Li Shimin faked his death? Then I will be powerful enough to conquer the world!

On the ancient Western Region Road where camel bells ring, the glory of the Tang Dynasty shines on this mysterious land.

West of the Pamir Mountains, the power of the Arab Empire continued to expand, gradually forming a fierce confrontation with the Tang Dynasty's sphere of influence in Central Asia.

In the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty, in the city, on the parade ground, military flags fluttered, and a group of Tang cavalrymen in silver armor were conducting their daily training.

They stood tall and straight, their eyes firm, and kept stabbing with the spears in their hands, and every movement was in perfect unison.

Xue Rengui was standing on a high platform in the parade ground, watching the soldiers under his command.

He has grown a lot, his face is well-defined, and his deep eyes reveal determination.

Having been trained in the military since childhood, he is always ready to devote everything to the glory of his country.

At this time, a messenger hurried up to the platform and presented an urgent document.

Xue Rengui frowned slightly and quickly unfolded the document. It was clearly written on it: The black-clad Arab army is gathering and seems to be heading east. The Xianzhen Camp will be the first to resist the enemy!

After reading the document, Xue Rengui's eyes instantly became sharp.

How dare the Arabs advance eastward?

The Arab soldiers in black robes and armor are ready for battle!

Rutherford, Anurchi's most promising successor, watched everything in front of him.

He was tall and strong, with a pair of black eyes sparkling with wisdom under his black curly hair.

In his heart, he had a firm belief in the expansion of the Black Caliphate and believed that this was the mission given to them by God.

But he felt an inexplicable awe towards the Tang army he was about to face.

"Brothers, those black-clad Arabs are right before our eyes. Behind us are the people and territory of the Tang Dynasty."

"Today, we must let these invaders know that the land of the Tang Dynasty cannot be violated!"

A Tang soldier shouted loudly.

"I am willing to die on the battlefield for the Tang Dynasty!"

More than twenty Tang soldiers shouted in unison.

The armor of these more than twenty Tang soldiers was torn and bloodstained, but their eyes showed their fearless determination.

They paused briefly on the sand. The wind and sand blurred their figures, but could not conceal their indomitable spirit.

Seeing this, Rutherford thought the Tang army was about to flee.

But they never expected that these twenty or so Tang cavalrymen just glanced at the enemy quietly, then suddenly waved their spears, shouted in unison, and rushed towards the three thousand enemy troops without hesitation.

These Arab soldiers had never seen such a fighting army and were a little surprised for a moment.

But soon, under Rutherford's command, they reacted quickly, raised their scimitars and spears, and rushed towards the Tang army.

At this moment, he was riding on a tall warhorse, looking at the rushing Tang army, and a complex emotion surged in his heart.

On the one hand, he was shocked by the bravery of the Tang army.

On the other hand, as a general of the Black Arabs, he was full of confidence in victory.

In his view, Anurchi was the backbone of the empire, and even if the king had any unusual moves, Grand Amir Anurchi would never rebel.

Now that Harija has openly declared that Anurchi has rebelled, Rutherford feels uneasy. He thinks that the Great Amir might have met with an accident.

Thinking of this, Rutherford was overwhelmed with grief and indignation. He secretly vowed that no matter what, he would find Anurchi's body and never let his reputation be tarnished, because Anurchi was the pride of the entire empire.

Facing the more than twenty Tang soldiers who were determined to die, Rutherford felt a trace of respect in his heart.

He decided to show his last respect to these brave opponents and ordered the entire army to charge.

In an instant, the three thousand black-clad Arab troops surged forward like a black tide.

In this confrontation with a huge disparity in strength, the more than 20 Tang cavalrymen were ultimately unable to resist.

With just one charge, they all fell in a pool of blood.

The Black Arabs thought the battle had ended without any suspense.

At this moment, a slight sound of burning fire was heard quietly.

The sound was extremely low-key in the noisy battlefield, so low-key that no one noticed it.

The fire line spread rapidly, and in just a few blinks of an eye, it burned to the end.

"Boom!" A deafening roar exploded among the black-clad Arabs.

The huge impact force directly blew the limbs of the surrounding soldiers apart, and blood mist filled the air.

Before they could recover from the sudden explosion, explosions rang out one after another.

The entire battlefield fell into chaos in an instant, and the black-clad Arabs panicked and fled in all directions.

This round of explosions directly caused nearly 800 casualties among the 3,000-strong black-clad Arab army.

When Rutherford saw this scene, he was so angry that his eyes turned red and he almost spit fire.

He could never have imagined that these twenty-odd Tang cavalrymen could inflict such a heavy blow on them before their death, sacrificing their lives in exchange for so many warriors of the Arab Empire.

The surviving black-clad Arab soldiers all looked terrified. They had never seen such a horrific scene.

Many people were in extreme fear, shouting "divine punishment", believing that this was a punishment from the gods.

The crowd began to riot uncontrollably, the soldiers pushed each other, the entire army's formation collapsed in an instant, and the morale of the army was completely broken.

Rutherford looked at the chaotic situation in front of him, feeling extremely disappointed. He couldn't help but ask himself, is it true that the imperial army can only win battles, and will be so vulnerable once it encounters setbacks?

Just over twenty Tang cavalrymen actually caused three thousand cavalrymen to fall into such a chaotic situation. This is really ridiculous, sad and lamentable!

In order to save the situation, Rutherford looked at his soldiers anxiously and loudly ordered the messenger to convey the order to the entire army not to panic.

However, the riot was completely out of control at this time, and a few orders were simply unable to calm the already terrified soldiers.

The horrific explosion scene just now kept replaying in their minds, and fear followed them like a shadow.

Rutherford, who had originally been ambitious about expanding eastward, was now filled with helplessness.

Not to mention continuing eastward, they had to face the situation of retreat before they even saw the cities of the Tang Dynasty.

In this situation, Rutherford had no choice but to order a retreat.

As the retreat order was issued, the Black Arab army began to retreat slowly, and the turbulent situation of the army was slightly stabilized.

During the retreat, Rutherford kept thinking about the explosion.

He absolutely did not believe that this was a divine punishment. Based on his previous understanding of the Tang army, he concluded that this must be a new combat method developed by the Tang army.

Rutherford is different from the conservative veterans of the empire. He has always been very concerned about the Tang Dynasty.

Previously, the fire guns developed by the Tang army had attracted his attention. He spent a lot of energy and financial resources to collect fire guns and specially found craftsmen to disassemble and study them.

Although he was unable to reassemble the guns after each disassembly, he speculated that the Tang army had installed special devices on the muskets, but this did not dampen his enthusiasm for studying Tang Dynasty firearms.

The Tang Dynasty was by no means ordinary. From the Tang army's weapons and equipment to its tactics and strategies, he felt the power and mystery of this Eastern empire.

He had repeatedly requested the king to pay attention to the research and development of firearms in an attempt to improve the combat effectiveness of the imperial army.

But in the eyes of those conservative nobles and generals, he was just a young and energetic guy.

They firmly believed that the warriors of the Arab Empire could conquer the world with the scimitars and spears in their hands, and there was no need to pay attention to these so-called new weapons.

Now, the loss of this battle has made Rutherford more determined in his thinking.

If the Arab Empire wanted to gain the upper hand in its confrontation with the Tang Dynasty, it had to make changes and pay attention to the development of advanced technologies such as firearms.

But at this moment, he could only lead his remaining troops and slowly disappear at the end of the desert with a heart full of reluctance.