In the thirteenth year of Tianbao, at the end of June, the Second Battle of Talos officially came to an end.
The Nine Thousand Anxi Army of the Tang Dynasty was led by Zhou Jun, the governor of Anxi, and Li Siye, the garrison envoy of Khotan, was the deputy commander. They first used elite soldiers to capture the city gate, and then used 3,000 light cavalry to attack the enemy and defeat the Great Food Army in Khorasan Province.
The three legions killed 7,000 enemies and captured nearly 10,000 people. They conquered Julan City, Talos City, and Baishui City, and recovered a large area of land.
After Li Siye captured Baishui City, he pursued the defeated army of Dashi for three days and three nights. On the bank of Yasha River, he shot and killed the chief general of Dashi Army, Jiad, who was crossing the river with one arrow, and then advanced the troops to Dashi.
Within the Khorasan Province.
This victory of the Tang army completely shocked many small countries in Anxi that were ready to take action, re-establishing the Tang Dynasty's position in the Western Regions, and greatly alleviating the original turbulent situation in Anxi.
One month after the Battle of Talos.
On this day, the Kingdom of Dashi sent an envoy to the Anxi Protectorate, and Zhou Jun, who was in Qiuci Town, received the envoy at the mansion.
The envoy's name was Sukarno. He was originally from neighboring Morocco (now Morocco). He later converted to the Taoist Cult. When he was a child, he did business with his family in Anxi, so he was quite familiar with the situation in the Tang Dynasty.
Entering the lobby of the Protectorate, Sukarno, under the direct gaze of a group of Tang army generals, took a deep breath, bowed and said, "The spokesman of God, the supreme Caliph Mansur, pays homage to
The governor of Anxi sent greetings."
Zhou Jun asked: "The Caliph of the Great Food Kingdom was supposed to be Ibrahim. When did he become Mansur?"
Sukarno was shocked and quickly explained: "Ibrahim Mohammed was the previous caliph of the Food Kingdom. He died of illness this year. Caliph Mansour was born in the Holy Family and inherited the former's position."
Zhou Jun nodded. The top leader of the Great Food Country had just been replaced. The situation in the country was probably not peaceful. It would be helpless to seek peace at this time.
Sukarno took advantage of this opportunity and looked up at Zhou Jun.
When he saw clearly the appearance of Anxi Jiedushi, he couldn't help but be stunned.
According to Sukarno's guess, the Anxi Army, with nine thousand soldiers, defeated three Dashi legions within a few days and spread the flames of war to the territory of Khorasan Province. As the commander-in-chief, Zhou Jun should be
An experienced and battle-hardened veteran is appropriate.
However, Zhou Jun was not only young, but also quite familiar with the situation in the food country, which surprised Sukarno.
Zhou Jun asked Sukarno again: "A few years ago, the Anxi army and Dashi fought in Talos. The Anxi army was defeated. Many soldiers were captured and taken into Dashi's country. How are they now?
"
Sukarno: "Don't worry, Governor Zhou. Dashi has captured more than 17,000 regular Tang soldiers and subordinates. These prisoners were treated well after the war."
Zhou Jun exchanged glances with Feng Changqing beside him.
The latter asked Sukarno: "Why did the Dashi Kingdom send envoys to the Tang Dynasty?"
When Sukarno heard this question, he woke up from a dream, as if he had just remembered his mission. He quickly took out a parchment letter from his arms, handed it to Zhou Jun with both hands, and said respectfully: "Caliph Mansur hopes to conclude a peace treaty with the Tang Dynasty.
Both countries will withdraw their troops and there will be no more war."
Zhou Jun opened the parchment and originally thought the Chinese writing in the letter was crude, but after taking a closer look, he couldn't help but praise it: "Good calligraphy."
When Feng Changqing heard this, he couldn't help but be curious. He turned his head and took a look. He saw that the entire article was written in two languages: Dashiwen and Tangwen. The iron paintings and silver hooks penetrated the back of the paper. He couldn't help but sigh: "It's really good.
Character."
Zhou Jun put away the parchment, put it on the desk, and said to Sukarno: "Dashi wants to cease the war. I must go to Shusheng on this matter and wait for the court to make a decision."
Sukarno asked: "What about the war in Khorasan Province...?"
Zhou Jun glanced at Sukarno's expression and saw that the latter was nervous, so he deliberately said: "The war will continue, and we will talk while fighting. If your Majesty agrees to a ceasefire, it will not be too late to start peace talks."
Sukarno opened his eyes wide, waved his hand and said, "That won't work. The peace treaty must be concluded as soon as possible, otherwise..."
Zhou Jun smiled half-heartedly, looked at Sukarno and asked, "What else?"
Sukarno knew he had made a mistake and quickly closed his mouth.
Through the performance of this envoy, Zhou Jun guessed that something must have happened in the Dashi Kingdom, so he wanted to conclude a peace treaty with the Tang Kingdom as soon as possible so that he could be free to deal with internal affairs.
Zhou Jun thought about it carefully again. The old caliph died and the new caliph came to power. The transfer of power must not be smooth sailing.
In addition, the three most elite legions in the Khorasan Province were all lost in Talas, and the defense on the eastern front of Dashi was weak, so the domestic force must be tight.
After thinking about this, Zhou Jun asked Sukarno: "Calif Mansur has just succeeded to the throne, but the food army has been defeated in Talos. Is it possible that someone in the country will take the opportunity to cause chaos and want to take advantage of this to ascend to power?"
Sukarno was stunned on the spot, and after a while, he said with an embarrassed look: "The Governor of Zhou was joking. The monarchs and ministers in the country are united, so how can there be any talk of civil strife?"
Seeing Sukarno's insincere expression, Zhou Jun only felt funny.
I don't know what the leaders of Dashi's country thought, but they actually sent such an envoy with a relatively low-level city to negotiate peace with the Anxi army.
Zhou Jun: "Since neither talking nor fighting is possible, what do you think?"
Sukarno: "We also ask the Tang State to send an envoy to the capital of Dashi, Yakura (the new capital of the Abbasid Empire) as soon as possible, to meet with Caliph Mansur and make a peace treaty."
Hearing this, Feng Changqing sneered and said: "Our army has already invaded Tuozhe City (now Tashkent City) of the Shi Kingdom. There is no danger to defend the eastern front of the Dashi Kingdom. It is only ten days' journey from Samarkand.
Why bother to negotiate peace?"
Sukarno: "Although the Tang army invaded the Khorasan Province, the logistics supply line has been stretched to thousands of miles, and further west is the end of Qiannu. Moreover, there are Geluolu people in the north of Anxi Protectorate, and Dabolu and Daboluh in the south.
Tubo can be said to be surrounded by enemies on three sides. If we continue to antagonize Dashi at this time, we will be in danger."
Zhou Jun and Feng Changqing were both stunned when they heard this.
Sukarno's words can be said to be the Anxi Army's biggest concern at the moment.
Although the Tang army won the Battle of Talos, the supply line had already penetrated into the country of Zhaowu Nine Surnames, and the Geluolu people and the Dabolu people, one in the north and one in the south, were both serious worries.
Zhou Jun looked at Sukarno and asked, "Who said those words just now?"
When Sukarno heard Zhou Jun's question, he was also honest and answered directly: "Those words were said to me by the governor of Khorasan Province, Abu Muslim."
A slight smile appeared on Zhou Jun's face.
Firstly, as a diplomatic envoy, Sukarno is a rare honest person; secondly, that Abu Muslim, Zhou Jun has heard this name several times, must be a difficult character.
Zhou Jun said to Sukarno: "You can go down first. As for the envoy's meal, I will give you an answer later."
Sukarno nodded slightly, bowed and exited the lobby.