Chapter 217: The Vice-King of Kushan’s Calculation

“Huff… huff…”

“I say, have they retreated yet? It’s almost dark, and they still won’t stop?”

After hours of siege warfare dragged on until dusk and darkness fell, Fatty slumped against the city wall, sat on the ground, hugged his one-handed sword, and took deep breaths again and again.

Although Fatty had killed many Kushan Infantry soldiers in this fight and gained enough experience to level up two full ranks, he, Luyu, who had never seriously farmed monsters since entering the Plane, was now exhausted to the bone.

Just like Fatty, A-Dai was so tired that he could barely hold his sharp blade steady. Blood covered his body, and drops kept falling from him.

“They have retreated for now. We don’t know if they will attack tonight.”

Compared to the two of them, Mo Xiaobai was hardly doing any better. Supporting himself with his long spear, he stared at the wave of Kushan Heavy Infantry retreating below. His eyes showed a hint of seriousness.

The Kushan Heavy Infantry were indeed formidable troops worth mentioning.

Their advantage in equipment need not be mentioned. Just by using dozens of ladders to launch a charge, they had caused the Great Han defenders more than two hundred casualties in just one afternoon.

Plus over a hundred more wounded by the Mounted Archers, the total Battle Loss for the Han Army in this first day alone had already reached 300. Facing such high-intensity troop consumption, how could Mo Xiaobai underestimate his opponent?

Mo Xiaobai did not show his worry on his face directly, but Li Ji, whose sharp eyes saw everything, spoke up at once: “Is My Lord worried that the City is hard to hold?”

“I have to worry. It’s only the first day, and we have already lost nearly one-tenth of our troops. In a few days, all of us might have to fight while wounded.”

Seeing the worry in his Lord’s words, Li Ji looked very relaxed and even smiled: “My Lord worries that we are losing too many soldiers, but aren’t the Kushan troops losing too many as well? Just in this siege battle today, we had 200 Soldiers wounded and over ten killed; but just the Kushan Infantry alone had more than 800 killed, and the wounded must have been no less than a thousand. This single battle has caused at least 2000 total casualties. How many more days can they last with such losses?”

“Moreover, the Kushan army has traveled far, and whether cavalry or infantry, they all rode horses. Their supplies must be scarce. Even the ladders used today were probably made on the spot near Congling when they were about to leave, not to mention the food supply wagons. Relying only on the horses carrying a batch of grain, how can they support such a large-scale expedition? We just need to hold out a few more days, and the Kushan army will certainly have to make changes.”

After the fierce battle of the day, Li Ji had a much clearer judgment of the whole situation. The Kushan army was very good at fighting, but if they could grab their soft spot, they would win this great war.

Mo Xiaobai knew what Li Ji said was true. But he still couldn’t stand such a siege battle. Seeing his own Soldiers being carried down from the City Wall made him feel uncomfortable.

Compared to the fierce siege, Mo Xiaobai preferred battles like the fight against the Water Bandits, those great victories where hardly any soldiers were lost.

Of course, Mo Xiaobai knew this thought was very unrealistic. He shook his head to push these messy thoughts away and said in a deep voice: “Maogong, keep watching the large Kushan army outside the city without any relaxation. Although we will not leave the city to meet them for now and cannot stop them from leaving the Kingdom of Yarkand, we must at least know how many troops are passing through. After night falls, go check if the Scouts scattered outside the city are still safe.”

Hearing this, Li Ji nodded. He knew why Mo Xiaobai said this. As long as the main force of the Kushan went to Shule to fight a decisive battle with Ban Chao, they could start planning to switch from defense to offense.

His Lord could not really bear to be in constant passive defense.

…

That night.

Just as the bright moon hung high in the sky, the Kushan soldiers and generals, who had been besieging for a whole day, had finally set up a simple camp, when a new army arrived from the rear.

Leading this army was none other than the main commander of this empire war, Vice-King Xie.

“Diliya, you led a full ten thousand strong vanguard troops, and yet you could not take a small Wang City of Yarkand?”

Looking at the general standing before him with a ashamed face, the Vice-King, who was already over forty, had a cold expression: “Because of your incompetence, your men have lost twenty percent of their troops in front of the Han People.”

“The Han People are skilled at defending cities. We were not prepared enough. Please let Vice-King punish me.” As the overall commander of today’s battle and the main general of the army of ten thousand, the Central Asian strongman Diliya, who was over thirty and still had a long beard, immediately clasped his hands to ask for punishment.

This battle turned out like this, no matter what the reason was, it was his responsibility.

Hearing Diliya ask for punishment, Paka and Balu, who had been standing nearby with gloomy faces, immediately lowered their heads and clasped their hands too. They were the true commanders of this battle and shared the same unavoidable responsibility.

At this moment, Paka and Balu had already lost their fighting spirit, because the all-day battle had made them realize the strength of the Han Army.

Unlike the Kushan’s feature of extremely top-notch individual soldiers, a single Han Soldier might not seem threatening, but the coordination of three or five Han Soldiers, or the overall command among hundreds of Han Soldiers, these things that the Kushan people could not handle at all, the Han Army could do with ease.

Many times, a few Kushan Heavy Infantry managed to charge onto the City Wall using luck and their armor, but they were killed together by a few Han Soldiers before they could even get stable.

Having truly seen the power of the Han Soldier Formation, they had now completely dropped their earlier contempt for Han Soldiers.

Their opponent was not as weak as imagined.

“With a great battle coming, I will note your mistakes in my heart for now. Starting from tomorrow, you will continue the siege. I do not expect you to take this Wang City of Yarkand. What you must do is keep a watch on this place so that the Han People inside cannot run out to affect my decisive battle with Ban Chao.”

Since Vice-King Xie could reach the position of one below the emperor and above ten thousand in the Kushan, he was obviously not a fool. He knew that too much punishment and cursing now was useless. Instead, it was better to warn them so that this group would serve him more carefully.

“Besides, we have traveled far and brought very little food. You must send out three thousand Cavalry to raid those Western Regions people and seize their food. I cannot let my soldiers go to the battlefield with empty stomachs.”

“If you cannot even do this small thing well, wait until this great war is over, and I will make you three return to Marakanda to raise horses. You will never be allowed to lead troops under me again.”

Vice-King Xie’s calculation was very clear. He thought that by scolding Diliya and the other three like this today, these guys would surely carry out his orders seriously.

And considering how weak the Western Regions people were against the Kushan army, wherever the three thousand Cavalry went, there would certainly be a good harvest.

Not to mention grain, even Gold and beautiful women would be within reach.

However, this Vice-King who had never set foot in the Great Han before did not know that he was facing a Western Regions that had been transformed by Ban Chao, and here also had Great Han Players who had jumped in.

Even at this moment, just as he had issued his military order, news of the two Kushan armies meeting had already reached the Wang City of Yarkand through a Wild Goose.