Chapter 656: Each With Their Own Axe to Grind! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The black-clothed Yabgu half-closed his eyes. In an instant, a scene appeared in his mind. The mountain was still the same mountain, but countless soldiers had appeared, their different armor clearly indicating that they belonged to three different forces.
These people were engaged in a frenzied melee.
In the middle of these dense ranks, the Yabgu could clearly see four giants, and in front of these four giants, another enormous figure, shining with golden light, was currently striding toward the pit…
If those experts who had participated in the southwestern war were to see the scene playing out in this Turkic Yabgu's mind, they would assuredly be stupefied.
This Yabgu had clearly managed to replay the scenes from the battle on that day. Those scars and fissure in the ground were wholly sufficient for him to visualize the battlefield.
In both the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates, the only person capable of this feat was the Eastern Turks' Ghost Eye Yabgu.
The Ghost Eye Yabgu looked forward and suddenly said, ”I understand. Geluofeng fell at precisely this place…
”Wang Yan and Xianyu Zhongtong, two powerful experts, joined forces. Against one Mighty Miracle God and one Vajra God, it's no wonder Geluofeng was heavily injured. He was too careless.”
”But Geluofeng was also a wise sovereign. No mediocre figure could strengthen Mengshe Zhao to this level. How could he be caught completely off guard? Such a thing shouldn't have happened!”
Behind the Ghost Eye Yabgu, an Eastern Turkic general furrowed his brow in doubt.
The Ghost Eye Yabgu was silent. To tell the truth, when he had heard about the defeat in the southwest and Geluofeng falling into a coma after being heavily injured, he had found it very strange. As a sovereign, it was his duty to preside in the rear and only take to the battlefield when absolutely necessary. This was a most basic principle of the battlefield.
Geluofeng should have been in the rear and remained uninjured.
Even after wracking his mind, he couldn't think of a reason.
The Ghost Eye Yabgu swept his gaze questioningly over the surroundings. Finally, it passed over the summit and stopped, seeming to notice something.
”It wasn't that he was being imprudent, but because someone was baiting him. That boy Wang Chong is a very deep schemer. Geluofeng was like a plaything in the palm of his hands.”
The Yabgu gave a deep sigh.
Although more than a month had passed since the battle, nothing here could be kept secret from him. It was like he could see the furious Geluofeng seeing that figure on the summit jeering at him.
It was precisely those jeers that robbed Geluofeng of his rationality.
Wang Chong was a name completely unfamiliar to the Turks who dwelled beyond the walls, on the vast steppe. Although none of them had heard of it before, after today, all the foreign kingdoms beyond the walls of the Great Tang would have this name ringing in their ears like thunder. It would be impossible to not know of this name.
An individual who could defeat Dalun Ruozan and Huoshu Huicang, and kill hundreds of thousands of Mengshe Zhao and Tibetan soldiers, was someone that no power could ignore.
When one considered that they had known nothing of him before, gathering information on him now became an utmost priority.
This matter was not something any minor scout could accomplish.
It wasn't strange at all for the various powers to send important figures to investigate.
”…But Geluofeng is no fool. How could that Wang Chong be sure that his plan would succeed?” the Turkic general asked in confusion.
The Ghost Eye Yabgu was quiet for a few moments before suddenly giving a laugh.
”Ha! Do you still have the first intelligence report from the southwest? Let me take a look at it.”
”It's here, Milord.”
The Turkic general quickly passed over a letter covered in Turkic characters.
”Heheh, as expected.”
The Yabgu looked at it for a few moments before giving a nod and smiling.
”From the reports back then, smoke was rising from the rear of the Mengshe Zhao army. Their granaries were attacked, all their provisions destroyed. Mengshe Zhao had hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and the amount of food needed to feed them is no small number. Moreover, Geluofeng was an ambitious character. He wanted to use the southwest as a jumping board for an even greater undertaking. With millions of piculs of provisions burned, the ambitions Geluofeng had held for decades were all wasted. This is the true reason for Geluofeng's loss of rationality.”
The Yabgu sighed, his eyes showing a deep admiration and apprehension.
”If the battle hadn't been at its climax, Geluofeng wouldn't have been unaccompanied. If Duan Gequan had not entered the fray, he would definitely have advised him against the action. If the Annan Protectorate army had not been exerting so much pressure that they absorbed the attention of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army, the granaries would not have been so under-defended.
”Regardless of which one it was, if that boy were only missing one of them, he would have never been able to provoke Geluofeng, and this battle would have ended in a completely different way. While he stood on the summit and lured Geluofeng over, he had Wang Yan and Xianyu Zhongtong in their godly avatars strike from the sides. All the schemes were closely interlocked, and despite all the renowned generals I have fought and all the battles I have experienced, I have never encountered an opponent with such foresight and such thorough plans. This is truly a frightening opponent! I truly can't believe that he's only seventeen.”
……
The Turkic intelligence report had only said that Wang Chong had a divine strategic mind, but the Ghost Eye Yabgu, through his observations of the battlefield, had obtained far more information than the intelligence report could ever provide.
The Yabgu could tell that this youth of the Great Tang he had never met had begun planning everything long before he began to move.
Lion City by the Erhai, the steel walls of the Mountain of God, the sheep plague on the Tibetan Plateau, and the burning granaries in the rear of the Mengshe Zhao army… All these plans were so tightly interlocked with each other that they presented no flaw.