Chapter 449: The Girl from Dabancheng Has Long Braids

The girl from Dabancheng has long braids! Her two eyes are truly beautiful.

This Uyghur folk song, arranged by Wang Luobin, is known to every household — especially the line "Bring your dowry, bring your little sister, come riding in that horse cart," which Zhang Zhao had long dreamed about before his transmigration.

There's really such a good deal?

But now, looking at this Dabancheng, still called White Water Army City, Zhang Zhao felt only a chill in his heart.

The terrain where White Water Army City stands is high in the north and low in the south, open to the west, while the east is like the mouth of a bottle.

The northwest wind howled, whipping up the yellow earth into the air, and White Water Army City was built right at the bottle-mouth of this gorge.

The few trees that had once grown around it had long been cut down completely, leaving hardly even any scrub brush.

Moreover, the ground before the pass was open, so from the pass one could take in the entire surrounding situation at a glance — there was absolutely no possibility of a surprise attack.

Although the city walls were not high, the army city was built on the elevated ground at the valley mouth itself, and five or six forts and stockades around it formed a pincer-hold with the city.

It could be counted as the most difficult pass Zhang Zhao had faced in all his years of campaigning.

The key point was that this Jieli Pijia was far smarter than Zhang Zhao had imagined.

Zhang Zhao had originally assumed that this fellow, having let Saketu ravage Tingzhou, must be a fool — but now he discovered that was not the case.

Jieli Pijia was not stupid, but ruthless!

He had handed Tingzhou over to Saketu precisely because he wanted Saketu to become his meat shield.

If Zhang Zhao came across the drifting sands, he would surely crash straight into Saketu, and then Jieli Pijia could sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.

The only thing he had not expected was that Saketu had already been beaten into a shadow of himself by Zhang Zhao, and would rather lose ten thousand men than lock horns with Zhang Zhao again.

But since he had conceived such a scheme, Jieli Pijia would keep Saketu confined to Tingzhou and not let him enter Gaochang.

And White Water Army City was the key to Jieli Pijia's containment of Saketu.

Zhang Xibao and several Tangut infantrymen from Hengshan skilled at mountain climbing slipped back from the distance — elite mountain infantry like these were, of course, men Zhang Zhao would also recruit.

"Heavenly King, the mountains around here are steep and the slopes perilous. A few dozen or a hundred men without armor might get through, but a great army could never pass!" Zhang Xibao shook his head and said decisively.

Li Xiaojie returned at this time as well, dressed as a traveling merchant, and he too shook his head at Zhang Zhao.

"It is exactly as Zhai Guozhong and that Tingzhou Commandant said: fewer than twenty Tingzhou Uyghurs can pass, but not a single one of Saketu's Karluks is allowed through."

Zhang Zhao fell silent and considered for a while. The garrison in White Water Army City numbered about two thousand — not a large force, but the terrain was simply too formidable.

If the great army was to attack, it could only do so openly and directly. And with no trees nearby to cut down for siege engines, the only way to attack was to swarm the walls like ants — this would mean piling up human lives!

"Perhaps we could order the Tingzhou Commandant Pugu Luo to send a memorial to Jieli Pijia, saying that Saketu has poisoned Tingzhou, and requesting that Jieli Pijia permit him to lead the Tingzhou army back to Gaochang."

Murong Xinzhang suggested from the side. This fellow had his eye on Pugu Luo's two daughters, so of course he wanted to put in a word for Pugu Luo.

To see whether he could earn a little merit — otherwise he would seem far too useless.

Zhang Zhao thought it over, then shook his head. "Feng Hui is holding out with his army at Puchang. We do not have the time to wait for Jieli Pijia's reply.

And if Jieli Pijia refuses, we will have wasted time for nothing."

But Zhang Zhao had no better plan either. "Kill horses and slaughter sheep, let the soldiers eat their fill. Tomorrow, Zhai Guozhong's Karluks and Pugu Luo's Tingzhou Uyghurs will be the vanguard, swarming the walls.

The entire Fenjin unit will move out, use all the divine fire thunder we brought, and blow open the gates of White Water Army City for me."

The assembled officers nodded upon hearing this — it was indeed the only way at present.

Although this method of filling with human lives and blasting the city gates would take seven or eight days at least to bring down White Water Army City, it was still far better than doing nothing.

On the walls of White Water Army City, the defending commander was none other than Zhang Zhao's old acquaintance, the Diluo Tarkhan Pugu Cheng.

As a close branch of the Pugu family, after Jieli Pijia slaughtered his brothers, Pugu Cheng had in fact become Jieli Pijia's closest blood kinsman.

So the task of guarding White Water Army City had fallen upon Pugu Cheng.

Although his abilities were lacking, he was a kinsman of the Gaochang Uyghurs and would absolutely never be bought off by Saketu.

And indeed this was so — even after receiving Jieli Pijia's decree ordering him to let Saketu enter Gaochang, Pugu Cheng had repeatedly verified the decree's authenticity, yet he was still somewhat unwilling to carry it out.

The officers around him also crowded around Pugu Cheng. "Tarkhan, you know full well what Tingzhou has become. Saketu has the ambitions of a wolf. Once he enters Gaochang, will there be any good days left for us?"

For Jieli Pijia, his sole objective was to beat back Zhang Zhao and preserve this state and his throne.

For that, even letting Saketu into Gaochang was merely making the common people below suffer a little — he did not even want to bear the bad name for it.

But for Pugu Cheng and the other mid- and low-ranking officers of Gaochang, it was a great disaster.

Once Saketu's thirty thousand Karluks entered Gaochang, they would not dare plunder the king, the chancellor, or the great generals — but would they show any mercy in plundering men like these with a bit of property?

Jieli Pijia had long considered this possibility, which was why the envoy he sent was a close minister from his own side.

These fellows had long been accustomed to throwing their weight around, and would pay no heed to the objections of soldiers and officers. He glared at Pugu Cheng and roared fiercely.

"Does the Tarkhan intend to defy the Heavenly King's decree?"

With just that one light remark, Pugu Cheng wilted. Recalling Jieli Pijia's usual ruthless methods, he yielded at once.

"I humbly obey the Heavenly King's decree. I will send men to Tingzhou at once."

What is called joy falling from heaven?

This was joy falling from heaven.

They had already prepared to spend human lives and gunpowder, and now, on the very verge of setting out, they had actually received a personal invitation from Jieli Pijia.

Then...

Then this Heavenly King Zhang would be honored to accept!

The envoy from White Water Army City had already been detained, and he, together with the Tingzhou Commandant Pugu Luo and the acting commander Zhai Guozhong, was brought before Zhang Zhao.

The Tingzhou Commandant Pugu Luo had originally needed no rich rewards to be stirred, because after Jieli Pijia let Saketu into Tingzhou, his entire household — from wives and concubines to daughters, then sisters-in-law, sisters, and nieces — had all been distributed by Saketu to his subordinates.

Several of them were still unaccounted for, and he had long wished he could eat Jieli Pijia's flesh.

But Zhang Zhao, for safety's sake, still promised that after Gaochang was taken, he would appoint him Prefect of Yanqi — and Yanqi was far richer and far safer than Tingzhou.

Hatred could indeed be used, but power, position, and wealth could make a man fight to the death even more readily.

"Your servant has long been the Heavenly King's slave. Day and night I think of nothing but how to carve that wretch Jieli Pijia into ten thousand pieces. Please set your mind at ease, Heavenly King!"

"After we take Whitewater Army City and defeat Jieli Pijia, you, Zhai Guozhong, will also have the prospect of becoming a Prefect."

Zhai Guozhong hurriedly dropped to his knees with a thud. "Your subject thanks the Heavenly Khagan for his reward."

Zhang Zhao turned his head and looked at the captured envoy leader — this was the key figure who had deceived Pugu Cheng.

"Once the deed is done, I guarantee your whole family will be unharmed, and I will bestow five hundred sheep and a stretch of pastureland by the Jiaohe Prefecture border."

Jiaohe Prefecture lay right beside Gaochang City, with many rivers and lush water and grass — absolutely excellent pastureland.

Under the pressure of Zhang Zhao's gaze, the envoy leader slowly lowered his head, and finally prostrated himself on the ground.

"I am willing to obey the Heavenly King's commands!"

Atop the walls of Whitewater Army City, Pugu Cheng watched with mixed emotions as the boundless army in the distance filled the entire canyon.

Before long, Tingzhou Protector Pugu Luo, the vanguard general of the Karluks, and the trusted man he had sent out all arrived.

But as Pugu Cheng invited Pugu Luo up onto the wall, verifying his identity and preparing to open the gate to let the army through, he felt a twinge of doubt.

Because according to the news he had received, Pugu Luo had even had his home seized by Saktu — so why did he now look as if nothing had happened? And why was he chatting and laughing with a Karluk officer?

Moreover, Pugu Cheng quietly pulled Pugu Luo aside and asked in puzzlement.

"The army below the pass is orderly and imposing, with tall, powerful warhorses. Has Karluk military might truly grown to such a degree?"

Pugu Luo let out a barely perceptible sigh, then shook his head.

"Of course not. The land of the Seven Rivers is bitterly cold and barren. Even our Gaochang cannot afford to keep so many fierce warriors — how could Saktu possibly support them?"

Pugu Cheng grew somewhat wary. He quietly took a small step back and stared at Pugu Luo with shock and suspicion.

"If they are not Bughra Khan Saktu's men, then who are they?"

The words had barely left his mouth when Pugu Cheng suddenly felt something cold pressed against his lower back, along with a faint stabbing pain.

Before he could turn his head, the person behind him spoke — it was none other than the trusted confidant he had sent to deliver the message.

"Forgive me, Tarkan. I had no choice."

Pugu Cheng began trembling like chaff in a sieve. He suddenly understood — the one who could buy off Pugu Luo, his own confidant, and the Karluks could only be the man who had nearly cut him down at Loulan ten years ago: Zhang Zhao, the Heavenly King Zhang!

"The Tarkan is an old acquaintance of the Heavenly King. Even a man like me has been promised a Prefect's post by him — should you, Pugu Cheng, not hurry out of the city to pay respects to your new lord?"

"Would you only be satisfied when that false khan Pugu Cunde gives your daughter to a beast like Saktu?"

Pugu Cunde — that was Jieli Pijia's name before he became Khagan of Gaochang.

"Jieli" was him taking advantage of the Ashina family name, and "Pijia" was a common honorific used by Uyghur and Turkic khans.

So the original meaning of "Jieli Pijia" was "the noble Jieli great chieftain" — it was not his real name.

Hearing Pugu Luo speak thus, and seeing Pugu Luo's wretched state and the sharp blade pressed against his back, Pugu Cheng nodded heavily.

"I will open the gate at once and kneel to welcome the Heavenly King into the pass!"

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