Chapter 384: The Crisis in Hexi

Rajid was like a lurking wild wolf, constantly searching for weaknesses in the Tang army. He knew that without some unexpected tactic, his 5,000 Arab cavalry could never defeat nearly 20,000 Tang soldiers. Only by targeting the Tang army’s weakest points might there be a sliver of hope.
He finally found such an opportunity—the Tang army’s left wing, composed mostly of archer-cavalry. Skilled in archery, they were clearly professional archers, which meant they would likely be weak in close combat. Perhaps this was the Tang army’s only weakness.
Rajid immediately led his Arab cavalry to the left flank of the Tang army. While the Tang forces were focused on attacking the Sindh troops on elephant backs, he launched a fierce assault on their left wing.
Rajid was merely the deputy governor of Sindh. Among Abu Muslim’s generals back then, he ranked well below the top 20—just an unremarkable middle-ranking officer. He had risen to deputy governor only because many of the founding heroes and senior generals had been purged within the Arab forces, leaving no one else available. With no capable generals in Sindh, Rajid was promoted as a substitute. Yet he now faced Li Qing’an, the Tang commander who had once defeated Abu Muslim. Even Abu Muslim had lost to Li Qing’an—let alone this obscure minor official. Moreover, he had only 5,000 Arab cavalry to face 18,000 elite Tang cavalry. If he had been able to assess the situation clearly, he should have withdrawn his troops to Shabro immediately and mobilized all forces to defend it. But he didn’t do so. He hadn’t realized the overall danger in Sindh and still hoped to win through a surprise attack. This showed that Rajid was merely a brave commander, not a true strategic leader.
He was up against the battle-hardened Li Qing’an and the well-trained Tang army. Li Qing’an quickly realized that this cavalry force was the core of the Sindh army, and annihilating it would be crucial to the outcome of this battle. With a single command, the cavalry on the Tang army’s left wing abandoned their attack on the elephant-mounted troops and split into two groups, acting like scissors to strike at the Arab army’s flanks. The Tang forces were as fierce as tigers. The archers’ bows disappeared, replaced by swords and spears. The two cavalry forces collided violently, limbs flying, blood spraying everywhere, with cries of pain filling the air—a scene so intense it was suffocating.

At this moment, the Tang army’s right-wing cavalry also abandoned their attack on the enemy cavalry. They circled around the battlefield and headed straight for the southern front, cutting off the Arab cavalry’s retreat. They quickly formed a siege, trapping five thousand Arab cavalrymen, leaving them with no chance of escape. It was only then that Rajid realized he had made a grave mistake—he had missed his chance to flee. Now, with no way out and completely surrounded by the Tang army, he anxiously looked toward the Sindh army, hoping they would come to his rescue and fight their way through. But the Sindh army’s performance disappointed him greatly. They seemed terrified by the Tang army’s ferocity and completely abandoned even the most basic dignity of soldiers, fleeing south alongside the Arab cavalry, pursued like lost dogs by the Gandharas, whom they had never shunned before.

Groups of Tang cavalry fought in perfect coordination. After surrounding the Arab cavalry, they began to split their ranks. A force of two thousand Tang cavalrymen was extremely fierce, acting like a sharp sword that was unstoppable, splitting the Arab cavalry in two and disrupting their formation. Chaos ensued among the Arab cavalry, who gradually neared collapse. The Tang army, however, grew more courageous with each battle. Patient and methodical, they gradually encroached on the Arab cavalry, who were like insects trapped in a spider’s web—their resistance weakening, their space shrinking, with corpses everywhere and rivers of blood. Seeing defeat inevitable, Rajid couldn’t help but cry out to the sky, “O Allah! Must I die here today?”

Just then, he suddenly saw the Tang army’s commander. He was stunned. “No wonder! No wonder!” he murmured to himself. At that moment, despair overwhelmed him completely.

He suddenly shouted loudly, “Drop your weapons and surrender!”

The Arab cavalry turned to look at their commander. Rajid rode swiftly through the ranks, raising his sword and shouting, “Follow my orders—drop your weapons and surrender to the Tang army!”

“Surrender to the Tang army!”

The fighting on the battlefield gradually ceased. The Arab cavalry stared blankly at their commander. With a clatter, someone threw down their spear first. Then one person inspired ten, ten inspired a hundred, a thousand—more and more cavalrymen threw down their spears and surrendered. The battlefield was filled with cries of surrender. Seeing that the enemy no longer had any fighting spirit, Li Qing’an finally ordered, “Accept their surrender. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!”

The Tang army quickly mobilized, dividing the remaining two thousand cavalry into four groups. They began confiscating the weapons and horses of those who surrendered, ordering them to sit on the ground with their hands on their heads. Dozens of those who tried to resist were killed on the spot. Thus, the five thousand Persian troops were completely annihilated by the Tang army—over two thousand were captured, and three thousand were killed.

However, the Khatara army’s pursuit of the Sindh forces was not effective. Aside from catching a few thousand elephants that were at a loss, most of the Sindh troops escaped. They were poor fighters but ran faster than rabbits.

The bloody battle gradually settled down. The sunset shone over the fields, where groups of dejected prisoners, escorted by Tang cavalry, walked listlessly toward Dolanjas City. They would be sent to work in the Pishan silver mines for five years. At that moment, a herd of hundreds of elephants slowly approached. With the war over, the elephants reverted to their gentle nature, obediently following the commands of the Tang army.

Li Qing’an was very interested in these elephants. He stepped forward, patted one elephant’s trunk, and said to Zhao Chongjie with a smile, “In the future, these elephant herds will be our loyal porters. You must treat them well.”

Zhao Chongjie sensed that Li Qing’an seemed to intend to leave him in Sindh. He was stunned for a moment before quickly responding, “I understand!”

Li Qing’an smiled, glanced around at the elephant herd, and then said to everyone, “It’s getting late. Let’s go into the city now to check the grain stores.”

As the crowd surrounded Li Qing’an and was about to enter the city, suddenly, a dozen cavalry riders rushed in from the north. They were covered in dust and looked extremely anxious. Li Qing’an was slightly startled, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart. The cavalry rushed up and shouted from afar, “General, urgent message from Suiye!”

The cavalry dismounted and saluted Li Qing’an. The leader took out a letter and said, “This is a letter from Mr. Yan for the general—it’s extremely urgent.”

Li Qing’an took the letter and quickly opened it. Gradually, his brows furrowed. Something serious had happened in the capital—Nan Jiyun had been promoted to General of the Left Military Guard. Li Yu had appointed Li Guoliang as General of the Eastern Palace’s Six Commanderies, taking charge of the 20,000 soldiers under that command. To relieve the burden on Anxi, it was announced that the soldiers’ pay and rations would now be provided by the imperial court rather than Anxi. Moreover, Li Guoliang was a trusted general under Guo Ziyi, meaning Li Yu had taken away the 20,000 soldiers recruited by Anxi in Chang’an. At the end of the letter, Yan Zhuang mentioned another important matter: Prime Minister Yang Guozhong firmly opposed dividing Hexi and still advocated keeping it as a separate military region. Yang Guozhong’s opposition was supported by Zhang Yun and Chen Xilié, and the Ministry of War also clearly opposed splitting Hexi.

These sudden developments made Li Qing’an realize that Li Yu was already taking action against him. Although he knew their honeymoon period wouldn’t last long, he hadn’t expected it to end so quickly—less than half a year had passed, and Li Yu was already so impatient. Losing the 20,000 troops in the capital might still be acceptable, as it was after all their territory. But Li Yu’s attempt to seize control of Hexi filled Li Qing’an with anxiety. He immediately ordered, “The army shall set up camp right here!”

The Tang army quickly set up a large camp in the open fields. Tents appeared one after another, and several tall watchtowers were built beside the camp. Two thousand cavalry entered the city to take control of the granaries. The Tang army’s movements were orderly, everything proceeding as planned. Yet the atmosphere near the central command tent was somewhat unusual. The two thousand cavalry remained fully armed, their armor still on, with two warhorses each by their side. They were all Li Qing’an’s trusted personal guards. Clearly, Li Qing’an was about to take action.

Zhao Chongjie hurried past the tents and arrived in front of the central command tent. He bowed to one of Li Qing’an’s guards and said, “Please inform the general that Zhao Chongjie has come by order.”

“General Zhao, please wait a moment. I’ll go report to him for you.”

The guard lifted the tent curtain and entered the camp. Zhao Chongjie watched anxiously the neatly lined up guards in the distance, thinking to himself, “Could it be that the general is going back?”

He had seen with his own eyes Li Qing’an receive a letter, his eyes showing concern. It was likely something serious had happened in Anxi; otherwise, the general wouldn’t rush back halfway through his southern campaign. Then the guard came out of the tent and said to him with a smile, “General Zhao, the general invites you in.”

“Thank you!”

Zhao Chongjie lifted the curtain and entered the large tent. Inside, Li Qingan was writing a letter addressed to Feng Changqing, who was far away in Tianzhu. Due to changes in the imperial court, Li Qingan had to change his plans to march south, abandon the campaign against Tianzhu, recall Feng Changqing to Xinde as the main commander to continue attacking the Abbasid forces, while he himself would rush back to Suiye to deal with the impending crisis in Hexi.

“Your humble servant pays respects to the great general!” Zhao Chongjie stepped forward and bowed.

“Sit down first; I’ll finish this letter right away.”

Zhao Chongjie sat down, feeling somewhat uneasy. Seeing that all the boxes in Li Qingan’s tent had been packed, he became even more certain that their commander was about to leave.

Soon, several other generals entered the tent—those who had accompanied Li Qingan on the southern campaign: Yuan Song, Zhang Enjue, Shi Yun, and Yao Mingzhi. They also sat down.

After finishing the letter, Li Qingan put down his pen, quickly read it through, sealed it, and handed it to his personal guard, giving him a few quiet instructions to deliver it immediately to Feng Changqing in Tianzhu. Once the letter was sent, Li Qingan turned to Zhao Chongjie and the others with a smile and said, “You must have guessed why I called you here.”

“Is the great general leaving?” Zhao Chongjie asked.

“That’s right. I must return at once.”

Li Qingan felt a bit regretful. Leading an army to conquer Tianzhu had always been his dream, but fate wouldn’t give him that chance, forcing him to abandon it halfway. With a sigh, he said, “Before I leave, I need to arrange everything properly. Don’t interrupt; let me finish speaking.”

“Yes!”

After thinking for a moment, Li Qingan said to everyone, “There are three things I need to clarify. First, after I leave, who will take over and continue the southern campaign? I’ve already sent a letter to Feng Changqing. After I go, he will replace me as the main commander. Until he returns, General Zhao Chongjie will temporarily oversee military affairs. In the future, General Zhao Chongjie will serve as Feng Changqing’s deputy.”

Zhao Chongjie felt somewhat disappointed. He had thought he would be the main commander, but it turned out to be Feng Changqing. However, Feng Changqing had more experience than him, so he had nothing to say. He quickly stood up and declared, “Your humble servant will obey the orders!”

Li Qingan waved his hand to make him sit down and continued, “Second, what we need to do next. Although attacking the Abbasid forces is important, I’m worried that the Abbasid troops in Persia might send reinforcements to Xinde. So we must transport as much food as possible back to Juzhan Ti before their reinforcements arrive. We can use elephants for transportation. I’ll assign this task to General Zhao Chongjie—action must be taken swiftly.”

Immediately afterwards, Li Qing’an said, “The third matter is this: how many troops we need to leave in Sindh. I have already explained this clearly to Feng Changqing in my letter, but I’ll reiterate it here. Right now, we have 18,000 Tang troops, plus Feng Changqing’s 5,000 troops, making a total of 23,000 men. I plan to leave 8,000 Tang troops stationed in Sindh, along with 20,000 Kharastan troops and 80,000 new Sindh troops. As long as they are well-trained, they should be able to deal with the Arabs. The rest of the troops will return to Anxi one after another after the war is over. As for which 8,000 troops to leave, it will be decided by General Feng Changqing—none of you may disobey!”
“I will follow orders!”
Everyone stood up together to receive the orders. Li Qing’an nodded and smiled, “General Zhao Chongjie, stay behind. The rest of the generals, go back and get ready!”
They left, and the tent fell silent once again. Li Qing’an stood in front of the map, examining it carefully, while Zhao Chongjie stood by, waiting for his commander’s instructions.
“Just now, I received news from He Yansi. They have successfully turned over the Sindh troops guarding the Shabro grain depot. There are nearly four million bushels of grain there, which is extremely important for us. We must seize the Shabro grain depot before the Arab troops in Punjab move north.”
Zhao Chongjie understood his commander’s intention. He had originally planned to lead his troops south, but now he had to return to Anxi, so he handed over this task to himself.
“Please rest assured, General. I will swiftly head south to seize the Shabro grain depot.”
“Very good. Set out now, leading 10,000 troops south. You can leave Yuan Song to guard Dolankhas City. From what I can see on the map, Shabro is less than 200 li from here. The two of you can support each other and coordinate defenses. In short, until Feng Changqing arrives, you are not allowed to engage in a decisive battle with the Arab troops. No matter how they try to lure you, you must not fight. Defend the grain depot at all costs. If you dare disobey my orders, I will punish you according to military law!”
Zhao Chongjie replied solemnly, bowing, “I would never dare disobey the general’s orders!”
Li Qing’an stared at him for a while before nodding. “Alright! Act immediately.”
That night, Zhao Chongjie led 10,000 cavalry toward the Shabro grain depot, while Li Qing’an set off that very night as well, returning to Anxi under the protection of 2,000 bodyguards.
It was the eighth day of the ninth month in the first year of the Tang Dali era.