Gambit

While the armies led by Li Wenyuan and Zhang Jintai were busy reinforcing the four prefectures of Gaochang against the Turks and suppressing local unrest in anticipation of a potential major Turkic invasion, Cheng Qinjin independently led a force departing from Yiwu Commandery. Circling north around Mount Shiluoman, Cheng's detachment finally overcame the harsh natural environment along the way and arrived at the city of Khan Futu.

According to the intelligence provided by the Military Owl, the defensive posture of the Futu City before them was remarkably hollow. At this time, the city's main garrison force and the vast majority of able-bodied young men had been conscripted into the Western Turkic army. Consequently, during this Western Regions campaign, the city defense of Futu was extremely weak, lacking a significant number of elite troops to hold the ramparts.

Furthermore, because this city had been built by the Turks, it lacked the grandeur and solidity of Central Plains fortifications. Adapting to local conditions, they had merely rammed a layer of earthen walls. Finally, facing the exterior of the earthen walls, they piled up stone bricks quarried from Mount Shiluoman, barely managing to constitute a city.

Yet, despite its extremely weak defenses, Futu City still presented a formidable stronghold for the army currently under Cheng Qinjin's command. Earlier, while crossing Mount Shiluoman, the vast majority of cumbersome heavy siege weapons had been left behind. He had traveled light with his troops to surround Futu City ahead of time.

As a carrier falcon flew across Mount Shiluoman into Cheng Qinjin's military camp carrying the news of the conquest of the four prefectures of Gaochang, learning that Zhang Juntai had completely captured the state of Gaochang and brought all its lands back under imperial allegiance, Cheng Qinjin initiated his own operations.

Cheng Qinjin knew that for the Western Turks, Futu City, blocked to the north by continuous mountain ranges, was not their primary focus. The loss of a city there could not directly pose a threat to the Western Turkic royal court. On the contrary, once Gaochang—serving as the eastern gateway of the Western Turkic realm—fell, it would be equivalent to opening the gates of the Western Turkic territory. Among the vassal states of the Western Turks, Gaochang was considered relatively powerful. Moreover, since the population of Gaochang consisted largely of Han people, they possessed some expertise in the construction of fortified cities; naturally, their defenses could not be compared to those of Yanqi, Kucha, and other states that merely gathered along trade routes out of the pursuit of profit.

Therefore, after leading his troops across Mount Shiluoman, Cheng Qinjin did not rush to expose his movements or begin the siege. Instead, he waited for news from Zhang Juntai in the center. Once Zhang Juntai successfully captured Gaochang, he would firmly draw the Turks' attention to his own position, allowing Cheng to lead his army and seize the weakly defended Futu City as a military achievement while the Turks were too preoccupied to look north.

This was not out of cowardice or an excessive desire for glory on Cheng Qinjin's part; rather, compared to the central army corps led by Zhang Juntai, the Fifth Corps under Cheng's command was simply too thin. Once targeted by the main force of the Turks, the future fate of his corps would be uncertain. Thus, during the pre-battle meeting, Cheng proposed that the main central army should draw the main Turkic forces, while the northern and southern detachments act as flanking forces to harass the Turks from both directions, thereby ensuring the enemy remained overwhelmed and unable to cope.

Now that this expedition had confirmed the Turkic main force was advancing toward Zhang Juntai's central army—and knowing that Zhang had successfully incurred the deep hatred of the Turks through several raids by the pacified forces, to the point where they wished to devour his flesh alive, thereby absorbing the entirety of the enemy's attention—Cheng Qinjin felt assured.

Having verified through the Military Owl's intelligence that the Turkic movements were indeed true, the Fifth Corps commanded by Cheng Qinjin immediately surrounded Futu City impenetrably. After surrounding the city, Cheng directed his troops to launch several tentative attacks against the fortifications before them, all of which ended in failure and resulted in considerable casualties for his own side.

Watching the assaulting troops repelled once again by the defenders and retreating in disarray from the battlefield, Cheng Qinjin, observing from within the camp, slammed his fist heavily onto the table before him. At that moment, his heart was filled with anxiety and deep regret. On one hand, if the Turks were to dispatch a detachment to reinforce the city, his position would become perilous; on the other hand, had he not abandoned a vast amount of accompanying siege equipment in his haste to reach the destination quickly, the earthen city built by the barbarians before him would not have lasted half a day before being conquered, sparing him from today's humiliation of having successive assaults beaten back by the defending Turks.

Noticing Cheng Qinjin's irritation and his apparent dissatisfaction with the army's ineffective siege performance, several accompanying staff officers exchanged whispers for a moment. Then, one of the officers stepped out from the ranks, bowed deeply to Cheng, and said:

"Commander Cheng, why not let the troops use explosive charges in the assault? We currently lack heavy siege equipment, so pinning our hopes on traditional methods to capture the city seems somewhat fantastical. It would be better to have the troops carry explosive charges to blow up a section of the city gate or the ramparts. The soldiers can then storm directly up the wall over the ruins, and we can easily breach this superficial Turkic city."

"This is our first city-seizing campaign since setting out," Cheng Qinjin replied. "If we pull out our secret weapons right now, wouldn't it become even harder for us to conduct sieges in the future once the Turks are on guard?"

"Commander, you are overthinking this," the staff officer argued. "To say nothing of the fact that Futu City is the only stronghold held by the Turks north of Mount Shiluoman, even if there were other cities, once we capture Futu City to serve as our rear base, we can manufacture siege equipment at any time. Armed with such machinery, what could possibly stop our advance against Turks who are unskillful at building fortifications?

"Furthermore, to the northwest of Futu City lies the boundless expanse of the sandy desert. Even if the Western Turkic forces intend to summon reinforcements from there, they would still have to skirt around the northern edge of this desert to pose any threat to us. Aside from Futu City, which holds some strategic significance, everything else north of Mount Shiluoman consists merely of boundless wilderness and endless grasslands.

"At least according to all our current intelligence regarding the Western Turks, there is no explicit information indicating that any second fortified city exists in their territory north of Mount Shiluoman, apart from Futu City. The rest are merely nomadic peoples pursuing water and pastures for their herds; against them, we have no need for heavy siege weapons. Therefore, you can set your mind at ease and freely expend the explosive charges in the army during this siege. If we don't use them now, carrying them along will only become a burden in the future."

Cheng Qinjin nodded. He immediately adopted the plan proposed by the staff officers and organized the troops to carry explosive charges for the siege operations.