Bakhshi Khan's Midnight Escape (Part 1)

  The camp was set up, and Su Ning hid in the tent, holding a divine machine to Baidu what kind of tool was used for climbing city walls. That thing is called flying claws, which were popular during the Tang Dynasty, and also used after Song and Yuan Dynasties, but the exact time of its appearance cannot be verified. It seems that this thing is similar to something used by Japanese ninjas, could it have been brought back by Japanese envoys to Sui and Tang Dynasties? Is it possible that flying claws already existed at that time, but were not used in military affairs? It's highly likely. Although I can look up the specific appearance of this thing and bring a drawing to an ironworker to make some later on, it's currently impossible.

  So, it's just using brains then?

  We can't get in, without something like flying claws, how are we going to get in? Are we supposed to just shout and let the Turks inside open the door for us? Alas, how is that possible? These Turks may not have much culture, but they're not stupid! Can shouting alone make them open the door and let these people in? That's ridiculous!

  Alas! What to do? Suning was worried, suddenly, Suning sat up abruptly, Ah! The fixed thinking is harming people! Harming people! How could I not think of such a good method myself? And this heavy snowfall is simply a heaven-sent opportunity! If grasped well, wouldn't the city gate open by itself?

  Suning ran to Li Jing's tent with great joy, and the guards also recognized Suning. After saying a word to Li Jing inside, they let Suning in. Inside the tent, Li Jing was reading a book, not even daring to light a fire. Seeing Suning come in, he smiled: "What's this? Is there some delicious food that you know I'm hungry for and have brought it specially?" Suning thought to himself that this old man is really annoying, but on the surface, he respectfully smiled: "Uncle, here it's cold and icy, we can't even light a fire, it's not good for your body. Why don't we go to Dingxiang City, drink big bowls of wine, eat big chunks of meat, wouldn't that be great?"

  Li Jing was about to laugh and scold, but suddenly his face turned solemn, his eyes wide with surprise, and he asked: "What do you mean?"

  Su Ning smiled and said, "No other reason, just suddenly thought that since we can't enter by ourselves, why not let the Turks open the city gate and invite us in?" Li Jing's face showed a different expression: "How could the Turks be so foolish? How would they allow our great army to enter the city? Young man, you must not speak nonsense, this is not a place where you and your master are."

  Su Ning told Li Jing what was on his mind, and Li Jing's eyes sparkled with excitement, but his eyebrows furrowed deeper. After Su Ning finished speaking, Li Jing looked troubled: "Is this not too reckless? If you are discovered, my army will be in danger!" Su Ning said: "If there were no heavy snow, it would be difficult for me to do this, but fortunately, the heavens have sent a heavy snowfall, and I have found an excellent hiding place. With this, I am confident that I will not be discovered. As long as we seize the opportunity to strike, the city gate is sure to be taken. At that time, we will quickly climb up and kill the defending soldiers, and light a fire as a signal. When you see it, Uncle, you can lead the army to launch a surprise attack. If you don't see it, I will definitely bring people out to escape, and at that time, we will discuss the next step."

  Li Jing hesitated: "Is it too risky? If something goes wrong, the Turks will surely discover it. What should we do then?"

  Su Ning said: "Uncle, to put it bluntly, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. We've already come this far, if we launch a surprise attack during the day, the enemy will easily be able to see how many of us there are, which would be very disadvantageous. But if we enter at night, how can the enemy see how many of us there are? Our army can scatter and attack from all sides, adding to the chaos of the dark night, and the Turkic army's discipline is lax, our victory is certain!"

  Li Jing's mind was greatly shaken, looking at Su Ning's determined face, and suddenly a thread of inexplicable trust and confidence arose in his heart: "Alright! Su Ning, I'll believe you this once, how many men do you need?" Su Ning's heart was greatly settled: "A hundred men will be enough!" Li Jing looked at Su Ning's physique and said: "Your martial arts skills and strength are not sufficient, if it really comes to a fight, you'll be in trouble!"

  "For Great Tang, I am willing to die ten thousand times!"

  Li Jing rolled his eyes and thought to himself that following this kid's train of thought wouldn't guarantee his safety, so he definitely wouldn't do it. He didn't expose him either, but instead immediately gave the order. In reality, he had no idea that this time Su Ning really didn't have any confidence, could only rely on luck and personality, hoping that his own personality was enough to pass the test, or else he'd be done for.

  Before long, following Su Ning's orders, one hundred robust soldiers wearing white cloaks and holding daggers set out with Su Ning. The leader was none other than Niu Ge. Su Ning suddenly felt a connection to this guy, always running into him at the right or wrong times. On the way, Su Ning patted Niu Ge on the shoulder: "Gezi, we really do have a connection!" Niu Ge smiled foolishly: "Heh heh, Brother Ning, if you succeed this time, you'll be set for life! Don't forget to take care of your brother, it's not easy being an auxiliary soldier, but we're willing to risk our lives for wealth and glory."

  The military system of the Tang Dynasty was mainly based on the Fubing system, with the main force being the Fubing soldiers. However, during battles, there were often auxiliary soldiers who accompanied the army, known as the Fubing. They only performed auxiliary tasks and rarely served as the main force. Members were mostly ordinary civilians hoping to gain wealth and status through military achievements. They had to provide their own weapons, rations, and even horses, and usually had no future prospects. Except for a few individuals who managed to become officials and formal military officers, most of them just received some rewards and struggled to make ends meet until death.

  Niu Geng was chosen to participate in this action because he had learned some martial arts, his martial arts were superb, and he was more valued by Li Jing, which Su Ning didn't know for the time being.

  "Rest assured, you won't be left out of the benefits. Stick close to me and no matter what happens, unless I give the order, don't make a sound, even if it kills you! Do you understand?! The fate of the dynasty hangs in the balance! If we succeed, the Tang Dynasty will truly rise again! And when that happens, everyone will benefit! Everyone will get their share!"

  One hundred people responded in unison: "Yes, sir!"

  A group of people were almost crawling on the ground, fortunately, the snow was quite thick, so it was just a matter of bending down to wrap their white cloaks tightly around them and move quickly. The distance from the big camp to Dingxiang City was still considerable, and Su Ning ran panting, suddenly feeling that his otaku body wasn't up to par. It seemed that exercising was imperative, or else he'd die from lack of physical strength! What a waste of his incredible talent and divine Nokia phone!

  It was unknown how long it took, but a group of people finally arrived at the foot of Dingxiang City. Su Ning didn't know if there was a moat outside Dingxiang City, but in this cold weather, even if there was one, it should have frozen over by now. The most helpless thing about winter is the moat, which freezes easily and saves the attacking troops from a lot of trouble. Otherwise, he really wouldn't know what to do, having already prepared to swim across on this cold winter's day. If they got sick, they would just have to resign themselves to fate.

  Suning also remembered to instruct the soldiers to erase their footprints, that is, to fill in the holes trampled on the snow with the surrounding snow. It's not necessary to do this for all of them, just pay attention to the footprints after crossing the moat.

  Divide the hundred men into two teams, with the city gate as the boundary, fifty people on each side, closely attached to the city wall, forming a straight line. Wear white cloaks, the same color as the surrounding snow, ensuring they can't be seen from above the city wall. Let them come out and take care of those who come out to look, then let a few agile men seize the opportunity to take down the soldiers on the front gate tower, open the city gate, lower the drawbridge, and light a fire as a signal to inform Li Jing, and launch a surprise attack!

  So how to lure those Turks out is a problem, making a slight noise to let the Turks come out to check, but what kind of noise can make the Turks not discover that there are people here? Take out the dagger and scratch the city wall to make some noise? In the quiet night, everything was so quiet that Su Ning could even hear the crackling sound of the torches on the city tower, which meant that making some noise would allow the people on the city tower to hear it, but how would they come down without being too vigilant?

  The ancients shouldn't have had so many fancy ideas, especially soldiers, especially barbarians, who were single-minded; Su Ning gripped the dagger tightly in his hand, crouched on the left side of the first one facing the right side of the first one, Niu Ge, nodded, and then slowly raised the dagger to scratch back and forth on the city wall. Su Ning felt that his palms were sweating, almost unable to hold onto the dagger, too tense! In the silent night, this sound of scratching the wall was especially clear...

  Shā shā......shā shā......shā shā......

  Suning heard the sound of voices coming from the top of the city wall, but it was a language he couldn't understand, probably Turkish. Suning immediately put away his dagger and buried his head in the snow, then slowly turned around to get a glimpse of the top of the city wall with the corner of his eye. As expected, a flash of light appeared, and indeed there were Turks holding torches to take a look. After a while, they probably didn't see anything and put away their torches, and everything was quiet again. Suning knew that one attempt might not be enough, so he tried again.

  This time the sound was louder and lasted longer, the flames rose again, the Turkic man's voice grew a bit louder, Su Ning heard some footsteps, followed by the creaking of an old wooden door being pushed open, the drawbridge was slowly lowered, the noise wasn't too loud, then the city gate slowly opened, Su Ning felt his heart beating very fast.

  If one's heart isn't good, it's possible that with just this one thing, one would die from a rapid heartbeat. Three black shadows walked out, holding knives in their hands and looking around. The one inside was muttering: "Damn it, the Tang army really likes to cause trouble for us. On such a cold day, they still have to come out. What are they coming out for? The Tang army doesn't even exist!"

  Su Ning was somewhat surprised, it's actually Chinese? Actually a Han person? Why would the Han people be together with the Turks? A Sino-Turkic coalition army? Oh, right, didn't Dingxiang also have "pseudo-army"?

  Su Ning gripped the dagger tightly in his hand and nodded at Niu Ge who was staring back at him, ready to make a move!