“If this is all he has for tonight, we might all be able to sleep easy tonight.”
“Could it be that this is all he had and Great Minister overestimated him a little?” Duwu Sili finally spoke, a tinge of resentment in his tone. “This is only a teenager. It’s not like he could have started learning the art of war and martial arts from the womb, right?”
Although he was somewhat unwilling to admit it, for the first time in his life, his Celestial Wolf’s Divine Procession had encountered an opponent it could not defeat, and this was an opponent whose strength and cultivation level were lower than his own. For this to happen in front of Great Generals like Huoshu Huicang and Dusong Mangpoje made Duwu Sili feel like he had lost all his dignity.
Dusong Mangpoje had his head lowered, and he slightly frowned at these words, but he said nothing.
“Haha, General’s words are reasonable, but there is no harm in being cautious. It’s better that we take precautions against any accidents.”
Dalun Ruozan chuckled and did not attempt to retort.
Dalun Ruozan would never look down on an opponent who had defeated him once, but he didn’t need to explain that to Duwu Sili.
“Great Minister, do you need me to join the patrols?” Dusong Mangpoje suddenly offered. “This way, if the Tang try anything, I can move out and cut off their retreat.”
“There’s no need!”
Dalun Ruozan’s smile turned into a frown as he swiftly rejected Dusong Mangpoje’s proposal. In the battle of the triangular gap, Dayan Mangban had been killed and Dusong Mangpoje’s army of tens of thousands had been almost wiped out. Ever since that battle, Dusong Mangpoje had been anxious to get revenge, even prostrating in front of the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple. Dalun Ruozan naturally understood what he was thinking, but now was not the time to make decisions based on emotion.
“A general should hold the center of the army. It is impossible to do everything personally. Leave these minor matters for your subordinates. Moreover, the Tang are crafty—both Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi are skilled in schemes and deception. If they were to learn that you were taking part in the patrols, they could have you running around until you’re completely exhausted, never giving you any time to rest. Then, when a battle occurs, your defeat will be assured.”
Dalun Ruozan’s expression was exceptionally grim.
Fire crackled in the tent as Dusong Mangpoje fell silent and finally gave a nod.
The darkness continued to deepen, with even the dim moonlight now fading. Fifteen minutes later, when Dalun Ruozan and the others were still discussing countermeasures in the tent, galloping came from the center of the Tibetan defense line.
“Who goes there?!”
Creaking could be heard as arrows were aimed into the darkness. The Tibetans were still at the ready, the sound of anyone approaching immediately triggering their reaction. Breaking through their defense line was no easy task.
“It’s us! Don’t attack!
“We were dispatched under Great General Duwu Sili’s orders and have come to the Tibetan camp to report on the mission!”
A voice came out of the darkness, speaking in rather choppy Tibetan.
“A Western Turk?”
A hint of surprise flashed through the eyes of the sentries as they slowly loosened their bowstrings. Down below, a muscular and tanned Tibetan general also slowly sheathed his saber. They could clearly see in the light of the fire that the men opposite were wearing the armor of the Western Turks.
The Tibetan general swung down his arm and ordered, “Put down your bows! No one is allowed to fire without my order!” His vigilant eyes began to relax.
The Western Turks and Tibetans were allies. Although they had different languages, they shared a common enemy. If they started killing each other due to a misunderstanding, it would have a poor effect on the overall situation.
“Many thanks!” the ‘Western Turk’ shouted as he led his soldiers forward. No one noticed the smug smile on the lips of the ‘Western Turk’ leader.
Chapter 932 - Predicting the Enemy (II)
Chapter 932: Predicting the Enemy (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Wait!”
As the ‘Western Turks’ approached, the Tibetan general standing under the sentry tower shouted at them to stop. At the same time, he turned and made a gesture to someone behind him. As the Tibetans looked on in confusion, a rider on a white horse rode out from the rear.
“Which cavalry group do you belong to? Do you have proof of the Great General’s order? Do you have a token?”
A string of harsh questions spoken in Turkic left everyone dazed and dumb.
There was a Western Turk soldier in the Tibetan camp!
While the ‘Western Turks’ were still dazed, the soldier on the white horse seemed to notice something and jabbed out a finger. “Stop right there! Kill them!”
Thwishthwishthwish! A volley of arrows was instantly fired at the ‘Western Turks’.
“Hahaha, this Dalun Ruozan is really impressive. He even took precautions against this.
“I have to give it to him, even placing Turks amongst the Tibetans. Brothers, retreat!”
Avoiding the volley of arrows, the ‘Western Turks’ rode away laughing. Once again, it was the Tang disguising themselves.
Far away from the Tibetan camp, a Tang soldier dressed in Turkic armor finally spoke. “General, this Dalun Ruozan is very hard to deal with!”
“If he were easy to deal with, how could he be called a wise minister? And Lord Marquis wouldn’t need to personally devise a scheme and stir such a ruckus.”
Cheng Sanyuan took off his helmet and laughed.
“This Dalun Ruozan has truly set up a watertight defense! If it’s like this, it will be very difficult for us to achieve anything!” one of the Tang cavalry unwillingly said.
Disguising themselves as Turks to attack the Tibetans, exploiting the differences between the Turks and Tibetans, was an excellent idea. But they had not expected Dalun Ruozan to place actual Turks in his army to distinguish the true from the false, clearly in anticipation of this move.
To those Tang soldiers who did not understand Dalun Ruozan very well, they couldn’t help but feel vexed by such a formidable adversary, feeling that their every move was being predicted. At this moment, they suddenly understood just how formidable their own marquis was.
“What do you have to be afraid of? Forget about him! He’s just a commander who lost to Lord Marquis. No matter how formidable Dalun Ruozan is, could he be better than Lord Marquis?”
Cheng Sanyuan heartily laughed, caring little for the concern of his men.
“Let’s go! We’ve finished our mission. The next mission is for Kong Zi-an and the others to handle.”
The group soon galloped back to the distant Tang camp in Talas.
Bang!
A few moments after Cheng Sanyuan’s men took their leave, a disturbance broke out in the camp of the Western Turks.
A messenger rushed into the Tibetan commander tent. “Great Minister! We’ve just received word that the Tang disguised themselves as Turks and attempted to raid our camp.”
Mere moments later, a Turk rushed into the tent. “Great General! An attempt was made to raid our camp! The Tang disguised themselves as Tibetans.”
Dalun Ruozan received both these reports.
The other people in the tent all exchanged glances of surprise, and then they all turned to Dalun Ruozan. Dalun Ruozan had arranged for soldiers of each side to be placed in the camps of the other side. They hadn’t thought much of this proposal at first, but they now realized that if Dalun Ruozan had not made these arrangements, the Tang would have succeeded.
One could only imagine what would have happened if the Tang dressed as Turks or Tibetans managed to get close to the camp under the guise of the Turko-Tibetan alliance.
“Great Minister is truly wise. Duwu Sili is utterly convinced!” Duwu Sili dec
lared.
Only now was he truly convinced by the Great Minister of the Ngari Royal Lineage.
Dalun Ruozan silently smiled and then lowered his head, a contemplative look in his eyes.
Huoshu Huicang and Dusong Mangpoje noticed this and asked in unison, “Great Minister, what’s wrong?” Dalun Ruozan did not appear like he had succeeded in correctly guessing his opponent’s moves.
“It’s not easy to explain!” Dalun Ruozan’s brows creased. “If Wang Chong had only made that one move at the start, I would have given everyone a frank smile and said that we could all rest easy tonight. But when he had his men wear the armor of our troops and try to raid our camps, this might seem within my predictions, but these two incidents together only make me more uneasy.”
“Great Minister means that his movements were just to confuse us while he tries something else?” Duwu Sili said.
He was still one of the best Great Generals of the Western Turkic Khaganate, so he very quickly caught on to what Dalun Ruozan was implying.
“We can’t know for sure right now, but I can guarantee that he hasn’t shown everything. Since he’s tried three times, he must have another move. But there’s one thing I still don’t get. How can he break the defenses I set up?” Dalun Ruozan said, a look of deep suspicion on his face.
Dalun Ruozan had set up a large number of bonfires on the perimeter of the camp, making it nearly impossible to approach the camp undiscovered. Moreover, Dalun Ruozan had stationed a Turkic soldier at each sentry tower, and the Western Turks had done the same with Tibetan soldiers.
That Wang Chong had tried twice despite failing was a problem in and of itself.
Both the Turkic and Tibetan camps were watertight, and the only way an enemy could get in was by forced entry. However, a night raid would never have many people, and a small group attempting to force its way through was suicide.
Dalun Ruozan couldn’t comprehend what move Wang Chong would make next. Dalun Ruozan had contemplated this problem before and believed that even he would fail to break through such vigilant defenses.
The tent fell silent as everyone began to think.
“Haha, well, he might have Zhang Liang’s plans, but I have my siege ladders1. Let’s not worry about him. Huoshu Huicang, our men should start moving out. A gift needs to be reciprocated. Let’s give him a pleasant surprise!”
Dalun Ruozan suddenly raised his head and smiled.
“Yes! Great Minister!”
Huoshu Huicang came to his senses, gave a slight bow, and left.
As Huoshu Huicang left the tent to issue the orders, something was going on at the northern side of the Tibetan camp.
Awoooo!
The mournful howl of a wolf echoed through the night sky, drifting into the distance.
“Listen! Even those beasts feel some emotion. Even they know to grieve for their comrades. In today’s battle, the Tang killed a mountain of wolves, so many that we couldn’t even count them!”
“Haaa, it wasn’t just the wolves that died today. The Tang ballistae are too powerful. We and the Turks number one hundred and twenty thousand, but we lost forty thousand today, and these were all elites!”
Ten-some meters from a sentry post, two Tibetan soldiers were chatting.
“I finally understand how those Tang could hold out against the hundreds of thousands of Arab soldiers.”
“The Great Tang commander is just too good. You saw what happened during the day. If it weren’t for the Celestial Wolf Cavalry, the Mutri Great Cavalry, and the Great General of the Western Turks moving out, we would have faced an even more devastating loss, perhaps losing more than half our forces.”
The battle during the day had been so gruesome that even now, this pair couldn’t help but involuntarily shiver at the thought of it.
Tibetans were not timid folk, but that depended on who their opponent was. Far too many soldiers had gathered around the one city of Talas, all of them the elites of their side. For all these elites to die before the manifestations of death that were the ballistae left even the Tibetans quivering.
Swishswish!
As the two were chatting, they heard a strange noise, causing both of them to bolt up and see what was going on.
“Who is it?!”
One of them readied a bow and the other pulled out a scimitar as they looked to the source of the noise. Hwooo! The wind blew. In the firelight, the two saw an enormous wolf slowly walk past a sentry tower.
“Damn it!”
“It’s one of the Turkic wolves!”
The two glanced at each other in embarrassment. Their commanders had long ago informed the soldiers that the Tang commander was extremely fond of night raids. Three alarms had been sounded since the passing of the Zi Period, and the Tang cavalry had tried to approach under disguise three times. The pair couldn’t help but be on edge.
“Bastard things, what are you doing?”
As the two were feeling awkward, a Tibetan general suddenly swept forward in a gust of wind, his voice harsh and his eyes like swords.
“Didn’t I have you go on patrol? If anything happens, it’ll be on your head!”
“Yes, General!”
The pair quivered and hurriedly vanished into the darkness.
This night was bound to be a restless one.
……
As the darkness deepened, the winds grew colder.
If one looked down from the sky, one would see countless torches shining along the two steel defense lines in front of Talas, illuminating the darkness. They created a belt of light that protected the one hundred thousand Tang soldiers.
Gallop!
Galloping hooves broke the serenity. A cloud of dust rose outside the second defense line as countless figures on horseback rapidly approached the Tang fortifications.
______________1. See Chapter 503 for the backstory on this saying.↩
Chapter 933 - Predicting the Enemy (III)
Chapter 933: Predicting the Enemy (III)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Who goes there?!”
With a harsh shout, the deserted second defense line was suddenly covered in figures. Gears creaked as the dreadful Tang ballistae swiftly appeared on the walls, their sharp and savage bolts shining with a cold light in the darkness.
“Stop! We’re on your side!” A voice came out of the darkness. “We received Lord Marquis’s order to attack the Tibetans. The mission is complete and we are returning to report on the results!”
“Oh? How did it go?”
The Tang general on the second defense line appeared much more relaxed. The marquis truly had dispatched many groups of soldiers tonight to attack the Tibetans.
“That Dalun Ruozan is too formidable. We weren’t even able to get close. We tried several times, but all of them failed, so we’ve come back to report,” the person opposite replied, but though his horse slowed, it did not stop.
“That’s true. The Tibetan Great Minister really is very capable. Even Cheng Sanyuan’s group failed, much less your group.”
The Great Tang general’s face seemed unsurprised in the flickering light of the torches.
“But Lord Marquis has given his orders that everything should be done according to regulation. Dismount for now. The people in the rear will take care of the horses. Then, hand over your weapons and come inside!”
“Understood!”
The person nodded as he led his forces toward the steel walls.
Fifty steps, thirty steps!
They were getting closer and closer, but when they were still twenty-some steps away…
Twang!
Gears crunched and strings twanged as the ballistae fired. Before those men could react, several dozen of the ‘returning soldiers’ were shot through by the ballista bolts and dropped from their warhorses. Neeeigh! The warhorses cried as this group of soldiers was left dumbfounded by this abrupt attack.
“What are you doing?!”
&nb
sp; A confused and furious voice came out of the darkness, utterly baffled that they would be attacked by their own side.
“Hahaha, still pretending?”
At this moment, the Tang general suddenly appeared in the gap between the steel walls, his right hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Lord Marquis only dispatched four groups of soldiers. The first three groups have already returned after completing their mission, while the fourth group hasn’t even started their attack. Just how could they be coming back in failure? You should be a little smarter when choosing lies, Ti! Bet! An!”
The pauses between each syllable were bursting with ridicule.
Buzz!
For a moment, the ‘Tang soldiers’ on the other side were quiet. And then, this silence, this ‘shock’, transformed into an earth-shaking roar.
“Kill!”
“Kill them!”
“Kill all these Tang!”
Outside the steel walls, the ‘shocked’ Tang soldiers revealed their true identities, their brash shouts in Tibetan resounding into the distance. Boom! Their warhorses suddenly accelerated, shooting toward the second defense line like lightning bolts.
As they charged, these Tibetan elites reached under their horses and removed the large and thick shields they had prepared.
“Kiiill!”
When they cast aside all pretense, these Tibetans began to explode with a fierce killing intent. They charged, aiming particularly for the Tang ballistae.
Twangtwangtwang!
The ballistae rumbled as they madly fired off their bolts. However, without as much preparation, the ballistae were not as effective. Moreover, the Tibetan general leading the way had a storm of energy around him that was knocking away the bolts being fired at him.
“Charge!”
This Tibetan general pressed himself against his horse and charged forward with unbelievable speed, his sudden acceleration catching everyone’s attention.
“Concentrated fire!”
As this order thundered in the air, the ballistae immediately fired as one at this Tibetan general. But there was only a boom and the whinny of a horse as it was felled. Before the ballistae had even fired, the Tibetan general had jumped off the horse and begun to travel on foot, appearing at the gap between the steel walls with remarkable speed.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 606