Chapter 5341 The City Perishes

Chapter 5341 The City Perishes
Inside Ctesiphon, news of the defeat at the front lines plunged the entire city into panic. Many nobles, merchants, and other aristocrats even began taking money from their cellars, loading it onto carts, and waiting to leave the city for Damascus to escape the war.

But they were still hesitant, after all, there was still a disciple of the Prophet in the city of Taisifeng, who was a famous "God of War" in the history of the empire, a once invincible and undefeated general.

Even if that arrogant fool Ams is defeated, perhaps Vagas can turn the tide and save the day?
After all, their family fortune is all here, and many people have worked hard for it for decades. Who would be willing to give it all up?

The troops inside the city continued to gather near the palace, and the officers and soldiers waited outside the palace. However, they did not receive any orders from Vagas, which made them all uneasy and anxious.

……

Inside the palace, Vagas seemed completely oblivious to the defeat outside the city and the death of Ams. He spread out numerous battle reports one by one, carefully examined them, and then drew the deployment of both sides on a map. Based on the information in the battle reports, he marked the distribution of various troop types and used arrows of different colors to show the movement direction of each troop type and the number of casualties.

Soon, the entire battle process came to life on the page from the dense markings and arrows of different colors.

Then, Vagas stared intently at the map, remaining silent for a long time.

Duller strode in from outside and said urgently, "General, Arms has been defeated and killed, and the Tang army is about to besiege the city. Please make a decision quickly."

Vagas turned to look at him, and asked curiously, "What's there to decide? Apart from the fight to the death, can we really give up the city of Ctesi?"

Duller: "..."

Speechless.

Indeed, as Wagas said, Ctesiphon was not to be lost. Not only did the city symbolize the empire's rule over Persia, but once Ctesiphon fell, the Tang army could advance along the upper and lower reaches of the two rivers, defeating everything in its path. Before long, the entire Mesopotamian region would be occupied by the Tang army.

This is absolutely unacceptable.

In other words, no matter how the battle unfolds, the only option is to defend the city to the death and not retreat an inch.

"Pass down the order: no one is allowed to leave Taisifeng City, especially those who abscond with the funds. Once caught, they will be executed without exception!"

With a major battle imminent, the most important thing is for the entire city to be united. If we allow those nobles, officials, and merchants to escape, what is the point of the army defending the city to the death?
"Yes."

Dürer accepted the order and quickly went out to relay it, returning shortly afterward.

Seeing that Vagas was still standing in front of the map, carefully observing and pondering, I was anxious but dared not urge him.

After a long while, Vagas exhaled and sighed.

"The empire is in grave danger."

Duller stepped forward and examined the map, which was densely covered with writing and arrows, and asked in surprise, "Why do you say that, General?"

Vagas looked worried: "Although Ams suffered a crushing defeat and was almost completely wiped out, his troop deployment and on-the-spot command were actually fine. Even if I were to command the battle, I probably wouldn't be much better than him, because this is already good enough."

Duller asked, "Then why did we suffer such a crushing defeat?"

Vagas got up, walked to the table, poured himself a cup of black tea, and took a sip: "There are two reasons. First, the power of firearms is irresistible to mortals. Second, the quality of armor and weapons is excellent. Imperial weapons and armor are forged from wrought iron, but Tang weapons and armor are very likely made of fine steel."

Although the Arab world does not yet have the proverb "To do a good job, one must first have the right tools," which is full of experience, they still understand the underlying principles.

Whether it's a powerful firearm or a better quality weapon or armor, both can determine the outcome of a war when the two armies are evenly matched.

Duller found it unbelievable: "Firearms are one thing, but the principles behind them are difficult to understand. How could the iron smelting technology of the Tang Dynasty surpass that of the Empire by so much?"

Throughout history, steelmaking has been an extremely difficult technology. Steel armor and weapons have always been luxuries in the Arab world, and only nobles could own them.

But now the Tang army is fully equipped with steel armor and weapons?
Simply incredible.

Vagas returned to the table, set the map aside, picked up a pen and paper, and began to write: "Whether it is true or not, we only need to see it for ourselves to know."

Duller was taken aback: "What does the commander intend to do?"

"He then personally led his troops to fight against the Tang army to probe their strengths and weaknesses."

Without looking up, Vagas quickly wrote a letter, put it in an envelope, and handed it to Duller: "You must personally go out of the city and deliver this letter to the Caliph in Damascus. In any case, the Empire must make breakthroughs in firearms research and development and iron smelting technology, otherwise it will suffer military suppression from the Tang Dynasty for a long time."

Duller took the letter in astonishment: "The commander intends to defend Taisifeng to the death?"

Wagas stood up and called his personal guards in to help him put on his armor. He said to Duller, "Tell the Caliph that temporary forbearance is not a humiliation. He must know how to assess the situation and, more importantly, how to avoid direct confrontation. Didn't we buy some firearms from the Tang Dynasty before? Then continue to spend more money to buy more firearms and weapons. Find a way to disassemble and copy them. Focus on acquiring the secrets of firearms and iron smelting. Only when we make a comeback and wipe away our shame can we become a truly wise ruler."

Not to mention that the empire is currently engaged in a fierce battle with Byzantium in the Mediterranean region, even if it could concentrate all its military forces in Mesopotamia, it might not be able to defeat the Tang Dynasty. Even if it won, it would be a Pyrrhic victory, which would give Byzantium an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Compared to the Tang Dynasty, which was thousands of miles away, Byzantium was the mortal enemy of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Dürer remained silent for a moment, then respectfully replied, "Yes."

Vagas was already in his armor, casually holding his longsword in his hand. He patted Dulles on the shoulder and said, "I'm old and no longer have the energy to do these things. I can only rely on you young people... And all I can do is protect this hard-won city of the empire with my life, remember this shame with my blood, so that the whole empire can be united in hatred against the enemy and be inspired to fight bravely after knowing shame."

Dürer remained silent, feeling both unparalleled admiration and a touch of dissatisfaction.

You intend to use the lives and blood of everyone in the city to make the empire remember this shame, to make everyone die with you, and to forge your glorious achievements and eternal fame of "dying for your country"... But have you sought the consent of everyone in the city?

Of course, I wouldn't dare say that out loud.

……

"Commander!"

When the elderly but still lion-like figure of Vagas appeared outside the palace gates, the assembled guards raised their arms and shouted, their expressions filled with respect and admiration, their cheers like a tidal wave and their morale soaring.

The nearby officials, merchants, and common people were full of resentment, and they elected several representatives to go forward and negotiate with Vagas.

"May I ask, General, why have you blocked the roads and prevented us from leaving?"

"The Tang army is about to besiege the city. We must send our wives, children, and other family members out of the city!"

"I am originally from Damascus, why can't I go home?"

Vagas waved his hand to stop the noise and said impatiently, "Now that you all know that the Tang army is at the city gates, you should unite the army and the people to defend the city and prevent the empire's land from falling into the hands of foreign tribes. Going out of the city at this time will inevitably affect morale and shake the army's spirit, which would be a violation of military law."

The protesters turned pale. The so-called military law of the Abbasid army was never a formality and no one would seriously abide by it. But this commander-in-chief was known for his strict discipline. If he wanted to lead the entire city to resist the Tang army, no one could stop him.

Anyone who dares to disobey orders will be killed.

Vagas smiled slightly: "The enemy's advance is unstoppable, and it will be difficult to stop them outside the city. We must prepare for the worst. Once the enemy breaks into the city, I hope that you will fight to the death with me, and every inch of land must be covered with the enemy's corpses."

……

The next morning.

"Uuuuuu——"

Outside the city, the sound of bugles rang out, and the Tang army's light cavalry, having rested overnight, surged across the land like a tide, rushing towards Taixi Feng City.

Because there were no city walls, the Tang army stopped advancing when they reached the scattered houses on the outskirts. Then, heavily armored infantry, musketeers, and crossbowmen built positions, and cannons with replaced barrels were pushed to the front line to begin bombarding Taixi Feng City.

Boom boom!
A series of cannon shots resounded across the land, shaking the surrounding area. Puffs of smoke rose into the air, and oil bombs rained down on the houses.

"Raise the elevation angle and fire!"

Boom boom!
As the cannon's elevation was adjusted, the fire oil shells landed further and further away, and the entire southern city of Taixi Feng was engulfed in flames. The Arab soldiers, who had been hiding in their houses waiting for the Tang army to charge, were forced to reveal themselves and fled north like wolves and pigs.

Half an hour later, the raging fire gradually died down, and the Tang army's heavily armored infantry entered the area in neat formation. After a thorough search, they randomly cleared the position. Subsequent troops arrived one after another, and the artillery roared once more.

The tactic of "slowly advancing barrage" was still used, with the landing points of the fire oil bombs gradually extending forward. This time, the furthest distance reached was one mile south of the palace.

The raging fire burned everything flammable, forcing the Arab soldiers hiding inside to rush out of their shelters and charge at the Tang army, only to be quickly killed by muskets and crossbows.

……

Before the palace, Wagas sighed. The plan to fight a street battle with the Tang army had failed, because the next time the Tang army bombarded the palace, the fire oil bombs would land there. This slow and steady approach forced the Arab army to charge forward in the flames and fight to the death, otherwise the entire city would be burned to the ground by the Tang army sooner or later.

Seeing that the fire in the south of the city was gradually being extinguished, and estimating that the Tang army would soon move their artillery positions forward, Wagas knew he could not wait any longer. He raised his longsword high and roared, "Follow me to kill the enemy!"

"Kill the enemy! Kill the enemy!"

Thousands of defenders shouted and charged into the thick smoke-filled fire, following closely behind Vagas.

Then, this time the Tang army did not move the artillery positions forward, but instead bombarded the area again, with oil bombs exploding around the charging Abbasid army...