"I will be here."
Hearing Li Chengyi's shout, a guy shouted unnaturally and ran quickly in front of Li Chengyi. Now the whole city is under Li Chengyi's control, and he is like a local emperor here.
"Listen carefully, the Tang Dynasty has ordered that your city send 3,000 soldiers to accompany our army to the Western Regions. They must bring their own rations. In addition, you must organize a 1,500-man supply team to regularly deliver supplies to the front lines. If you fail to do so, your people will starve on the front lines."
After hearing Li Chengyi's words, everyone present was dumbfounded. Their city had less than 30,000 people in total, and now they had to send out 1/10 of their troops, and a transport team was also needed. If this was the case, it would mean that all the adult men in the city would serve in this war.
"General Shangguo, we really don't have such capabilities. During the last war in the Western Regions, we lost 2,000 young and strong men. Now look at our city..."
When this guy wanted to continue speaking, Li Chengyi had already put his hand on the hilt of the knife, so this guy didn't dare to say anything else. If he angered this general, he would probably suffer the consequences.
"What's going on? Some of you know better than me. Why are the troops from other cities only half as many as yours? Not even a third of them. That's because they've been doing their duty. What exactly your city has done is something only you know. And I have to tell you, if this time tomorrow, I don't see the army going out to massacre the city."
Li Chengyi put his hand on the hilt of the knife and said, "If anyone dares to resist, don't blame us for being rude to you. Your country has betrayed the Tang Dynasty long ago. Now you people are just cannon fodder on the battlefield. Let the people of the Arab Empire help the Tang Dynasty remove these branches."
Li Xiang's order was much more cruel than this. The reason for doing this was to let the countries in the Western Regions see clearly that if they follow the Tang Dynasty honestly, then there will be no problem with your tribe. But if you have other ideas in your heart, don't blame us for being cruel to you.
Although many people in the city had other ideas, if they were to follow the orders of the Tang Dynasty, it would almost cost the lives of all the young and middle-aged people in the city, so some people prepared to escape at night.
As a result, before they had run a few miles at night, they were caught by the Tang Dynasty army. The rules had been set earlier. If you don't follow the rules, you can't blame others. So when you are caught, not only will you be dragged to death by war horses, but no one, including your family members, will survive.
If we do not implement such harsh ruling measures in the Western Regions, then when the Arab Empire extends its tentacles again, these people will become accomplices and running dogs of the Arab Empire. They will become the vanguards of the attack on the Tang Dynasty. Instead of regretting it then, it is better to send these rebels to the battlefield now and let them play their last role for the Tang Dynasty.
At noon on the second day, the soldiers in the city were organized. A total of 3,000 soldiers were gathered in the entire city, including a group of people over 40 years old. But it doesn’t matter. If you are exterminated, you can blame your dead king.
Many people said that the people were innocent and that the king should be punished. However, Li Xiang and many Tang officials disagreed. Did the king hide this from the people? This meant that the people knew about it. Since they believed the king was right, they should also pay the price.
Everyone has to pay for his or her mistakes. You can't just cry a few times and expect others to forget about it. There is no such good thing in the world, so now is the time for you to atone for your sins.
All the common people stood on the adobe buildings outside the city, watching the men of their families leave with tears in their eyes. Now they hated two groups of people in their hearts, one was the former king, and the other was naturally the Tang army.
Of course, there are still some people who hate the Arab Empire. If you had not sent envoys, how could we have become like this?
Before leaving, Li Chengyi looked back. In just three or two years, this city might disappear in the wind and sand. A city without men cannot survive. When these 3,000 people die on the battlefield, you women and children will definitely move to other places, and no one will remember this city.
During this internal cleanup, about seven or eight cities were to disappear in this way. The remaining people could still hold on for the next two years, but when they heard that their men had all died, they could no longer survive in such a harsh environment, so they had no choice but to migrate to other cities.
Li Xiang’s strategy is very simple. Since you choose to cooperate with the Arab Empire, you are no longer the people of my Tang Dynasty. There is no need to let you survive.
In Li Xiang's impression, there are only two choices: either you fight for me or you fight against me. When you negotiate with the envoy of the Arab Empire, you may become our enemy. Although you have not taken that step now, we can't wait any longer, so we will just treat you as an enemy.
The countries in the Western Regions were not without resistance. Li Chengyi encountered resistance at his next stop. More than 2,000 cavalrymen fought against the Tang army. As a result, the war lasted less than an hour, and these more than 2,000 cavalrymen were killed.
Whenever Li Chengyi arrived in a city, he would investigate it thoroughly. How could he be unprepared? On the surface, his troops hadn't even deployed in battle formation. If your men dared to rebel, our serial killers would shoot down your first echelon in less than two breaths.
The gap in training and weapons and equipment between the two sides is huge. The most important thing is that the soldiers under Li Chengyi are all veterans on the battlefield. They have witnessed countless bloody incidents. The countries in the Western Regions have not fought for several years. Many soldiers are rusty in their skills. If the two sides stand together, wouldn’t it be easy to judge who will win and who will lose?
