Chapter 507: The Situation in the Southwest! A Powerful Foe! (1/2)
The summit of the mountain was quiet, the entire place drowned in a deathly stillness.
”But, Young Master, if the Imperial Court has not sent reinforcements, the small number of forces we have here would be like a cup of water on a burning carriage. It's far from enough to alter the situation in the southwest!” An officer couldn't help but vent his disappointment through his words.
”Young Master Wang, I won't hide anything from you. The Tibetans are currently operating at full power. We might have five to six thousand soldiers here, but we can only barely manage to defend this place. It's far from enough to actually advance. Just those three thousand Tibetan cavalry waiting outside were impossible for us to deal with. That force is extremely formidable, and if we leave this place and the geographic advantage it offers, the Tibetans will attack us midway, instantly inflicting heavy casualties on our forces. In addition, cavalry are much faster than infantry, so we wouldn't even be able to escape!”
Xu Shiping looked up to the skies and gave a long sigh, an expression of helplessness on his face.
How could he be willing to defend this place? How could he not want to do more? But the situation was stronger than the man. If he risked advancing, he might not only fail to aid the Annan Protectorate army, but many of the brothers at his side might die without a place of burial. As a commander, he could not betray the trust of his brother.
”Hahaha!”
It would have been fine if Xu Shiping had not said anything, but upon hearing about those three thousand Tibetan cavalry, Old Eagle, Li Siye, and the other guards who had followed Wang Chong up the mountain began to roar with laughter. Even Wang Chong couldn't suppress a faint smile.
”Commandant, are you talking about this man?”
Rather than acting modest, Old Eagle roared with laughter as he threw a prepared metal box over. The box opened, and a round head flew out, rolling on the ground until it gradually came to a stop.
As if an invisible hand had clamped onto everyone's necks, the mountaintop instantly fell silent. The officers stared with eyes wide and mouths agape at that head, which clearly belonged to someone from the plateau despite the blood and dirt that caked it.
A few of the soldiers who were standing near it even took a few steps back.
”This, this is…”
”Batunlu! Isn't this that Tibetan general?”
”How could this be?”
”How did he die? How is this possible!”
”They had so few people, so how did they manage to kill Batunlu?!”
……
The soldiers gawked at the head on the ground. They could not comprehend that the Tibetan cavalry that had been their mortal foes, that roamed around their perimeter in a threatening manner before mysteriously retreating not too long ago, had all been killed.
And they had been killed by this army, by the forces of the Great Tang!
An officer raised his head and asked, ”What about his soldiers?” Although he knew those soldiers probably hadn't had good fates, he still couldn't help but ask.
”Dead, of course! Even the head of their commander is here! Do you think we could have done that if we hadn't killed all of them?” Li Siye impatiently said.
He was a military man and the model for a candid general. He wasn't much for schemes and also didn't have much patience.
No one argued with Li Siye. Xu Shiping exchanged looks with his old subordinates, all of them speechless.
This result had caught them completely off guard. None of them would have expected it in their wildest dreams.
In order to deal with those Tibetans, they had acted like they were facing a powerful foe. They had gathered a large number of soldiers, constructed many fortifications, and spent many days preparing. Just a few moments ago, they had even been discussing setting up a suicide squad to sacrifice their lives for a sliver of hope.
No one had imagined that while they were planning for the worst-case scenario, their 'powerful foe' had already been eliminated.
And the ones who had killed them were this young man and the soldiers at his side!
Even though he knew of Wang Chong's reputation, Xu Shiping's mind was still in turmoil.
This was actual combat, a life-or-death struggle. Even though he came from a clan of ministers and generals, wasn't he still just a child? How had he managed to pull it off?
Xu Shiping suddenly realized that he understood nothing about this youth standing before him.
”Young Master Wang, can I ask how you managed to defeat them?” Xu Shiping asked.
'Tibetans are insufficient below one thousand, invincible above it.' This was a saying spread throughout every country. Although it sounded rather exaggerated, it clearly communicated the ferocity and abnormal fighting power of the Tibetans.
Three thousand Tibetan cavalry were a fighting force capable of fighting seven or eight thousand soldiers.