Chapter 5158 Retreat
Chapter 5158 Retreat
Musket shooting, arrow throwing, retreat...over and over again.
The battle lasted until the hour of You, when the chaotic Arab army in the south of Keshen City slowly gathered together. Soldiers from the city also kept escaping, gathering 70,000 to 80,000 troops. The rest were either killed in battle, defeated, or scattered, and their whereabouts were unknown.
The Arab army also organized counterattack teams of thousands of people several times, trying to annihilate or drive away the Tang army that was shooting from the periphery, but they failed repeatedly.
Relying on the mobility of their war horses and the ultra-long range of their weapons, the Tang army only roamed around the periphery and did not engage in combat. They hit the enemy with one strike and quickly fled away.
Seeing their troops being eroded, generals such as Yazid, Auf, and Maslama were extremely worried, but they were helpless.
"Marshal, retreat quickly!"
"Many tribes have already secretly fled. If this continues, there won't be many of us left!"
The surrounding generals gathered around, all looking panic-stricken and at a loss.
Not only were they helpless against Xue Rengui's "Parthian tactics", but everyone was even more worried that once the Tang army completely captured Kesan City, they would transport artillery into the city or bypass the city and bombard their own troops gathered together. How could they resist then?
At that time, they would still have to retreat, at least out of the range of the Tang army's artillery, so that they would have a chance to counterattack.
Yezid did not dare to make this decision, and asked his subordinates: "What do you two generals think?"
An army of 200,000 men attacked Suiye with great momentum, but they encountered a head-on attack and suffered heavy casualties before a single soldier reached the city of Suiye. If he were to order a retreat at this moment... he could not and dared not take this responsibility.
We need to find someone to help share the burden.
Auf understood Yezid's thoughts, but this was not the time to worry about it. If he waited any longer and waited for the Tang army's artillery to push over, the entire army would be destroyed.
"Then let's retreat!"
"Where to retreat?"
"Kangguo!"
Maslama asked in confusion: "Why retreat to Kangguo? We should retreat directly to Anguo!"
Kangguo and Anguo are both important nodes on the Silk Road. However, to retreat southward from Kesan City to Kangguo, one has to travel hundreds of miles eastward. Anguo is above the straight-line distance between Kesan City and the Persian Plateau, so going to Kangguo is equivalent to taking a detour.
Auf said unhappily, "Are we really going to retreat all the way back to Damascus? Kangguo is an important city in the Central Asian region, with high walls and abundant resources. There are tens of thousands of troops stationed there, so we can quickly replenish our troops and supplies, and we can also mobilize the Turks from Tocharistan in the south to join the war! You have to know that our food and fodder have been burned up. We can still walk along the Yaosha River to Kangguo, and there are many towns along the way where we can loot food and fodder. If we retreat to Anguo, we have to cross the desert directly... Few people can reach Anguo alive!"
Masrama kept silent.
He did not agree with Ao Fu's fluke mentality. Even if he arrived in Kangguo and obtained supplies of soldiers and food, could he use the city to stop the Tang army?
The city of Hengluo also had high walls and thick walls, but no matter how high or thick the walls were, they could not withstand the gunpowder of the Tang army. No matter how big the city was, it would be turned into a sea of fire under the artillery of the Tang army!
In the end, they had to retreat towards Anguo and cross the desert.
Only by retreating to the Persian Plateau can we use the plateau's geographical advantages to stop the Tang army's cavalry and artillery...
But he didn't dare to say anything more. He had already been charged with the crime of defeat. If he was charged with "advocating retreat", he would probably be killed by the Caliph after returning to Damascus.
He looked at Yezid.
Yazid also knew that he could ask Auf and Maslama for advice and put the blame on them afterwards, but he still had to give the orders himself.
After a little thought, he decided: "Then we should retreat to Kangju and organize a counterattack relying on the city of Kangju. Even if we cannot turn defeat into victory, it would be good if we can stop the Tang army's offensive."
The other two nodded, agreeing with him.
The defeat in this battle is a foregone conclusion, and it is unrealistic to dream of turning defeat into victory.
But after all, as the main general assisting Yazid, he could not escape the responsibility for the defeat. The loss of Hengrus City led to Amir being captured by the Tang army, and the fall of Sancheng was also due to Maslama. In addition, Yazid had an unshirkable leadership responsibility... One thing after another, like a mountain pressing on them, they would have a chance to defend themselves only after stopping the decline and returning to Damascus.
Otherwise, they would be defeated and flee all the way back to Damascus. Even if the Caliph was unwilling to do so, he would have to chop them off as a sacrifice...
Maslama suddenly remembered something: "Amir was captured by the Tang army, and we haven't sent anyone to redeem him yet. If we retreat to Kangguo this time, what should we do with Amir?"
Yezid has a headache.
Under such circumstances, how could they take care of Amir when they were about to retreat to the rear?
But Amir was a staunch supporter of the Caliph, and even though he was defeated in the Battle of Hengrus and his tribe was greatly weakened, he could not be abandoned.
Sometimes symbolic meaning is greater than practical meaning. If even the Amir is ignored, what will the other tribes who follow the Caliph think and feel?
Rubbing his forehead, Ye Qide said, "Retreat for the time being, and leave someone who is proficient in Chinese to talk to the Tang people."
Maslama asked again: "What kind of conditions will be offered?"
Yazid was in a dilemma.
Amir was not only one of the main generals on this trip, but also a general whom the Caliph trusted and relied on very much. Otherwise, he would not have had the opportunity to conquer Persia before. He was also very powerful and prestigious in Damascus. It was impossible that the Tang army knew nothing about Amir, so even if the Tang army agreed to redeem him, they would definitely offer a sky-high price.
However, is it worth spending such a huge price to redeem Amir, whose tribe suffered heavy losses and was almost wiped out?
No matter how great the symbolic significance is, he has to pay the money, because even if he returns to Damascus alive, Amir will have to accept the punishment of defeat. In addition, his tribe has suffered heavy losses. How can he possibly pay the money back to him?
Auf was extremely disappointed with Yazid and said, "Let's talk about it first. This kind of thing always requires several rounds of wrangling and negotiation. We can't just agree to all the conditions offered by the Tang people. As long as we express our attitude of redemption and the Tang army is also interested in it, Amir's life will be safe for the time being."
He was so stingy even in redeeming a great general like Amir. It shows how stingy this successor to the empire was. Following such a person, could he really take over the throne of the caliph smoothly and establish the merit of following the emperor?
If he were well versed in Chinese classics, he would know a sentence that could describe his feelings at the moment: He does not look like a monarch...
After the matter was settled, Aofu said, "The commander-in-chief will lead the guards to Kangguo first, and we will lead the main force to arrive later."
Yezid was eager to leave first. Even though he was in the same place with the main force, he had no command ability, so it was better to get away as soon as possible.
"Then I will rush to Kangguo to gather food and fodder and wait for you all!"
"Please, Marshal!"
Ye Qide looked at the three "rebels" who were still fighting, and his eyelids twitched. The three "rebels" had fought fiercely for a whole day, and their fighting power was really beyond his expectations. Then he looked at the Tang army cavalry who fled far away after another long-range shooting success, sighed in his heart, jumped on his horse, and retreated first with his few guards.
There are towering mountains on the north side of Kangguo and the Wuhu River flows around the city. The terrain is dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack. With the support of many tribes in Kangguo, it should be able to stop the Tang army, right?
……
Not long after Yazid left, Auf discussed with Maslama and decided to retreat southward overnight. However, there were still 70,000 to 80,000 troops gathered at that time. It was impossible for them to travel as lightly as Yazid did. They had to divide responsibilities and retreat in an orderly manner. Otherwise, there would be no order and the retreat would most likely turn into a defeat.
As the saying goes, a defeat is like a landslide. Once the trend of defeat is formed, I am afraid that none of these soldiers will be able to survive and reach Kangguo...
Maslama was so frightened that he insisted on leading the main force to retreat first, and let Auf lead the light cavalry to cover the rear.
Fortunately, the Arab army had a large number of cavalry. Even though they suffered a series of setbacks, they still had 20,000 to 30,000 light cavalry...
Auf had no choice but to do so.
……
On the west side of Kesan City, in the Tang army’s light cavalry formation.
Wang Xiaojie, who was chasing the fleeing soldiers, looked at the situation on the battlefield. Although it was already dark, the lookout on the hot air balloon could still observe abnormal conditions based on the few torches of the enemy. After the information was passed down, Wang Xiaojie immediately came to Xue Rengui to report.
"The lookouts discovered some unusual movements in the enemy's formation, indicating that a small group of enemy soldiers broke away from the main force and retreated to the south. Now the main force of the enemy has also begun to move south. Only the enemy troops in front of us have not taken any action. The enemy has retreated!"
Xue Rengui let out a long breath when he heard this.
The so-called "Parthian tactics" did give the Tang army the upper hand, and the enemy could only passively take the beating, but in fact it was not so. Even though they were defeated twice in Hengrus and Kosan, the number of the Arab army was still 150,000. How many people could he kill by leading the light cavalry to nibble at them?
As long as the enemy forces gather together and launch a counterattack regardless of casualties, they can quickly recapture Kesan City.
After two rounds of continuous and intensive shooting, 80% of the artillery barrels have been scrapped, and the pre-prepared shells are almost exhausted...
However, the enemy was unaware of the details and had been frightened by the might of the artillery. Not only did they not dare to counterattack, they did not even dare to fully assemble. After gathering their main force, they retreated in a hurry.
As long as the enemy starts to retreat, we will win the battle!
The improved "Parthian tactics" are not effective in head-on confrontation, but chasing the enemy can magnify the advantages of high mobility and ultra-long-range shooting, and "flying a kite" behind the enemy will be invincible!
Xue Rengui said in a deep voice: "Pass the order down. Don't worry about the loss of firearms. Use the advantages of muskets and thunder bombs to defeat the enemy's rear guard before dawn!"
"Here!"
Wang Xiaojie took the order, turned his horse around and conveyed the order to each unit.
Xue Rengui looked at the pitch-black sky and shook his head: "If the wind direction wasn't wrong, the enemy would be wiped out if the hot air balloon flew over Kesan City... What a pity."
(End of this chapter)
