The Tang army had strict military discipline. Without the general's order, no one was allowed to look at the so-called spoils of war. These things were certainly important, but if they would affect the battle situation, you would absolutely not be allowed to look through them casually.
But the army of the Arab Empire was different. Many people would even stop in the middle of the attack, mainly because their lives were too poor. Although the strength of the two countries was similar, if we talk about the lives of the lower-level soldiers, one Tang Dynasty soldier was roughly equivalent to five Arab Empire soldiers.
Just look at the land on both sides and you will know. The land within the Tang Empire is diverse. Although it is not extremely rich, at least everyone has no problem eating enough. Some people even have surplus food at home. Although they cannot live as well as the landlords in the village, they are much better off than the ordinary people in the village.
On the other hand, the Arab Empire's territory was mostly desert, with only a few arable lands, or other food. Plundering on the battlefield was their biggest source of income. If there was no plundering on the battlefield, no matter how capable you were, you would not be able to live a good life.
So in this situation, the Tang army was able to enforce discipline, but the Arab army was much worse in this respect. Economically speaking, the Tang army was already far superior.
Seeing the Tang army disregarding their spoils of war, many people felt a chill in their hearts. What were these Tang soldiers thinking? Didn't they need the things the soldiers had? Even picking up a scimitar could sell for a lot of money back home. Didn't their families already have enough money?
Just when these people were having such strange ideas in their minds, the artillery shells of the Tang Empire fell again. The artillerymen had extended forward a hundred steps and could continue to fire shells from this place. Li Chengyi had also asked for help from the army in the rear. Their artillery shells had almost been used up, and the army in the rear had to transport the shells over, otherwise there would be no more shells to fire.
Facts proved that Li Xiang's strategy was very normal. The two armies were only two hundred miles apart. After receiving Li Chengyi's letter, a supply force was immediately sent over. Of course, most of what they transported were artillery shells and gunpowder, which were also the most consumed supplies on the battlefield. Li Chengyi had plenty of other supplies. Even if there was no food and drink, they could be replenished from the Arab army.
Li Xiang had told them before that battlefield supplies are actually very important. The court can take care of the logistics for you, but while the court takes care of the logistics, you also have to find a way to obtain a batch of supplements locally, especially when leaving the land of our Tang Dynasty to fight.
If you can't even do this, then you are not a qualified general. No matter what happens in the future, you will feel guilty about it. War cannot bring any pressure to the court, so temporary supplies on the battlefield are the most important aspect, which is also included in the temporary assessment of all officials.
"General, what should we do?"
In the general's tent, Muhammad's men were already panicking. If they couldn't get out the front door, anyone who went out the back would be killed immediately. If they didn't react, they would likely be wiped out by the Tang army. Although the army before them was small in number, their fighting power was far too strong. We had already dispatched an army three times theirs, but what was the final result? Besides the sea of fire to the north of the camp, that was the group of people who had fled back from the south. All of them looked ashen, completely devoid of any fighting power.
In fact, this cannot be blamed on them. In the previous battle, they witnessed how wars in the new era were fought. From a long distance, they only saw the figures of the Tang Dynasty army, and then the next second they didn't know why they were hit, and blood holes appeared on their bodies one after another.
Although they also wanted to find out the reason, their instinct for survival made them flee faster towards the rear. The Tang army did not take them seriously at all. After ending a war, they did not take any rest, but instead came towards them to win a big victory. Their goal was very clear. Today, they would not be able to fill their stomachs with those small victories. They wanted your entire camp.
"The entire army will move out and retreat south."
Muhammad is not stupid and can make a correct decision at this time. If he continues to stay here, it will be a life-threatening situation. In this case, he must lead the entire army to retreat south. If he continues to stay here, he can forget about surviving.
There was nothing wrong with his retreat order, but before the retreat, he should have controlled all the troops. Now he only issued a retreat order, but did not dismiss the generals in the tents, nor did he let them restrain their own troops, so the retreat might sometimes turn into a rout.
The generals on the battlefield all understand that if you can retreat in an orderly manner, no matter how powerful the enemy is, it will not be able to cause you much damage. But if the retreat accidentally turns into a rout, your losses will increase exponentially.
This is the situation in Muhammad’s military camp now. A large number of soldiers retreated to the south regardless of anything. The entrance was so small that many people couldn’t get out, so they simply pushed down the fence next to them.
The soldiers responsible for defending the south had not yet received the order to retreat. When they saw these people in the north fleeing south, they naturally regarded them as deserters.
"Retreat immediately. No one is allowed to leave the barracks."
Near the south gate of the camp, a general commanded more than 400 archers to stop the retreating people. He had not received the order to retreat, but at this moment there were already thousands of people in front of him who were about to leave.
"Mahachi, you bastard, go ask the general. The general has already ordered a retreat. If you don't get out of the way, you'll be delaying the general's important task."
Another general and his men have arrived at the South Gate, and there are more people crowding behind them. If the gate in front is not opened, it is hard to imagine how much damage will be caused later.
