Chapter 1169: Domineering Assault! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Before Hular could say anything, an Arab general at his side shouted in rebuke, ”Who is it down there? Who dares to speak the Lord Governor's name!”
”Hahaha, Hular, even you Arabs have a day like this. I have come to deliver a message from the Great Tang's Qixi Protector-General. Immediately withdraw all your soldiers from Shifan! Otherwise, the Tang will move out from Khorasan in response to your treachery and attack. Just like Qutaybah, all of you will die!”
Jalali looked up to the walls and laughed.
Jalali was a Khorasani, and also a member of the Sassanid Dynasty. For all these years, only Khorasani like him who had been oppressed by the Arabs knew what sort of life they had lived. In front of the Arabs, all the Khorasani were cautious and meek, not even daring to speak so loudly. They were truly second-class citizens. Moreover, all the Khorasani were burdened with an incredibly heavy tax. This was all not too long ago, but now, they could stand in front of three hundred thousand Arab soldiers and exchange words with a powerful governor like Hular.
”Impudent!”
”Arrogant!”
Hular and the other Arab governors and generals were infuriated by these words. A mere seven thousand soldiers dared to act so brazenly before them. They were seeking death!
”Come! Dispatch twenty thousand men and kill them all!” Hular suddenly ordered, his face a sheet of ice.
Complying with Hular's order, the gates opened and twenty thousand Arab soldiers, their expressions grim and dour, charged out of the city and toward the seven thousand soldiers.
”Hahaha, let's go!”
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Jalali waved his hand and immediately led his men away.
”The message has been delivered. It's best if you behave yourselves!”
Jalali heartily laughed as he jeered.
”Where are you going!”
The leading Arab general, seeing that the enemy was getting away free of consequence, immediately urged his soldiers to move faster.
The two armies swiftly disappeared into the distance.
Several li away, the leading Arab general, Abula, sternly ordered, ”Damn it! Hurry up! Don't let them run! The Tigris River is just up ahead! They can't escape!”
With a stab of his scimitar into the hindquarters of his horse, his army frenziedly charged forward. But before they could get very far, there was a fierce neighing, and countless soldiers, charging in at an unexpected angle, thrust into Abula's army like a sharp arrow.
”Not good! Retreat!”
Abula paled and tried to lead his army away, but it was too late.
”It's too late to think about escape! Hand over your lives!”
Jalali pulled out his sword and turned his seven thousand soldiers around. Rumble! They charged into the Arab ranks and immediately threw them into chaos.
……
”What! Abula's army was wiped out?”
On the high walls, when Hular received the news, he was struck dumb. In just a few moments, Abula's twenty thousand men had been vanquished. This was far too fast.
”How many soldiers did they have?” Hular asked, anxious and doubtful.
”Other than the previous seven thousand, the enemy had eight thousand lying in ambush. There were fifteen thousand in total.”
”What? How!” blurted the two Arab governors at Hular's side before he could say anything.
If the enemy had more soldiers, then the loss was understandable, but there were only fifteen or sixteen thousand soldiers, a smaller force than what the Arabs had dispatched. Just how had they managed to kill so many people in such a short amount of time? Could the legends be true? Were there soldiers from the strongest eastern army in history that were even able to overcome Qutaybah's soldiers? But how could that be?!
From the information they had gathered, although the Tang army had won, it had been left with only twenty to thirty thousand soldiers. And the force just now had primarily been composed of those rebel soldiers that usually scattered like mice. When did this motley force suddenly become so formidable?
”Pass on my order! Dispatch all the hunting falcons!”
Only now did Hular sense that something was wrong. He had originally believed that the enemy had only sent a small force to make some trouble and show off their might, but it now seemed that this was not the case.
Flapflap! A moment later, countless hunting falcons soared out of Shifan in every direction.
A few moments later, the hunting falcons and scouts returned with an accurate count of the enemy.
Twenty thousand was the number of soldiers they were facing, and this force of Tang and Khorasani was coming straight for Shifan.
”Pass on my order! One hundred thousand soldiers will follow me out of the city. I want to personally test the power of this force.”
Hular was furious. One mistake was enough. This time, he would personally deal with the Tang and the rebels.