In fact, they should have retreated westward, but the canyon in the west was too narrow. If they took so many people with them, they would probably suffer losses because of the slow retreat. But you know that the south is vast. Doesn't the Tang army know this?
Retreating before the battle is also the most damaging way of fighting for morale. However, General Rahman saw clearly that because of the Tang Dynasty's musket team, his men did not dare to rush forward. If a tough order was given, it would cause a huge morale blow. Anyway, this is how the army of the Arab Empire fights. If they can't win, they will just run away and fight back when we gather together.
This is how they fought in the past, so when they retreated, their enemies thought they had won and were celebrating their victory. But just when their enemies relaxed a little, the cavalry of the Arab Empire would immediately strike back.
Cheng Chuliang already understood how the Arab Empire fought, so how could he let you escape from the south? So when they ran less than a few hundred meters to the south, 1,500 Loulan cavalry appeared in front of them.
There are two thousand Western Turkic cavalry behind the Loulan cavalry. They form two lines of defense in total. If the people of the Arab Empire want to break out from here, you will have to pass through these two lines of defense.
If there were no losses during normal times, it would be effortless for the Arab Empire cavalry to break through these two lines of defense with their combat effectiveness, and they could even kill both cavalry groups. But now, after being bombarded by artillery and muskets, many people are still trembling all over. How can they fight?
What's more, they were still exhausted from drinking all night last night. Even if they hadn't been bombarded, they would not be able to display their full combat effectiveness and might be destroyed by the army they looked down upon.
But now they have no way to escape. There are Tang Dynasty troops in the north and east, which are like a solid wall of steel. If they can rush through, they will not choose any other direction. The escape route to the west is too narrow. Even if there are people blocking the south, they can only fight now.
"Kill him."
General Rahman led the charge immediately with his men, but they were no longer the original cavalry of the Arab Empire. If they did not carry so much gold and silver, they would definitely be able to fight their way out. But now everyone was carrying a bag, and their horses were loaded with all kinds of things. When they charged, their speed could be clearly seen, which was not the original speed at all.
Now, let alone the cavalry of Loulan, even the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty could catch up. After Cheng Chuliang discovered this situation, he decisively ordered the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty to attack.
General Rahman also discovered this. He himself did not carry anything, and including his personal guards, they were still able to charge relatively fast, but the other soldiers were slower. In the eyes of others, this speed was still very fast, but in his opinion, it was more than half slower than before.
The cavalry of Loulan and Western Turkic also realized that the combat effectiveness of this group of Arab Empire cavalry was not very good at all, and there were Tang Dynasty cavalry behind them. As long as we can hold them off for thirteen minutes, these people will definitely run away. Looking at the things that fell out of their bags, it is really enviable.
The cavalry of the two countries also rushed forward, and the cavalry of the Arab Empire instantly engaged in a melee with them, but their combat effectiveness was indeed not as good as that of the cavalry of the Arab Empire. Although these people were drunk last night, their combat effectiveness was still stronger than theirs.
Just when they were about to break out, the Tang cavalry rushed over from the north.
The Tang cavalry swung their swords and killed each other, and it was easy to distinguish between the two sides. The Arab cavalry all wore black robes, and the Loulan cavalry all wore white robes. The two sides were clearly distinguished by black and white. As for the Western Turkic cavalry, they all wore animal skin armor from the grassland.
In addition to the weapons in their hands, many of the Tang Dynasty cavalrymen were carrying chain poisons. As they charged forward, more than a dozen Arab cavalrymen were immediately shot.
One Tang Dynasty cavalryman could kill more than a dozen people, but there were more than a thousand people rushing over, so the Arab Empire's cavalry soon couldn't hold on. Some of them wanted to run around, but unfortunately, if you wanted to break out of this battle group, you would be the best living target. While you were fighting, the Tang Empire's musketeers had already formed a formation around you.
Anyone who dares to rush out will not be stingy with bullets from the musketeers, and they will be fully prepared for you.
The entire battle lasted for nearly three hours, and it was a bloody massacre. The cavalry of the Arab Empire was still quite capable, but after various calculations, they had to throw away the scimitars in their hands.
This is truly a stubborn army. This is how Cheng Chuliang evaluated them. Normally, after seeing that they were surrounded, these people should have surrendered. However, who knew that these people continued to rush out, causing nearly a thousand losses to the Loulan Kingdom and the Western Turkic cavalry.
However, our results were still very good. More than 10,000 people were basically wiped out. As for the local troops they recruited, these people had no intention of charging at all and surrendered honestly in the city.
In their eyes, the war outside the city was basically a war between gods, so why would people like us get involved? Moreover, do we have the qualifications to get involved?
The Arab Empire had a total of more than 12,000 people, more than 5,000 of whom were killed in the battle, more than 4,000 were captured, and the rest were all seriously injured.
According to Cheng Chuliang's order, we gave these seriously injured people another stab to prevent them from continuing to suffer pain. We did not have enough manpower to rescue them, and more than a thousand people died on our side.
As for the more than 4,000 captives, 2,000 of them will be transported back to Chang'an, representing the comprehensive national strength of the Tang Dynasty. The remaining 2,000 will be our slaves and will serve in the war first.
After the war, these people will be distributed to the countries in the Western Regions and accumulated for the time being. This includes the more than 6,000 Arab Empire vassal troops in the city, all of whom will receive the same treatment. For a time, a lot of our labor force can be liberated.
As for General Rahman, he was shot in both legs and had his throat slashed by Li Chengyi...
