Chapter 164: The Choice

Having retreated five miles to set up camp, Qibi Khagan turned to Tuoba Shishu beside him and asked, "The heavenly fire unleashed by the Hans today was remarkably fierce. Do you have any countermeasures in mind?"

Tuoba Shishu glanced around. Seeing that the tent was empty except for the two of them, he stepped forward and spoke in a low voice to the Khagan: "The Han wall before us is exceptionally sturdy. Moreover, when faced with our ferocious assaults, these Hans showed not a shred of panic. They must be elite troops stationed along the Great Wall for a long time. Against such a formidable defense line, we have only two options: either assist our assaulting troops with formidable siege engines, or use a vast sea of infantry, throwing human lives forward wave after wave to forcefully tear a gap in their defenses. However, during today's offensive, our siege engines were almost entirely destroyed. Those dozen catapults that were burned down ultimately reduced to nothing more than a wisp of smoke. Therefore, judging by the current situation, we are left with no choice but to grind down the Han defense line with human lives."

"I am all too familiar with this wall, and I believe every man of the grassland knows it just as well. Without exaggeration, in every household of every tribe under our rule, there are family members who have fallen at the foot of that wall and never returned to the grassland," Qibi Khagan said, looking at Tuoba Shishu as he sat in the tent. "Everyone knows deep down how impregnable the Great Wall defense line truly is. If we were to use human lives to fill this gap now, I fear that even throwing my entire army into it would not be nearly enough."

"You are overthinking it, Khagan. When I spoke of tearing a gap in the Great Wall defenses with human lives, I did not mean sending the army to charge meaninglessly against the wall," Tuoba Shishu replied after a brief moment of thought. "Among the siege engines we brought on this southern expedition, we not only had the dozen catapults sent by the Goguryeo people, but do we not also have siege towers and battering rams? Naturally, we have no use for the rams right now. To prevent cavalry pouring out of the Great Wall from threatening our flanks, we deliberately chose a section of the wall without gates to attack. Yet, if the rams are useless, we can still use the siege towers. With their exceptionally sturdy defenses, the siege towers might just withstand those fire-spitting batons wielded by the Hans on the wall."

Tuoba Shishu decided to play a trump card to test the reaction of the Hans. He had a vague feeling that the defense force on the Great Wall seemed somewhat weaker than what he had heard of in the past. Earlier, the Turks had actually managed to charge directly to the foot of the wall in a single assault, even hooking up scaling ladders. When climbing the walls via the ladders, some Turkish soldiers had been only a few steps away from the battlements. Under normal circumstances, any defending force must make every effort to stop the enemy from scaling the wall, as allowing attackers to reach the top incurs far heavier casualties than any other stage of defense.

Yet, during today's siege, the Hans on the wall seemed to deliberately or inadvertently lure the Turks into climbing via the ladders. In the end, this was merely Tuoba Shishu's own conjecture, and he was not yet certain of its accuracy. Therefore, he decided to launch another offensive using the siege towers at his disposal. If his guess proved correct, these Hans might not exert themselves to stop the towers from approaching the wall. Consequently, as long as the towers' defenses were reinforced to ensure they were not destroyed before reaching the wall, they could successfully deliver soldiers to the battlements.

At a loss for what to do, Qibi Khagan listened to Tuoba Shishu's proposal and, after brief consideration, nodded in agreement. He directly ordered Tuoba Shishu to organize the troops for the next siege. Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Zhang Deqing hurried to the section of the wall previously struck by the Turkish catapults. Carefully inspecting the spot hit by the stone missile, he silently uttered a prayer of gratitude to the heavens. The stone ball had merely smashed a portion of the crenelations without damaging the fire dragons positioned not far away.

The mere thought that the destruction of the fire dragons could have caused the stored fire oil to spread across the entire wall—combined with the braziers placed there to ignite fire arrows—made him break out in a cold sweat. A moment of carelessness could have inflicted catastrophic casualties on his own men, and he could not help but mutter how lucky they had been. At that moment, a scout responsible for enemy observation reported that the new wave of Turkish offensives was fully prepared and currently advancing toward the Great Wall.

North of the Great Wall, seven or eight siege towers, pulled by armored oxen, were slowly closing in on the wall. Behind the towers marched neatly arranged rows of Turkish troops wielding wooden shields. This time, Zhang Deqing took personal command atop the ramparts, and the defending garrison troops once again unleashed countless arrows, raining them down fiercely upon the advancing Turkish forces.

Yet the attacking Turks were thoroughly prepared this time. The volley of arrows could not pierce the heavy armor worn by the oxen. Furthermore, the defensive fire directed at the shield-bearing Turkish formations failed to achieve the anticipated lethality. The entire Turkish array continued its steady, unhurried advance, looming forward like a great mountain.

"General, shall we have the artillery camp below unleash a few more rounds of bombardment on the Turkish troops? We should try to disable the siege towers on their way and prevent them from reaching the wall," an officer requested, turning to Zhang Deqing.

"No need. This time, we won't rely on the artillery camp; we'll give the Turks a surprise with this thing," Zhang Deqing said, patting the fire dragon beside him as he addressed the officer.

"But General, if the Turks actually manage to scale the ramparts, we may suffer heavy casualties," the officer said with a hint of anxiety.

"No matter how heavy the casualties, we must bear them. Our strategy this time is different from the usual; merely repelling the Turks does not count as victory. We must lure these Turks into committing their living strength to attacking the walls as much as possible. That previous round of siege cost the Turks nothing more than a few hairs; it did not touch their vital energy. Right now, we have abundant soldiers and food, formidable defensive machinery, and the natural barrier of the Great Wall to rely upon. If we fail to inflict massive casualties upon the approaching Turks, once their attack falters and they retreat only to turn east and assault Wuwei Commandery, the dead and wounded will no longer be limited to soldiers like us. More than half of the common folk in Wuwei Commandery will fall beneath the butchers' blades of the Turks," Zhang Deqing declared. He then looked at the defending troops on the wall, shifted his tone, raised his voice, and rallied them:

"The common people of the Western Regions behind us provide the taxes that feed us martial men who know only warfare and nothing of farming. Now, if the Turks wish to harm them, they must first get past us. Are we truly going to cower in fear and let them slaughter our people across the Western Regions? In the recruit camp, how did your instructors train you? What is the military soul of the Western Regions Army?"

"Though millions bar my way, I shall go forth!"