The cannibals paid the price for their carelessness, Ziad thought that it was impossible for the Tang army to cross the river from the western section of the Syr Darya River, because that section of the river was too wide and the current was too fast, in fact, the Tang army did not cross the river there, but only built boats by the river, and then sailed the boats along the river bank to the confluence of the two rivers, and then transported Li Sheng's 3,000 elite cavalry to the other side of the Chilchik River. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

There was chaos in the camp, the Tang army took advantage of the situation to cover up, the Great Food Army could not organize an effective defense at all, if a small group of people lined up in a military formation, it was quickly dispersed by the Tang cavalry, and the fleeing Great Food Army could only scatter and escape, and the Tang Army followed behind and kept chasing and killing.

At the moment when the army was dispersed by the Tang army, Ziad and others realized that the defeat was decided, and no one was able to return to the sky, Ziad was escorted by hundreds of personal cavalry and fled, Said and Daoud and more than 5,000 people were captured, the rest were killed, and the Tang army captured 1,600 horses, weapons and baggage.

Zhao Ziliang was overjoyed when he received the battle report from the front, and ordered Li Sheng, leaving Said and Daoud, executing all the other prisoners, and at the same time ordering the craftsmen to build pontoon bridges for days.

After the whole army rested for two days, on the fifth day of the seventh month, Zhao Ziliang continued to join the division to cross the medicine and kill water into the territory of Cao, Cao was divided into East Cao and West Cao, East Cao was in the northeast of Kangguo, and West Cao was in the northwest of Kang, the military strength of the Great Food Army in East Cao was extremely weak, only two thousand cavalry, the Tang army had not yet arrived in the capital of West Cao, these two thousand Great Food Cavalry fled in the direction of Kang, and the Tang army captured West Cao without much effort.

On the ninth day of the seventh month, Zhao Ziliang sent a partial division under the command of Cao Lingzhong, commanding 10,000 Anxi cavalry and 10,000 infantry to advance in the direction of Xicao.

The distance from the capital of Xicao to Dongcao is farther than the distance from the capital of Kangguo to Dongcao, and if there are two to go west from Kangguo, the first road is to pass through the capital of Xicao Sedichen City, and the second road is to go south to go to the country of rice and history, and then turn to the west to go to Anguo, if the Tang army captures Xicao, it is equivalent to cutting off a road for the return of the Great Food Army.

Cao Lingzhong led the troops first, and when Zhao Ziliang led the main army before arriving in Kangguo to build a city, Cao Lingzhong sent someone to report that the Great Food Army of West Cao Sedichen City was pitiful, and the city was not high, and he only took one day to capture Sedichen City, which is also the reason why the Great Food Army marched so fast, the cities of the Western Regions were not built high, and they were not very thick, and they could not withstand the attack of the army at all.

Knowing that Cao Lingzhong had captured the city of Sedichen, Zhao Ziliang was very happy, and immediately ordered the whole army to increase the speed of the march and go straight to the capital of Kangguo, Samo, to build the city.

Kangguo, Samad Gandha, royal palace.

The floor of the palace was covered with polished slates, the pillars and walls were covered with very fine carved frescoes, and behind the throne was a white embroidered screen, and Posilyn sat on the throne and listened to Ziyad report the details of the defeat.

After listening to Ziyad's report, coupled with the shadow in his heart in the past, and Bo Xilin had a deep fear and jealousy of Zhao Ziliang, he wanted to lead the army to evacuate Kang and retreat to Khorasan Province, but how to explain to the Abbasid Caliph when he went back like this? And he still has 10,000 elite cavalry and 10,000 infantry in his hands, plus during this period of time, some local Sogdian troops have been requisitioned from all over Sogdia, with a total strength of 30,000 people, and he has also mobilized from all over Sogdia that can feed 30,000 troops for a year, the city wall has been completed, and it has been widened and reinforced, and the height has reached three zhang, and the thickness is one zhang and five. He was not driven back by the Tang army like this, so he decided to defend the city of Sa Mo.

After careful consideration, and Bo Xilin said to Ziade: "This defeat is not your responsibility, Zhao Ziliang is not easy to mess with, plus the strength of the Tang Army, it is normal for you to not be able to beat him, I have decided to defend the city of Sa Mo, since you have returned, go and do one thing for me, control all the old and weak in the city, and recruit all the men over the age of sixteen in the city to help defend the city, if they dare not work hard, kill those old and weak!" ”

Ziad said: "Your Excellency, I don't agree with the construction of the city of Samad to the death, although the north and south directions of Samad Gandharon are blocked by the Zeravshan River (called Nami Water in the Tang Dynasty) and its tributaries, but this can't stop the Tang army at all, if we shrink our forces to defend the city, the Tang army can surround us and send troops to control the bridge on the south of the Zeravshan tributary, once there is a problem with the city defense, we can't break through at all, and now we still have 10,000 elite cavalry and 10,000 infantry in our hands, We have every strength and possibility to defeat the Don Army in the wild! Defending the city can only tie your hands and feet! ”

And Bo Silin sighed: "I don't know what you said? But what are our chances of winning in a field battle with the Don Army? Although these 10,000 cavalry are elite, they are all light cavalry, the infantry is used to siege and defend the city, and the field ability is not good at all, and the other 10,000 Sogdian troops are even more unbearable, you have fought with Zhao Ziliang several times in a row, you should have a certain understanding of him, this person's ability to command troops is very strong, and his command ability is the strongest person I have seen in my life, I really have no confidence in field battles with him, if these 30,000 people are elite cavalry, I have the confidence to fight with Zhao Ziliang in the field, but".

And Bo Xilin did not continue, but the meaning was already obvious, nine times out of ten the field battle would be a fiasco, knowing that it would be a fiasco, he still dragged the army out to die? It's not stupidity, it's madness!

Ziyad was silent for a moment, then looked up and said to Heposilin: "Your Excellency the Governor, since this is the case, then why don't we withdraw our troops and return to Khorasan?" What's the point of staying here? ”

And Posilyn looked at Ziyad, shook his head and sighed: "The caliph has always been jealous of me and wants to seize my military power, but there has been no good excuse or reason, if we return home in such a miserable defeat, I am afraid that the caliph will soon come to take my military power and escort me back to Anbar (the first capital of the Abbasid dynasty) for trial!" So even if I want to go back, I can't go back like this! ”

Ziad said anxiously: "Your Excellency the Governor, but this city is militarily dead, after the Tang army besieges the city, it will inevitably occupy the bridge to the south, even if we want to break through, we can't break through, we can only be trapped here!" ”

And Bo Xilin shook his head and said: "You can rest assured about this, Lord Ben has already arranged it, if it really comes to the point where I can't hold it, I will have a way to escape, and at that time it will be safer for us to return alone than to return with an army of 20,000 now!" ”

Ziad was puzzled and asked, "Why is that?" ”

And Bosilin said: "Because the caliph is jealous of the military power in my hands!" Do you know why I asked the Caliph to lead the crusade in the first place? Because at that time, the caliph had already begun to be jealous of the military power in my hands, and now the number of troops left in Khorasan Province is less than 10,000, if we return alone, the troops I can mobilize will not be enough to threaten the caliph's throne, of course, the caliph will no longer be afraid of me, it doesn't matter to him whether he kills me or not, he can still keep me to deter other disobedient tribes, but if we go back with 20,000 troops, I will die, Ziyad, do you understand! ”

Ziyad's face suddenly turned pale when he heard and Posilin say this dirty thing, and this suspicion from the caliph was even more terrible than facing the attack of the Tang army head-on.

Ziad thought of the 20,000 troops, and bowed down to Bosilyn and cried: "Your Excellency, do you have to do this?" If the caliph is afraid of the power of the army, the lord can disband the 20,000 men and let them go home, why do we have to stay here and wait for death? They are all the people and believers of Allah, and they also fight for the north and south for the adults, so they should not die like this! ”

And Bo Silin shook his head and said: "It's useless, these 20,000 people are all elite soldiers who have been trained, and they can also be conscripted into the army after they go back, do you think the caliph will not know the situation in Khorasan Province?" He had already sent someone to keep an eye on my movements in Khorasan Province! Ziade, it's not that I'm greedy for life and afraid of death, I really have some hope to hold here, the city wall here has been reinforced, you should be able to see it when you enter the city, and this city has enough military food for 30,000 troops to eat for a year, we now have 30,000 people, plus about 30,000 men in the city, there are also 60,000 people who can defend the city, it will not be much less than the Tang army, as long as we survive a few months, the Tang army is tired and has no food and grass, they will definitely retreat! ”

Seeing that he could not persuade him, Ziad could only sigh and turn to carry out his orders.

Before the arrival of the Tang army, Ziad sent troops to control nearly 20,000 old and weak women and children in the city of Sa Mojian, and used them as bargaining chips to threaten their husbands, sons or fathers, so that they could pick up weapons to help defend the city against the attack of the Tang army.

On July 15, the main force of the Tang army crossed the dense water and arrived at the city of Samo, and the Great Food Army shrank its forces and retreated in the city to defend it strictly, and the Tang Army quickly controlled the bridge on the tributary of the Nami River under the order of Zhao Ziliang to prevent the Great Cannibal from breaking through and escaping southward.

After the Tang army surrounded the city and built the city, they set up a camp and built the wall of the camp to be strong, which was not conducive to the big cannibals to send cavalry out of the city to attack the camp, under the order of Zhao Ziliang, sent an army to cut down trees and ordered craftsmen to build large siege equipment day and night. (To be continued.) )