The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  As they looked once more at the bare-chested captain, the several dozen soldiers felt sincere admiration.

  That village of four-hundred-some people had stocked up a year of supplies and had been extremely prosperous. When they had been bringing those things back, they had needed to gather a herd of more than one thousand war horses, each one loaded with food. Even then, their group of forty-some people had needed to make two trips.

  And upon returning, the captain had given the camp fifty percent of the spoils and twenty percent to the commanding general, leaving only thirty percent for the squad. They had all been confused about this at the time, but now, they only felt admiration.

  None of their fellow soldiers in the camp were criticizing them for their raid, and they were even being guarded by numerous layers of soldiers. Even if those southerners wanted to deal with them, such thoughts were nothing more than delusions.

  Creee!

  As the soldiers toasted and cheered each other, a sharp cry came from above, causing the entire camp to fall silent. The Turkic captain had just been about to bring his bowl of wine to his lips when he paused and raised his head. Toward the southwest, a large Turkic eagle was flying toward the camp.

  These were golden eagles that the Western Turks had caught from the distant north and trained. They had fierce personalities and tough wings. The stronger eagles could even snap small trees with a flap of their wings. The Turks had trained these golden eagles to be their eyes and ears in the skies.

  These golden eagles were tyrants of the sky, and only the gyrfalcons used by the Eastern Turks and Goguryeo could compare. But at this moment, everyone could see that this golden eagle was panicked, its wings unsteady.

  Chapter 1599 - Punish No Matter How Far! (II)

  Chapter 1599: Punish No Matter How Far! (II)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  The Turkic golden eagles also had a ‘surveillance language’, with different calls carrying different meanings. This golden eagle’s cries were short and rapid, carrying a hint of panic. Something had clearly happened.

  “What’s going on? Why is the golden eagle in such a bad state?”

  “Where are the eagle trainers and the scouts on the ground? Why is there no trace of them even though the eagle has returned?”

  The joyful and celebrating Turkic camp was suddenly surging with unease, and the crackling of the bonfires now sounded particularly loud.

  Everyone instinctively felt that something was wrong, but their minds were still rejecting the idea.

  Their camp had scouts patrolling around it night and day, extending as far as eighty li. It was impossible for there to really have been an incident.

  Creee!

  Just when everyone was still clinging to a small sliver of hope, a second sharp cry broke through the colds. It was even sharper and more resounding than the cry of a gyrfalcon.

  Whoosh! A bird that was far smaller than a golden eagle flew out of the clouds, and then it slammed like a meteor into the golden eagle.

  There was a plaintive screech as the golden eagle plunged like a stone, slamming to the earth with a bang. In the air, an explosion of feathers gently drifted to the ground.

  Buzz!

  For a moment, the camp was absolutely still, as if time had stopped, but then, boom! The camp exploded into an uproar. As for the Turkic captain, his eyes went wide and he shot to his feet, his body trembling like it had been struck by a lightning bolt.

  “Enemy!”

  A loud cry resounded in everyone’s ears, but it had not come from the camp. Seven to eight hundred meters away, a bloodstained Turkic horseman was frantically riding in the direction of the camp.

  He was urgently shouting, but a moment later, phweee! There was a sharp whistle and then an arrow came from behind and pierced the Turkic soldier through. With energy to spare, the arrow continued into a banner within the camp.

  Thumpthump!

  First, the Turkic horseman slid from his horse like a punctured bag with a thud, and then the banner in the camp snapped in response.

  “Stand ready! All soldiers, stand ready!”

  A panicked cry cut across the camp like an arrow.

  The Turks who had been celebrating and drinking just moments ago immediately panicked, even knocking over the bonfires in their haste. At this time, the large bowls they were using to drink wine fell to the ground and broke into pieces.

  All the twelve thousand Turkic soldiers became vigilant, charging up to their posts in full armor, unease in their eyes.

  In just a few moments, the camp had become a fortress. Turkic master archers stood on sentry towers, their bowstrings pulled and arrows nocked as they nervously surveyed their surroundings.

  Rumble!

  A few seconds later, the earth began to shudder.

  “Look over there!” A Turkic sentry on a tower pointed, his voice frantic.

  As everyone stared in shock, a black flood emerged on the horizon, approaching the camp with horrifying speed. And in the middle of that black tide, they could see a yellow war banner with the word ‘Tang’ emblazoned upon it flapping in the night wind.

  “This is impossible!”

  The Turkic captain and his soldiers were in disbelief at this Tang army that had appeared out of nowhere. Whether it was the Qixi Protectorate or Beiting Protectorate, they were surrounded by spies and scouts.

  But so many spies and birds had failed to stop these Tang.

  This Tang army was like a pack of ghosts, appearing with no warning whatsoever.

  The air was tense in the Turkic camp, countless sword tips pointed at the Tang, but none of this could stop that horde of black-armored cavalry.

  “Which one is Hulugan?”

  A shout rumbled over the camp like a peal of thunder.

  The entire Turkic camp was quiet. A moment later, that voice spoke again, repeating the same words in Turkic.

  Before this Hulugan could speak, a voice arose from the southern part of the camp. “Who is it? Who dares to act so brazenly in front of my Turkic army?!”

  The soldiers parted, allowing a stalwart Turkic general with a vicious temperament and a large saber at his waist to walk out.

  “Which one is Hulugan!?”

  The leader of the Tang force appeared to not hear, once more coldly and viciously repeating the demand.

  “Impudent!”

  Ashide was infuriated. As the leader of the vanguard of the Turkic Black Wolf Army, Ashide had fought countless times with An Sishun’s Beiting Protectorate army, and no army had ever dared to act so arrogantly before him. And Ashide could see that while the Tang force seemed impressive, it couldn’t consist of more than four hundred people.

  He had twelve thousand soldiers under his command, thirty times their number. And yet this tiny force was acting so high and mighty!

  Ashide gestured, and a moment later, two wolftooth arrows flew from the two sentry towers near him.

  This was an elite force of the Black Wolf Army, so Ashide had many Turkic master archers under his command. These wolftooth arrows possessed immense might and speed, and when they were fired, they created sonic booms and left long white trails in the air. In the blink of an eye, they had reached the Tang commander.

  Boom! Boom!

  But before those two arrows could impact, two arrows were fired in response, and the four collided in the air and blew each other to pieces.

  “Ah!”

  The Turkic camp exploded with calls of alarm, everyone stunned by this sight. Even Ashide couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock.

  Each Turkic master archer had gone through special training, and they possessed extraordinary eyesight and strength. But to strike two arrows in the night at their tips was not a feat that these master archers could accomplish.

  The opposing archer possessed an absurd mastery of archery.

  Before Ashide could respond, thud! Thud! The two Turkic master archers who had fired the wolftooth arro
ws were themselves struck by an arrow each. The immense power in the arrows carried them off the sentry towers and down to the ground, by which time they were already lifeless corpses.

  In the distant Tang force, two Tang horsemen put away their bows.

  Ashide nastily scowled.

  “Bastard!”

  His fists popped as he clenched them. No one had ever dared to act so brazenly before him. These Tang had truly gotten too bold.

  “The Turks on the other side, listen well. We are soldiers serving the Great Tang’s King of Foreign Lands. Soldiers in your ranks were responsible for exterminating a village of four hundred on the border of the Great Tang. His Highness knows of this matter and had sent us to punish them. Right now, I will give you two hours to hand over Hulugan and all the other Turks who took part in this incident.

  “If we do not see them within two hours, all of you will endure the rage of the Tang Empire!”

  After saying this, the Tang commander turned around and left with his black-armored cavalry, which maintained their orderly formation as they vanished into the night.

  Whoosh!

  The winds howled, causing the black wolf war banners to dance, but at this moment, the air in the camp was still and oppressive.

  The rumor had turned into reality. The Great Tang’s new War God truly had dispatched soldiers to seek justice for the slain villagers. Even though they had taken so many precautions, all of them had been useless.

  This force of four hundred had managed to reach their camp undetected to convey the message of their master.

  At that moment, all of them felt a deep shock and fear.

  “Milord!”

  In the northern part of the camp, those Turkic horsemen who had massacred the villagers turned ghastly pale and looked toward Hulugan.

  They had believed that they had done the deed without leaving any evidence, and they were confident that the ‘friendly relations’ between the two countries would keep the Great Tang from doing anything to them. But in such little time, the Great Tang had managed to send this elite force of soldiers.

  And what frightened them even more was that King in the faraway capital of the Great Tang. For him to be able to follow the clues to their camp was impressive enough, but he even knew the name of Hulugan.

  After a few rounds of questioning, the entire camp came to know the names of the soldiers in this squad of raiders.

  Chapter 1600 - Punish No Matter How Far! (III)

  Chapter 1600: Punish No Matter How Far! (III)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Relax; it will be fine!”

  Hulugan forcefully composed himself. He was now feeling a hint of remorse. He had thought that a mere raid was no big deal, as many more people had died in the previous wars between the two countries. But it had ended up causing such a major problem.

  If he had known that filling his belly would cause so much trouble, he would have never done such a thing, but it was too late to have second thoughts.

  But despite his situation, Hulugan was not panicked.

  “Everyone, don’t panic. We’re in the camp, protected by twelve thousand soldiers. Even if those Tang have the protection of the gods, and each one of them is able to take on ten of us, they still wouldn’t be able to beat our force. We just need to pass the night, and once tomorrow comes, we’ll have the army in the rear take over and then immediately leave. As for tonight, I’ll go to Lord Ashide and have him strengthen the guard. No matter what, we can’t let those Tang get close!”

  After saying this, Hulugan began to stride toward the commander’s tent, his back straight and his steps firm. His unaffected demeanor managed to calm down his men.

  None of them noticed that Hulugan’s clothes were already completely drenched.

  ……

  Time slowly passed, and the entire Turkic camp was on guard, the place turning into a veritable fortress. Ever since that Tang force had appeared, the Turks had not relaxed for even a second, even though the enemy force was only made up of several hundred soldiers.

  Time marched on, going from nightfall to the Zi Period, to the second watch, the third watch, then the fourth watch. The appointed two hours had passed long ago, but the steppe remained quiet, the only sounds being the howling of the winds through the grass.

  Without the Turks even realizing it, day was about to break, just another thirty minutes until the skies to the east began to lighten. After a tense night, even the Turkic soldiers on the sentry towers began to feel their eyelids sag as intense drowsiness overcame them.

  They had not sensed it while they had been nervous, but now that the tension had passed, and they realized that those Tang had been all bark and no bite, they now felt the drowsiness to be nigh unstoppable.

  Their previous vigilance was now being replaced by intense fatigue.

  Suddenly!

  Swish!

  There was a piercing whistle as an arrow flew through the air and struck a master archer, sending him flying from his sentry tower.

  Rumble! The earth began to tremble as a black flood emerged out of the darkness and began to rush toward the Turkic camp.

  Thwishthwishthwish!

  Even before the warhorses had gotten close, thousands of arrows howled through the air toward the northern end of the camp.

  As the arrows pierced through flesh, screams and chaos erupted from the northern part of the camp.

  “Enemy attack—” someone loudly cried out in panic, but they were only able to get halfway through before they abruptly cut off.

  An arrow around four feet long had cut through the night and accurately struck the shouting Turkic officer, punching through his armor like it was paper.

  All of these arrows possessed an extremely powerful armor-piercing ability.

  Boom!

  The entire camp was in chaos. No one had expected the Tang to launch a sneak attack, and that rain of arrows didn’t seem like it was coming from a force of three or four hundred, but an army of thousands.

  “Prepare for battle!”

  Amidst burning bonfires, countless people rushed out of their tents in full armor.

  But as they were running, rumble! The four hundred Tang with their stampeding horses and clattering armor came out of the darkness like monsters and plunged into the camp.

  The camp had twelve thousand soldiers who were drowsy from standing on guard the entire night, so they were completely unprepared.

  Clang! In a cold flash of light, a Turkic soldier who had just rushed out of his tent was cut in two.

  Amidst the blazing fires, the Tang cavalry had taken up their fierce Arrow Formation and stabbed into the heart of the camp, cutting down the soldiers in their way.

  Clangclangclang! The nearly tangible halos under their feet clattered as they resonated with each other and combined into a large formation.

  Wherever they went, the Turkic cavalry were cut down like weeds, the corpses scattered across the ground.

  Clang!

  Suddenly, a warhorse kicked over a large bonfire, sending sparks flying that instantly set numerous tents alight.

  The blazes soared straight into the clouds.

  “How could it be like this? There are twelve thousand of us! How could those Tang dare to raid our camp?!”

  “They really attacked! These scoundrels really did what they said, but how could they dare?”

  “Crazy! They’re all crazy!”

  The shouts and screams throughout the camp had every Turkic soldier feeling an immense shock.

  Although their superiors had ordered them to be on their guard against a Tang attack, none of them had actually believed this would happen. A force of four hundred attacking twelve thousand was simply suicidal.

  But that which they had never believed possible was truly taking place.

  “Don’t be afraid! There are only four hundred Tang! Everyone, gather around me and we’ll kill them together!” a rough and crude voice resou
nded. This was the vanguard of the Black Wolf Army, so it was not lacking for fierce and courageous men in its ranks.

  In the blink of an eye, a stalwart man of imposing girth emerged from his tent.

  His fierce voice managed to somewhat calm the chaos.

  But a moment later, a sharp arrow as thick as a finger pierced straight through the center of his forehead. The force of the arrow dragged his body ten-some meters, splattering his brains across the ground.

  Bang!

  As the Turkic officer collapsed with eyes wide open, everyone else turned pale with shock.

  The neighing of horses came out of the darkness.

  Before anyone could react, a black warhorse bulging with muscle and covered in black armor charged out like some primordial beast.

  The Tang horseman riding upon it exuded a cold aura.

  “Run!”

  The courage of the Turkic soldiers finally broke, and they began to scatter in fear. Soon, the blazing of fires and the screams of the dying filled the camp once more.

  “Bastards! Where are those Tang soldiers!?”

  At this moment, in a flash of light, an ashen-faced Ashide charged out of the commander’s tent.

  His fists were clenched in fury.

  For a tiny force of four hundred to so recklessly attack his army of more than ten thousand was simply absurd, but such absurdity was taking place right in front of his eyes.

  “Milord! They attacked suddenly and under the cover of the night, so we don’t know where they are at the moment!”

  “Absurd! Go wherever you hear the horses!”

  Ashide kicked aside the guard who had reported and then turned to the fires blazing to the north.

  “Send three thousand elites immediately toward the area the fire is coming from. Kill every last one of those Tang!”

  Ashide pointed at the northeast corner, and with his order, three thousand soldiers galloped away.

  As the overall commander of the army, Ashide had a group of several thousand elites that protected him at all times. This was a well-disciplined and powerful force, each soldier possessing an iron will.