Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

This was a battle in which neither side made any prior indication, but both tacitly agreed to use their full strength from the very beginning to destroy the other.

The booming explosions, accompanied by gunfire, the neighing of horses, and shouts of battle, spread throughout the city of Mecca.

The caravans that stayed here for a temporary rest, the local residents of Mecca, and the old nobles were all thrown into disarray by this sudden chaos.

As a result, the residence of the old Meccan nobles, who openly sided with Eastern heretics in Mecca, the holy city of Allah, was naturally attacked by the Muslim legions immediately.

"In the name of the Prophet, sentence these heretics who have defiled the name of Allah to death!"

"Charge in! Don't let a single one of them escape!"

In the darkness, the words shouted in Arabic terrified Alem and the others in the mansion, who turned pale with fright. However, they quickly organized a counterattack.

"Boom!"

The gate was being hit.

Ladders were quickly erected on the surrounding walls, and dark figures flickered on the top of the walls.

Alem knew something was wrong: "Light it! Set the walls on fire with kerosene!"

As he gave the order, he instantly drew his bow and shot an arrow, killing a Muslim soldier who had just emerged from the wall.

"咻咻咻......"

"Wow!"

The firelight, carrying the acrid smell of kerosene, temporarily repelled the enemies outside the wall; however, everyone knew that this was only temporary.

"Elder, what should we do? We're completely surrounded, and the back door is being attacked too!"

A warrior leader from the Banu Asad family looked tense.

Currently, this mansion only has less than two hundred people, including the elderly, women, and children, while there are at least a thousand enemies outside. It's impossible to fight them all out.

But if they hold out here, they will also face certain death once the flames are extinguished or the door is forced open.

Alem's face was gloomy.

What can he do?

"Hold on! As long as we hold on for now, the Tang general will soon bring troops to rescue us! Don't forget, that Master Xuanzang is a great figure whom even that fellow Sufuyang treats with respect. He is currently in Mecca, so we have nothing to fear!"

.......

"General, the rest is up to you."

"I dare not. I currently hold no military rank and dare not accept the title of Holy Monk General. However, Holy Monk, rest assured, the men I have brought with me were all retainers of my Duke of Lu's mansion or retired veterans in the past. Now that they have the right weapons, they will surely help my Great Tang take Mecca!"

Hou Gao was dressed in Tang Dynasty armor, a full-body protective suit that even included a face shield.

Beside him, a warhorse brought from the Tang Dynasty was also equipped with some protective gear to block vital organs.

After he finished speaking, he bowed deeply to Xuanzang, who was standing before him.

He then immediately mounted his horse and rode on.

"Brothers! This battle is for our Great Tang Dynasty, for His Majesty Emperor Tianwu, and for the Duke of Lu's Mansion!"

"Do not tarnish the reputation of my Tang army!"

Hou Gao shouted and raised his spear, leading his thousand men toward Mecca.

And it happened around the same time.

A series of fierce neighings of horses accompanied the whistling of arrows.

The 8,000-strong Muslim army transferred from Medina to Mecca and Jeddah faced a tremendous crisis.

The 10,000-strong Pishi Army cavalry, composed entirely of Khitan elites, not only had the advantage of surprise attacks, but also the advantage of numbers and weapons.

With a single move, they immediately inflicted heavy casualties on the Arab army that had set out from Medina.

“Woooooo~~~”

The desolate sound of horns was blew, and the sense of crisis that was familiar to the Arab people, who were once nomadic and are now a semi-nomadic, semi-agricultural people, instantly sent chills down everyone's spines.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Everyone, don't panic! Form ranks! Everyone, form ranks!"

"Control your warhorse! Don't panic!"

The general, dressed in a white robe and wearing a headscarf, was clearly visible in the moonlight of the dark night.

"Rumble rumble rumble..."

The galloping warhorses shook the parched earth before them, neighing mournfully. At the forefront, several fierce generals from the Pishi army drew two curved swords from their waists.

Clad entirely in black armor, with faces that were gloomy and ghostly, the Arab army, which had just hastily prepared for battle, felt a chill run down their spines.

"咻咻咻......"

Another sharp volley of arrows rained down from the archers behind the charging Pishi army.

The timing was perfect; just before the two armies were about to clash, they fell into the enemy's ranks.

"what!!!"

"Don't panic! Raise your shields! Raise your shields!"

"Don't run! Allah will bless us and give us the divine power to defeat all the evil in the world!"

Praise be to Allah!!!

"Pfft..."

This was a one-sided massacre with no clear advantage or second possibility.

However, the 8,000-strong Arab army couldn't even escape; the few remaining soldiers who fled were caught up and shot by the Pish army's cavalry.

"Ignore these guys. Order everyone to immediately follow me to the aid of Mecca!"

Yelü Damu coldly gave the order.

The battle for Mecca was even more brutal.

The Muslim army had a numerical advantage, but the Buddhist monks and the troops of the Duke of Lu's mansion on the Tang side had an advantage in firearms and weaponry, in addition to some of the old nobles of Mecca who had survived the great battle and joined forces.

The two sides engaged in the bloodiest battle in Mecca, one of the holiest cities in Islam.

On the streets, severed limbs and wounded soldiers, still groaning in pain, were everywhere.

As the sun rises and the ground temperature begins to increase, the stench emanating from the dried-up blood makes Mecca look like a living hell.

Hou Gao was covered in blood, and the anti-slip texture on the shaft of his spear had lost its effectiveness due to the thick blood.

Hou Gao was forced to tie a layer of burlap around his hands to increase friction.

"kill!"

"boom!"

With a sudden sweep of his steel spear, before the Muslim cavalry commander could react, the spear struck his horse's head at a tricky angle.

With a mournful neigh from the warhorse, the cavalry commander on its back cried out in alarm and lost his balance.

"Pfft" sound.

The spear pierced the throat with precision. Hou Gao didn't even glance at the corpse, and once again spurred his warhorse, now completely soaked in blood, to charge forward.

"The Tang army is mighty!!!"

"General, you are mighty!!!" The retainers and veterans of the Duke of Lu's mansion who had gone out to sea with the fleet to explore were as excited as if they had returned to the battlefield of yesteryear.

At this moment, the comparison of the combat effectiveness of lower-ranking soldiers in the East and West became vividly apparent.

Behind them, the old nobles of Mecca who were fighting alongside them were so shocked by the fighting prowess and will of these Tang soldiers that they lost their ability to think.

On the other side of Mecca, the Wuzhen Temple, which had been captured by Muslims in a night raid, was recaptured by Buddhist monks.

Xuanzang, who had disappeared last night, reappeared among this group of Buddhist warrior monks at some unknown time.

He was wearing a kasaya, but underneath it was the flying fish robe of a Tang Dynasty Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) commander.

He held prayer beads in one hand and made a Buddhist gesture with the other, muttering incantations as if he were reciting scriptures to help the deceased.

Beside him, Fu Hu was directing his musketeer monks to fire volleys at the Muslim army across the street.

"Aim!"

"put!"