The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 527: The Great Tang Anxi Army

Wang Xuance had someone bring some dry food and fruit, and while eating he said, "The food has been stored, and no wine has been made."

Xue Rengui said with a straight face: "Don't drink before the battle."

Wang Xuance nodded.

Pei Xingjian had been observing the other party. After they parted in Chang'an, Wang Xuance now looked more composed than before, and his conversation still had some of his former eccentricity.

When it came to marching and fighting, Wang Xuance was a man who was good at using unusual troops, whether it was in Songzhou or in Congling.

Wang Xuance said, "I found a very ancient map in Tianzhu these past two years."

As he spoke, Wang Xuance turned over the map on the wall, and in front of everyone was a very ancient cowhide map.

Wang Xuance explained, "This is a map of the south of India. South of India is the ocean. The ancestors of India found several sea routes that lead to the Central Plains."

Liu Hongye added: "That was a long time ago. I sent several groups of Indian prisoners to try it, but none of them came back, and none of them were found alive."

As he was speaking, a child ran out. He looked about five years old. He ran over and called Wang Xuance "Daddy" in very authentic Guanzhong dialect.

This young Indian king was the child of the Indian queen and a Tang general, so he had Tang characteristics and Indian skin color.

At daybreak, the conversation between the few people ended.

Wang Xuance explained the current situation of Tianzhu, with more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, and they shared their military strengths with each other.

This is India, not the Tang Dynasty. There are no better soldiers to choose from, and we can only pick some young and strong men from among them. But whether these young and strong men can be used on the battlefield is another matter. Not to mention that they don’t have sophisticated equipment, even if they rush forward, they may die in vain.

Therefore, Wang Xuance could only use the number of people to forcibly raise an army that the Arabs would not dare to invade easily, and he also had more than a hundred war elephants and tens of thousands of cattle.

When Wang Xuance learned that Pei Xingjian and Xue Rengui had come to India, he was truly relieved. With the Tang Dynasty's troops there, even if only tens of thousands of people faced a hundred thousand Arabs, they would have the confidence to fight.

When he had free time, Liu Hongye would often hang out with the Tibetan old man Ru Laijie.

Today, Rulaijie sat on the back of an ox and distributed his tsampa to a group of Indian children. He said with a smile, "India is very warm, and the children here often go barefoot."

Liu Hongye said: "It seems that you like it here very much."

Ru Laijie shook his head and said, "Tubana has the Great Snow Mountain as a barrier. The Tibetans do not envy India. India is a place with no strategic location to defend. Once the Arabs cross the river, they can march straight in if they are defeated here. Therefore, Tubo cannot lose the Snow Mountain, and the Tang Dynasty cannot lose the Hexi Corridor and Tianshan Mountains."

In other words, once the Tang Dynasty conquered Tibet, it also gained the Great Snow Mountain Barrier.

Ru Laijie didn't say this out loud, and Liu Hongye didn't say much either.

As the two were talking, a scout rode up on horseback and shouted, "Great victory at Congling! Our army has killed 100,000 enemies under Anguo City!"

Murong Shun, who was walking behind, said slowly, "It is 10,000 miles from Chang'an to Suiye City, and another 5,000 miles from Suiye City to the Amu Darya River. It is 20,000 miles from here to Chang'an."

Hearing this, Liu Hongye said: "Great Anxi Army!"

In July of the eleventh year of the Qianqing reign, it was the hottest time of the year in India.

On this day, a group of Indians were patrolling along the Shiquan River when they saw a tiger roaring towards them. It immediately pounced on one of their men. The remaining Indians looked up and saw that behind the tiger was a large group of Arab soldiers.

Several Indians turned around and ran back, but the Persian tiger pounced forward again and knocked down three or five more people.

At dusk, only one person returned to the city alive and informed Wang Xuance that the Arabs were coming.

It was a hot afternoon, and it began to rain in Tianzhu, which had been dry for a long time. Wang Xuance, wearing armor and a sword on his waist, rode on horseback, heading towards the Shiquan River. Behind Wang Xuance was a pony, and on the pony's back was the young King of Tianzhu.

When a Arab who came to investigate saw the scenery behind the rain curtain, he shuddered with fear. He first saw a Tang army general, and then saw rows of war elephants as big as mountains, and behind them was a huge black army.

The current King of India is a Tang person. This is the education that the young King of India has received all along. Everything he has was given by the Tang people, and everything he has learned is from the Tang people.

Wang Xuance said, "Son, remember this: first, you are a Tang citizen, second, you are the King of India, and third, you must protect the country and its people."

The five-year-old child's voice was still a little childish. He shouted, "I obey your orders, son!"

Until the army led by Wang Xuance stopped, the troops of both sides faced each other across the river, and three tigers were wandering in front of the Arab army.

They hung the bodies of the Indians they had captured along the way on wooden stakes and left them to be drenched in the rain. The Arabs used this as a reminder of the consequences of being their enemy.

But...it has come to this, who cares about the outcome.

Wang Xuance drew his sword and said to the army behind him: "Soldiers! The Arabs are at our doorstep. We have no choice but to fight!"

The young King of India also raised the sword in his hand, pointing it at the local people on the other side of the river, and gave the order to his people to attack.

Under the dark clouds, the barefoot Indians or those wearing straw sandals charged at the Arabs. The roaring crowd overwhelmed the three tigers and knocked down the Arabs' shields.

These Indians, wearing leather armor, holding wooden shields, and even holding sticks in their hands, roared and fought at the enemy.

At this moment, the young King of India felt power for the first time, and he looked up at his father.

And Wang Xuance was still giving orders.

The herd of war elephants in the rear finally moved. More than ten people could sit on one war elephant.

At the same time, there were war elephants of the Arabs in the distance. Although they did not have hundreds of war elephants like the Indians, the Arabs' war elephants were wearing armor.

The war elephants and the Indians continued to rush across the river.

Xue Rengui led an army of 3,000 men to guard the flank, sometimes ordering his troops to shoot arrows and sometimes passing through the enemy's camp.

Pei Xingjian was about to give an order when he heard Murong Shun speak first. He asked in a loud voice: "General Pei, have you seen those men in black in the rear?"

Hearing this, Pei Xingjian looked up and indeed saw the group of Arabs wearing black clothes and black cloth on their heads behind the Arab troops.

After saying this, Murong Shun rushed forward with his 50,000 Xiaobolü soldiers.

Pei Xingjian looked towards the rear of the battlefield. There were still many soldiers and horses behind Wang Xuance who had not been deployed, while the front of the battlefield had already become a mess.

The men charged forward, leaving a trail of corpses on the ground, as the battle line crossed the river and advanced in the direction of the Arabs.

When the brief rain stopped and the sun came out again, the fighting on this battlefield was still in full swing.

When Pei Xingjian saw Xue Rengui leading the cavalry to attack the rear army of the Arabs, he realized that they were the elite of the Arabs. Then he led the 5,000 cavalry behind him to charge forward.

Twenty years ago, the three caliphs of the Arabs fought and defeated the Byzantines, captured Jerusalem, and even defeated the Gauls who were heading south, and even destroyed Persia.

Now, the powerful Arabs stopped at the banks of the Amu Darya River. More than 100,000 Arab soldiers and horses went south and encountered resistance from a large army. This large army, together with the Tibetans, Indians, Tang people, and the Little Bolor Kingdom, had put all their forces into it, and even soldiers from the Western Regions.

This was an army of nearly 200,000 people from various countries, rushing towards the Arab army like a landslide or tsunami.

The Arabs might not have expected that they would encounter such great obstacles when they marched south to India. In their perception, even if India had troops, they should only be a small force. They originally thought that there would be at most 30,000 to 50,000 troops to resist, and they were just a group of scattered soldiers.

But the truth was not like that at all, the Arabs had never encountered such an obstacle. The land had just rained, and the sun had come out again, making the soil muddy and dry. The dry soil stuck to the clothes and faces of the people on the battlefield.

The screams of the war elephants continued. The people on the battlefield ahead seemed to be tired of fighting, and the advance on the battlefield slowed down.

A Tang army that had been resting in the rear slowly walked out of the army. A young general holding a horse lance rode out on horseback and led the troops. The warhorse, which had been well rested, snorted.

Young general Wang Xiaojie said, "General, I will fight you."

Wang Xuance looked at the setting sun in the distance and said, "Wait a little longer, let the Fire Bull Formation go first."

The embarrassed Arabs were still holding up their shields to deal with the Indians who were rushing towards them. They heard the sound of a group of wild beasts running wildly in the distance. It was a black herd of cattle running towards them.

Tens of thousands of cattle broke through the Arabs' shields, shattered their formation, and were knocked down and trampled by the charging cattle.

The Indian offensive came wave after wave, and under the command of the Tang army generals, the Arab defense line was torn apart layer by layer.

Seeing General Wang nod, Wang Xiaojie led his two thousand cavalrymen and rushed towards the Arabs.

In the rear of the Arab army, at sunset.

Pei Xingjian's armor was covered in blood, his horse was neighing, and he stood in front of the enemy with his sword drawn. For a moment, no Arab dared to rush forward, and some even began to disperse. When they had just escaped a few steps, they ran into the Tang army that was coming from the side. It was Xue Rengui in a white robe.

Xue Rengui, who had become famous in the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo, was also extremely brave on this battlefield.

Pei Xingjian and Xue Rengui weaved in and out of the enemy's army, while Wang Xiaojie's troops were like a hammer, hammering straight into the chaotic Arab army.

Pei Xingjian, Xue Rengui and Wang Xiaojie, three generals of the Tang army, led the troops to the front. Behind them was a large number of corpses. The corpses were scattered all over the banks of the Shiquan River, and the setting sun made the land look red.

Until night fell, the cold moonlight shone on the battlefield, and the Arabs fled.

Pei Xingjian and Xue Rengui rode their horses side by side, watching the Arabs going away. Before they thought of chasing them, they saw a group of cavalrymen catching up with them.

"This Wang Xiaojie is quite similar to the style of Big Brother Xue back then." Pei Xingjian gave his evaluation.

"I think the way he fights is quite similar to the Duke of Liang back then."

"Isn't the person who looks like Duke Liang the Bai Fang?"

Xue Rengui said: "Probably."

When Xue Rengui was on the eastern expedition to Goguryeo, he remembered that the Goguryeo people had ambushed Liang Gong Qibi Heli. After the ambush was successful, the Goguryeo people actually began to celebrate.

At that time, Qibi Heli could not swallow this anger, and he chased the Goguryeo people for dozens of miles with his injuries, and beheaded tens of thousands of them before he vented his anger.

Xue Rengui made such an evaluation because Wang Xiaojie's behavior at that moment was very similar to that of Qibi Heli at that time.

The battle in front of them was over, and behind them were cheering Indians. It seemed that only Wang Xiaojie was chasing after them.

Xue Rengui and Pei Xingjian did not try to stop him, but instead returned with their troops.

On the battlefield under the moonlight, there were many Indians on the frosted ground, collecting the weapons left behind by the Arabs. These were their spoils of war.

The next day, at dawn, the Tibetans returned with 10,000 cattle.

The Tibetan old man Ru Laijie was a very patient man. He spent an entire night helping his Tibetan children find the 10,000 cows that were scattered everywhere.

He washed his face with cold water and said, "The rest cannot be found. Let the Indians find them themselves."

Murong Shun asked, "Do you want to take all these cattle back?"

Ru Laijie shook his head and said, "It's too far. I won't take it back."

The two old men sat together and watched the children holding sticks and shouting, imitating the way people rushed and killed yesterday.

Seeing this, Murong Shun suddenly said, "Ten thousand miles? It doesn't seem very far. Twenty thousand miles is just that far."

Ru Laijie drank milk tea and distributed the tsampa in his hand to the children.

The children of India greeted each other using the Tang people's etiquette and also learned the Tang people's language.

For the Indian people today, being able to learn the language of the Tang people is a noble thing, and this is the case with their Indian king.

The young Indian king could speak the Tang language but not Indian.

In July of the eleventh year of Qianqing’s reign, Pamir Mountains.

Li Fengjie came to the royal city of Anguo with the emperor's edict.

Now that the imperial edict has been delivered, the prince will return to Chang'an.

Because of the letters from home sent from Chang'an, under the persuasion of Lou Shide, the prince finally decided to return to Chang'an.

At this time, the news of Tianzhu's great victory also reached the royal city of Anguo.

The only one who suffered a defeat was Qinling of Tubo. He led the Tubo soldiers forward alone, but failed to capture the Huoxun Kingdom and returned in disgrace.

In the camp, Liang Jianfang, Li Mengchang and Gao Kan were still discussing the next steps.

Outside the camp, several people sat by the campfire. Pei Yan said, "Tana, when we return, we will ask Tian Khan for credit for you."

Bai Fang raised his head and took a sip of wine, saying, "You should be the king of the Sai people. The Sai people should not become extinct. This Congling Mountains needs a powerful king of the Sai people."

Di Renjie agreed that once the Tang army left, this place would need a powerful Sai people king to guard it.

This time, Tana led his people to come to the rescue, firstly to repay his gratitude, and secondly for the credit. He was persuaded by Liu Rengui.

Bai Fang planned to ask Liu Rengui again later. He thought to himself that Liu Rengui was a very magical person.

The discussion in the camp came to a conclusion. Liang Jianfang decided to cross the Amu Darya River and fight another battle with the Arabs, at least to make them gasp for breath for a few years.

The next day, the Tang army began to reorganize its troops.

In the morning, after Liang Jianfang saw off the prince, he led two generals, Gao Kan and Li Mengchang, to start building a floating bridge to cross the river.

It seemed that the Tang army had read the same military book. The army in Pamirs was preparing to cross the river and counterattack the Arabs.

The Tang troops in Congling and Shiquanhe wanted to go together, and Wang Xuance and Xue Rengui also planned to counterattack the Arabs from the south.

Not counterattacking after being attacked? That's not the style of the Tang army.

Both sides decided to fight this final battle and then return to Chang'an.

(End of this chapter)