Tibet

Not long after Zhang Xian left, the clouds of war gradually appeared over the country of Bakhna.

On the Zhenzhu River, about a hundred miles away from Kesai City, hundreds of large leather rafts were slowly sailing eastward. The large leather rafts were all pulled by horses.

On the north bank of the Zhenzhu River, 25,000 troops marched in a mighty formation, including 15,000 Shiguo troops, as well as the Tocharian and Sogdian legions of 5,000 people each.

The entire army is under the unified command of King Kundushi of the Stone Kingdom. This is the authority given to Kundushi by Abu Muslim. It consists of five legions, each with 5,000 soldiers.

The Shi Kingdom and the Bakhna Kingdom were originally brotherly states. They both belonged to the Dawan Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty. Although the Shi Kingdom was ruled by the Sogdian Shi surname, most of the people in the country and the Bakhna Kingdom were from the same branch. The royal family has been marrying each other for hundreds of years.

But since the current king Kundu Shi came to power, the relationship between the Shi Kingdom and the Bakhna Kingdom began to deteriorate day by day. The fundamental reason was that Kundu Shi was ambitious and wanted to unify the nine Sogdian countries and establish the Sogdian Empire.

But Kundushi did not have such great ability, so he began to look for external leverage, and Dashi was also looking for a strategic fulcrum in the Hezhong area. Kundushi's unification ambition naturally integrated with Dashi's eastward expansion strategy.

The annexation of the Bakhna Kingdom is the common strategic goal of the Shi Kingdom and Dashi. The Shi Kingdom needs to expand its territory and population, while Dashi needs to establish a strategic barrier in the east to separate the Hezhong area from the Tang Dynasty's actual control area. The country meets the needs of both.

Just last autumn, just a few months after the founding of the Abbasid dynasty, Abu Muslim, the governor of Khorasan, and Kundu Shi, the king of the Shi Kingdom, reached an agreement that the Abbasid dynasty would fully support the Shi Kingdom to attack Bakhna.

Kundu Shi rode on a war horse and stared at the distant grassland with gloomy eyes. Of course, he also sent spies to Kesai City. According to the news from the spies, Bakhna's strength increased to about 8,000 people, and there were 10,000 more. People's League, but what annoyed Kundushi even more was that the wall of Kesai City doubled, which he did not expect.

His building of hundreds of siege weapons was not actually aimed at Kesai City. Kesai City had a ten-foot-high city wall and building hundreds of ladders was enough. There was no need for large siege weapons.

The large-scale siege weapons he built were actually prepared to attack the city of Samarkand, but the increase in the height of Qisai City disrupted his plan, and he had to transport part of the large siege weapons to attack Qisai City.

"Your Majesty the King, is it true that I heard that there are Tang troops in Kesei City?" Airot, the leader of the Sogdian Army, stepped forward and asked.

The Sogdian Legion is composed of five thousand Sogdians who believe in the Dashi Cult, mainly from the Huo Xun Kingdom. The leader Airot is a Dashi general who followed Abbas in his southern and northern campaigns.

"It's a small group of Tang troops. Their origin is unknown. It is said that there are about twenty people. The leader's surname is Li and he is very young."

Kundushi really didn't know much about the Tang army in Bukhanna, and he didn't pay much attention to it. The main reason was that the number of the opponents was too small, and he felt that it would have little impact.

But if he knew that his son Shi Du died in the hands of this Tang army leader, I'm afraid he would have a different attitude.

At this time, the new leader of the Tocharian Army, Eguli, said slowly: "I know their details. They should be the scouts of the Broken Leaf Army. They killed a hundred of my men at the Wuhu River Grand Canyon. They have some skills. They can't do it." Look down on them."

Kundushi suddenly remembered something and asked: "Did you get the ten caliphate gems in the treasury of Bukhan?"

Eguri glanced at Kundushi warily and said: "I promised the governor that I will personally get the Caliphate Stone and hand it over to the Muslim governor. Please don't ruin my plan."

Kundu Shi said coldly: "Let's take over Kesai City first and then talk about it!"

Kundushi ignored him and urged his horse to shout loudly: "All the troops, speed up!"

The war finally came. In the morning, Bahna's spies sent news that the main enemy force appeared thirty miles away in the southwest, had turned from the Pearl River to the Bahna River, and was heading towards Kesai City.

King Murdo immediately ordered: "The whole army goes to the city!"

Countless soldiers rushed towards the city. The Bakhna country was fully prepared for this war against the country. In addition to the 8,000 regular troops, they also recruited 10,000 civilians to assist the army in fighting. They were mainly responsible for carrying supplies and wounded soldiers. , logistics and food support, and operating the trebuchet.

The houses in Kesai City are all flat-roofed stone houses, and the eighteen trebuchets are placed directly on the houses close to the west city wall.

Basically, it is certain that the Stone Kingdom army will attack the west city wall. First of all, there are no gates in the north and south walls. Secondly, if you attack the city in the east, you will worry about being attacked from behind by the Tang army. Moreover, the Bukhana River is in the west, and the opponent needs water to station.

More importantly, they don't have many troops, so there is no need to disperse the attack, but troops must be stationed on the other three city walls to prevent the other party from sneak attacks.

Near noon, the enemy finally appeared in the southwest. Countless large rafts were slowly moving on the river. On the bank was a dark army, like a long black dragon, with no tail visible at a glance.

The army of the Stone Kingdom began to camp along the river. They pitched large sheepskin tents, one after another, just like the nomadic people's tents. The king's tent was in the center, and thousands of other tents surrounded it like stars holding the moon. With the king's account.

The biggest advantage of the sheepskin tent is that it is not as flammable as the wool tent. Otherwise, if the enemy shoots dozens of them, it will burn into a piece. This situation will basically not happen with the sheepskin tent.

The Shiguo army did not install a camp fence, but they used earth and wood to directly build a low wall to surround the entire camp.

Li Ye stood on the top of the city and watched the enemy army busy three miles away. He turned around and asked Prince Arolie: "His Royal Highness the Prince told me that the Shiguo army has about 15,000 people, but there are at least 25,000 in it." Thousands of people, where did the extra 10,000 troops come from?”

Arolie thought for a while and said: "There are about five thousand people in the Dashi Tocharian Army. They will definitely participate in the battle. The other five thousand people are either Dashi Army or Tuqi Shiren!"

Li Ye was startled, "Didn't Tuqi Shiren be destroyed?"

"The Tuqi Shi tribe in Rehai was wiped out, but there are still some Tuqi Shi people distributed in the north of Qianquan Mountain, in the Ashbulai City area. They have also been eyeing Ba Khanna and want to occupy our grassland."

"It's not Tuqi Shiren!"

General Solan stepped forward and said with a smile: "Our spies discovered that they were worshiping. They should believe in the Great Food Cult, but the Tuqishi Shi are just like us. If I guessed correctly, these five thousand people should be members of the Huo Xun Kingdom. Sogdians."

Li Ye smiled and asked: "Three different armies, which one will launch the offensive first?"

Solan said calmly: "There are rules in this regard. They should draw lots according to the rules to decide!"

The Sogdians need to draw lots when making choices, including allocating benefits, mediating conflicts, etc. They will call the parties together and let them draw lots to decide. In their words, this is the arrangement of Ahura Mazda, even if they are drawn The one who signed the contract felt it was unfair and had been wronged, so he had no choice but to admit it. No one dared to question God's will.

At this time, in the king's tent, Kundu Shi put five identical copper sticks into a silver tube. Kundu Stone shook the silver tube gently, and all five pairs of eyes were staring at the copper sticks, except for the leader of the Tocharian Legion. In addition to Eguli and Airot, the leader of the Sogdian Army, there were also three leaders of the Stone Kingdom Army.

Although the determinism of drawing lots originated from Persian Zoroastrianism, it is now recognized by the Sogdians and the Cannibals.

"please!"

Kundu Shi placed the silver tube heavily on the table.

"I'll go first!"

The leader of the Tocharian Army, Eguli, stretched out his hand and drew the first one. In fact, the probability was the same, it just depended on their luck.

It was a full bronze lottery. He didn't win. Eguli secretly breathed a sigh of relief. No one wanted to be the first to play.

Immediately afterwards, Airot, the leader of the Sogdian Army, also drew a copper lot, but he also failed to win.

Kundushi felt a little uncomfortable. He originally wanted the Tocharian Army to take the lead in the battle, but now the remaining three are all generals of the Shi Kingdom. No matter who is drawn, it will be the same to him.

General Larry stepped forward and drew the third copper pick. His face turned pale. The top of the copper pick was painted black, and he won.