Edited by: Michyrr
Rumble!
Not long after the man went inside the stone house, there was a tremendous boom. The earth quaked as numerous Imperial Army soldiers in full armor emerged from their hiding spots and surrounded the house.
“Nobody move! Imperial Army inspection! Anyone who moves without permission will be killed!”
The creaking of strings could be heard as arrows were aimed. Several dozen soldiers with fiendish expressions kicked open the door and charged in.
“Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!”
In the face of all these weapons and arrows, the ten-some Hu wearing Han attire cried out in panic, raising their hands as they kneeled on the floor. Behind them were wooden crates holding steel.
“Damn it! Why is it a bunch of Hu?!”
The Imperial Army soldiers in the room glanced at each other in shock. After wasting half a day, all they ended up catching were a bunch of Hu merchants who were secretly selling steel. While top-class steel was considered a military asset in the Great Tang and had been placed under even stricter control because of Wang Chong, these people were far from the people they actually wanted to arrest.
“Take them away! Lock them up and give them a harsh lesson!”
The Eastern Palace scout leading the group savagely waved his hand.
“In addition, report to our superiors that the operation has failed and that we have yet to find the King of Foreign Lands’ men!
“Everyone else, listen up! Disperse and start searching! We must find the soldiers the King of Foreign Lands has hidden in the city!”
“Yes!”
The spies and scouts of the Eastern Palace called out in agreement and quickly dispersed, taking the Imperial Army soldiers with them.
The remote alley quickly calmed back down. What those dispersed Eastern Palace spies and the Imperial Army soldiers did not know was that not far behind the stone house they had surrounded, a pair of eyes had been silently watching them until they vanished into the distance.
“His Highness was right. The Eastern Palace really did start moving against us. Fortunately, His Highness already predicted the Eastern Palace’s movements and had us move locations, or else we would have been the ones captured just now!”
The man muttered to himself and quickly turned around.
“Everyone, listen up! Immediately report what happened here to His Highness! In addition, this place is no longer safe, so we’re moving locations! No one is to go out unless ordered to!”
“Yes!”
The people in the room affirmed and began to relax. If one looked carefully, one would discover that these people all had sharp eyes, pronounced temples, and hands covered in calluses. They exuded a disciplined and battle-tempered aura that would make anyone stop and stare. It was obvious that they were soldiers.
When Kim U-Seok’s spies were working with the City Guard to sweep the capital for Wang Chong’s soldiers under the excuse of searching for enemy spies and assassins, past the western gate of the capital and far to the west, where mountains stretched into the distance…
No one appeared in this remote place besides hunters, hired guards, and the occasional caravan.
At this moment, the mountains were silent.
Whoooah!
Without any warning, the trees began to shake and countless birds took to the skies in fright, rising up from both sides of that path winding between the mountains. Cree! Large eagles emerged from the distant sky, flying in formation and constantly circling as if they were searching for something.
Rumble!
A few moments later, the earth itself began to tremble under a stampede of hooves, and an army of tens of thousands of soldiers began to approach this place at terrifying speed.
Neigh!
With a flash of light and a resounding neigh, a pitch-black stallion leapt out from the base of the mountains. Upon its back was a stalwart, black-bearded general with copper eyes.
“Faster! Faster! The destination is the capital! Advance at full speed! Everyone, keep up! Those who disobey will be executed!”
The rough voice exploded like thunder across the mountains.
Urged on by these harsh cries, the Beiting army picked up speed, the horses neighing and banners snapping as they rushed along the road to the south.
After marching night and day from the northern frontier, Zhang Zheng’s army had finally reached Green Deer Mountain. At his current speed, he could reach the capital in another three days.
Things can get started once my army reaches the capital! Your Highness, we’re finally realizing the promise we made with each other! Even if Zhang Zheng must splatter his brains across the ground, he will help you sit upon the seat of the Nine and Five!
Zhang Zheng sat upon his black steed, a bright light in his eyes.
Standing at the summit of this mountain, he could see near and far, the entire realm before him. At that moment, Zhang Zheng felt great pride.
With a wave of his sword, he ordered his army to surge down the mountain and advance toward the capital. But the army had only gotten halfway down the mountain when—
Neigh!
The ground suddenly collapsed! The several dozen warhorses at the very front shrieked as they sank into the earth.
Plush! Plush! Plush! The spikes protruding from the earth instantly took the lives of these horses. Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of soldiers behind them continued to travel forward under their immense inertia.
“Not good! There are traps up ahead!”
The soldiers paled in fright as they pulled on their reins, but it was too late. More plaintive neighs could be heard as horses plunged into the pit. Even more pits began to appear; it seemed as if traps had been placed across the entire road.
“What’s going on?!”
In the back, Zhang Zheng scowled at this sight.
……
Meanwhile, at the King of Foreign Lands Residence…
“Reporting!” A spy team captain got down on one knee. “Your Highness, we’ve just learned that the Eastern Palace has begun to move as expected. Under the pretext of searching for spies, they’ve begun to search the city for our men!”
“What a fast reaction!”
Wang Chong’s eyes flashed. He had already moved all his reserves in advance while also creating signs of soldier movements elsewhere to draw the attention of his foe.
But it seemed like his bait had proved ineffective. His opponent had already determined that his soldiers were in the city. This level of intuition and accuracy of judgment was truly frightening.
This was the most formidable opponent Wang Chong had encountered since his reincarnation. He had to admit that Hou Junji was truly a powerful foe, and that he fully deserved his reputation as a valued subject of Taizong’s era and the number two War God of the Great Tang.
Wang Chong quickly calmed back down. While the Army-Shattering War God was difficult to deal with, Wang Chong himself was no easy customer.
“What are our losses?”
“While the enemy moved quickly and abruptly, Your Highness’s early warning meant that all our brothers had already gone underground. The food there is enough for them to go seven or eight days without problem.”
The spy team captain lowered his head, shooting Wang Chong a surreptitious glance of admiration.
The error of a single hair could lead to a discrepancy of a thousand li. Only now did the spy team captain realize the astonishing level of strategy and flexibility his liege had reached.
While that man in the Eastern Palace was strong, his liege had still been able to predict his actions and take countermeasures.
And this wasn’t just an outlier, but had already happened many times.
“Very good! I understand.”
Wang Chong had no idea what the spy team captain was thinking, and his eyes turned grim as his mind whirred.
“Until they receive my next order, they are not allowed to make any reckless moves.�
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“Yes, Your Highness!”
The spy team captain hastily lowered his head.
“This subordinate will withdraw.”
“Wait!”
Wang Chong suddenly called the man back. He flicked a finger, sending a letter whose ink was still wet toward the man.
“Take this letter and do as it says.”
“This subordinate will deliver this order!”
The spy team captain took the letter and departed.
“Reporting!”
As the man was leaving, another man entered the hall.
“General Su Hanshan has just sent word that, following Your Highness’s orders, he has successfully hindered the Beiting Protectorate army at Green Deer Mountain!”
Buzz!
Wang Chong’s heart thumped as he raised his head, a smile slowly forming on his lips.
……
Eagles circled over the Eastern Palace, keeping a vigilant watch.
“What?!!”
A thunderous roar exploded through the hall, brimming with shock and disbelief.
“Zhang Zheng’s Beiting Protectorate army was attacked at Green Deer Mountain? But how is that possible?”
The First Prince stared at Kim U-Seok with a pale scowl on his face.
“Your Highness, the report was verified several times! Your subordinate just received the news as well.”
Kim U-Seok lowered his head, his body drenched in cold sweat.
Everyone in the hall was stunned, and even the Ghost King couldn’t help but frown. While Zhang Zheng couldn’t compare to Gao Xianzhi or Geshu Han, he was still a capable and veteran general. He was only a sliver away from becoming a Great General, and he had tens of thousands of Beiting Protectorate army elites at his side.
Hindering an army was not something that could be done by a single person!
“We’ve been watching the army at the triangular gap this entire time, and the soldiers there have yet to move. Zhang Zheng has tens of thousands of soldiers with him, so how could he be so suddenly attacked?” Meng Tu muttered in disbelief.
The report from Zhang Zheng had arrived just a few moments ago and had been marked as extremely urgent. This was a massive surprise and blow to all of them.
“Did Zhang Zheng say what soldiers he encountered?” The Ghost King’s voice broke the silence. His brows were tightly furrowed in thought.
Everyone turned to Kim U-Seok in anticipation.
“Zhang Zheng and the Beiting Protectorate army did not encounter any soldiers!”
Kim U-Seok’s answer left them flabbergasted.
No soldiers? What did that mean?
If he hadn’t run into any soldiers, then why had Zhang Zheng’s army come to a stop?
Chapter 1744 - Aerial Battle!
Chapter 1744: Aerial Battle!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“The opposing side placed many traps on Green Deer Mountain, such as horse pits, trip ropes, and even many caltrops. They were placed with great skill so that they completely blocked off the south road. Clearing them up and filling in the holes requires an extensive amount of time.
“Green Deer Mountain is surrounded by mountains and thick forests on both sides of its roads, and there are places where warhorses can’t even hope to get through. Attempting a detour with tens of thousands of soldiers would only delay things even more. And taking another road would take more than half a day!
“Regardless, their time of arrival at the capital will be pushed back!”
Kim U-Seok lowered his head. He spoke the last words with particular force, as if they took all the strength in his body to squeeze out. His face went pale and cold sweat emerged on his forehead.
No one understood more than Kim U-Seok what the army being delayed meant. More importantly, the ambush on the Beiting Protectorate army was clearly connected with his negligence in gathering information.
But not even Kim U-Seok could have imagined that his opponent would use a method like this. The road to the capital from the northern frontier was long and winding. How could he possibly keep watch on every location?
But given the facts on the ground, he could not escape responsibility.
“This matter has nothing to do with you!” the Ghost King suddenly declared, breaking the oppressive mood. With vigorous footsteps, the Ghost King strode over to a nearby wall and pulled down a curtain.
Beneath the curtain was an incomplete military map of the Great Tang!
Many of the places on the map were ambiguous and not well-made, but the key locations were exceptionally detailed to an almost realistic level.
This ‘contest’ extended from the capital all the way to the border, so how could the Eastern Palace not produce a map of the Great Tang of its own? However, their map was clearly somewhat cruder than Wang Chong’s.
The moment Hou Junji unveiled the map, he almost immediately focused on Green Deer Mountain, and then his gaze turned sharp and cold.
“We were deceived. The soldiers from the triangular gap are already here!”
Hou Junji pointed a finger at Green River Mountain and delivered a stunning conclusion.
“If my guess is correct, they’ve also blockaded the three roads leading away from Green Deer Mountain. To simultaneously place enough traps on three roads to hinder an army of tens of thousands of soldiers would require eight thousand people at the minimum!
“I heard before that at the Battle of Talas, the joint force of Tibetans and Western Turks, an army numbering in the tens of thousands, had been preparing to attack the Tang forces from the rear, but in the end, they ended up being delayed by the King of Foreign Lands’ forces for several days. The leader of that delaying force was someone called Su Hanshan. Kim U-Seok, was this the name of the general in charge of the triangular gap?”
Kim U-Seok was startled and hastily replied, “Yes!”
“He’s the one!” Hou Junji coldly declared with a wave of his sleeve.
“Your Highness, get in touch with the Tibetans and have them do a little scouting. In all probability, a significant number of soldiers from the triangular gap have gone missing.”
“Fine!”
After a few moments of hesitation, the First Prince nodded. Neither the First Prince nor Hou Junji had been willing to use the power of the Tibetans in this operation. After all, the fewer people that knew about this plan, the better. But now, they had no other option.
“I always believed that we only needed to deal with that young scion of the Wang Clan, but to think that he would have such a formidable subordinate…! Inform Zhang Zheng that when he reaches the Yellow Scarf Mountains, he should advance through here.”
Hou Junji’s finger stabbed at a point on the map.
Everyone stared in stupefaction at this part of the map. It seemed like he was just pointing at a random mountain at first, but upon careful inspection, there was actually a small mountain stream there.
This stream was extremely narrow, but it flowed all the way south until it terminated at Bullhead Pass, the last checkpoint the army needed to get through.
Everyone immediately understood what was going on.
“Yes!”
Kim U-Seok’s mind was brimming with admiration as he spoke.
Taptaptap!
In the middle of all this, a series of rapid footsteps drew away everyone’s attention. Hou Junji, the First Prince, Kim U-Seok, and Meng Tu all turned to look at the same time.
“Reporting!”
A Golden Guard had rushed into the hall.
“We’ve just learned that one thousand fully-equipped cavalry have just been sent into the King of Foreign Lands Residence. These people have been stationed around the estate, making it difficult for our men to get close!”
“What?!”
The First Prince grimaced at these words.
“This bastard is so bold! He dares to summon cavalry right at the feet of the Son of Heaven? What is he trying to do?!”<
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One thousand fully armed and armored cavalry was not a small number, and the First Prince couldn’t help but be nervous. After all, Wang Chong was leading them, and under his command, one thousand cavalry could display the might of tens of thousands of cavalry. In the current situation, this was a force that the Eastern Palace had to fear.
“Zhu Tong’en, take a few people to the King of Foreign Lands Residence and ask him what he’s thinking!” the First Prince harshly said.
“Your Highness.”
At this moment, Meng Tu came forward and hesitantly whispered, “Wang Chong is a King and also has a special privilege from the Sage Emperor. This number of soldiers is completely within his authority. We have no right to stop him!”
Meng Tu’s words immediately cast the hall into silence and froze the First Prince’s face in shock.
“In addition, according to the laws of the court, the several hundred Golden Guards in the King of Foreign Lands Residence are not considered as part of the one-thousand-man limit. The King of Foreign Lands also has the privilege of using ballistae, something that no other King has,” Meng Tu stiffly added, further deepening the oppressive mood.
It was all true. Although Wang Chong was not a member of the imperial household, he was a King crowned by the Sage Emperor, and he actually wielded more power than the other Kings. Not even the First Prince could take away these privileges.
The Ghost King also couldn’t help but frown. Wang Chong’s move had also taken him by surprise, but for the moment, Hou Junji couldn’t see what he was up to.
“Keep a close watch on this situation! In addition, Kim U-Seok, I’m giving you only three days to finish scouring the city. Otherwise, you can offer up your head to the First Prince yourself!” Hou Junji said.
“Yes!”
Kim U-Seok coldly sweat as he bowed.
Whoosh!
A few moments later, countless messenger birds and birds of prey took off from the Eastern Palace, relaying the Ghost King’s orders.
……
Creee!
Several thousand meters in the sky, a muscular rock eagle was attacked by seven or eight other eagles. It shrieked as its body went stiff and it plunged from the skies. Thud! It slammed into the roof of one of the buildings in the King of Foreign Lands Residence and then slid down from the roof tiles in a bloody mess.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 1070
