The most powerful emperor grandson of the Tang Dynasty

After hearing what Chang Sunze said, the eyes of the others lit up. Our Tang Dynasty Army is certainly strong, but our Tang Dynasty Navy is not bad either. If our navy came, wouldn't many problems be solved?

Looking at the expressions on their faces, Li Xiang didn't know how to attack these guys. You really haven't learned junior high school geography. If you had taken a look at the junior high school geography textbook, you would not ask such a question. Can the navy come to this place?

The current location is roughly in the central and eastern part of Afghanistan. No matter which direction you go, there is no sea around. If there were a sea, would the terrain here still be like this? There would be some places that can be cultivated, but we have come so far, where can you see any place that can be cultivated?
"To be honest, according to my understanding, there is no sea anywhere around here, so our navy can't come here at all. Even if they can, before we deal with the Indian Kingdom, our navy can't come here. They may encounter sneak attacks on the way. Without a very safe logistics line, this is absolutely not allowed."

A map quickly appeared in Li Xiang's mind. It was indeed possible to use naval warships to attack the Arab Empire, but there was an Indian country in the middle. Before we dealt with Indian country, there was really no way to get over there.

However, Chang Sunze’s idea is good. When the army cannot be solved, we must rely on the navy’s warships. Unfortunately, this is not possible where we are now.

"It seems that our only option next is to retreat."

Su Dingfang spread out his hands helplessly. When he set out from Chang'an City, this guy was indeed full of energy, hoping to rely on his own strength to gain a title for his descendants, but unfortunately, he was unlucky and now he had to retreat.

The other people had the same expression on their faces. In theory, they did not fail this time. They killed the 100,000-strong army of the Arab Empire in a short period of time. We captured hundreds of prisoners alone, and also got all kinds of trophies. Overall, we did not lose money.

But we cannot say it is a success, because this war is far from our initial goal. No matter how bad our previous goal was, we had to occupy a few cities. Now we have occupied the cities, but these cities are all burdens and have not brought us much benefit.

"It's been a while since we set out from the Anxi Governor's Office. According to my estimation, the land in between is at least the size of two or three provinces. Should we occupy this place? Should we set up another Protectorate?"

Li Chengyi thought of another thing. The land along the march was also occupied by us. If we had to set up a new institution in the border area, these lands would be enough. It’s just that the population along the way is a little less. According to our estimates, there are at most more than one million people, which is not enough for the scale of a protectorate.

"I'm afraid that won't work. As for the land, there's no problem, but it has no value. What's the point of us defending it? I think we should just put down a Tang boundary marker here. Of course, it will be destroyed by them, but it at least means that we have been here before. It won't be too late to make plans in the future."

Li Xiang thought for a while and said, if we station troops here, it might cost us our lives. This place is inaccessible. Everything has to be transported from the country. It takes thousands of miles to transport things from Chang'an City. Moreover, this place has penetrated deep into the Arab Empire. There are a lot of dangerous people around. If we put an army here, they will face a lot of dangers at all times. What's more, the land under our feet is unlucky. Li Xiang still remembers a saying in the 21st century that this land is called the graveyard of empires. At that time, Li Xiang didn't believe it, but now he finally believes it. The two great empires of that era had failed here. The current Tang Empire is also the world's number one. It has obviously won the victory, but it can't control you. It seems that this land does have its ability.

The others also nodded. They were very familiar with the situation here along the way. Even if there were 5,000 troops stationed here, the annual cost would be staggering. Don't expect to recover the cost from the surrounding areas. When Suhguman retreated, he had already taken away everything he could.

If he knew that there were Tang troops here, he would definitely send a small force to harass us. In the end, we would be exhausted and unable to defend this land. The 5,000-man army would also suffer heavy losses and would have to retreat back to Liuzhou, which would be a serious blow to our overall morale.

"Ugh…"

Several generals were sighing. Looking at the expressions on their faces, Li Xiang really didn't know what to say to them.

"Everyone, cheer up. Let's retreat to Anxi Protectorate and rest there for a while before continuing to attack. They will not give up these lands. If we don't retreat, these refugees will be our disaster. But after we retreat, this disaster will not disappear."

Li Xiang's words instantly ignited everyone's anger. Your Highness is right. We are responsible for these refugees here. After we leave, the refugees will definitely not follow us back to the north. They will either starve to death here or find a way to go south.

Although the vast majority of refugees will certainly die of thirst or starvation on the road, there will still be some who will run to the heartland of the Arab Empire and bring considerable disaster to the empire. We can wait until that time to come back.

"Your Highness, I have an idea. The main force can be withdrawn, but we can leave behind a few small forces. The number of people does not need to be too large, 3,000 to 5,000 people will be enough. First, we can solve their supply problems on the spot, and second, we don't have to completely withdraw from this area."

Li Chengyi thought of another thing. This time, we have hundreds of thousands of troops going out together. It is indeed a huge momentum, but it is also difficult for us to turn back. However, if we break up into small groups, it may be a different situation. After all, we have seen their combat effectiveness. An army of 5,000 people is enough... (End of this chapter)