Guo Ziyi thought to himself. Ever since Tang Gaozong had destroyed the Western Turks, the Great Tang's borders had been stable for several decades, and the border guards had probably slacked off. The Turks were all cavalry, and their speed was extremely fast. In modern terms, they were fighting a lightning war.
"The Turks dare to invade the Great Tang with just fifty thousand soldiers? A city could be destroyed, but if the Great Tang reinforcements arrived, would they be able to escape unscathed?”Guo Ziyi asked.
"You're right." Taba Feng smiled coldly. As I see it, the Shuoye Khagan has sent troops to test the strength of the Great Tang's border defense and to plunder. If they took Yanzhou, before reinforcements arrived, the Turkic cavalry would plunder wantonly, set fire to the city, and then retreat. They would never dare to confront the main Tang army.”
Guo Ziyi nodded.
"I can see that you have a lot of skills. It's a pity to be a traveling merchant. Are you willing to serve in the army?”Taba Feng stared at Guo Ziyi.
"This…"
Guo Ziyi hesitated. She was a professional soldier before. Was she going to be an ancient soldier after transmigrating? In ancient times, fighting was a head-on fight. It was a group fight. Swords and swords had no eyes. The probability of survival was much lower than in modern times.
Seeing Guo Ziyi's hesitant look, Taba Feng smiled faintly.""If you are willing to stay in my army and kill the enemy, we can hold out until reinforcements arrive. I, Taba Feng, will personally report your merits to the Imperial Court. At that time, the reward will be generous.”
"General, must you make me stay?"
"A prisoner on death row can take the head of a general in a chaotic army. With you around, you can boost the morale of the army. As long as morale was there, the city could still be defended.”Taba Feng's gaze was firm.
Looking at Taba Feng's expression, Guo Ziyi was shocked. It was hard to tell where Taba Feng's confidence and determination came from to use less than two thousand soldiers against the fifty thousand Turkic soldiers. However, in the history of China, there had never been a lack of famous generals who defended their cities alone. Tian Dan, Yu Qian, Shi Kefa, and so on, all of them had shocked the past and the present. As a soldier, Guo Ziyi's iron-blooded pride began to burn again.
Guo Ziyi let out a long sigh and then nodded. Only by protecting this city could he protect his life. Only by surviving would he not have wasted his trip through the Great Tang.
"You should go and rest first. The Turkic army should be arriving soon.”Taba Feng said indifferently.
Guo Ziyi left the tent and went to eat. The Turkic army had launched a surprise attack this time, and they had only besieged Yanzhou for a short period of time, so the city had enough provisions. Guo Ziyi hadn't had a full meal for the past few days, and this time, she finally had a full meal.
After eating, Guo Ziyi walked around the city gate and found a warehouse on the street not far away from the city gate. There were many goods that had not been able to leave the city before the war.
Guo Ziyi walked around and suddenly smelled a special pungent smell. He followed the smell and found that it came from more than a dozen round wooden barrels in the warehouse. Some of the wooden barrels had some sticky dark brown liquid stuck to them. Guo Ziyi dipped her finger into some liquid and sniffed it.
Oil? Guo Ziyi was shocked.
If his judgment was correct, this dark brown liquid was what the later generations called oil. Guo Ziyi's brain spun rapidly. In fact, there were records of the discovery of oil in ancient China. Even the name of oil was first mentioned by Shen Kuo in the Dream Stream Pen Talk during the Song Dynasty. In ancient times, oil was also known as stone liquid, stone fat, stone paint, stone water, and so on.
Yanzhou Oil!
Guo Ziyi suddenly remembered something she had read about in a history book called Yanzhou's rock fat. It burned with thick black smoke, and the ancients collected the solidified smoke to make ink.
Could Yanzhou's stone fat be referring to the liquid in these wooden barrels?
Guo Ziyi hurriedly asked as a clerk walked over. The waiter's answer verified Guo Ziyi's thoughts. These wooden barrels were filled with rock fat produced in Yanzhou. They were originally to be transported to Chang 'an to make ink.
Yanzhou stone fat, burning ink.
Guo Ziyi left the warehouse thoughtfully and found a military tent to rest.
The sky had just darkened when a messenger arrived at Guo Ziyi's tent.
"General Li is looking for you. Please follow me quickly.”the messenger said urgently.
Guo Ziyi followed the messenger to the city gate. Taba Feng was sitting on a horse, clad in armor. Behind him were two cavalrymen, and one of them was holding a wooden box. Taba Feng also had a military horse beside him. It was the Turkic general that Guo Ziyi had ridden over earlier.
"Mount up!" Taba Feng pointed at the Turkic horse.
Guo Ziyi mounted her horse and looked at Taba Feng strangely."General Li, calling me at this time, could it be that the Turkic army is charging over?”
Taba Feng smiled faintly." The Turks are here. They're just outside the city. Let's go meet them."”
"How many people are there?”Guo Ziyi was even more surprised.
"Four came. Guo Ziyi, the head you chopped off was really valuable.”Taba Feng had a smile on his face as he turned around to look at the wooden box in the guard's hand.
Guo Ziyi knew that it contained the head of the Turkic general."What do you mean, General Li?"
"Khagan Shuoye has just sent an emissary to deliver an arrow to the city, saying that he wants to exchange a thousand taels of gold for this head. The Turkic emissary is waiting outside the city gates. The Turkic general you killed might have been an important figure.”
"A thousand taels of gold, a big shot." Guo Ziyi was shocked.
"We'll know what the situation is when we get out of the city. Let's go!”Taba Feng urged his horse forward.
The city gate slowly opened, and the four of them rode out of the city.
A bright moon hung in the night sky, illuminating the sand outside the city like snow. If it weren't for the corpses everywhere, this would have been a unique beauty of the Western Regions.
Four Turkic cavalrymen stood not far from the city gates, each holding a white banner. Under the white curtain, a Turkic wrapped in fur sat quietly on a horse.
Taba Feng rode forward and stopped a few feet away.
"Who are you?" Taba Feng asked loudly.
"The Khan's right-hand killer." The Turkic dressed in fur replied in fluent Han. The Right Slayer was a Turkic official with an extremely high status and was also a close subordinate of the Shuoye Khagan.
Taba Feng was startled. He hadn't expected the messenger to be a noble of the Right Killers. For him to personally come to exchange, just who was this beheaded Turkic general?
"The one opposite is General Taba Feng. Did you bring the head?”Right Kill asked.
Taba Feng nodded. The guard beside him lifted the wooden box with the head.
The Right Slaughter Noble and the three Turkic cavalrymen lowered their heads, their faces sorrowful.
When the Right Killing Noble saw the Turkic horse Guo Ziyi was riding, hatred and killing intent appeared in his eyes, and he nodded slightly.
Two Turkic cavalrymen rode forward and handed over two leather bags filled with gold to Taba Feng's two guards.
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