But Dalun Ruozan had clashed with Zhangchou Jianqiong, and even the Tiger of the Empire had found himself exceeded in some aspects.
For an individual like Zhangchou Jianqiong to be stymied in the southwest and be forced to seek other means to enter the Imperial Court and become Minister of War, one could easily imagine the abilities of Dalun Ruozan and Geluofeng.
But the southwest had actually been won!
With no Zhangchou Jianqiong or any other Imperial Great General, only first-ranked generals like Wang Yan and Xianyu Zhongtong, the Tang had actually succeeded in defeating the five hundred thousand soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army.
Not even Geshu Han would dare to think about pulling off such a feat.
"Does this brat have such impressive abilities? Has this news been confirmed? Did he have no other reinforcements?"
Geshu Han gripped the letter, his eyes twitching.
He had been holding this message for some time, but he still found the news hard to believe. That brat who had made so much trouble during the Regional Commanders incident and had so harshly denounced him and the other protector-generals actually had this sort of ability?
This was simply too absurd!
"Great General, this matter has been confirmed multiple times. It's not just us. The same news was sent to the other border protector-generals and Great Generals as well. The youngest son of the Wang Clan, Wang Chong, on a mountain in the southwest, used one hundred thousand soldiers to contend against the five hundred thousand soldiers led by Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huicang, Geluofeng, and Duan Gequan. In the end, he unexpectedly managed to thoroughly rout them, killing more than four hundred thousand soldiers. This fact is beyond doubt.
"Dalun Ruozan has already withdrawn to the lands of the Ngari Royal Lineage on the Tibetan Plateau. It seems like Geluofeng was heavily injured and was taken to Erhai. It's not known if he's dead or alive."
Nearby, a scout general for the Big Dipper Army bowed, his head hanging very low.
Buzz!
Geshu Han said nothing, but he couldn't stop his eyes from twitching a few more times.
Even he couldn't help but be moved by such an impressive battle record.
Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huicang, Duan Gequan—these were all renowned generals of the present age. If he weren't being held down by We Tadra Khonglo and Dusong Mangpoje, and could bring his Big Dipper Army down south, he would have no problem defending, but defeating them… not even Geshu Han was confident he could do that.
All those who could enter the 'Great General' level had similar levels of strength. The majority of them had a few unique skills and were not so easy to defeat!
"The world is constantly giving birth to new talents. I didn't think that our Great Tang would also have this sort of peerless commander. Geshu, this is a blessing for the Great Tang!"
A set of light footsteps came from behind him as a familiar figure exuding a dignified and domineering aura slowly approached.
"Milord!"
Seeing the fully-armored figure of the Crown Prince's Junior Guardian, the Great Tang War God Wang Zhongsi, Geshu Han hurriedly lowered his head. Although he was the esteemed commander-in-chief of Longxi's Big Dipper Army, the Great Tang's Big Dipper Great General, Geshu Han would always regard himself as a subordinate before Wang Zhongsi, the one who had raised him through the ranks.
"Milord!"
The other people around Geshu Han hurriedly bowed as well.
"Mm!"
Wang Zhongsi waved his hand. The days of constant and intense battle had caused hints of fatigue to creep onto his face, but his eyes were still bright and sharp. Anyone who saw these eyes would feel a sense of respect and servitude.
In truth, there were few people in the entire world who dared to stand before Wang Zhongsi and battle with him.
If Ü-Tsang had not dispatched its King of Generals, We Tadra Khonglo, someone who had previous experience fighting with Wang Zhongsi, it wouldn't have been able to stop him.
"Geshu, perhaps you don't know. In Ghost Tree District in the western part of the capital, that child managed to defeat the old War God Su Zhengchen in a game of chess!" Wang Zhongsi said.
"What?!!"
Upon hearing the name 'Su Zhengchen', Geshu Han felt his body shiver in shock and he fiercely raised his head.
The legendary War God Su Zhengchen from Emperor Taizong's era? The person whose status in the Great Tang far surpassed his superior officer Wang Zhongsi's?
The one who was rumored to have already died?
That brat from the Wang Clan actually managed to beat him in a game of chess?
How could that be?
Geshu Han's shock was no minor one!
In the entire Great Tang, the one publicly acknowledged to be the strongest was not the Crown Prince's Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi, but that legendary War God Su Zhengchen. Everything about this man was shrouded in mysteries and legends.
Even the Big Dipper Great General Geshu Han would feel a deep respect for this old War God.
Of the many generals of the Great Tang, not a single one had the right to stand before that old senior, not even Wang Zhongsi!
Just this was enough to understand his status.
But Wang Zhongsi said that Wang Chong had beaten this venerable figure in a game of chess?
It wasn't that Geshu Han didn't believe him, but this matter was far too unreasonable.
The art of war was akin to the art of chess. Any general with some understanding of the art of war knew this. Wouldn't this fact mean that the brat was even more formidable than Su Zhengchen?
How could that be?
Geshu Han didn't believe it.
"I'm not clear on the specifics, and this matter is only known amongst a small circle, but Senior Su is still alive. In addition, that boy from the Wang Clan beat him in the Ghost Tree District. This is a verified fact.
"I obtained similar information inside the palace," Wang Zhongsi said.
Geshu Han fell quiet. He wouldn't believe these words from the mouth of another, but he had to believe the words from Wang Zhongsi's mouth.
Rumble!
The earth suddenly quaked, a massive noise attracting everyone's attention.
"They're retreating! The Tibetans are retreating!" someone shouted from a tower.
Geshu Han and Wang Zhongsi turned their heads and saw that the looming silhouette of the Tibetan Plateau was now shrouded in clouds of dust, the banner of the white lion waving prominently within them.
The countless Tibetan cavalry under those banners were suddenly heading toward the west, retreating all the way back to the plateau.
"Yeeeeaah!"
Cheers thundered out of the tower as all the soldiers of the Big Dipper Army celebrated. They had fought for so long, enduring fierce offensives every day, but in the end, the Tibetan cavalry under We Tadra Khonglo and Dusong Mangpoje had finally retreated.
Geshu Han and Wang Zhongsi looked at each other.
With We Tadra Khonglo and Dusong Mangpoje retreating, Geshu Han and Wang Zhongsi didn't need the letter from the Imperial Court to know that the Great Tang truly had won in the southwest.
The strategic objective lost, the battle in Longxi had become meaningless.
The Great Tang had won!
……
"Bastard!"
In the Qixi Protectorate headquarters, a furious roar shook the entire building.
"How could a seventeen-year-old brat be this formidable? Check it again! Again! And again!"
Unlike the other generals, when Qixi Protector-General Fumeng Lingcha learned that Wang Chong had defeated Dalun Ruozan and Geluofeng, achieving victory in the southwest, he almost exploded with anger. Qixi had a very special status. Spanning Gansu and Qinghai, it stood between the Turks and Ü-Tsang, and served as a critical passage between the heartland of the Great Tang and the forts of Anxi.
Thus, no matter what sort of war was happening, Fumeng Lingcha rarely left his position.
But just
because he didn't leave didn't mean he wasn't paying attention!
Chapter 639: The Shocked Border! II
Chapter 639: The Shocked Border! (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
In the Regional Commanders incident, Wang Chong had presented a memorial noting the difference between the Hu and the Han, his harsh criticisms resulting in the destruction of a proposal very beneficial for the Hu of the Great Tang. Fumeng Lingcha, as a Hu protector-general, still held a deep grudge over this incident.
It was in his initial rage that he had submitted a memorial requesting Wang Chong's execution.
Fumeng Lingcha hadn't expected to hear this sort of news. In Fumeng Lingcha's view, that boy was nothing more than an incompetent brat, yet he had somehow managed to defeat the united army of Dalun Ruozan and Geluofeng, killing more than four hundred thousand and achieving great merit.
If this was true, wouldn't that brat be impossible to deal with?
An individual like this appearing in the Imperial Court was extremely bad news for the Hu generals on the border!
It wasn't possible for Fumeng Lingcha to be happy about this news.
"Send scouts! To the southwest! I must know what happened there. I don't believe that some brat who's still wet behind the ears could have this kind of ability!!"
Fumeng Lingcha's voice echoed throughout the protectorate headquarters.
……
In the distant Four Garrisons of Anxi and the Beiting Protectorate in the extreme north, Gao Xianzhi, An Sishun… For these commanders of the Great Tang who held down the border of the Great Tang, this day was bound to be very difficult to forget.
When great powers like the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates, the kingdoms of the Western Regions, Charax Spasinu, the Abbasid Caliphate, Goguryeo, the Khitans, and the Xi were covetously eyeing the Great Tang and increasing their soldiers stationed on the Great Tang border, the greatest turning point had come from the place the Great Tang had regarded as in the most danger, the place in the greatest peril, and thus the most likely to fall into enemy hands: the southwest.
"Changqing, it seems that's we've underestimated that Wang Clan brat who walked out of the imperial prison!"
In the headquarters of the Anxi Protectorate, a handsome, bearded, and dignified man giving off an imposing aura sat down on a sandalwood armchair. One hand held an exquisitely made teacup while his other slowly put down a piece of paper.
"180,000 against 560,000, and they killed more than 400,000! To so thoroughly defeat Geluofeng and Dalun Ruozan, I really can't imagine it. How could a seventeen-year-old youth be so formidable?"
Across from Gao Xianzhi, a short, ugly, and dark-skinned man gracelessly slouched on the ground, his back a little hunched, a hand propped under his chin as he silently thought.
Although this man had a hideous face and frightening appearance, this hunchbacked and dark-skinned man's eyes were abnormally bright and clear, bursting with wisdom.
Gao Xianzhi was an Imperial Great General who commanded the Four Garrisons of Anxi, fending off the Abbasid Caliphate and Charax Spasinu. In all of Anxi, there was only one man who could act so carefreely in front of him: Feng Changqing.
The memorial at the center of the Regional Commanders incident which had claimed that Han would promote Han and Hu would promote Hu had infuriated Gao Xianzhi. However, he would have never imagined that the perils of the southwest would actually be resolved by that sensationalist and incompetent Han brat.
In addition, defeating Dalun Ruozan and Geluofeng and killing more than four hundred thousand soldiers was such an incredible achievement that not even Gao Xianzhi, the commanding general of Anxi, could even dream about such a thing!
In Gao Xianzhi's eyes, the Regional Commanders incident now had a completely different character to it.
"Regardless of how he did it, this matter is absolutely certain! It seems like the Great Tang has obtained yet another Imperial Great General!" Gao Xianzhi declared.
These final words caused Feng Changqing's entire body to tremble and his mouth to gape as he stared in shock at his superior.
He knew that the major victory in the southwest was no trifling matter and that the Imperial Court was certain to richly reward Wang Chong, but he had never thought that Gao Xianzhi would raise Wang Chong to the level of 'Imperial Great General'!
Just how old was that child!
From the founding of the Great Tang to the era of the Sage Emperor, a seventeen-year-old had never been made Great General! Even Gao Xianzhi had only been made Great General in his thirties!
Gao Xianzhi's evaluation was shockingly high. After all, in the Regional Commanders incident, these two had been at odds!
Feng Changqing sat in a daze on the floor, momentarily unable to speak.
……
In the Beiting Protectorate, the nominal Vice Protector-General and de facto Protector-General An Sishun immediately dispatched countless spies to the southwest upon hearing this news.
Of the various border protectorates, the victory in the southwest affected Beiting the most.
The situation on the border was such that the Beiting Protectorate was in the middle of the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates, and their combined might was around five hundred to six hundred thousand soldiers. One could easily imagine the pressure placed on the Beiting Protectorate.
Every day, the soldiers of the Beiting Protectorate had to be ready for battle, to throw themselves into an intense fight.
But when the news of the victory in the southwest arrived, the Turkic cavalry receded like a tide in the space of a single night. Neither hide nor hair could be seen of them, even if one traveled one thousand li.
"Impossible! How could someone defeat Dalun Ruozan and Geluofeng at the same time? Not even Zhangchou Jianqiong in his ten-some years there managed to do this!"
In a massive hall, behind tightly shut doors, An Sishun gripped the news in his hand, unable to speak, for a long time.
For a very long time, he dared not believe that this news was true.
It was too surprising, too sudden.
……
"That brat managed to defeat Geluofeng and Dalun Ruozan!!!"
In the Great Tang's northeast, in the land of Youzhou, within the headquarters of the Andong Protectorate, Zhang Shougui stared in shock at the news that had been delivered by carrier pigeon.
As a Great General and veteran general of the empire, as the Protector-General of the Andong Protectorate, Zhang Shougui had established quite the long list of achievements on the battlefield.
If there was one person in the Great Tang who could surpass him, it was the Great Tang War God, the current Crown Prince's Junior Guardian, Wang Zhongsi.
But even in front of Wang Zhongsi, Zhang Shougui could act as an equal and didn't need to act too polite.
After all, his lifetime of achievements was only a tiny bit lacking compared to Wang Zhongsi.
The land of Youzhou bordered many powers: the Xi, the Khitans, the Turks, and also the secluded Goguryeo and its vast reserves of power. Other than him, the Great Tang really didn't have anyone who could oversee this area.
Whether it was Geshu Han, Gao Xianzhi, or An Sishun, they would be fine managing their own territories, but if they were transferred to Andong, they would truly find it difficult to keep the situation under control.
Zhang Shougui was absolutely certain of this.
This was also why he believed himself to be the number two man in the Great Tang.
But the major victory in the southwest had truly taken him by surprise.
The one who had salvaged the southwest war had not been Wang Yan or Xianyu Zhongtong, nor had it been Geshu Han's Big Dipper Army, and it certainly hadn't been the reinforcements from the Imperial Court. Rather, it had been that unremarkable seventeen-year-old brat from the Wang Clan…
Frankly speaking, Zhang Shougui still felt like this was impossible, that it was all a dream.
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In his lifetime, in the lands of the Great Tang, how could something like this possibly happen?
Had the more than five hundred thousand soldiers of Ü-Tsang and Mengshe Zhao been made of paper?
And there was Geluofeng and Dalun Ruozan… How did those two lose to one boy?
Even with all his wisdom and experience, Zhang Shougui could not imagine how an army five hundred thousand strong, led by Geluofeng and Dalun Ruozan, could lose to a single boy.
Had they been too incompetent or the child too incredible?
What was in here that he didn't know about?
"Someone! Investigate for me everything concerning the war of the southwest!!"
Zhang Shougui suddenly stood up. A moment later, hundreds of elite Youzhou cavalry left the Andong Protectorate headquarters, galloping toward the south.
……
Ü-Tsang, Goguryeo, the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates, the Abbasid Caliphate, Charax Spasinu… The news of the victory in the southwest caused the borders of the Great Tang to quake.
All the foreign powers receded from the border like a tide.
To the entire world, this was a day in which the heavens shook and the earth swayed.
……
Regardless of what was happening in the Imperial Court or on the borders, the southwest border after the war was abnormally calm.
In the camp, people spent each day discussing whether they should counterattack and invade Mengshe Zhao or Ü-Tsang. As for Wang Chong, he had put all these questions aside.
The war of the southwest was concluded and his mission was complete, for now.
In Wang Chong's view, once the war concluded, his authority over the army also came to an end. At present, the true commanders of the southwest were Xianyu Zhongtong and Wang Yan—to be even more accurate, it was Xianyu Zhongtong alone.
For generals, it was fine to take command at dangerous moments, but when the battle was over, not relinquishing this authority was overstepping one's bounds and was no wise course of action.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 401
