The steel catapults could not reach the camp from the walls of Talas. He could guarantee that Wang Chong had moved those catapults out of Talas and to an area extremely far from his base. This was the only way those steel catapults could attack the Tibetan camp.
These catapults were so far away from their base that they were assuredly easy to destroy, but the complete darkness served as the best cover. Not even Dalun Ruozan had expected Wang Chong to employ such a move.
He now understood why he had yet to receive any reports from his soldiers.
“Sentries! Where are the sentries? The Tang have attacked, so why has there been no news?” Dalun Ruozan harshly asked.
Although the catapult rain made a large commotion, it was mostly sound and fury, while the actual damage was fairly limited. Even though many Tibetans might have died in the chaos, Dalun Ruozan knew that these catapults were not the true assault. They were just a cover, while the true assault force was a group of Tang infiltrators.
However, Dalun Ruozan had already planned for this. If the sentries were attacked, he would have already received word. As of this moment, he was still confused as to what had gone wrong.
“Reporting to Great Minister: there are no signs of enemies from this side!”
“Reporting to Great Minister: there are no signs of enemies from this side!”
“Reporting to Great Minister: there are no signs of enemies from this side!”
The reports from the sentries arrived one after the other. Even in the chaos, the communication system Dalun Ruozan had established remained effective. However, he was dumbfounded by the fact that despite all the screams and chaos, the sentries on the perimeter were reporting that they did not see any sign of Tang cavalry.
“How is this possible?”
Dusong Mangpoje and Huoshu Huicang looked at the fire around them and exchanged glances. Even though there was no firm evidence, their Great General intuition had arrived at the same conclusion as Dalun Ruozan: a group of Tang soldiers was attempting to infiltrate the camp.
But the news from the sentries was in complete contradiction to this news.
“Ah!”
The screams continued to rise and fall, and in the darkness and chaos, it was impossible to distinguish the clashing of weapons from the falling of boulders. From a strategic perspective, even the best Great Generals were useless in this situation.
“Great Minister! I will go and investigate!” Huoshu Huicang suddenly announced, and before anyone could even react, he was gone.
“Great Minister, I will also go and investigate.” Mere moments later, Dusong Mangpoje took off as well, vanishing in another direction before Dalun Ruozan could voice even a word of refusal. Though they could not see through Wang Chong’s schemes, as Imperial Great Generals, they had their own ways of distinguishing the truth.
Peak Saint Martial Great Generals didn’t need very long to make a circuit of the camp, even a very large one.
“Great Minister! Do you need me to go as well?”
Duwu Sili walked out from the tent as he spoke. Few people noticed that one of the Turkic messengers at his side had silently taken his leave.
The Great Tang’s assault had been extremely abrupt and shrewd, causing Duwu Sili to worry about his own soldiers. Thus, when Dalun Ruozan had left the commander tent, Duwu Sili had remained to wait for news. However, based on what he had heard, the Great Tang had chosen the Tibetans as its target, which he had to admit was good news for the Western Turks.
“There’s no need!”
Dalun Ruozan immediately refused. Huoshu Huicang and Dusong Mangpoje were enough. If another incident cropped up when all three Great Generals were gone, there would be no force left to respond.
“Someone! Pass on my order! If any area comes under attack, report it to me immediately!”
Then, as Duwu Sili watched in surprise, Dalun Ruozan lowered his head, stretched out a finger, and began to draw a map on the ground. It took only a glance for Duwu Sili to recognize what it was.
A map of the Tibetan camp!
……
“Shit, an enemy attack!”
“The Great General has ordered all soldiers to go and help!”
Around the middle of the Tibetan perimeter, ten-some Tibetan soldiers were rushing in panic and alarm out of the chaos, toward the sentries.
“What! Where?”
A Tibetan guard standing beneath a sentry post had been vigilantly scanning the surroundings when he heard the cries of alarm and turned to look.
“Over there!”
The Tibetan horseman leading the panicked soldiers pointed at a direction where a boulder just happened to be crashing down. As it landed, fire shot into the air and screams filled the sky.
“Follow me!”
With no time to think, the Tibetan general in charge of the area pulled out his saber and gathered his troops, leading the way toward where the boulder had landed. But as his horse passed by the horses of the panicked soldiers, squelch! A sharp sword pierced through the general’s body and out his back.
The general’s plate armor was so thick that not even the best Arabian sabers could cut through it, but this sword had stabbed through it like it was made of paper.
Time seemed to stop for a moment. The surrounding Tibetan soldiers were all shocked and infuriated by this abrupt scene.
“Milord!”
“Bastard, you dared to attack Milord!”
“Kill them!”
No one had expected that their ‘comrades’ who had been seeking their help would turn and attack them. Clangclangclang! The Tibetan soldiers pulled out their weapons and charged at their so-called comrades.
But the most shocked of all was still the Tibetan general. The suddenness of the attack had caught him completely off guard.
“You… you aren’t our men at all!”
In the final moment, it was the Tibetan general who was the most clear-minded. He was shocked and dazed, but even more furious.
Boom!
With the sword thrust through him, the Tibetan general exploded with boundless Stellar Energy. Even though he was injured, this Tibetan general was still a formidable existence.
“Die for me!” The Tibetan general’s eyes shone with a cold and fierce light. Even if he had to die, he would make his foe suffer.
But this Tibetan general’s final blow was welcomed by an even more powerful and boundless Sword Qi. With a strength that could sunder mountains, the sword cut off the general’s head.
“Kill them!”
Huang Botian didn’t even pay the general a second glance. Given his strength and the advantage of his ambush, he could easily deal with this sort of Tibetan general.
Chapter 936 - Night Battle (I)
Chapter 936: Night Battle (I)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Bang!
The moment Huang Botian gave the order, the ten-some ‘Tibetan soldiers’ behind him pulled out their Wootz Steel swords and lunged at the Tibetan sentries with savage looks in their eyes. Swishswishswish! Gleaming blood splattered everywhere as the Tibetan sentries fell to their swords. The Wushang Cavalry were the only force on the Tang side capable of so speedily dispatching Tibetans, and their Wootz Steel swords cut through the Tibetan plate armor like it wasn’t even there. Although Huang Botian’s men were outnumbered, their teamwork, strength, and equipment were all superior.
In the blink of an eye, the corpses of Tibetans lay scattered around the sentry tower. Only the best of the best could take part in this night raid, so the battle ended much faster than usual. A few moments later, only Huang Botian and his Tang soldiers were left standing on the field.
“Go!”
Huang Botian glanced at his surroundings before immediately leading away his disguised Tang elites in another direction.
The Tibetans were reacting very quickly. Even though the catapults were providing cover, raining hundreds of boulders down on the camp and creatin
g mayhem, the battle around the sentry tower had still attracted the attention of many Tibetans. Their horse hooves thundered against the earth.
“Enemy attack! Someone has attacked a sentry tower!”
“Follow me! Reinforce the sentry tower!”
“Tang! It must be the Tang! Come with me to kill them all!”
Galloping horses and running infantry quickly arrived, but Huang Botian had already left. The strike had been too abrupt and the battle had concluded too swiftly, so by the time the Tibetans arrived, all they saw were corpses.
“Everyone, follow me! Don’t fall behind!” Huang Botian harshly warned. “Remember Lord Marquis’s words. Dalun Ruozan is extremely smart and an excellent tactician. From the moment we began to attack the sentry post, he began to calculate our position. We cannot remain in one place for very long!”
While Li Siye was in charge of this operation, all of them understood that the true planner was Wang Chong back at camp.
“Understood!” his soldiers replied.
In this night raid targeted at the Tibetans, the Tibetans were in an extremely passive position. Probably not even Dalun Ruozan had realized that everything was under Wang Chong’s control. The feigned attacks at the start, the real attack at the end, and Dalun Ruozan’s calculation ability—Wang Chong had accounted for all of it. Dalun Ruozan might not know it, but he had already lost this battle.
“Kill!”
A few moments later, the din of fighting once more filled the air, but this time, it was at a sentry post nearly one thousand zhang away. With proper focus, one would realize that Huang Botian’s group was not choosing targets randomly. Each target was extremely far away from the one before and seemed to have been selected according to some sort of guideline.
If one looked down from the skies, one would realize that there were spots of fighting cropping up all across the Tibetan camp, each one connected with the others.
Meanwhile, back behind the hills, in front of the Tibetan commander tent, Dalun Ruozan was half-kneeling on the ground, his slender finger constantly scratching on the ground. As he murmured and furrowed his brow, his eyes were constantly glimmering. All the information was being gathered around him, with each point of attack being marked out on the map he was drawing out on the ground.
The map of the campgrounds was now packed with symbols and marks, which were only increasing in number.
Dalun Ruozan was like an unmoving statue, but his mind was whirring with activity. At this moment, the Celestial Wolf Great General Duwu Sili stood silently behind him, not daring to disturb him.
Even Duwu Sili was astonished at the level of ability Dalun Ruozan had displayed. A wise minister like Dalun Ruozan was hardly worth anything as a martial artist, but he stood upon yet another summit which normal people could only look up to in admiration, and he faced challenges of a completely different level of difficulty.
In the domain of strategists, martial strength was almost useless, while a mind for scheming and calculation would play a decisive role. In this domain, Dalun Ruozan undoubtedly qualified as a Great General.
“Found it!”
A fierce light suddenly exploded from Dalun Ruozan’s eyes, and as he raised his head, his creased brow finally relaxed.
“Someone! Call General Huoba Sangye over! Have him immediately take his troops here!”
Clang! Dalun Ruozan flourished his sword and stabbed it deep into the northeast corner of the map.
“Wang Chong! I underestimated you, but this game is far from over!”
Dalun Ruozan’s robes blew in the wind as he glared at the map with a terrifying expression. He now had a basic grasp of Wang Chong’s plan. There were twenty-some groups running around making trouble, but these were only feints meant to confuse his judgment. The primary force was stationed in the northeast corner. Dalun Ruozan had also concluded that a significant portion of this attack force was made up of Wushang Cavalry, as only soldiers of this level were capable of completing this mission.
And the person commanding these Wushang Cavalry was probably that fierce Tang general known as Li Siye.
By dispatching Huoba Sangye and the Mutri Great Cavalry, he could surround the raiding force and alter the course of this battle.
“Huoba Sangye, remember, advance along this direction. Don’t get discovered and cover their retreat paths. I want to get them in one fell swoop.”
A muscular figure had appeared in front of Dalun Ruozan. Dalun Ruozan took his sword off the ground and drew out an ‘S’ on the map.
“Understood!”
Huoba Sangye lowered his head to take a glance, then quickly strode away.
“Great Minister! I will go as well!” Duwu Sili said vigorously as he stepped forward.
Dalun Ruozan hesitated a moment before giving a nod. “Mm!”
In this clash, the Tibetans had already lost the initiative. Only through a thunderous blow could they reverse their fortunes and turn victory into defeat.
Thwish! In a flash, Duwu Sili was gone.
……
With the three Great Generals gone and the Mutri Great Cavalry moving out, a killing intent began to spread through the darkness, enveloping the Tang raiding force like a net.
Dalun Ruozan’s intelligence was incredibly difficult to fathom. Even though there was no evidence and no reports of attack had been received from the northeast corner of the camp, Dalun Ruozan’s judgment was correct. At this moment, this area was a field of intense combat.
If one looked carefully, one could see that thousands of Tibetan corpses covered the ground. In the center of this area, four thousand elite Tang soldiers wearing Tibetan armor had divided into orderly groups and were wreaking havoc on the Tibetans.
Wherever the soldiers passed, mayhem ensued, the Tibetan soldiers being cut down like weeds. Messengers, generals, and officers—all Tibetan soldiers related to passing on information—were important targets of their assaults. As a result, despite the large-scale and fierce fighting, no reports had been delivered from this section.
“All soldiers, hear my order! After ten seconds, all soldiers should withdraw!” Li Siye’s voice rose from the center of the army. He grasped his massive Wootz Steel sword with both hands and swung it at the ground. Booom! A magnificent Sword Qi ten-some zhang tall swept through the air, exploding upon the charging Tibetan cavalry.
“Ah!”
The burst of energy sent ten-some Tibetan cavalry screaming through the air, while six more were cleaved open, their blood raining down over a radius of ten-some zhang. In the face of an expert like Li Siye, Tibetan soldiers of this level were far too weak.
“Kiiill!”
Shouts poured out of the darkness as Tibetans charged in from all sides. A group of soldiers twenty-some zhang away from Li Siye charged past him and into the darkness while another group of soldiers fought alongside Li Siye’s ‘friendly soldiers’, charging at the Tibetan army opposite…
The Tibetan armor worn by Li Siye’s men played a crucial role. In the darkness, the Tibetans could only hear shouting and were incapable of differentiating friend from foe. It should have been that Tibetans were shorter than people of the Central Plains, making them easy to distinguish from each other, but Dalun Ruozan’s troops were the best of the elite and were thus much taller and larger than ordinary Tibetans. Their physiques were scarcely different from the Han.
And as for the characteristic blush of those who lived on the Tibetan Plateau, it was obscured by the darkness, and the light of the bonfires even cast a similar blush upon the Tang soldiers.
In this situation, the Tibetans could not tell friend from foe, throwing the entire army into chaos.
Chapter 937 - Night Battle (II)
Chapter 937: Night Battle (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Though Li Siye’s men had encountered nothing but victory, Li Siye did not feel relaxed. On the contrary, his expression grew even more stern and tense.
> “Remember! In this night raid against Dalun Ruozan, you can’t get careless. Even if you have the catapults covering your attack, even if you have the Tibetan armor and have twenty teams running around making trouble and disrupting his judgment, someone of Dalun Ruozan’s abilities can’t be delayed for long. Moreover, the Tibetans and Western Turks have three Great Generals. Thus, the moment the time comes, you must immediately retreat without the slightest delay!”
As the winds howled around him, Li Siye recalled Wang Chong’s orders, which he had emphasized time and time again.
Battles between experts could be decided in seconds. In this exchange between Wang Chong and Dalun Ruozan, the slightest delay could result in a completely different result. A competition of schemes and intelligence was different from a competition of martial arts. There were no explosions, no gleaming of swords and sabers, but it was far more dangerous.
Whether in victory or defeat, a clash of martial arts might result in hundreds of people dying or being injured, but a clash of schemes could result in the loss of thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions. No martial art could achieve such results.
Not even a general like Li Siye had the ability to intervene in this kind of clash. All he could do was faithfully carry out each of Wang Chong’s orders.
Neigh!
Li Siye continued to lead his army in wreaking havoc amongst the Tibetans. In a few short moments, thousands more Tibetans had fallen. But at the most intense moment of fighting, Li Siye glanced at the sky and immediately gave the order.
“Withdraw!”
With this shout, the four-thousand-some Tang elites, as well as the twenty-some raiding teams spread out through the Tibetan camp, suddenly pulled on their reins and began to gallop toward the second Tang defense line.
So abrupt was this scene that the Tibetans were left dumbstruck.
“After them!!”
A few moments later, they finally came to their senses and began to chase after them.
But the distant Li Siye and his men seemed to have already predicted this.
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