Chapter 25: Battle of Talas (Part 1)

Talas is actually a city, and it should be located on the current border between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The specific location is still undecided.

The city of Talas is built on the north bank of the Or River. If Talas is lost, the Tang army can cross the Or River to attack the two important towns of Samarkand and Bukhara, a major town in Central Asia. If these two important towns are lost, the Tang army can cross the Amu River and attack the Khorasan land.

The Khorasan region was the land of the Persian Empire, mainly the territory of Iran now. As early as the Wu Zetian period, a few Tang troops had fought near Tehran. As for the size of this army, who commanded the troops and why they were destroyed, there were too few historical materials to be verified, and it became a puzzle of history.

Talas is the barrier of the Or River, and the Or River is the barrier of Samarkand and Bukhara, and has extremely important strategic value. It is precisely because Talas has a very important strategic position that after Gao Xianzhi marched here in history, the then Governor of Kharasan Abu mobilized almost all his troops in Kharasan to fight.

The Battle of Talas in history took five days, and the Great Cannibal launched a total of seven large-scale attacks, all of which were repelled by the Tang army. However, Gao Xianzhi had limited troops and could not achieve the final victory, so he was taken advantage of by the Great Shi. If Gao Xianzhi had more troops and only needed 10,000 or 20,000 Han troops, the outcome of the battle might be very different.

Now, history has come back, and the Tang army and the Dashi army still meet in Talas. The head general of the Tang army is Geshuhan, not Gao Xianzhi; the head general of the Dashi is not Abu, but Gu Taibai. The Tang army has 40,000 Han troops and 50,000 Huer troops, with a total force of nearly 150,000, which is no longer the 70,000 recorded in the Dashi history books; the troops invested by Dashi are about 170,000 to 180,000, which is roughly the same. Will the outcome of this battle be a little different?

Under the city of Talas, the Tang army camps were surrounded by strict barriers and had their own strict laws.

Gu Taibai stood on the city wall, looked at the Tang army's camp, looked for a while, and asked the generals beside him, "Tell me, what about the Tang people's camp?"

"Sir, the Tang people's camp is still acceptable, and it is the best among all the oriental camps we have seen."

"No matter how good the camp is, it is useless. Real victory requires fighting and bloodshed."

The generals started to talk, and Gu Taibai just listened quietly and did not speak. It was not until the generals argued for a while that he said: "In my opinion, the Tang people's camps are very strong. It is not impossible to break through their camps, but it will cost a lot. Being able to list such rigorous and solid camps means that the Tang army is not so easy to mess with. In recent years, since we set foot on the land in the East, we have heard the Eastern people praise the Tang army for how brave and good at fighting. I have been thinking about when to fight a battle with the Tang army, in the words of the Tang people, just to learn and learn. Today, this opportunity has finally come, and we must give it a good understanding. Send 10,000 people out of the city and explore the bottom."

He is worthy of being a famous general who has experienced many battles, and his opinion is that he is superior. As soon as the order is passed, ten thousand large food infantrymen lined up in an orderly manner and drove out of the city.

Gu Taibai was originally a Syrian, and his grandfather was the younger brother of Havsai, the wife of the prophet Muhammad. He made great contributions in the suppression of Iraqi rebellion. He was appreciated by Hacha and recommended him to be the governor of Khorasan. At that time, when he took office, Khorasan's land was not large, and he had only 50,000 Arab troops. It was with these 50,000 Arab troops that Gu Taibai began a military operation to conquer Central Asia, conquered the vast Central Asian regions such as Taligan, Schumann, Takhastan, and Bukhara, and its jurisdiction was several times widened.

The troops in his hands were all elite troops who fought against Central Asia with him. Although only 10,000 infantrymen left the city to challenge, their momentum was extraordinary. The soldiers' eyes shone with beast-like light and had an indomitable aura.

The soldiers held shields in their hands and Damascus scimitar on their waists. They stride forward in a neat manner and in a consistent manner. The rumbling sound spread from afar.

In the Tang army camp, there were many generals in Geshuhan's tent, and no one spoke. Looking at Geshuhan. Geshuhan said, "Since entering the army, we have entered the territory of Dashi, but we have not encountered Dashi's army. It was not that Dashi feared us, but that we unexpectedly made them unexpected. However, Hacha, this old fox, calculated that we would march in the New Year. It would be better for him to do it, so that we could not go around to find Dashi's army.

"Now, Gu Taibai personally led his troops to Talas and wanted to fight me to a decisive battle. The Tang Dynasty and the Dashi competed for the Western Regions for so many years, and there has been no large-scale head-on confrontation. Now, the opportunity has come, and we must not miss it.

"In the battle between the Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty has the advantage, but don't take this battle lightly, you must do your best."

"The last general understands!" The generals took the order in unison.

Geshuhan continued: "Now, let's analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the enemy and us. The Tang Dynasty's troops attacked the far distance. Although the march was smooth, the journey was long and the soldiers were tired. Moreover, our supply difficulties were difficult. However, this was not a big problem. Just take down Talas, and these problems would be solved. Dashi fought in the territory and waited for labor. In this regard, they had the advantage.

"Dashi's war horses are tough and have strong impact, better than ours. Besides, we have less than 150,000 troops, but Dashi has 170,000 to 180,000 troops, with a slight advantage in the army.

"After talking about the advantages of Dashi, let's talk about the advantages of Datang. Our main advantage lies in good equipment. We have iron armor and good protection. Dashi's armor is far inferior to Datang."

Due to the emergence of the steel-filling method in the Tang Dynasty, the steel output increased significantly, which provided conditions for the Tang army to use modao and iron armor. The steel output of the Arab Empire far did not meet this requirement, which made the protection ability of the Arab Empire's army far inferior to that of the Tang army.

Geshuhan continued: "The weapons of the Dashi army are mainly spears and shields, both infantry and cavalry are used. In addition, the scimitar is good, but we have horizontal swords. What's more serious is that the Dashi infantry does not have bows and arrows, and we can kill them at a distance."

The infantry of the Arab Empire did not have bows and arrows, but only the cavalry was available. The Tang army did not distinguish between the troops, and each person had a bow and arrow, which could effectively kill and injure the infantry from afar.

Geshuhan said: "The equipment of the Dashi Infantry is very single, unlike ours. The Dashi Infantry lacks heavy equipment like Modao. When they encounter our infantry, they can only kill.

"Our greatest advantage is not bows and arrows, not modao, but crossbows. Crossbows. China has been using it for thousands of years. During the Qin and Han dynasties, you can tell how powerful the crossbows of China were. You can see how powerful the Huns retreated. There are basically no crossbows of Dashi. In this battle, we mainly use the arrow formation, which is enough to deal with them."

During the Qin and Han dynasties, Chinese crossbow soldiers were dominant, which made the Huns suffer a lot. By the Sui and Tang dynasties, China's crossbows had been perfected. In addition to the commonly used Fuyuan crossbow, the range of the commonly used Fuyuan crossbow, the horn crossbow, and the single crossbow, there were also chariot crossbows. The crossbows equipped with them could form a very terrifying attack surface and cause heavy casualties to the enemy. This was a major advantage of the Tang army, and the Arab army did not have crossbows. At least, their crossbows pose no threat to the Tang army.

After listening to Ge Shuhan's analysis, the generals' momentum rose sharply and their spirits were high. They all asked to fight: "General, the last general is willing to lead the army to attack the city!"

"Assault?" Ge Shuhan waved his hand: "Not attack yet! The opponents of Datang and Dashi for so many years, I also want to know how strong they are. We have to fight a few battles under the city first, and wait until we find out their strength, and then attack the city!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the school came in and reported: "General, Dashi sent 10,000 infantry soldiers out of the city to challenge!"

"You dare to challenge it if you want to 10,000?" The generals felt contemptuous and roared.

"General, General, I will kill the bastard of Dashi!" All the generals asked for a fight.

Geshuhan waved his hand and said, "Don't be impatient, Gu Taibai is testing us. We want to know how powerful the Dashi Army is. Similarly, Gu Taibai also wants to know how strong our strength is."

"General, we will destroy ten thousand of his people, which is the best proof of strength!" The generals became anxious.

"Send 10,000 infantry to fight!" Geshuhan ordered.

"Yes! Send 10,000 infantry to let them taste the power of Modao!" Tian Renwan pinched his right hand and made a sound.

Ge Shuhan disagreed with his idea: "There is no need to dispatch heavy infantry, just use light steps. One-on-one, see who is stronger. Gao Xianzhi will leave it to you."

"General, he is the vanguard, and you are the one who takes the lead and hand it over to him. You are too protective of him." The generals shouted in a verbal voice.

"If the vanguard doesn't take the lead, can he still be called a vanguard?" Ge Shuhan asked back: "This is the first large-scale battle between the Tang Dynasty and the Dashi. If you don't want to see it, just shout here."

He went out first, and the generals were busy following.

"Rumor!" The sound of war drums shook the world, and the Tang army's camp opened, and ten thousand light infantrymen drove out under the leadership of Gao Xianzhi.

The formation was neat and the momentum was like a rainbow, and the iron armor on his body was shining in the sunlight.

"The Tang army's formation is good, almost the same as ours." The general of the Dashishi was surprised.

Gu Taibai nodded and said, "This is the strongest opponent we have encountered! If you see, there is a gap between our equipment and them. There are two gaps. One is that we do not have bows and arrows, and the other is that they are all protected by iron armor, but we are not."

After he reminded him, the generals also understood and couldn't help but suddenly realize: "Sir, when we fight, aren't we going to suffer a loss?"

"Equipment is not the whole of war!" Gu Taibai was very confident in his army: "Our warriors were sent by Allah, and they were the people of Allah, and they would definitely fight to the end!"

Just as they were talking, the two armies under the city lined up in neat battle formations and pressed towards the other side. This was a test. To find out the opponent's strength, Gao Xianzhi did not use any strategy, and even did not need to encircle the most basic left and right wings. The Dashi Army also had this idea, and had no intention of encircling, but just pressed on it.

This historical period was called the "dark period" in the West, but it was not dark outside the West. The Tang Empire, the Arab Empire, and the Byzantine Empire led the advance of human civilization.

This battle was the first large-scale collision between the most powerful Tang Empire and the newly rising Arab Empire, and it is of far-reaching significance!

Gu Taibai stopped talking, stared at the two troops outside the city that were about to collided.

Ge Shuhan and the others also held their breath, widened their eyes, and stared at them.

The Dashi Infantry held a shield and held a scimitar, his eyes shining with a scorching light, and he shouted: "Allah! Allah!" He went forward and met, as if there was not the Tang army in front of them, but the wheat they were allowed to harvest.

The Tang army did not shout, but just moved forward quietly.

"Bow and arrow! Prepare, shoot!" Gao Xianzhi waved the flag in his hand, and the Tang army bent his bow and arrows, and shot arrows at the Dashi Infantry.

The arrows made a sharp roar and shot towards the Dashi Infantry. The good training of the Dashi Infantry was reflected. The shields in their hands immediately overlapped together to form a tight shield array. The arrows shot on the shield, making a raindrop sound.

Only a few arrows passed through the gaps in the shield, the casualties of the Dashi Infantry were very small and could be ignored.

If you encounter Turks or Tubo people, the Tang army's arrow rain will cause them to suffer a lot of casualties, and there will be no problem causing a commotion. In front of the Dashi Infantry, the Tang army's arrow rain is just a ripple in the sea, so you can ignore it.

This was the first time Ge Shuhan and the others encountered this kind of thing. They couldn't help but be surprised. They didn't know if they didn't fight. They were startled to be shocked. After hearing that the Dashi army was difficult to deal with, they didn't expect it to be so difficult to fight. The eyes of the generals widened.

"General, why don't we pull the crossbow out and they can block the bow, I don't believe it can block the crossbow." Tian Renwan was very dissatisfied.

The gap between bows and crossbows is very obvious. First, the range is far inferior, the accuracy is insufficient, and third, the strength is not as good as. Crossbows are the "trump card" of the Tang army. If you really want to use it, the Dashi Infantry will definitely not be able to get it. The generals agreed with this idea and said, "Yes, General!"

"Is it necessary to play a tentative way?" Ge Shuhan disagreed and asked back: "They can break our arrow rain, can they block our horizontal sword? Although their scimitars are powerful, we have iron armor. Can their leather armor block our horizontal sword?"

The generals were speechless. This was a tentative attack. Neither side would show their true strength and would not use the most powerful weapon.

Geshuhan's analysis was exactly what Gu Taibai thought. Although the first round of arrow rain did not cause decent damage to the Dashi infantry, the Dashi infantry could not help the following hand-to-hand combat. The generals were happy because the infantry blocked the arrow rain, but Gu Taibai's eyebrows were furrowed together, and he watched the movements under the city more attentively.

Gao Xianzhi knew that the bow and arrow posed no threat to the Dashi infantry, so he simply gave up and refused to use it. He ordered the soldiers to collect the bow and arrow and prepare to fight.

The Dashi Infantry held a shield in his left hand and a spear in his right hand, and walked towards the Tang Army. The Tang Army held a horizontal knife and pressed towards the Dashi Infantry.

With the rumbling sound, the two armies were getting closer and closer, and the war was about to break out, but the people watching the battle were even more nervous.

Finally, the two armies collided with each other, as if two mountains were colliding together, making a shocking sound. The Dashi Army shouted: "Allah! Allah!"

But the Tang army shouted: "Long live the Tang Dynasty! Long live the Tang Dynasty!"

The Damas scimitar faces the horizontal sword, and a melee begins.

At first, when the two armies met, there was not much enemy and we got along. In just a short while, there were Dashi infantry in the Tang army, and the Tang army in the Dashi formation. In the end, the two armies completely got along, and a hand-to-hand combat was so dark that the sky was dark.

The Tang army was well-equipped, well-trained, experienced in battles, rich in combat experience, and morale was like a rainbow. No one retreated, and the more they fought, the more brave they became. Although the equipment of the Dashi Army was inferior to that of the Tang Army, its training was not necessarily worse than that of the Tang Army. They were also elite troops who had been through battles. They followed the ancient Taibai to fight in Central Asia and destroyed dozens of countries. Their combat experience was not bad and their morale was high.

In addition, the Dashi Army has something that the Tang army does not have: religious fanaticism!

The Arab state was founded by the prophet Muhammad, and it is a country that combines politics and religion. The army of Daqi had devout faith and was a loyal guardian of the prophet. People could die but could not lose this faith.

Although their protection ability is not as good as that of the Tang army, they did not retreat and became more and more courageous as they fought.

The two armies meet the opponents, and it is difficult to distinguish the winner for a while. Half an hour has passed, but no winner has been decided; one hour has passed, but no winner has been decided; two hours have passed, but still fighting!

The corpses on the ground were piled up layer after layer, and blood was flowing!

Tian Renwan took a cold breath and said, "The army of Dashi is really difficult! If it were Turks, or Tubos, they would have been defeated long ago! However, until now, they have no fear!"

Geshuhan nodded and said, "Their bravery is admirable. They are the most warlike elite troops I have ever seen in so many years. But have you seen that their casualties are much greater than ours. I estimate that we have only suffered more than 1,000 or 2,000 casualties now, and nearly half of them have suffered."

In terms of fighting skills, the two armies are similar and their morale is also comparable. The equipment is determined by the victory or defeat. The Tang army's protective ability is much better than the Dashi army. When the scimitar cuts down, it is often blocked by iron armor. If the Tang army's horizontal sword cuts down, the Dashi army's leather armor can be blocked. It is real, and their casualties are naturally large.

At first, Dashi suffered few casualties. However, as time went by, the greater their casualties, the greater their strength was damaged, and the advantage of the Tang army became more and more obvious.

Gao Xianzhi did not miss this opportunity and immediately commanded the Tang army to divide the Dashi army and prepare to encircle and annihilate it.

Gu Taibai was a good general, so he naturally would not miss the opportunity to retreat and immediately ordered the Dashi army to retreat. As soon as the order was passed, the Dashi army retreated to the city in an orderly manner.

Gao Xianzhi commanded the Tang army to pursue, but the Dashi army was defeated but not chaotic, demonstrating good qualities, neat formations and orderly retreating. Although the Tang army bit tightly, the killing was not great.

The Dashi army retreated into the city, and the suspension bridge was pulled up. Gao Xianzhi could only sigh at the tall city wall of Talas.

Gu Taibai stood on the top of the city, clasped his fists and said, "Do you dare to ask General Gao's name?"

He used the Tang Dynasty etiquette, and Gao Xianzhi also clasped his fists and replied: "Gao Xianzhi is down!"

"I've seen General Gao!" Gu Taibai still treated the etiquette of Tang people and said, "Although this battle was a tentative attack, your army won. I heard that your army was good at fighting for a long time, so it was extraordinary. Gu Taibai admired you very much! Although we still have many battles to fight in the future and will still fight bloodily on the battlefield, but I, Gu Taibai, admire the heroic spirit of your army!"

Bow deeply!

As an enemy, Gu Taibai's actions were astonished as Gao Xianzhi's expectations, and he couldn't help but be stunned. He then praised his heart and bowed deeply: "The heroic spirit of your army also made Gao Xianzhi admire him!"

"I'm grateful for the praise! Is it what you Tangren said?" Gu Taibai laughed.
Chapter completed!