The once invincible Arab Empire could not have succeeded solely because of its failed eastern campaign and the loss of 800,000 troops in the Western Regions, just as the Tang Dynasty in the east had submitted to it.
In fact, for the Abbasid Caliphate, which was at the height of its power and at the peak of its empire, even the loss of its 800,000-strong eastern expeditionary force did not truly damage its vitality.
In the capital Baghdad, in Samarra, the country's second-largest city, in Kufa, in Damascus, in Cairo, and other important cities and military strongholds of the Abbasid Caliphate, there were still more than three million Arab troops.
This three million-strong imperial army was not only the foundation upon which the Abbasid Caliphate controlled its vast empire, but also the source of confidence for the nobles, officials, and civil and military officials in the court under Caliph Safah.
Moreover, given the martial spirit of the Arab Empire, it would not be difficult for Caliph Safah to mobilize and arm an army of one or two million in a short period of time, simply by giving a command in the name of God.
Under such circumstances, it is clearly impossible for a super-empire spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe to submit to another super-empire to the east.
To paraphrase the life motto of Turhun, the Abbasid Caliph who was recently buried, the Abbasid Caliphate's founding principle of "There is no other way but conquest" remains valid for the Arab Empire today.
However, the disastrous defeat of the 800,000-strong army in the eastward expedition was a wake-up call for the Abbasid Caliphate, making them realize that this "neighbor" to the east of the empire was not the fat sheep they had imagined, but a lion that had just awakened.
In the short term, the empire's conquest target certainly cannot be the Tang Dynasty in the east.
Didn't the Great Tang Emperor Chen Huai'an build a new Great Wall beyond the borders on the Pamir Plateau, north and south of the Tianshan Mountains?
If he wants to fix it, then let him fix it!
While the Great Wall beyond the borders prevented the Persian cavalry of the Arab Empire from galloping across the western regions to some extent, it also blocked the Tang Dynasty from continuing its westward conquest.
For now, let's just leave the Abbasid Caliphate and the Tang Dynasty separated by a Great Wall, and let them keep to themselves. That would be fine!
As for the 500,000 soldiers of the imperial expeditionary army who were conscripted to guard the Western Regions and build the Great Wall beyond the borders—
Forehead!
Let them be as if they were already on the eastern expedition, and like General Turhong, had already sacrificed their lives for the country!
The Caliph will remember their contributions to the empire, and the Abbasid Caliphate's subjects will also remember their contributions to the empire.
Right next to the mausoleum of General Turhong, the great general of the Eastern Expedition, let us erect a monument to commemorate the contributions of the 500,000-strong imperial army that marched eastward!
Another issue is how to quell the public resentment this incident has caused within the country, and how to ensure that the families of these 500,000 soldiers do not harbor resentment towards the Caliph, or even cause unrest within the country.
This problem is also very simple.
As the saying goes, "There is no other way but to conquer!"
The Eastern Expedition ended in a disastrous defeat, so the Western Expedition was a great victory to dispel the shadow of defeat among the people and divert domestic conflicts, since the whole country was looking forward to making a fortune from the war.
Who do we hit? It doesn't matter.
At least the Carolingian Empire to the west of the empire seemed much easier to deal with than the Tang Dynasty to the east.
As for the reasons for sending troops—
Um!
Take, for example, the arms dealers of the Charlemagne Empire who sold two hundred bronze cannons to the Arab Empire at a high price.
If those two hundred bronze cannons hadn't been seized by the Tang army in the Warakhan Corridor, the Arab army's eastward expedition wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat in the three cities of Black Tiger, Meijian, and Qatun of the Uyghur Khanate!
......
The impact of the Arab Empire's disastrous defeat in its eastern campaign was not only felt within the Abbasid Caliphate itself.
On the distant banks of the North Rhine in Europe, the Carolingian Empire, one of the four great empires of the modern world, was also deeply affected by the disastrous defeat of the Arab Empire in its eastward conquest.
When news of the death of Turhun, the first warrior of the Abbasid Caliphate and the general of the Eastern Expedition, reached Aachen, the capital of the Charlemagne Empire, the Duke of Orlando, the leader of the twelve knights under Charlemagne of the Carolingian dynasty and an old rival of Turhun who had fought many battles with him in the Mediterranean, was overjoyed and immediately rushed to the palace to report to Charlemagne.
Upon learning of the enemy general's death, Charlemagne, the Duke of Orlando, and the entire Carolingian dynasty rejoiced and celebrated.
If it weren't for Turhong, the territory controlled by the Carolingian dynasty could extend eastward into the Mediterranean.
Charlemagne's influence would not have been limited to the Ebro River in the south, the North Sea in the north, and the Elbe and Danube Rivers in the east.
The Arab Empire's disastrous defeat in its eastern campaign was undoubtedly a cause for celebration for the Carolingian dynasty.
However, after the initial joy, a problem that plagued Charlemagne and the entire Carolingian dynasty was once again placed before the princes and nobles.
That is, after the Arab Empire's disastrous defeat in the East, in order to divert domestic conflicts, it would inevitably launch a new round of conquests, using new victories to quell domestic resentment and dispel the negative effects of the disastrous defeat.
According to some merchants from the Carolingian dynasty who traveled to the Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty, an Eastern empire that controlled the Western Regions and had been established for less than a year, was powerful and militarily strong.
The Great Emperor of Tang Dynasty, in a duel between knights at the Black Tiger City of the Uyghurs in the Western Regions, killed Turhong, the Abbasid Caliphate's greatest warrior and the Eastern Expeditionary General, in just three moves.
He was a young and valiant ruler.
After defeating the Arab Empire in its eastward expansion in the Western Regions, Emperor Chen Huai'an of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict ordering 500,000 Arab captives to build a new Great Wall outside the borders in the Pamir Plateau and north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, solely to resist the Arab Empire's continued eastward expansion.
In this way, it seems that the only way for the Abbasid Caliph Safah to divert domestic conflicts and quell public discontent is to turn his military might towards the Carolingian dynasty to the west of the Arab Empire!
This is not good news for Charlemagne, who is currently focused on developing the economy, exploring and innovating in science and technology, and using his massive fleet to expand his territory around the world.
Although Charlemagne, who was over forty years old, had never read "The Art of War," he was well aware of the principle of befriending distant states while attacking nearby ones.
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
In the context of the current global power structure, the Tang Dynasty to the east, which was the enemy of the Arab Empire, was a friend of the Carolingian Dynasty.
The Great Tang Emperor Chen Huai'an was a friend of Charlemagne.
Thus, in mid-November of the first year of the Zhaowu era of the Tang Dynasty, Charlemagne, in the royal palace of the capital Aachen, wrote a letter, and a young envoy named Marco Polo, carrying Charlemagne's greetings to Emperor Chen Huai'an of the Tang Dynasty in the distant East, embarked on a journey to the Great Tang.
The young Marco Polo had a habit of keeping a diary. From the moment he boarded the merchant ship bound for the Tang Dynasty in the East, he picked up his pen and wrote the first line of his travels around the world.
Furthermore, he gave his diary a name: "The Travels of Marco Polo".
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com