The yellow sand buried the corpses on the battlefield. Before that, the Tang army had carefully cleaned the battlefield. This was not required by the generals, because most people made a fortune from the corpses. There were silver dinar coins in their wallets. Go back
It can be exchanged for money by casting silver collars. The snow-patterned daggers on the waist, these knives made of Damascus steel are quite valuable. They even used the daggers to pry out the gold teeth inlaid in the mouths of some officers.
The greatest skill of human beings is to pick up rags. Over and over again, it is like picking up wheat ears in the autumn fields after harvest. New discoveries can still be made after other people's corpses are searched, and the dead must be stripped naked before they can safely let them go.
Li Siye tacitly agreed with the actions of the soldiers. If they did not search for the corpses, they would still lose money by burying them in the yellow sand. On his horse, he looked at the dozens of trebuchets standing alone in the yellow sand. Duan Xiushi asked beside him: "What should we do with these big guys?
"
He immediately turned around, pointed at Mulu City with his riding whip and said: "Our army will rest in the city for three days. After three days, we will capture a thousand strong men in the city and let them push these catapults to the Kashav Valley. I will
The army wants to conquer the river valley and capture the city of Tus."
After a short rest, the Tang army set off again to the Kashav Valley, using trebuchets across the river to attack the food army on the opposite side. They also made several tentative forcible crossings, but the enemy was tightly defended and he could never find him.
Attack when the opportunity arises.
The lack of troops has become his biggest limitation. In the plains, he can take advantage to reduce the number of enemies, but the terrain where we are obviously at a disadvantage is always difficult to conquer.
Bingbo Xilin seemed to have learned the lesson, no matter how provocative he was and tried every means to expose his flaws and seduce him, the other party would stay on the other side of the river valley and not show up.
The city of Tusi was more than ten miles away from him, with towering city walls and fluttering black flags, like a beauty half-covered by gauze, waiting for him to tear off the opponent's fig leaf, but this distance became an insurmountable barrier for him.
.
"If I had known earlier, I should have brought more people over, so we wouldn't have to look at the city like this and sigh."
After more than ten days of confrontation, Li Siye once again led his army to retreat to Mulu City. As for the dozens of trebuchets, they were chopped into firewood and turned into ashes for the bonfire.
It is now March of Tianbao's eleventh year, and a full year has passed since he led his troops from Qiuci. The Anxi Army has never fought for such a long time. Li Siye forced the cannibals to sign a treaty.
It seemed like he was going to lose. He had been fighting for a year. How much food he had spent and how many soldiers he had lost had to be paid back through compensation. Otherwise, why would he be shamelessly staying in Mulu City, an oasis in the desert?
The imperial edict of Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji traveled all the way to Mulu City, but it was already an edict that had lost its timeliness. The saint still praised him in the edict for acquiring the land of the nine kingdoms in the river, subduing the Sogdian barbarians, and in
At the end of the imperial edict, he asked him to establish the United Guiyi Army in the river as soon as possible, and then return as soon as possible. The so-called United Guiyi Army was similar to Xiao Bolu's Quy Nhon Army. The generals of the Tang Army served as the envoys of the United Guiyi Army, leaving thousands of people behind.
With the Tang army as the backbone, the Hu people and Tibetan soldiers from the Nine Kingdoms were absorbed to form an army of 10,000 people.
The direct leader of this army should be Anxi Jiedushi, so the actual strength of his Anxi troops will eventually reach 39,000.
It was a pity that the emperor's message was delayed. He had already led his army to fight back and forth in the Kingdom of Dashi for half a year. The imperial edict could not provide any guidance, but could only boost the morale of the soldiers in the army.
However, this imperial edict not only failed to boost morale, but the last sentence of the edict, "I hope you will settle down in the river as soon as possible and return home with your troops", made the soldiers want to return home.
The current Tusi City is like Cao Mengde's tasteless food, and it is a pity to abandon it. The generals of the Anxi Army can also see Li Siye's state of mind, and come from time to time to persuade Li Siye to withdraw from Mulu City and return to Kangju City as soon as possible.
Form a United Returnee Army. How do they know Li Siye's true thoughts? He just doesn't want to do a loss-making business, and he doesn't want to just leave.
The soldiers' longing for home became more and more serious, and Li Siye's heart was also shaken, but he still persisted in waiting, waiting for some opportunity that would arise.
Huangtian paid off, and the opportunity finally came.
…
The Dashi Army had lost nearly 200,000 troops on the eastern battlefield in the battle with the Tang Army. The entire Khorasan garrison was wiped out, leaving only the old and the weak. This forced the Safah Caliphate to mobilize troops on the upper border of the Asia Minor Peninsula bordering Byzantium.
The troops stationed along the line and the Caliph's personal guards were used to resist the invasion of the Tang army.
The generals of the Byzantine Empire were really slow to sense it. It was already February when they got the above information, and they finally realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The strength of the Abbasid Dynasty was weakened, and they were defeated by the Tang Army on the Eastern Front.
If we fight back, the Byzantine Empire will have an opportunity.
They reported the news to Constantine V, obtained the emperor's approval, and began to cross the Taurus Mountains, preparing to occupy the entire territory of Asia Minor.
When the news reached Baghdad, the Safah Caliphate was shocked. The Abbasid dynasty in Asia Minor did not have enough troops. How could it resist the Byzantine army?
He immediately sent a messenger to Khorasan to inform his younger brothers Mansur and Bingbo Xilin, transfer the army back to the Asia Minor Peninsula, and agree to the peace request of the Tang army. There was no other way.
The Asia Minor peninsula was a matter of life and death for the Arabs. Losing Baghdad would mean being looked down upon by the enemy. Mansour knew the power of this and personally went to see Boshilin with his brother's letter.
"Grand Duke, I want to take away most of the troops here. The war in Asia Minor is about to break out again."
Bo Xilin was startled, but then he calmed down and asked Mansour: "How many people are you going to leave for me, Your Highness?"
"I am going to leave you with a city defense force of about 15,000 people to maintain the defense and governance of the Khorasan area."
"Hiss, there are only 20,000 people." Bingbo Xilin took a breath of cold air: "You must know that in Mulu City, which is less than 300 miles away, Li Siye's Anxi Army and his 30,000 followers are stationed.
More than 8,000 people! If you leave me a little more, 35,000, no, 30,000, I will be able to defend the Kashav Valley and the city of Tus."
Mansour replied decisively: "Duke Abu, there is no need to pretend not to hear clearly. There are not even 20,000 people, only 15,000. We need to invest most of our troops in Asia Minor. As for Li Siye, who is eyeing Mulu City,
The Caliph said that as long as he doesn't make excessive demands, he can agree to anything."
"What are the demands that are not excessive? As long as I am forced to negotiate, I will definitely lose my power and humiliate the country! If I do this, all the people of God will scold me bloody, and I will always be nailed to the pillar of shame of the Communist Party.
!”
Mansur replied without any doubt: "Duke Abu, if we lose Asia Minor, it will not be as simple as a pillar of shame. The foundation we have worked so hard to create will be in vain, and we are no longer qualified to control Muhan."
The land Mulder left behind is an irreparable failure!"
Boshilin frowned and hesitated. Mansour stood opposite him and continued: "Grand Duke, let me ask you, how far is Constantinople from Baghdad, and how far is Chang'an from Baghdad? No matter how greedy Li Siye is,
, their threat to us is not as good as that of the Byzantines. No matter how powerful the Tang Empire is, their arms are still inferior. I have been to Chang'an and the Central Plains. That land is complete, fertile and vast. Compared with Anxi, Hezhong and the Central Plains
, it is simply a barren and barren land. We have a long way to go, and once something happens to their Central Plains, they will not be able to care about Anxi, let alone the river. As long as we have the chance, we can always take back what we lost."
"As for the matter of humiliation, our negotiations with the Tang Army were kept secret. Any agreements signed with them were quietly hidden from outsiders. No one will know about this matter."
After Mansour's unremitting persuasion and Bo Xilin's silent nod, he finally agreed.
(ps: Thanks to book friend 20180126143524744, book friend 20190828175418556 for the reward.)