While the entire Tang Dynasty was rejoicing over their victory at Talas, in the distant northeast corner of the Ouzan Plateau, a lonely whistle echoed through the air.
On this rugged road leading to Ü-Tsang, a defeated army of several thousand was slowly making its way down the winding road, its helmets and armor stripped off, its morale low. And in the middle of this army, there was a white yak war flag that was extremely eye-catching. This was the remnant army that Huoba Sangye had led to retreat from Talas.
Huoba Sangye's army had spent more than twice as much time retreating from the stone bridge.
The war at Talas had ended, and the news had spread throughout the Western Regions and the surrounding countries. All the countries large and small along the way had tightly shut their gates, clearly showing hostility to this defeated army.
In the past, when the army had just set off and was at its peak, Huoba Sangye would have long ago led his army to attack and exterminate these small countries if they dared to treat the Ouzan in such a manner.
But this army, with its Great General and wise minister dead, only had a few thousand soldiers left, unable to pose any threat to these countries on the way back.
There were many times when Huoba Sangye had been forced to lead his army far away to avoid conflict with these factions. This was an unprecedented humiliation.
But Huoba Sangye no longer cared about this.
"Prime Minister, General! It won't be long before you can return to Ouzan! "
As the Ouzan Plateau approached, Huoba Sangye turned his head to look at the corpses of Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huizang, and Dusong Mangpoje on the warhorses at his side, a desolate expression on his face.
Those cheerful and heroic words they had said when they left still rang in his ears. The grandiose and invincible army of one hundred thousand seemed like it had only been yesterday. But in the blink of an eye, all this had vanished like smoke, leaving him alone with his several thousand defeated soldiers.
Huoba Sangye could not help but reveal a sorrowful expression when he thought of that. However, he quickly calmed himself down. He no longer cared about anything else. There was only one thought left in his mind, and that was to bring the corpses of the Great Minister and the others back to the plateau no matter what.
"General! Look up ahead! "
As he was immersed in his sorrow, he heard a cry of alarm as an Ouzan soldier pointed forward.
Huoba Sang was startled, and he subconsciously raised his head. At the start, he had been dumbfounded, but he quickly saw a dense army resting on the distant Tibetan Plateau. From a distance, it looked like an ant. Translated by: Hypersheep325 Edited by: Michyrr
"It's the Western Turks!"
Huoba Sangye's eyes widened as if he had been provoked, and he raised his head, his mind much clearer than before.
Almost at the same time, the army resting on the plateau also noticed the new army. Under the green flag of the golden wolf, a tall and burly figure rode on a warhorse and galloped forward a few steps before stopping.
"Milord, it's the Ouzan! They've also retreated!"
A voice suddenly rang in his ear. Chekun Benba urged his horse's abdomen to catch up from behind, looking at the direction of Huoba Sangye below the plateau.
Duwusili's face was pale and his aura extremely weak. His gaze swept through the air and met Huoba Sangye's gaze. At this moment, Huoba Sangye's eyes were brimming with rage, but Duwusili couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
At the most crucial moment of the Battle of Talas, Duwusili had been frightened away by Wang Chong's palm, completely abandoning his allies. For someone of Duwusili's status as the Celestial Wolf Great General to say such a thing was an extremely humiliating matter.
How could Duwusili not feel embarrassed now that he had run into Huoba Sangye's group of Ouzan soldiers?
But a moment later, Duwusili turned his head and looked past Huoba Sangye, quickly landing on the corpses of Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huizang, and Dusong Mangpoje.
Duwusili had a complicated expression on his face, a hint of sorrow in his eyes.
Although he had not been in an alliance with the Ouzan for very long and had often schemed against each other, the fox mourned the death of the rabbit. Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huizang, and Dusong Mangpoje had been killed by Wang Chong and the Tang people, and Duwusili and his Western Turkic army had suffered the same fate.
How could Duwusili not be moved by this?
"Great General, should we go and meet with them before we leave?"
Che Benba said.
"There's no need!"
Duwusili shook his head and quickly returned to normal.
"The Battle of Talas is over, and our alliance with the Ouzan is no more. In the future, we will have to fight our own battles and face the even stronger Tang Dynasty and the retaliation that can come at any time. There is no need for us to meet again. "
A similar conversation was taking place with the remnants of Ouzan's army on the plateau.
Without any pause, Duwusili turned his horse around and led the remnants of his army into the distance.
At almost the same time, Huoba Sangye set off with his army. Although they were also heading toward the plateau, they were going in a completely different direction. The two armies acted like they had never known each other before, forgetting each other.
… …
At the same time, in Khorasan, tens of thousands of li from the capital, the northern winds were blowing. At this moment, this western terminus of the Silk Road was covered in withered grass and frost, and the temperature was as cold as ice.
And in the withered grass outside Khorasan, tens of thousands of warhorses stood in a vast sea. In the middle of the army, a huge five-clawed dragon banner fluttered in the wind, and around this dragon banner of the Great Tang were countless other banners, each one pointing to the clouds. The twenty-thousand-some soldiers of the Tang dynasty and the 180,000 rebel soldiers of the various dynasties, for a total of two hundred thousand, were lined up in front of the gates of Khorasan, the air somber and somber.
"General, it's about time. Everything is ready."
Great General Bahram rode up on his monstrous warhorse and whispered into Wang Chong's ear.
"Mm!"
Wang Chong nodded, and then he turned to the imposing and impregnable walls of Khorasan.
The black Arab war banners covered the walls, and countless Arab soldiers had gathered above the walls. In the center of these Arab soldiers stood Abu Muslim and Ziyad, side by side. The two of them had unleashed a storm of energy that seemed to pierce through the heavens as they confronted the two hundred thousand soldiers of the alliance.
"Abu Muslim, Ziyad, have the two of you made your decision?"
Wang Chong's voice resounded over the entire army.
From Samarkand to this place, even though Wang Chong and his army had pursued day and night, not giving Abu Muslim any time to catch his breath, they had still been one step behind. Abu Muslim had fled all the way to Khorasan, and after seven or eight days, he had finally recovered his strength. Moreover, he had used his title as the Governor of Iron and Blood in the eastern war zone to gather a large number of militias. He was now using the thick walls of Khorasan to contend against the Tang Dynasty.
But no matter how stubbornly Abu Muslim resisted, it was all too late. With the elite soldiers of the Tang Dynasty serving as the core and the 180,000 soldiers he had recruited, no matter how unwilling Abu Muslim was, he was powerless to reverse the situation.
Wang Chong's momentum had been established, and there was no one in the eastern Arabian front that could contend against him.
"Wang Chong, there's no point in talking. Arabia has no surrendering generals, no army that will surrender without a fight. Bring it on!"
Abu Muslim stood like a mountain on the walls, a firm expression on his face.
"Wang Chong, don't get carried away by your wishful thinking! We've already replaced all the guards at the gates of Khorasan. What happened at Samarkand will not happen again. So what if you have two hundred thousand soldiers? Khorasan is impregnable and can never be broken! "
At the same time, Ziyad spoke up from atop the walls.
Khorasan had once been the royal capital of the Sassanid Dynasty. Back then, hundreds of thousands of Arab soldiers had been bombarding the capital for several years, but they had not been able to break through precisely because of these sturdy walls. Eventually, the three Arab governors had joined together and dispatched the Behemoth Army. Only by relying on the massive size and destructive power of these Behemoths had they managed to break through the walls and wipe out the entire Sassanid Dynasty.
But after the war, all the walls had been repaired, and the Arabs had even reinforced the original foundations of the Sassanids. Although Wang Chong's group had two hundred thousand soldiers, it was still far from enough to besiege a city.
At Talas, Abu Muslim's four hundred thousand soldiers had spent two months attacking the City of Talas without being able to break through the defenses of the Anxi Protectorate army. Moreover, Wang Chong's current army was much smaller than Abu Muslim's.
"Haha, it seems like you're prepared to put up a stubborn resistance and fight to the death!"
Wang Chong faintly smiled, not at all surprised by Abu Muslim and Ziyad's reactions.
"Since that's the case, I'll fulfill your wish!"
On the walls of Khorasan, Abu Muslim and Ziyad widened their eyes at Wang Chong's words. The walls of Khorasan were extremely smooth, and the two of them did not believe that Wang Chong's soldiers could break them, but Wang Chong's confidence and ease were truly unsettling.
"Wang Chong, what do you mean!"
Ziyad couldn't help but say.
"Heh."
Wang Chong faintly smiled, paying no attention to Ziyad. He had not brought his army here to 'exchange heartfelt thoughts' with Abu Muslim and Ziyad.
"Great General Bahram, if you're ready, let's begin."
Wang Chong turned his head to Bahram.
"Understood!"
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