The Human Emperor c1-2382
Page 374
"Kill them!"
Rumble! While everyone was still stunned by this sudden turn of events, a person leaped out, pursuing the fleeing horsemen like a lightning bolt.
"Do you think you can escape?"
Huoshu Huicang's cruel and callous voice resounded like a giant gong. His attacks preceded him, red lotuses dropping from the sky like meteors onto the soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army and fiercely exploding!
Chapter 545: Plot! Luring the Tiger From the Mountain!
Chapter 545: Plot! Luring the Tiger From the Mountain!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"Aaaaah!"
Warhorses neighed as countless figures were thrown into the air by a tyrannical Stellar Energy, screaming as they were torn into countless pieces while the horses were smashed into pulp. Fierce red flames filled the sky as a flood of energy, almost like the sun itself, expanded to fill every inch of space with scorching fire.
Huoshu Huicang's Stellar Energy was so fierce and domineering that it felt like a blazing sun rose in any place that he covered with his Stellar Energy. These flames were so thick that even the sky seemed to blaze. Before the rain pouring down from the skies could hit the ground, it evaporated into white trails of steam.
As flecks of flesh and ash drifted down from the skies, they spread an aura of fear.
Huoshu Huicang's power had already surpassed everyone's expectations. Before him, everyone felt like insignificant ants.
Huoshu Huicang's vast energy inspired endless fear in all who felt it.
"Run!"
"It's Huoshu Huicang! Only he has a Stellar Energy that can unleash this sort of fiery light!"
"We're no match for him! Run!"
"Only General and the others can deal with him!"
………
The warhorses galloped off as an intense fear gripped everyone's hearts, a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads that spurred them to flee. Their faces were all ghastly pale without a single trace of blood. The Great Tang and Ü-Tsang were mortal enemies in the southwest, so all of these soldiers knew of Huoshu Huicang's reputation. And in this southwest war, the Annan Protectorate army had battled the Tibetans for more than a month now.
All of them were extremely familiar with Huoshu Huicang's energy.
Those blazing red lotuses and that sea of flame that burned everything to cinders were nightmares that haunted the sleep of everyone in Lion City.
And even more shocking was that Wang Chong had spent a great deal of time refining this plan. Three hundred zhang should have been a safe distance.
But no one had expected Huoshu Huicang's powers to be at this stage.
A distance that would have limited other experts didn't even exist to someone like him. In just a few moments, their forces had been dealt a heavy blow. Their horses, halos, armor, weapons, and cultivation were all meaningless before Huoshu Huicang.
With a single move, Huoshu Huicang had shattered the vigorous fighting force of the Tang army.
"Hmph, don't you think it's a little too late to run away now?"
Huoshu Huicang looked at the Annan Protectorate soldiers fleeing like startled birds and inwardly sneered, a powerful killing aura exploding from his body. As the commander-in-chief, he could not lightly make a move, but since he had already decided to act, he would not let a single person escape.
And it was about time for this farce that had stirred up so much trouble to end!
In these circumstances, if he let these raiding Tang soldiers escape, he would truly be letting down his title of Ü-Tsang Great General.
"All soldiers, hear my order! Kill all of these Tang! Don't leave a single one alive!"
As he charged forward, Huoshu Huicang ordered his soldiers to attack.
Awoooo!
"Kill them!"
Excited roars filled the skies, sounding like the rumbling of an avalanche. The momentum was so astonishing that even Huoshu Huicang couldn't help but arch a brow.
"Kill them!"
"Damn it, we've finally caught them!"
"It really was them, and they still dared to come when the Great General was here! They were truly seeking their own deaths!"
"Bastards! These Tang men… are dead for sure!"
The collective rage and discontent of the Tibetans were instantly unleashed.
They had fought for so long but had not managed to catch a single Tang soldier. On the contrary, they had been playing in the palm of the Great Tang's hand, been thrown into disarray and even ended up killing their own soldiers.
This was an absolute disgrace!
Finally, they had a chance to vent these vile emotions.
Rumble!
Like a river breaking through a dam, the Tibetan cavalry crazily howled, charging with unprecedented speed as they followed Huoshu Huicang.
Five hundred zhang!
Four hundred zhang!
Three hundred zhang!
………
The Tibetans in their frenzied chase were swiftly closing the distance.
And the Tang soldiers in front of them, perhaps because they had never expected Huoshu Huicang to show up here, seemed to be in a great panic, their entire formation in chaos.
An excellent chance!
Chaos for the Tang was a superb opportunity for the Tibetans!
Rumble! Like a lightning bolt searing through the void, the dense ranks of the Tibetan cavalry thrust into the Tang army. Bangbangbang! As scimitars sliced, figures were cut down off their horses like stalks of wheat.
Yet right when they were most excited and most expectant, all their cries suddenly came to a halt.
It was like some invisible hand had clasped around their necks and seized their throats! All their faces were stupefied, and even Huoshu Huicang was dumbfounded.
"How, how can this be?"
The army quickly began to slow, and a young general dismounted and looked in complete stupefaction at the 'Tang soldiers' that they had killed.
The 'Tang soldiers' were certainly dead, but they looked completely different from what the Tibetans had imagined.
The dead 'Tang soldiers' were completely different from the Tang soldiers these soldiers remembered. Their faces were all flushed with the sort of plateau red that one would only see if one spent long periods at high altitudes, battered by the winds. In fact, this was actually the red flush characteristic of the plateau!
"Damn it! They aren't even Tang! They're Tibetans! These Tang used our Tibetan dead to disguise themselves!" a Tibetan officer roared in anger.
Those 'Tang soldiers' pressed against the backs of the horses weren't Tang at all, but Tibetans who had been killed when chasing Wang Chong's initial force, or been killed in battle. This sneak attack seemed to be quite the large one, but other than a few Tang soldiers at the start, it was completely made up of slain Tibetans.
"We've been tricked…"
At the head of the army, Huoshu Huicang sat on his massive horse, his eyebrow raised.
He had only predicted the opening, but he had failed to predict the end.
His opponent was far craftier than he had imagined. This sneak attack plan had so thoroughly jumbled the true and false, the real and illusion, that even he had been fooled by this assault. At this moment, Huoshu Huicang suddenly had a very bad feeling.
Boom!
At this moment, a burst of heaven-shaking shouts came from the northeast, resounding through the curtains of rain. The originally quiet northeast suddenly turned into a din of fighting, roaring, and clanging of weapons. Countless people were charging out of the rain and into the Tibetan defensive line.
"Not good!"
Huoshu Huicang's eyes widened as he realized what had happened.
I've fallen for the Tang's scheme to lure the tiger from the mountain!
“Hyah!”
Huoshu Huicang immediately turned his horse around and took off for the battlefield.
At this stage, the situation was al
ready completely out of his control. Even Huoshu Huicang at his slowest would have figured out by now that this sneak attack strategy had been a feint, with the true target now obvious. All the previous sneak attacks had been for the sake of this single moment.
The geography of the southwest was very flat, dotted by a few hills. In these circumstances, it was extremely difficult to hide an army.
Yet Huoshu Huicang had been completely unaware that an army had been so close. Someone who could conceal an army so well had an almost perfect grasp of the proper time and distance. This was not something any ordinary renowned general could have.
For the southwest to still have this sort of character, Huoshu Huicang had to admit that he had truly underestimated them.
"Retreat, hurry! Do everything you can to stop them!"
In a great hurry, Huoshu Huicang loudly ordered his troops to pull back. However, even this Ü-Tsang Great General whose name was known throughout the southwest had still miscalculated.
From the very start of this plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain, Wang Chong had never planned to give him a chance to come back!
"Hurry! Twelfth Unit, loose spears!"
High up on the mountain, Wang Chong had mixed into the army, where he was issuing order after order.
Chapter 546: Breaking the Encirclement! The Transfer of Authority
Chapter 546: Breaking the Encirclement! The Transfer of Authority
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The infantry, axemen, spearmen, cavalry, shieldmen, and master archers all worked together under Wang Chong's order, steadily advancing up the mountain, piece by piece.
Unlike the previous sneak attacks, Wang Chong's method of attack was completely unexpected: a frontal assault.
He made no attempts to hide it.
To the complete surprise of the Tibetans, the Tang army of forty to fifty thousand chose to engage in a frontal assault, and the northeast corner just so happened to be where their defenses were weakest.
Through the constant sneak attacks, Wang Chong had already gained an understanding of the Tibetans' order of battle and the disposition of their forces.
The Tibetans had no secrets that they could hide from Wang Chong.
"Hurry! Time is short! We've already distracted Huoshu Huicang, so we have to pierce through the Tibetan formations as quickly as possible and bring the Annan Protectorate army out of here," Wang Chong said.
Wang Yan, Old Eagle, Chen Shusun, and Commandants Xu Shiping and Xu Andun were gathered around Wang Chong, carrying out Wang Chong's will and pushing the army forward like an inexorable tide.
Clangclangclang!
The cry of metal against metal was ceaseless as whistling arrows, flying spears, and the clash of scimitar against sword mixed into a single clamor. To the southeast, the Tibetans were caught between two armies and had completely crumbled.
Wang Chong's attack was extremely incisive, and the place he had chosen to start his attack was where the Tibetans were weakest. His soldiers worked in perfect harmony, leaving no gaps in their defense and completely taking the Tibetans by surprise.
On the summit, Xianyu Zhongtong had already received Wang Chong's letter via pigeon, so his entire army was cooperating by attacking the northeast.
With armies pressing in from both sides, one could easily imagine the situation in the northeast.
"Flee!"
"How could there be so many?"
"It's the Wang Clan father and son! They've come back!"
"We can't stop them! Where's the Great General? Only the Great General can deal with them; only the Great General will have a plan!"
……
The Tibetans were never easy to subdue, but the situation was stronger than a man. Simultaneously confronting the attacks from both Wang Chong and Xianyu Zhongtong and the effects of the Halo of Dusk Stallion and Bane of the Battlefield had made the Tibetans easy to subdue.
The northeast lines collapsed far faster than anyone could have imagined. Wang Chong had given no time for Huoshu Huicang to return before piercing through the Tibetan lines.
"Lord Wang, it really was you!"
On the summit, everyone had been drenched by the rain. Xianyu Zhongtong was standing on the summit, and as he saw Wang Yan approach, he was at first shocked and then elated.
Xianyu Zhongtong had long known who had come to rescue him.
But he was still surprised to see Wang Yan appear at this time, even though he should have retreated a long time ago. Xianyu Zhongtong felt greatly moved that the troops led by Wang Yan had chosen to not give up on him.
"Lord Protector-General, you've misunderstood. I was not the commander of this army. It was my son, Wang Chong," Wang Yan sternly said in response to Xianyu Zhongtong's words. Without any other words, he took a step to the side to yield the path to Wang Chong.
"Lord Xianyu, long time no see!"
Wang Chong didn't stand on ceremony. With a brush of his sleeve, he stepped forward, passing his father and appearing before Xianyu Zhongtong.
"Young Master Chong?!"
Xianyu Zhongtong's eyes went wide upon seeing Wang Chong, and an incredulous expression came over his face.
Xianyu Zhongtong had met Wang Chong before, during Zhangchou Jianqiong's banquet in the capital. Zhangchou Jianqiong had seemed to treat Wang Chong favorably and with great interest, and for this reason, Xianyu Zhongtong had a very deep impression of Wang Chong.
Moreover, Xianyu Zhongtong had some understanding of Wang Chong's deeds. What he had done in the capital, including the storm he had stirred in the court, were not things that any ordinary person could do.
And this youth seemed to have the regard of the Sage Emperor as well.
It wasn't possible for Xianyu Zhongtong to not know who he was.
Besides, the eighty thousand soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army had been saved by the Lion City that Wang Chong had constructed.
Xianyu Zhongtong was actually filled with gratitude for that Young Master Chong in the far-away capital, even though Wang Chong was still a teenager with no official rank or title of nobility.
"Young Master Chong, so it was you!"
Xianyu Zhongtong hurriedly stepped forward and clasped Wang Chong's hands, his expression extremely moved. For Wang Chong to suddenly descend from the heavens and appear was nothing less than a miracle.
Xianyu Zhongtong would have never expected this.
Wang Chong was also shocked. He had never expected Xianyu Zhongtong to have this sort of attitude. After all, he was a Protector-General of the empire, someone who stood on the same level as Geshu Han and Zhang Shougui.
Though his reputation might not be up to par.
"Lord Protector-General, this isn't the time to talk about such things. I've already lured the tiger, Huoshu Huicang, from the mountain. However, he could come back at any time. Time is short, and we have to leave immediately!"
Wang Chong didn't mince words. He opened his palm to reveal the private token that Zhangchou Jianqiong had given him. The battlefield was changing all the time, and anything could happen. The smallest moment of negligence could lead the army to its destruction.
Wang Chong didn't dare to make this sort of mistake.
Because no one could bear the consequences.
"This is the token that Lord Zhangchou gave to me, and seeing the token is the same as seeing the person. Lord Protector-General, before I came here, Lord Zhangchou asked me to tell you that the past is the past. The urgent task at hand is to preserve strength and maintain the structure of the Annan Protectorate army. As for the matter of the southwest, all will be done according to my orders, and I request Lord Protector-General's full protections. This is Lord Zhangchou's order!"
As he spoke, Wang Chong took out a white envelope.
Xianyu Zhongtong was an Imperial Protector-General. No matter what status he had held before, he was currently the commander-in-chief of the southwest, and one single token coul
dn't change this. Zhangchou Jianqiong's personal token and his handwritten letter were both needed to gain Xianyu Zhongtong's trust.
This had also been the reason for Wang Chong's visit to Zhangchou Jianqiong.
"Chong-er!!"
Upon seeing the letter and token in Wang Chong's hands, Wang Yan, Chen Shusun, Xu Shiping and the others were all flabbergasted. The token was one thing, but the letter was something that none of them had known about.
Not even Wang Yan had expected Wang Chong to come with the purpose of taking the reins of command from Xianyu Zhongtong.
Wang Yan's face hardened as he sternly rebuked, "Chong-er, what are you doing? Messing around! Take a step back for me!"
But Wang Chong acted like he didn't hear. His eyes remained fixed on Xianyu Zhongtong.
The rain continued to pour down, but Wang Chong was using Stellar Energy to prevent any of it from falling on the letter. He didn't have much time, and the sounds of fighting filled the air.
Before coming, he had hypothesized that Xianyu Zhongtong wouldn't refuse the order, but if Xianyu Zhongtong did refuse, Wang Chong really wouldn't be able to do anything.
Hiss!
Xianyu Zhongtong couldn't hear anything, his gaze moving between the black token in one of Wang Chong's hands and the letter in the other. With a deep breath, he instantly calmed down.
He didn't even need to open Wang Chong's letter to recognize it as being personally written by Lord Zhangchou Jianqiong.
Wang Chong held both Zhangchou Jianqiong's token and his handwritten letter, putting Wang Chong's credibility beyond question.
Xianyu Zhongtong had never imagined that the Lord Protector-General would hand over command of the southwestern army to a mere teenager!
And this was someone who had no relationship with the Annan Protectorate army.
For a moment, a whole host of thoughts surged through Xianyu Zhongtong's mind. As he looked at the extremely familiar token and letter, and thought about the strange movements taking place around the base of the mountain, Xianyu Zhongtong suddenly understood.
"There's no need!"
Xianyu Zhongtong pushed away the letter proffered by Wang Chong. There was no need for him to see it anymore. Since Lord Zhangchou had already given his own token to this youth, the meaning was loud and clear.