Chapter 79

"General Chen! When will your troops be ready to fight? Our army can hardly hold on any longer!" On the city wall, the King of the Yuezhi, drenched in sweat, asked. The war with the Wusun had already lasted over a month. Although Chen Qingzhi was in command, the Yuezhi soldiers and generals were weaker than those of the Wusun, so they had barely managed to hold back Lian Qiao's army with all their might.

During this period, four of the five Yuezhi tribes, the Xihou, suffered heavy losses. Only the Kushan tribe, which had handed over its most elite troops to Chen Qingzhi for training in the city, managed to preserve its strength! This caused much dissatisfaction among the leaders of the Xiumi, Shuangmi, Panton, and Dumu tribes! They repeatedly urged the King of the Yuezhi to order Chen Qingzhi to lead his imitation White Robe Army into battle against the Wusun, but Chen Qingzhi always refused, citing that the training was not yet complete and the timing was not right. The King of the Yuezhi supported him, but today he could no longer hold out!

In yesterday's battle, the Xiumi tribe's army, ignoring Chen Qingzhi's advice, insisted on pursuing the enemy and fell into a trap set by Lian Qiao, suffering heavy losses. Of the ten thousand who set out, fewer than four thousand returned to the city, while the rest either died on the battlefield or were captured by the Wusun.

When the news reached them, the nobles of the Xiumi, Shuangmi, Panton, and Dumu tribes all came to the King of the Yuezhi to demand that he send out the last reserve force of the Yuezhi—the seven thousand White Robe Army under Chen Qingzhi!

Even though these tribes still had considerable forces, out of concern for preserving their strength and the Kushan tribe, they were unlikely to fight to the death in the coming battles! If they were defeated, they could continue to flee westward, but if their troops were decimated, even victory would be meaningless.

Li You and Chen Qingzhi understood the thoughts of these people; the timing of the four tribes' pressure was roughly as they had expected. After a month of training, the seven thousand imitation White Robe Army were barely up to Chen Qingzhi's standards. Therefore, he nodded slightly and replied, "Although our Yuezhi army is exhausted, Lian Qiao's Wusun army is also in a dire state! In this month, they have already lost nearly thirty thousand troops! They are now at their limit, and with the change from winter to spring, most of the soldiers are worried about their livestock at home, so they are eager to return. Therefore, Lian Qiao will definitely launch a final offensive in the next few days!"

"What should we do then?" The King of the Yuezhi was startled. In previous battles, Lian Qiao had never used more than fifty thousand troops at once, and the remaining time saw the tribes taking turns in combat. Even so, the Yuezhi were struggling to hold on! How could they deal with over a hundred thousand troops attacking together now?

"General Chen has already made preparations!" Chen Qingzhi replied confidently, "Tonight, I will lead General Weixishika, General Huweishika, and their seven thousand cavalry out of the south gate in secret, to circle around to Lian Qiao's rear! Your Majesty will defend the city! When the Wusun army is exhausted, I will lead my troops to attack from behind, ensuring a great victory!"

"This..." This plan sounded feasible, but the King of the Yuezhi was still worried. What if Chen Qingzhi took the seven thousand troops and fled? He would be trapped like a fish in a jar!

"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. I and the other members of the embassy will stay in the city to defend it with the Kushan troops! We will signal when the opportunity is ripe, and once the signal is given, the Yuezhi will surely defeat the Wusun!" Li You offered himself as a hostage, but for the sake of the future, this risk was worth taking!

That night, Chen Qingzhi led the seven thousand cavalry out of the south gate in silence, disappearing into the darkness. Li You remained with the remaining troops to defend the city gate.

"Charge!" Taking advantage of the momentary shock, Li You thrust his sword into the chest of a Wusun soldier, then kicked him off the wall, repelling another wave of the attack!

Phew, the enemies retreated like a tide, and Li You plopped down on the ground, panting heavily. This was already his third time personally engaging in battle today! The long sword forged by a famous Han swordsmith even had a chip in it! If not for the bravery of his troops, Li You might have been killed!

Fighting is really damn exciting! Since leaving Chang'an, Li You had been through countless battles! But neither the elite troops of the Wang Ting, the forces of King Kunye, nor the desert bandits had put him in such a perilous situation! Thinking back to his grandiose words online, Li You blushed, realizing he had been like a man who admires dragons but is afraid of them in reality!

After resting for a while, he forced himself to stand and survey the city wall. Everywhere, Yuezhi soldiers were moaning in pain. These bloodied, maimed soldiers greatly affected the morale on the wall, and the remaining intact soldiers looked terrified, fearing they would die in the next enemy attack.

Three days, at most, the Yuezhi could hold out for three more days, including today! After inspecting the situation, Li You's heart sank. Would three days be enough to exhaust the Wusun's morale?

The walls of the Yuezhi were not as grand as those of Chang'an, only a few dozen feet high, barely enough to stand two rows of people. For the defenders, this was not a significant advantage; given their inferior numbers, they had already performed admirably to hold out this long!

But Li You still hoped they could hold out a few more days! So he turned to the soldiers and said with feigned disdain, "Are all you Yuezhi people so cowardly? We Han people are defending the city with you, and we aren't afraid! You are defending your own homes, yet you are all scared like rabbits!"

After speaking, Xu Yanian and the other Han soldiers burst into laughter! The Yuezhi soldiers with a bit of pride were spurred on, reigniting a bit of courage.

Using ridicule, urging the King of the Yuezhi to personally encourage the troops on the wall, executing those who fled in fear, and rewarding the brave... Li You used every means possible to hold off Lian Qiao for three more days.

Today's attack was clearly weaker than yesterday's. Were the Wusun finally exhausted? After repelling another wave of the attack, Li You took a boiled white cloth from Xu Yanian and tightly wrapped it around the wound on his arm.

After bandaging the wound, without resting, Li You climbed to the highest point of the city wall and looked far into the Wusun camp! He secretly activated his Eagle Eye skill. If he could find a weakness in the Wusun today, he would immediately signal Chen Qingzhi. If not... there was no more time to wait!

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