Chapter 341: It’s Not Easy to Be the Greatest Emperor in History

In the first year of the Tang Dynasty, from the third to the fifth day of the sixth lunar month.

The 800,000-strong Arab army, led by Tibes, the king of the fallen Wusun Kingdom, and Bater, the son of the fallen Turkic Khan, marched to the Western Regions and fought fiercely with the 50,000 Tang Anxi Iron Cavalry led by Lan Yu, the deputy governor of the Anxi Protectorate (Northern Prefecture) of the Tang Dynasty in the Talas area;

In this battle, they had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength, and the Arab army, which was supported by the four countries of Shiguo, Ronglu, Gumo, and Beilu in the Western Regions, almost wiped out the 50,000 Tang cavalry led by Lan Yu, the Anxi Marquis of the Tang Dynasty, in Talas.

Finally, after receiving a request for help from Tan Li, Lan Yu's deputy general, Huo Qubing, the deputy governor of the Anxi Protectorate (Southern Prefecture) of the Tang Dynasty and the champion, personally led 30,000 Tang Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to rush to help and save Lan Yu and his entourage from danger.

After two days and nights of fierce fighting in Talas, the 800,000 Arab troops on the Eastern Expedition to the Western Regions and the 80,000 troops of the Tang Dynasty's Anxi Protectorate (North and South Prefectures) ended this epic showdown between the two superpowers of the East and the West with the Tang Dynasty's Anxi Protectorate's voluntary withdrawal;

In the Battle of Talas, the Tang Dynasty's Anxi Protectorate faced the 800,000 Arab troops on the Eastern Expedition with an absolutely inferior force of 80,000 troops. In the end, at the cost of more than 50,000 casualties, it annihilated more than 300,000 Arab troops on the Eastern Expedition.

In this battle, the Tang Dynasty was defeated but still glorious.

After the bitter victory of the Arab Empire's Eastern Expedition Army, after controlling more than ten countries in the Western Regions, including Wusun, Xiaowan, Shiguo, Ronglu, Gumo, and Bilu, which were close to the border of the Pamir Plateau, they did not dare to continue to advance eastward rashly;

After the Battle of Talas, the Tang Dynasty's Anxi Protectorate, which was severely damaged, still actually controlled more than half of the countries in the Western Regions with its weak military force, and did not dare to rashly march westward to seek confrontation with the powerful enemy outside the region, the Arab Empire's Eastern Expedition Army.

After a fierce battle, both sides remained silent and restrained.

Of course, this silence and restraint were only a short-term performance.

In fact, both sides have put the course of the Battle of Talas into words and sent them to their respective capitals by express delivery of 800 miles, waiting for the supreme rulers of the two countries to make new choices and deployments.

Behind the calm, there are bigger storms and a new round of crises.

June 12, the first year of the Tang Dynasty's Zhaowu.

In the Jinling Imperial City, in the Jinluan Palace.

The atmosphere at today's court meeting seemed particularly depressing and heavy. All the civil and military officials attending the court meeting in the hall had solemn expressions and were worried.

I thought that after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there should be a prosperous scene of good weather, peace and prosperity;

Who would have thought that now there are crises everywhere, wars are on the rise again, there are powerful enemies outside, and military generals are leading troops inside.

First, Liu Ziyu, the head of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun and the Earl of Wuyi of the Tang Dynasty, disobeyed the imperial order and refused to carry out the transfer order of the Ministry of War;

Then, the powerful enemy from outside the Western Regions, the Arab Empire, sent 800,000 troops to the east to attack the Tang Dynasty, and fought fiercely with the Tang cavalry of the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty in Talas;

Even the eastward expedition to Goguryeo, which should have been easy, is now in a stalemate. Even with the "God of War" Jin Wang Chen Longxiang personally leading the troops to the expedition, and the red cannons of the Shenjiying to help, it still failed to fully occupy Goguryeo after three months;

Facing such a situation after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, even the Duke of Jin Pang Xianchu, who has always been mature and self-respecting in the court, couldn't help but sigh: It's really a troubled time!

For Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian, facing this situation of "internal and external troubles", he had to sigh: "This emperor of the ages is really not easy to be!"

Back to the book.

In the court, Li Jingyu, the Minister of War, was the first to make a report, saying: "Your Majesty, after receiving the report from the Anxi Protectorate on the Battle of Talas, the Ministry of War has formulated a strategy to deal with the enemy overnight, specifically -"

"Twenty thousand troops will be drawn from Liangjiang, Lianghu and the Imperial Guards of the capital, and the 200,000 troops drawn from the Anxi General Military Office will form a total of 260,000 troops to form the Western Expedition Army of the Tang Dynasty and march to the Anxi Protectorate;"

"In the Anxi Protectorate, there are still 150,000 troops stationed here, plus the 260,000 troops drawn from the court, a total of more than 400,000 troops, fighting against the 500,000 troops of the Abbasid Dynasty entrenched in the Western Regions;"

After a pause, Li Jingyu said with a stiff face: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this is the last army that the Ministry of War can mobilize without affecting the preparations for war in various places;"

"As for the candidates for the general of the Western Expedition, the Ministry of War has also preliminarily selected two people, namely Duke of Wei Chang Yuchun and Duke of Jin Pang Xianchu. Please make the decision, Your Majesty!"

After listening to the report of Li Jingyu, the Minister of War, Duke of Wei Chang Yuchun and Duke of Jin Pang Xianchu looked at each other in the court, and then stood up at the same time and saluted Chen Huaian on the dragon throne;

Then, they said in unison: "Your servant Chang Yuchun (Pang Xianchu) is willing to be the general of the Western Expedition of the Tang Dynasty, lead the army to the Western Regions, drive out foreign enemies, and restore the prosperity of the Western Silk Road;"

Yes!

On the dragon throne, Chen Huaian nodded, and then waved his hand to signal Chang Yuchun and Pang Xianchu to stand up first.

Chen Huaian said: "My dear ministers, what do you think about the Abbasid army's eastward expedition?"

"Your Majesty--"

At this time, the Minister of Revenue Jiang Xiao also stood up and reported to Chen Huaian: "After receiving the notification from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue immediately began to prepare for the food and salary collection for the westward expedition;"

"Up to now, the Ministry of Revenue has collected a total of 6 million taels of silver, which can be allocated before the westward expedition army sets out. The subsequent salary and food are also being collected;"

Seeing this, the Minister of Industry Hu Zhijun also hurriedly stood up to express his opinion, saying: "Your Majesty-"

"At present, the Ministry of Industry Firearms Bureau has produced 1,200 red cannons and 12,000 three-eyed magic guns respectively. This batch of firearms was originally intended to be shipped to Goguryeo by sea and equipped with the Tang army in Goguryeo;"

"But now the war in the Western Regions is tense, I think this batch of firearms should be equipped to the Western Expedition Army first;"

After thinking for a while, Hu Zhijun added: "I heard that the Abbasid army that marched eastward to the Tang Dynasty There are Persian war elephants in the team. With the advantage of the size of war elephants, they have brought great trouble to the soldiers stationed in the Western Regions of our Tang Dynasty;"

"The red cannon produced by the Firearms Bureau has a long-range firepower advantage, which can form a natural deterrent to the enemy's war elephant troops. Please let the emperor decide;"

"Report to the emperor..."

Next, the civil and military officials in the court gave advice and suggestions, and conducted a comprehensive analysis of the Tang Dynasty's expedition to the Western Regions from the strategic level to the specific food and logistics support.

Although the opinions raised by the civil and military officials in the court were true and met the needs of the army's westward expedition;

However, Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian did not listen to a word.

What a joke, for Chen Huaian, who has the [Born to be an Emperor] system, marching and fighting are the simplest things for him, and he doesn't need to think so much.

In particular, after Chen Huaian unified the world, the system has given him unlimited explosive soldiers. As long as he wants, the soldiers he summoned can fill the entire earth.

Of course, Chen Huaian couldn't summon so many soldiers at once, he couldn't afford it!

With the end of the national war, the Goguryeo conquest war stagnated, and Chen Huaian's points in the system for exchanging food, weapons, war horses and other military supplies have also stagnated.

With the current system points, he can only summon 300,000 troops at most. If there are more, they can only be soldiers in the [blank state], and there is not enough food.

However, this is not a problem for Chen Huaian at all.

As long as he leads the army in person, as long as there are wars to fight and cities to capture, he can continuously ask for people and food from the [Born Emperor's Fate] system.

Let alone the Arab Empire's army of 500,000 on the eastward expedition, even if it is 5 million, Chen Huaian will not blink an eyelid.

He is now considering two main issues;

First, how to convince the civil and military officials of the court to lead the army in person?

Second, how to convince the civil and military officials of the court to move the capital northward?