Outside the camp of the Tang army stood a young Taoist priest, about twenty-seven or eighteen years old, with a broad forehead and bright eyes, dressed in a white Taoist robe, wearing a Taoist crown, holding a whisk in his hand, and his expression was very calm.

Several Tang soldiers guarding the camp gate looked at him in surprise, if it was the Central Plains, this kind of Taoist priest would be all over the street, but this is the Eastern Cao Kingdom thousands of miles away from Chang'an, and even the Han people can't see one, let alone a Taoist priest.

At this time, the Tang Army's barracks began to send out orders, ready to pull out the camp and return, the barracks were busy, Li Qing'an walked out under the escort of more than a dozen personal soldiers, the young Taoist priest seemed to know Li Qing'an, he brushed the dust, and immediately stepped forward to salute: "Immeasurable Tianzun, Xiaodao Li Mi has seen General Li." ”

'Li Mi? ’

Li Qingan was a little stunned, which Li Yu? He looked the Taoist priest up and down, only to feel that his eyebrows and eyes were a little familiar, so he asked, "Have you ever been a court official?" ”

"Poor Dao once worked in the East Palace, and he saw General Li in the East Palace."

"So it's you?"

Li Qing'an suddenly remembered that he had indeed seen this person in the East Palace, it was the East Palace Hanlin worship of the crown prince Li Heng, Li Qing'an's attitude immediately became enthusiastic, and he smiled: "It turned out to be an old man, and he can meet an old man in another country, this is one of the four joys in life, please talk in the tent." ”

Li Qing'an enthusiastically invited Li Mi into the big tent, sat down in the big tent, and ordered his soldiers to pour two cups of tea, and then said with a smile: "Sir, the good East Palace official is not appropriate, how can he become a monk?" ”

Li Mi took a sip of hot tea and sighed: "Yang Guozhong did not tolerate me, and slandered the saint several times, saying that I misled the former prince, and the saint exempted me from the post of worship, so I became a monk, traveled all over the world, and came to the general today." ”

Li Miqi, Li Qing'an also knows a little, known as the cloth cloth in history, after four generations of emperors in the Tang Dynasty, several times monks, and several times into the dynasty, once saved the Tang Dynasty in danger, into the devouring of heaven and earth, retreat like idle clouds and wild cranes, just such a master, actually traveled to himself, you know, Tang Seng has not been so far to learn the scriptures, he is not under the Zhongnan Mountain to practice, run to himself, will it be a cloud travel?

Li Qing'an didn't break him, so he smiled and said, "What does Mr. think of the style of the Western Regions?" ”

"Exotic, but a little more violent, making it difficult to take a closer look."

Li Mi sighed softly, and smiled at Li Qing'an: "I entered the barracks just now, and I saw that the soldiers were packing up, but they were going back to Shiguo?" ”

"Did you hear anything, sir?"

"I heard that the Great Food Army had occupied Talas City and that the rear of the Tang Army was in crisis, so the general had to withdraw, but so?"

Li Mi's words were a bit straightforward, to be precise, a little mean, Li Qingan's face sank at that time, and he said lightly: "Does Mr. have any high opinions?" ”

Speaking of advice, Li Qingan did not have the slightest intention of asking for advice, Li Mi's interests in history are true, but it must be an understanding and familiarity with the situation before he has the right to speak, he first arrived in the Western Regions, he may not even have seen the shadow of the Great Food Army, and what qualifications do he have to point fingers at the Western Regions Campaign, he slowly drank tea, wanting to hear what 'high opinions' this Li Mi has, if he really talks about the situation in the Western Regions, needless to say, a teacup is covered, and the guests are sent off!

Li Mi didn't seem to see Li Qing'an's face, he shook off the dust, and said unhurriedly: "Poor Dao just now, in the Central Plains, what opinion do you have about the situation in the Western Regions, I said that the general wants to withdraw the army, and I also learned from the little prince who crossed the river with me, but it ....."

Li Yu's self-humility made Li Qingan feel a little good for him, so he nodded and smiled: "But what, sir, please continue." ”

"However, the big food sneak attack on Talas City is still an open gun, but the general has to guard against the hidden arrows of the imperial court, the open guns are easy to dodge, and the hidden arrows are difficult to prevent!"

Li Qingan's eyes couldn't help narrowing, and he said, "What kind of dark arrow, can Mr. explain a little bit?" ”

"I want to ask the general, how many troops does the general have now?"

"This...."Li Qingan thought for a while and said, "There are about 100,000 troops!" ”

"100,000 troops, has the general ever thought that among the major jiedu envoys of my Datang, which one of the major jiedu envoys can surpass Anxi? But the strength of the force is not the most important issue. ”

"Sir, please go on, what is the most important thing?"

Li Mi looked into Li Qing'an's eyes, and said word by word: "The important thing is that the general no longer needs the imperial court to provide support, an army of 100,000 people can actually achieve food self-sufficiency, has the general thought about it, what will the saint think?" ”

"What can the Holy Lord think about to reduce the burden on the court, why not?" Li Qingan smiled slightly.

It is true that Li Mi is a celebrity in history, but how much has history changed because of his Li Qing'an's intrusion? The crown prince Li Heng has not been deposed in history, but now that he has been deposed, what about Li Yu? He is no longer the Hanlin worship of the East Palace, according to what he said, he was exempted from Yang Guozhong's slander, but what is the truth, he Li Qingan doesn't know, if Li Mi has taken refuge in Yang Guozhong, is he here to trick him? Will he treat this Li Mi with sincerity just because he is a historical celebrity?

Li Mi suddenly realized something, he didn't speak for a long time, and finally said with a wry smile: "All the way through the ups and downs, from summer to autumn, the general gave me a 'why not'?" ”

"Is that gentleman really here to wander around?"

There was silence in the big tent, and after a while, Li Mi sighed, took out a letter from his body, put it in front of Li Qing'an, and said, "This is a letter of recommendation written to me by the former prince, recommending me to serve here as a general." ”

Li Qing'an took the letter, opened it and looked at it, it was indeed Li Heng's handwriting, written two months ago, the meaning of the letter was very simple, Yang Guozhong began to purge the middle and lower-level officials in the East Palace, Li Mi is a rare talent, I hope Li Qing'an can use him well, Li Qing'an read the letter, glanced at Li Mi, and suddenly smiled: "Isn't it okay for Mr. to take it out earlier?" I really thought that Mr. was here to travel and aspire to promote the Taoism of my Datang in the Hezhong area! ”

He reached out and picked up Li Mi's luggage, turned back to his own soldiers, and ordered, "Go and prepare a tent for Mr. and wait for bathing and washing." ”

Li Mi was stunned, "Isn't the Tang Army going to withdraw to the Shi Kingdom?" ”

Li Qingan waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's true to withdraw to Shiguo, but not everyone will go at the same time, but in batches, sir, go to rest and set off with me tomorrow." ”

．．．．．．． Due to the defeat of the Tang army at Talas, the Tang army began to withdraw its troops to Shiguo in a late autumn rain and fog. The Muslims also began to increase their troops to Talas, the first reinforcements of 15,000 Khorasan soldiers marched north along the west bank of the Syr Darya River, and the second group of about 40,000 Sogdian soldiers began to assemble, and will march to Talas in a few days, nearly 10,000 camels loaded with military supplies of the Great Food Army, and marched towards the city of Talas.

With the assembly of the Great Food Army in Talas, the Tang Army also began to assemble in Tuozhi City, except for the 10,000 Tang troops who stayed in the area of Boxi Mountain Silver City to transport silver, the rest of the Tang Army all returned to Tuozhi City, in addition, Li Qing'an ordered the 15,000 Tianwei Army left in Beiting to march to Broken Leaves, and at the same time, the 15,000 Tang Army left behind in Broken Leaves also rushed to Shiguo under the leadership of Duan Xiushi.

At this point, including the 20,000 troops of Shi Guo, the Tang army's assembly in Tuozhi City has reached 70,000 people, and Shi Guo and Ning Yuan have also begun to fully mobilize, they have taken out almost all the food and materials to support the Tang army, and a large number of craftsmen and manpower have been requisitioned.

History has a striking similarity here, in the battle of Talas in history, the Tang army was also 70,000 people, the difference is that the Tang army did not trek 700 miles and set off from Broken Leaves, but went directly north from Shiguo Tuozhi City.

In early October, the Tang army of 50,000 troops arrived in the steppe thirty miles south of the city of Talas, where they set up camp.

．．．．．． A strange song wafted through the royal palace of Damascus: 'The palace of gold and ivory is inhabited by valiant kings, thousands of lands, thousands of slaves, and the most beautiful women come from all over the land, and bow down at the feet of the great caliph and give their virginity willingly.......'

In the strange singing, Princess Kulan was led by more than a dozen guards and slowly walked into this magnificent palace.

On a throne carved out of gold and ivory, Abbasid squinted at the Eye of Light, a strange ruby that shimmered like a flame in the bright light, as if there was a black world in the gem.

This is the eye of light, one of the four sacred relics of Zoroastria in Persia, Abbasid only looked at it a few times, his curiosity was satisfied, and his interest gradually faded, on the contrary, standing in His Highness this beautiful woman in white made him interested, I heard that she was one of the twelve holy women of the temple of Samarkand, and I heard that she was also the princess of Tashkent.

"What's your name?" Abbasid asked gently.

Kulan's face was cold, and he didn't say a word, and Mansur next to him glared at her angrily, and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty the Caliph, her name is Eli. Julan, the daughter of King Shi Guozheng, is twenty years old this year. ”

"Kulan!

Abbasid stepped down from the golden throne, looked around Kulan carefully, nodded and smiled: "The name is very beautiful, and the person is also very beautiful. ”

He suddenly raised his voice and said, "Since I am the caliph of the Abbasid Empire, according to the principle of geographical balance, I will marry a noble daughter in Egypt, Spain, Persia, Armenia, Sindh and Sogdia as a concubine. ”

The strange song sounded again: 'There are thousands of women in the caliph, all of them beautiful and bewitching, who has a chance to gain his favor?' Listen! His soulful voice is ringing, and happiness is about to come to you......

"You're dreaming!"

Kulan's voice was resolute and decisive, interrupting the bewitching singing: "Even if I die, I will never marry you." ”

"Bold!"

Al-Mansur angrily rebuked her, "How noble is Your Majesty the Caliph, is you worthy of marrying Your Majesty the Caliph if you are a woman of a foreign race from a small country?" This is not only your glory, but also the glory of you Sogdians, be grateful! ”

Abbasid waved his hand to stop Mansour's roar, he looked at Kulan and said with a faint smile: "Don't think that I have a crush on you, the world is so big, there is no woman I can look at, this is because I am the lord of the river, I must marry a Sogdian woman to maintain the balance of the empire, think about it!" I am sure that you will accept this glory, and besides, I will never marry a pagan, and you must convert to Islam before I marry you. ”

Julan sneered and said, "You are delusional, I am the Holy Maiden of Light, how could I betray the Lord God of Ahuramaz and believe in your religion." ”

"It's up to you."

Abbasid waved his hand lightly and said, "Take her into the inner palace and take good care of her!" ”

When a few palace maids came up and wanted to take Kulan down, Abbasid stopped her again and said with a slight smile: "From now on, I will execute a hundred Sogdian Christians every day, and if you don't agree for ten days, I will execute a thousand, and if you don't agree for a year, I will execute thirty-six thousand, until you agree." ”

'The anger of the caliph makes the earth tremble, and the sky weeps, listen! The cry of sorrow is praying to you, repent! Ignorant woman, darkness is coming. ’

In the intermittent and beering singing, Kulan walked towards the depths of the palace without looking back.

．．．．．．．．．． The dark clouds hung low, the north wind was howling, on a vast plain, the rumbling war drums were beating, and the 10,000 Syrian infantry regiments were slowly approaching the Tang army positions with huge shields and spears in their hands, and the dense shields tightly covered the soldiers' bodies, at this time, the bows and arrows of the Tang army did not work, and not far behind the infantry, there were 20,000 Syrian cavalry, their Damascus scimitars, spears in their hands, riding majestic Arab horses, closely following the infantry corps.

This was the first offensive launched by the Syrian army against the Don army. The Muslims led tens of thousands of troops to prepare for the battle, and on the opposite side, 50,000 Tang troops were ready to be arranged, and infantry, cavalry, crossbowmen, and Modao troops were lined up in turn.

Li Qing'an stared coldly at the approach of the Syrian infantry corps, which was already only three hundred paces away, and he waved his sword and ordered: "The First Cavalry Guard is facing the battle!" ”

Like an iceberg cracking, the 10,000 cavalry on the left flank, led by the general Lifei Yuanli, swooped down on the Syrian infantry.

The sound of horses' hooves was like thunder, the war knife was waving, the tip of the spear flashed cold light in the air, swept away like a storm, and rushed into the infantry camp in an instant, the Tang cavalry was like a violent beast, rampaging in the infantry battalion, the war knife slashed, the blood sprayed like an arrow, the Nanjiyun spear danced, like a pear blossom flying, straight through a bloody road, and the corpses were lying beside him.

At the same time that the cavalry of the Tang Army rushed into the barracks, the second and third cavalry guards of the Tang Army and the two corps of the Syrian Army launched together, and against the cavalry, the Tang cavalry used bows and crossbows.

However, the war horses of the Syrian army were extremely fast, and a few charges entered the cavalry of the Tang army, and the cavalry of the two armies launched a bloody battle in the vast plain.

At this time, Abu. Seeing that the bows and arrows of the Tang army were no longer powerful, the Muslims sneered and shouted: "The Macedonian phalanx is out for battle!" ”

A low trumpet sounded in the field, and the Macedonian regiment of the Great Food Army went into battle, which was a standard Macedonian heavy infantry, consisting of eight thousand one hundred and ninety-two men, a platoon of sixty-four armored soldiers, one hundred and twenty-eight men into a company, two hundred and fifty-six men into a battalion, one thousand and twenty-four men into a regiment, four thousand and ninety-six men into a division, and a division formed a phalanx, but the Macedonian phalanx of the Great Food Army was all composed of two divisions of heavy infantry, without light shields and cavalry, Instead, three separate cavalry corps maintained the flanks and rear.

The two phalanxes are like two huge carpets, undulating on the plain, each heavy infantry holds a round shield in one hand, and a four-zhang spear in the other hand, which is an infantry force trained by the general Qiyad in Khorasan for more than half a year, originally intended to be used to deal with the Egyptian cavalry of the Umayyad Dynasty, but did not expect that the final opponent was the Tang army.

The Macedonian phalanx ran forward in a solid and dense formation, like a battering ram violently attacking the positions of the Don army.

"Mo Dao Army!"

Commander Li Qing'an gave an order, the war drums of the Tang army were like thunder, resounding through the sky, and five thousand Mo Dao troops went into battle, this is the heavy infantry of the Tang Army of Anxi and Beiting, Mo Dao General Li Siye slashed his long knife and shouted: "Sons, let the big cannibals see the power of the Tang Army's heavy infantry!" ”

Five thousand Tang army Mo sword soldiers lined up like a wall, step by step, the footsteps are as steady as Mount Tai, murderous, facing the rushing Macedonian phalanx to kill, the two heavy infantry collided in an instant, like two stormy waves colliding in the storm, Mo knife split into a bloody road, the spear crashed through the iron wall, the incomparably strong Mo knife army iron wall advanced layer by layer, Mo knife waved, the sharp blade split the defense of the Macedonian phalanx, the head flew sideways, the limbs were everywhere, and the spears were cut off under the snowy blade, But the strong impact of the phalanx also continued to overturn the Modao soldiers, one group of soldiers fell, another group of soldiers immediately replenished, the two heavy infantry were wrapped together, and the killing was inextricable, the Tang cavalry also discovered the weakness of the Macedonian phalanx, and attacked from both sides, but the big food cavalry guarded the two wings to the death, and after several shocks, the Tang army was never able to break through the dense defensive cavalry.

Looking from the sky, on the long front, the Tang army and the Great Food Army fought together, the bloody battle of the cavalry, the wanton impact of the Tang cavalry in the infantry formation, and the fierce battle of the heavy infantry.

At this moment, snowflakes drifted in the sky, and the first snow of Tianbao's ten years quietly came, and the snow became denser and denser, like countless goose feathers flying in the sky, gradually, dyeing the two armies white.

(To be continued)