Mansur was in a bad mood, and this caused the servants who were in charge of serving him to suffer greatly. Many of the servants were brutally killed because of his nameless anger, and even many of his loyal ministers were scolded and reprimanded, accusing them of not being able to help him resolve his worries.
As a result, whether it was his servants or his loyal subordinates, all of them became scared witless, afraid that they would say something wrong and anger him. They did not even dare to voice out many reasonable suggestions, causing Khorasan's political affairs to be seriously affected.
"Why hasn't Abu Muslim come back yet? It's been so long. Is he a snail?"
Mansur roared angrily.
The servants beside him did not dare to answer. Moreover, this was not a question that could be answered. Were they supposed to tell Mansur that the journey to the north was long and that it was impossible for him to return so quickly? If they said that, they would probably be beaten to death. No one was willing to be beaten to death, so they naturally did not dare to say anything.
Mansur did not expect anyone to answer him. He was venting purely to vent his anger because he was too depressed. If he did not vent his anger, he would definitely die from anger, just like his brother, Apos.
Although Mansur wasn't sure how Apos had become so ill, he believed that it was inseparable from Apos's chronic irritable mood. And the reason why Apos was irritable was because he was depressed.
Mansur was also in a very bad mood. He felt that he was also depressed. He was very anxious when faced with the attacks from both Abdullah and Altik.
Of course, he did not think that Abdullah and Altik were much of a threat, but he knew that the Tang Empire was silently supporting Altik from behind. Moreover, Altik was going to gift part of the Arabian lands to the Tang Empire. Thus, the Tang Empire's aid to Altik would definitely not be low. In this way, he would be under a lot of pressure to deal with Altik.
Even more troublesome was that Ibrahim had suddenly escaped. Moreover, he had been elected as the Caliph by Altik. His legitimacy was even greater than Mansur's. As a result, Altik's power was bound to soar and become very difficult to deal with.
From the investigations of his trusted subordinates, it was clear that Altik's army had received many advanced weapons from the Tang Empire, especially in the field of crossbows. This allowed Altik's army to have far more long-range weapons than Mansur's army, allowing them to have a certain advantage in battle.
At this moment, Mansur was very worried that Abu Muslim's main force of cavalry would not be able to defeat Altik. Even though Altik had always been a minor character in his mind, a minor character supported by the Tang Empire was still very frightening.
And even if Abu Muslim obtained a massive advantage and defeated Altik's army, how would he recover the land that the Tang Empire had cut off? Moreover, would his soldiers be attacked by the Tang Empire? If the Tang Empire sent soldiers to assist Altik, how would Abu Muslim's cavalry be able to stop the charge of the elite armies of the Tang Empire? This was no different from courting death.
Thus, Mansur was in a rather irritable mood. He felt that the Tang Empire was his greatest problem. If the Tang Empire wasn't playing tricks behind the scenes, Altik and Osman would never have been able to accomplish anything, and Abdullah would have been eliminated by him, allowing him to unify the Arab world.
On the question of how to attack Altik, Mansur felt that he needed to have a good discussion with Abu Muslim. He needed to hear the opinion of a professional strategist.
"Caliph, General Abu Muslim and his army have returned. The vanguard has already entered the city."
A trusted soldier ran over to give his report.
Upon hearing this, Mansur hastily ordered, "Quickly have Abu Muslim come see me. And also have that Ziyad come with him. Quickly."
The trusted soldier quickly went to deliver the order and encountered Abu Muslim's group at the city gate.
"Generals, the Caliph requests that you immediately enter the palace. He wishes to see Generals."
The trusted soldier said.
Abu Muslim had long ago learned of what had happened in the southwest, so he naturally understood why Mansur had summoned him. He was also in a hurry to see Mansur, so he immediately brought Ziyad to the palace. Meanwhile, the majority of his army of more than one hundred thousand was stationed outside the city, with only a few soldiers stationed inside.
"General, the Caliph is in such a hurry to see us. He must be planning to attack the southwest."
Ziyad guessed.
Abu Muslim firmly nodded. "You're right, Ziyad. The situation in the southwest is our dynasty's greatest danger, far greater than Abdullah's."
"If the Caliph wants Generals to attack the southwest, will Generals do as they say?"
Ziyad asked.
Abu Muslim suspiciously asked, "Didn't we bring our main force back to Khorasan precisely so we could attack the southwest? Moreover, your ten thousand elites were killed by Altik and Osman. Aren't you thinking about taking revenge? Why are you saying this?"
In Abu Muslim's view, Ziyad had become far too strange. He had been so furious that he wanted nothing more than to immediately lead his army to exterminate Altik and Osman, but he had quickly become so cautious that he found it very strange.
Ziyad frowned and said, "My anger before was because my subordinates had suffered misfortune, and this general's heart was truly pained. But now, this general knows that Altik has the full support of the Tang dynasty. In this case, I'm afraid that we won't be able to easily win. In fact, in fact …"
"What's wrong, Ziyad? Are we really going to lose to Altik? Even if we have the support of the Tang dynasty, we shouldn't be afraid. As soldiers, as long as the Caliph gives the order, we must charge forward without hesitation. We can't lose face as soldiers."
Abu Muslim heroically declared.
Ziyad was truly somewhat afraid, or else he wouldn't have said such cowardly words. After all, he had fought with the Tang dynasty's army before. Even though it had only been a small skirmish, the power of the Tang dynasty's army had left an extremely deep impression on him. He felt that he was no match for the Tang dynasty, and for this reason, he was even somewhat afraid of Altik's army, which was supported by the Tang dynasty.
"General is right. As long as the Caliph gives the order, I will not back down."
Ziyad hurriedly declared his stance.
Soon, the two of them entered the palace and met with their Caliph, Mansur.
"Caliph."
Abu Muslim and Ziyad respectfully bowed. This was necessary.
"Abu Muslim, Ziyad, you're finally here. Hurry and look at the map. You've probably already heard about what happened in the southwest! Those two bastards, Altik and Osman, actually managed to take over the entire peninsula. Right now, Osman has run off to Egypt, and the several thousand soldiers we had in Egypt have all retreated by sea. They're probably still halfway there. "
Mansur gave a vexed report of the situation.
The Apus Dynasty had never been in such a sorry state since its founding, and this time, it was truly in a sorry state. Not only had its important internal strength, Abdullah, rebelled, but the external enemies of Osman and Altik were also extremely troublesome. As a result, the Apus Dynasty only had the Khorasan territory left, and its strength had been greatly reduced. If this situation continued, the Apus Dynasty would become a small country, an insignificant country.
"I truly didn't think that while we were resisting Abdullah, Osman and Altik would be able to take over such a large territory. I hear that Altik already has more than one hundred thousand soldiers under his command. This is truly astonishing news."
Abu Muslim helplessly said.
"Caliph, I hear that Altik and Osman have the support of the Tang dynasty. Otherwise, how could they have been able to wipe out ten thousand of my elite soldiers in a single move, and they certainly wouldn't have been able to take over so many cities on the peninsula in such a short amount of time. The Tang dynasty is the biggest problem!"
Ziyad had pointed out the crux of the problem.
Mansur sighed and nodded. "General Ziyad is correct. The Tang dynasty is playing tricks behind the scenes. Not only did they provide them with weapons, they even facilitated the alliance between Osman and Altik. It's truly too infuriating."
Mansur was undoubtedly very angry at the actions of the Tang Empire, but because he could not defeat the Tang Empire, he could only sulk. After all, he could not declare war on the Tang dynasty for this reason! If he really did declare war, the Apus dynasty would be completely destroyed.
"Caliph, to what extent is the Tang dynasty aiding Altik? Are there any soldiers from the Tang dynasty aiding Altik?"
Abu Muslim asked with concern.
If the Tang dynasty's soldiers were aiding Altik in battle, then the Khorasan cavalry under his command would be under enormous pressure. But if the Tang dynasty only provided a small number of cold weapons, then he still had a chance of victory.
"Someone, bring them in."
Mansur loudly ordered his trusted soldiers to bring in several weapons that the Tang dynasty had provided to Altik and hand them over to Abu Muslim and Ziyad.
"See? These are the weapons that the Tang dynasty has provided to Altik. I had the soldiers experiment with them for an entire day before they understood how to use them. They're truly excellent! They're much better than the crossbows our soldiers use. One is that they're more powerful, and the other is that they can fire ten crossbows in a row. Altik relied on these weapons to defeat our soldiers. "
Mansur said.
These weapons had been brought back from the battlefield by his soldiers. Although Altik's army had always won, it was inevitable that some soldiers would be killed. The advanced weapons in the hands of these soldiers naturally fell into Mansur's hands.
Abu Muslim and Ziyad each took a weapon, and the soldiers next to them taught them how to use it so that they could quickly familiarize themselves with the weapons.
Ziyad held a crossbow in his hand. As he pulled the bowstring, he sighed and said, "It's really strong. It's really hard to pull the bowstring without using my feet. It must be very powerful!"
Because there were several targets next to him, Ziyad very bluntly fired an arrow at one of the targets.
The arrow flew towards the target with great force and hit the target precisely. Because of the great force, the entire target trembled.
"What great power! This is much stronger than our crossbows. It's a good thing. "
Abu Muslim sighed as he saw this sight.
Ziyad put away the Hidden Distant Crossbow and said, "This crossbow is very formidable, but it doesn't seem very difficult to make. There are only a few components, so why didn't our craftsmen make some? If we could equip all our soldiers with this kind of crossbow, it would definitely increase our fighting power. "
Although Abu Muslim said nothing, he nodded in agreement.
Mansur helplessly said, "There really isn't anything special about this thing. Our best craftsmen in Khorasan quickly made an imitation, but it's far weaker than the crossbows made in the Tang dynasty. It's about half as strong, and no matter how they improved it, there wasn't much of an effect. They're all made of the same material, so why is it that the crossbows made in the Tang dynasty are so powerful? In addition, the cost of making this kind of crossbow is very high, three to five times higher than our crossbows. The Tang dynasty really is rich. "
As a person of this era, Mansur naturally didn't know what heat treatment was or what mechanized assembly line production was. He certainly didn't understand that the somewhat complicated Hidden Distant Crossbows made in the Tang dynasty were not only powerful, but also cheap to make. They weren't as expensive as Mansur had imagined.
Abu Muslim enviously began to play with the crossbow in his hand, aiming it at a distant target to test its effectiveness.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh …
Abu Muslim fired five bolts in a row, all of them accurately hitting their targets. Although this was partly due to Abu Muslim's superior archery skills, it was also possible to see from the side that the crossbow was very accurate. Not only was it accurate, it was also fired with considerable force, causing the target to tremble.
"The crossbow is so small, but it's so powerful. It truly can't be underestimated. Can it not be copied?"
Abu Muslim loved the crossbow so much that he couldn't put it down. As a soldier, he truly loved this sort of weapon. It was simply a divine weapon! Not only was it fast enough to kill enemies, it was also very powerful and accurate. It was also very small and easy to carry around. It was simply too perfect.
Mansur sighed. "The crossbow is even more difficult to copy. Our craftsmen made an identical one, but it's more than half as powerful. It only has a range of twenty to thirty paces, and its lethality doesn't even meet the requirements."
"It's truly strange. It looks like a very simple thing, but why is it that after our craftsmen made it, its power was reduced by half? How did the Tang dynasty do it? "
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