Tibet.

Chapter 1393 Conclusive Evidence
The first key target of the Tang army in the middle route was the city of Anji in Bukhara. Anji had the largest oil overflow well in the entire Transoxiana region. The people of Bukhara called oil Kanda. The oil in Anji was light oil, and its quality was much better than that of Yanzhou. It did not require refining and filtering, and could be used directly as kerosene.

Legally speaking, Anji City belongs to Suiye. Back then, King Moduo exchanged Anji City and the Tang army for Juzhanti’s wheat fields.

But since Li Ye left Suiye and returned to Chang'an, the subsequent governors of Hezhong had little interest in Anji. In addition, Anji City was far away in Bukhara and there were no Han people living in the city, so the Hezhong Governor's Office gradually ignored Anji City.

After Alole came to power, he used 10,000 taels of silver to redeem the city of Anji from the Hezhong Governor's Office, and the city of Anji once again became part of Bukhara's land.

Alole then gave the city of Anji to his sister Adele as her territory.

Adele became the owner of Anji City, and she sold a large amount of oil produced in Anji City to Sogdian merchants. Alole also heard about it, but he did not interfere.

But what Alore could not have imagined was that this oil was eventually sold in large quantities to An Lushan and became the source of kerosene for An Lushan's army.

But since King Alole died of poisoning, Adele became the queen of Bukhara, and Bukhara finally began to betray the Tang Dynasty. First, it expelled the 500 Tang troops stationed in Juzhanti in Suiye, and then Bukhara completely stopped paying tribute to the Tang Dynasty and drove the Suiye Chamber of Commerce back to Suiye.

The Suiye Chamber of Commerce was semi-official in nature. It was actually the Tang Dynasty's embassy in Bactria, and was staffed by Suiye officials.

Driving out the Suiye Chamber of Commerce would mean completely breaking off diplomatic relations with the Tang Dynasty. Guo Xin had always wanted to conquer Bukhara, but unfortunately he did not have the strength to do so. Now, 60,000 Western Expeditionary Forces had arrived.

In the afternoon, the 40,000-strong central army arrived at Anji City. There were 300 soldiers in Anji City, led by an Ava, which means a thousand-man captain.

Forty thousand Tang troops were at the gates of the city. The environment of Anji City was not good. It was surrounded by arid Gobi Desert. To the south was the Zhenzhu River, which was also the lifeline of Anji. All its water came from the Zhenzhu River, and all its food was transported by the Zhenzhu River. Its abundant oil was also transported by the Zhenzhu River.
The Tang army cut off the water supply channel between Anji City and Zhenzhu River. In just one day, the defenders opened the city and surrendered.

When Li Ye formulated the plan for the Western Expedition, he did not take a one-size-fits-all approach like the Japanese and Silla armies did, killing all the soldiers. Instead, he used a combination of leniency and severity, giving both sticks and carrots.

If they surrender voluntarily, the soldiers will be disbanded as civilians. If they are prisoners of war on the battlefield, they will be punished by mining for three years. If they resist stubbornly, they will be killed without mercy.

But the army of Bukhara was a little special. Many of its generals were trained by the Tang army. If they were willing to surrender voluntarily, then this army could be incorporated into the Tang army and continue to be used.

After capturing the city of Anji, Bai Xiaode left two thousand men to guard Anji. The reason for stationing heavy troops there was that, firstly, the kerosene in Anji was very important to the Tang army, and secondly, Anji could become a water transit port for Bukhara.

The army continued to march north and arrived at Kesai, the capital of Bukhara, at noon the next day.

There are 30,000 troops stationed in Kesai City. They are either the army of the Holy Maiden Society or Bakhchisar's own army. The 20,000 troops of the Holy Maiden Society are in Shiguo.

The 40,000-strong army then set up camp outside the city of Kesai.

Inside the big tent, the sand table in the river has been erected. Bai Xiaode pointed to Qianquan City, a border city of the Stone Kingdom, and said, "This is where the Saint Maiden Society's army is stationed. It is also the location of the Stone Kingdom's largest silver mine. Now we are faced with a choice. Should we wait patiently for the Saint Maiden Society's army to support Bukhara, and then we besiege the city and attack the reinforcements, or should we attack Bukhara directly and then turn around to the Stone Kingdom? Let's talk about it!"

General Cao Lingzhong said, "General, since both Shiguo and Bakhanna are controlled by the Saint Maiden Society, they should be allies. If Bakhanna is in trouble, why wouldn't Shiguo support them?"

Another Tiger Guard General Lu Yang said, "General, you said before in Suiye that this Saint Maiden Society army is actually responsible for garrisoning Shiguo and Bukhara, and when it attacked Suiye, it started from Bukhara. Even if the Shiguo army will not come to support Bukhara, this army should come to rescue, and it has no choice but to do so." Both of them supported the plan of besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements. Bai Xiaode nodded, and asked Xi Wanli and Xu Zongran, "What do the two generals think?"

Xi Wanli and Xu Zongran discussed in a low voice for a few words, and Xu Zongran said: "We suggest listening to the military supervisor's opinion. She knows the current situation in Hezhong better than we do."

According to regulations, military supervisors do not participate in the decision-making of military operations. As a military supervisor, Li Chenghua is only responsible for reviewing and ensuring that specific combat plans do not violate the emperor's strategy of the Western Expedition. If the emperor wants to incorporate Bukhara and Shiguo into the Tang Dynasty, and the combat plan is to kill all the soldiers and civilians in Bukhara, then it obviously violates the strategy of the Western Expedition, and Li Chenghua has the right to veto it.

Bai Xiaode would have to make a new battle plan. If the battle plan was rejected three times in a row by the military supervisor Li Chenghua, Li Chenghua would have the right to dismiss Bai Xiaode from his position as commander-in-chief. If Bai Xiaode dared to disobey or resist, it would be considered a rebellion.

So, can Bai Xiaode lead his army to rebel and establish his own independence?

It was very difficult, basically impossible. The generals and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were basically all Han people, and they would never betray the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, Bai Xiaode could only lead a very small number of confidants to escape in the end, and it was impossible for him to support the army and establish his own regime.

That's why the military supervisor Bian Lingcheng was so powerful in Anxi at that time. Everyone, including Meng Lingcha, Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing, were afraid of him like a tiger.

Bai Xiaode nodded and quickly ordered his personal soldiers, "Quickly go and invite Li Jianjun to the central army tent!"

The guards ran away. Not long after, Li Chenghua walked into the tent. Bai Xiaode clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "Excuse me, Military Supervisor!"

Li Chenghua smiled slightly and said, "You're welcome, General Bai. What can I do for you?"

"Look, there is a plan. I would like to hear the military supervisor's advice?"

Bai Xiaode explained the two plans, and Li Chenghua smiled faintly and said, "Although General Cao and General Lu both have their reasons, I can guarantee that the Saint Maidens' Army stationed in Qianquan City will never come to support Bukhara. On the contrary, once they learn of the news of Bukhara, they will immediately withdraw to Juzhanti."

Bai Xiaode was stunned, "Why?"

Li Chenghua smiled and said, "This army only belongs to the Holy Maiden Society in name, but in fact their main decision-making generals have been controlled by the Arabs. They attacked Suiye on the orders of the Arabs. I have talked to the Holy Maiden Society and the Six Nations Alliance in Samarkand, and they have made it clear to me that no matter what, they will not be enemies with the Tang Dynasty. They do not want to destroy themselves."

Lu Yang was a little unconvinced and asked, "Li Jianjun believes that they are controlled by the Arabs. Do you have any evidence?"

Li Chenghua nodded. "The commander of this army is called Sabah, who is from Anguo. His two deputy commanders are called Maimana and Charan, who are also from Anguo like the commander. In fact, they were promoted by Sabah. The three of them form the decision-making group of this army. The evidence is that the three of them have converted to the Arab religion."

Everyone looked at each other in amazement. They were all impressed by Li Chenghua's intelligence. It was too powerful. He even had evidence against a foreign army. Ordinary people could never do that.

Bai Xiaode nodded. He no longer hesitated and immediately gave the order: "Pass on my order. Take down Kesai City first and then Bukhara!"

(End of this chapter)