"The Euphrates River has so many branches in this section. Which river is its main channel?"
Rappasu smiled and said: "Commander, you are the one who called the Euphrates River, we usually don't call it that."
"The westernmost one we came here before, we usually call it the Ur River. This river has many names, but most people call it the Murasa River."
"As for which river is the main stream, it's hard to say. At present, it is probably the Gila River in the east. That river seems to have the largest flow in recent years."
There are many branches in the middle and lower reaches of the Euphrates River, and they are often blocked and diverted, so even the locals cannot tell them apart.
"Is the Gila River the largest?"
"If Osman doesn't react by the time we take Diniva, we will have to cross the Shira River."
According to the intelligence sent back by the Persians, after Osman led his army back to the Qadisiya camp, they did not march eastward to intercept the Tang army as they did last time.
This made Su Chen very puzzled.
"I guess Ottoman will not let the general cross the Hilla River and go north, which will endanger Ctesiphon."
Su Chen looked at the army busily crossing the river without saying a word, hoping that Osman would come to him on his own initiative.
Compared with the cannibals, the Tang army carried too much baggage, and there were no large ships inland, so crossing the river was extremely inconvenient.
Cannons, Wugang carts and other heavy things cannot be loaded on ordinary small wooden boats inland.
The army crossed the Murasa River with difficulty, continued to advance northeast, and soon reached the city of Diniva.
This city was not equipped with artillery. Su Chen ordered the field artillery to approach the south gate and blast fiercely.
A hot air balloon took off and dropped several bombs on the city.
Then Diniva's defenders ran away directly from the north gate.
"This is the first time I've seen a large number of Dashi troops abandoning the city and fleeing. It's rare!"
Su Chen sighed.
"It seems that our army has finally gained some prestige!"
Master Sun Ren, Cheng Wuting and others laughed.
When heading north from Basra, some cities also gave up their defense, but the defenders of those small towns were concentrated in Nasiriyah in advance.
Unexpectedly, this time, thousands of defenders had a symbolic meeting with the Tang army, and then they simply abandoned the city and fled.
It seems that the Dashi army is not really afraid of death.
After taking Diniva, Su Chen planned to spend two days here to repair it and see Osman's reaction.
As a result, I received news from the Persians the next day that Osman led his army to leave Qadishiya.
"Well, the news about Dinivar hasn't reached Osman yet, right?"
Su Chen asked.
"Commander, Osman sent troops to attack the Lachems before. He should have set off after defeating the Lachems."
Lapu Pasu, who came to report, continued.
"Oh, that's it. It seems that Osman wants to resolve his worries before fighting us."
Regarding the Lachem people, Su Chen has nothing to worry about.
Su Chen had long ago sent Hashim to warn them that as soon as the big cannibals went to attack them, they would immediately hide in the desert to the west.
It was impossible for the Ottomans to spend a lot of energy chasing them in the desert.
It seems that when Osman saw that Su Chen was leading his army eastward, he took the time to deal with the Lachem people first, so that they would not dare to follow behind and cause trouble.
Then he brought his army to Su Chen for a decisive battle.
Anyway, Su Chen didn't expect the Lachem people to help, so it didn't matter.
"I still want to rest here for two days! It seems that this is not possible."
"Send the order! The army will set off early tomorrow morning and head north to the city of Shila!"
The city of Shila is not only a military center of Dashi,
Moreover, according to Persian intelligence, the Great Cannibal built a pontoon bridge on the Hyra River east of the city of Hyra.
Osman will definitely not let Su Chen burn that pontoon bridge for him,
Otherwise, he would be in trouble if he wanted to return to Ctesiphon.
If he could capture the city of Shira, Su Chen would have blocked Osman's main route back to Ctesiphon.
When the time comes, all we have to do is drag the Ottoman army,
The Khazars in the northeast and the Persians led by Yishid can defeat Ctesiphon.
Recently, the old king of Persia, Yisi, was so vigorous that he conquered several cities along the Tigris River and soon reached Ctesiphon.
If Yi Siqi saw the hope of regaining Ctesiphon, he would probably fight for it at all costs.
So Su Chen concluded that Osman would never let the city of Shira fall into Su Chen's hands.
Moreover, Su Chen felt that it would be much more convenient to go north to attack the city of Hilla than to cross two large rivers to Ctesiphon.
So Su Chen decided to preset the place for the decisive battle with Osman outside the city of Shira.
Rapupasu has sent people to collect intelligence near Xila City, and Liu Jingren is also traveling with him.
After all, Persia had just been subjugated for more than a year. The people in the Persian homeland were opposed to the cannibalistic rule, and there were many nobles.
In addition, the armies of Khoslu and Rappasu have recovered a large amount of Persian homeland. Now the Persians feel that there is hope for restoration.
Su Chen met many Persians along the way and took the initiative to help the coalition forces.
It is not difficult to collect information about Hilla City and its surroundings.
Su Chen asked Liu Jingren to go ahead and explore the terrain near Xila City.
After arranging military affairs, Su Chen wrote to Li Chengqian and told him about the recent situation.
After the Ottomans were defeated in Hefila last time, with the help of the Persians, communication between the army and Basra became much more convenient.
Su Chen was writing a letter to Li Chengqian when Elsa sneaked in and tried to peek behind Su Chen.
"Military secrets, go ahead!"
Elsa pouted and sat aside, taking an ice cube from the copper basin on the table and playing with it.
Lapupasu collected a lot of saltpeter along the way, but found that it was not pure enough to make gunpowder.
Then Su Chen used it to make some ice cubes and use cold water to relieve the heat.
"Don't worry, Hashim is not stupid. He must be hiding in the desert with the Lachem people. The Lachem people have lived in that area for hundreds of years, and nothing will happen to them!"
After Hashem went to the tribe of Lahem, he remained there,
After hearing that the Ottomans sent troops to attack the Lachem people, Elsa became a little worried about Hashem's safety.
"I know!"
"This is not what I am here for,"
"Commander, I am going to go back to Basra first!"
Su Chen raised his head and glanced at Elsa: "Are you sure you want to go back to Basra?"
"A few days ago, you insisted on following the army. Even if they tried to drive you away, you wouldn't leave."
Elsa glared at Su Chen: "Of course it's true, why doesn't the commander believe in me?"
"Because you have a criminal record, tell me why you suddenly want to go back to Basra."
Su Chen asked curiously.
Elsa threw the ice cube back, a little unhappy:
"Hmph! Let me go back and see what those big food nobles are doing?"
"When I came back, they said that as long as Osman was unwilling to cease war with the Tang army, they would elect Zubair as king."
"It's been so many days and there's been no movement at all,"
