"Milord, what do we do?"
On the other side of the Tigris River, countless Arab soldiers emerged from the icy waters in fright. On the shore, Hular unwillingly turned to the Head of Black Radiance, Fadi.
"It's too late!"
Fadi gloomily said. He raised his head and looked up. The sky was dark and gloomy, with only a faint light shining through. Unknowingly, it was already night time. In these circumstances, no matter how unwilling Fadi was, he could only give up and wait for tomorrow to fight.
"Has the army led by Jalil still not arrived?"
Fadi turned to look at a general behind him.
"Milord, Lord Jalil is already traveling at full speed, but the weather is cold and the steel bridges are too heavy. As a result, the journey has been somewhat delayed and will probably only arrive tomorrow morning."
The Arab general lowered his head and bowed.
A hint of anger flickered through Fadi's eyes at these words. For this siege, the Arabs had mobilized almost all of their forces, and they had made far more preparations than many people had imagined.
In their original strategy, the Arabs had prepared a large number of steel bridges to cross the river. But Fadi believed that they already had a large number of warships, so there was no need to wait for these bulky steel bridges.
Fadi had never imagined that his decision would cause his army to pay such a grievous price.
"Send an order to Galil, tell him to march quickly. I must see those steel bridges crossing the river by daybreak tomorrow!"
Fadi said without turning his head.
"This general will go!"
The general behind him bowed and said.
"In addition, Hular, write a letter for me to His Majesty the Caliph. Tell him that our top-class soldiers are far from enough. I hope that His Majesty can dispatch even more Great Generals to exterminate the Tang people. In addition, if possible, I request that His Majesty send Governor Ansari to assist the soldiers of Khorasan! "
Fadi said.
Buzz!
Hular's body trembled at the mention of Ansari's name, his eyes going wide. In the Arabian Empire, Ansari's name was like the noon sun, and he was probably not much inferior to Qutaybah. In Arabia, Ansari and Qutaybah had been known as the Twin Heroes of Arabia, but in the struggle for the position of War God, Ansari had lost to Qutaybah. In a moment of rage, he had withdrawn from the army.
Qutaybah had spent all these years leading his army into battle, immersing himself in the joy of conquest. As for Ansari, in order to defeat Qutaybah and wash away his shame, he had been cultivating in seclusion.
After so many years of suffering, there were rumors in the outside world that Ansari's strength had already surpassed Qutaybah's. Some people had once seen Ansari, but a single glance was enough to make them shiver in fear and lose the will to fight.
An ordinary rumor would have been ignored, but the speaker was an Arab governor. When this news spread, it sent shockwaves through all of Arabia.
However, Ansari had a cruel personality that was even worse than Qutaybah's, and he would even attack his allies at times. Almost no one in the empire wanted to have too much of a relationship with Ansari.
"That's right, there's also the Governor of Death of the southern war zone, Adil. Transfer him over as well. We don't need any other soldiers.
We only need them, "the Blood of Black Filas suddenly said.
"But Milord, Lord Adil is currently dealing with the Wadler people in the south and the peasant rebels.
He has no time to spare, "Hular said, his voice tinged with hesitation.
Although Arabia was extremely powerful, it also had many enemies that they needed to defend. The more countries they conquered, the more resistance they would encounter. This was also why Arabia could not mobilize all its governors at once. Although the enemies around Arabia were not as powerful as the Tang dynasty, there were many more weak and resisting factions. This was also why Arabia had been forced to station many soldiers in various places.
Although Adil was powerful, his position was extremely important and could not be easily mobilized.
"It won't be too much of a problem if he's only gone for around ten days. In addition, could the tribes in the south be stronger than the two hundred thousand soldiers in Khorasan?"
Filas sternly said.
"This …"
Hular lowered his head in silence. The threat from the east this time was far greater than any of the factions on Arabia's border, perhaps even greater than all of them combined.
In addition, although the Tang dynasty only had two hundred thousand soldiers in total, which was not a large number, everyone had witnessed the strength they had displayed. Before the battle had even begun, Arabia had already lost two hundred thousand soldiers. This was something that no other faction on Arabia's border could accomplish.
"Understood! I'll do it right away! "
Hular sternly said.
The Three Titans of Black Radiance reported the names of ten-some Arab governors, and Hular recorded them all. A few moments later, an Arabian hunting falcon took to the air and flew off in the direction of Baghdad.
"Hular, pass on my order. When all the steel bridges arrive tomorrow, immediately cross the river and launch an all-out assault. Kill all the Tang people and Khorasani in the city! Leave no one alive!"
"Yes!"
… …
As the night darkened and the Arabs retreated, Khorasan fell into a state of tranquility. The weather was getting colder and colder, and no one noticed that a thin layer of frost was slowly forming along the steep walls of Khorasan. The weather was even colder than it had been in the early morning.
At this moment, Khorasan was ablaze with lanterns. The battle for the day had ended, and the Tang dynasty had made a small sacrifice in exchange for a massive victory. But it was still far from over.
"Lord Protector-General, what should we do next? Although the Arabs have already retreated, these losses are far from enough to deal them a serious blow. "
Xi Yuanqing turned to Wang Chong, his expression somewhat grave, as he spoke from a corner of the hall.
"Moreover, based on the Arabs' usual style of battle, they've suffered in the battle of the day. I'm afraid that they'll be even more prepared in the next wave of attacks, and their attacks will be even fiercer. Not only that, I'm worried that they'll summon even more experts and soldiers. After all, this place is too close to Baghdad."
Cheng Qianli also spoke, his expression extremely grim. This was not the first time they had clashed with the Arabs. In the Battle of Talas, they had believed that they had pushed back the Arabs, but in the end, the Arabs had received an endless stream of reinforcements. Every time they pushed back one wave, another would come, and each wave was getting stronger and stronger.
"Not only that, in this wave, even more rebel soldiers should have come to Khorasan to reinforce us. But I've received news that all the rebel soldiers on the Arabs' border have been severely suppressed. I sense that the Arabs are thinking of ways to mobilize even more border soldiers to deal with us. To the Arabs and the Caliph, we've already become a serious problem. "
Bahram's voice was heavy.
"It's simply impossible for us to fight against all of Arabia with just two hundred thousand soldiers. This is impossible! General, without the reinforcements of the Tang dynasty, we will not be able to contend against them. General, do you really think that we can stop this wave? "
With these last words, Bahram looked worriedly at Wang Chong.
The Tang dynasty was too far from Khorasan, and Wang Chong had long ago told him that the Tang dynasty's reinforcements would never arrive, at least not so quickly. But Wang Chong had revealed on more than one occasion that they could stop the Arab assault, and he was extremely confident that they had a plan in mind and something to rely on.
But Bahram truly couldn't understand what Wang Chong was relying on. He had originally believed that Wang Chong was trying to keep it a secret, but he hadn't expected that not even Gao Xianzhi or Cheng Qianli would know.
"Buzz!"
Bahram's words instantly caused everyone in the hall to focus on Wang Chong. Even the usually reticent black-armored guard looked over. All of them were looking at Wang Chong, trust and expectation on their faces.
At this point in the battle, Wang Chong had become the pillar of support for everyone. Even Gao Xianzhi, an experienced Anxi Protector-General, had unwittingly begun to place a great deal of trust in Wang Chong.
"Haha, I've already taken care of everything. Before daybreak tomorrow, everything will be clear. "
Wang Chong faintly smiled.
Everyone in the room was stunned by Wang Chong's words.
With so many Arab soldiers outside the city and so many Imperial Great Generals, it was already quite difficult for them to hold off this wave. For Wang Chong to say that they could finish off the Arab army before daybreak was simply unbelievable.
Anyone else would have taken them to be a madman, but since it was Wang Chong, no matter how crazy he was, they believed that Wang Chong was serious.
The meeting quickly came to an end. Out of their trust in Wang Chong and the knowledge that he had already made arrangements, no one asked any more questions. Time slowly passed, and the temperature grew colder and colder. Even though the two sides had stopped fighting, the Tigris River was still a matter of tension both inside and outside the city.
To the southeast of Khorasan, Wang Chong was seated cross-legged in a lavishly decorated hall with a dome-shaped roof. A single candle was lit, and in the dim light, Wang Chong sat cross-legged. It was late at night, and all was quiet inside and outside of Khorasan. Other than the rushing of the Tigris River and the neighing of Neigh's horse, there was nothing else.
Time slowly passed. Although he couldn't see anything, Wang Chong could sense that everyone in the city was silently watching and waiting for him.
But few people knew that Wang Chong was also waiting for that matter to arrive.
Thump thump thump!
As he was thinking, someone knocked on his door.
"Enter."
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