The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 183 Design
The next day, Li Heng led his troops to the city of Bakhchisarai.

When we arrived at Kesa City, it was early June and it was raining heavily.

When Ashida Khan, the king of Bakhchisar, saw Li Heng personally leading his troops to support him, he cried with joy and immediately held a banquet to entertain him.

Aqisi, who hadn't seen Li Ying for a long time, smiled particularly brightly when she saw Li Ying.

Li Ying glanced at Aqisi and saw that she was wearing thick clothes. He asked curiously, "It's a bit hot now. Princess Aqisi, isn't it hot wearing such thick clothes?"

The smile on Aqisi's face faded, and she shook her head and said, "It's not cold."

Aqisi's answer was irrelevant, but Li Heng didn't care. He smiled back and then feasted with everyone.

The next day, the rain in Kesai City still did not stop, so Li Heng summoned all the generals to discuss the specific matters of the war with the Arabs.

An Sishun had been fighting against the Arabs in Bukhara for a long time and was most familiar with this area, so An Sishun took the lead and said, "Your Highness, the enemy is now across the Cher River. If our army wants to take the initiative to attack, we need to cross the Cher River. However, the Cher River swells rapidly in summer, and there have been heavy rains recently. If we cross the river now, it may be disadvantageous to our army."

Li Ying said: "General An is right."

Gao Xianzhi said: "Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Our army is coming at a rapid speed. If we do not launch an attack before the enemy knows our exact strength, we will inevitably lose the opportunity to fight."

"That's right." Li Ying nodded, thought for a moment, and asked, "How many bridges are there to cross the river?"

An Sishun said, "There is only one large bridge, and the rest are small bridges, which are not conducive to marching. If the river had not flooded, we could have forced our way across the river at the shallows, but now we can only cross the bridge."

"How long will it take for the river to recede?" Li Ying asked again.

After all, An Sishun was not from Bactria, so he was not clear about this matter.

Aqisi stepped forward and said, "I'm afraid it will take nine months."

"So we have to wait three months?" Li Heng pondered and fell into deep thought. After thinking for a long time, he said, "In any case, we have to wait until the heavy rain is over before we can advance. Let's wait for a few days. By then, the Arabs will definitely know that I am leading troops to support them. Instead of letting them go through all the trouble to find out, it is better to tell them proactively. General Gao, order people to write 10,000 letters of persuasion and throw them into the Xier River."

"Yes." Gao Xianzhi accepted the order.

Li Ying asked the rest of the people to retreat first, leaving behind Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing, An Sishun, Zhang Guangsheng and Aqisi.

Li Ying asked Aqisi, "Do you usually have boats to cross the river?"

Aqisi said: "There are some, but they are not big."

Li Heng said: "Go and collect them secretly first, collect as many as you can."

"Yes." Aqisi replied.

Li Ying said, "Cut off the bridge. From today on, I will not see anyone else except you guys."

Everyone was startled when they heard this.

Gao Xianzhi was the first to react and replied, "I understand, Your Highness, this is a good plan!"

……

Across the river, the Arab commander Ziyad was discussing tactics with the vanguard general Abu Muslim when a soldier suddenly came to report, "General, the enemy has thrown 10,000 letters of persuasion into the Cher River."

As he spoke, he presented the letter.

Qi Yade opened the waterproof package, took out the letter and read it. He laughed in anger and said, "The Tang Dynasty's Shou Wang is so arrogant. He told us to withdraw our troops within three days and retreat to Khorasan within six months, otherwise he will annihilate our army."

As Ziyad spoke, he handed the letter to Abu Muslim. Abu Muslim took it and looked at it, saying, "General, I know a little about this Tang Shou Wang. He went on an expedition to Xiaoboluo and marched into Suiye City. He just conquered Shibao City not long ago without any defeat."

"In the past few years, we have fought from Tokharistan to the Sher River and have never been defeated. I have long wanted to meet him." Ziyad was full of confidence.

The soldier said again: "General, the enemy cut off the bridge while distributing letters of persuasion to surrender."

"Oh?" Qi Yade was surprised and asked, "If they really wanted to attack, why did they break the bridge? Could it be a bluff?"

Abu Muslim said: "Prince Shou is full of tricks. This must be his plan. The general should be careful!"

"I know!" Seeing Abu Muslim constantly talking about Li Heng's strength, Ziyad became a little impatient. He sat on the commander's chair and thought for a while before saying, "Since he wants to persuade us to surrender, let's talk to him."

Then he turned to another general next to him and said, "General Urna, get ready and bring a large sum of money to negotiate with the other side."

"I obey your command." Urna bowed to Ziyad and walked out.

The next day, the sky finally cleared up. Urna did not take the small bridge, but instead built a boat and took a few people to cross the river to the city of Kesai.

Urna asked to discuss peace with Li Heng, but Li Heng did not come and asked Gao Xianzhi to act on his behalf.

Urna's proposal was to keep the land currently occupied and to extend to Talas in the north.

This was completely different from Li Heng's proposal. The two sides talked for three days without any progress.

Three days later, Urna said that since the Tang army refused to retreat, he would go back to ask for instructions.

Gao Xianzhi did not make things difficult for him and sent him back.

Urna returned to the other side of the Sher River, came to the main tent of the army, and reported the situation to Ziyad.

"General, I have been in Kesai City for three days and have never seen Prince Shou show up. According to the report from our secret agents in Kesai City, Prince Shou has not appeared since he arrived in Kesai City. Even some generals of the Tang army have never seen him. Now the entire Tang army suspects that he is ill, and the people are in a panic." Urna said, with uncontrollable joy on his face.

Ziyad laughed when he heard this and asked Abu Muslim beside him, "You said you know something about Prince Shou, so do you think Prince Shou is really ill this time?"

Abu Muslim was also puzzled and said, "As far as I know, the King of Shou is indeed suffering from a strange disease, but I have not seen him in person, so I dare not make a firm statement."

"Humph!" Qiyad said disdainfully, "If he was faking illness, why did he cut off the bridge? You are right, he is indeed cunning. He wrote letters to threaten our soldiers while cutting off the bridge for defense."

"I have one more thing to report," Urna said, glancing at Abu Muslim.

This look was hinting to Ziyad that what he was about to say was top secret and it would be better to let Abu Muslim leave first.

Ziyad understood what Urna meant. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "We are all family here. General Urna, please speak directly if you have anything to say."

"Yes." Urna lowered his voice. "The Tang army is in a panic now. I have instigated a senior general of the Tang army to defect. He promised that as long as our army sends troops, he will cooperate with our army from inside and outside and attack the Tang army from behind. However..."

"But what?" Ziyad asked.

Urna said: "But he not only accepted the valuable gifts we brought, but also asked the Arabs to make him the Khan of Bukhara after the success."

Ziyad said: "Our army has always been that whoever conquers the city first becomes the local leader. If he can really make the first contribution, it is not impossible. But can he, an outsider, sit firmly on the throne of the Khanate of Bakhan?"

Urna said: "Half of the army of Bactria is in the hands of its princess Ayis. He said that as long as he marries Ayis, he can secure his position."

"That's a good idea. Let's do it." Ziyad agreed and asked, "Where are the Qarluk troops?"

(End of this chapter)