Xue Rengui shouted: "Okay!"
His morale is available, which makes him a hundred times more confident: "Your Majesty has written to you many times, urging me to strictly guard the Western Region and not give the bandits the slightest opportunity. I have also issued military orders many times and will never betray your Majesty's trust! We all have He is the most elite warrior in the empire. He has been entrusted with an important task by His Majesty and is entrusted by the Western Region. He will serve to the death and never back down!"
Hearing that His Majesty is paying special attention to the Western Regions, everyone was immediately pumped!
Everyone now knows that the Tang Dynasty’s national policy lies in the Eastern Expedition. His Majesty has been staring at the land of Goguryeo for more than ten years, dreaming of bringing Goguryeo into the territory. Soldiers all over the world will inevitably feel that they are being despised. Already...
Now I suddenly realize that His Majesty has always cared about the Western Regions, how can I not be excited?
This means that as long as you make meritorious deeds, your Majesty will not turn a blind eye, but will reward you generously!
Most of the people here are men from Guanzhong. Since ancient times, the people of Qin have joined the army for military merit. We can't do anything like studying, so we count on military merit to gain promotions and titles, and to make our wives and children!
"Don't worry, Xue Sima. As long as the thieves dare to covet the Western Region, we will stain the battlefield with blood. We will kill them one by one, two by two!"
"How dare you compete with our celestial dynasty for supremacy even though they are just eating barbarians?"
"Xue Sima, draw up a charter. The last general will take the lead and swear to defeat the Hulu!"
The generals and generals were excited and eager to fight.
Xue Rengui clenched his fist and said loudly: "Very good! This time the enemy invaders made a surprise attack thousands of miles away and hid all the way. They obviously did not want to fight head-on with me and have been avoiding the main force of our army. In this case, neither do we." What strategy needs to be formulated? The enemy invaders are huge, with tens of thousands of soldiers. However, our Anxi army is the elite of the empire. Each one is worth ten. No matter how many enemies there are, what is there to fear? Now that we have discovered the traces of the enemy invaders, we have rushed out in full force. , give him a head-on blow, and it will be decided in one go!”
It is impossible to divide the troops. The total number of the Anxi army is about 30,000, and there are more than 10,000 troops left to guard the Duhufu. The remaining Gongyue City is a large garrison city, controlling most of the Western Region, and there are more than 10,000 elite troops. The remaining Zhaosu, There are garrisons in Qiuci, Shule and other places, with a total of nearly 10,000 soldiers.
Now that the Arabs are heading north from Rehai, whether they attack Zhaosu or go straight to Gongyue City, it is already too late to mobilize the troops from Qiuchi and Shule. The only troops he can command are more than 10,000 troops from Gongyue City and Zhaosu City. , must not divide the troops, otherwise it will give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it, and they will be defeated one by one without any hesitation.
Simply concentrate your forces and fight the enemy head-on, without any fancy, to the death!
He has full confidence in the combat power of his soldiers and generals, and he is even more confident in the firearms equipped in his troops! The two armies faced each other in a head-to-head confrontation. He believed that as long as the Tang army's firearms were arrayed, with both wings intact and a continuous retreat, they would be enough to fight against an enemy ten times stronger than himself!
"Here!"
The generals agreed with a roar.
Later, Xue Rengui assigned detailed tasks one by one, then gathered the soldiers, equipped them with weapons, and inspected the firearms.
Two hours later, the Tang army stationed in Gongyue City came out in full force, and the sand and dust billowed straight towards Atami.
At the same time, Xue Rengui sent people to give orders to the defenders of Zhaosu City to abandon the city and join his own army. He also sent people to protect Li Xiaogong, the governor of Anxi, who was far away in Jiaohe City.
The barbarians and merchants in the city were all stunned. No one knew what happened. Why did all the Tang troops stationed here attack and go south directly?
There is probably a big battle to be fought.
Of course, even though there are only a few hundred Tang troops left in Gongyue City at this moment, no barbarian dares to take the opportunity to cause trouble. After all, the events in the Western Regions last year are a lesson learned from the past. Several countries united together and were bewitched by the Turks, intending to drive the Tang troops out of the Western Regions. As a result, when Li Ji's army arrived, the Turks were invincible and fled thousands of miles away. Only the armies of other countries could not escape. They were killed by the Tang army and their heads were rolling. Their blood stained the yellow sand and their corpses covered the valley.
Even those with ulterior motives had to wait for news of Tang Jun's failure to come back before they dared to make any other plans...
…
More than 10,000 warriors, all cavalry, galloped southward at lightning speed, crossing the sand dunes and raising billowing yellow sand with a menacing momentum.
All the reconnaissance cavalry and scouts came out and marched together dozens of miles in front of the army, not missing the slightest abnormality. Two hundred miles away from the city, they joined thousands of troops coming from Zhaosu City.
After traveling another two hundred miles, scouts came to report that traces of the Arab army were found more than a hundred miles ahead!
Xue Rengui and the generals around him were shocked and shouted loudly: "What is the direction of the enemy's army and how many soldiers are there?"
The scout replied: "The enemy is in the middle section of the Yili River, heading west along the river. Judging from their marching direction, they should be heading for Zhaosu City. Their number is huge, and it should be between 50,000 and 60,000 by visual inspection. The baggage is extremely heavy. Few, but not many cavalry.”
Xue Rengui unfolded the march map he carried and asked the scout to come closer and point out the current location of the enemy.
Nowadays, thanks to the huge investment of the Ministry of War, it has either placed detailed operations or bribed merchants in various parts of the world, and dispatched scribes trained by the Ministry who are proficient in arithmetic and surveying to various parts of the world to continuously draw detailed maps of various places, not only the distribution of cities. , distance, and even the topography are clear at a glance. There are also descriptions of local customs, customs, and national systems, with Goguryeo and the Western Regions being the top priority.
On the map in front of you, you can see the direction of the mountains and the distribution of the peaks of the Ili Mountains, the twists and turns of the Ili River and where it passes, all in detail and at a glance.
The scout moved forward, carefully observed the map, and then clicked on a point north of Rehai and on the bank of the Ili River.
This place is located between the Yili Mountains and the Ili River. It is an oasis... Xue Rengui saw that although this place was backed by the Yili Mountains, the terrain was gentle and the field of view was wide, making it suitable for large cavalry regiments to fight. There were not many marches to deploy troops. There is room for sending generals, and once they encounter them, it will be a life-and-death battle.
Either win or lose.
He asked again: "Have you ever been spotted by the enemy when you come to take a closer look?"
The scout said guiltily: "The land is open. When we were observing the enemy, we were accidentally discovered by the enemy. By now, we must have known that our army was coming."
Xue Rengui sighed, secretly thinking that this was indeed the case.
In such a battle in an open area, most of the tactics of marching and formation are not used. The vastness of the surrounding fields is clear at a glance, and no amount of conspiracies and tricks can be used. Once encountered, it can only be a solid and fierce battle. , speak entirely on their own strength.
However, many generals in the Tang army did not show any signs of despair, and they would never lose morale just because the enemy was several times larger than themselves.
From the Eastern Turks to Tuyuhun, from Xue Yantuo to the Western Regions, didn't the Tang army win with a small number and a large number in that battle?
Looking at the world, there is no country or barbarian that can allow the Tang Dynasty to fight with all its strength!
So even if Goguryeo is wiped out next year, it will still be proud...
Xue Rengui put away the map, straightened up, looked around with tiger eyes, and said in a deep voice: "This is a tough battle!"
The generals were not at all depressed, but their morale was high.
"Haha, our soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, when did we not fight a tough battle? It's not a tough battle, we are too lazy to work hard!"
"Please rest assured, Sima Jin. Although the enemy invaders are numerous and powerful, they will inevitably be trapped and exhausted when they attack thousands of miles away. How can we be invincible if we wait for work at ease?"
"No matter how tough the enemy is, if they dare to invade our borders, we will not let them come or go!"
"very good!"
Xue Rengui praised him loudly and said loudly: "These bandits are trying to capture the Western Regions and open the road to Chang'an, thereby conquering the Tang Dynasty and enslaving all Han people! As soldiers, we should serve the king and protect our country!"
He jumped on his horse and looked at the generals around him who also jumped on their horses. He raised his arms and said: "Let the thieves and bandits appreciate the bravery of our Tang Dynasty tigers, and let them remember for the rest of their lives that if they dare to invade the territory of the Tang Dynasty, they must be punished by someone." There is no return, there is death but no life!”
"My sons, follow me and fight to the death!"
The generals raised their arms and wanted to make peace, and the soldiers behind them also shouted like thunder. When Xue Rengui waved down his big hand, thousands of horses ran together, like thunder!
…
Less than a hundred miles ahead, on the banks of the Ili River, an Arab general wearing a silver helmet and a beard like a halberd sat upright on a horse. His armor gleamed silver in the sun. With his eyes glowing green, he looked at the vast Gobi desert on the north bank of the river, and he balled up the letter that had just arrived from the deployment in his hand.
The war horse Herod under his crotch snorted, and his bowl-sized hooves dug into the soil, as if he wanted to cross the river and gallop over the desert.
But the reins were pulled tightly by the general...
