"Alarmist talk! The Four Garrisons of Anxi are just a tiny place on the border, and Talas is a city beyond the borders, tens of thousands of li from the capital. Are we going to mobilize all the strength of the entire country to reinforce Anxi every time Anxi is in danger? The Western Regions is a land beyond civilization, and there isn't a single citizen of the Tang dynasty. Are we going to exhaust the strength of the Tang dynasty for the sake of a group of people beyond civilization? "
Listening to the argument in the hall, Yang Lu finally couldn't help but shout.
Yang Lu was an imperial censor of the Imperial Court, a typical civil official. Civil officials were all staunch opponents of war, and Anxi's request for reinforcements had been met with many voices in the Imperial Court, with Yang Lu being the loudest of them all.
"The military is a matter of national importance. An imperial Great General and thirty thousand of the empire's most elite soldiers are trapped in Talas. Can we just watch them die and do nothing? Does that mean that we can ignore all the emergency calls at the borders? If something happens and the people are plunged into misery and suffering, who will take responsibility! "
A Titled General walked out from the ranks and said angrily. There was no need for the King of Song to appear at Talas. There had always been many voices in the Imperial Court advocating war.
Whether it was the Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty, or the previous dynasties, the struggle between civil and military officials had never ceased. The incident at Talas had also sharpened the relationship between the civil and military officials of the Imperial Court.
"The crux of the matter is that the war of the southwest has only just concluded, and the protectorates are still recuperating. How can we send reinforcements in such a short time? The Imperial Court has always stationed its soldiers on the border. The capital and the interior have no soldiers. If we mobilize the soldiers of other protectorates, the consequences will be unthinkable if something happens! The current situation isn't that we're ignoring Anxi's request for reinforcements, but that we have no people, no soldiers to send! "
A relatively neutral official finally couldn't stand it any longer and spoke up. But he had barely finished speaking when a voice rang out in everyone's ears.
"Qixi Protectorate, Wang Chong!"
His voice was low and contained a trace of timidity, as if he was worried about attracting too much attention. But as soon as this voice fell, the entire court hall suddenly fell silent. Even Yang Lu and the relatively neutral official were stunned and suddenly speechless.
The four Protectorates of Longxi, Beiting, Andong, and Annan had just been through a war and suffered heavy casualties. They could only defend passively and were powerless to attack. These four areas had the most soldiers, and they all had powerful enemies that needed to be dealt with. They truly couldn't spare any manpower, and they couldn't cross the Cong Mountains to fight with the Arabs.
But Wang Chong and the Qixi Protectorate were different.
The Qixi Protectorate had always been the source of Anxi's reserve soldiers, and Wang Chong was Qixi's acting Protector-General. Of all the protectorates of the Tang dynasty, he was probably the only one who could mobilize troops to reinforce Anxi. Best of all, Qixi had always been threatened by both the Ouzan and the Western Turks, and it had always been on the defensive. It rarely had the ability to attack, much less reinforce Anxi.
But this was where the beauty of the situation lay. Not too long ago, Wang Chong had launched a series of attacks against both the Ouzan and the Western Turks. The battle of the triangular gap had neutralized the threat posed by the Ouzan to Qixi, and the battle of the Qixi Armory had neutralized the threat posed by the Western Turkic Khaganate to the east.
The Qixi Protectorate was now in an unprecedented state of safety, with no soldiers capable of threatening it.
And as the commanding general and acting Protector-General of the Qixi Protectorate, Wang Chong had long ago proven his ability in the war of the southwest and in the two campaigns in Qixi. In private, Wang Chong had long ago been hailed as the empire's Eighth Great General. There was no need to doubt his ability in the art of war, and he was completely capable of holding his own.
If one wanted to reinforce Anxi and help Gao Xianzhi and the Anxi Protectorate army trapped at Talas, there was no one more suitable than Wang Chong and the Qixi Protectorate, and this would not have too great of an impact on the empire.
"This …"
At this moment, even Yang Lu and the other civil officials, who had always opposed war, were speechless, pensive looks on their faces.
Bang!
A jade seal landed on the document from the Bureau of Military Personnel, leaving a seal on it. After more than a month of debate, for the first time, the civil and military officials of the Tang Dynasty had reached an agreement.
Qixi Protector-General Wang Chong was to lead the army to reinforce Talas! All the weapons, supplies, and soldiers needed were to be immediately reported to the Imperial Court, and the Six Bureaus were to cooperate with them with all their might!
Just before dusk, a messenger bird flapped its wings, carrying the document from the Bureau of Military Personnel to Qixi.
At this moment, everyone in the Imperial Court and the entire Tang Dynasty was focused on Qixi, on Wang Chong. Whether they could reinforce Anxi and rescue Gao Xianzhi and the Anxi Protectorate army trapped at Talas would all depend on Wang Chong!
… …
Gazes swept across the earth, focusing on the distant City of Steel in Wushang.
Bang!
A metallic clatter resounded through the skies, and with it, smoke from countless furnaces began to rise from every corner of the City of Steel, soaring into the sky. If one looked down from the sky, they would see countless craftsmen in the City of Steel, like ants in a swarm. Outside the City of Steel, the sounds of fighting could be heard as tens of thousands of soldiers charged in a frenzied 'battle' between friend and foe.
These soldiers were not soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, but eagle-nosed mercenaries of the Western Regions. After exterminating the Saka and recruiting the Gangke people, Wang Chong had used his remaining prestige to spend a great deal of money in the Western Regions. Using his vast wealth and the prestige of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Chong had recruited many mercenaries from the Western Regions.
At least forty thousand mercenaries of the Western Regions had come under Wang Chong's banner, and Wang Chong had trained them outside the City of Steel. The mercenaries of the Western Regions had not undergone any rigorous military training, and in battle, they liked to charge forward in a disorderly fashion. This was not what Wang Chong needed. The Arabs were no ordinary foes, and these motley crew of mercenaries would find it very difficult to make much of an impact.
Thus, Wang Chong had gathered them near the City of Steel and given them to Li Siye and Xu Keyi for training. The simplest formation and military training would completely transform these Western Regions mercenaries, and they would be able to pose a threat to the Arabs in the future Battle of Talas.
On the west side of the City of Steel, on a massive training ground, massive ballistae were lined up in rows. Behind the ballistae were groups of five people, who were constantly nocking, aiming, calibrating, and firing. Boomboomboomboom! Ballista bolts rained down on the metal targets across from them.
The metal targets were as thick as a finger, but in the face of these ballista bolts, they were like straw.
Boomboomboom!
Round after round, group after group, after each group had fired one hundred shots, they would immediately switch to another group. During this entire process, everyone was completely focused, their expressions extremely serious. Wang Chong was using unprecedented speed to carry out his plan for the ballista teams.
In normal circumstances, this would not have been possible in a short period of time, but the massive number of ballista bolts in the Qixi Armory made Wang Chong's plan extremely convenient.
Even further away, the sound of horse hooves could be heard. The sound was as heavy as thunder. War horses neighed, and the sound of their neighing could be heard. Li Siye and his two thousand soldiers had already returned to the City of Steel, and Cheng Sanyuan and his three thousand Wushang Cavalry had also returned. The two groups immediately began their arduous training in the City of Steel.
This was a completely new formation. With the Battle of Talas imminent, everyone knew that they would be facing an opponent that not even the War God of the Western Regions, Gao Xianzhi, had been able to deal with. An even more powerful formation was needed to defeat them.
In the center of the City of Steel, there was an ancient-styled building with arched eaves. A window by the railing was open, revealing a handsome youth with sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, and a confident yet composed youth silently flipping through a book.
Flapping! A messenger pigeon suddenly descended from the sky, piercing through the window like a sharp sword and landing on the desk in front of Wang Chong.
"Mm?"
Wang Chong's eyes flashed as he looked at the messenger pigeon. He undid the bindings on his leg and glanced at the letter inside. But this glance caused Wang Chong's expression to change, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.
"It's finally here!"
Wang Chong put down the book, his lips slowly curling into a smile. After such a long period of time, after a long debate, the imperial court finally came to a conclusion and gave him the power to decide life and death, as well as the power to recruit soldiers.
This was exactly what Wang Chong had hoped for.
Wang Chong had never hoped that the Imperial Court would understand the significance of this war to the Tang Dynasty as he did, but if he could obtain this military order, everything would be different. At the very least, he would be able to act as he pleased.
Speed is of the essence in war. There's not much time left, but there should be enough time for me to do a few things.
Wang Chong quietly said to himself as he looked at the document from the Bureau of Military Personnel.
The authority given to him by the Bureau of Military Personnel was enormous. All soldiers, money, and resources were at Wang Chong's disposal. This was something that no Protector-General or Great General had ever enjoyed. But Wang Chong also understood that this sort of authority had its limits. The fact that the Imperial Court had given him this authority meant that the assistance it could provide was extremely limited.
In truth, the Imperial Court hoped that he could resolve this crisis on his own, not actually give him a large number of soldiers.
"This lowly subject Wang Chong receives the order, but this lowly subject has several requests that the Imperial Court can agree to …"
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