"Your Highness, not all the Tang soldiers have entered the city, some of them have stayed outside the city and are arranging formations, it seems that they are planning to meet the attack of our army!"

"What?"

When another ranger reported the situation, Mahdi was taken aback and felt slighted.

After many years of fighting with the caliphate, even the Romans took him very seriously, and now these Tang people treated him like a monkey, so it is no wonder that Mahdi was furious.

"Then it will be as the Tang people wish!"

The assembled Great Food Army drove out of the barracks and slaughtered the Shenwu Army outside the city.

At this time, Qin Jin was observing the battlefield on the low city wall of Sylvan, and when he saw the tide of cannibals sweeping in, his brows were twisted into a pimple.

In fact, only about a third of the people entered the city of Sylvan, and the small city was indeed too small, and the only two gates were blocked from the inside during the siege of the Great Cannibals, and only one gate was dug in a hurry.

It's not easy to get a third of the way through a city gate.

Seeing the sun rising high, Qin Jin knew that if he was so congested outside Sylvan City, he would inevitably be attacked by a great cannibal, and at that time, even if the Shenwu Army was as fierce as a tiger, he was afraid that it would become fish to be slaughtered.

As a result, nearly two-thirds of the men were placed outside the city, waiting for the enemy to rush up on their own.

Someone also asked Qin Jin, since he knew that it was impossible for the forward battalion to enter Sylvan City, why didn't he withdraw from the battlefield before the fog completely dispersed and went to the direction of Gorgan to meet the main force of the Shenwu Army?

This possibility had been denied by Qin Jin as early as the night before, the Shenwu Army and the Great Cannibal Comparison Field Battle, there was indeed no certainty of victory, and under the pressure of a strong enemy, the withdrawal of troops could turn into a big rout at any time, even if the elite Shenwu Army was no exception.

And the safest way is to occupy favorable terrain and carry out defensive counterattacks.

As long as the city of Sylvan is defended, and two-thirds of the soldiers of the forward battalion are under the city, it is impossible for the big cannibals to succeed easily, and it will take a lot of effort.

In the end, two-thirds of the forward battalion chose to line up three miles northwest of the city of Sylvan.

Sure enough, the Great Cannibal did not attack Sylvane, but launched a thunderous attack on the soldiers of the forward battalion in the array.

This part of the people was personally led by Zheng Xianli, who had already been good at fighting with the infantry army when Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing were generals under him, and today he was in danger again, and he had to use his talents.

In contrast, Qin Jin, who was on the city wall, was in a very nervous mood. As his right-hand man, Zheng Xianli played an indispensable role in the Western Regions, and he even planned to appoint Zheng Xianli as the governor of Khorasan and Hezhong after returning to the Central Plains.

However, even if there are a thousand remedies, it is impossible to find a character comparable to Zheng Xianli.

It is precisely for this reason that Qin Jin does not want Zheng Xianli to be in danger.

But at this extremely urgent moment, if it weren't for Zheng Xianli sitting outside the city, would there be a more suitable person?

The answer is clearly no.

In the blink of an eye, the Great Cannibal had already rushed in front of the forward battalion in formation, and in just an instant, the two sides were locked in a stalemate.

Qin Jin immediately ordered that one-third of the forward battalions that entered the city should prepare to go out of the city to fight.

He wanted to see the right time, but this time was not easy to find, and those who left the city early would become fuel, and in case of Zheng Xianli's soldiers, they might also be killed or wounded.

The Shenwu Army has never fought such an uncertain battle since it became an army, even if it is as strong as An Lushan's Luluo River, Qin Jin has never had the apprehension of today.

The Tang Dynasty fought on its own, and it was possible to make various strategic changes based on fortified cities or dangerous terrain.

Khorasan is very different, the city is a small city, vulnerable to attack, and the terrain is mostly an endless open land, which cannot be relied on for combat at all.

In this way, you can only rely on your own strength to fight hard.

This was originally what Qin Jin had always planned, but Mahdi's unexpected actions still put the Shenwu Army in a passive situation.

But this is already the best result, if Mahdi leads the main force of the Great Food Army to continue to advance eastward, wreak havoc on the back road of the Shenwu Army, and even kill directly to Mulu City, the consequences will be unimaginable.

The battle between the two sides outside the city is almost a simple exchange of human lives, just a difference between more and less.

Cui Yin has been following behind Qin Jin, and he has mixed feelings in his heart as he witnesses the succession of good men.

Did these people rush all the way from the Central Plains to Khorasan just for the result of knowing that they were going to die? But they did not hesitate at all, and as soon as the military order was given, they sang war songs and calmly went to their deaths.

His courage to face death as usual is really emotional.

When I was studying in Chang'an, when I talked about my achievements with my classmates, I admired the tragedy of the horse leather shroud, but when it came to my own experience, it was a different taste.

Cui Yin asked himself if he was not a timid mother-in-law, but after experiencing the war himself, he still came to a conclusion that in the face of war, everyone's lives are as fragile and vulnerable as ants.

Based on this cognition, Cui Yin even felt that instead of sacrificing countless lives to expand the territory, it was better to use more energy to let the people live a better life without food and clothing.

However, the rumbling war drums inside and outside the city and the sound of blowing horns and shouting killings one after another reminded Cui Yin that these were all fantasies, and expanding the territory was always the primary goal of the empire.

Thinking of this, Cui Yin looked sideways at Qin Jin, but saw that the young prime minister's face was a little worried, which was unprecedented.

"Prime Minister, if there are no reinforcements, let's, what should we do?"

Almost without hesitation, Cui Yin blurted out.

Hearing this, Qin Jin replied without replying:

"Today's battle, if you are still defeated and die, you can only say that the luck is not in my Datang!"

This answer made Cui Yin dumbfounded, he really couldn't imagine that what came out of the prime minister's mouth was actually some words of luck.

Ge Hongye pulled Cui Yin's shirt from behind, signaling him not to ask some more words that damaged the morale of the army, seeing the situation, even the prime minister felt that it was tricky, and if it was affected by the army's morale again, it would only make matters worse.

Cui Yin also realized that he had said something he shouldn't have said, but seeing that Qin Jin's eyes were always staring at the outside of the city, he didn't seem to blame himself, and he was embarrassed for a while, and he still caused chaos after all.

"Look, look, reinforcements, reinforcements have arrived......"

Suddenly, Ge Hongye pointed to the billowing smoke and dust in the west and shouted loudly.