Chapter 3197 Crisis in the Western Region
Lun Qinling stayed in the Tang army camp to take a rest and rest. After noon, Yuchi Baohuan led dozens of soldiers, wearing helmets, prancing horses and swords, to escort Lun Qinling to Chang'an.
Fang Jun recruited Pei Xingjian and Cheng Wuting into the camp to study the strategy of the Western Regions.
The large map on the wall of the camp is full of red arrows and crosses, marking the cannibal's attack route and the fallen cities.
The green arrow represents the movement trajectory of the Anxi Army. They fought and retreated all the way from Suiye City to Gongyue City, forming a defensive position facing the enemy's attack route.
Gongyue City has become the next battlefield for the two sides to fight.
The desk is filled with various battle reports arriving from the Western Regions. They are placed in piles and piles by category. Many of them are wrinkled and full of red pen annotations.
The war situation in the Western Region is in danger.
Pei Xingjian looked solemnly and looked at the map on the wall. Half of the Western Region had been covered by the enemy's red arrows. Near Gongyue City, three armies of the Arab army rushed towards them in a semicircle, hundreds of thousands of them. The army was in full force and unstoppable.
Cheng Wuting looked serious and said in a deep voice: "In the battle of Suiye City, the Anxi Army fought extremely well. Not only did the Great Eaters lose tens of thousands of their elites in the battle, but even their 'Sword of Allah' was completely wiped out. The machine attacked the cannibal's camp and burned it. The destruction of countless grains and baggage made it difficult for the Big Eaters to supply their logistics, and the army fell into panic. The battle damage was extremely high It's huge. It's just that the cannibals adopted a sweeping policy, and the army broke into pieces and attacked in private, killing and looting the tribes in the Western Region one by one, and now they had enough food and supplies for the entire Western Region. money The silk and goods colonies are all gathered in Luntai City. If Gongyue City falls, Luntai will be under the enemy's front. Once Luntai falls, the enemy will be able to get sufficient supplies, and it is not impossible to attack Yumen Pass in one go. "
After the words fell, there was silence in the camp.
Fang Jun and Pei Xingjian both frowned and felt heavy in their hearts.
Marching and fighting, tactical strategies, logistical supplies, weapons and equipment... these are all secondary. Although they can determine the outcome of the war, they are also the icing on the cake.
The most important conditions are naturally the number of troops and the quality of the soldiers.
The Great Cannibals have been fighting everywhere for hundreds of years. They do not engage in production, but live by war and plunder. Locusts generally focus on destroying all stable and complete social systems. Holding high the guise of faith, but brandishing scimitars, bows, arrows, and spears, they regard killing and meritorious deeds as the highest honor.
In their eyes, there is no bottom line of benevolence, no moral restraint, only the jungle law of the jungle and survival of the fittest.
Such an army is extremely powerful in combat. They do not take the enemy's life seriously, nor do they take their own life seriously.
Even death in battle is regarded as the most noble sacrifice for faith.
But they don’t know whether the so-called “benevolent God” they believe in will feel ashamed because of the despicability of his believers...
However, there is no doubt that the quality of the enemy's elite troops is no less than that of the Anxi Army, and their strength is several times that of the Anxi Army. The comparison between the enemy and ourselves has been seriously unbalanced from the beginning of the war.
The reason why the Anxi Army was able to achieve the "Victory at Suiye City" was that the power of firearms naturally suppressed the Arab army, and Xue Rengui's two strategies of "flooding the Seventh Army" and "burning the Wuchao" were really amazing. When the enemy underestimates him and his foothold is not stable, give him a head-on attack.
But since then, the Anxi army has been retreating steadily.
Pei Xingjian's face was heavy, but his tone was full of sarcasm: "Those tribes in the Western Regions have always resisted the rule of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty used gentle policies on them and could not bear to fight with each other. However, they thought that the Tang Dynasty was weak and could be bullied. One or two people He looks so unruly and cannibalistic. In the West, due to lack of food and supplies, they divided their troops to raid these tribes. They burned, killed, and looted with such cruelty that they cried for their fathers and mothers. They scrambled to send a message to the Anxi Protectorate, begging the Tang army to send troops to rescue... Hum, you really deserve it.”
Fang Jun also snorted, took a sip of tea, and said calmly: "These Hu people relied on the Silk Road and each accumulated a lot of wealth, but they still slandered the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Now that the big cannibals are plundering like this, not only make its clan The people were brutally killed, the young men suffered heavy losses, and a large amount of wealth was plundered. After this battle, all the Hu tribes in the Western Regions were wiped out. As long as we regain the lost territory, there will no longer be any difficulties that were hindered by all parties. "
Whether it was the Qin and Han Dynasties or the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the policy towards the Hu people in the Western Regions had always been to be gentle and gentle. Only those who openly offended the power of Heaven would be severely punished.
This is not because the Han people are weak in their treatment of the Hu people, but because the Han dynasty has always attached great importance to the land of the Western Regions. If they want to rule for a long time and make people's hearts turn to them, they can only continue to show kindness, otherwise they will never be able to conquer the Hu people in the Western Regions. Kill them all?
Not to mention that it is impossible to kill them all, even if they can be killed, what is the use of taking a desolate Western Region?
But the big cannibal doesn't consider this at all.
They don't care about the construction of any place. The reason why they invade the Western Region is just to impose heavy taxes and crazy plunder on the Silk Road. They will never waste any effort on construction.
They are not good at construction, and they don’t care about construction. For them, just wait for others to build it, and they can grab it with scimitars and horses...
Nowadays, the cannibals have invaded the Western Regions and have done all the things that the Han dynasties wanted to do but could not do, that is, large-scale killings, causing the Hu people in the Western Regions to suffer a sharp decline in population, loss of wealth, and insurmountable damage to their strength.
After the Tang army defeated the cannibals and regained the lost territory, the Hu tribe would no longer be able to threaten the rule of the Tang army as before, and perhaps they could truly incorporate the Western Regions into the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty.
In a sense, it's a blessing in disguise.
Of course, the premise of all this is that the cannibals will not bring too much damage to the Western Regions, and are blocked outside the Yumen Pass, without breaking through and approaching the middle of the pass...
After a moment of silence, Fang Jun said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants us to reorganize the army as soon as possible and go to the Western Regions to assist the Anxi Army. The Anxi Army has few major generals and will be difficult to resist in the face of an enemy with a huge advantage. Once the enemy breaks through Yumen Pass, The situation will get out of control for security reasons. At that time, perhaps the Gar family, which has just concluded an alliance, will be the first to rush into Hexi and attack Chang'an."
The timing of the Great Eater's invasion of the Western Region was too subtle. It happened to be when the main force of the Tang Army was marching eastward and Guanzhong had no time to look westward.
This made Fang Jun very afraid.
Because this shows that Damascus, thousands of miles away, has a clear understanding of the movements in Chang'an, and has a clear grasp of the situation in the Tang Dynasty, without missing anything. If this situation becomes the norm, and the reality of the Tang Dynasty is completely controlled by the barbarians, who will invade the border areas at the right time and plunder the population, goods and colonies, then it will be too passive.
It seems that Chang'an needs to have the "Baiqisi" tidy up, and carefully sort out the details of the big cannibal set up in Chang'an and cut them off.
My inner evaluation of Muawiya was also higher. The man who had always been called a "tyrant" was considered to have only force and lack of strategy, and was a brave and foolhardy person. But just looking at his grasp of the situation in the Tang Dynasty and his precise timing of dispatching troops, we can guess that he must have placed a lot of details in Chang'an as early as possible. Otherwise, could he make such an accurate judgment?
People like this should not be underestimated...
Pei Xingjian looked at Cheng Wuting and asked, "How is the military reorganization going?"
Cheng Wuting said: "Although this battle was fierce, the losses of the army were not great. There were only a few casualties. Those who were slightly injured were no longer serious after treatment. They took a short rest and went into battle immediately. It was just that the gunpowder, projectiles, and sky-shattering thunder were consumed too much. Need to wait for supplies from Chang'an."
Firearms have such shortcomings. Although they are powerful, they also consume a lot of money. Without a complete supply system, it is difficult to support the combat power of the army.
In the cold weapon age of swords, guns, swords and halberds, arrows were the most consumed. However, workshops for manufacturing arrows could be set up anytime and anywhere, but workshops for producing gunpowder, projectiles and thunder required extremely strict technical standards. , it is difficult to make up for the depletion of the army in a short period of time.
Fang Jun said: "As soon as the firearms supply from Chang'an arrives, we will break camp and set off for the Western Regions."
Pei Xingjian was in an excited mood: "The weather is getting colder and colder, and the severe winter is coming, and the cold in the Western Regions is even worse. The enemy troops have come from afar, and their equipment is insufficient. They will be unable to survive in the ice and snow. It is a good time to drive away the enemy invaders, kill the generals and capture the flag!" ”
Fang Jun is not optimistic.
Although the Tang army was brave and powerful with firearms, it seemed that they had the right time and place, and victory was within easy reach.
However, he knew the bravery of the Arabs, and how those ungrateful and shameless people, armed with faith, would unleash a fierce and fearless fighting power...(End of Chapter)