Chapter 381: Battle by the Pink River

When Sa’id’s 40,000 troops arrived at the Pink River, they were met with a scene that filled them with despair. Flames soared across the river, and the pontoon bridges built from small boats had been engulfed in fire. The flames not only severed the only route to cross the river but also destroyed Sa’id’s last hope.
“It’s over! Tocharistan is completely doomed!” Gazing at the raging flames, Sa’id let out his final lament.
Li Guangbi, like a skilled chess player, seized the fleeting opportunity and decisively burned down the pontoon bridges, splitting Tocharistan’s 100,000-strong army in two.
At that moment, Li Guangbi’s 25,000 troops were quietly arranged in formation on a vast grassland. His supply convoy was located two li away, guarded by 2,000 camel cavalry from the Gasa Khanate.
The composition of Li Guangbi’s army was not complex: 3,000 archers, 3,000 crossbowmen, 8,000 infantry, 9,000 light cavalry, plus 2,000 scouts. The crossbowmen were at the front, followed by the archers, then the infantry, and finally the cavalry. The 2,000 scouts served as a surprise force to strike at the enemy’s weakest points. Normally, there should have been a reserve force to protect the commander and maintain order, but Li Guangbi did not have one this time. He led the cavalry personally, charging into battle alongside his soldiers.
A strong wind blew sand and stones, causing the Tang army’s banners to flap loudly. Li Guangbi rode at the forefront. His eyes gradually narrowed under the sunlight as he spotted the shadow of Tocharistan’s army. The long-awaited moment had finally arrived. He slowly drew his battle sword, which gleamed like blood under the sunset.
Dusk approached, but the desire to kill did not diminish with the coming night. On the contrary, the flames of revenge burned fiercely in the hearts of King Qu Zhaomu of the Yuezhi Kingdom and King A Lan of the Wangting Kingdom.
The two kings roared and commanded their armies to advance swiftly. “Our army is twice as large as the Tang army’s—what is there to fear?”
The massive army moved like a black ocean, rolling forward across the grassland. Their spears resembled an endless forest, filled with a sense of death under the sunset.
The two armies drew closer, now only three li apart. At that point, Tocharistan’s army stopped. Hundreds of spears were planted in the grass ahead of them, each bearing a human head, looking especially grotesque under the sunset.

When Qu Zhaomu and A Lan saw those hundreds of heads, they suddenly cried out in despair, pounding their chests and wailing. Those heads belonged to their wives, concubines, children, parents, and brothers—all of them slain by the Tang army, whose soldiers had brought their heads to them on the battlefield. In their extreme grief, hatred clouded their judgment; all they desired now was to kill—to wipe out this invading Tang army and avenge their loved ones.

“Kill them!” Qu Zhaomu shouted in fury. “Wipe out the Tang army! Not a single one left!”

The Tokharan army launched a fierce attack. Roaring with rage, they charged with unstoppable momentum, like a tsunami. Their warhorses galloped, and their infantry rushed forward, wielding spears and swords as they poured into the Tang camp.

In contrast to the Tokharans’ fierce enthusiasm, the Tang army remained calm as a mountain, motionless. Each soldier’s eyes held a cruel gaze, flashing with a ferocious light akin to that of wild beasts. Li Guangbi’s face was as stern as a granite statue, showing no expression. When the Tokharan army was still a mile away, he gave a cold order.

“Archer squad, prepare!”

Three thousand crossbowmen and three thousand archers stepped forward twenty paces, forming six rows of one thousand men each, with two paces between rows. The archers in the first row knelt, drawing arrows with their knees and arms, adjusting their sights upward at an angle. Their index fingers rested on their knives, their breaths gradually held, eyes narrowed to slits. One hundred and fifty paces—this was the range for their first strike.

Whether it was the Turks, Tibetans, Khitans, Uyghurs, or even the Turks and Persians, all enemies who had fought against the Tang army feared their crossbows the most. These long-range weapons could mercilessly pierce through their armor and wooden shields, causing heavy casualties even before combat began, severely undermining their fighting spirit. The Tang army’s crossbows had always been a nightmare for them.

Therefore, their enemies would do everything possible to avoid Tang arrows—either sending heavily armored soldiers ahead or using skilled cavalry for the first attack, or even avoiding combat altogether. Li Guangbi had anticipated this possibility. Thus, those hundreds of noble heads became the spark that ignited the Tokharans’ furious rage. He succeeded—when he saw the Tokharan army charging at them, a hint of triumph appeared on his lips.

The magnificent momentum of the Tokharan army began to fade as they drew closer to the Tang forces. The icy arrows of the Tang archers carried a deadly aura that filled them with fear. Many of them thought it was time to withdraw to camp as night approached. Distraught, their charging steps slowed, but their immense inertia prevented them from turning back. They were forced onward toward those deadly arrows, getting closer and closer, until the infantry at the front began to scream in terror.

At two hundred paces, the deep and rhythmic drumming from the Tang camp began, serving as a reminder for them to make final preparations. At one hundred fifty paces, the drumming suddenly stopped, and with a sharp “click,” a thousand arrows were released. They formed a dense swarm in the air and shot swiftly toward the Tokharan soldiers. The Tokharan troops were so tightly packed that aiming was hardly necessary. The thousand arrows pierced through the crowd instantly, sparking a wave of bloodshed. Their leather armor could not withstand the force of the Tang arrows, which penetrated their bodies. Cries of pain echoed through the ranks, horses neighed in agony and fell to the ground, and cavalry riders tumbled off their mounts. Before they could get up, they were trampled by those behind them, rolling and screaming before being mercilessly crushed to death.

The death of a thousand men in a sea of sixty thousand was like a wave crashing against the shore—once it broke, it vanished back into the ocean. Soon, the second and third waves of arrows arrived. The Tokharan soldiers fell like weeds in large numbers, only for another wave to follow. In just a few dozen paces, the Tang forces fired six thousand arrows, killing and wounding over four thousand men. The rising death toll finally slowed down the Tokharan army. The aura of death reached them, causing their forward momentum to falter. They no longer had the initial vigor and courage, and their once overwhelming force turned into a chaotic surge.

Yet, the nightmare had only just begun. They had now entered the range of the archers. At one hundred paces, three thousand archers fired their arrows at once, doubling the number of arrows in the air. The arrows covered the sky, as if night had arrived early, or as if Death in a black robe was laughing mercilessly from above. The immense destructive power of the Tang archers was fully revealed at this moment. Large groups of Tokharan soldiers fell to the ground after being struck by arrows. Their leather armor was useless against the force of the arrows, which pierced through their shields. They faced only one outcome: death!

At this moment, the lives of the Tocharians were so pitiful, like wild grass ready to be cut down at will, with no way to resist—the cold arrows showed not the slightest mercy. Arrows rained down like hail, piercing their chests and skulls. Dead bodies piled up like pillows, blood flowed like rivers, and wounded warhorses cried out in agony as they ran wildly across the battlefield, their long manes fluttering in the setting sun, resembling demons from hell. The Tang army remained motionless, like a towering mountain; their formation never changed throughout. Li Guangbi watched coldly as the Tocharian army began to fall into chaos. He knew he had overestimated this army; even if they had come with a hundred thousand troops, he could still defeat them. “Keep shooting arrows! Prepare the cavalry!” The Tocharian army was still fifty steps away from the Tang camp, but tens of thousands of them had already been killed or wounded. At that moment, King Alan of Wangtingguo led a group of cavalry from behind and launched an attack. Having constantly urged his troops to fight, he now witnessed a terrifying scene: corpses piled high, the ground stained red with blood, soldiers in panic and despair, showing signs of collapse. Just then, another thousand crossbow arrows whistled through the air, targeting Alan and his guards. They couldn’t dodge in time and were hit by the dense barrage of arrows, screaming as they fell from their horses. Whether nobles or slaves, in the face of death, they were all equal. King Alan was struck in the head by an arrow and died after falling from his horse in agony. Alan’s death became the final straw that brought down the Tocharian army. Under the fierce assault of the Tang army’s arrow barrage, the Tocharians finally collapsed. They turned and fled, like receding waves. Seeing the opportunity, Li Guangbi raised his sword and shouted, “Cavalry of the Great Tang Empire, this is your chance to earn glory! Charge!” “Charge!” With drums booming like thunder, the Tang cavalry spurred their horses, and over ten thousand riders charged at the defeated Tocharians. They advanced bravely, unstoppable. The Tocharian army wailed in fear as they scrambled to escape, falling one after another as the angry hooves rushed over them. “Resist! Resist!” Qu Zhaomu shouted desperately, but no matter how hard he tried, it was useless. His army’s morale was completely broken; they had no will to resist and only wanted to flee. Their innate fear of the Tang army finally led to the collapse of their forces.

At that very moment, another Tang cavalry force suddenly appeared from the northwest corner—six thousand cavalry led by Helou Yurun. They launched a fierce attack from the flank on the retreating Tocharians. Under the double assault from the Tang forces, the Tocharian army was finally overwhelmed. The fields were filled with their defeated soldiers, who fled in all directions but could not escape the pursuit of the Tang cavalry. Some were killed, while others knelt and begged for mercy. Even after dark, the Tang forces pursued them for over thirty miles. The sixty-thousand-strong Tocharian army was completely annihilated, and Qu Zhaomu also died in the chaos.

The Battle of the Penchi River became Li Guangbi’s famous battle. With thirty thousand Tang soldiers, he wiped out sixty thousand Tocharian troops, beheading more than twenty thousand and capturing nearly forty thousand. The Tang forces suffered only slightly over three hundred casualties. The immense power of their bows and crossbows was fully demonstrated in this battle.

The Battle of the Penchi River completely shattered the Tocharian states’ will to resist. The Guumo state surrendered to the Tang Dynasty first, followed by the Gaofu, Wangting, and Yuezhi states, which also surrendered to Li Guangbi one after another. When Sa’id learned of the devastating defeat at the Penchi River, his army split apart. Luo Xian, a general of the Yuezhi state, led twenty thousand troops back to their country and surrendered to the Tang forces. Li Guangbi appointed him as the new king of the Yuezhi state. The king of the Dahan state, Dogu, led ten thousand of his troops to defend their capital, Huolu City, refusing to retreat to Khorasan with Sa’id. With the withdrawal of the Dahan state, the allied forces completely disintegrated. Overnight, there were countless deserters. In the end, Sa’id led only three thousand troops across the Amu Darya River and returned to Khorasan.

On August 20th, Li Guangbi led his troops to the Kunxu state on the banks of the Amu Darya River. The king of Kunxu opened the city gates and surrendered to the Tang forces. Thus, except for the southernmost Persian state, the entire Tocharian region surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, bringing an end to the Tocharian campaigns for the time being.

Meanwhile, Li Qingan’s campaign against Sindh also began. In late August, Li Qingan led twenty thousand troops from the central army to Gandhara, which is today’s Islamabad. …