Tibet

When the food army began to collapse, Pei Xiu commanded the Tang army in the city to take advantage of the situation and attack the enemy.

At this time, because the general had escaped first, the morale of the Dashi Army had plummeted. It had completely lost its combat effectiveness and collapsed like a landslide. The soldiers were just scrambling to escape, colliding and trampling each other. Countless people were killed and injured, and thousands of camels had already died. Break free from the reins and run away.

Airot shouted desperately, trying to organize the soldiers to counterattack. A general rushed forward and shouted: "Sayed has escaped and morale has collapsed. General, please leave!"

Seeing that the defeat was irreversible, Airot had no choice but to sigh and led the more than a thousand people he had gathered to turn around and flee westward.

In this battle, the Tang army succeeded in a night attack, killing nearly 3,000 enemies and suffering less than a hundred casualties. Of course, many of the enemies killed were slaves and servants of the soldiers, and it was impossible to distinguish the identities of the enemies in the darkness.

It was getting brighter, and the Dashi military camp was in a mess. There were flattened small tents everywhere, armor, weapons and enemy corpses scattered on the ground.

The injured soldiers of the Tang Army were sent back to the city for treatment. Other soldiers were cleaning the battlefield and collecting items. The private horse bags of the soldiers of the Dashi Army were gathered together and rewarded uniformly.

This army Li Ye had dealt with them in Bukhan. At that time, it was still like an army. But now, in just half a year, the soldiers of this army actually have servants. They have deteriorated so quickly that it is unimaginable.

"General! I discovered something interesting." Colonel Yang Qing and Zhang Dan rushed forward and said with a smile,

"What's interesting?"

"They had five thousand soldiers, but we captured more than 4,300 pieces of armor."

"It means that most of them don't have time to put on their armor."

Li Ye smiled and said: "Look, they all bring servants, and some soldiers bring silver pots to make milk tea. The saddles and boots are very exquisite and gorgeous. This is a very proud and luxurious army, including their chief general. I underestimate the enemy in my bones, thinking that we only have a few hundred people, and I guess the next big food army will not dare to be so indulgent."

Soon, the battlefield was cleaned up and a large amount of supplies were seized. More than 6,000 camels alone were seized. Li Ye rewarded all the seized property to all the soldiers, and Talos City was filled with joy.

Next, Li Ye also knew that the food army would attack Talas City in an all-round way. He estimated that the city could not be defended, and he did not intend to defend the city. It was meaningless.

Li Ye ordered Yang Dan, who joined the army, to send 320,000 kilograms of crude silver, other seized supplies, and camels back to Suiye City.

At dawn, the soldiers of the food army who were running in a hurry also stopped running. They collected the defeated soldiers one after another. Not bad, they collected more than 3,000 soldiers and nearly 4,000 servants.

These servants were not stupid. The Tang army stormed into the camp. They slept outside the small tent. They reacted very quickly. They immediately cut the reins with a knife and climbed on the camel. As soon as the master got on the horse, they immediately ran for their lives without hesitation.

Many masters were killed by the Tang army, but their servants escaped.

But here comes the problem. Most of the soldiers are not wearing armor, and many soldiers have even lost their weapons.

Want to kill him again? That's a joke.

Said and Airot discussed for a moment, and they unanimously decided to withdraw to Bukhara first, and let the governor decide the next move.

After resting for an hour, the food army began to retreat towards Bukhara.

But three days after the Dashi army left, south of Baishui City, they encountered 10,000 Dashi reinforcements rushing from Bukhara.

………

The leader of the reinforcements was called Ziyad, who was Abu Muslim's deputy and the deputy governor of Khorasan. His official position was far above Said and Airot, and he was considered their superior.

In a large tent, Ziad asked with a gloomy face: "Why was it attacked by the Tang army? Didn't you send a patrol?"

Said and Airot stood in front of the deputy governor. Both of them looked very embarrassed. Airot quickly said: "The patrol must have been sent. I have sent a hundred patrols for my humble job!"

"Why didn't it work? Or was it succeeded by a sneak attack by the Tang army?"

Airot sighed and said: "The cavalry of the Tang Army was too fast. The patrol sentry rushed back to report the news, and they killed them with the rear foot. But it was also effective. Many soldiers were able to escape in time. They were not killed in their sleep, but the Tang Army came too fast. , too late to put on armor and prepare for battle."

Ziad said coldly: "This is the second time they have been sneak attacked! They were also attacked in Bukhan. Thousands of soldiers also fled back naked. This time they even brought servants with them. The result is still the same. Your army will Are you so lazy that you haven’t learned any lessons?”

Airot was angry in his heart. The soldier and servant Ziad knew it clearly. He knew it in Bukhara. Why didn't he say anything at that time and blamed himself now.

He said coldly for a while: "The defeat of Bukhanna is not the responsibility of the humble position, but the responsibility of the Shi Kingdom. Kundu Shi was careless and was attacked by a sneak attack. This sneak attack was due to wrong intelligence. It was said that the enemy army only had a few hundred people. We firmly believe in defending the city of Talas."

Before he could finish speaking, Ziad interrupted him and said, "What you mean is that the Governor's intelligence was wrong and led to your failure? The Governor is responsible?"

"I dare not say this because of my humble position, but the fact is that we have no idea that there are thousands of people on the other side."

"enough!"

Ziad angrily yelled: "The military situation is changing rapidly. Half a month ago, the Tang army only had a few hundred soldiers. It does not mean that they will not increase their troops. If the governor has to decide everything, what do you generals need to do?"

It doesn’t matter, you are Mansour’s man, I won’t kill you, you go back and tell Mansour that you were defeated twice by the Tang army in sneak attacks, the Khorasan army cannot tolerate it, we will give him face, please do it! "

Airot nodded, "I understand, the final responsibility is mine anyway, okay! I'll take my leave."

He turned around and left the tent angrily. After a moment, he led more than 20 personal guards and rushed away, returning to Baghdad.

After Airot left, Ziad asked Said, who had been silent all this time: "I want to report to the governor. Tell the truth about the reasons for the defeat!"

Of course Said would not say that he allowed them to bring servants just to win over the soldiers. He had already thought of an excuse.

Said said slowly: "After the defeat of Bukhanna, the Ministry of War re-equipped the Sogdian army with armor and weapons, but this time the armor was the old-fashioned type of armor. Even the Umayyad army finally abandoned it. The armor used was heavy and cumbersome and could not be worn by one person. Someone had to assist, so the soldiers in this army brought servants.

Here's the problem. Without servants, soldiers can't take off their armor alone. They will wear armor to sleep at night, and they won't carry single-person tents. Everyone is alert at night and wakes up every time they wake up. But once there are servants, , the soldiers will become accustomed to dependence and enjoyment. They will definitely take off their armor to sleep at night, and sleep very hard. When the Tang army comes to kill them at night, they will be almost bare-handed. Apart from running away, they will never consider resisting. "

"Whose decision was it to let soldiers take servants?"

"Of course it was Airot. He was the one who agreed to the soldiers taking servants when they first went to Bukhara."

Ziad nodded, "The defeat is Airot's responsibility. He did not learn the lesson of Bukhan's surprise attack. He relaxed his vigilance and failed to strictly control the soldiers. I know it and I will report it to the governor!"

Ziad immediately reorganized the army and organized some of the servants into soldiers. All the excess servants were repatriated. Each soldier was no longer allowed to carry servants and was replaced with simple hanging leather armor. During war, he was not allowed to take off his armor, and his weapons were not allowed to be taken away from his hands.

After strict reorganization, the Sogdian army was renewed and rejoined the ranks. The 15,000-strong army marched toward the city of Talas.

A few days later, the Dashi army came to the city, but Talas City was already an empty city, and the Dashi army marched into Talas City.

Ziad was really puzzled. Talas City was tall and solid, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The area inside was not small. It was completely possible to rely on the city and refuse to defend it. Why did the Tang army give up?

But he no longer had the time to think about it. He couldn't find any rough silver in the city, so he immediately sent soldiers to the silver mines to check the situation. His mission was simple, seize the rough silver and occupy the silver mines.