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When the news spread, the remaining Arab strongholds in Khorasan were terrified. When they saw the Chinese army, bearing a black banner with a red dragon and accompanied by the thunderous sound of hooves, appear on the horizon, many towns dared not even open their gates to surrender, or their defenders simply abandoned their cities and fled. The Chinese army, almost at the speed of a march, swept through eastern and central Khorasan in just two months, its advance pointing directly at Nishapur.

The Abbasid Caliphate's Eastern Governor's Office was plunged into immense shock and panic after receiving a series of reports of disastrous defeats.

Mu'awiyah had initially thought it was just a major setback at the border, but the reinforcements he sent vanished without a trace, like snowflakes hitting boiling water. Instead, the enemy pushed back with unstoppable force! The terrifying rumors about "thunderous weapons," "invulnerable Eastern warriors," and "one man against ten riders" were amplified by the fleeing soldiers and merchants, becoming increasingly exaggerated and causing morale to plummet and panic to spread throughout the eastern front of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Mu'awiyah urgently redeployed more troops from Syria and Iraq, attempting to construct a defensive line east of Nishapur, but fear had already spread within the army. When the Chinese vanguard once again launched a thunderous night raid with artillery, breaching a key section of the city wall, and musketeers completely suppressed the defenders' bows and scimitars in street fighting, and skilled Chinese soldiers indiscriminately slaughtered officers on the city walls, Nishapur's defenses quickly crumbled.

The Chinese army entered the capital of Khorasan without bloodshed.

Looking westward, one can see the edge of the Persian Plateau, and further west lies Iraq, the true heart of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Xue Rengui ordered a temporary rest and recuperation in Nishapur to consolidate defenses, consolidate the newly occupied territories, and send detailed battle reports and situation analyses to Luoyang. He knew that further advances would require more thorough preparation and strategic decisions from the imperial court. However, this battle had already deeply impressed upon every force in this land the formidable strength and power of the Hua Empire's Western Expeditionary Army.

...............

The defeat of the Arab vanguard marked the beginning of the full-scale launch of the Chinese Empire's massive war machine on the western front.

It was no longer about rescuing a dying vassal state, but a strategic advance aimed at redefining the borders of Eurasia and establishing the absolute authority of the Chinese Empire.

The course of the war was less a contest between two superpowers and more a one-sided, ruthless crushing defeat.

Under the command of generals such as Hua Jinxing and Xue Rengui, the main force of the Western Expeditionary Army of the Chinese Empire did not rush to pursue the scattered remnants of the Arab army. Instead, it first stabilized the eastern Khorasan region with Merv as its core, firmly brought the Sassanid remnants of Peroz under its control, and strengthened its construction as an advance base and logistical hub.

When the following spring arrived and the ice and snow melted, after sufficient rest, replenishment, and receiving more supplies and reinforcements (including new firearms units) transported from the heart of the empire, the Western Expeditionary Army began to steadily advance westward and northward.

What followed was less a campaign and more a demonstration of the Chinese Empire's new warfare concepts against the old military system. The actual combat was often lackluster, exhibiting a despairing monotony and efficiency.

Faced with the elite cavalry that the Arabs relied on to dominate the land, the dark muzzles of cannons and the dense forest of gun barrels in the Chinese army's ranks became synonymous with death.

The Imperial Ministry of Works' "Institute of Natural Crafts" continuously improved its field artillery, resulting in greater range and accuracy. Its exploding shells (shells filled with iron fragments, stones, or simple gunpowder) were even more terrifying. Often, Arab cavalrymen were caught in a barrage of artillery fire before they even reached the range of arrows, their men and horses shattered, and their formations broken.

Even if some brave warriors managed to get close by using their speed or the terrain, they were met with volleys of "Shenji Battalion" soldiers equipped with flintlock muskets, firing in rotation. The dense barrage of lead bullets created an insurmountable metal storm; no matter how strong the chainmail or iron-plated shield, it was as fragile as paper before the direct fire of lead bullets at close range. Coupled with hand-thrown "thunderbolts," the area within hundreds of paces in front of the Chinese army's positions became a complete no-man's land.

The Arab army's prized tactics of mounted archery, flanking maneuvers, and close-quarters combat were rendered completely ineffective by the Chinese army's disciplined square formations, sharp firearms, and layers of spearmen, swordsmen, and shieldmen. It was as if they were facing an iron hedgehog covered in sharp spikes that could spew deadly flames from afar, with no way to bite it, and every contact only resulted in heavy casualties.

If firearms represent the generational gap in collective strength, then the individual qualities of the Chinese soldiers embody the terrifying results of the empire's more than twenty years of "martial arts popularization" and rigorous training.

Thanks to generous pay, ample nutrition, a systematic "military academy" training system, and an incentive system that allowed soldiers to exchange military merit points for martial arts techniques, the average soldiers of the Chinese army generally possessed physical qualities, discipline, and basic martial arts skills far exceeding the average level of any other army of the time. Even the lowest-ranking soldiers mostly practiced basic internal energy cultivation techniques; although their internal strength might be meager, it was enough to make their endurance, explosive power, and reaction speed far surpass those of ordinary people.

The officers, elite scouts, and the "Elite Battalion" composed of martial artists or scions of martial arts families possessed even more formidable individual martial prowess. Generals like Xue Rengui were a given, but even ordinary centurions and squad leaders often practiced intermediate-level techniques such as the "Raging Bull Strength" and "Tiger Subduing Skill," enabling them to shatter monuments, leap from horseback, and wield swords with incredible speed and skill, making it difficult for a dozen or so Arab warriors to get close to them.

In contrast, while the Arab army was steadfast in its faith and fierce in battle, apart from a few noble generals and Allah's Guardians who might possess considerable personal martial prowess, the training, equipment, and nutrition of most of its conscripted soldiers were on a completely different level compared to the Chinese army. On the battlefield, Chinese soldiers often displayed remarkable bravery, capable of taking on five or even ten men at once, which further exacerbated the psychological collapse of the Arab army.

The victory of the Chinese Empire was ultimately a result of a highly centralized, resource-mobilizing, technologically advanced, and logistically robust national system delivering a devastating blow to an early empire (during the Umayyad Caliphate, which was not a monolithic entity internally) that, while in its ascendant phase, was relatively loosely organized and technologically stagnant.

The Empire's logistical system ensured that the expeditionary force, thousands of miles from home, received a stable supply of food, ammunition, clothing, and medicine. Engineering units cleared paths through mountains and built bridges over rivers, even rapidly constructing makeshift fortifications and roads to ensure troop mobility and defense. Onboard medical officers and relatively comprehensive field medical care reduced non-combat casualties. Strict military discipline and clear rewards and punishments maintained high morale.

Once the Abbasid army's initial reliance on morale and cavalry charge was shattered, its weaknesses—such as logistical problems, poor coordination, and inability to adapt to new tactics—were exposed in the sustained high-intensity war of attrition. The outcome of the war was a foregone conclusion. By the summer of the twenty-sixth year of the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate, the Western Expeditionary Army had advanced to the Amu Darya (Uhu River) basin, its advance reaching the very edge of Persia. Some of its vanguard even made contact with Abbasid reinforcements from Syria, which were similarly crushed by firearms. The Abbasid Eastern Governorate suffered heavy losses, losing hundreds of thousands of troops and most of Khorasan, and was forced to completely withdraw its defensive lines, with no strength left to advance eastward in the short term.

When the news spread, the entire Western Regions and even the wider Western world fell silent, and were subsequently plunged into immense shock and fear.

West of the Pamir Mountains, the Sogdian city-states (Kang, An, Shi, etc.) in the Syr Darya to Amu Darya basin, the various regimes in the former Tokharistan territory, as well as the remnants of the Western Turks and the peripheral tribes of the Khazar Khanate further north, all trembled.

They witnessed firsthand or heard how that army in black armor and red robes, like divine punishment, routed the once invincible Abbasid army that had forced them to submit and pay tribute, leaving corpses strewn across the battlefield and forcing them to flee in terror. The roaring cannons, the volleys of musket fire, and the superhuman bravery of the Chinese soldiers became recurring images in their nightmares.

The impression of being "invincible" was deeply imprinted in the minds of every ruler and nobleman of the Western Regions.

The city-states that had previously wavered between the Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Empire now had no more hesitation. They sent envoys with generous gifts to Mulu or the Anxi Protectorate further east, requesting to become vassals or tributary states of the Chinese Empire. Their loyalty was more humble and urgent than ever before, seeking only the protection of the Chinese Empire's black flag with a gold sun, to avoid being attacked by the "heavenly army."

Taking advantage of the situation, the Hua Empire established the "Anxi Protectorate" in this region, which governed several governorates and tributary states, built fortresses, stationed elite troops, and established post stations and intelligence networks.

The Chinese Yuan began to become a hard currency, and the status of the Chinese language rose sharply. The empire's laws, weights and measures, and even clothing styles began to subtly influence the upper classes of the Western Regions. A new political and economic order in the Western Regions, with the Chinese empire at its absolute core, was rapidly established.

For the Sassanids, the power of the Hua Empire was both a lifeline and a suffocating shackle. Peroz fully grasped this reality and became completely subservient to the Hua Empire, willingly serving as its vanguard in its westward expansion. Through him, the Hua Empire indirectly strengthened its influence over the remaining Persian forces and the local populace.

For the Christian world further west, including the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) and even the Frankish Kingdom in Europe, the news from the East was initially unbelievable. The Abbasid Caliphate, which had defeated their arch-enemy Persian Empire and continued to threaten Constantinople, had suffered such a crushing defeat in the distant East? Defeated by an unheard-of weapon that could breathe fire and thunder, and an army "as brave as gods"?

In the aftermath of the initial shock, some (especially the Byzantines) saw this as a golden opportunity to contain the Abbasid Caliphate and began attempting to establish indirect contact with the Chinese Empire through the steppe Silk Road or the Khazar people of the southern Russian steppes, vaguely forming the concept of an "Eastern Alliance" to counter the Abbasid Caliphate. Others, however, felt deep concern—what impact would the emergence of a more powerful, more distant, and more mysterious super-empire in the East, more likely to affect Europe, ultimately have?
Merchants and travelers began to attempt eastward journeys more frequently, despite the Chinese Empire's extremely strict control over Western visitors, especially in areas of technological secrecy. Legends of the "Seres" (a continuation of the ancient Roman name for China, now more often referring to the Chinese Empire) possessing "divine weapons" and "immortal soldiers" were already circulating in taverns and courts from Baghdad to Constantinople, and then to Rome and Paris, tinged with fear, curiosity, and mythology.

The western expedition during the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth years of the establishment of the dynasty was far more significant than a victory in a border conflict. It marked the beginning of the stable expansion of the Chinese empire's power beyond the traditional limits of the Central Plains dynasties' western regions (the Pamir Mountains), penetrating deep into the heart of Central Asia, and engaging in a direct and intense clash with another rising world civilization (Islamic civilization), in which it gained an overwhelming advantage.

From then on, the rule of the Hua Empire in the Western Regions was no longer merely "tributary" or "controlled," but rather a substantial control based on absolute military deterrence, technological superiority, systematic management, and profound cultural and economic influence. The boundaries of the "Hua-Yi order" were pushed far westward.

At the same time, this war also heralded the rise of a new giant to the Western world. The balance of power across Eurasia shifted fundamentally. Eastern technology, military organization, and national governance models were displayed in a dazzling manner, beginning to quietly seep into the undercurrents of Western history, although their full impact would not be fully revealed for a long time to come.

Under Yi Huawei's rule, the Hua Empire, with its artillery and bullets, strong soldiers and efficient systems, has left an indelible mark on the vast land of Central Asia.

An empire that pursued absolute order and expansion cast its shadow over half the world. The kingdoms of the Western Regions looked to the East with nothing but awe and submission; while in the more distant West, in their uneasy slumber, they heard for the first time the heavy yet clear footsteps from the East.

...............

In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Emperor Ding, in the third month of spring, on the south bank of the Syr Darya River, in the new city of Suyab.

The biting Pamir winds finally withdrew their last claws, and warm, humid air currents from the south brought life back to this vast land that had once been ravaged by war.

The Western Expedition, which lasted for twenty-six years, not only crushed the Abbasid Caliphate's military presence in the East, but also completely shattered the old order in the Western Regions, and then began to reshape it according to the will of the Chinese Empire.

The new center of power was established on the south bank of the Yaksha River, a strategic location that was once an important winter pasture of the Western Turks and was briefly influenced by the Abbasid Caliphate.

After careful consideration by the surveying officials of the Imperial Ministry of Works and veteran generals, this location was chosen. It was built on a natural hill, backed by a river formed by snowmelt from the mountains, and facing the vast plain of the Yaksa River valley. The new city named "Suyab" was constructed here, and the Anxi Protectorate was established as its core, governing the vast new land from the Pamir Mountains to the Umu River (Amu Darya) basin.

Suyab was not a simple replica of a traditional Central Plains city, nor was it an enlarged version of a local earthen fortress. It was a comprehensive fortress city designed and built strictly according to the Empire's latest "Frontier City Construction Standards," integrating military defense, administrative jurisdiction, commercial hub, and immigrant resettlement functions. (End of Chapter)