Abu Muslim was extremely depressed. A perfectly good siege had ended up in such a sorry state. Not only had they failed to breach the city, the tunnel had been flooded, and many soldiers had died. He himself had been hit by a cannonball, and his thigh was in excruciating pain.
"General, now is not the time to be angry. The leak was an accident, perhaps the will of the heavens!"
Ziyad explained.
Digging the tunnel had been Abu Muslim's idea, but now that something had happened, the blame was entirely on him. This was extremely unreasonable, and it truly did seem like an accident.
However, there was a very big problem in front of Seiyad and the others. They had no idea what was going on with the troops that had entered the city through the tunnel. If the army retreated, the small number of elites that had entered the city would become an isolated army. If they continued to attack, they would need the support of the troops in the city. The city gate had not been opened, which made them very worried about the troops in the city. They did not know what had happened to make these elites unable to complete their mission for so long.
"The will of the heavens, I think that the enemy discovered us while we were digging the tunnel. If that's really the case, the soldiers that entered the city are probably doomed," Abu Muslim said.
"We were discovered.
How could that be? We were so secretive and careful. We shouldn't have been discovered. "
One of Ziyad's subordinates said.
"Did you forget so quickly? A few days ago, several enemy cavalry broke through our blockade and ran into the city. Could they have discovered something? Also, did you really not make any noise while digging the tunnel? Could it be that the noise was too loud and the guards in the city heard it? "
Abu Muslim said.
"If what the general said is true, and the tunnel has been discovered long ago, then our troops that entered the city are really doomed. But since the enemy has discovered it long ago, why did they let our troops enter the city? Could it be that they deliberately set a trap to annihilate our elite troops? Truly too hateful. "
Ziyad said.
"The fact that the gates have not been opened is proof that there's a problem. Our tunnel must have been discovered long ago. Withdraw! Stop fighting. It's meaningless. "
Abu Muslim gave the order to withdraw and waved his hand for his guards to take him back to the camp.
Ziyad was extremely helpless. He could only order the army to withdraw and give up on attacking the city. This made his heart ache, because his elite soldiers had been completely wiped out. Of the three thousand elites, only a few dozen had survived. This was a massive loss.
The army began to withdraw according to plan, and all the siege weapons were safely returned to the camp. The losses had been minimal, and only a small number of siege weapons had been destroyed by the defenders.
Upon returning to the camp, Ziyad immediately went to see Abu Muslim.
After the medical officer's meticulous treatment, Seiyad's wound was bandaged very well. After the anesthetic was administered, his leg no longer hurt. However, he was still very weak. After all, he had just escaped death. It was normal for people to be weak.
"General, are you better?"
Seiyad asked with concern.
Abu Muslim unhappily replied, "I won't die for now. Has the army retreated?"
"They've already retreated. The casualties weren't high. The greatest loss in this battle was the three thousand elite soldiers who entered the city through the tunnel."
Ziyad replied.
"That's right! The losses were all the elites of our army. This loss is far too great, far too great. "
Abu Muslim felt his heart ache. After all, elite soldiers were always a scarce resource. Anyone would feel the pain of losing so many of them at once.
"With such grievous losses, even if we manage to capture Maia City in the future, the Caliph will still blame me," Abu Muslim said.
"General, there is no lack of generals.
This is not Your Excellency's fault. We will bear it together. If the Caliph wants to punish us, we will all bear it together. "
Seiyad said in a righteous manner.
"Alright, let's not talk about this problem. We were so far away from the city to observe the siege, but we were still attacked. What sort of powerful weapon did the defenders use to be able to attack from so far away?"
Abu Muslim suspiciously asked.
"General, that fellow Altik wouldn't have such powerful weapons. All of his powerful weapons were given to him by the Tang dynasty. These are definitely powerful weapons of the Tang dynasty, but there shouldn't be many of them. Otherwise, our attackers would have suffered grievous losses," one of his subordinates said.
Abu Muslim nodded.
Ziyad thought for a moment, then said, "General, we encountered these weapons before. They were cannons of the Tang dynasty. At the time, the Tang dynasty's cannons bombarded us, causing severe losses to our soldiers. However, there were many cannons at that time, but there were very few this time. This means that the Tang dynasty did not dare to give too many of these weapons to Altik, only giving him a small portion. Thus, he used them to attack us."
Abu Muslim nodded in agreement and said, "What you say is very reasonable. These are definitely cannons of the Tang dynasty. From the sound of the cannons, there should only be a few of them. But even so, they are very frightening. These things have an extremely long range and are extremely powerful. They will cause great losses to our attackers."
"This is a very big problem. If the Tang dynasty continues to support Altik, how can we possibly win? We should talk with the Tang dynasty."
Ziyad said.
"Talk? What do you think we can talk about with the Tang dynasty, and what does the Caliph want?"
Abu Muslim helplessly said.
Ziyad nodded. "General is right. In order to obtain the support of the Tang dynasty, Altik gave Aden and the northwestern peninsula to the Tang dynasty. But what can we give to the Tang dynasty? The Caliph will not agree to it! "
Abu Muslim said, "Not only that, the Tang Empire will not be willing to see a powerful Arabia. Dividing Arabia into many pieces is in the best interest of the Tang dynasty. Thus, they are working so hard to support Altik. They want Altik to take over the peninsula and divide Arabia into many parts."
"Yes, the situation is truly terrible, and we have no other choice but to obey orders."
Ziyad helplessly said.
At this moment, the two elite Khorasan forces surrounded in the city were in an even worse mood. Their mission was to work with the main army to capture Maia City, but the worst thing was that they had just entered Maia City and had not even begun to act according to plan when they were surrounded by an army several times their size. No matter how hard they tried, they could not break through the enemy's encirclement.
What was even worse was that there was no movement outside the city. The siege that had been in full swing had now become extremely quiet. Not a sound could be heard from outside the city.
This made the soldiers who were still defending the city despair. They did not know what had happened. Why was there no movement from the soldiers attacking the city? Had they already retreated? Why did they retreat? Once the main army retreated, wouldn't they be alone?
"General, the entrance to the tunnel is flooded. We can't go back."
"General, more and more enemies are coming. They outnumber us by ten times. We have nowhere to go."
"General, we didn't bring any food. I'm afraid we won't be able to last much longer. What should we do?"
The soldiers looked at their commander in despair. They were very confused.
The commander was also confused. He did not know what to do. He could only mechanically command the troops to resist the attacks of the defenders.
This was because the number of troops was very unequal. Moreover, the defenders had even brought in powerful ballistae and catapults to attack the defending Khorasan elites. The Khorasan elites who were defending the city suffered a lot of casualties.
Although the Khorasan soldiers were more elite, they came in a hurry and did not prepare many military supplies. Other than melee weapons and armor, they only had bows and arrows.
The defenders were different. They had all kinds of weapons. Moreover, because they had the initiative, they could bring in all the weapons in the city to continue attacking the defending Khorasan elites.
The ballistae could penetrate shields. The rocks thrown by the catapults could smash soldiers to death. Later on, they even launched a fire attack to burn the defending troops. In the end, they threw the bodies of the Khorasan soldiers who died in the battle at the barbican into the courtyard where the Khorasan elites were defending. They also told them that the soldiers who attacked the city gate had already been wiped out and that they should surrender.
The series of attacks had already caused great damage to these soldiers and horses, causing them to lose more than half of their numbers. At the same time, these corpses were thrown in, causing the remaining soldiers to have a mental breakdown. They no longer had the will to fight.
"General, we don't have many people left. Moreover, most of them are injured. There are less than fifty people who can fight. The troops that are surrounded in the east are probably not in a good situation. We can't hold on any longer."
"What do you mean? You want us to surrender? You want us to surrender? "
"General, the courtyard is full of corpses. We can't do anything to the enemy. We can only die for nothing. Why don't we just …"
"Why don't we just let you die? Don't surrender. Hold on until the last moment."
The leading commander insisted on not surrendering. It seemed that he was determined to die on the battlefield.
The siege battle had already ended. Other than the necessary guards on the city walls, most of the troops had already retreated. Some were treating their wounds, some were resting, and some were near the entrance of the tunnel. They were preparing to deal the final blow to the remaining Khorasan elites.
Altik personally asked about the battle in the city. He was standing on the second floor near the entrance of the tunnel and could see part of the battlefield.
"City Lord, this group of enemies is really tough. We've already beaten them to this extent, but they still refuse to surrender."
"These are all Khorasan elites. Naturally, they can't be compared to ordinary soldiers. Their combat ability is much stronger."
"City Lord, since these soldiers refuse to surrender, we should continue to attack and annihilate them all."
A few of his subordinates said.
Altik looked at the battlefield in the distance and asked, "What are the casualties of the enemy and our side?"
"City Lord, the enemy has less than a thousand soldiers surrounded. At least eighty to ninety percent of them are dead. Our side has about five to six hundred casualties, most of them are injured. The remaining soldiers of the enemy are less than a hundred. It seems that they won't be able to hold on for much longer."
"City Lord, our elite troops can annihilate them all in one charge."
His subordinates said.
Altik wasn't in a hurry. He said, "There aren't many of them left. They're like turtles in a jar. What's there to be anxious about? Leave two thousand soldiers to surround this place. The rest of the soldiers will retreat. Those who should rest, rest, and sleep. We should also sleep."
"City Lord, you won't be able to sleep until we annihilate all of them."
His subordinates found it hard to believe.
"There are twenty times more soldiers surrounding this place. The tunnel is already flooded. What's there to worry about? Let's go to sleep!"
Altik had been tired all night. It was almost dawn. It was time for him to go to sleep.
After the attack stopped, the surrounded Khorasan elites didn't relax at all. Instead, they became even more nervous and uneasy. This was because they didn't have time to think about other things during the battle. At this moment, the defenders outside stopped attacking. As such, they had to face the large number of corpses of their comrades in the courtyard. There were also so many injured and wailing comrades.
Because they didn't have time to bring medical supplies and food, they were very hungry. The injured soldiers couldn't be treated either. They could only wait for death.
As such, a terrifying atmosphere filled the entire army. All the soldiers became nervous and uneasy. They didn't know what to do. Many of the desperate soldiers didn't even want to listen to the command of their commanders.
Some sneaked away and surrendered. Some committed suicide because they couldn't bear the pain. Some argued with their commanders. Some even treated the corpses of their comrades as food. They roasted them over the fire and drank the muddy water that came out of the tunnel when they were thirsty.
This was human survival instinct. At the same time, it was also very terrifying.
The soldiers who snuck out to surrender were all taken in. The defenders didn't make things difficult for them. Instead, they gave them food and water. However, in the end, they were locked up in prison. After all, they were all enemies. There was a certain degree of danger in leaving them outside. Only by locking them up could they be at ease.
The soldiers in charge of the encirclement were also tired from the night. They wanted to go back and rest. Therefore, they started a new round of persuasion.
In order to dispel the doubts of the Khorasan soldiers, they brought the surrendered soldiers over and let them be in charge of persuading them to surrender.
These soldiers who had already surrendered were given sufficient food and water. Furthermore, they were bathed and changed into new clothes. They looked very presentable.
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