Taxation builds the city.
In the lobby of the City Lord's Mansion, everyone looked depressed.
In addition to Zhao Chongxuan, Jia Chongguan, Cao Lingzhong and other senior generals who were missing, there was also no news from several senior officials such as the Anxi Protector's Mansion and the Jiedushi Mansion.
Who could sit here?
Only a small number, most of them were either captured by the food army or separated from the group.
At this time, Xiushi came in from the outside with his sword pressed and clasped his fists at Gao Xianzhi: "General Qi, the last general has sent people to gather all the soldiers who have fled here.
The main force of our army is only 3,524 people, and most of them are The cavalry, a small part of them are fast infantry, and there are more than 3,000 horsemen. , most of them were Western Turkic troops, and none of the Anxi Fan troops belonging to our left wing was seen.
In addition, the final general carefully counted the soldiers and generals who had fled back, and found no General Cao Lingzhong, General Zhao Chongxun, General Jia Chongguan, and General Zhao Hu among them.
Figures, they must be in danger."
The atmosphere at the scene became even sadder.
Gao Xianzhi's face was filled with misery.
He said: "A tragic defeat.
This is an unprecedented defeat.
Since the establishment of the Anxi Protectorate, I'm afraid there has never been such a tragic defeat.
Someone must bear the responsibility for this tragedy.
Otherwise, it will be difficult to calm the court and the people."
I have written to the emperor to apologize for the anger of the officers and soldiers, but Anxi cannot be in chaos, and everyone in military and political affairs still needs to work together to maintain it."
The grumpy General Li Feiyuanli burst out with anger after listening to Gao Xianzhi as if he was explaining the funeral affairs, and directly aimed at the supervisor Bian Lingcheng.
He suddenly pulled out his sword and pointed it at Bian Lingcheng and said angrily. : "You are such a dog eunuch.
If you hadn't led the rear troops to escape, how could we have been defeated so miserably?
I will kill them now, and then punish the brothers who died in the battle."
As he spoke, he raised his knife and rushed towards Bian Lingcheng.
Bian Lingcheng was horrified and hurriedly got up and ran away, screaming: "General Gao, help me, help me!"
Gao Xianzhi was shocked and immediately said to several soldiers: "Quickly stop General Li Fei!"
The other officials all looked shocked and fled aside, fearing that Li Fei Yuanli's sword would strike them.
Several of the soldiers were strong men.
After receiving Gao Xianzhi's instructions, they immediately stepped forward to hug him and took away his weapons.
After Li Fei Yuanli was controlled, he still punched and kicked Bian Lingcheng in the direction he was avoiding.
He kicked and screamed: "I'm going to kill you, kill you."
Bian Lingcheng's face turned pale with fear and he was shaking all over.
When everyone looked at him, they saw water stains at his feet.
It turned out that he was so frightened that he became incontinent.
Gao Xianzhi had to stand up and shouted angrily at Li Fei Yuan Li: "Li Fei Yuan Li, what do you want to do?
You don't think it's chaotic enough?
This defeat cannot be entirely blamed on Mr.
Bian.
The matter has come to this, and you can't blame others for the situation."
What’s the point of bringing someone here to take him down and let him sober up?”
"Nuo" several soldiers agreed, and immediately escorted Li Fei Yuanli out of the tent.
Li Fei Yuanli was still shouting and killing, furious.
Gao Xianzhi was disgusted when he saw Bian Lingcheng's appearance, but in order to take the overall situation into consideration, he still gave instructions to Bian Lingcheng's two followers: "You two should help Mr.
Bian go back and change his clothes first."
Several attendants immediately supported Bian Lingcheng and left the hall.
At this time, another captain came in and clasped his fists to report: "General, the Hu Qifan soldiers who escaped rushed out of the camp and asked for food and grass to satisfy their hunger.
Since our army escaped, all the food, grass and weapons have been lost.
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Now we have The army itself didn’t even have enough to eat, there was no way We can't replenish food and fodder for them.
Now these thousands of Hu cavalry soldiers are showing signs of disobeying orders.
If they are not careful, a mutiny is very likely to occur.
In addition, the Hu people who built the city also have a bad look on us.
They regard our generals and soldiers as nothing.
He is like an enemy bandit" When Gao Xianzhi and other officials heard this, their expressions suddenly changed.
Gao Xianzhi forced himself to calm down, waved his hand to dismiss the captain who reported the report, and asked the officials and generals: "How do you think this matter should be handled?"
The officers and generals looked at each other, and the scene immediately became chaotic.
Some people immediately said angrily: "These barbarians, if the main force of our army is still there, how dare they be so reckless?"
"Yes, these barbarians saw our army's disastrous defeat yesterday and immediately turned against them.
It's really abominable."
Liang Zai, the deputy envoy of Jiedu, stood up and said to Gao Xianzhi: "General, the situation is unstable now.
The soldiers are arguing about food and pay, and the Hu people nearby are hostile to our army.
Now our army has a small number of troops, low morale, and the soldiers have no fighting spirit." , If you stay here any longer, I'm afraid there will be more trouble.
I suggest that all these barbarians be sent away and let them return to their respective territories, while our army will continue to retreat eastward and return to Anxi."
Before Gao Xianzhi could speak, Bian Lingcheng's voice came from the door: "The Za family agrees with Deputy Ambassador Liang's suggestion, and the entire army will return to Anxi immediately."
Gao Xianzhi was stunned, pointed to the ground and said: "If our army leaves and these Huqi are dismissed, what will happen here?
If the Great Food Army comes, who will be stationed in this city to resist the Great Food Army?"
Bian Lingcheng first bowed to Gao Xianzhi and then said: "This place is under the jurisdiction of Beiting.
Our army has no responsibility for defense.
Beiting should know that our army and the Dashi Army are fighting in Hengluosi.
Don't they?
I know that I sent people here to garrison and now there is no guard here.
This should be the responsibility of Beiting.
What does it have to do with me, Anxi?
Besides, with our current strength of several thousand men, we have no fighting spirit and low morale.
If the food army comes after us, our army will not be able to resist it.
Instead of being killed and annihilated by the food army, it would be better for us.
The army takes the initiative to retreat to preserve its strength, and at least leave some seeds for the Anxi Army.
The Anxi Army cannot all be folded here."
Gao Xianzhi was shaken after hearing Bian Lingcheng's words.
He turned to Duan Xiushi and said: "General Duan, immediately send someone to Suiye City to report to Lai Ai, saying that our army has been defeated and the Dashi Army is very likely to attack."
Raise the troops to advance eastward, and ask him to make preparations in advance.
Give half of our army's food and grass to the Fan army, and let them receive the food and grass and disperse on the spot, and return to their respective territories."
"No."
Duan Xiushi agreed with clasped fists, turned around and left.
In the afternoon of the same day, more than 3,000 Huqi from various Western Turkic tribes were disbanded on the spot, and the remaining 3,600 Tang troops, led by Gao Xianzhi, quickly left Shuijian City and retreated eastward.
Fifty miles north of Hengluosi City, in the desert.
The scorching sun was in the sky, and a group of Tang Army cavalry with no end in sight was heading south.
The armor on the soldiers shone with a metallic luster under the scorching sun.
There were bursts of friction sounds of weapons and equipment in the procession. , the war horse snorted and gasped.
Zhao Ziliang licked his chapped lips, took out a cowhide water bag from the side of the horse's belly and poured it into his mouth.
After putting down the water bag, he set up a pergola and looked forward.
A small black spot appeared in the sky within his sight.
Knowing that it was the flying eagle reporting the news, he immediately rode aside to let the large group of people behind him pass.
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When they came to a small sand dune, the eagle in the sky began to fall.
Zhao Ziliang raised his arm tied with an iron arm guard.
The black eagle opened its claws and landed on the arm guard.
Zhao Ziliang picked up the one tied to the eagle's left foot.
He took out a small note from the bamboo tube, unfolded it, looked at it, and then tore the note into pieces.
Zhao Ziliang pondered for a moment and waved back.
A soldier immediately brought pen and ink and a white note.
Zhao Ziliang sat on horseback and used a brush to write a series of small words on a small white note.
Then he rolled up the note and stuffed it.
Inside the small bamboo tube, put the cap on, caressed the wings of the eagle with his hand, raised his right arm, and the eagle spread its wings and flew into the sky.
Watching the eagle turn into a small black dot and disappear into the sky, Zhao Ziliang ordered the marching Sima Chen Qing beside him: "Send the order to the whole army.
We will walk out of the desert in another fifteen miles.
We will rest in the woods on the edge of the desert to let the army Speed up the march" Chen Qing cupped his fists and said: "Follow your orders."
It takes four days to cross the desert from the Broken Leaf Waterfront in the north of the desert.
In order to reduce the burden as quickly as possible and maintain the marching speed, Zhao Ziliang ordered before the army set off that each person could only carry five days of dry food and drinking water.
Today happened to be the fourth day.
In terms of time and the consumption of the army, Zhao Ziliang was very accurate.
Moreover, under such circumstances, the army still maintained its combat effectiveness.
Even if it encounters an enemy now, the entire army can go into battle.
Less than half an hour later, the army arrived at the edge of the desert and entered a forest of poplar trees to rest.
There were already traces of horses and humans staying in the forest, which were left by the detective sentries.
Now that people are in the forest, it shows that the detectives The Sentinel Cavalry has continued to move forward.
The army entered the woods in an orderly manner, and each battalion found a place to rest.
Marching Sima Chen Qing immediately arranged guard posts and patrols.
After the Chinese army's tent was set up, Zhao Ziliang and others entered.
Taoist Wang Ximing took out a compass to measure the direction and a map for positioning.
"General, our army should be able to reach Hengluosi River twenty miles west of this position, and Hengluosi City forty miles south."
Wang Ximing pointed at the map and drew on it with his fingernails.
A cross mark.
Zhao Ziliang looked at the map and said: "Very good, there should be no scouting posts from the Great Food Army around, otherwise the scouts from the front would have sent people to report.
Now we are waiting for news from the scouts from the front."
After that, Zhao Ziliang took Zheng San to a nearby tent, took out a large amount of meat, white flour, and fresh vegetables and fruits from the finger space, and then said to Zheng San: "There may be a war tonight or tomorrow, let's The soldiers had two good meals.”
"promise" Zheng San agreed and immediately began arranging for the cooks to come to collect the ingredients for cooking.
Before evening, the woods where Tang Jun rested were emitting a large amount of food fragrance.
The soldiers could not help but swallow when they smelled this fragrance. .
After several days of crossing the desert, they were now able to eat fresh meat, white flour steamed buns, vegetables and fruits.
This surprised the soldiers, but they were particularly excited, and each of them had a great appetite.
When the meal was cooked, Zhao Ziliang also took the meal from a large porcelain basin and walked slowly in the woods while eating, observing the spirit and mood of the soldiers.
All the soldiers knew him and watched him coming over with the meal.
They all stood up and said hello: "Hello, General" "General, today's meal is so rich.
How can we still eat fresh meat, vegetables and fruits here, as well as these white flour steamed buns?
It's so delicious."
Zhao Ziliang reached out and patted their shoulders one by one, and said with a smile: "How to make you full and well-fed is what I should do.
Fighting and winning wars is what you should do.
Give me enough to eat and drink, and nourish you."
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You have good mental strength and go into battle to kill the enemy."
All the soldiers said one after another: "It is comfortable to fight with the general.
Don't worry, general.
Our brothers will definitely kill the enemy's arse
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