"Please rest assured, Your Highness. Regarding the Fuso people, I remind myself every day that I will never give them any chance to gain power."
People within the Tang Empire also took Li Xiang's reminders seriously, mainly because all of Li Xiang's reminders were very important. Take the Arab Empire for example. At that time, no one believed that the people of the Arab Empire had such great power and could compete with us.
But after two wars, these people finally realized that if Li Xiang had not paid attention to them earlier, perhaps our losses would be even greater. Even if we mobilized the entire Western Regions, after several years of war, we still failed to conquer the Arab Empire. They are very different from our previous enemies.
Li Xiang has talked about the Fuso people several times, and a little too frequently. You know, if someone like Li Xiang can say this, you can imagine how terrible the Fuso people are. Once their rope is loosened a little, we may not be able to get it back.
"Just keep it in mind. Is there anything urgent?"
Li Xiang pointed at the official documents brought by Xiao Shougui and said that he was supposed to come here once every three days. If there was no urgent matter at other times, he would not come to Li Xiang. After all, Xiao Shougui had too many official documents, and they all had to be processed in advance. If Li Xiang had to make decisions on everything, then he might as well transfer all the official business to Li Xiang.
"Your Highness, General Li is here."
Just when Xiao Shougui was about to speak, a young eunuch came in from the door. Li Chengyi heard the situation here and hurried over from outside. His warhorse had not yet braked. Chang Sun Ze also came over. Both of them heard the news from the front line.
Originally, the two of them were fighting on the front line, but because they didn't find a way to fight, they were replaced. Now the Arab Empire is gathering its army and marching north again. Their chance has come, so they all came to Li Xiang for a stroll. What if Li Xiang has a plan for a decisive battle in mind, wouldn't we know it earlier?
They are getting rusty all over after staying in this place. If this continues, I guess these people can't stand it anymore, so most of the soldiers want to go to the front line to have some fun.
"You two are incredibly well-informed. I haven't even reported this to His Highness yet, and you two have already come running here. If nothing goes wrong this time, the war will really break out again, and the two generals may find their place in the game."
After hearing what Xiao Shougui said, Li Xiang realized that he was the last one to know. The three of them had heard the news a long time ago, otherwise they would not have come at such an opportune time.
Seeing the puzzled expression on Li Xiang's face, Xiao Shougui quickly described the situation on the front line. The Arab Empire recruited a large number of soldiers this time. If all the troops were counted, there would be at least nearly 500,000 people. When Li Xiang heard this number, he also became interested.
The reason we retreated last time was because we were afraid of something going wrong. It wasn't that we couldn't defeat the Arab Empire, but our chances of winning a decisive battle between cities were not that great. If our retreat was attacked, the army might be delayed there.
The victories achieved by the Tang Empire in recent years may not be so dazzling, so Li Xiang adopted a more cautious approach and led the army to retreat first, but not all of them retreated. Instead, he left two nails behind. At present, these two nails are doing quite well.
According to Li Xiang's original strategy, we should eliminate a large number of the Arab Empire's manpower in the wild. The more of their manpower is eliminated, the more chances we have of winning. If we reach the heartland of their empire, it will be of no benefit to us. We are in the state of invaders. Under that kind of combat method, we have to exert double the strength.
"Your Highness?"
After finishing the report, Li Xiang fell into deep thought. Others were able to remain calm, but Li Chengyi was the only one who could not. Although this guy had military merits, there were 500,000 Arab Empire troops in front of him. If he just watched from the side, his eyes would pop out.
"If our army were to go there for a decisive battle, it would be a long journey and would not be of any benefit to us. Order our troops on the front lines to fight and retreat, draw them back to the military depot, and withdraw a thousand miles."
Li Xiang quickly made his own decision. If our army were to travel a long distance, especially in the current temperature, its combat effectiveness would drop by at least 30%. Since they want to fight a decisive battle with us, they have to follow our way.
The three people present also nodded. Although the famine has tortured the Arab Empire badly, according to the investigation of our spies, their country can still hold on. Although the current situation is very serious, it is a great empire spanning two continents after all. Their strength is unfathomable and they will never be defeated by a famine.
If we are too optimistic, we will be the ones who suffer in the end. If we use Li Xiang's strategy to retreat a thousand miles, then their army will have to come here under the scorching sun. Our military stations and roads have already been built, and when we reach the end of our road, all kinds of supplies can be delivered continuously, so that our supply team will not have to find the way in the desert.
We were lucky last time, so the supply was not interrupted. But when we came back to review the situation, Li Xiang found that we were purely lucky. If the sandstorms broke out more frequently, our troops on the front line might not even have food and drink. After all, it can only support a small number of troops. It is very difficult for a large number of troops to find food and drink on the front line.
"I agree with your Highness, but we should also make preparations in advance. If we can annihilate this army, then I believe the war between us and the Arab Empire will end soon."
Xiao Shougui said this very optimistically, but Li Xiang was not so optimistic. The area of the Arab Empire was too large. Even if these people were killed, the road ahead would be very difficult.
