One Abu Isa begins in the eighth…

Desiderius—seeking, like his predecessors, to extend the Lombard power in Italy—comes into collision with the papacy and the southern duchies.

In the same year Desiderius associates to his kingdom the son of Adelchis, Alboin, the duchy of Benevento and Liutprand, that of Spoleto are coaxed by Pope Stephen to commend themselves to the Franks and thus separate themselves again from monarchy.

They then place themselves under the protection of Pepin.

Paul, the brother of Pope Stephen II, who dies on April 26, 757, prevails over a faction that wants to place the Archdeacon Theophylact on the Holy See and is chosen his brother's successor by the majority, who wish a continuation of the late pope's policy.

The new pope's reign will be dominated by relations with the Frankish and Lombard kings and with the Eastern emperor.

He adopts an independent tone in informing the imperial Exarch in Ravenna of his election, but writes to Pepin the Younger that the Frankish alliance should be maintained unimpaired, being possibly forced to this course by King Desiderius of the Lombards.

Another group of the Miknasa had taken part in the successful massive Berber Revolt of 739-42, which had managed to wipe out the Umayyad Arab presence in Morocco and Algeria.

The Miknasa had adopted Kharijism-Islam and establish the Emirate of Sijilmasa on the northern edge of the Sahara.

According to al-Bakri's Book of Routes and Places, Sufrite Kharijites first settled the town of Sijilmassa, along the River Ziz in the Tafilalt oasis at the northern edge of the Sahara Desert in present Morocco, in the wake of the Berber revolts against the Umayyads.

The story al-Bakri relates says that others joined these early settlers in residence there, until they numbered around four thousand, at which point they laid the groundwork for the city.

They elected a leader, ‘Isa bin Mazid al-Aswad (the Black), to handle their affairs during the earliest first few years after the town’s establishment.

The description of King Sigeberht of Wessex being deposed by Cynewulf is notably fuller than earlier entries in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Sigeberht had succeeded his distant relative Cuthred in 756, but was then accused of acting unjustly.

He is removed from power by a council of nobles, but given control of Hampshire.

There, he is accused of murder, driven out and ultimately killed.

It is possible that this happened under the influence of Æthelbald of Mercia.

His brother Cyneheard is also driven out, but will return in 786 to kill Sigeberht's successor Cynewulf.

King Æthelbald is assassinated by his bodyguard in 757, and his cousin Offa, after a brief, successful civil war against Æthelbald’s murderers, becomes King of Mercia.

The conflict over the succession suggests that Offa needed to reestablish control over Mercia's traditional dependencies, such as the Hwicce and the Magonsæte.

Yan forces have captured Chang'an by early 757 and forced both Emperor Xuanzong and his crown prince Li Heng to flee.

It is said that An Lushan was having eye problems and had become blind, and was also suffering from ulcers on his body.

As a result, his temper has become terrible, and his servants, if they have caused him any ill will, are often whipped or caned, and sometimes even executed.

Having declared imperial title, he spends most of his time inside the Luoyang palace, and his generals rarely see him, with most important matters going through his official Yan Zhuang,—but even Yan and a favorite eunuch of An's, Li Zhu'er, are being frequently battered.

Meanwhile, An Lushan favors another son An Qing'en, the son of his second wife Lady Duan (who might have carried the title of empress by this point).

An considers naming An Qing'en as his crown prince, instead of An Qingxu, who is otherwise considered to have received this honor.

An Qingxu often fears that An Lushan will put him to death.

He, Yan, and Li Zhu'er therefore plot.

On the night of January 29, 757, with Yan and An Qingxu watching outside, Li Zhu'er takes a sword into the palace and attacks An Lushan; An Lushan tries to fight back, but cannot locate a sword that he had put under his bed, and LI Zhu'er kills him.

The next morning, Yan first announces to the Yan officials that An Lushan is seriously ill and is creating An Qingxu crown prince.

An Qingxu then takes the throne before announcing An Lushan's death.

An Qingxu, now emperor of Yan, orders his general Yin Ziqi to besiege Suiyang (in modern day Shangqiu, Henan).

Yin Ziqi joins with Yang Chaozong before the siege, with a total army size over one hundred and thirty thousand men.

The governor of Suiyang, Xu Yuan, had heard of Zhang Xun's fortress defense abilities in the Battle of Yongqiu and asks him for help.

Zhang Xun knows that if Suiyang falls, the rest of Tang's territory south of the Yangtze River will be threatened.

He agrees to help immediately.

The united army of Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan, around seven thousand men, prepares to defend Suiyang with their lives.

Xu Yuan focuses on supplies management and after-battle repairs.

Zhang Xun, on the other hand, focuses on battle tactics.

The Tang soldiers never let up despite daily sieges by the Yan army.

Zhang Xun's troops play the war-drums during the night, acting as if they are going to fight (a tactic that army apparently had used before).

Consequently, the Yan army is forced to stand on guard during the night, and suffers from the lack of sleep.

Eventually, some troops do not bother to put on their armor when they hear these battle drums, and continue sleeping.

After the Yan army lowers their defenses, Zhang Xun's forces ambush them very successfully.

Zhang Xun has long wanted to give the Yan morale a major blow, and the best way to do this is to hurt or kill the Yan general Yin Ziqi.

Zhang orders his troops to shoot weeds, instead of arrows, at a few enemy soldiers.

When these soldiers notice that they are being shot by weeds, they are overjoyed, and promptly run to Yin Ziqi to report that the Tang army has already run out of arrows.

Zhang Xun notices where the soldiers run and orders his best archers to shoot at Yin Ziqi.

One such arrow hits Yin Ziqi in his left eye, throwing the Yan army instantly into chaos.

The siege ends with this expected major blow to the Yan morale.

After sixteen days of siege and ambush, Yan has already lost twenty thousand men.

Yin Ziqi decides that his army is too tired to fight, so he orders a temporary retreat to regroup.

Yin Ziqi returns to besiege Suiyang two months later, with an additional twenty thousand fresh troops.

Xu Yuan had prepared for the upcoming battle by storing a year’s worth of food inside Suiyang fortress, but the district governor had insisted that he share the large food supply with other nearby fortresses.

Hence, the food supply has become much less than what Xu Yuan had originally planned.