Anxi Protectorate.
After nearly two months, Li Xiang finally arrived at Anxi Protectorate, which was also the logistics base for fighting against the Arab Empire.
On Li Xiang's left are Cheng Chuliang and Li Chengyi, on his right are Xiao Shougui and Zhang Jiuli, and there is also Chang Sun Ze standing next to him.
"Everyone is gathered today. Because of the war, there's no need to say anything extra. The intelligence has been almost gathered, and the people from the Arab Empire are already gathering. I'd like to know what our situation is like."
Li Xiang mainly asked about the defense situation in Central Asia. After all, he had come 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 war were to break out now, it would be advantageous for us. After all, our army could stay in place, while the people of the Arab Empire would have to travel a long distance.
As the head of the military here, Cheng Chuliang naturally had to make a report.
"Your Highness, within the jurisdiction of the former Andong Governor's Office, there are over 80,000 elite Tang troops, including over 20,000 cavalry and over 60,000 infantry. However, all the infantry have their own warhorses..."
Originally, this reporting work should have been done by Cheng Chumo, but Cheng Chumo had already returned to Chang'an. As the former 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 valued. Although Li Xiang emphasizes merit, sometimes seniority is also very important.
What's more, Cheng Chumo is Li Xiang's elder brother-in-law, so he is also qualified to do this thing. Cheng Chuliang is Li Xiang's second brother-in-law, so he is more qualified than these two people.
In addition to these Tang Dynasty troops, there were also 40,000 Gaochang troops, 10,000 Goguryeo troops, 10,000 Fuso 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, totaling 170,000 people.
When he heard the number of troops, Li Xiang understood what Cheng Chuliang meant. He asked Li Xiang to bring as many elite Tang troops as possible. Even if there were not enough elite Tang troops, he should bring a group of Gaochang soldiers and try not to bring too many Western Region soldiers.
To put it more simply, there are enough ragtag troops here, and there is no need to continue to increase their number. They can't help us much on the battlefield. We must try to lead a group of elite troops here. Only when there are more and more of these elite soldiers will our chances of victory become greater and greater.
However, considering the security of the Western Regions, Li Xiang recruited 80,000 soldiers from the 36 countries in the Western Regions this time, which also took away most of their labor force. If these people were not brought over, Li Xiang would be a little worried even if he was fighting on the front line.
"Although the imperial court has dispatched nearly 100,000 elite Tang troops, I cannot deploy all of them on the battlefield. You should understand my thinking. We have already opened up such a vast territory in the Western Regions and Central Asia. They should be dispersed to defend the area. We must stand firm here, rather than just leave after the battle."
Everyone understood what Li Xiang meant, which was to consolidate the meat that had already been eaten and not allow turmoil in the surrounding areas to occur due to war. Once turmoil occurred, all our previous efforts would be useless.
So in this situation, no matter what the generals on the front line requested, Li Xiang only brought 20,000 elite troops, plus the Tang army here, which made up a total of 100,000 troops. As for other combat tasks, they would rely on the vassal armies of various countries.
Li Chengyi and Cheng Chuliang frowned. According to their original idea, Li Xiang should bring at least 50,000 people so that they can carry out their deployment. If there are only 20,000 people, many places will have to be supplemented by Gaochang soldiers and Tuyuhun soldiers.
The soldiers of these two countries are second only to the Tang Dynasty's army, and their combat effectiveness is also remarkable, but some people in Tuyuhun are a little untrustworthy. These guys are also nomadic peoples, and Xinyang is similar to the people of the Arab Empire. If they communicate secretly, they may catch us 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? Their combat effectiveness is comparable, but they are more trustworthy than the Tuyuhun people."
Cheng Chuliang hesitated for a moment, and finally chose 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 you want to expect them to cooperate, then forget it.
In the previous war, Tuyuhun spies were captured, so Cheng Chuliang was a little worried. Although those people were dealt with on the spot, no one knew whether the situation would spread. Any small mistake on the battlefield could cause us heavy losses, so before the war started, we had to try our best to fill these loopholes. This was also for the Tang Dynasty army to achieve the final victory.
"The one leading the troops this time is the young Tuyuhun prince Anbazak. He is trustworthy. He has been studying in Chang'an, and his family is all in Chang'an. In addition, some of those who chose to go on the expedition are of mixed Han and Tuyuhun descent."
Li Xiang had looked at everything when he came, so when he chose the Tuyuhun army this time, he specifically chose those that he could trust. Your combat effectiveness may not be that good, but you must be trustworthy in terms of bloodline. Li Xiang also knew that the bloodline theory might not be right, but sometimes you have to believe it.
Take this group of Tuyuhun troops for example. Perhaps within the entire Tuyuhuan, they can only rank second or third. Of course, this is in terms of combat effectiveness, but if we talk about credibility, they can definitely rank first.
There are no eternal relationships, 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 collapses, they will not have a good ending either.
As early as when Li Xiang occupied Tuyuhun, these people helped the Tang Dynasty to suppress local rebels. Everyone has the blood of his fellow tribesmen on his hands. You say they would betray the Tang Dynasty, so what exactly do they want?
