Chapter 2724: Cherishing Life

Second Prince Gao climbed the tall building and looked into the distance towards the West City Gate. He glanced at the dark night and said, “We need to retake the West City Gate quickly. They don’t have many people there now. If their reinforcements arrive, Anshi City will be finished.”

Everyone knew that the only reason they managed to seize the West City Gate was because of the lack of people. But they are defending the gate, which makes it difficult to retake.

The generals remained silent, and Second Prince Gao’s expression darkened as he scanned their faces. Seeing that no one volunteered, he decisively said, “General Yuan Yi, please lead five thousand troops to recapture the West City Gate.”

It wasn’t that he was unwilling to provide more troops. The tricky part was that they were attacking from inside the city, trying to seize the gate from within.

But there is only one main street leading into the gate. Even though it’s wide, it can only accommodate about two or three dozen people standing side by side, not very spacious, and the attack surface is narrow. It wouldn’t be useful to have more people.

General Yuan Yi bowed his head in compliance, accepted the command token, and departed.

Only after watching him leave did Second Prince Gao say, “Conduct a thorough investigation of the entire army. Identify the remaining spies. Every new recruit recruited over the past month must be checked.”

He did not want to be betrayed on the battlefield again.

The crowd responded and immediately went to conduct the clearance.

General Ashina also checked the time, then turned to ask General Qibi Heli, “When will the reinforcements arrive?”

“Soon,” General Qibi Heli replied, “I only brought ten thousand men. The main force probably won’t arrive until around lunchtime.”

General Ashina thought for a moment and then said, “That’s enough.”

When Qibi Heli said soon, it did indeed mean soon. The slower infantry arrived just a few minutes after he finished speaking.

General Ashina glanced at the slightly breathless infantry and directly told Qibi Heli, “Leave me two thousand men, and take the rest to the North City Gate.”

Qibi Heli: “What?”

“To guard against them sending troops from the North City Gate to circle around,” he said. “They have a hundred thousand men, and we only have a little over thirteen thousand. If we get attacked from both front and back, we won’t be able to hold the West City Gate. However, if we only face the inner city’s gate defense, five thousand men are enough.”

General Ashina said, “We will split our forces. You head to the North City Gate. Once they open the gate, attack the city. It’s best if you can take the North City Gate. If not, at least prevent them from leaving the city. Wait until tomorrow when the main force arrives.”

Qibi Heli thought briefly and agreed, then pointed at Zhou Man, “Let Lord Zhou come with us.”

“No,” General Ashina said calmly, “There are so many wounded soldiers here still left untreated. Moreover, there may not be any battles at the North City Gate, but there will definitely be battles here. The soldiers need military medics.”

Doesn’t his soldiers need military medics too?

He brought eight thousand men while there were only five thousand here. Under any circumstances, Zhou Man should go there. He said, “The remaining two military medics can stay with you. I just need one, Zhou Man.”

General Ashina then went to find Zhou Man and said to her, “Lord Zhou, please send someone with General Qibi to the North City Gate.”

Manbao asked without lifting her head, “Just one?”

“One is enough.” There are only three in total anyway.

Manbao said, “Alright.”

She looked up and scanned around, frowning, “Where are Su Banxia and the others?”

General Ashina narrowed his eyes, and Qibi Heli rubbed his nose. He made a gesture with his hand behind his back, and not long after, Su Banxia and the others arrived carrying medicine boxes, wiped the sweat from their foreheads, and said, “Teacher, didn’t we set up the medical tent outside the city because it’s dangerous inside?”

Manbao and General Ashina both looked at Qibi Heli.

Qibi Heli looked up at the sky and down at the earth, ignoring their gaze.

Manbao withdrew her gaze and said to General Ashina, “General, I brought ten students this time.”

General Ashina replied impassively, “Then Lord Zhou, please assign some people to accompany General Qibi to the North City Gate.”

Manbao nodded and selected Wen Tiandong to take four people with him, distributing some medicinal herbs to them.

She said to Qibi Heli, “General, I entrust these five students to you. Please ensure their safety.”

Qibi Heli no longer argued about taking Zhou Man and nodded, “Rest assured, Lord Zhou.”

Wen Tiandong could only lead his classmates away.

Manbao said to him, “We are the medical tent, and need to stay in the rear.”

“Yes.”

After they left, Manbao continued to squat down and deal with the wounded soldiers.

This empty space was filled with wounded soldiers. Manbao instructed people to carry the severely injured soldiers into the rooms by the city tower. They were no longer combat-capable, and leaving them outside was of no use. Inside, they could at least keep warm.

General Ashina was also tired. After arranging for patrols and sentries, he sat down on the ground and closed his eyes to rest.

Xue Gui, after thinking it over, also sat down next to him.

When Manbao passed by him, she turned her head to look at him. By the firelight, she examined his expression and asked, “Are you injured?”

Xue Gui was startled for a moment and then said, “I don’t think so.”

Manbao then looked at his back.

It was then he felt some pain in his back.

Manbao glanced at him and waved a student over, pointing to him and said, “Treat his wound.” Then she turned and walked away.

Although she quickly returned and said to General Ashina, “General, we need water. Is there a well in this area?”

Xue Gui, who was in the midst of having his wound dressed, immediately said, “I am willing to lead a team to search for water sources.”

General Ashina glanced at the wound on his back and didn’t let him go. He still waved over a deputy to lead people to see if there were any water sources in the area they controlled. If there was, control it.

While giving instructions, he heard a noise. Xue Gui heard it too, and they both turned to look down the street.

The scout reported, “General, the enemy is coming. There are too many of them to count for now.

The street is only so wide, and the people stretch out of sight, let alone counting them. In any case, he couldn’t count how many people there were.

General Ashina said, “The city gate and the street are only so large. We just need to hold the checkpoints. Their numbers don’t scare us.”

After speaking, he deployed troops for defense. The archers and spear squads stood ready.

He looked steadily forward, his lips slightly curled. With the West City Gate already in his hands, he did not fear the defense as long as there were no enemy forces outside the gates.

The enemy forces charged, and everyone fought across barriers. Of course, it wasn’t just sword against sword but also arrows.

However, arrows that they shot over were met with shields on the other side. Naturally, the arrows shot by them were also blocked by Jinjun’s shields.

But not all arrows could be stopped by shields; some arrows still flew over the heads of the frontline and landed on their side.

Manbao was startled by an arrow that fell not far away and immediately decided to have the wounded soldiers carried outside the city gate. She then led the students, bending low, to move the medical tent out of the city.

Once outside, she breathed a sigh of relief. There was more security here, not only because they were shielded by many soldiers but also by a thick city wall. Unless the city tower fell, or enemy forces flanked them, they were safe.