Chapter 26: Capture of Talas

Gu Taibai was a good general. He knew that failure was a foregone conclusion. The current plan was to withdraw back to the city and defend it with the strong city walls. If it was delayed, the Tang army would suffer heavy casualties as soon as they pressed up.

After a decision was made, Gu Taibai shouted: "Retreat the city!"

As soon as the order was passed, the Dashi army retreated to the city in an orderly manner. In this battle today, it was not that the Dashi army was not brave enough, nor that their combat power was low, but because their opponent was the Tang army, with advanced equipment and skillful combat skills, their failure was destined.

This is the gap between civilization and technology, not the fault of the army.

Although they knew that failure was a foregone conclusion, they still did not panic and lined up in neat formations to rush down the city.

How could Geshuhan give them the chance to rush down the city with the Longwu Army. The Longwu Army is tall and well-trained. In addition, they are equipped with Mingguang Armor, and their protection ability is better than that of ordinary Tang Army. Do you need to say more about the power of the rushing force?

Under the rush of the Longwu Army, the Dashi Army could not resist it at all, and it collapsed as soon as it rushed. With just one breath, the Longwu Army broke through several formations of the Dashi Army.

Gu Taibai was commanding the army to retreat on the war horse of Shenjun, but saw that the Dashi army in front of him was defeated in an instant. He couldn't help but be surprised. He knew that even if the mountain was pressed down, he would not be defeated so quickly. When he looked closely, he saw a team of extremely tall troops, wrapped in bright light armor, holding horse spears, rushing towards him in neat battle formations.

"Is this the Peacock Army? It's the adults' peacock army!" Gu Taibai was pragmatic, but at this moment, he had to mistakenly think that the Longwu Army in front of him was the famous army under Hacha that was capable of conquering and fighting.

You can't blame Gu Taibai, because the Peacock Army is so famous. It is Hacha's most powerful fist. The selection conditions are extremely harsh. Not only are they tall, Kong Wu powerful, alert, and have good qualities, but they also need religious fanaticism.

Once selected, they must undergo devilish training, and their strictness is no worse than that of the Dragon Martial Army. They are equipped with the best weapons, the best armor, and the best war horses in the Dashi Empire.

In Gu Taibai's memory, only Ye Que Army had such a momentum and such a fierce offensive. However, this idea only existed for a very short time because he discovered the Mingguang armor of the Dragon Martial Army, which was not something that the Peacock Army could possess.

"The Tang army has such a terrible army?" Gu Taibai was still a little unbelievable, but the Longwu army rushed towards him like a whirlwind forced him to face the reality.

It can be seen that the Longwu Army was coming to him. Although Gu Taibai was extremely brave, he knew that if he was slower for a while, he would become a prisoner of the Longwu Army. That would not be cost-effective. He slapped the war horse under his crotch and rushed towards the city gate.

He was right. It was because Geshuhan found him here that he brought the Longwu Army to deal with him. Unfortunately, Gu Taibai saw the opportunity and went to the city first. Geshuhan could only sigh at the will.

"Kill Gu Taibai for us!" Ge Shuhan cut off the head of a big food soldier, poked it with a horse spear, held it high on his head, and kept waving it.

The Longwu Army shouted in unison: "Kill Gu Taibai for us!"

The voice spread from afar. Tang army heard it and was happy in their hearts. All of them were more courageous, and the chopping and killing became more powerful. The Dashi Army watched a head waving on the horse's spear. They didn't understand why, and they had to believe it. They were not in a mood to fight. The morale that was already a little depressed was gone. In the face of the Tang army's attack, the resistance soon collapsed.

Gu Taibai heard Tang Jun's cry and kept sneering: "Are I fine yet? I'm really talking nonsense!" He suddenly woke up

, shouted: "No! This Tang Dynasty general is too cunning. He wants to take advantage of it in just a while! Why did I encounter such a terrible opponent?"

Gu Taibai, who understood, hurriedly climbed to the top of the city and shouted the guards: "Governor is here!"

The voice spread from afar, and many soldiers of the Great Food heard it. After a glance, they saw Gu Taibai standing on the top of the city, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in secret and feel aroused from the battle again.

However, it was too late, and the defeat of the Dashi Army had already been achieved. Geshuhan had long thought that Gu Taibai would definitely go to the city. It only took a moment to arouse the Tang army's stronger desire to win and hit the Dashi Army's fighting spirit.

"It's too late!" Ge Shuhan looked at the Gu Taibai Guard who was shouting hard on the top of the city, sneered and threw off the head of the horse spear, leading the Longwu Army to rush again.

The defeat was like a mountain of defeat. No matter how brave and good at fighting, the Dashi army had to be defeated. The originally orderly formation disappeared and rushed towards the city in chaos. Behind them was the Tang army shouting and rushing overwhelmed.

"Big!Big!" The big food soldier pushed the moat into the moat, and in just one breath, the moat was filled.

Looking at the soldiers struggling desperately, Gu Taibai was very depressed. He had never fought such a cowardly battle in his life. He really wanted to call the sky. However, now is not the time to be angry, and he has to withdraw the army into the city.

Geshuhan was determined to take this opportunity to rush into the city and take down Talas City in one fell swoop. The Tang army followed closely. If there was a moment of hesitation, the Tang army would capture the suspension bridge. In desperation, Gu Taibai had no choice but to grit his teeth and shouted: "Pick up the suspension bridge and close the city gate!"

As soon as the order was passed, the soldiers began to pull up the suspension bridge, but the suspension bridge was full of people, and the suspension bridge was raised too slowly. Gu Taibai was not allowed to make a quick decision again and shouted: "Shoot the arrows and shoot them! Allah will bless you!"

As a famous general, Gu Taibai cherished his soldiers very much. He regarded his soldiers as brothers. However, due to the current situation, he had to make a painful choice, and tears burst out from his tiger eyes.

As the arrow rains fell, the soldiers on the suspension bridge shot and killed them. The suspension bridge then pulled up, and with a loud bang, the city gate closed.

Looking at the closed city gate, Ge Shuhan gritted his teeth: "It would be better if it were faster! What about other places?"

"Go back to the general, they are all closed." Tian Renwan gasped and hurriedly replied: "This Gu Taibai is really cruel and ruthless, even disregarding their lives and death."

Although Gu Taibai's decision was very painful, it was the right decision. Ge Shuhan shook his head and said, "He has no choice. The brothers are exhausted. Let's go back to the camp first to have a good rest, so we should take a good rest for a night, and we will come to attack the city tomorrow. Get the car and crossbow ready! We will use it tomorrow!"

Tian Renwan had a smile on her face: "General, is this more important? The crossbow is our baby! It has been prepared long ago!"

When they returned to the camp, the troops reported the results of the battle. In this battle, the Dashi army lost about 100,000 troops. More than 20,000 were killed in battle, nearly 40,000 were injured, and the other 30,000 were not too late to escape into the city, and they were all captured by the Tang army.

The Tang army suffered very little casualties, with only more than 3,000 casualties, of which less than 1,100 were injured in the Han army, and less than 2,000 were injured in the Han army. Such a small result was exchanged for such a huge victory, which was enough to clear the shame of yesterday.

For the Tang army, it is impossible to achieve a big victory at a small price. Even if it wins, it is a failure and a shame!

The generals did not rest, but summarized the gains and losses of this battle. After all, this was the first time to confront the Dashi Empire head-on, and they were not so familiar with the Dashi enemy, so it was very necessary to summarize.

Yesterday, when we fought with the Dashi army, the Tang army had little advantage, and today the Tang army had the upper hand. The reason Ge Shuhan summarized it in this way: "In terms of morale, chopping skills, battlefield experience, and heroic spirit, the Dashi army is no worse than us! This is worthy of our respect! The main reason why we can achieve such a great victory is two points. First, we enjoy the advantage of equipment, and we each have a bow, but the Dashi army cannot do it; we have a huge crossbow, but Dashi does not; we have excellent armor, and Dashi is far from us in this area; we have more diverse attack methods, while Dashi can only be completed by charging, and long-range lethality does not pose a threat to us.

"Secondly, we not only have better equipment than them, but also have good coordination and skillful cooperation! This is the fundamental reason for our victory."

No matter how good the equipment is, it will be useless if it does not have good coordination and cooperation.

Geshuhan's summary is very unique. Yesterday was a head-on battle. Neither side used his strategy, nor did he cooperate and coordinate with the troops. Today, the Tang army has made all his advantages and gained the upper hand. The Tang army's crossbows are simply a nightmare for the Dashi army, which can effectively kill and injure the Dashi army hundreds of meters away.

During the attack, the Dashi Army sent archers to set up a formation and prepared to give the Tang army some strength. Unfortunately, it became a living target for the Tang army's crossbow. When the Tang army launched a devastating blow to it, the two sides were still hundreds of meters away. The Dashi Archers had no choice but to use the Tang army and could not pose any threat.

By the time the Tang army rushed to their range, the archers had no threat to the Tang army because of the excessive killing.

Since the Qin and Han dynasties, crossbows have always been a powerful weapon for China to deal with nomadic peoples. The nomadic peoples who were skilled in riding and shooting were seriously injured and killed by crossbows. The reason why King Wuling of Zhao, Qin Shihuang, and Emperor Wu of Han were able to defeat the Huns was largely because they used the crossbow very well.

When the Huns marched south in a large scale, they thought the Zhao army was easy to mess with, so they didn't take the Zhao army seriously. King Wuling of Zhao used the idea of ​​the Huns and set up a crossbow formation. The Huns relied on their skill in cavalry and shot, and rushed towards the Zhao army. However, when they could not reach the Zhao army, the Zhao army's crossbow arrows flew over like locusts. After paying the price of bleeding, the Huns woke up. The archery technique they proudly used no weapon in front of the Zhao army's crossbows, and only had to be shot.

Meng Tian recovered the Hetao land and Emperor Wu of Han defeated the Huns, and they used crossbows on a large scale. It was precisely because the crossbows had an irreplaceable role that dynasties of all dynasties spared no effort to develop crossbows. By the Tang Dynasty, crossbows had reached a peak.

Those who think nomads are invincible because they do not see China's advantages. China has advanced technology! It is worse than riding and shooting, and technology will make up for it!

Although the Arab Empire was powerful and had a vast territory, they were far from the Tang Dynasty when it came to civilization and technology. When the prophets raised their troops, they were only a few tribes and nomadic peoples. Although after eighty years of war, the Dashi Empire at this time was not as good as the Dashi Empire when it rose to war. Their technology, their political system, and their civilization were just beginning, and the Middle East had not had time to Islamize.

Of course, it cannot be compared with China, which has thousands of years of civilization history. When encountering the Tang army and the crossbows of the Tang army, even though they are brave and good at fighting, they are just nomadic people!

After the summary, the generals rested. The next day, after using the battle, the Tang army drove out a camp and formed a formation under the city of Talas.

Gu Taibai knew that Ge Shuhan would attack the city when the Tang army was in high morale, and he would do the same. He rushed to the city early in the morning to command the army to fight. He arranged archers and infantry on the city. If the Tang army attacked the city, he could command the infantry to fight.

However, what surprised him was that the Tang army did not climb to the city gate, but concentrated at the city gate.

"You still want to attack from the city gate?" Gu Taibai really didn't believe that Tang Jun had this ability, and thought to himself: "Unless you fly in with wings."

Just as he was about to think about it, he found that Tang Jun had pulled over large crossbow machines and arranged neatly outside the city gate, and groups of crossbowmen were busy.

Gu Taibai had already experienced how powerful the Tang army's crossbow was yesterday. It can be said that if the Tang army had no crossbow, the Dashi army would not have been defeated so quickly, let alone so miserably.

However, Gu Taibai's letter was used to shoot the army with a crossbow, and he would not believe it even if he was used to attack the city.

Just as he was surprised, the Tang army's crossbowman was ready. Tian Renwan waved the flag in his hand, and the crossbow machine showed its might. A harsh roar sounded, and thick crossbow arrows shot towards the top of the city with the strong wind.

Wherever the crossbow arrow shot, it made a deafening sound, as if thunder sounded in the ears. Then, stones cracked and stones as big as fists flew everywhere. When the city tower was shot, a crackling sound came, and wood chips flew over the city tower, and a large crack appeared, as if they were slashed out by a giant blade.

This power is much larger than the crossbow arrows of the Tang army yesterday. Gu Taibai has never seen it before. He was so surprised that he opened his mouth into an O-shaped shape.

Not only was he surprised, but all the soldiers of the Great Food changed their faces and didn't understand what they were wearing.

"Ping Ping!" A crisp metal impact sounded, and a thick iron rod rolled down and stopped at Gu Taibai's feet. Gu Taibai stretched out his right hand and copied it in his hand. He started to get very heavy, and then he added some strength to pick it up.

I weighed it with my hand and it weighed more than 100 or 200 kilograms! After looking again, I saw that the iron rod was three feet and five inches long and five inches thick, with iron leaves on it, like feathers.

"Oh my God! This is the Tang army's crossbow arrow? Such a heavy crossbow arrow can also shoot to the city. Are they still using crossbows? They are devils!" Gu Taibai's heart trembled.

This is simply a very heavy iron rod. The Tang army is just used as a crossbow arrow. After being fired through a crossbow, the iron rod is unstoppable. Although Talas City is strong, how many times can it be withstood? The city walls, city gates, and city towers will collapse soon!

This is the crossbow arrow of the Tang army's powerful weapon of the siege of the city. The crossbow has the power of twelve stones. It uses a winch to spread strings. There are seven arrows on the crossbow arm. The middle one is the longest and can place a giant arrow, three feet and five inches long and five inches thick, with iron leaves as feathers. Three smaller arrows on the other two sides will be unmatched once they are fired. According to records, "all the city towers in the city are destroyed, and the towers are also falling."

This is a powerful weapon for the Tang army to siege. Unfortunately, due to the limited range, there is no way to get the Stone Castle City. In the battle of Stone Castle City in history, Geshuhan had to conquer it by night attack.

After a round of bombardment, the crossbow opened its strings again, and another huge arrow shot away. The smoke and dust splashed make people tremble.

Gu Taibai's heart was beating, and he never dreamed that Tang Jun had such a powerful weapon. He thought that he could have been with Talas for several months and could have waited until Hacha came to rescue him. However, Tang Jun had such a powerful weapon to siege the city, and the city was about to be broken.

However, he was brave and calm in the face of danger. He immediately sent troops to set up a formation behind the city gate, preparing to fight the Tang army in the city.

After rounds of attacks, finally, the wall above the city gate could not bear it, the cracks became bigger and bigger, and finally collapsed. The suspension bridge fell and hit the ground heavily, splashing the smoke and dust of the old tall.

"Run!" Tian Renwan waved his hand, and Tang Jun rushed towards the city with a shout.

The crossbowmen pulled the crossbow away and prepared to attack the next gate.

Looking at the Tang army that was coming like a tide, Gu Taibai ordered the Dashi army to join the battle. As soon as the two armies contacted, the melee began immediately. At this time, the Tang army no longer had the support of crossbows and could only win by relying on chopping and slaughtering skills.

In this regard, the Dashi army is not necessarily worse than the Tang army. When the two armies encounter opponents, it is difficult to decide the outcome after killing them.

Gu Taibai was still confident in hand-to-hand combat. He took advantage of the favorable conditions for the Dashi Army to be familiar with the situation in the city and could completely drag down the Tang army in street fighting and finally defeat it.

His idea makes sense, but it is not completely correct. Now he is fighting at the city gate. Once he enters the city, the heavy infantry of the Tang army drives in, and the Dashi army will not have the power to fight back.

The Dashi Army's chopping skills are not inferior to those of the Tang army, but their equipment is not as good as the Tang army. The head-on slashing scene yesterday reappeared. The Tang army accumulated advantages bit by bit and pushed the Dashi Army into the city. The Tang army behind rushed in, and the Modao in the heavy infantry's hand had appeared in Gu Taibai's sight. Once the heavy infantry was used, the Dashi Army would be finished.

While Gu Taibai was thinking of a solution, his back formation was in chaos. He heard a loud voice and shouting and killing sounds.

"How could the back formation be messed up?" Gu Taibai was so surprised that his eyes almost hit the ground.

He knew that even in an unfavorable situation, he would not be confused. However, the facts were there, so he could not believe it. While he was surprised and suspicious, he heard a Buddha's name: "Amitabha! Buddha blesses, disciples punish evil and promote good!"

After a closer look, a monk of a young age, holding a Zen stick in his left hand and erecting his right hand on his chest. He was wearing a big red cassock on his body, with big ears on his face, which showed a bit of a monk's aura.

In front of the old monk, there was a group of young monks wearing Zibo clothes, flying up and down in their hands, greeting the Dashi soldiers. After them, countless people in strange costumes and dressed up the weapons in their hands honestly and unceremoniously at the Dashi soldiers.

Gu Taibai understood what happened, but he didn't expect that his daily actions would have laid such a disaster. At this critical moment, Xiao Yun caused trouble. He remembered a Chinese saying, "Your sins are not alive!"
Chapter completed!