Outside Great Desert City, Qu Jianglin and Nangong Han gazed up at the battlements, still hesitating. Should they advance and launch an attack?
Or should they simply take a look around?
Victory would naturally be best. They would certainly earn Prince Jiang Hao's regard, rise straight into the clouds, and have wealth and glory whenever they wished. But they were more afraid of being held responsible for a prolonged, unsuccessful siege. If their two hundred thousand Shenzhou New Army troops could not take a mere Great Desert City, they would at least have a charge of negligence and dereliction pinned on them.
But victory was something they could think about, not dwell on.
Whenever they thought of the news of Jiang Hao's return, the two grew increasingly impatient to take Great Desert City. Yet despite having two hundred thousand troops, they had no way to capture it quickly!
It was not that Great Desert City was particularly imposing or difficult to attack, nor that there were many defenders on its walls-though there were indeed many. There were not only the Desert Star troops, but also over a hundred thousand residents within the city. Soldiers and civilians were working together to hold Great Desert City, and that was what made it such a headache.
Still hesitating, Nangong Han suggested, "Marshal Qu, why not launch a feint? Wouldn't that count as fulfilling our duty? When we submit our report to Shenzhou, we can say we fought bloodily for a long time, lost several thousand men, and simply could not take such a strong city..."
Qu Jianglin shook his head at this. "No need for a feint. Coming here counts as attacking. Just write the report. All we need is to look as though we've fought a major battle. When Marshal Jiang arrives,