Chapter 1539 Arriving at the front line

Anxi Protectorate.

After nearly two months, Li Xiang finally arrived at the Anxi Protectorate, which was also the logistics base for fighting the Arab Empire.

On Li Xiang's left were Cheng Chuliang and Li Chengyi, on his right were Xiao Shougui and Zhang Jiuli, and Changsun Ze standing next to him.

"Everyone has gathered together today. Because of the war, we don't need to say anything more. The intelligence has been summarized. People from the Arab Empire are already in the process of gathering. I want to know how our situation is? "

Li Xiang mainly asked about the defense situation in Central Asia. After all, he had traveled all the way from Chang'an City and knew the situation in the Western Regions. The armies in various places were well organized. If a fight started now, it would be beneficial to us. The advantage is that after all, our army stays where it is, but the people of the Arab Empire need to travel long distances.

As the person in charge of the military here, Cheng Chuliang naturally had to report.

"Your Highness, within the jurisdiction of the former Anton Governor's Mansion, there are more than 80,000 elite people of our Tang Dynasty, including more than 20,000 cavalry and more than 60,000 infantry, but all infantry have their own horses..."

Originally, this reporting job should be done by Cheng Chumo, but Cheng Chumo has returned to Chang'an now. As the original deputy general, Cheng Chuliang took over this job. Changsun Ze and Li Chengyi could only watch from the side. The army is also a place where seniority is ranked. Although Li Xiang pays attention to merit, sometimes this qualification is also very important.

What's more, Cheng Chumo is Li Xiang's brother-in-law, and he is also qualified to do this. Cheng Chuliang is Li Xiang's second brother-in-law, and he is more qualified than the two of them.

In addition to these Tang armies, there are also 40,000 Gaochang troops, 10,000 Goguryeo troops, 10,000 Fusang troops, 10,000 Tuyuhun cavalry, 20,000 Xueyantuo cavalry, 40,000 soldiers from various countries in the Western Regions, and 40,000 Central Asian soldiers, a total of ten Seventy thousand people.

When he heard the number of troops, Li Xiang understood what Cheng Chuliang was saying. He asked Li Xiang to bring as many elite soldiers as possible from the Tang Dynasty. Even if there were not enough elite soldiers from the Tang Dynasty, he would have to bring an extra batch of Gaochang soldiers. , try not to bring too many soldiers from the Western Regions.

To put it more simply, there are enough miscellaneous troops here. There is no need to continue to increase the number of miscellaneous troops. They cannot help us much on the battlefield. We must try to bring a group of elites over. Only these elites The more soldiers we have, the greater our chances of victory will be.

However, considering the security of the Western Regions, Li Xiang still recruited 80,000 soldiers from the thirty-six countries of the Western Regions this time, which also took away most of their labor force. If these people were not brought over, Even though Li Xiang was fighting on the front line, he was still a little worried in his heart.

"Although the imperial court sent nearly 100,000 Tang elites this time, I cannot put all of them on the battlefield. You should understand what I think. We have opened up such a large land in the Western Regions and Central Asia. They should be dispersed to defend, and we must stand firmly here instead of leaving after the fight."

Everyone also understands what Li Xiang said, that is, to consolidate the meat that has been eaten in the mouth, and not to cause turmoil in the surroundings due to war. Once turmoil occurs, then our previous efforts will be of no use.

Therefore, under such circumstances, no matter what the generals on the front line requested, Li Xiang only brought 20,000 elites. Together with the Tang army here, it can be regarded as a total of 100,000 troops. As for other combat tasks, all countries will rely on them. Servant of the army.

Li Chengyi and Cheng Chuliang frowned. According to their original thoughts, Li Xiang should bring at least 50,000 people so that they could proceed according to their deployment. If there were only 20,000 people, Gaochang soldiers and Tuyuhun soldiers would have to be sent to many places. Soldiers came to make up for it.

The soldiers of these two countries are second only to the Tang army, and their combat effectiveness is also remarkable. However, some people in Tuyuhun can't believe it. These guys are both nomadic people, and Xinyang is similar to the people of the Arab Empire. If they secretly If you contact us, we may be caught off guard.

"Your Highness, can you temporarily mobilize the Tuyuhun army back to the Western Regions, and then mobilize a group of Western Turkic cavalry? The combat effectiveness is similar, but in terms of trust, they are stronger than the Tuyuhun people."

Cheng Chuliang hesitated for a while, but finally chose the people of the Western Turks. Although the beliefs of the Western Turks were somewhat similar to those of the Arab Empire, they had killed a large number of people from the Arab Empire before, and there was a blood feud between the two sides. If so, If you expect them to cooperate, forget it.

In previous wars, Tuguhun spies had been caught, so Cheng Chuliang was a little worried. Although those people were dealt with on the spot, no one knew whether it would spread. Any small mistake on the battlefield could lead to our death. The losses were heavy, so before the war started, we tried our best to close these loopholes. This is also for our Datang army to achieve final victory.

"The person who led the troops this time was the young prince Anbazak of Tuyuhun. He can be trusted. This guy has been studying in Chang'an, and all his family members are also in Chang'an. Among the other people who chose to go on the expedition, Some of them are a mixture of Han and Tuyuhun people.”

Li Xiang had seen everything when he came, so when he chose the Tuyuhun army this time, he specifically chose those who were trustworthy. Your combat effectiveness may not be very good, but you must be trustworthy in your bloodline. Li Xiang also knew The blood theory may not be right, but sometimes you have to believe it.

Take this group of Tuyuhun troops as an example. Perhaps within the entire Tuyuhuan, they can only rank second to third. Of course, this is in terms of combat effectiveness, but if we want to talk about credibility, , they can definitely rank first.

There is no eternal relationship, only eternal interests. The interests of these people are already tied to the Tang Dynasty. If they have other ideas and the Tang Dynasty really falls, they will not be well. result.

As early as when Li Xiang occupied Tuyuhun, these people helped the Tang Dynasty suppress the local rebels. Everyone has the blood of their own clansmen on their hands. If you say they will betray the Tang Dynasty, what are their intentions? what is it then? (End of chapter)