This was Suheguman's idea. When he first came up with this bad idea, his subordinates thought it was impossible. They believed that these common people were spineless and would not dare to attack the Tang army.
However, Sukhguman severely reprimanded them. If the people had enough food and clothing, they would not dare to attack the Tang army. Some people who were scheming would even surrender to the Tang. After all, in the hearts of many people, they regarded the Tang as a paradise.
But what if you were in a critical moment, for example, you were almost dying of thirst, and there was not a drop of water anywhere except the Tang army camp, would you still worship the Tang army? At first, you would definitely go to ask for water.
This is also the choice of many people. If the Tang army has enough water, then the crisis can be resolved. But if the Tang army does not provide water, then many people will probably start to make trouble. At first they may insult each other, but soon they will use fists, and then they will have to find ways to find weapons.
Perhaps the Tang army would kill a wave of people to intimidate them, but this would only be a temporary solution and would only last for a day or two at most. After a few days, the people would run out of water, and more and more people would gather, and even the entire city would gather together. At that time, it would bring great trouble to the Tang army.
Unless they kill all the people, they can only find a way to get water, or retreat directly. No matter which method the Tang army adopts, it will be a very happy thing for the current Arab Empire.
If the Tang army killed all these people, the news would definitely not be concealed. All the people in the northern border areas would know about it. At that time, they would develop a hatred for the Tang army, a hatred that came from their bones.
No matter where the Tang army went, they were greeted with various forms of revenge. The casualties might not be great in the short term, and the impact on the Tang army would not be great, but when the number accumulated, the commander of the Tang would know what the result would be, and perhaps they would withdraw their troops.
Of course, it is also possible that the commander of the Tang Dynasty is more merciful and will not kill all these people. Instead, he will share some of his supplies with them. If this is the case, the combat effectiveness of the Tang Dynasty army will decline, and they will be dragged down.
You have to know that the Tang Dynasty's material storage station is thousands of miles away from here, and all the things are transported from the rear. It is already a very difficult task to support the consumption of their original troops. If these refugees are taken into account, they simply cannot support it.
There are tens of thousands of refugees in one city. When Sukhguman retreated, he destroyed several surrounding cities. The total number of refugees is hundreds of thousands. Once they hear that there is food and drink here, these hundreds of thousands of people will come here at the risk of their lives. When they stand on the city wall and look at the dark mass outside, won’t the Tang army withdraw?
So no matter what choice Li Xiang made, there would be no way to end it in the end.
"I have to say, Sukhguman is using an open conspiracy. We can't do what we did in Goguryeo, where we could transport these people to the rear and take in as many as we wanted, and even generate income for ourselves. But now we can't transport these people back as slaves. This place is too far away from our country."
Li Xiang's words basically meant that they had to retreat. If they didn't retreat, it would not be of any benefit to them, and it might even lead to a huge disaster for them. We came out to fight for victory and spoils, not to face a huge defeat.
"This battle is so frustrating. We've clearly won and will soon defeat them, but for this reason, we have to withdraw. If we try to conquer them again, it will cost us even more."
Su Dingfang said somewhat depressedly that the entire court had been almost fully mobilized for this war, including their small treasury in the Western Regions, which had basically been taken out in order to defeat the Arab Empire. Now they have indeed won, but you have only won part of it, and there is no way to expand your victory in the future.
Although the other people didn't say anything, they felt very aggrieved in their hearts, especially this guy Li Chengyi. He knocked out 100,000 of the enemy's troops right away, which should have been a good thing in itself. However, judging from the current situation, it might be because he knocked out these 100,000 people that Sukhguman lost his courage. This guy simply refused to fight for you and ran back with his army. He also used refugees to create a huge obstacle for you.
Li Xiang understood very well what his men were thinking. Everyone was in high spirits at the moment and was about to win a victory, and even break the spine of the Arab Empire. After all, we had a strong army and had proven that we could deal with their Desert Storm, but now they didn't give us the chance.
Of course, the Tang army can also continue to advance regardless of anything, but if that is the case, the hateful people of the Arab Empire will attack our logistics lines like crazy. These people have nothing to eat or drink, and your transportation lines have all kinds of things. Will they still care about their own lives?
The Tang army would indeed send escorts, but how many could you possibly send? Two thousand would be enough, at most, but how many refugees are there? If all the nearby refugees were to gather together, there would be hundreds of thousands of them. If they all ran onto the transportation lines, could you possibly kill them all?
Of course, the most important thing is that Li Xiang cannot accept such losses. While you are killing others, it is impossible for you to have zero casualties on your side. Annan has already confirmed that no matter how much stronger our people are than the other side, no matter how thorough our preparations are, zero casualties are impossible to achieve. Once the battle becomes intense, our losses will rise sharply, and they will not be replenished in a short time. This is the helplessness of long-term combat.
"Your Highness, isn't our navy very powerful? Isn't there a sea around here?"
Chang Sunze suddenly thought of another thing. This was also the turning point of the war in Indochina. How could he forget the navy?
