A thousand mounted archers broke through the blockade of a small number of enemy troops without any suspense and rushed to the place where the enemy had stacked their siege weapons. Then, they began to throw cotton bales that were soaked in kerosene next to the siege weapons and prepared to ignite them.
Even though there were many busy craftsmen in this area, these craftsmen did not have any weapons. They only had tools in their hands and did not have the ability to fight against the mounted archers. Even if they did, it would not be of much use.
In addition, many of the craftsmen were captured and did not know who Mansur was. Naturally, they would not risk their lives for Mansur's empire. When they saw another group of soldiers coming, they quickly took the opportunity to escape. After all, no one was watching them.
A thousand mounted archers took out the torches on their backs and lit up all the cotton bales. Then, they threw the torches to the places where there were no cotton bales to ignite more siege weapons.
Wood was a flammable item, and cotton bales that had been poured with kerosene could ignite a huge flame. Therefore, in an extremely short period of time, many of the siege weapons were set ablaze. Moreover, the fire was getting bigger and bigger, and it seemed like it was going to turn the entire camp into a sea of fire.
Seeing the siege weapons that he had worked so hard to build being set ablaze, Ziyad was so angry that he almost fainted. However, even if he rushed over now, it would be useless. He could not stop so many mounted archers by himself and it was clearly too late to call for reinforcements.
After a thousand mounted archers completed their task of setting the fire, they immediately left without any hesitation. This was because they had already seen the enemy's cavalry rushing over. If they waited for a large number of the enemy's cavalry to arrive, they would be in great danger.
Even though the mounted archers could kill the enemy from a long distance, it was only effective when the enemy was not very strong. If the enemy had an absolute advantage, then it was best not to take the risk. If they were surrounded, then it would be completely over. After all, the enemy also had crossbows and there were many mounted archers. It was just that the crossbows did not have the range of their crossbows. If they came close, then they would still be a great threat.
Seeing the siege weapons burning more and more fiercely, Ziyad appeared to be in despair. It was clearly too late to put out the fire now because the fire was already burning very fiercely. Moreover, there was no water at the place where the siege weapons were built. Without water, how could they put out the fire? They could only watch as the siege weapons were set ablaze.
There were many soldiers in the camp, but most of them were resting. Only a small number of soldiers were on duty. When these soldiers on duty rushed out, the mounted archers had already escaped.
"Don't chase, we've already chased a lot."
Seiyad stopped the soldiers from chasing after the mounted archers to prevent any mishaps from befalling the small number of soldiers. At the same time, he was also very worried about the granary in the camp. If these soldiers chased after the mounted archers and another group came over and burned the granary, they would be completely finished.
"General, these weapons are all destroyed. What should we do?"
A soldier asked.
Ziyad said desolately, "It's all my fault. I underestimated the enemy time and time again, causing the enemy to take advantage of the loopholes. It's all my fault! The granary of the camp is extremely important. Go back and guard it. Do not let anything happen to it. "
"Yes, General."
The subordinate replied.
At this moment, Ziyad stood outside the camp and admired the burning siege weapons. There was nothing else he needed to do.
But he really didn't want to see this sight. The sight of it made his heart bleed. He had poured far too much blood and sweat into the construction of this base of siege weapons. Now that it had been burned down, he was truly heartbroken.
He naturally could not hide such a major incident from his commander. Abu Muslim woke up from his sleep and hastily asked what had happened outside and why the camp was in such a mess.
The answer he received made him very angry. All of the siege weapons, as well as the semi-finished siege weapons, had been burned. This meant that the siege tomorrow could not be carried out. It might take a long time before the attack on Al City could begin.
The furious Abu Muslim couldn't even sleep. He hurriedly got up and went to the scene. When he saw that the fire was already much higher than the treetops, Abu Muslim clenched his teeth.
"Ziyad, weren't you in charge of building the siege weapons? How did it end up like this? How did you do your job? "
Abu Muslim was so angry that he couldn't help but curse Ziyad.
"General, this is all my fault. I still underestimated the enemy. I didn't think that the enemy would be so bold as to attack our siege weapons. It's all my fault."
Ziyad could not explain himself, so he could only admit his guilt.
Abu Muslim's anger did not diminish in the slightest as he continued to angrily say, "The Caliph has already sent people to urge us to capture Archeng as quickly as possible, then capture Maia City and capture Altik alive. But now, we've wasted too much time in the tiny city of Archeng, and the Caliph has run out of patience. He urged us to capture the city as quickly as possible. The siege will begin tomorrow morning, and it will begin in the wee hours of the morning. All soldiers must be ready to attack the city."
"General, but we don't have any siege weapons left. We can't attack the city."
Ziyad saw that Abu Muslim was confused by the fever and hurriedly said.
Abu Muslim angrily said, "This is the Caliph's order. We don't have any siege weapons, but we still have to attack the city. Immediately dispatch a large number of soldiers to capture the civilians in the area, whether they are men, women, elderly, or children. Capture them all. In tomorrow's battle, these people will be the vanguard, and anyone who dares to resist will be killed on the spot."
"General, isn't this a little too cruel? In the future, we will be ruling this place. If we kill too many people, it will be extremely detrimental to our future rule."
Ziyad advised. Ziyad was extremely shocked by Abu Muslim's madness. War was always a matter for men, and forcing women and children to die on the front lines would greatly diminish the prestige of the army.
"Ziyad, all of this was caused by you. I've already given you three chances, but what's the result now? We don't have time to waste. We must immediately attack the city. Only then can we give the Caliph an explanation. Even if we can't win in the end, we'll have done our best. Only then will the Caliph understand us. "
Abu Muslim said.
It was clear that Abu Muslim understood Mansur very well. He was worried that his failure to launch a large-scale attack would arouse Mansur's suspicions. Moreover, they truly had wasted too much time at the gates of Ahl. They needed to launch a powerful attack so that Mansur could demonstrate their loyalty.
Of course, Mansur was in such a hurry because of his position. He had dispatched one hundred thousand soldiers to the south, so he was consuming an enormous amount of provisions every day. If this war dragged on, his empire would be worn down. His heart was dripping blood as he looked at the enormous expenditure that the national treasury demanded every day.
But the fighting on the front lines was not very intense, and Abu Muslim had not even launched a proper attack. This made Mansur suspicious.
After all, in any era, there was the phenomenon of raising an enemy so that one could maintain their dignity. Abu Muslim's lack of enthusiasm was the same as raising an enemy so that one could not blame Mansur for his suspicions.
Ziyad understood. He understood Abu Muslim's difficulties, and he also understood Mansur's difficulties. Mansur had repeatedly underestimated his foe, and he was the chief culprit who had pushed so many women and children into battle.
Since there was no turning back, Seiyad could only choose to accept it. Now that they no longer had any siege weapons, even if they rushed to build them overnight, they could only build the simplest ladder. This thing was very simple and easy to build. However, such a simple siege weapon wouldn't be of much use when attacking a city. It would only play a small role.
After Abu Muslim gave the order to capture the people, the more than ten thousand Khorasan cavalry scattered to carry out the order. They split up into many groups and went to different places. In addition, in order to prevent ambushes, they had a very clear division of labor. The scattered groups would gather a large number of people and then form a large group. In the event of an ambush, they would use these people as meat shields to avoid suffering losses.
This was a night brimming with evil. Large numbers of people were forced to Abu Muslim's camp, and anyone who dared to resist was immediately slaughtered. Blood dyed many villages red as many innocent people were slaughtered.
Before daybreak, the ten thousand cavalry returned to the camp, bringing with them ten thousand civilians. These civilians included men and women, children and the elderly. Everyone that could be captured had been captured.
After the sun rose, the siege would begin. First, they had to break through the natural barrier of the moat. Since filling up the moat was quite stressful, they would let the commoners fill up the moat. If they didn't comply, they would kill the commoners. If the soldiers on the city walls shot the commoners with arrows, the defenders would become the executioners. In this way, they would be able to stand on the moral high ground.
Driven by the ten thousand Khorasani cavalry, the ten thousand commoners were forced to head for Al-Er. They were forced to push a few simple carts loaded with sacks and digging tools. They were tasked with filling in the moat.
These simple transport vehicles were the military supply vehicles commonly used in military camps. They were used to transport grain and fodder. There was nothing wrong with using them to transport dirt and sandbags.
Ten thousand commoners were only given a hundred simple transport carriages. On average, one carriage was given to every hundred people. However, out of the hundred people, there were only twenty to thirty who could really work. The old, the young, and the women were all very weak. They couldn't do much work and could only make up the numbers so that the defending soldiers couldn't bear to shoot them.
Under these circumstances, the common people could only choose to obey. They helplessly pushed the transport carts to the vicinity of Ahr City, dug up dirt, and packed it into sacks. Then, under the Khorasani cavalry's coercion, they slowly walked toward the moat of Ahr City.
The young and strong laborers were responsible for pushing the carts while the elderly, women, and children were responsible for leading the way. Arrows were aimed at them from behind, and if they refused to complete their mission, they would be shot to death.
When the defending general saw this scene, he immediately became anxious. Last night, when he saw the huge fire in the distance, he knew that the cavalry had achieved great success and was happy for the whole night.
After all, as long as the enemy's siege weapons were destroyed, the enemy wouldn't be able to attack Ah 'er. But he didn't expect that the enemy would attack so early in the morning right after the siege weapons were destroyed. This made the general very confused. He even suspected that there was something wrong with the fire last night and that the cavalry had set fire to the wrong place.
But after climbing up the city walls, the general was shocked to find that the enemy had actually used the civilians as the vanguard to attack Ah 'er without the support of heavy siege weapons.
These commoners were busy transporting soil. It seemed that they were going to fill up the moat. Many of the soldiers under the command of the general were recruited from the local area. Among these commoners, there were likely to be their relatives. Therefore, if they launched an attack, there would definitely be many soldiers who would not agree. If it caused a mutiny, the consequences would be very serious.
As a general who had been in the army for a long time, he naturally understood how terrible the crisis was. If it wasn't handled well, the consequences would be very serious.
"General, the situation is very bad! Many soldiers are requesting that the gates be opened. Their relatives are down there. What do we do?! "
The general's personal guard anxiously asked.
"Abu Muslim is truly too vicious, using such a vicious method. But the gates can't be opened. Think of a way to calm the soldiers."
The general said.
"General, the civilians are filling up the moat. Should we attack?"
A bodyguard ran over and asked.
The general waved his hand and said, "Don't attack for now. Let's wait and see."
"General, but these civilians are filling up the moat! If they fill up the moat, we won't be able to hold the city. The enemy has already said that they will massacre the city, and even more people will die. "
The personal guard continued.
"Of course I know, but the civilians down there are the relatives of the soldiers. If we give the order to attack, the soldiers will not agree."
The general was in a very difficult position.
As expected, many soldiers quickly came to plead for mercy. They were so agitated that they wanted to open the gates and go out to fight with the Khorasan cavalry.
The general naturally wouldn't agree. He promised the soldiers that he wouldn't give the order to shoot the civilians and told them to wait patiently.
The bags of dirt and sand that the civilians were transporting had already been thrown into the moat, and they were still being transported. If this continued, the moat would be filled up sooner or later.
Fortunately, the common people were extremely unmotivated to work. No matter how the Khorasani horsemen tried to coerce them, they worked very slowly, and the children and elderly were even more of a hindrance. Every time someone was beaten, there would be a riot.
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