The next day.
The ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of the Lingwu era of the Daxin dynasty.
Led by the Uyghur Khanate's Huai Ren Khan, Guli Peiluo, a coalition of 100,000 troops from the Western Regions finally launched an attack on Yanqi, one of the Four Garrisons of Anxi.
At this point, two full months had passed since the Western Regions allied forces besieged the city.
The young and valiant Azhar, the foremost military commander of the Uyghur Khanate, personally led the vanguard in the siege, standing proudly on horseback beneath the walls of Yanqi, before the three armies.
Behind him were tens of thousands of Western Region allied troops, each wielding various weapons.
From the commander to the soldiers, their eyes were filled with greed and cruelty as they looked towards Yanqi City, as if they wanted to swallow this ancient city, which had stood on the Silk Road in the Western Regions for hundreds of years, whole.
On the walls of Yanqi, Tan Li, the military commander of the Anxi border army, personally sat atop the city wall, directing the border troops defending the city against the enemy.
Despite being outnumbered and isolated;
However, when faced with a Uyghur enemy force several times their size below the city, the soldiers of the Anxi border army, including the city's commander Tan Li, showed no fear on their weathered faces, but rather a resolute determination to die for their cause.
All the soldiers of the Anxi Border Army knew very well that what they were protecting was not only their wives, daughters, sisters, elders, and fellow villagers in Yanqi City, but also the spirit of the Anxi Border Army's battle flag behind them, as well as the dignity and glory of the Han people on the Silk Road in the Western Regions.
Due to the perennially arid climate, the city of Yanqi, an important town in Anxi, does not have a wide moat as the first line of defense, unlike cities in the interior.
Only the city walls, which had been continuously reinforced over hundreds of years with blue bricks, huge stones, and glutinous rice juice, were the last resort for the 20,000 Anxi border troops and 50,000 Yanqi people.
The two sides, attacking and defending, faced each other from a distance of hundreds of steps apart, and could even see the expressions on each other's faces clearly.
It was noon.
The warm winter sun slanted down on the ancient city of Yanqi, casting a golden glow on the blue bricks that had been laid in Yanqi in an unknown dynasty, yet it could not conceal the grim and desolate atmosphere on the eve of a great battle.
A solemn silence fell upon the city wall.
Only the battle flags of the Anxi border army fluttered in the biting wind.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Suddenly, drums thundered and horns blared from the Uyghur army outside the city.
The fierce Uyghur general, Azhar, drew his sword, raised his arm, and shouted: "Warriors of the Western Regions, follow the guidance of my blade and attack the city!"
"Attack the city!!!"
The order to attack the city issued by Hazard was amplified by the roars of his personal guards.
Until the sounds of the siege reverberated throughout the entire city of Yanqi.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Immediately afterwards, the Uyghur army launched attacks on the Anxi border troops on the walls of Yanqi with large crossbows, catapults, arrow towers, and other long-range siege weapons.
Arrows as thick as halberd shafts and huge boulders were rained down on Yanqi City as if they were free.
Occasionally, catapults would launch "stone projectiles" soaked in flaming oil into the city of Yanqi.
In an instant.
Flames and smoke filled the air atop the walls of Yanqi.
With the help of ranged weapons, Azhar commanded the Uyghur siege infantry to carry ladders, push siege engines, and set up battering rams, surging towards the city of Yanqi like a raging storm.
They fantasized that with their scimitars and blades, they could easily breach Yanqi City, then rush into the city to slaughter and ravage its inhabitants and plunder its wealth.
These barbarians from the Western Regions charged forward with strange cries and shouts. Every time they stormed the city gate or erected a siege ladder, they were filled with hatred and contempt for the ancient city of Yanqi and the Anxi border troops on the city walls.
However, these barbarian troops from the Western Regions underestimated the determination and courage of the Anxi border troops defending the city, who were determined to live and die with Yanqi City.
The Anxi border army under the command of Lieutenant General Tan Li was not intimidated by the powerful attack of the Western Region barbarian army. On the contrary, it aroused the soldiers' fighting spirit of never surrendering.
While using their bows, crossbows, spears, and rolling logs to fiercely counterattack the Western Region barbarian army climbing the ladders, they also used pre-prepared water and yellow sand to quickly extinguish the fires on the city walls.
In short, we'll meet force with force and water with earth.
I'd rather die taking one step forward than live taking half a step back.
As the battle intensified, the Western Region barbarian army led by the fierce Uyghur general Azhar launched wave after wave of attacks, and on several occasions, the suicide soldiers who attacked the city had almost climbed onto the walls of Yanqi.
Ultimately, they were repeatedly repelled by the Anxi border troops defending the city.
This fierce siege lasted from noon until dusk, from the bright sunshine until the moon rose above the treetops.
Only when the city of Yanqi was littered with corpses and stained with blood did the Uyghurs who were attacking the city sound the retreat.
Tan Li, the commander of the defending army, dragged his tired body around the city wall. He ordered the laborers who came to help reinforce the damaged city wall, while his soldiers reported on the casualties on the first day of the defense.
"Report—"
"Reporting to the general, in today's battle, our army suffered more than two thousand dead and more than eight hundred seriously wounded. According to the number of corpses of the Western Region barbarian army below the city, their casualties should be twice that of our army."
At this moment, the generals under his command immediately reported the casualty statistics to their commander, Tan Li.
Um!
Tan Li nodded solemnly and ordered, "Pass down the order: except for the soldiers on duty, the rest of the soldiers should take a break. The real battle is yet to come."
"The soldiers on night duty must also be on high alert, and be vigilant against night attacks by the Western Region barbarian army!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
One night passed.
The next day, the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month of the first year of the Daxin Lingwu era.
The Western Regions allied forces, commanded by the fierce Uyghur general Azhar, are attacking the city with even greater momentum than yesterday. From the very beginning, they have adopted a fire attack tactic, attempting to burn the border troops guarding the city walls to death, thereby achieving their goal of breaching the city.
"Fire! Use fire!"
At Azhar's command, the large catapults in the Uyghur army launched fireballs one after another at the walls of Yanqi.
In an instant, the walls of Yanqi were engulfed in flames, and the soldiers guarding the city screamed in agony as they were burned by the fire.
Fortunately, Tan Li, the garrison commander, anticipated that Azhar might use fire as a tactic and prepared a large amount of water and sand on the city walls in advance.
This ensured that the Anxi border troops defending the city did not suffer too many casualties under the enemy's fire attack.
Even so, in the second day of the city defense battle, more than 500 Anxi border troops were still killed or wounded, with the wounded and the dead being about half and half.
The third day, the eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month of the first year of the Lingwu era of the Great Xin Dynasty.
On this day, the Uyghur general Azhar led the Western Region barbarian army in a massive human wave attack on Yanqi City.
When the battle reached its most intense point, several city gates were nearly breached by the Western Region barbarian army. It was only thanks to the defending general Tan Li, who personally led his eight hundred personal guards to provide support, that the city walls were barely saved.
On this day, the Anxi border troops defending the city suffered the most casualties since the start of the war.
More than three thousand soldiers of the Anxi Border Army will forever rest beneath the walls of Yanqi City. They sacrificed their young lives after shedding their last drops of blood for the city they loved so dearly.
The number of seriously injured exceeded two thousand; the number of those with minor injuries was countless.
In just three days, the Anxi border troops defending the city had suffered more than half casualties.
But morale remains high.
The fierce siege continues!
......
The eighteenth day of the twelfth month of the first year of the Lingwu era of the Daxin dynasty.
This day marked the tenth day that the Anxi border troops had been defending the city.
At this time, of the 20,000 Anxi border troops defending the city, fewer than 3,000 were still able to scale the city walls and fight.
Commander Tan Li, with a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his forehead, once again ascended the city wall, carrying his sword.
Looking at the three thousand remaining soldiers on the city wall, who were already exhausted, and then at the Western Region barbarian army below the city, which seemed to have come out in full force, two hot tears quietly slid down his chiseled and resolute face.
Finally, Tan Li raised his steel sword, his eyes fixed firmly on the enemy troops below the city, and roared with each word ringing out: "Anxi Border Army, guarding the Western Regions, upholding the prestige of our nation, we will die without regret!"
"The Anxi Border Army, guarding the Western Regions and upholding our national prestige, will fight to the death without regret!"
The three thousand remaining soldiers roared in unison, their momentum as great as that of a thousand troops.
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