Tibet.

Chapter 1374: Follow-up Battle
Everyone rushed to the top of the city and saw a black line on the snowy ground from afar. Guo Xin said anxiously: "General Li, we must hide all the camels to the north as soon as possible!"

The military city was too small, and more than a thousand camels crowded the city. A single round of arrow shooting from the enemy would kill most of the camels. They were their only hope for returning to Anxi, and Guo Xin valued them very much.

Li Chenghua took out her clairvoyance and looked in both directions. She soon saw several small black dots in the snow. They were spies of the enemy. She shook her head and said, "It's too late to send the camels out of the city now. That's like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth."

Guo Xin also discovered the enemy's spy, and he immediately became worried. Li Chenghua smiled and said, "Maybe we can scare the enemy!"

She immediately turned around and ordered her opponent: "Prepare the crossbow and arrow mines!"

The three hundred internal guards carried one hundred and fifty large crossbows, just enough for two people to carry one crossbow.

At this time, Qu Afeng, a female lieutenant of the inner guard, stepped forward and suggested: "General, I suggest that we light another fire!"

Qu Afeng was originally Anjia's deputy. After she came to her senses and returned to the Tang Dynasty, Li Chenghua appointed her as the captain of the female inner guard battalion. This time she followed Li Chenghua to Suiye for investigation.

Seeing that the commander was puzzled, she explained, "Zoroastrianism believes in fire. The army of the Saints is also called the Army of Light, and they are also devout to fire. If they are hit hard in the fire, they will think that it is the anger of the great god Ahura and will immediately lose their fighting spirit. The same is true in reverse. If they win in the fire, their morale will be greatly boosted."

Li Chenghua thought it made sense, so he said to Guo Xin: "General Guo, please light a fire on the top of the city wall immediately."

There was plenty of firewood in the city, and the soldiers immediately lit a bonfire on the top of the city.

The ten thousand camel cavalry were getting closer and closer. The Sogdian army liked to call themselves the Army of Light. The battle flag of this army was a ball of burning flames.

The commander-in-chief was named Kang Dingli. He was originally a general of Kang State, but was poached by the Holy Maiden Society with a high salary.

It was only after they strictly interrogated the Tang army scouts that they learned that the remaining 600 to 700 Tang troops were hiding in Yi Bo City. The commander Kang Fulai immediately ordered his deputy general Kang Dingli to lead 10,000 troops to wipe out the 600 to 700 remaining Tang troops.

On the vast snowy plain, ten thousand camels were galloping in an overwhelming manner. When they were five miles away from the military city, a low horn sounded, and the team gradually slowed down its running speed. When they were three miles away from the military city, the army finally stopped.

The wall of the military city is not high, only two meters, and the circumference of the wall is about six miles. It is long from east to west and short from north to south. It is a very standard rectangular
Commander Kang Dingli looked at it for a moment, then turned back and ordered, "General Zewa, you can lead 3,000 men to attack the city. The wall is not high, so use a ladder to climb up the city!"

The Sogdians' siege method was similar to that of the Persians. If the city walls were too high, they would focus on attacking the city gates and use large logs to break them open. If the walls were not high, they would either throw rope ladders up to the city or use human ladders.

The Yi Bo military city is only two stories high, about six meters, and can be reached with four ladders. Any general with a little experience would choose this option.

Three thousand men continued to gallop on camels across the snowfield. They had to wait until they reached the city before they could dismount their camels and attack. Otherwise, with the snow three miles away and so thick, they would not be able to run across.

The blazing fire on the top of the city wall looked quite strange to the Sogdians. Fire was their belief and totem, and it should be burning on their own positions. Why was it burning on the top of the enemy's city wall? Did the enemy also convert to Zoroastrianism?

It was still the great god Ahura who was protecting the Tang army.

The three thousand soldiers were very surprised and suspicious. They ran closer and closer, gradually entering within five hundred steps.

On the top of the city wall, Zhan Yannian shouted, "Fire!"

One hundred and fifty arrows flew into the air, emitting hissing green smoke, and shot towards the galloping camel warriors.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

One hundred and fifty arrow bombs exploded in the crowd, with flames spurting, blood and flesh flying, and a huge cloud of smoke. Hundreds of people were killed, and thousands were injured by shrapnel. There were screams and wails everywhere.

The Sogdians had never seen such powerful firearms. The soldiers at the back were terrified and shouted, "Hu Da is angry! Hu Da is angry!" The remaining thousand or so people turned their camels around and fled. At this time, a second round of arrows and lightning were shot out and exploded among the wounded soldiers. Many soldiers' bodies were blown away. The Sogdian soldiers at the back were terrified and looked at the fire on the top of the city in horror.

This unprecedented fire and thunder made them think of the great god Ahuramaz. The Tang army must have been protected by the great god, which is why they suffered the punishment of fire and thunder. In the teachings of Zoroastrianism, there is this kind of combination of fire and thunder, which means that the great god is angry and is punishing the world.

Seven thousand soldiers retreated one after another, and the commander Kang Dingli was also frightened. What he thought about was not Hu's anger, but the fact that the Tang army had such powerful weapons and they were no match at all.

Kang Dingli also lost his fighting spirit and shouted, "Retreat to Suiye!"

The seven thousand camel cavalry retreated, and the Tang army opened the city gates, rushed out of the city, killed the wounded but not dead soldiers, and seized strategic items.

The dead soldiers were piled together, burned and buried deep. The dead camels and wounded camels were all food, as well as thousands of bags of dry food and bread.

Three generals in the army were captured and brought back to the city for interrogation to learn the inside story of the surprise attack on Suiye.

Li Chenghua paced back and forth in the room. At this time, Qu Afeng came and handed her a confession. "General, this is the confession of the other party!"

Li Chenghua sat down and took a closer look, then he roughly understood the whole story.

The cause was the struggle between the Holy Maiden Society and the Illuminati. The Illuminati controlled the male believers, while the Holy Maiden Society controlled the female believers. The royal power of the nine Sogdian countries was basically related to the Illuminati, and had nothing to do with the Holy Maiden Society. However, since Jin Shanling took control of the Holy Maiden Society ten years ago, the Holy Maiden Society began to expand. First, it made a fortune in the East-West trade, and then pushed the princesses of the Stone Kingdom and Bukhara to the throne. The Holy Maiden Society controlled the Stone Kingdom and Bukhara, which were rich in gold and silver.

At this time, the Illuminati had an internal conflict, and the new leader came to power with the support of the Saint Maiden Society. In return, Jin Shanling was promoted to the Saint of Light. Not long after, the new leader died of illness, and the Saint of Light took on the role of leader of the Illuminati concurrently. In fact, the Saint Maiden Society annexed the Illuminati.

In order to safeguard their own interests, the kings of the six countries, Kang, An, Shi, Mi, Cao and He, secretly formed an alliance against the Holy Maiden Society.

It happened that at this time, the Holy Maiden Society began to build an army in order to consolidate its rule. The Six-Nation Alliance seized this opportunity and sent a large number of soldiers to join the Holy Maiden Society's army in their personal capacity, and actually controlled the Holy Maiden Society's 50,000-strong army.

These 50,000 troops ostensibly obeyed the command and dispatch of the Holy Maiden Society, but in fact they were secretly loyal to the Six-Nation Alliance.

But the confession did not say why they attacked Suiye. The captured general was only a middle-level general. He learned about the Six-Nation Alliance when he was drinking with his cousin who was a senior official. He was not aware of such confidential information as the attack on Suiye.

In addition, their army came from Bactria and did not stop. They launched a surprise attack on the night they arrived in Suiye. There were a total of 20,000 troops stationed in Suiye.

Li Chenghua handed the confession to Guo Xin and asked, "What does Governor Guo think?"

After reading the report, Guo Xin frowned and said, "The attack on Suiye should be the order of the Six Nations Alliance. This army is stationed in Bukhara. The Saint Maiden Society should not be aware of their attack on Suiye. The distance is too far, and winter is coming soon, so trade has come to a standstill."

Li Chenghua had also lived in Suiye for several years and was familiar with Bukhara. She asked, "The king of Bukhara is Alole, right? How could his sister seize power from him?"

Guo Xin sighed and said, "After the death of the old King Murdo of Bactria, Alole became the king. Her sister Adele came back from the Saints Society. She was a saint and could not marry for life. Alole felt sorry for her sister and made her the chief steward of the palace. Later, Alole married the princess of Dongcao. Little did he know that the princess was also a member of the Saints Society. She colluded with her sister Adele and was poisoned to death in less than half a year. Alole had no son, so Adele became the queen of Bactria with the support of the Saints Society.

Soon, the Shi Kingdom followed suit, the Shi Kingdom's king died suddenly, and the Shi Kingdom's princess took the throne and became the Shi Kingdom's queen."

Li Chenghua smiled and said, "Since the 20,000 garrisons were controlled by the Six Nations Alliance, why didn't they launch a coup to overthrow the queens of Bukhara and Shiguo and restore legitimacy? There are also troops attacking Suiye, how could the queen of Bukhara not know?"

Guo Xin smiled bitterly and said, "There may be a deeper hidden story here, but I don't know."

Li Chenghua nodded. At least she could send the first report to the emperor.

(End of this chapter)