The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  “Lord Protector-General knows me?” Cheng Qianli said in astonishment.

  “I’ve heard a little.”

  Wang Chong gave a faint smile, a faint ripple of emotion in his heart. Other than Gao Xianzhi, the Anxi Protectorate army had been home to two other top-class generals. One of them he had already made his subordinate, the Invincible Great General Li Siye, and the other one was this Cheng Qianli.

  Although Cheng Qianli did not end up achieving as much as Li Siye by the end, his longer service in the army and his greater seniority meant that he had managed to achieve a higher cultivation level!

  Cheng Qianli had been born stalwart and fierce, with an intimidating face. On the battlefield, he was the undisputed number two of the Anxi Protectorate army, and he resided at the peak of the Brigadier General level, probably even more powerful than Ü-Tsang’s Asura War God Dayan Mangban. Thus, even though this was Wang Chong’s first meeting with him, he had still recognized this general with a single glance.

  He had undoubtedly played no small part in the Anxi Protectorate army’s ability to hold out for so long.

  “…Chasing down the remnants of the enemy and killing as many Arabs as possible is naturally a good thing, but right now, the Arabs are only in turmoil due to the fleeing of their own soldiers. They have not lost any of their primary strength. Even though they lost so many soldiers just now, they still have two hundred and seventy or eighty thousand soldiers, more than twice our number. In addition, all of them are brave and competent elites. Besides that, the Arabs have many top-class generals that haven’t appeared, including their commander-in-chief, Abu Muslim. If the information I’ve gathered is correct, this Governor of the East of the Abbasid Caliphate is a master strategist, certainly not someone who can be vanquished through a localized defeat.”

  Wang Chong’s eyes shone with a wise light as he spoke. As the supreme War Saint of the Great Tang, Wang Chong was confident in dealing with any adversary, but never would he look down on them, much less someone as difficult to deal with as Abu Muslim.

  That this man had been able to carve a bloody path to the position of Governor of the East, in a place that emphasized strength and power as much as Arabia did, was already a testament to his strength. And besides that, even the most ordinary of individuals would become one of the best Great Generals if they were put through hundreds, even thousands of fierce battles.

  To defeat one of Abu Muslim’s generals did not mean that one could defeat Abu Muslim himself. This was the commander-in-chief of the Abbasid Caliphate’s eastern region, the ‘Governor of Iron and Blood’. It was not only his strength that was astonishing, but his mind for strategy as well, making him no pushover. Although Wang Chong had not even met this person, they had already engaged in an invisible clash, one that had occurred only a few days after Wang Chong entered the Qixi Protectorate to take his post.

  The Governor of Iron and Blood had a far stronger desire for the Great Tang than Wang Chong had imagined. Even before going to war, his tentacles had already extended as far as Qixi.

  Buzz!

  Wang Chong’s words had immediately silenced the crowd, leaving all the Anxi generals grim and solemn. The name of ‘Abu Muslim’ was like a magic spell. After two months of battle, no one understood the man behind this name more than the generals of Anxi.

  As the finest force in the empire, the Anxi Protectorate army had been proud, confident, fearless. The Anxi Protectorate army had considered itself unstoppable and without peer in this world, until they entered Talas. Here, they encountered the brave, pugnacious, and fearless Arabs.

  If not for the height and thickness of Talas’s walls, the Anxi Protectorate army would have never been able to last this long against the massive wave of three hundred thousand Arab soldiers, far stronger than the soldiers of Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang.

  One of the Anxi generals clenched his fists and said in agitation, “But, Lord Protector-General, although Abu Muslim is very formidable, not even at his most formidable could he have predicted Lord Protector-General’s arrival and his defeat on the eastern front. If not even he was able to predict this, then perhaps we really can use this chance to utterly crush the Arabs!!”

  Abu Muslim truly was a formidable individual, but in this battle, they had finally spotted a sliver of hope, a chance to defeat the Arabs. If they were just giving up the pursuit out of some mere misgivings and further evidence emerged that showed that they had lost an excellent opportunity, that would just be far too depressing.

  Chapter 880 - Wang Chong, Exchanging Blows Through the Air!

  Chapter 880: Wang Chong, Exchanging Blows Through the Air!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Wang Chong smiled and said nothing, his eyes glancing at the other Anxi generals.

  After a few moments of thought, Cheng Qianli sternly rebuked, “Xu Yang, speak more carefully! The situation on the battlefield is constantly changing, and the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers are at stake. Do you really think things will develop a certain way just because you want them to? Protector-General Wang is correct. When facing a formidable foe like the Arabs, we can’t act carelessly!”

  Although he also dearly wished that they could kill all the Arabs in one go, even he had to admit that Wang Chong’s judgment was correct. The Arabs had only suffered a minor difficulty, and if that was really all they had been capable of, they would have never been able to force the Anxi Protectorate army and its Protector-General into such desperate straits.

  The Protector-General had even been preparing to bring the Anxi Protectorate army to have one final showdown with the Arabs, sacrificing himself for the empire.

  Proud soldiers were bound to lose!

  It wasn’t just the lives of the Anxi Protectorate army on the line here, but also the ownership of the Western Regions, the safety of Qixi, Longxi, and even the capital. One couldn’t allow emotions to decide something as important as this!

  Wang Chong glanced at Cheng Qianli, a hint of admiration in his eyes. He had never interacted with Cheng Qianli, nor did he understand him very much, but from these words, he could already see that not only was this Brigadier General of the Great Tang an outstanding martial artist, but also had quite the strategic mind.

  At the very least, he did not make decisions according to emotion or impulse.

  “Ha, in truth, besides what I said just now, I have another reason: their banners and flags!”

  Wang Chong chuckled as he confidently turned his head to the battlefield.

  Astonished, all the officers turned to look in the direction the Arabs had fled and saw those black Arab banners thrusting up in the midst of the army. But this only left all of them confused, none of them understanding what Wang Chong was talking about.

  “Regardless of what sort of plan Abu Muslim has, this doesn’t look anything like an army in a state of collapse! If he really wanted to try something, he should put in a little more work and intention!”

  Wang Chong had a self-assured and all-knowing look on his face, and his eyes seemed to be those of some wise sage.

  Boom!

  These words immediately sent ripples through the crowd, stunning both the Anxi generals and Wang Chong’s own subordinates. They only knew that Wang Chong had specified that they should withdraw after pursuing the Arabs past a certain point, but not the reason.

  And they certainly did not know what sort of mysteries lay behind the Arab war banners.

  But now they could see it! Wang Chong’s reminder had made them reexamine those black flags, and they now noticed that all of them were thrust straight into the air, and even in the midst of a retreat, they still exuded a sense of order and discipline.

  Putting everything else aside, this did not seem like an army that was retreating in complete panic and chaos!

  Hiss!

  Their eyes widened at this sudden insight, and all of them took in sharp breaths as they struggled to find the words to speak.
>
  “Qianli, Protector-General Wang is correct. Abu Muslim is not that easy to defeat. He’s already laid a trap for us. Pass on my order. All soldiers should withdraw!”

  Gao Xianzhi spoke in his dignified voice as he looked into the distance.

  “A trap?”

  His subordinates were flabbergasted.

  “Lord Protector-General is wise!”

  Wang Chong gave a faint smile and a nod. Gao Xianzhi lived up to his reputation as Western Regions War God. As a veteran of countless battles, he was extremely sensitive to the changes on the battlefield, and it was clear that he had also noticed Abu Muslim’s plans.

  “Xu Keyi, pass on my order. Have all soldiers withdraw and cease the pursuit.”

  Xu Keyi assented and hurriedly left.

  In the distance, the more than one hundred thousand soldiers of Qixi and the Anxi Protectorate army began to slowly withdraw and stop. With this, the two sides were completely disengaged.

  ……

  Meanwhile, several li to the west of Talas, in an unnoticed area, the Arabs had long ago stationed a force amidst the uneven terrain, creating an arc of soldiers ready to ambush the enemy. Nearly one hundred thousand Arab cavalry were ready to descend the moment the trap was triggered.

  These cavalry were the first to withdraw from the battlefield, and the terrain made it impossible to notice them from a distance.

  “Why haven’t they come yet?”

  “What are you so anxious for? Lord Governor has already calculated everything. Once they chase our forces into our range, it will be the hour of their doom!”

  “Haha, Lord Governor is still the formidable one. Even when they die, these Tang will probably still find it impossible to think that on the verge of ‘victory’, we would completely wipe them out! It’s just too bad about Umar, but for the Caliphate, only losing him is still worth it.”

  “All of you, shut up! The Tang are almost here. Get ready.”

  In the rear of the ambush, several burly Arab generals with chilling eyes had gathered, their gazes seething with thick killing intent. Several centuries had passed since the founding of the Arabian Empire, and in their ceaseless expansion, the Arabs had developed their own unique way of fighting.

  If those Tang chose to remain turtled up in the city, the Arabs really wouldn’t have that many methods available to them. Although the cavalry of the Abbasid Caliphate reigned supreme, the Arabs were not experts of siege warfare. Just like many other factions, they could only engage in prolonged sieges.

  But once the Tang entered open ground, everything would be different. The Arabs had their own unique tactics, whether the battle favored them or disfavored them.

  “Mm? What’s happening? The Tang are retreating!”

  Suddenly, the Arab generals paled as they straightened up.

  “Ridiculous! How could this be happening? Why did they stop chasing?”

  “Could they have noticed?”

  “Impossible! They’re in the middle of a major victory! How could they just give that up!”

  The Arab generals turned grim. All of them could clearly see that the more than one hundred thousand Tang soldiers had inexplicably begun to retreat, and they could only stare in confusion. In the past, they had used similar tactics to defeat many formidable foes, vanquishing and crushing them when they were at their proudest and happiest.

  But they had never encountered an opponent who began to suddenly retreat in the middle of a ‘victory’.

  “What’s going on with that Tang commander?”

  The Arab generals could not manage to say anything else.

  Buzz!

  At the same time, elsewhere, a mountain of a man who was seemingly cast from steel slowly began to stand, his eyes sharp and his body exuding a terrifying energy that could shatter mountains. As he stood, the earth trembled as if unable to hold his weight.

  “How could this be!”

  Abu Muslim’s deep, dark brown eyes stared into the distance, exuding a light of astonishing cold. Blustery winds blew around him as the energy around Abu Muslim fell into turmoil. An immense pressure, like that of an entire mountain range, began to descend, forcing all the guards in the area to lower their heads, transformed into trembling and fearful ants before a god.

  In this war with the Great Tang, from the fall of the Shi Kingdom, to the loss of Talas, and then to the protracted siege, Abu Muslim had remained unperturbed and calm. But at this moment, his confident and determined face finally showed a ripple of emotion, showed signs that he was finally taking the matter seriously.

  “Just who is the leader of this Tang army?”

  It had been a very long time since Abu Muslim had encountered an opponent like this. In his rise from a minor soldier of the Arabian Empire to his current post as Governor of the East, in his long campaign to expand the Caliphate’s borders to Talas and the Western Regions, he had defeated adversary after adversary, but such strange opponents like this were few and far between.

  Although he had not yet seen the commander-in-chief of the Tang reinforcements, through their invisible crossing of swords, Abu Muslim had managed to get a very bad feeling. This opponent was far more formidable than he had imagined, more troublesome than anyone he had faced before!

  But this was not the only surprise…

  “Lord Governor, look over there!”

  A thin Arab general with a high-bridged nose and a face suffused with a wild and savage energy pointed into the distance. By following his finger, one could see that at the very front of the Tang formation, ordinary craftsmen were busy at work. Thousands of furnaces belched smoke and flame into the air as silvery-white walls of steel were erected in front of Talas, gleaming like fish scales.

  All the Arab generals instantly felt a very strange sensation.

  The battlefield was a very dangerous place, where only a mere thought separated life and death. No one had ever dared to bring ordinary craftsmen with no combat ability to the battlefield, as this would be sending them to their death. And there was also those steel walls… No one could tell what the Tang were doing. Even after fighting so many battles, defeating so many enemies, and conquering so many countries, the Arabs had never once encountered such a strange method of fighting.

  “Order Amur to lead his Bakr Cataphracts to attack the Tang!” Abu Muslim ordered, his eyes still fixed on the distant Tang forces.

  “Yes, Lord Governor!”

  An Arab messenger mounted his horse and rode off.

  ……

  “Lord Marquis, they really did stop.”

  Meanwhile, near the gates of Talas, Xu Keyi was mounted on a Turkic warhorse as he observed the distant Arabs. In the most intense moments of battle, each person was focused on the people closest at hand, those Arabs who had cast aside their armor and were fleeing in panic, and was not paying any sort of attention to the overall situation. But now that the order for retreat had been given, the soldiers had calmed down and were able to notice that the Arabs were no longer retreating very quickly, with the Arab soldiers in the rear even about to come to a complete stop.

  This was certainly not the sign of a thoroughly defeated army that had lost all will to fight!

  Chapter 881 - The Bakr Cataphracts of Arabia!

  Chapter 881: The Bakr Cataphracts of Arabia!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Wang Chong gave a faint smile, as everything had been just as he expected. Arabs were extremely crafty, and despite their formidable cavalry and powerful soldiers, they enjoyed feigning surrender. While they pretended to retreat, they would lay down a trap to draw in the enemy army. Only the Arab armies were capable of pulling off this act so convincingly.

  In his last life, after the Arabs defeated the Great Tang, they had dispatched their mighty Mamelukes to advance on the Tibetan Plateau and invade the Ü-Tsang Empire. In the end, however, they encountered Dayan Mangban and his White Braves, whose dogged resistance ending up dealing a heavy defeat t
o the Mamelukes. While retreating, the Arabs had used this exact tactic to snatch victory from defeat and deal a severe wound to the Ü-Tsang Empire’s primary force.

  Wang Chong remembered this section of history like it had just occurred yesterday and understood the crafty tactics of the Arabs like the back of his hand. More importantly, as the War Saint, Wang Chong was extremely sensitive to the numerous shifts and changes on the battlefield. Even the smallest clue would have triggered his suspicion, much less something as obvious as the orderliness of the Arab battle standards indicating that they weren’t really defeated at all.

  “Pass on my order. Hasten the construction of the fortifications!” Wang Chong said.

  “Yes!”

  Xu Keyi quickly galloped to the front.

  These Arabs were far craftier than Xu Keyi had imagined, and with the lives of so many soldiers and the safety of the Western Regions and Qixi on the line, each person had to do all they could to assist Wang Chong, carrying out every order he issued. As Xu Keyi looked around, he could see that Chen Bin, Cheng Sanyuan, Zhang Que, Su Shixuan, Kong Zi-an, and the members of Deflecting Blade Manor were all busy with their own tasks, hurriedly preparing the battlefield.

  “Hyah!”

  Xu Keyi urged his horse onward, vanishing into the army.

  Rumble!

  Not long after Xu Keyi left, the earth began to rumble and dust began to churn. A powerful aura rose from the retreating Arab army as a mighty force of cavalry emerged, galloping out of the army surrounded by a thick black fog. Each of the riders was muscular and powerful, and drawn on the sides of their horses were emblems showing two black crescent moons.

  The emergence of this cavalry force made the surrounding Arab soldiers seem to fade into the background, fireflies before the light of the bright moon.

  This force of seven to eight thousand cavalry was riding straight in the direction of the Tang army.