Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Great Idle Man of the Tang Dynasty

Text Chapter 41 Enemy Attack

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    Chapter 41 Enemy Attack

    Alexandria, since it was reoccupied by the Arabs, has enjoyed peace for nearly ten years. Those who live here, whether they are Arabs at the top, Jews who are discriminated against, or those who live at the bottom of society, have been exploited.  , the enslaved Egyptians have become accustomed to a peaceful life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

    Whether it was during the Ptomel Dynasty, the Byzantine occupation, or the current Arab occupation, the status of this city is transcendent. It is the largest free trade port in the Mediterranean. Even in times of war, people come and go here every day.  There was an endless stream of Venetian merchants, Greek merchants, and merchants from other countries.

    Alexandria is free and does not accept anyone¡¯s dictatorship. It is as if a game rule has been formed and no one has ever broken it.  But today, the peace here is destined to be destroyed.

    At dawn in the morning, people in Alexandria were about to start another day of life. People walked out of their homes, breathed in the fresh air, greeted each other, and had smiles on their faces. They did not realize that the danger was approaching.

    He didn¡¯t know who it was, but he suddenly felt the stone road beneath his feet trembling. This made him a little confused. Although there were many patrolling Arab cavalry in the city, this kind of momentum was obviously not something that a few hundred people could create.

    Before people could react, there was a sudden burst of rapid gongs and shouts, which suddenly destroyed the tranquility that Alexandria had created for hundreds of years.

    "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

    The shouts rang out, but people didn't react for a while. Even those who reacted didn't feel too panicked. Alexandria has not experienced wars. Since the city was founded, Macedonians, Byzantines, Greeks, Persians, Arabs  People are constantly competing around this city. The people here have long been used to it and don't find it so out of the ordinary.

    When the Greeks took advantage of the food army to go out, they attacked Alexandria. After hearing the news, the governor Amr Ibn Ass immediately returned to besiege Alexandria.  He was so angry at the difficulty he had taken in conquering Alexandria that he ordered its walls to be demolished, but he did everything in his power to save the lives of the city's inhabitants.

    This has created a consciousness in the minds of local residents that no matter how chaotic it is, their life safety is always guaranteed.

    The residents can still maintain a minimum of calmness, but the garrison cannot. Although they don't know who the other party is, they are attacking Alexandria with such force, which is obviously a bad intention.

    Amr Ibn As, the governor of Alexandria who had just gotten up, heard the noise outside and hurried out, and met the captain of his personal guard head-on.

    "What happened outside? Are the Greeks coming again?"

    The captain of the Guards looked a little panicked and said: "No! Sir, they are not Greeks. They came from the land. They seem~~~~~~ to be from the Tang Dynasty!"

    "Tang people!"

    When Amul heard this, his heart suddenly sank. He was no stranger to the Tang people. Although he had not fought against the Tang people, he was also familiar with the wars between the Tang people and the Arabs in the Western Regions, Congling, and Central Asia.  He knew that Tang Ren was a dangerous enemy who was difficult to deal with.

    But where did the Tang people come from?

    He had also heard before that the Tang Dynasty had landed in Tours, and Mubak, who succeeded him as the governor of Egypt, led his army to conquer the area, and also transferred 3,000 people from his Alexandria port.

    Why did you suddenly appear here again?  !

    Could it be~~~~~~~

    Amr is a shrewd man, and he immediately thought of the key: "Damn it! That stupid Mubak, the Tang Dynasty has more than one team, they attacked the Port of Suez!"

    Amr Ibn As was also famous in history. He was a famous Arab general and politician.  Smart, powerful, resourceful, irritable, eloquent, and warlike.  His spontaneous actions won Egypt to the Islamic world. He was not only a successful general, but also a capable administrator and a keen politician. He created the tax system and judicial system in Egypt, built a fortress and a temple named after him.  Mosque, as one of the four great political geniuses in the early Arab Empire, did not bring a single soldier and relied only on his wisdom. He helped Muawiya defeat Caliph Ali, the most famous warrior in the Arab world, and win the throne.  Historically, he eventually died in Egypt as the governor of Egypt and was buried in Egypt.

    Amr ibn As was born in the Quraysi tribe near Mecca. He later converted to Islam, but before that he had been opposed to the religion.  Shortly thereafter, he rose to prominence in the Arab armies.  In 634 AD, he led one of three armies that invaded Syria,??Around March of the same year, a small Byzantine force was defeated at Dassin.  An even greater victory was achieved in July at Ajnadine in the center of Palestine.

    Although Amr had established his prestige by conquering Palestine on the left bank of the Jordan River, in order to compete with the outstanding Khalid and want to defeat him on new battlefields, during the savage era, he led caravans to Egypt many times.  He had traveled and was familiar with the cities and roads of Egypt. He took advantage of Umar's visit to Jerusalem and asked him to approve a large-scale attack on the Pharaoh's ancient country. Caliph Umar only expressed cold agreement.

    However, when Umar returned to Medina and discussed with Uthman and others, they all pointed out that this was a risky move, so he sent an envoy to stop the advance of the column.

    The Caliph's envoy caught up with Amr just before he crossed the border between Egypt and Palestine, but he speculated that the news in the letter was unlucky, and remembered that Umar had said to him: "If you enter the border of Egypt,  If you have received my order before, telling you to withdraw, you should obey the order and withdraw. If you have already entered Egypt and received my order, you should continue to move forward and pray for God's help."

    Thinking of this, Amr put away the letter. In 639, when he arrived at El-Arish in Egypt, he opened the letter and read it. It read: "Don't let the water separate me from you. Don't let the water separate you."  I can¡¯t camp anywhere I arrive on a camel!¡±

    It was obvious that Umar was opposed to attacking Egypt, but Amr still insisted on marching and achieved initial success.

    The first fortified city attacked by the Arabian Column was Philmay, the gateway to eastern Egypt.  After more than a month of resistance, the city fell, followed by Birbes and other cities northeast of Cairo.  Finally, the strong Fort of Babylon, which straddled Rhodes in the Nile, blocked the way forward.

    Since Heraclius reoccupied Egypt in 631, Cyrus has served as the bishop and governor of Alexandria, holding administrative power.  Together with the commander-in-chief Augustaris Theodoras, he led the army and rushed to Babylon Castle.

    Amr was stationed outside Babylon Castle, waiting for opportunities and reinforcements.  Soon reinforcements arrived, led by Zubayr ibn Owamu, a famous disciple of the Prophet.  The number of the Arabian column increased to about 10,000, the number of the Byzantine army was about 20,000, and the garrison of the fortress was about 5,000.

    During the siege of Babylon, Amr also attacked the city of Ain Shemus.  The Byzantine army was completely routed.  Theodoras fled to Alexandria, and Cyrus was trapped in the fortress of Babylon.  The Arabians stepped up the siege, but due to their lack of engineering knowledge and lack of siege machinery, they were unable to overcome the fortress.  The cunning Cyrus acted secretly and tried to bribe the soldiers besieging the city, but failed.

    The usual three options were presented: Islam, tribute or the sword.  Cyrus agreed to pay tribute. He rushed to Alexandria and immediately sent someone to deliver the terms of the peace to the Eastern Roman emperor.  Heraclius disapproved of those terms and charged his bishop and governor with treason and banished him.  During this period the siege of Babylon remained uninterrupted.  In July 641, after seven months of siege, the Arabs finally captured the castle.

    Later, because of the West Asian strategy, the Arab world's conquest of Egypt came to an end temporarily. When the Ottoman army came to conquer Egypt, they were unlucky enough to meet Du Rui, and were ultimately defeated and killed.

    Osman was killed in battle, Umar was assassinated, and the Arab world suddenly fell into chaos. In the Islamic civil war that lasted for four years, Amr firmly sided with Muawiya and opposed the nephew of the Prophet Muhammad.  Ali ibn Abi Talib.

    Later, Amul and Muawiya fought together with Ali in the Battle of Suifen. As the commander-in-chief of Muawiya's army, when the battle situation was losing, he proposed a plan to use the Quran to rule and win at a disadvantage.

    After Muawiya came to power and became the caliph, he also treated Amr very seriously. He knew that Amr had always been eager to conquer Egypt, so Muawiya appointed Amr as the commander-in-chief of the conquest of Egypt.

    After receiving this order, Amr was very excited and immediately took action. Babylon Castle had been conquered. After Amr went out again, his first target was Alexandria.

    Amr led 20,000 troops to attack Alexandria. One morning, he stared at a city wall that seemed to be difficult to break through. There were many towers on it, which protected the capital and main port of Egypt very solidly.  The majestic Palace of Seraphim stands over there. This palace once served as a temple to Serapis, the god of the underworld, and also served as the library of Alexandria. The beautiful St. Mark's Chapel was originally the temple of Caesar.  It was created by Queen Cleopatra in memory of Caesar, and the two Aswan red pillars were erected further to the west.The granite pointed pillar was built by Tuttmos III. Far behind, stands the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the world. It shines in the sun during the day and emits light at night. This scenery is unique to the desert.  Arabian impressions.

    Alexandria once boasted that it had more than 50,000 troops, in addition to the entire Byzantine naval force based in this port. Regardless of the number and equipment, the invaders were at a disadvantage. They did not have a single ship, nor  There was no machinery for siege, and there was no direct source of supplementary manpower.

    Amr left a detachment to continue the siege. He fought back to Babylon and conducted several predatory expeditions to Upper Egypt.

    Cyrus, who was reactivated by Constans II, was afraid of the Arab front and concluded a peace treaty.  The bishop wished to break away from the suzerainty of Constantinople and govern his own country for the Arabians.  Finally, at Babylon, Cyrus signed a treaty with Amr, which can be called the Treaty of Alexandria. In the treaty, Cyrus accepted a capitation tax of two dinars per adult and  On the condition that the land tax be paid in kind, and the Byzantine army agree not to return to Egypt or attempt to recover the lost territory.

    In the end, the Byzantine army withdrew from Alexandria, and the young and weak Constans II approved the treaty, which meant that he agreed to hand over one of the richest provinces in the Byzantine Empire to the Arabians.

    Amr reported his victory to Muawiya in the following words: "I have captured a city, and I will not describe it. It is enough for me to say this. There are four thousand villas, four thousand bathhouses, four  Ten thousand Jews paying a small tax, four hundred royal entertainment venues.¡±

    According to Muawiyah¡¯s policies, Amr¡¯s camp outside Babylon was turned into a new city called Falstad, which is now Cairo.

    It's a pity that Amr's irritable character eventually offended Mu'awiya. Mu'awiya originally planned to execute him, but because Amr helped him defeat his powerful enemy Ali, Amr finally decided to kill him.  He was sent to Alexandria and became the governor of this port city.

    History has changed, and Amur¡¯s tragedy is about to be staged.

    Facing the Tang army that suddenly came out, Amul was shocked, but he was not panicked. It was the bravery of the generals. Although the Dashi army was repeatedly defeated by the Tang army, at this moment, under Amul's order,  It reflects good military quality. The formation is very fast. In just a moment, a powerful military formation is formed. It is arranged in horizontal rows and vertical columns. It is very thick, like a mountain, giving people a sense of being unshakable. It is worthy of the saying.  He was a famous elite soldier at that time, capable of destroying dozens of countries.

    Amr now regrets it. If he had not demolished the original city wall of Alexandria in anger, the current situation might not be so bad.

    Although the city wall of Alexandria has been rebuilt now, its defensive capabilities are obviously not as good as before. What's more, what troubles Amr the most is that he now only has less than 10,000 troops in his hands. Although they are elite,  But compared with the equally elite Tang Army, even Amul couldn't help but feel a little unsure.
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report