Side Story Chapter 21: Retraining the Soldiers!

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

In the tent, several armored Tibetan generals sat on chairs. Though their bodies were short, they were brimming with vigor, and they pulsed with Stellar Energy. While their skins were dark and tanned from their daily livelihood, their faces had a healthy red complexion.

Their faces sported red or yellow beards, and they all had rather grave expressions.

At this moment, a red-bearded general was raging, his face incredibly grim. It was clear that this was the general who had roared a moment ago.

A vigorous general sitting across from the red-bearded general sternly said, “Ormu, Blood Butcher might have encountered Tang soldiers. Wait a little longer.”

He was trying to soothe Ormu, but he actually wasn’t in a much better mood.

In the end, Blood Butcher had been recommended by him to command the raid. He had not expected that this man, who had been known for his swift battles, would end up fighting in Feng Village for so long!

“Reporting!”

At this moment, the galloping of hooves could be heard, and everyone instantly turned to the reporting soldier.

“After some investigation, we found that Blood Butcher’s force of cavalry arrived at Feng Village in the Zi Period (11pm – 1am), but, but…” A scout was permitted inside the tent, and he got down on one knee and began his report. But by the end, his face twisted, and he began to stammer.

“Talk!” Ormu roared.

“At the first quarter of the Zi Period, it was surrounded by Tang… and completely wiped out!”

As the scout spoke, the tent became deathly still, disbelief appearing in the eyes of the Tibetan generals.

“Has this been confirmed?” that vigorous general asked, his eyes dangerously narrowing.

“Yes. Moreover, through our investigation, we found that the Tang operation was apparently led by the Third Prince of the Great Tang,” the scout said, his head lowered and covered in sweat.

“What?!”

The generals in the tent were left dumbstruck, and even Ormu had been rendered speechless.

The Tang Empire had six Princes, and each one had his own merits. As for the Third Prince… he was well-known for being arrogant and despotic, and not just in the Tang Empire. On the day he killed the son of the King of Shan, all of the surrounding countries, including Ü-Tsang, the Turks, and Mengshe Zhao… came to know of this Prince.

Hadn’t this good-for-nothing Prince come to the border to go through the motions and gild his reputation a little?

How could he be this formidable?

“Are all of the Tang Empire’s Princes this formidable?”

The scout was quickly dismissed. Meanwhile, Ormu continued to mutter to himself.

Blood Butcher’s movements had been extremely secretive. How had the Third Prince known?

The Great Tang already had First Prince Li Xuantu, who was placing considerable pressure on the Turks. Now this Third Prince had appeared. Were all the Princes of the Tang Empire so superb?

Another Tibetan general spoke, an expression of disdain on his face. “Hmph, what are you all thinking? Don’t let someone else’s flame extinguish your own! If he were really that formidable, his reputation wouldn’t have been so foul. He might have just gotten lucky.

“A blind cat running into a dead mouse. Blood Butcher just happened to throw himself on a spear.”

He would not believe that a Tang Prince who had never before been on the battlefield would be so formidable.

“Didn’t you hear the scout say that they were surrounded? They must have been predicted. Moreover, the Turks have been recruiting soldiers recently, and everyone says it’s because this Prince exposed their scheme,” that vigorous general said.

The red-bearded general also frowned. He had clearly realized that something was wrong.

When the Turks had sought peace with the Great Tang, almost all the Tibetans had been stunned. The two sides had been fighting for ten-some years and were already at a stage where peace was impossible. Why would the Turks suddenly lower themselves and request peace talks?

Later on, even though the Tang Third Prince had exposed the Turks’ scheme to try and occupy the Yin Mountains, both Turks and Tang believed that he had managed to guess correctly through sheer luck, let alone the Tibetans.

“Regardless of who he is, anyone who dares to kill our Tibetan comrades must pay the blood price!”

At this time, in the main seat of the tent, a muscular and domineering character suddenly opened up his eyes, revealing a brilliant light that seethed with killing intent. At the same time, an energy like the blazing sun radiated from his body.

Seated on the main seat, he appeared like a towering mountain, his aura drowning out the likes of Ormu and the other Tibetan generals.

Huoshu Songren!

The Ü-Tsang Empire was separated into regions ruled by different members of the royal clan. He who held the royal city of Lhasa, Tride Tsuktsen, held paramount status. Beneath Tride Tsuktsen were the four Royal Lineages, each ruled by one of Tride Tsuktsen’s royal brothers. These were the Ngari Royal Lineage, the Lhasa Royal Lineage, the Yatse Royal Lineage, and the Yarlung Royal Lineage.

Huoshu Songren belonged to the Ngari, responsible for the southeast.

Huoshu Songren was one of Ü-Tsang’s top-class leaders. Under his leadership, Ü-Tsang had not only developed the Halo of Fortress to its greatest extent, it had also developed a new charging formation of immense power that allowed it to contend against the powerful Turks.

Huoshu Songren turned to that vigorous general and said in a rumbling and chilling tone, “Wuji, you were the one who recommended him. What do you think?”

Panic appeared in Wuji’s eyes, and he immediately got down on one knee in front of Huoshu Songren.

“Great General, please give your subordinate a chance to redeem himself. Your subordinate will not allow this plan to come to naught!”

After a few moments of silence, Huoshu Songren sternly said, “Longxi must be taken. I do not wish to see any mishaps!”

Wuji let out a sigh of relief as he sincerely said, “Thank you, Great General!”

Huoshu Songren turned to the red-bearded Ormu. “Ormu, what is the battle situation in Longxi?”

“We can attack soon,” Ormu solemnly said.

“Good! Let’s end this battle quickly!” Huoshu Huicang solemnly said.

……

Meanwhile, back in Longxi, with Li Taiyi’s return to base, the news of his victory at Feng Village swiftly spread through the camp.

At the same time, in the main tent, all of the Longxi generals had gathered. Their expressions were completely different from when they had first met Li Taiyi, no longer thinking that he had just come to mess around.

All of them looked at the Third Prince in disbelief!

This ‘famous’ Third Prince had really done it!

The Longxi army had wasted so much time and energy and never managed to catch this Tibetan force, but he had done it in a few days, even wiping them out.

It was truly incredible!

“Third Highness, truly divine calculation!”

Guo Dingguo looked at Li Taiyi in both surprise and admiration.

He had to admit that he had made an error of judgment.

He had thought that Li Taiyi was just a good-for-nothing who was just trying to get a little fame and reputation. He had never imagined that he would possess such foresight, accurately predicting the route of the Tibetan cavalry and completely wiping them out. He had also heard from Cui Sheng of Li Taiyi’s superb archery, comparable to a master archer. Even the archers under Li Taiyi’s command had been trained by him. Guo Dingguo couldn’t help but sigh in praise.

If the Great Tang had more talents like the Third Prince, there would be no need to fear any enemies, even if they were surrounded.

“General Guo is too polite.”

Li Taiyi smiled.

Victorious, yet not arrogant!

Guo Dingguo felt even more admiration upon seeing Li Taiyi’s reaction. This was completely different from the unruly and arrogant Prince of the rumors!

Guo Dingguo realized something and deeply frowned. “Now that I think about it, if the Tibetans had managed to occupy Feng Village, the consequences would have been disastrous!”

As Guo Dingguo spoke, he pointed at Feng Village’s location on the map.

“Though Feng Village is in a remote location, it straddles two important roads running east and west. The Great Tang’s armies normally use these two roads. It seems that this Tibetan force had a clear objective. If my guess is right, this should be the plan of Ü-Tsang’s Great General Huoshu Songren.”

Li Taiyi’s eyelids subtly rose upon the mention of this name.

“Huoshu Songren is a renowned Great General of Ü-Tsang. Moreover, he also has an influential status in the wars with the Great Tang and has always been one of the Great Tang’s formidable foes.”

Guo Dingguo was much more solemn than usual when speaking of Huoshu Songren.

Li Taiyi’s eyes flashed as he began to look through his memories.

In his previous life, the Great Tang should have had some additional strength to deal with the Turks, but that massacre on the border caused the empire to lose its balance. Ü-Tsang was able to exploit Feng Village’s location to block Tang reinforcements from the east and encircle Longxi to the west, placing the Tang Empire in dire straits.

All of this was due to the efforts of Great General Huoshu Songren of Ü-Tsang.

It wasn’t long after this that Huoshu Songren destroyed the barrier that was Longxi, wiping out the Longxi army and dealing the Great Tang a heavy blow. Even General Guo Dingguo had died at his hands.

A heavily wounded Tang Empire with its attention divided on two borders? The ultimate result was obvious.

“General Guo, how many troops does Ü-Tsang have on the border?” Li Taiyi gravely said.

Guo Dingguo hadn’t expected this question from Li Taiyi, and momentarily froze. But given Li Taiyi’s performance, he was less reluctant than before, and he quickly got a hold of himself and turned to Cui Sheng.

Cui Sheng was not merely one of Guo Dingguo’s able subordinate generals. He was also responsible for intelligence gathering.

“Ü-Tsang has a force of seventy to eighty thousand men, much more than Longxi, and all of them are elite cavalry. Our spies report that Ü-Tsang is still gathering men,” Cui Sheng sternly said.

“As for our Longxi army, even with His Highness’s three-thousand-some men, we don’t even reach forty thousand—less than half of Ü-Tsang’s army.”

These numbers made Li Taiyi’s heart sink.

Guo Dingguo and the Longxi generals were even more worried than Li Taiyi.

Longxi had never held the upper hand.

Using a local garrison to fight against an entire country would always result in a dire disadvantage. No matter how much they were reinforced, this would not change.

For many years, Guo Dingguo and the Longxi army had been able to hold out in part because of the vastness of the Central Plains. The Tibetans were unfamiliar with the terrain, and any reckless movements might result in a mishap. As the saying went, a powerful dragon could not crush a snake in its old haunts.

Another aspect was that Longxi was not the plateau, was not a flat and featureless landscape. The terrain here was complicated, which reduced the power of a cavalry charge. This unique terrain, with the addition of defensive fortifications, had allowed the Longxi army to protect the empire from Ü-Tsang for many years.

But frankly speaking, the Longxi army had always been on the defensive. Even if they wanted to go on the offensive, the special environment of the plateau foreordained that they would have to retreat.

The tent was quiet. Li Taiyi was calm, a thoughtful light in his eyes. He very soon turned to General Guo Dingguo.

“General Guo, I must ask for a considerable favor from you. We lack soldiers, and infantry find it very difficult to fight against cavalry. Thus, I recommend retraining the soldiers!” Li Taiyi solemnly said.

“Retraining?”

Everyone frowned at Li Taiyi’s words.

The saying went that sharpening the spear right before battle might not make it very sharp, but at least it would shine brighter. But it was a little unfitting given that Ü-Tsang could attack at any time, was it not?

As the generals furrowed their brows more and more, a stern voice spoke up.

“I agree.”

“Cui Sheng?!”

Everyone turned in the direction of Cui Sheng, who was usually reluctant to give his opinion.

“I have personally seen the strength of the archers trained by His Third Highness, and His Highness is also an extremely capable archer. I trust that His Highness has the ability if he has proposed retraining the soldiers,” Cui Sheng sternly said.

These words made all of the generals rethink the proposition.

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