Chapter 390

When speaking of the peak showdowns of ancient cold-weapon warfare, none compares to the Battle of Xiangji Temple during the An Lushan Rebellion. In this battle, both sides committed a total of 250,000 troops—every single one of them armored Tang Army soldiers. It was a true meat grinder, and it was this very battle that exhausted and consumed the elite core of the once-invincible Tang forces. On one side was the imperial coalition composed of the Northwest Army, Shuofang Army, Beiting Army, and Anxi Army; on the other side were the rebel forces of Fanyang and Lulong. Any single one of these armies, deployed on its own, would have been capable of crushing the so-called great powers of the era as well as clusters of smaller states.