Ma Chao also jumped onto Liu Meng's vehicle.
Those mercenaries who had been chasing the remnants of Ayu's troops saw the three-wheeled vehicles as if they were divine beings, an unbelievable sight.
These strange vehicles could move without beasts of burden, and they appeared to be made entirely of fine steel!
In a moment of thought, they realized they too had a chance to join the Tang Dynasty, which meant they could become knights of the three-wheeled vehicles, and this made them very excited!
Each of them behaved as obediently as a child, retreating to the side to clear a path for the three-wheeled vehicles, watching these strange vehicles charge onto the battlefield to reap the lives of Turkic soldiers.
The three-wheeled vehicles equipped with chains were, in this era, nothing short of a nightmare on the battlefield!
The battle, which was already somewhat one-sided, was instantly decided with the charge of these bug-like existences.
And so, by the time Fang Er and Li Shimin arrived with the main forces, the battle had already concluded with great success.
Looking out, within a radius of two li, there were corpses everywhere. The pooled blood flowed into the Nuozhen River, staining its waters red.
Skyfire Army, First Battalion Commander, Zhuzi, reporting to Marquis!
Skyfire Army, Second Battalion Commander, Ma Chao, reporting to Marquis!
The two iron-willed men's eyes turned red upon seeing Fang Er.
Only they knew how deeply their hearts ached when they heard the Turkic envoy claim Fang Er had perished.
Hahahaha, good! Well done! However, you are no longer battalion commanders!
Fang Er patted their shoulders and said with a smile.
Marquis, have we disappointed you?
Zhuzi, unaware of the Skyfire Army's expansion, became nervous, and Ma Chao also looked somewhat dejected.
No one would feel good about being dumped thousands of li away in the Western Regions, dealing with sandstorms day in and day out, only to be informed of a demotion afterward.
Hahahaha, you have not disappointed me, which is why you are now First Regiment Commander and Second Regiment Commander, with two thousand troops each!
How about a Huazi to calm your nerves? Surprised? Unexpected?
Fang Er took out two packs of Huazi and threw them to the two men.
Regiment Commander? Two thousand men? Marquis, you aren't joking, are you?
Zhuzi looked at him with disbelief.
At this moment, Li Shimin walked over, looking curiously at those miscellaneous foreign devils, and asked Fang Er, standing beside him.
Are these Western Region people brought by you?
Zhuzi and Ma Chao were taken aback when they saw Li Shimin. Why was the Emperor here?
They quickly bowed and saluted: We humble ones pay our respects to the Emperor.
Rise, are these Western Region people brought by you?
Li Shimin repeated his question.
Replying to His Majesty, before the year, Jieli sent an envoy to Suyab city claiming that the Marquis had perished during an incident at the workshop. My desire for revenge was overwhelming, so I took it upon myself to recruit some men.
Enlisting troops privately is a grave offense, Your Majesty, please punish me!
Zhuzi fell to his knees before Li Shimin with a thud.
Ma Chao also knelt down nervously.
By imperial decree, unauthorized recruitment of troops, and equipping them with armor, is tantamount to rebellion! It is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's clan!
Li Shimin glanced at Fang Er, then at those miscellaneous foreign devils, and then at the Turkic soldiers' corpses piled like small mountains by the Skyfire Army and the Xuanjia Army.
He remained silent for a long while, letting the two kneel there.
Suddenly, he turned and stared at Fang Er, asking.
How many men does your Skyfire Army currently have?
Fang Er seemed to understand something: Replying to His Majesty, including these Western Region people, we are still less than fifteen thousand men.
Li Shimin nodded slightly: Send me another basin of those pickled chili chicken feet tonight.
After speaking, he left with his hands behind his back.
Zhuzi and Ma Chao were stunned, what was going on?
Get up quickly, His Majesty has allocated twenty thousand slots for the Skyfire Army, and the Marquis has always remembered you, keeping the vacancies open, so you are not considered to have enlisted troops privately.
Wu Yong and Zhang Tian came over and pulled them up.
Zhuzi: Are we really alright?
It's fine, if the sky falls, this Marquis will bear it, so put your minds at ease.
Tell me about your situation over the past year or so.
Fang Er sat down on the three-wheeled vehicle and began to listen to Zhuzi recount the events of the past year in the Western Regions.
Upon hearing that Guan Yin had actually managed to secure the position of Suyab City Lord by selling his favors, he couldn't help but give Guan Yin a thumbs-up.
And the self-emerging oil mine further delighted him immensely.
This was truly a trip worth taking for them.
As for Abu Aba's betrayal, it did not surprise him much.
Heaven-sent gifts always have a catch; if that fellow was willing to pay such a high price to hire the Skyfire Army, he surely had ulterior motives.
If he were truly a fool, he would have been picked clean, bone and all, from Suyab City all the way to Shenyang.
However, he was somewhat surprised by the appeal of Tang household registration to these miscellaneous foreign devils.
He hadn't expected Zhuzi and Ma Chao to use the treatment at Fang Family Village to entice them to fight.
Indeed, for these men who lived on the edge, living day to day, the treatment at Fang Family Village would likely seem like paradise to them.
Alright, get some good rest, Jieli is expected to arrive in a few days, and there will be a major battle then.
As for those Western Region troops, they will be directly assigned to your two regiments as reinforcements, and I will handle their household registration.
Afterward, Zhuzi and Ma Chao addressed those miscellaneous foreign devils, no, they should be called Western Region warriors.
After promising to handle the household registration for the Western Region warriors, Fang Er let them go back to rest.
ps: First update