Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5128: Western Region Storm
Auf was very disappointed with Yezid.

Victory and defeat are common in the military. How can we be trapped in the shadow of defeat and shrink back from moving forward?

The commander of a country must be more enterprising and courageous when facing failure. Only in this way can he have absolute prestige and be supported by his subjects all over the world.

Even if we take a step back, Suiye City is thousands of miles away from Damascus. Even if the battle fails, it will not have a devastating impact on the Caliph's rule. Once victory is achieved, the results to be gained will be extremely rich.

After weighing the two options, we should advance quickly and launch a surprise attack on Suiye City instead of being frightened by the last defeat.

With such a successor, even the Caliph far away in Damascus would probably be disappointed, right?

Amir drank the jujube wine and pondered, "The Tang army is strong, there is no doubt about that. It is not too much to be careful. In addition to the competition of combat power between the two sides, this battle also depends on whether Tubo can send troops to cut off the Tang army's logistical supply as agreed, and whether the remnants of the Turks can stir up trouble in the Western Regions to destroy the foundation of the Tang army. Otherwise, even if we can capture Suiye City, we will definitely pay a heavy price, which will have a great impact on our subsequent eastward advancement to occupy the entire Western Regions or even to Yumen Pass."

From ancient times to the present, there are not many wars where victory or defeat is decided by head-on confrontation. Most of the wars are head-on stalemates and victories are decided by flank attacks.

Therefore, the roles of Lu Dongzan and Ashina Helu are crucial.

Yezid was confident about this: "When we were stationed in Tusi City, we received letters from Lu Dongzan and Ashina Helu one after another. Lu Dongzan vowed that as long as we went to war with the Tang Dynasty, he would immediately end the war with Luoshui City, send troops to Hexi, and cut off the Tang army's supply line. Ashina Helu was evasive and vague, and he was very timid, but as long as the main force of the Tang army was tied up in Suiye City by us, he would have no worries and would definitely start an army in Mohe City."

Everyone nodded in unison.

Although Lu Dongzan was currently dependent on the Tang Dynasty, it was the Tang Dynasty that forced him to march into Lhasa City and fight a bloody battle with Songtsen Gampo, which also resulted in the death of Songtsen Gampo's successor in the army. As a result, although Lu Dongzan was a Tibetan, he was unable to return home. With a deep hatred for the Tang Dynasty, how could he not be tempted by the opportunity to divide the Western Regions?
As for Ashina Helu, the descendant of the Han king who always wanted to restore the Turkic Khanate, he was even more ambitious and ready to make a move.

As long as the Arab army could contain the Tang army and create a favorable situation, how could these people not rise up and overthrow the rule of the Tang Dynasty?

Ye Qide said: "The next time I receive a letter from these two people, I will probably have to wait until the city can be dispersed. Whether to proceed steadily or launch a surprise attack, I will make a decision at that time."

The others looked at each other and nodded in agreement, reaching a consensus.

They are all the most elite generals and even commanders of the Arab Empire. No matter which tactics they adopt, they will not give the Tang army a chance to take advantage.

*****
The winter of the fourth year in Renhe was extremely long. There were continuous heavy snowfalls in the western regions and the climate was extremely cold. It was already March, but the warm spring weather had yet to arrive.

Inside Mohe City, Ashina Helu drank wine in big gulps with a gloomy look on his face.

There was another heavy snowstorm yesterday, and countless cattle, sheep and horses raised outside the city were frozen to death. The whole city was wailing, and morale was at its lowest point.

As spring is approaching and a war breaks out, the food and fodder in the entire Western Region will be drained away, and the Turkic tribes will have a harder time...

"boom!"

The door was knocked open.

Ashina Helu was furious and was about to yell at him, but when he looked up, he saw his general Nen Dulu rushing in with a panicked look on his bearded face. He shouted, "Khan, something is wrong! Mishe and Buzhen are leading tens of thousands of troops to attack Mohe City!"

"How can it be?!"

Ashina Helu was shocked: "They swore an oath in front of Fang Jun, how dare they break their promise and gain wealth?"

Neng Dulu was sweating profusely: "We can talk about that later. The Tang people will take care of it. But now the army is approaching the city. Please give the order, Khan, to mobilize the army and prepare for battle!"

"fart!"

Ashina Helu was both shocked and angry: "It has been snowing heavily for days. The city is running low on food and fodder. All the troops have gone to other places to collect food and fodder. Now there are only over 10,000 soldiers in the city. How can we resist the army of Mishe and Buzhen?"

He stood up, quickly put on his leather armor, put on his iron helmet, and carried his scimitar. He ordered, "Blow the horn and assemble the troops!"

Neng Dulu said excitedly: "When two armies meet, the bravest one wins! Mishe and Buzhen, those two bastards, their hair hasn't even grown out yet, yet they dare to tease the Khan? Let me lead the army out of the city to fight, I will definitely be able to kill the two brats on the battlefield... Ouch!"

Ashina Helu kicked him and made him stagger. He cursed, "Fighting for nothing! Knowing that the enemy is well prepared and coming with great force, you still want to fight to the death. Is your head full of cow dung? Quickly gather the troops, let's retreat south to Luntai and ask the Tang army to send troops to quell the rebellion!"

"..."

Neng Dulu held his breath and quickly left.

A moment later, a horn sounded and the entire Mohe City fell into chaos.

The army quickly assembled. Ashina Helu mounted his warhorse, waved his hand, and was about to withdraw from Mohe City to Luntai to seek reinforcements.

One of his subordinates was shocked and stopped his horse and asked, "We will follow the Khan and withdraw, but what about our families?"

Ashina Helu gritted his teeth and said, "Don't take any of your family with you! The snow is so heavy that it's hard to travel, and we have to retreat all the way. How can the women and children survive? I'm afraid they will all freeze to death on the road! If they all stay in Mohe City, I don't believe that Mishe and Buzhen would dare to do something worse than animals!"

"But……"

"But that's bullshit! My wives and concubines are all staying here, why are you still nagging?"

The generals did not dare to say much. They could only bid farewell to their wives, concubines and children, quickly assemble the troops, open the south gate, and rush towards Luntai.

Not long after, Mishe came with a large army, broke through the weak city defense, and occupied Mohe City.

Just as Ashina Helu had expected, Mishe did not dare to risk the wrath of the world and ordered that the elderly, the weak, women and children in the city be treated well, but he looted all the houses.

Ashina Helu led thousands of troops out of Mohe City and headed south. When they arrived at a place more than a hundred miles away from Luntai, they were suddenly frightened by Ashina Buzhen who appeared from the side. Seeing that the enemy was on high alert, he knew that he had fallen into an ambush. In a panic, he did not dare to go to Luntai and led his troops to flee hastily to the south.

Ashina Buzhen was chasing closely behind him...

……

In Gongyue City, news came that Mishe and Buzhen were rebelling.

The news of the fall of Mohe City could not be concealed. It had now spread throughout Gongyue City, causing public opinion to be in an uproar and people to panic.

Tingzhou and Xizhou are the core of the entire Western Regions. Now that they have been captured by the rebellious Mishe and Buzhen, it means that the stability of the entire Western Regions is no longer as stable as before. Coupled with the news that the Arabs are coming, people are naturally in panic.

All merchants in the city have already evacuated outside the city so that they can escape smoothly when the situation turns upside down...

Inside the government residence, Fang Jun, Pei Xingjian and Xue Rengui sat together, passing the battle report from Mohe City to each other.

Fang Jun handed the battle report to Xue Rengui and asked, "Where is Ashina Helu now?"

Pei Xingjian said, "We have arrived in Khotan."

Fang Jun stood up and walked to the map hanging on the wall. He placed his finger on the location of Khotan, then moved to the left, passing the corridor and gorge in the Pamir Mountains and landing on Kangju. Then he turned north until he reached Kesan City.

I couldn't help but laugh: "Thousands of soldiers and horses have traveled thousands of miles, braving the wind and snow. It must have been hard for Ashina Helu."

Pei Xingjian also stood up and stood behind Fang Jun. He smiled and said, "He made his own choice. Who can we blame? But are we really going to ignore Mishe and Buzhen? Even if we don't need to eliminate them for the time being, we should still frighten them. If they become too ambitious and blinded by greed, and really wreak havoc in the heart of the Western Regions, that would be troublesome."

"No need. Those two are cowardly and lack courage. They have already reached their limit. Even if we give them more courage, they will not dare to act recklessly. They just captured Mohe City and occupied the Turkic royal court. From then on, they have the title of inheritor of the King of Han, that's all. Next, they will definitely sit on the mountain and watch the fire, waiting for the situation to change. If we lose in Suiye City, these two people will become a big problem, but if we win a big victory, they will immediately flee northward with their tails between their legs, hiding in the far north and dare not show up."

Even so, Pei Xingjian was still worried: "These two have tens of thousands of elite soldiers under their command. Once they flee to the north, it will be like a tiger entering the mountains or a fish returning to the sea. It will be extremely difficult to annihilate them. They may become a serious threat in the future."

Fang Jun didn't care: "Is the Far North a place where people can stay? When the Xiongnu were driven out by the Han Dynasty, they settled in the North, but they couldn't stand it after a few years and had to take their families and drive their livestock to migrate to the warmer places in the west. If Mishe and Buzhen also escape to the North in the future, they will probably move west instead of staying there until they freeze to death."

The current global warming period, but even so, the vast northern region is not a place for humans to stay. The climate is extremely cold, supplies are scarce, and there are mountains everywhere...

If they could not stand the extreme cold of the north, they might have taken the old route of the Huns and conquered the newly built city of Kiev. If the westward migration route of the Turks was completely changed, there would be no "Kievan Rus" but "Kievan Stan".

It's quite interesting...

Pei Xingjian thought about it and it made sense. Why should he think so far ahead?
If the Tang Dynasty remained strong, the surrounding Hu tribes would either beg for mercy or migrate far away with their entire clans. Who would dare to touch the tiger's whiskers of the Tang Dynasty?

If the country were to fall, the surrounding Hu tribes would swarm in and devour the flesh and blood of the Tang Dynasty. By then, even if there were no Turks, there would be countless other Hu tribes...

The current national policy is the struggle for hegemony between the Tang Dynasty and the Arabs.

As long as it wins, the Tang Dynasty will monopolize the status of "number one in the world" for fifty to one hundred years, which will be enough to double its strong national strength on the existing basis.

What's so special about the Turks?
Fang Jun turned around and looked at Xue Rengui: "Is General Xue ready?"

Xue Rengui stood up suddenly and said: "I and my 10,000 soldiers are well prepared. We are conserving our energy and ready to fight at any moment!"