When Li Siye led his troops to Mulu City, Anxi had gone through two battles in succession and was already extremely tired. However, there were still 3,000 food troops in the city to defend the city, and they were extremely tenacious.

Mulu City is an oasis city built with chisel stone and rammed earth, the city walls are strong and heavy, the big cannibals have put a lot of effort into this city, even if there are only 3,000 defenders, it seems to be full of flaws, but it is not able to take it for a long time.

He ordered the crossbow team to use the Fuyuan crossbow to fire fierce thunder at the city, and sent death squads to blow the city gate, but the enemy had already sealed the city gate with a stone. He personally led the jumping soldiers to attack the city, and the big cannibals threw rolling stones from the top of the city, repelling the attacks of the Tang army twice in succession.

This is the weakness of the Anxi army, the long-distance march does not have complete siege equipment, can only rely on the Fu Yuan crossbow to launch the city arrow to climb up, the enemy uses a long-handled thorny cactus-like weapon, one after another to poke the soldiers from the city.

The sky was dark again, the stars were floating in the desert, and the Tang army temporarily surrounded the temporary camp with camels, and due to the increase in seizures, their strong mobility was gradually weakening, which was difficult to choose and unavoidable.

Li Siye sat cross-legged in the felt tent, cut the salty cured meat on the wooden plate with a knife, and forcibly chewed and swallowed the dry compressed biscuits, which was also a kind of torture for a long time. The generals sitting beside him also frowned and swallowed hard.

He threw the plate on the ground and said, "We have traveled thousands of miles from Talas to kill here, and how many enemy troops have been routed to make a small fortified city stumbling up. You have to think of a way, and you must take Mulu City within tomorrow. ”

Duan Xiu really complained silently in his heart, did any of these victories win once? Not once. If these big cannibals are a little willing to be shrunken turtles, it is estimated that you will not even be able to take Kangju City now.

Wang Zhengjian analyzed on the side: "It's different from before now, we are fighting on other people's land, and people stick to their own homeland, so naturally they will not take half a step back." Moreover, the tall trees in this oasis of Mulu are scarce, and they are all low shrubs, which are not easy to build siege equipment, and it is difficult to capture them with manpower alone. ”

Tian Zhen also held his head and said: "We have been staying under the city and can't get in, in case their reinforcements arrive, it seems that we can only retreat." ”

Li Siye suddenly laughed, put his hands on his knees and said loudly: "There will be no reinforcements, at least not for a while, there are so many people in the Khorasan army, I don't believe that they are constantly bursting troops." We have defeated the main force of Mulu City in the desert, and those who have fled back to Tus City must think that Mulu cannot hold it, and will naturally report the fall of Mulu City to Hebo Silin, who may not even know that this city is still in the hands of his own people. All he could do now was hold on to the city of Tus and wait for the caliph to send him reinforcements, before he could wait for an opportunity to counterattack. ”

Wang Zhengjian said on a whim: "Otherwise, we will leave Mulu City and go directly to attack Tus City." ”

Tian Zhen sneered: "You can't even attack Mulu City, and you still want to attack Tus City?" ”

"This is different, Mulu City is a small city, and it is because it is small that it is easy to hold onto. The city of Tus was a large city with a population of several hundred thousand, and its walls were too long to defend itself. Moreover, the city with a population of hundreds of thousands needs to transport food to the city every day, and as long as it is cut off from the outside world, it will not be long before the military and civilians will be cut off from food, and it will soon collapse. ”

Li Siye nodded indifferently: "You are right, but I can't leave a hidden danger on my back, only a steady victory is a real victory, but anyone who takes a shortcut with a little fantasy will bring us devastating disasters in the future." Only by using Mulu City as a base for advancing can we advance and retreat in a measured manner. ”

There is a sentence he hid in his stomach and did not say it, since the Anxi army set out from Shule to the territory of Dashi, their edge has been used to the limit, and the end of the so-called strong crossbow cannot wear Lu Min. The Anxi Army's preparation time for the expedition was not abundant, coupled with the unfamiliarity with the natural environment, it experienced four major wars before and after, and their opponents were not idle people, not a decadent apocalyptic dynasty, but a new country with vitality, which had just experienced the war of changing dynasties, and its mobilization ability was inevitably not ordinarily strong.

As long as he can successfully take Mulu City, he will have more confidence to negotiate conditions with the big cannibals.

"Or are we going to find a way to cut off their water supply?"

"This is also not a good idea, because the Mulghab River has plenty of water, unless there is a way to divert the river. And we won't be able to sustain ourselves for long. ”

Li Siye suddenly remembered Ma Phosphorus, and asked to himself: "What about Ma Phosphorus, is Ma Phosphorus still alive?" I sent them to hold off the enemy in the desert, and they had a good chance of getting out. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone was silent, and they no longer had any illusions about whether Ma Phosphorus could survive.

He stood up from the ground and encouraged everyone: "Tomorrow we will continue to storm the city, and we will definitely take the city by using the method of feints on three sides and attacking it head-on." I will personally lead the team to attack the city, Duan Xiushi, you lead the crossbow team to suppress the city with fierce fire and thunder. ”

All the generals crossed their hands in unison.

On the morning of the second day, the Tang army continued to storm Mulu City, and Li Siye personally took the lead in attacking the city, after a whole morning of fierce fighting. A young general named Guo Xin took the lead in ascending to the top of the city, threw down the black flag symbolizing the Abbasid dynasty, and planted the Sanchen flag on the head of the city.

More than 1,200 of the Great Eaters were still taken prisoner in the city, and this battle was his heaviest loss since he set out.

He rode into the city on a white horse through the cleared gates, and the people of the city hid in adobe bungalows and watched them as foreign conquerors.

The captives took off their armor and squatted on the ground, Tian Zhen stood in front of them with a long-handled Mo knife and asked Li Siye: "These people have killed so many of our brothers, should we kill them all?" ”

Li Siye frowned and thought for a while and said: "Killing people in the city is full of blood, which is unsightly, and it is easy for the residents of the city to have hatred when they see it, so it is better to take it to the desert outside the city and find a place to bury it." ”

Tian Zhen took the initiative to undertake this kind of dirty work without accumulating virtue, and led people to escort the more than 1,000 captives to the outside of the city, and when they passed by the city gate, they saw dozens of thin horses and people in tattered yellow sand standing at the city gate with staggering steps.

Ma Phosphorus held the scarf in his arms, his face was shriveled like a human figurine that had just been thrown out of the sand, he looked up at the Sanchen Banner on the head of the city, and his already dry eyes were crystal clear again.