Chapter 218 Battle of Talas

"My divine general..."

Li Shimin was stunned and almost wanted to vomit blood.

He can defeat eight hundred and twenty thousand, he can ride into battle alone, he can intimidate Hebei thousands of miles away.

There is Huo Qubing's talent, but there is no disease like Huo Qubing.

The pillar of the country, the sharp sword of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, was broken by Xuanzong himself.

Only forty-five years old... Li Shimin stretched out his hand towards the light screen and grabbed it twice in vain, and finally fell slumped.

What replaced it was rage like a stormy sea:

"Such descendants can be called national traitors!"

"You are both stupid and mediocre, and your position will harm the country!"

"Abandoning one's name or image will lead to a violent death."

"This desolate person is the emperor, and I wish I could break my chariot and drive him away!"

At this time, the ministers couldn't get in the conversation. After all, even though Xuanzong was separated by a hundred years, he was still the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and he was still half of His Majesty's family.

It's okay for them to complain, but they still don't dare to answer someone who is so direct and insulting.

The furious Li Shimin looked at the words on the light screen, clenched his fist and punched the table hard to vent his anger.

But he didn't expect that what hit him was not the hard tabletop, but his palm.

Sun Simiao took a deep breath and quickly took back his palms and kneaded them himself:

"Why is Your Majesty venting your anger on me?"

Li Shimin's anger froze, and the bitter taste in his mouth reminded him that he had received the favor of the other party's pills.

With this interruption, Li Shimin couldn't scold anymore for a while.

So Changsun Wuji tried to persuade him, and Wei Zhengtong scolded Li Linfu for being such a mess, so he pushed the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty back to his seat.

But soon Li Shimin also thought of other issues:

"This Yang Yuhuan was originally Princess Shou, but this Shou Wang is not dead?"

Although the prince died and then married the prince's concubine, it was against etiquette, but Li Shimin held his nose and accepted it.

But now that we know that this longevity king is still alive, he openly robs his daughter-in-law and behaves like this...

"What a beast!"

He didn't have the energy to curse anymore. Li Shimin took a sip of tea and then stared at this "killing three sons in one day" in a daze.

Execution of three princes in one day, including a prince?

Li Shimin felt that his head felt another kind of headache for the first time.

It's not because of the headache, but because of this invisible royal family matter.

Disaster broke out in Xuanzong, and these scenes around Xuanzong, as well as the title of Li Jiasanlang...

The hand in the sleeve slightly pinched the fingers to calculate:

Huang Zizhi, Li Longji, Li Heng, and Li Shimin himself.

Neither of them were the eldest sons, so Li Shimin smelled a faint familiar smell.

"Perhaps...it's also related to the changes in the military system."

Du Ruhui whispered softly.

Fang Xuanling glanced at His Majesty, who was still in a daze, and after a moment of recollection, he remembered what he had said before:

"The system of land equalization collapsed, the system of recruiting soldiers rose...the army's soldiers were destroyed?"

Du Ruhui nodded solemnly, made a note of this question, and planned to go back to General Pharmacist for consultation.

[If we say that the rebellion launched by An Lushan was the collapse of the Tang Dynasty.

Then the year 747 when Wang Zhongsi was slandered was the real turning point in the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty.

After Wang Zhongsi was falsely accused of entering the dynasty, the position of Jiedushi became vacant. Due to Li Linfu's suggestion, two Hu generals inherited Wang Zhongsi's duties.

Ge Shuhan was promoted to the military governor of Longyou, and An Lushan's cousin An Sishun was promoted to the military governor of Hexi.

In the same year, another general star rose in Datang.

In 747, the Xiaobolu Kingdom in what is now Kashmir rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and surrendered to Tubo. Tubo then controlled more than 20 countries in the northwest and rebelled against the Tang Dynasty.

Xuanzong ordered Gao Xianzhi to lead thousands of people and send troops to quell the rebellion. This was of course not easy, but Gao Xianzhi believed that his opportunity had come!

Judging from our current map, Gao Xianzhi set out from Dunhuang, passed through Aksu, entered Bachu, passed through Kashgar, crossed the Pamir Plateau, and finally arrived to camp in today's Tajikistan.

The group spent three months and traveled nearly ten thousand miles.

Later, Gao Xianzhi boldly used troops, divided his troops into three groups, and used a false plan to destroy Guo to annihilate the Xiaobolu Kingdom. He completed the feat of penetrating thousands of miles and making extraordinary achievements. The seventy-two countries to the west of Congling surrendered.

"Another general star..." Li Shimin looked complicated.

Seeing such a fierce general performing extraordinary feats, he felt proud of the Tang Dynasty he had created with his own hands.

But, is such a fierce general a reflection of the empire's glory?

Can it turn the tide?

Li Shimin didn't even know.

Li Jing looked at the route marked on the light screen and exclaimed:

"Having the courage to travel thousands of miles deep into a barren foreign land and claim credit for destroying a country, he can be called a fierce general in the prosperous Tang Dynasty!"

Li Jing fully understood the gold content in it. After all, he could run so far and still win, and he could command with soldiers like arms.

From this, we can already see the Tang army's contempt for foreign countries and their desire for military glory.

"The style of the giant Tang Dynasty is evident!"

Hou Junji felt bitter in his mouth: Do you all want to be so fierce?

[Gao Xianzhi himself was a native of Goguryeo. He was promoted to the military governor of Anxi because of his extensive work in destroying the country and benefiting from Li Linfu's policies.

At this time, Central Asia was already in turmoil.

The previous hegemon in Central Asia was the Turkic Khanate. After they were eliminated by Taizong and Gaozong, a vacuum period emerged.

The Tang Dynasty could not take over Central Asia in a short period of time, so in the west of Central Asia, the theocratic Arab Empire rose up and invaded wantonly.

In 749, the Umayyad dynasty of the Arab Empire was overthrown and the Abbasid dynasty was established.

The civil strife in the Arab Empire spread to Central Asia, and the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu also took the opportunity to respond. For a time, Central Asia became chaotic and became northwest Shanxi.

Faced with this scene, Anxi Jiedushi Gao Xianzhi judged that this was an opportunity to restore the Tang Empire's deterrence in Central Asia, so he decisively sent troops.

And his target was the Shi Kingdom, which was located at the transportation hub of Central Asia and was repeatedly jumping around and refused to submit to the Tang Dynasty.

He sent troops in November and returned in March. Gao Xianzhi destroyed the Qishi Kingdom, the Shi Kingdom, and the Tuqishi Kingdom, captured all their kings, and also destroyed a tribe of Tubo and captured its chief.

All these people were sent to Chang'an by Gao Xianzhi, and the king of Shi Kingdom and his people were all ordered by Xuanzong to be beheaded at the gate. 】

On the light screen, the map was raised again. The emperor and his ministers of Zhenguan didn't care about the unreliable Xuanzong, and stared at the map carefully.

Although Li Shimin next to him also copied a map, it was far less convenient than the map of later generations that used unknown technology.

They could directly see the rise and fall of the Turkic Khanate and the expansion of the Arab Empire from the map of later generations.

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and was a little curious:

"What is this Umayyad Dynasty and Abbasid Dynasty, both of which are called the Arab Empire."

"Then should we, the Great Tang and the Han Dynasty, both be called the Huaxia Empire?"

Du Ruhui smiled and shook his head: "Why did Xuanling forget it now? We all call it China."

Skip the name of the country, the expansion speed of the Abbasid Empire on the map shocked the emperor and his ministers of Zhenguan.

"My Tang destroyed the Turks, but the benefits were left to them alone?" Li Shimin couldn't accept it.

For the Tang, destroying the Turks was just a matter of controlling the Western Regions, but who would have thought that this Khanate, which was not easy to fight, would have such a large territory?

Hou Junji hurriedly stood up:

"Why worry? My Tang is the only strong one, so they are not worth mentioning."

Li Shimin nodded slowly. It was too troublesome to expect to make friends with distant countries and attack nearby countries. It would be better to use a strong army to defeat them and wipe out the disobedient.

And if we make peace with Tubo, how can we have a prosperous Tang Dynasty if we can't control the Western Regions?

However...looking at the speed of the expansion of the Arab Empire, Li Shimin felt that the two sides would clash sooner or later.

[After the Shi Kingdom was broken, Gao Xianzhi and the nobles of the Shi Kingdom agreed not to kill people, so the nobles of the Shi Kingdom surrendered happily.

After all, the world-famous Chang'an at that time had endless splendor and wealth, and the nobles of the Shi Kingdom were already fantasizing about the luxurious life after becoming the subjects of the Celestial Empire on the way to Chang'an.

But what they didn't expect was that Xuanzong's order "kill them all" came.

When the news was passed back to the Western Regions, all the Hu people were angry, and there was also a prince of the Shi Kingdom who escaped by chance, running among them, exaggerating the brutality of the Tang army and intending to restore the country.

Gao Xianzhi's deterrence did not achieve the expected effect, but forced the Central Asian countries to unite with the Abbasid Dynasty and plotted the four towns of Anxi.

Gao Xianzhi didn't care about this at all. After receiving the news, he decided to take the initiative and keep the enemy out of the country.

Cen Shen, who was also in Anxi at the time, wrote a poem to praise Gao Xianzhi when he sent him off:

The Protector General has just set out, and the military uniforms will be issued in May. Two million soldiers, scattered golden light.

In July 751, Gao Xianzhi led 20,000 troops to Talas, and soon found the coalition forces of Central Asian countries here, with the number of both sides equal.

The Tang warriors were naturally not afraid. Crossbowmen, archers, Modao teams, and cavalry were arranged in echelons, and the coalition forces of Central Asian countries were in danger.

At the critical moment, Daud and Ziyad of the Arab Empire led elite support to arrive, and the comparison of the forces of the two sides had reached 20,000 to 100,000.

Although the force gap was several times, and the Arab Empire reinforcements included elite troops such as heavy infantry and heavy cavalry, and also had the composite bow and arrow rain and dense spear formations learned from the Byzantine Empire.

But Gao Xianzhi still believed that the advantage was in the Tang!

The two sides fought fiercely under the city of Talas. The bravery of the Tang army frightened the Central Asians. In desperation, they recruited another 30,000 people from the city of Talas to join the battle to block the Tang army.

Faced with the difference in military strength between 20,000 and 130,000, Gao Xianzhi ordered a "retreat and stand off" to look for an opportunity to fight.

Late at night after five days of confrontation, the Turkic Karluks in the Tang army suddenly rebelled and raised their butcher knives against their comrades from the northeast. The Tang army was in chaos, and the Arabs took the opportunity to charge Gao Xianzhi's central army camp with heavy cavalry, and the Tang army was defeated across the board.

Gao Xianzhi, who wanted to gather the remnants for a decisive battle the next day, finally decided to withdraw his troops under the persuasion of Li Siye. The Arabs had completed the encirclement and finally withdrew with only more than a thousand Tang troops.

The Battle of Talas should have been a warm-up battle for the two empires to compete for the ownership of Central Asia, but just three years later, the An-Shi Rebellion broke out and everything became a bubble. 】

In the light curtain, the emperors and ministers of the Zhenguan period also saw the battlefield of Talas in the battle.

The Tang army, wearing red Mingguang armor, fought to the death, and the elite crossbowmen and archers fired silently and staggered, forming a rain of arrows to suppress the enemy.

Facing the cavalry charge and harassment, the Tang army, wearing light armor and holding long-handled giant swords, roared angrily and chopped down with one sword, crushing both the men and the horses.

On the other hand, the Arab Empire in black also opened their eyes.

Heavy infantry wearing full armor, heavy cavalry with both men and horses in armor, and archers holding what seemed to be a new type of bow, etc.

Although the final result was not satisfactory, the enthusiasm of the Zhenguan monarch and his ministers was fully mobilized.

Li Jing even stood up and said loudly:

"Good men, fight this battle!"