Negotiation required skill. At the same time, it was also a process of bargaining. Both sides needed to make concessions so as not to touch each other's bottom line.
At the beginning of the negotiation, both sides had to test each other's bottom line. Only then could they adjust their thinking and come up with a plan that both sides could accept based on the actual situation.
Mansur's request was for both sides to stop fighting temporarily. This was good for both sides. Abdullah's side felt that since they proposed a truce, they should at least show some sincerity! They couldn't just dismiss them with a single sentence! If so, what was the point of the peace talks?
"Nasser, what sincerity do you think we should show?"
Nasser asked. "You started the previous battle and caused us to suffer heavy losses. Don't you think you should compensate us?"
"Compensation? That's impossible. It will never be possible. "
Nasser smiled. "Since you have no sincerity, why should we agree to a truce?"
"Just based on the troops we have left behind in Khorasan. Their fighting strength is not weaker than yours. If we fight, both sides will suffer. Why don't we each take a breather? We will march to the southwest while you recover. This is good for everyone."
Nasser frowned. He didn't know how to answer. The other side's momentum was not small. It seemed that it would be difficult to gain any benefits. The peace talks were also important to them, so he couldn't give a definite answer.
"A truce is not a small matter. I can't make the decision. You go back first! I still have to discuss it with the Caliph. "
Nasser found an excuse to let the other side leave first.
"Alright! Nasser, I'll wait for your good news. "
After the other side left, Abdullah walked out from behind the screen angrily and said fiercely, "Who are they to act so atrociously here?"
"Caliph, the attitude of Mansur's side is quite bad, but what they said is reasonable. Based on the current situation, a truce is good for both sides. If we continue fighting, both sides will suffer. Moreover, only if we agree to a truce can Mansur send more troops to encircle Altik and Mansur. This is very beneficial to us."
Nasser said.
"Have you thought about it? If we allow Mansur to easily eliminate Altik and Osman, Mansur's forces will be like the sun in the sky. We will no longer be his match. How will we protect ourselves then?"
Abdullah said worriedly.
Nasser said, "Don't worry, Caliph. The truce we agreed to is just a pretense. It's to let Mansur feel at ease to eliminate Altik and Osman. Once Khorasan's forces are depleted, we will tear up the truce treaty and occupy the Khorasan region in one fell swoop. Moreover, I heard that Altik and Osman are backed by the Tang dynasty. They won't be defeated so easily.
Abdullah smiled slyly and nodded: "Alright! Then we'll just sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. However, we can't lose momentum. Next time, we need to bring more elite axemen to the peace talks to scare them a little. Perhaps we can even get something out of them. "
"Yes, Caliph, I know what to do."
Nasser replied.
While the peace talks were continuing, the preparations for war were already well underway.
Abu Muslim and Ziyad had already selected one hundred thousand elite cavalry and prepared small shields for all the soldiers, as well as the various logistical supplies the army would need.
Outside the western gate of the royal city, Mansur personally sent them off to raise the morale of the army.
"Abu Muslim, the elite soldiers of the dynasty are all under your care. You must fight well. Whether or not we can pacify Altik and Osman will depend on you."
Mansur encouraged him.
Abu Muslim nodded and said, "Be at ease, Caliph! With one hundred thousand elites, our army will definitely return victorious. I am keenly aware of just how capable Altik is. "
"That's good. I can rest easy now. Ziyad, you must properly assist Abu Muslim. In addition, this war is also your war of vengeance. You must avenge your subordinates and use victory to console your sacrificed subordinates."
Mansur looked encouragingly at Ziyad.
Ziyad nodded and righteously declared, "Don't worry, Caliph! I will definitely teach that brat Altik a lesson and let him know how formidable we are. Our soldiers are all experienced soldiers, far stronger than any of Altik's new recruits. We can definitely defeat them. "
"Good, wonderful! I can rest easy now that Ziyad is so confident. I won't say any more. Hurry and set out! I will wait for your good news in the royal city. "
Mansur said.
Abu Muslim and Ziyad bowed and then waved their hands, leading their one hundred thousand elite soldiers toward the southwest.
Mansur stood outside the city and watched as the soldiers departed. Only after all the soldiers had left did he return to the royal city.
"Ziyad, are you really that confident?"
Abu Muslim asked Ziyad on the way back.
Ziyad chuckled and said, "Does General want to hear the truth?"
"Oh, of course."
Ziyad said, "In truth, I'm not that confident, nor do I feel that I can easily defeat Altik, but for Caliph's sake, I must say this."
"Oh, you think we can't win this battle?"
Abu Muslim asked.
Ziyad thought for a moment, then said, "I'm not afraid of Altik's one hundred thousand recruits. I'm just worried about the support the Tang dynasty is giving them. If the Tang dynasty continues to support Altik, how can we win?" "You're right.
We've already experienced the strength of the Tang dynasty, and it truly is frightening. But the peninsula in the southwest is very important to us. If we lose the peninsula, our Apus dynasty will become a small country. Thus, no matter how great the pressure, we must fight with all our strength. There's still no evidence that the Tang dynasty is personally participating in the battle, only providing us with weapons. Even if the recruits who have never fought before have some advanced weapons, they will still be no match for us. "
Abu Muslim said.
Ziyad said, "General's words are correct. These recruits will never be a threat to us. As long as the soldiers of the Tang dynasty don't participate, these fellows will be no match for us. The scouts set out long ago and will quickly figure out the situation with Altik's deployment. As long as we can figure out the situation with Altik, we can come up with a plan to target them."
Abu Muslim and Ziyad had dispatched scouts the moment they arrived at the dynasty. Although Mansur had provided them with some information, they were worried that this information might be wrong. They would not be at ease until they personally investigated.
Because the scouts were all lightly equipped and each soldier had several horses, they could reach their destination in a very short time and carry out targeted reconnaissance activities.
Thus, the scouts quickly completed their mission and sent back the information. They had gone on horseback, but they had used carrier pigeons to send back the information. In any case, they were only sending back information about the enemy's deployment, so there was no danger of leaking the information.
"General, the scouts have sent back a report."
A soldier removed the letter from the carrier pigeon's leg and immediately handed it over to Abu Muslim.
Because the scouts had more information, there was more than one carrier pigeon and more than one set of reports. There were many pieces of paper.
Abu Muslim and Ziyad unfurled these pieces of paper and began to understand all sorts of information from the diagrams and words on them.
"General, it seems like Altik's deployment has changed a little. This is somewhat different from what the Caliph told us!"
Ziyad said after reading through all the reports.
Abu Muslim nodded and said, "You're right. There really have been some changes, but the changes aren't very big, just some minor adjustments. I estimate that when we reach the walls, they'll still have the same deployment."
Ziyad agreed. "Correct. Based on these deployments, Altik is clearly afraid of our cavalry and doesn't dare to engage in a decisive battle with us in the open. Thus, he has chosen to defend several cities so that we can attack them. This way, we can beat them at their own game and take their cities one by one. If they dare to send reinforcements, we can wipe them out while they're on their way."
"Ziyad, you're right. That's exactly what I was thinking. However, Altik's main force is stationed in five cities. Maia City has thirty thousand soldiers, Archeng in the north has more than twenty thousand, Rafha in the east, Jiaofu in the west, and Zhubai in the south only have around ten thousand soldiers each. Which city do you think we should attack first?"
Abu Muslim asked with a smile.
Ziyad carefully looked at the locations of the five cities and said, "General, the enemy has a total of one hundred thousand soldiers in these five cities. If we divide our forces to attack each city, we will have no chance of victory and will fall into Altik's trap. But if we attack one city, we will have enough soldiers. The distance between Jiaofu in the west and Zhubai in the south is too great, so we definitely can't choose. Even Maia City in the middle is not suitable to attack because it has the most soldiers. Moreover, if we attack these three cities, our logistics and supplies will be threatened by the soldiers of Archeng and Rafha.
Abu Muslim nodded in satisfaction. He pointed at two locations on the map and said, "Archeng in the north has twenty thousand soldiers while Rafha in the east only has around ten thousand. The difference in strength is twice as great, so Rafha seems easier to attack. But if the army converges on Hafra, the soldiers of Archeng will still threaten our supply lines. Thus, I suggest that we attack Archeng first and nibble at the second most heavily fortified enemy city. As long as we can nibble at Archeng, Altik will definitely be terrified."
Ziyad nodded and said, "General is correct. Attack Archeng first and then destroy Rafha. Once these two cities are dealt with, the rest of the situation will be much easier."
Abu Muslim confidently said, "With our one hundred thousand elite soldiers, taking Archeng won't be difficult. Our army is certain to achieve a complete victory in this battle."
"Yes, General, we are certain to achieve a complete victory."
Ziyad agreed.
Abu Muslim's army was composed entirely of cavalry, and there were even more warhorses than cavalry. In addition, there were many horses used to transport supplies. This way, the army could advance at a relatively fast pace.
In just a few days, Abu Muslim's army would reach the northern part of the peninsula and begin its assault on Archeng.
Abu Muslim was rubbing his palms, and the army was about to arrive. Artik, who was on the defensive, naturally wouldn't just wait around. Upon learning of the situation, he immediately called for an emergency meeting to discuss the countermeasures.
Altik and his important generals were all present. Of course, the subordinates responsible for guarding the other cities were not present. They were responsible for guarding the cities, so they naturally couldn't come to Maia City.
As their spiritual leader, Ibrahim, had also appeared. After many days of getting to know each other, everyone's impression of Ibrahim was getting better and better. When discussing important military matters, Ibrahim was not excluded, and there were even times when Ibrahim was asked to give his opinion. As long as it was reasonable, they would listen.
Altik was a devout Shi 'a believer, and his mission was to support the descendants of Ali. Thus, he had no objections to this meeting. In any case, he had no intention of fighting for the position of Caliph. As long as he could fulfill the wish of his Shi' a ancestors, his life would not have been in vain.
"Abu Muslim's one hundred thousand elite cavalry are charging over in a grandiose display, truly intimidating and imposing! But we don't need to be afraid. We have the excellent weapons from the Tang dynasty. We can definitely defeat Abu Muslim's soldiers, "a high official said.
Abu Muslim's army was very strong.
"The Khorasan cavalry are very strong in the wilderness. We definitely can't fight them in the wilderness. There's no better way than relying on the cities, so let's just stick to the original plan."
Another high official said.
Altik looked at Ibrahim and asked, "Caliph, what do you think?"
Ibrahim frowned and thought for a while before softly saying, "I'm a layman when it comes to fighting wars, so I don't know how to fight them. But if we can't figure out Abu Muslim's battle plan, we will be forced into a very passive position. I understand this principle."
"Caliph is wise. If we can't figure out Abu Muslim's plan, we won't be able to target his defenses. This truly is rather troublesome, but how can we possibly figure out Abu Muslim's battle plan? This is an impossible mission!"
"That's right! Abu Muslim is a very good fighter. He won't tell us his battle plan, so we can only guess. "
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