In the early morning of May 11 in the eighth year of Tianbao, thick clouds covered Tuozhi City, the capital of Shiguo.

The inky sky heralds an early summer thunderstorm, which will rush down and sweep the world in an instant.

More than 1,000 miles southwest of Tuozhi City, on the west bank of the Wuhu River, in the military camp that stretches for several miles, the neighing of war horses, the low snoring of camels, and the shouts of the Khorasan cavalry to clean up their tents are mixed together, alarming countless waterfowl perched on the riverside.

In the barracks, cowhide tents were like withered wildflowers, withered in the hands of the Khorasan cavalry into a bundle of sturdy packages, and then hung on the sides of the camel doublets.

In the middle of the barracks, there is a gorgeous and unusually large tent, and when the rest of the tents are demolished, it is still like a silent giant beast, looking straight at the rising sun in the east.

In the distance of the barracks, a straight avenue crosses the wide Wuhu River and leads to the far east, leading to the place where the sun rises.

Many of the young Khorasan cavalrymen who had come to the banks of the Wuhu River for the first time were talking about the smooth road as they worked. I want to find out where the road that stretches below the horizon will end.

The battle-hardened Captain Abeni neatly cleaned up the clutter on the ground, apparently dismissive of the young soldiers' discussions.

Later, when he saw that the young cavalry had delayed the task at hand, Al-Abeni taught him a serious lesson: "O young warriors, have you never heard of the famous Khorasan Highway, which runs from Baghdad in the west to Hamadan, Mulu, Amul and Bukhara, and is the famous Khorasan Highway?" ”

"Dear Captain Abenny, of course we have heard of the Khorasan Avenue, but we know nothing where its eastern end is." A young Khorasan cavalryman shook his head blankly and replied respectfully.

Albenny had never expected his men to be so knowledge-poor, and he stared at the young faces in front of him, and suddenly realized that the Imperial army had not crossed the Wuhu River for a long time......

After a moment of stunned thought, Ebeni put down his work, looked to the east, and said: "The Khorasan Highway is as long as the Tigris and Euphrates, and it was originally just a dirt path that caravans walked step by step between east and west. It was through this trail that silk, which was gentler than a woman's skin, was transported from the mysterious East to the Far West. After the rise of the empire, although the territory has spread more than 10,000 miles, including Spain, Egypt and other places, the caliphs have always been full of curiosity about the origin of silk. Allah also encourages us to shine Allah's will on the land of the East with the sword in our hands. Thus, from the Umayyad family, the empire continued to recruit prisoners and infidels to smooth and widen this trade route to the east in preparation for the eastward march of the great army. ”

"Captain Ten, is the eastern end of the Khorasan Avenue the beautiful land of silk?" An anxious Khorasan cavalryman asked.

Albeni shook his head with a wry smile: "Silly fellow, if the caliph has already built the Great Road to the capital of the Silk Country, then how can you never cross the Wuhu River?" More than 20 years ago, the empire built the avenue to the capital of Kangguo, hundreds of miles away on the other side of the river, and the empire's troops finally crossed the Wuhu River. At that time, when the empire thought that it could sweep through the Sogdian country and use it as a base to continue its advance, it encountered 'Abu? Muzai'. ”

"Abu? Muzai? The top cow? What is this? A clever Khorasan cavalryman wondered.

"That's right, it's the bull topper!" Ebeni nodded, "At that time, the Sogdians followed a chieftain named Sulu and raised troops against the empire. ”

"Commander of the Ten, our Khorasan cavalry is so powerful, what kind of little chief should be the opponent of the empire." A humble subordinate said stupidly.

"Alas!" Ebenny shook his head and sighed, "That Sulu is very powerful. Within four years, he fought three wars with the Empire, and Shengsheng put the Empire's army to the west of the Wuhu River. That's why the caliph gave him the nickname of the bull-bearer. It means that unexpectedly, someone was able to withstand the emperor ** team that charged up like a wild bull. Therefore, the eastern terminus of the Khorasan Avenue is the Sa Mo Jian. It is said that Sa Mo Jian is still a long way from the capital of the Silk Country, longer than the Tigris and Euphrates rivers combined. ”

"Captain Ten, you probably didn't participate in the battle back then, how could you understand it so clearly." A clever subordinate asked suspiciously.

Albeni sighed and was silent for a moment before he said, "My father was conscripted to fight against the army of the Sulu chieftain on the banks of the Wuhu River, and finally died here. ”

Ebeni's words stunned the originally enthusiastic Khorasan cavalry. Since joining the army, they have never suffered defeat, and they always feel that death is an extremely distant thing, even more distant than the silk country in the east. But the words of the Tenth Commander made their hearts chill, and the originally pleasant sound of the river water became extremely terrifying in their ears.

"Captain Ten, how have I heard that there are several thousand-man regiments that crossed the Wuhu River a few years ago and operated in the Sogdian region." A well-informed Khorasan cavalry questioned.

Aibeni glared at his subordinates before he spoke: "The Emperor's ** team fought hard several times, but failed to defeat Sulu, so they have not crossed the Wuhu River for more than ten years. Later, it seems that Sulu clashed with the Tang army, was repeatedly defeated, angry and annoyed, and died of serious illness. After his death, the Sogdians lost their backbone and gradually began to accept the imperial army. ”

"I see!" Many Khorasan cavalry nodded their heads again and again, admiring the Ten's knowledge.

"Captain Ten, what is the relationship between Sulu and the Land of Silk? Compared with the army of Sulu and the Tang army, which is stronger and weaker? The clever subordinate heard something more from Ebenny's words.

"I don't know about this, but I feel that Sulu should be attached to the land of silk. As for the combat effectiveness of the Don Army, you may not know that last fall, the Don Army completely wiped out the state established by Sulu ......"

"Ahh The anxious Khorasan cavalry cried out in shock: "Aren't we going to fight directly with the powerful Tang army when we advance eastward this time?" ”

"Shh The well-informed man said in a low voice: "I heard that a few months ago, General Qi Yad sent a team of 100 people to infiltrate the Tang army city to find out the news, but the whole army was wiped out. ”

When everyone heard this, their faces became even colder, and the timid ones even began to tremble slightly.

"What nonsense!" Albeni rebuked angrily and kicked the well-informed man hard: "Raise your dog's eyes and look at the big tent in the middle of the camp!" The Governor is inside! With a resourceful governor, when have our warriors of Khorasan been defeated! ”

A few of the Khorasan cavalry under Ebeni looked up at the middle of the camp, and the hesitation and fear in their eyes were swept away, and their eyes were filled with fanatical confidence and incomparable courage. Yes, with the Governor here, what kind of enemy is impossible to defeat?

While Ebenny and his ten-man squad continued to pack up the tent, the large tent in the middle of the camp was full of colourful and brilliant gold and silver vessels inlaid with various precious stones and intricately woven tapestries.

The mellow fragrance of ambergris, cinnamon, benzoin and other precious spices blended together, and the endless dark fragrance on the body of the brightly dressed and enchanting maid stirred together, which made all the normal men who stepped into the big tent fascinated.

The mighty beard of the mighty mane of Khorasan, Abu? Muslim, standing in the middle of a large tent filled with fragrance, had no time to distract himself from admiring the beauty of the maids. He stared intently at the piece of paper in his hand, turning over and over again, as if there was a more intoxicating treasure in it than a drunken beauty.

In front of him, a panting Ziyad fell to his knees and kissed the governor Abu reverently? The toe of Muslim's shoes.

"Lost a hundred-man team in exchange for five thousand Tuqi Shiren, Qi Yad, did you say that you made or lost this deal?" Abu? Muslim lifted his toes slightly, motioning for Ziyad to stand up.

"My subordinates don't know!" Ziyad hurriedly stood up and cautiously replied.

"If you can use these 5,000 horsemen to exchange for the heads of Gao Xianzhi and Wang Zhengjian, it will be earned; If you have 5,000 servant troops, but you can't repel the Tang army, you will lose it. "Abu? Muslim muttered to himself.

"With the governor here, we will definitely be able to defeat the Tang army!" Ziad said hurriedly.

"It's not easy!" Abu? Mu Slim shook his head and said, "Last year, I didn't intercept the little princess Anice, but it actually triggered a westward expedition of 100,000 Tang troops, which was somewhat beyond my expectations. Datang's attack this time was precisely at the critical moment when our army and the Umayyad family were in the midst of a bitter battle, and their intentions were very vicious. If it were not for civil war, we could easily levy between 250,000 and 300,000 troops from Khorasan, Tocharian and Sogdia. At this moment, I calculated, at most, I can only gather 180,000 troops, and my strength has been greatly reduced. Among the Tang Army, there are people who know us very well! ”

Ziyad bowed his head respectfully, listened to the governor's teachings, and did not dare to interject in the slightest.

"Ziyad, do you know that as soon as I received the news from you, I left camp and left Baghdad on the same day. At the moment, some people are hating me so much that their teeth are itching! "Abu? Muslim said with a smile, as if he was saying something that had nothing to do with him.

"Your Excellency Abbasid should know that Khorasan is the foundation of our army, and will not question the decision of the governor!" Ziyad asked, confused.

"His Excellency Abbasid, of course, understands that if he wants to overthrow the Umayyad and sit on the throne of the caliphate, he cannot do without the support of our Persians." Abu? "However, Mansour has always despised us. He didn't think I should have gone back to Khorasan when I had just taken Baghdad and the situation was good. ”

"Our army has taken Baghdad!" Ziyad said in ecstasy. He understood that once Baghdad was taken, Damascus would not be far off.