Tibet.

Chapter 1410 Confrontation between the two armies
Fifty thousand Tang troops confronted seventy thousand Arab troops south of Nasebo. Both sides set up large camps and confronted each other for nearly twenty days, both using small-scale combat methods with a thousand people to test the other side.

There were five battles in total, and the Arabs lost all five, including the complete annihilation of Sabah's army. The Arab army did not dare to act rashly.

The main general of the Arab army was the Governor of Khorasan, Ziyad. More than ten years ago, he participated in the Battle of Talas as the deputy general of Abu Muslim, and the Arab army was defeated in the end.

The shadow of the disastrous defeat has always been deeply hidden in Ziad's heart, making him have an indescribable fear of the Tang army.

Inside the big tent, Ziad stood in front of a sand table, which was snatched by Sabah from the Suiye Governor's Mansion of the Tang army and presented to Ziad. When Ziad saw the sand table for the first time, he was immediately amazed and thought it was a divine artifact.

Although the sand table is still relatively rough and not very accurate, it roughly reflects the terrain and cities in the Central Asian region and is very practical for combat deployment.

Ziyad has discovered a weakness of the Tang army. The Tang army camp is stationed on the north bank of the Nami River, very close to the river. If a fire attack is launched on the Tang army from the river, the Tang army camp will be burned down, and then the Tang army will be defeated. He will take the opportunity to pursue and kill them, and this battle will surely be a great victory.

Ziyad immediately ordered the transfer of one thousand barrels of kerosene from Mulu and transported them using thirty large ships on the Amu Darya River in preparation for launching an attack on the Tang army.

The kerosene of the Arab Empire was a light petroleum produced near Basra. It was sold to the Greeks. After the Greeks refined it slightly, it became a famous naval weapon, Greek fire, which could burn on the sea.

The Arabs also learned this refining method and thus possessed Arab fire. In the Battle of Talas, the Arab army was defeated by the kerosene weapons of the Tang army, which left a deep impression on them.

This time, when the 70,000-strong army invaded Transoxiana, the Arab army also prepared 3,000 barrels of kerosene.

The ships of the Arab army were captured from An Guo. An Guo also had a large number of large ships with a capacity of about 3,000 stones, which were used to transport cargo. The Arab army modified them and installed three small catapults on each ship, which could throw objects weighing more than 20 kilograms a hundred steps away.

There were ninety catapults on the thirty ships, enough to launch a large-scale fire attack on the Tang army camp.

At this time, Deputy General Bachman walked into the tent quickly and said, "Governor, the ship has been modified and the kerosene is ready. We can launch an attack on the Tang army at any time!"

Ziad nodded, "Launch the attack tonight, General Bachmann, you will be in full command!"

"Follow the order!"

The confrontation between the Arabs and the Tang army had reached a critical point. Just as the Arabs were preparing to attack the Tang army at night, the Tang army was also preparing to attack.

The Tang army transported a large number of trebuchet parts from Chang'an, but not including the sturdy bracket. In the past twenty days, Tang army craftsmen have been making trebuchets, cutting down local date palm trees, making brackets and wheels, and installing various metal parts.

In the afternoon, Bai Xiaode inspected the final completion status in the fortification camp. He received news that forty large catapults had been completed. Bai Xiaode was overjoyed and rushed to inspect immediately.

Bai Xiaode is a typical slow-warming general. He often performs averagely in the early stages, but will get better and better later on. So his performance was not ideal when he first fought against Bactrian Khan, and he made a wrong judgment when fighting against Qianquan City, causing Sabah's army to escape. But things started to turn around when he fought against Shi Kingdom.

But later on, the battle went better and better. He completely annihilated Sabah in Tocca State. He deployed troops in a targeted manner, sending 20,000 cavalry and 3,000 heavy armored infantry, and also forbade the use of firearms. As expected, Sabah's army was completely annihilated, and at the same time, it did not attract the attention of the Arab army.

He was the one who chose the battlefield for this confrontation with the Arab army. He took the initiative to pull the Tang army to Nasebo, forcing the Arab army to rush to Nasebo as well.

Bai Xiaode mainly wanted to use powerful explosive arrows, but the Sogdian countries were surrounded by sandy terrain and the ground was too soft. The explosive arrows would not explode after touching the ground. Instead, when the Tang army charged, the war horses would step on the explosive arrows and cause them to explode.

But he found a large area of ​​cobblestone outside the city of Nasebo, a large area of ​​more than 100 square kilometers, which was an old riverbed left over from tens of millions of years. This large riverbed contained huge gemstone pebbles, making Nasebo the largest gemstone producing area in the river. Every year, a large number of rubies and sapphires were transported to the Tang Dynasty by Sogdian merchants. Of course, women in the Tang Dynasty liked gemstones, but men in the Tang Dynasty liked jade, especially the literati. The Khotan white jade seed material transported from Khotan has always been a symbol of identity and status. Only high-ranking officials above the third rank were allowed to wear jade belts.

What Bai Xiaode was interested in was the large area of ​​cobblestone terrain in Sebo, which was where his explosive arrows came in handy. The ground was hard, and even if the explosive arrows failed to hit the enemy, they would explode as soon as they hit the ground, and could still kill a large number of war horses.

Moreover, these pebbles are densely embedded in the sand and are not scattered around, so war horses can run on them without spraining their ankles.

Bai Xiaode's talent was revealed at this time. He started from the details and found the terrain where explosive arrows could be used.

Just as Bai Xiaode was inspecting the fortification camp, a scout came running to report, "General, the enemy's warships have begun to move!"

Tang army scouts had long discovered that the Arab army was modifying large ships on the Nami River and installing catapults. As a seasoned Tang army general, Bai Xiaode immediately understood the enemy's intentions: they wanted to attack the Tang army camp by water.

Bai Xiaode kept his troops in place and waited patiently for the enemy's follow-up, and finally the last moment came.

Bai Xiaode immediately ordered: "Please ask General Li Fei to come see me!"

Soon, the deputy general Li Feiyuanli hurried over and bowed, "Greetings, commander-in-chief!"

Bai Xiaode said calmly: "It is estimated that the Arab army will attack the camp from the water tonight. Be prepared and make sure they never return!"

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Historically, Li Fei Yuanli had a good life. In the late period of the Anshi Rebellion, he was named a prince and the governor of Beiting. But in Li Ye's case, he did not have a good life.

It was mainly his bad temper that ruined him. He liked to abuse soldiers and often relied on the fact that he was in the Anxi Army to disobey orders from the generals. Therefore, Li Ye always ignored him, gave him a nominal title of general, and put him in Chang'an to retire.

As the world was pacified, Li Fei Yuanli was already over fifty years old and getting old. He knew that if he didn't gain some military merit, what would happen to his descendants?
He repeatedly begged for a chance to go on the expedition. Seeing that his violent temper was gradually subsiding, Li Ye gave him the chance to be the deputy general of the Western Expedition. Li Fei Yuanli really became obedient and worked diligently as the deputy general for Bai Xiaode.

If we ignore Li Fei Yuanli's violent character, he is still very good at fighting. He is decisive and brave, and also has strategy.

Li Fei Yuanli immediately ordered that all items in the large tents within 300 steps along the river be moved, leaving behind empty tents to be dismantled after the enemy arrived, so as to avoid alerting the enemy by dismantling them too early.

At the same time, he ordered a long trench to be dug along the river, and when night fell, 5,000 archers were dispatched to be ready.

Time passed little by little, and at the first watch, scouts came to report that an enemy fleet of thirty ships was discovered ten miles away from the camp.

Li Fei Yuanli immediately ordered: "Pass on my order, dismantle all the tents and get the archers in position!"

The soldiers acted together and quickly dismantled all the large tents within 300 steps along the river. Five thousand archers also entered the trench, with explosive arrows standing upright in the quivers behind them. Everything was ready.

(End of this chapter)