The lord of Aden City, Artik, after seeing the powerful force of the Tang Empire with his own eyes, could only choose to admit it, allowing the armed combat ships of the Tang Empire to enter the port and come to greet him in person.

People are under the eaves and have to bow their heads, this eternal truth, in any era, any nation is the truth, it is a very stupid behavior to be a car with a mantis arm, for an old slippery head like Artik, he naturally would not do such a thing, so he wisely chose to give in and let the Datang steam gunboat enter the port.

After clarifying his intentions, Artik's state of mind fell into a depressed state, the huge military fleet of the Tang Dynasty actually wanted to enter Aden City, and Aden City must agree to this condition, otherwise the consequences will be very serious, this is a provocation to the authority of Aden City, and it will more or less interfere with the basic business contacts of Aden City, and even threaten the defense of Aden City.

However, Datang's maritime power is too strong, and the two salvos of a steam gunboat will kill the two super-large defense towers with the most powerful defense power in the port, and if the shelling continues, the defense facilities of the port will be completely destroyed, and the defending soldiers and horses will also suffer heavy losses, and it will not be able to stop the forced landing of Datang's maritime power at all.

"Since the Tang fleet is just passing by, let's let them enter the port, we have no better way, City Lord."

"They just said it nicely, do you really think that the Datang fleet is just passing by? I think Datang has taken a fancy to the treasure land of Aden City and wants to occupy Aden City. ”

"Hell, but we can't beat it, we really can't beat it, the gap is too big."

"Datang has artillery, this weapon is really powerful, except for Datang, there is no such thing as artillery?"

"Datang's artillery is extremely powerful, if you go ashore from land and blow up the city gate, it doesn't seem to be a difficult task."

"In the face of the elite army of Ottoman and Ziyad, we still have the strength to fight, but in the face of the powerful Tang Empire, we have completely lost the strength of confrontation, even if we mobilize more people, we can't stop the artillery of the Tang Dynasty."

The subordinates sighed helplessly.

Artik had no choice but to fully agree to the request put forward by the captain of the Tang Dynasty and let the Tang fleet enter the port, however, in order not to interfere with the normal commercial activities of the port, the Tang fleet was arranged in a relatively independent position, the water area was large, but the number of docks was not large, and many large ships were needed to close together.

Although the entry of the Datang fleet into the port has a certain compulsion, in order to establish a good image, it will naturally not be too much, and it is enough to dock in the port, and will not ask for more berths, so as not to affect the loading and unloading of merchant ships and interfere with the commercial operation of the port.

In this way, the huge Tang fleet entered the port of Aden City in turn, realizing the actual occupation of Aden City, and a large open space near the port became the camp of the Tang army.

In view of the fact that the Tang Dynasty army has entered the port, the so-called port defense is meaningless, Artik simply withdrew the port defense soldiers and horses, and transferred them to the city and the city wall, so as not to get too close to the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses, resulting in inevitable contradictions and unpredictable consequences.

Surrounded by many of his subordinates, Ang Lee happily walked up to the port and met with Artik, the lord of Aden.

"Haha! We feel very honored to welcome Li Shilang to Aden City and to receive guests from far away Datang. ”

Altic was dissatisfied with Datang in his heart, but his mouth was very sweet, and seeing Ang Lee was like seeing a good friend many years ago.

Li An smiled and said: "Aden City is a good place, this official wanted to come and see it a long time ago, the scenery here is indeed very good, there are many merchants, and the life of the common people is also very good, by the way, along the way, I caught a lot of pirates nearby, and there were more than a hundred people, and they were handed over to the city lord for disposal." ”

Artik smiled and said, "These pirates also embarked on the road of robbery because of poverty, so let's give them a chance to mend their ways!" Let them join the soldiers and horses defending the city. ”

Li An smiled: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say, the city lord decides for himself, come here, bring all the pirates up, and hand them over to the city lord to deal with." ”

His men immediately brought all the captured pirates ashore and handed them over to the soldiers and horses of the city of Aden.

"Li Shilang is tired all the way, let's take a break for the time being, and in the evening, let's drink together, how about it?"

Artik opened his mouth to suggest.

Li An nodded and agreed: "Okay, the city lord should go and get busy!" This official will definitely restrain his subordinates and will not cause any turmoil in the city of Aden, and we will see you in the evening. ”

After speaking, the city lord of Aden City, Artik, left, while Li An stayed in a luxurious mansion not too far from the port, and there were five hundred Tang soldiers guarding inside and outside the courtyard, and even the chariot troops drove nearby, which could completely ensure Li An's absolute safety, even if he gathered all the strength of Aden City, he could not break through the luxurious mansion where Li An lived.

Entering the city of Aden does not mean occupying and owning the city of Aden, there are still many ways to go, Li An strictly ordered his subordinates to abide by discipline, but also to restrain ordinary soldiers, not to interfere with the normal commercial activities of Aden City, let alone to commit crimes, to use their own practical actions to prove that the officers and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are benevolent and righteous soldiers.

In the first two days were the most critical period, in order to prevent accidents, Li An strictly ordered the soldiers not to leave the camp, and to stay honestly in their own designated territory, and only after two days could they enter the hinterland of Aden City in small quantities.

After Artik left, on the one hand, let people prepare a sumptuous dinner to welcome the arrival of Li An and other high-ranking officials of the Tang Dynasty, and on the other hand, let people observe every move of the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses to know what to do.

The Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses were stationed in Aden City, although there was a little friction, but there was not much loss, only a few soldiers in Aden City were injured, and the price was extremely low.

However, the eyes of Uthman and Ziyad, who had been planted in the city of Aden, were greatly surprised, and they immediately sent people out of the city to report to their master.

Osman, who was drinking and celebrating, was so surprised that he couldn't believe his ears when he heard that there were a large number of Tang troops in Aden City, and he asked many times before he slowly regained his calm mind.

"The Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses are actually stationed in the port of Aden City so easily, how can this be, Artik, the old slippery head, will actually agree."

Osman said with a frown.

"General, Datang has a very powerful weapon is artillery, it is too powerful, the two stone defense towers in the port that are larger than this tent were actually collapsed in a few clicks, and they were fired three miles away, no matter how many soldiers and horses there are in Aden City, they can't compete with artillery at all."

The little man who reported the message replied.

Osman frowned and said: "Datang's artillery, I have heard of it, I heard that the weapon is very powerful, not only has a long range, but also has a very powerful power, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes!" ”

"General, there are many kinds of artillery in the Tang Dynasty, some can be dragged by horses, some are fixed on steam gunboats, and some are fixed on iron cars, Datang's steam gunboats are particularly large, much larger than ordinary merchant ships, they look very scary, and it feels like only one Datang steam gunboat is needed to defeat all the surface forces of Aden City, and Datang's fleet has nearly 100 ships, which is really a force to be reckoned with."

The messenger said.

Osman thought for a moment and said, "Steam gunboats, artillery, iron cars, these are all things I have never seen before, since it is in the port of Aden City, you might as well take a look, what do you think?" ”

"No, General, it's too dangerous, and if you are recognized, it will be bad."

One of his subordinates hurriedly spoke up against it.

Osman smiled: "What are you afraid of, as long as you change your appearance a little, you shouldn't be recognized, I only took ten people into the city, pretending to be merchants, it shouldn't attract the attention of others, okay, that's it, you guys prepare quickly." ”

As the commander of the whole army, Osman planned to leave his soldiers and horses, take a small number of guards by himself, and enter the city of Aden disguised as a merchant, but his purpose was to take a look at the brand-new weapons of the Tang Dynasty, which seemed too incredible to others, but Osman was so curious and so capricious.

At the moment when Osman learned that the Tang fleet had entered the port of Aden, another spy also arrived at Ziyard's camp, but he did not see Ziyad himself, only the lieutenant general beside Qiyad.

"The Lord will not be in the camp for a while, what has happened?"

Ziyad's lieutenant asked.

The soldiers who reported the news used to report directly to Qi Yade, but Qi Yade is not in the barracks now, and the information he wants to report is not a secret, and there is no need to hide it, so he boldly reported: "General, the Tang soldiers and horses have entered the city of Aden." ”

"What, the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses have entered the city of Aden, when did it happen, and why did you report it now?"

The lieutenant was furious.

In his consciousness, the Tang Dynasty was in the far east, why did he suddenly enter the city of Aden? This is very strange, in addition, if the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses want to break the city, they will have to attack for a few days! How do you say that you enter and you enter? How could progress be so fast.

"Just half an hour ago, the Datang fleet arrived at the port of Aden City, after firing artillery to destroy the two large defense towers, the city lord Artik personally welcomed the Datang fleet into the port, and now the Datang soldiers and horses are stationed on a high ground next to the port, it can be said that they completely control the port of Aden City, but they did not march into the city, but set up camp."

The soldier said.

"There is such a thing, we have been deployed here for so long, and we have not been able to obtain Aden City, and the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses have just arrived here, and they have occupied Aden City, which is too hateful."

The lieutenant general was very angry, which can also be said to be unconvinced.

"General, the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses are amazing, they are really powerful, their steam ships are tall and big, and they still emit black smoke and make a huge noise, it's terrible, they also have iron cars, iron cars that can move on their own, soldiers are hiding inside, and swords can't hurt them."

The soldier said.

The adjutant general spoke: "This is not a trivial matter, I must report to Khorasan immediately, you return to the city of Aden quickly, and report any situation immediately." ”

Obviously, the sudden arrival of the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses frightened the Osmans, and also frightened the adjutant general of Qiyad, who made the decision to go to the city of Aden to see it in person, and the deputy general of Qiyad immediately sent someone back to Khorasan to tell Qiyad about the matter.

At this time, the situation in Khorasan was also changing drastically, due to Apos's preference, Mansur was becoming more and more advantageous, and Abdullah's situation became more and more embarrassing, and even had to make a decision to rebel to avoid further weakening.

However, it is not an easy task to raise troops, it requires careful arrangements, and the secrecy measures must be very in place, otherwise it will fall into failure.

However, the premise of raising troops is to mobilize troops and horses, and to put all kinds of weapons and equipment into the hands of each soldier, and to carry out various war mobilizations, and tell the soldiers that they are going to fight, this process is difficult to keep secret, especially the scale of the 100,000-strong army, it is almost impossible to escape the eyes of others.

In this way, it is necessary to do a good job of camouflage step by step, such as making others think that they are normal military training, or that they are ready to fight foreign enemies.

However, even so, it may not be possible to hide it from the other party, it depends on whether what you do is really true, or whether the other party is stupid.

Soon, Abdullah's cronies spread rumors in Khorasan that the northern city was besieged by rebels, of course, under the resistance of Abdullah's troops and horses, the city had not yet been breached, but if the reinforcements did not come to the rescue, then it was a matter of time before the city was breached.

Immediately after that, Abdullah personally went to meet Apos, preparing to personally lead his troops and horses to the north to quell the rebellion on the grounds of the unstable situation in the north, so as to maintain the hard-won territory.

"Great caliph, the Shiite forces in the north have launched an attack on several cities in the north, my subordinates are struggling to hold on, the situation is very critical, I must personally lead the troops and horses to the north to quell the rebellion, and I may not see the caliph for several days."

Abdullah spoke.

"Is it true that there is unrest in the north?"

Apos had some doubts in his heart.

Abdullah spoke: "Great caliph, of course this is true, my subordinates sent urgent letters for help overnight, asking me to send troops and horses to help. ”

After saying that, he handed over the letter forged a few days ago and handed it to Apos.

Apos glanced at it, but couldn't find any problems, and nodded, which can be regarded as approval.

"When does Uncle plan to take troops to the north to quell the rebellion?"

Apos asked earnestly, and looked Abdullah into the eye.

Abdullah hurriedly said: "Saving the army is like fighting a fire, of course, the sooner the better, the army is ready for one day, mobilization is one day, departure is one day, at most three days can leave Khorasan, within ten days can reach the northern city, half a month will definitely be able to exterminate the Shiite armed forces." ”