"Wang Chong?"
A glimmer of light flashed through Abu Muslim's eyes, but his chiseled face, brimming with blood and callousness, did not show much emotion.
"Speak, Tang people. What do you want to do?"
As he spoke, he stared straight at Wang Chong. His body did not make any movements, but a powerful aura erupted from him.
As the Governor of the East of the Arabian Empire, he was the most powerful existence east of Khorasan. Other than the Caliph, he was the most influential person in the east.
Countless empires in the east had been flattened by his horse, and countless generals of Arabia followed his lead. In the entire world, there were very few people that a general of Abu Muslim's level cared about.
In the entire Tang dynasty, only Anxi Protector-General Gao Xianzhi was worthy of his attention. Everyone else was nothing to worry about.
Abu Muslim would never speak to anyone on the front lines, and he had only responded to Wang Chong because Wang Chong, a Tang people, could speak the 'noble' Arabian language. This was already an additional favor.
"Abu Muslim! As the Qixi Protector-General of the Tang dynasty, I will give you one final warning! "
Wang Chong's resounding voice resounded over the battlefield, his expression solemn and serene. His aura was like an unsheathed sword, so sharp that no powerful existence could ignore him.
"Take your army and leave this place!!
"No matter how many countries Arabia has conquered, the last thing you should do is encroach on the Western Regions and make an enemy of the Tang dynasty!"
The battlefield was eerily still, with only Wang Chong's booming voice echoing through the air. At this moment, even Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli were silent.
"Tang people, this is impossible!"
Abu Muslim's reply was concise and decisive.
"No country on this continent can stop the iron hooves of Arabia from conquering, not even the Tang dynasty!!"
Abu Muslim's reply was as cold as steel.
All was quiet. Although many people didn't understand Arabic, they could still understand a great deal from Abu Muslim's cold and hard face.
The atmosphere suddenly became more and more tense.
"Heh!"
Hearing Abu Muslim's words, Wang Chong suddenly laughed. Clang, in an instant, everyone heard a sword cry that was clear and melodious like a dragon.
As the Arabs, the Tang dynasty, and even the distant Ouzan and the Western Turks watched, Wang Chong unsheathed his sword, the cold and dazzling WuZi Steel sword covered in flowing water, and pointed it at the heavens, its radiance reflecting off of it.
"If that's the case, then listen carefully to every word I'm about to say!"
"This war is far from the end, but only the beginning. The locations of its conquests are not limited to Talas or the Western Regions. "
"Starting from this moment, with Talas as the starting point, all of Samarkand, Khorasan in the rear, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, Baghdad, and the distant west will all be within the scope of this war!
"This is not just a war between you and me, nor is it just a war in the Western Regions, but a war between the empires of the east and the west. Starting from this moment, no matter what, if Arabia cannot conquer the Tang dynasty, the Tang dynasty will conquer the Tang dynasty. All Arabia will speak the language of the Tang people, and all of Arabia will submit to the rule of the Tang dynasty!
"Li Siye, please repeat what I just said in the language of the Tang dynasty!"
… …
"Boom!"
The first to react to Wang Chong's words were the Arab army, and all of them fell into an uproar.
Then, when Li Siye repeated Wang Chong's words in the language of the Tang people, even the distant Dalun Ruozan, Duwusili, Huoshu Huizang, and Dalun Ruozan paled.
"This scoundrel, he really dares to speak!!"
A strange look flitted through Duwusili's eyes. The Turks were a nomadic people whose footprints had spread throughout the Western Regions, even to Arabia and Charax Spasinu. He was deeply aware of just how powerful an empire Arabia was.
If not for this, he would not have brought forty thousand soldiers with him.
It was precisely because he was well aware that not even a Celestial Wolf Great General like Duwusili dared to lightly say such words.
"I'm afraid that he's not just talking."
Dalun Ruozan indifferently said, a strange light in his eyes, but he said no more.
In the entire world, if anyone said such words, the Arabs would not need to care. Only that youth, no one could ignore his words.
Just like in the southwest back then, no one could believe that a teenager, leading several thousand soldiers, had managed to change the outcome of a clearly lost battle, defeating the 400,000 soldiers under his command!
This seventeen-year-old Protector-General had never been just talking.
In the distance, Wang Chong paid no attention to the reactions of the crowd. With these final words, Wang Chong immediately turned his horse around and began to slowly make his way back to his camp.
"You're too arrogant!"
Abu Muslim finally spoke in the middle of the army. The first sentence that came out of his mouth shocked everyone. Because he was speaking the language of the Tang dynasty.
"How could this be!"
At this moment, even Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli were dumbfounded.
The two of them had battled with Abu Muslim for so long, but this was the first time they had heard that Abu Muslim could speak the language of the Tang dynasty.
But after a moment's thought, their hearts sank. Arabia and the Tang dynasty were two completely different countries, and the two countries had not had much interaction before this.
Abu Muslim was a pure soldier, the Abbasid Caliphate's Governor of the East, so there was no need for him to learn the language of the Tang dynasty. It was clear that Abu Muslim had long since harbored ambitions for the Tang dynasty.
In the crowd, Wang Chong stopped, but he did not turn his head.
"Tang people, you have no idea just how ignorant and foolish your words were!"
Abu Muslim stared at Wang Chong's back, his face twisted into a nasty grimace. Wang Chong's words had thoroughly infuriated him. This was the first time in the history of Arabia that a Great General of an enemy state had threatened to conquer all of Arabia.
"In our Arabian Empire, there is a saying: 'Even though knowledge is far away in China, it should still be sought after'. If you knew just how powerful the true Arabia is, you would not have said such arrogant and ignorant words.
"Do you see the vast army behind me? The army that you've been fighting with for several months is just one of the armies of the empire in the east. What you see is only the tip of the iceberg. There are at least one million more armies like this in the empire! "
Abu Muslim slowly spread open his arms, his entire body exploding with a tidal wave of energy that caused the surrounding space to twist and distort, black spatial fissures appearing in the air.
"Tang people, you will pay a price for those words you said just now! Not just you, but the entire Tang dynasty! "
"Then let's fight!"
Wang Chong only faintly smiled.
"Hmph! As you wish! "
At Wang Chong's words, Abu Muslim's expression finally turned gloomy and cold. Turning his horse around, he began to gallop toward the western side of the City of Talas.
"Retreat!"
With a wave of Abu Muslim's arm, the tens of thousands of Arab cavalry immediately retreated like the receding tide. With this, the second day of battle came to an end.
"In the future, the Arabs won't rest until they're dead!"
The galloping of hooves could be heard as Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli slowly rode out from the rear on his divine steed bestowed by the Emperor.
As they looked at Wang Chong, the two of them were filled with admiration.
The more they interacted with Wang Chong, the deeper their understanding of him became, and the more they sensed the charm hidden within his body.
"Hasn't it always been like this?"
Wang Chong faintly smiled.
"The Tang Dynasty has never lacked for opponents, nor has it lacked for Arabia. No one has been able to defeat us in the past, and no one in the present or in the future will be able to defeat my Tang Dynasty. "
"That's right. No one can defeat the Tang Dynasty!"
Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli glanced at Wang Chong in surprise, and then the three of them smiled at each other.
"Retreat!"
With this order, the army retreated to the two steel defense lines, officially ending the battle. The battlefield was littered with corpses of humans, horses, wolves, and vultures. The air was thick with the pungent stench of blood!
… …
From the time the sun rose to noon, although the battle had ended, the clean-up work after the battle was far from over.
"Zhang Que, have you calculated the casualties?"
Outside Talas, Wang Chong held his hands behind his back as he spoke without turning his head.
"Replying to Marquis, the statistics have been completed. In the last two days of battle, we lost more than thirty thousand men and another ten thousand were wounded. The vast majority of the casualties were the mercenaries of the Western Regions. Our equipment was better, so our losses were not very high. "
Zhang Que's voice came from behind him, his back bowed and his expression respectful.
"In other words, we only have around one hundred thousand soldiers left?"
Wang Chong slightly creased his brow.
"Yes!"
"Then what about the losses of the Western Turks, Ouzan, and Arabs?"
Wang Chong asked.
"We don't have a concrete count, but based on the estimates of the scouts, the Western Turks and Ouzan lost around forty thousand elites and nearly thirty thousand wolf corpses. The giant wolves brought by the Western Turks had a major impact on our attacks. Many of the ballista bolts were blocked by these wolf corpses, and the cavalry had to prioritize dealing with these Turkic wolves.
"As for the Arabs, they lost nearly eighty thousand soldiers yesterday. Today, our main force was focused on dealing with the Western Turks and Ouzan, while the Arabs focused on defense. But even so, Chen Bin's ballista army and General Wang Yan's infantry had managed to kill a large number of Arabs, more than thirty thousand of them. In addition, a large number of people are injured. I estimate the number to be close to 40,000. "
Zhang Que sincerely said.
Wang Chong fell silent at Zhang Que's words. Both Dalun Ruozan and Abu Muslim had made ample preparations for this battle. The enormous number of giant wolves Duwusili had brought, the Arab Iron Beast Army, and the hundreds of catapults had not been able to inflict as much damage as Wang Chong's ballista army had expected.
"Understood. Pass on my order. All the wounded are to be bandaged and moved into Talas to recover. In addition, call Sir Zhang over! "
"Yes, Marquis!"
Zhang Que quickly departed.
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