Tibet.

Chapter 1395 City of Silver
Two days later, the Tang army occupied Qianquan City, the second largest city in Shi State, but all the people in the city were taken away by Sabah's army, and the food and property in the city were also looted, leaving an empty city.

At this time, news came from Juzhanti that Juzhanti had been occupied by Lifei Yuanli, and the army of 15,000 people was not found along the way.

This was the first time that the Tang army made a wrong judgment. Bai Xiaode believed that this army would definitely go south to Juzhanti, because Juzhanti was an important passage to the Arab Empire and its strategic location was extremely important.

Bai Xiaode arranged for Li Fei Yuanli to occupy Juzhanti first, and when the army moved south, they would attack from the north and south and annihilate all 15,000 troops. This was the culprit for the surprise attack on Suiye.

Unexpectedly, this army did not go to Juzhanti in the end, making Bai Xiaode's deployment fail.

In the big tent, Li Chenghua looked at the sand table for a while. She pointed at the Zhenzhu River and said, "This army must have gone west along the Zhenzhu River. Their target should be Anguo. As far as I know, the army leader Sabah was driven out of Bukhara by the king of Anguo. Sabah must hate Anguo very much. He had no way to take revenge before. Now he has 15,000 troops, which is enough to defeat the Anguo army. They must be going to Bukhara."

Bai Xiaode said bitterly: "It's such a good deal for him!"

Li Chenghua smiled and shook his head. "General Bai is not stopping at Shiguo. As long as Shiguo is taken, there will be chaos in Sogdia. The hidden army of the Arabs will take the opportunity to rise up. With the addition of this Anguo hatred army, they will be in trouble. It also gives us the opportunity to send troops."

Bai Xiaode nodded, "Then follow the second plan and continue to attack the Stone Kingdom to the west!"

The Thousand Springs Mountain in the Amu Darya region is a treasure mountain, which is today's Kyrgyz Mountains, rich in gold and silver. The Thousand Springs Mountain Range stretches across the Shi Kingdom and Bactria. The Shi Kingdom mainly produces silver, and Bactria is rich in gold. The Amu Darya region was known as the capital of gold and silver in the Middle Ages, and 80% of the gold and silver in the Amu Darya region were produced in the Shi Kingdom and Bactria, and some of the silver was produced in Kuzhanti.

The gold and silver from the Silk Road have always been an important source of finance for the Tang Dynasty. The Battle of Talas, after all, was a battle between the Tang Dynasty and the Arabs for the gold and silver in Central Asia.

The Tang army's westward expedition was also to occupy the areas rich in gold and silver. The Sogdians, who had lost their gold and silver producing areas, would not fall. They would continue to expand markets westward, earn gold and silver from Europeans, and purchase silk and porcelain from the East. The Silk Road would go further.

Three days later, the Tang army arrived at Tuozhi City. The Shi Kingdom was also controlled by the Holy Maiden Society. The queen of the Shi Kingdom was called A Lian. She was an elder and was sixty years old this year. She was the sister of the King of Bactria and the mother of the Shi Kingdom's prince Shi Kun. Her youngest son, Chebi Shi, died of illness a few years after he became king. He only had a three-year-old prince. A Lian became the queen regent and had great power. Later, she simply deposed her grandson and became the queen herself.

Adele of Bakhchisar followed her example and also became queen.

However, the Shi Kingdom suffered heavy losses in the attack on Bukhara and the subsequent Battle of Talas, with only 2,000 troops left. To this day, its strength has not recovered, and the country's total strength is less than 10,000, making it the country with the fewest troops in the entire Sogdian region.

If it weren't for the full support of the Holy Maiden Society, the Stone Kingdom would have been ravaged by countless countries.

In addition, there is another very important reason, that is, the capital of the Stone Kingdom, Toji, is extremely difficult to attack. It is like Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor in "The Lord of the Rings". It is built on the mountain, with strong walls, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if there are 10,000 troops, it can withstand the attack of tens of thousands of troops. Otherwise, Toji City is known as the City of Silver, and it would have been looted by Sabbah's 20,000 troops long ago.

Tuozhi City is known as the City of Silver. Its warehouses are filled with five million taels of silver, including the newly built Holy Maiden Temple behind the royal palace, which was all built with silver.

There are also one hundred large catapults on the top of Tuozhi City. The atlas that Shi Kun brought back from the Tang Dynasty allowed Shiguo craftsmen to learn papermaking and various military equipment.

The Tang army set up camp three miles east of Tuozhi City. At this time, Xi Wanli stepped forward to ask for orders and said, "I am willing to lead 10,000 cavalry to test the attack and attack the city gate with explosive arrows. Please approve it, General!" Bai Xiaode nodded, "Agree to attack!"

Xi Wanli immediately led 10,000 cavalrymen to rush towards the city. Bai Xiaode also ordered General Cao Lingzhong to lead 10,000 cavalrymen to support them from behind. Once the city gate was broken, they would charge straight in.

Xi Wanli's 10,000 troops gradually approached the city. Suddenly, drums sounded on the top of the city wall, and hundreds of huge fireballs smashed towards the heads of the Tang cavalry. The Tang cavalry dodged one after another. After the fireballs landed, they immediately ignited a raging flame.

Xi Wanli was very surprised. Isn't this the Tang army's kerosene bomb? There is a kerosene pot inside, wrapped with straw soaked in kerosene. It burns in the air, forming a huge fireball. After landing, the pottery jar breaks and the kerosene spills out, forming a burning ground. The power is very strong. Fortunately, the Tang army is cavalry, highly mobile, and can avoid the kerosene bomb. If it were infantry, it would be miserable.

Seeing that the 10,000 Tang troops were unable to advance, Xi Wanli ordered the army to retreat to a distance of one mile and ordered a cavalry of a thousand men to charge in.

The thousand cavalrymen were more agile. They dodged left and right and gradually approached the city gate. When they were still a hundred steps away from the drawbridge, General Wang Hui gave the order: "Shoot with explosive arrows!"

The cavalrymen drew their bows and shot arrows at the suspension bridge while running. A thousand explosive arrows were shot at the suspension bridge and the city gate. There was a series of explosions and smoke. The suspension bridge was blown to pieces and fell down with a bang. The city gate was also hit by hundreds of explosive arrows, and three large holes were blasted in it. However, the black city gate hole was not exposed, but gray-white boulders were exposed. It turned out that the city gate of Tuozhi City had been blocked by boulders long ago, and the power of the explosive arrows was too small to blow up the boulders.

Helpless, Xi Wanli could only order his troops to withdraw.

"Woo——"

The horn sounded to signal the retreat, and a thousand cavalrymen quickly retreated, leaving the city and retreating to a mile away.

Xi Wanli came back and clasped his fists and said, "General, I am incompetent and unable to break through the city gate. Please punish me!"

Bai Xiaode waved his hand, "This has nothing to do with you, don't blame yourself!"

Bai Xiaode was also very depressed. They did not carry any siege weapons, and there were no trees within a hundred miles around. They hoped to use firearms to blow open the city gates and charge in like a thirsty city. They did not expect that the other side was well prepared and actually blocked the city gates with boulders. Not only were the explosive arrows useless, but the arrow mines could not blow open the city either. If they used fire attack, the other side's kerosene weapons were no worse than those of the Tang army. How could they fight?
At this time, the military supervisor Li Chenghua said with a smile: "General Bai, we still need to use artillery. Don't blow up the city gates, but blow up the city walls. Use explosive bombs to blow up the city walls. Once the walls collapse, we can still charge in."

Bai Xiaode nodded. This was indeed the only way to attack the city.

Bai Xiaode immediately ordered: "Send all ten generals here and blow up the city with explosive bombs!"

The artillery did not work in Kesai City, but this is Tuozhi City, which seems to be the battlefield where the artillery can show its prowess.

(End of this chapter)