This abrupt attack in the darkness had no effect on their mental state.
The horses rumbled off, but then they soon rumbled back, appearing before Ashide once more.
“Milord, there were no Tang in the northeast corner.”
Ashide was dumbstruck.
“How could this be!?”
This was Ashide’s first reaction, but he soon noticed another fire starting up, this time to the northwest.
Ashide ordered his men to go without hesitation, and they charged off to the northwest.
“Milord, there are also no traces of the Tang army in the northwest!”
Ashide’s expectations were once more let down. He continued to send his forces to potential trouble spots, but his men continued to find no trace of the Tang.
Ashide rapidly began to lose his composure.
“How could this be!?”
Ashide was stunned like he had never been before. The entire camp was resounding with the shouts of fighting and the burning of fires, but none of the soldiers he had sent had been able to find any trace of the enemy.
And this was precisely that moment of the day where it was darkest, before dawn. The Tang had also managed to mix in with the Turks, the cries of their horses sounding alike.
Even someone of Ashide’s cultivation level found it hard to tell the difference.
As he gazed into the darkness, he couldn’t help but feel slightly baffled.
Chapter 1601 - Captured Alive! Returning to the Capital!
Chapter 1601: Captured Alive! Returning to the Capital!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Thwishthwishthwish!
At this moment, piercing whistles came from above, and Ashide looked up, only to see countless arrow tips gleaming in the fire as they engulfed the entire camp.
Plushplushplush! In less than the blink of an eye, dense rains of arrows descended on various parts of the Turkic camp.
The arrow tips burned with flames, and they set aflame any tent they struck. The camp was soon a sea of fire punctuated by screams.
Thud! One of the arrows flew through the sky and hit the ground only a few steps from Ashide, its shaft trembling from the force of the impact.
Ashide’s pupils constricted as he stared at the arrow, his face paling.
Divine Meteor Arrows!
Ashide had seen this kind of arrow before. The Western Turkic Khaganate had once scoured the steppe for the meteors that had fallen from the heavens, mixing this Meteoric Metal with refined iron and making arrows.
These arrows were called Divine Meteor Arrows, and they possessed frightening toughness and sharpness.
Such arrows were limited in number, and Ashide had only seen them once before. But this force of four hundred Tang soldiers was clearly equipped with these Divine Meteor Arrows.
Even more shocking to Ashide was that at least a thousand Divine Meteor Arrows had been used in that volley. In other words, this force of four hundred had to be almost entirely made up of master archers.
This kind of force could no longer be judged purely on its numbers.
“Retreat! Retreat now!”
The camp was on fire and he had no idea where the Tang were hiding. Ashide panicked and finally gave the order to retreat.
This was the first time a force of twelve thousand Turks had ever been forced to call for a retreat against a force of four hundred Tang, but this order was only the first in a string of defeats.
There was less than an hour between the start of the battle and daybreak, but those minutes seemed to pass like centuries for the Turks.
The four hundred Tang continued to doggedly pursue, driving through the Turkic formation again and again.
This period was like a terrible nightmare. They have never before encountered such a terrifying army. This force of four hundred somehow was even stronger than an army of thousands.
Each time they tried to stand firm and reform their defensive line, the Tang army would promptly catch up and break their ranks.
Although the Turks were more numerous, if they couldn’t take up formation, they were nothing but a plate of loose sand.
The soldiers began to cast aside their armor and weapons as they fled, leaving behind a trail of corpses. The stench of blood drifted as far as one hundred li.
When the sun finally rose, the camp had been burned to ash and was littered with the bodies of warhorses and Turkic soldiers.
The trail of corpses extended all the way to the north, and several thousand li from the camp, a small group of Turkic cavalry was hastily escaping.
Surprisingly, those Western Turkic soldiers that Wang Chong had sent his force of four hundred after had already run this far.
“Milord, those Tang soldiers shouldn’t still be chasing us, right?!” a pale-faced Turkic horseman asked.
Even though there was nothing behind him, that man looked as if he was being closely pursued by a ghost.
“Relax! Don’t panic. We’ve run so far and the steppe is so big that they couldn’t possibly have noticed us,” Hulugan called out from the front.
His expression was composed, but he himself knew that he was more frantic than anyone else. The night that had just passed had felt like a terrible nightmare that even now didn’t feel real.
But those corpses scattered across the steppe couldn’t lie.
Hulugan had never imagined that the force of four hundred soldiers sent by the King of Foreign Lands would be so frightening. In that one night, at least half of the army had been slaughtered.
The remaining six-thousand-some men were in complete disarray and fleeing like a bunch of headless flies.
Fear, panic, and intense remorse… these were the emotions that Hulugan was feeling.
But fear stood far above the rest.
Hulugan thought back to what had happened not too long ago.
After the army had fallen back sixty-some li in disarray, Ashide had finally managed to reorganize the army and was preparing to wipe out the Tang.
“Foreign dogs, where are you running?!”
At this moment, a roar resounded over the steps. The Tang commander, who wore a helmet with a white tassel attached to the top, charged forward at the head of his force of four hundred.
Ashide was no easy opponent, but as the darkness had prevented him from locating his foe, he had been forced to call a retreat.
But everything was different now that it was daytime and his enemies had shown themselves.
In the face of this formidable force of Tang, Ashide led the charge, several thousand men at his back.
“Cutting Formation!”
Within the Turkic army, Hulugan saw that white-tasseled Tang commander bellow, and then the armies clashed.
To Hulugan’s complete disbelief, the four hundred Tang cavalry scattered like petals on the winds, but before anyone could react, they suddenly turned around and charged back.
They completely ignored the soldiers behind Ashide and focused all their attacks on him.
Most shocking of all was the cohesion these four hundred soldiers showed, as if they were of one body and mind.
Rather than combat, it seemed more like an exquisite art form.
Although Ashide possessed a high cultivation level, he was no match for the joint attack of the white-tasseled Tang commander and his four hundred men.
A moment later, Ashide screamed as he was knocked off his horse.
With Ashide’s fall, the army’s morale was obliterated and the ranks crumbled.
There was no place to hide on the flat Turkic steppe. Hulugan had thought that he would be safe if he just followed Ashide and his personal guard of three thousand elites.
But no one had expected even Ashide to ‘die’ to those Tang.
Upon seeing Ashide fall, Hulugan cast aside everything else and led his squad away in panic.
Even now, the mere thought of those four hundred soldiers made Hulugan want to run.
As time
passed, the steppe remained quiet except for the thumping of their hooves. In the light of the morning sun, there seemed to be nothing at all around them.
Hulugan looked around at the empty steppe, his heart calming down.
Whoosh!
Hulugan exhaled in relief.
“The Tang army probably isn’t coming. Everyone, let’s rest a little. Eat something and drink a little water. After this break, we’ll be on our way. Once we reach the camp of the army in the rear, we’ll be safe!” Hulugan said. After a tense and dreadful night, he finally began to relax, and fatigue began to sweep over his body.
Swish!
But a moment later, an arrow whistled out of the blue and thudded in front of them.
The familiar sight of the Divine Meteor Arrow and the words ‘Great Tang’ inscribed on the shaft made Hulugan and his men turn ghastly pale.
……
Flapflap! Messenger birds flew across the steppe. Not long after the four hundred Tang cavalry attacked the Black Wolf Army vanguard, the news spread across the entire Western Turkic Khaganate and the Western Regions.
“What?!”
On Mount Sanmi, in the court of the Khagan, a fist slammed on the table and Ishbara Khagan’s furious voice resounded across the sky.
“A force of twelve thousand was defeated by a force of four hundred, Hulugan and Ashide were captured, and the entire army has been routed?”
“That’s not all. The Tang force also killed over six thousand of our men. The steppe is covered in their corpses!” the Turkic soldier kneeling in the tent added.
The tent was instantly silenced, an oppressive mood descending.
Ishbara Khagan raised his head, his eyes closed and chest heaving. Even though he wasn’t moving, the churning air seemed to reflect his mood.
Ishbara Khagan finally opened his eyes and asked the scout, “When were Hulugan and the others captured?”
“Around one hour ago!” the scout respectfully said, lowering his head.
“So, Ashide and Hulugan were both captured by the Tang and are being escorted to their capital?” Ishbara Khagan sternly asked.
“Yes!”
“Bastard! Does this bastard intend to humiliate the Western Turks in front of the world?!”
Ishbara Khagan’s face turned pale and the flames of rage he had suppressed once more broke free.
If Wang Chong wanted to take revenge, killing Hulugan and Ashide would be enough, but that was not his plan. He had taken them alive and was having them sent back to the capital. It was obvious that he wanted to humiliate the Western Turks in front of all the other countries.
Ishbara Khagan could not accept this.
“One hour isn’t too long. Even at their fastest speed, they shouldn’t have left the steppe yet.”
Ishbara Khagan raised his head. The more dangerous the moment, the colder his voice became.
“Pass on my order! Notify Jiudu Fuluo on the front to stop that Tang force from returning to the Great Tang capital no matter what.”
The scout swiftly left the tent with these orders.
Chapter 1602
Chapter 1602: Great General Jiudu Fuluo Moving Out!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Gallop!
A few moments later, a rumbling of hooves resounded over the steppe like peals of thunder. A divine stallion that seemed to have dragon blood running through its veins, taller than a man and bursting with power, set out from a camp. Upon its back was an armored Great General exuding a vast sea of energy.
Creee! As the Great General galloped out, a large golden eagle with sharp eyes took off from his shoulder and began to fly southward. In a sonic boom, the man and eagle vanished.
Unless specifically ordered, Imperial Great Generals were forbidden from leaving their armies and bases. This was the case both in the Great Tang and amongst the Western Turks. But an exception had been made.
To stop that force of four hundred Tang cavalry, Ishbara Khagan had ordered a Great General to pursue.
……
A black-armored horseman in the Tang force suddenly rode up to the front and gave his report.
“Milord, an enemy is chasing us from the rear.”
“How many people?” the white-tasseled Tang general asked.
“Only one,” the scout replied.
Sound seemed to die away as the Tang cavalry focused on the scout.
“But he is moving with incredible speed. His warhorse has three to four times the speed of ours. It will be an hour at most until he catches up to us,” the scout reported.
At this moment, all the cavalry suddenly stopped with a grimace.
One had to realize that they had been ordered to capture Ashide and Hulugan and then return as quickly as possible, so they were essentially pushing their horses to the limit. But this foe was moving at three to four times their speed, which sounded completely absurd.
“Have you identified him?” the white-tasseled general asked.
“It’s impossible to be sure, but judging by the speed of the warhorse, he’s at least a Brigadier General, perhaps even a Great General,” the scout replied.
There were only four hundred people on this operation, but because they had been facing a far more numerous foe, only the best had been selected. Not only were they all powerful, almost all of them were master archers, and they were equipped with the best weapons and armor possible.
Wang Chong had once bought one hundred thousand high-quality warhorses from the Western Turks, and he had given the strongest and fastest four hundred horses to these cavalry. Ordinary Turkic warhorses would never be able to catch up to these ones.
But the man pursuing them was traveling at three to four times their speed. Only Great Generals could accomplish something so absurd.
The air turned grave.
Even if only one person was chasing them, if it really was as they had guessed, a Western Turkic Great General, they would be hard-pressed to defeat him.
But this was far from their only concern…
Creee!
A sharp cry came from above, and all of them looked up.
A massive golden eagle descended from the clouds. More shrill caws could be heard as the patrolling birds above their group began to fiercely attack the golden eagle.
It was this massive army of birds that had allowed them to reach Ashide’s camp completely undetected.
But this golden eagle was unafraid of being attacked by so many birds. It waved and beat its steely wings while tearing and snatching with its claws.
And its two eyes were seemingly fixed on the force of four hundred. Or to be more precise, they were fixed on the figures of Ashide and Hulugan on their horses.
Everyone’s hearts sank at this sight. The birds that had come on this mission were able to easily kill the eagles under the command of Ashide’s army, but they were helpless against this golden eagle.
Thwish!
An arrow shot upward as fast as lightning, but the golden eagle seemed to predict this. With a flap of its wings, it easily avoided this fatal strike.
The white-tasseled general and his soldiers were rendered speechless by this sight. This golden eagle had clearly gone through rigorous training to counter master archers, as this was not something that any ordinary bird could accomplish.
“Hahaha, it’s Great General Jiudu’s divine eagle, Jueling! It’s caught up! All of you are dead!”
Hulugan, who had been thrown across the back of a horse like a leather bag, suddenly sat up straight and laughed. Just moments ago, he had been filled with regret and believed himself to be dead, but now, his eyes were brimming with intense hope and excitement.
“The Khagan must have been enraged to send him over. None of you are leaving the steppe alive!”
“Hmph, is that so?”
The white-tasseled Tang general sneered.
“Don’t worry about whether we can escape or not, because neither of you will be coming out of t
his alive!”
These words made Hulugan turn ghastly pale.
The white-tasseled general quickly turned to his men.
“Everyone, hear my order. If our guess is correct, an enemy Great General is pursuing us and has probably found our location through this golden eagle. Starting from now, we are splitting up into teams of ten and fleeing in different directions. We will join back together once we cross the border!”
“Yes, Milord!”
Everyone replied without hesitation, and it took only a few moments for them to scatter in different directions.
A few moments later, far behind the group, the Sanmi Great General of the Western Turks, Jiudu Fuluo, pursued on his divine steed, the plumes of dust raised by its hooves rising more than one hundred feet into the air. Creee! Hearing a sharp cry, Jiudu Fuluo extended his right arm to receive the golden eagle.
“Scattering apart?”
Jiudu Fuluo couldn’t help but frown.
The commander of this Tang force was rather troublesome to deal with, turning one target into forty. Moreover, the golden eagle was telling him that it had sighted the ‘target’ in several different groups, but there was no doubt that these were all fake Hulugans and Ashides.
“These puny ants are quite difficult to deal with!”
A sudden thought occurred to Jiudu Fuluo.
Not too long ago, right before the Battle of Talas, a subordinate serving the King of Foreign Lands known as Su Hanshan had used cloth covers to conceal several thousand Tang ballistae, causing him to be caught in an ambush.
While the strength of these four hundred men was so insignificant that Jiudu Fuluo could easily crush even double their number, this cunning they had displayed presented no small problem to Jiudu Fuluo.
“Hmph, a pity that these are just some petty tricks!”
Jiudu Fuluo coldly chuckled as he took out a scroll from his sleeve and opened it up on the back of his horse.
This was a topographical map of the Great Tang. With the Great Tang rising in dominance and the King of Foreign Lands conquering all his foes, the other countries had all come to dread the Great Tang. At the same time, they focused on it like never before, with countless scouts advancing on its capital. Even though the Great Tang would exterminate all the scouts it found, this policy remained unchanged.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 989