The Syrian Province, Abbasid Caliphate
Provincial Governor Malik slammed his clenched fists onto his desk,
"It is gone! Every single drop of water! Every single grain of wheat! The entire province is being sucked dry!"
When the Abbasid Caliph granted the Tang expeditionary force safe passage through his territory, he was unleashing a biological locus swarm of epic proportions, one hundred thousand heavily armored, highly disciplined professional soldiers, accompanied by tens of thousands of warhorses, draft animals, and supply wagons.
A single soldier requires at least a gallon of water a day to survive in the arid Middle Eastern climate, and a warhorse requires five times that amount. Furthermore, they need thousands of pounds of grain, millet, and salted meats every single day just to keep moving.
Malik's chief vizier, a frail old man named Tariq, frantically attempted to gather the documents,
"Your Excellency, I beg of you to remain calm!" Tariq pleaded,
