Chapter 770: Explosive Rage! Dayan Mangban Moves Out! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
With the battle concluded, Wang Chong was putting all his efforts into building up the fortifications as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Heba Ye was delivering the news to the Qixi Protectorate headquarters.
”What? Impossible! Heba Ye, you are sure that this is correct? Did the Ü-Tsang Mountain Army really have twenty to thirty thousand soldiers?” In the main hall of the protectorate headquarters, Fumeng Lingcha bolted off this throne and stared in disbelief at Heba Ye, who had personally come from his camp.
”Lord Protector-General, your subordinate personally witnessed it. There is no mistake!” the kneeling Heba Ye said, his head hanging even lower.
He had originally wanted to send a scout over, but owing to the seriousness of the matter and the importance the Protector-General placed on that Wang Clan son, he had ultimately decided to personally visit.
Moreover, this matter was simply too shocking and had never happened in all the history of Qixi's interactions with the plateau. Heba Ye did not dare make any decisions on his own, nor did he wish to see any misunderstandings or gaps in knowledge.
Thus, he had personally come to the Qixi Protectorate to explain the matter to Fumeng Lingcha.
”Impossible! Without permission of the Imperial Court, privately raising an army will result in the death penalty, and besides, how could he possibly possess such powerful soldiers?” Fumeng Lingcha said in shock.
Although there had been news that a Tang army had taken some secret path to infiltrate the Tibetan Plateau and had exterminated more than twenty thousand recruits at Zhangzhung Recruit Training Camp, and there was a high chance that this was the doing of Wushang's Wang Chong, Fumeng Lingcha simply didn't believe it.
There were only a few paths between Ü-Tsang and the Great Tang, and each of these paths was garrisoned by an army. The existence of some secret path was absolutely impossible.
This explanation wasn't reliable at all.
Moreover, all this information was from Ü-Tsang's side, and only the Tibetans could decide if what was being said was true or false. No one else could prove their accounts.
Without firm evidence, Fumeng Lingcha would never believe such fantastical claims.
But this time was different. This battle had taken place just moments ago on the Tibetan Plateau, and Heba Ye had personally witnessed it, so he was forced to believe it.
”Let's go! I want to take a look for myself!”
A light flashed in Fumeng Lingcha's eyes, and he immediately began to stride out of the hall.
……
Fumeng Lingcha was far from the only one to be stunned by the battle on the plateau.
”What? Buluhu's Mountain Army was crushed? Bastard thing! When did the Qixi Protectorate army become so capable?”
Deep within the Tibetan Plateau, around a thousand li from the triangular gap where the battle had taken place, Dayan Mangban was fuming.
”General, it wasn't the Qixi Protectorate army, but some Great Tang army of unknown background. They didn't have many soldiers, but their strength was more than double the Qixi Protectorate army's.”
”Not only that, even General Buluhu was killed in battle.”
”General, this matter has been confirmed many times over. We are not lying.”
Several of the surviving officers from the Mountain Army kneeled on the floor, their bodies trembling in fear like mice before a cat. In this camp, the person with the highest status was Great General Dusong Mangpoje, but the person everyone feared the most was Dayan Mangban, because everyone knew that the true commanding officer was this Asura of the empire.
And in terms of methods, everyone knew that Lord Dayan Mangban was far more tyrannical and ferocious than Dusong Mangpoje.
”Bastard thing, you still dare to argue? The largest army in Qixi is the Qixi Protectorate army, so if it's not them, are you saying that Anxi's Gao Xianzhi came over with his soldiers?”
Dayan Mangban's eyes were bursting with murderous fire.
Twenty to thirty thousand cavalry dying in battle was no small number. In Dayan Mangban's life, one of the things he loathed the most was a defeated officer, and the only thing he found more insufferable was one of these incompetents who had clearly lost but still had the nerve to argue. The steppe worshiped strength and valor, and no one could accept such timidity and incompetence.
A frightened Tibetan general with a somewhat smaller frame said, ”Milord, it wasn't the Anxi army. They were from Wushang…” But the word 'Wushang' had barely left his mouth when the atmosphere in the tent suddenly changed. The murderous Dayan Mangban seemed galvanized, and his body trembled as he suddenly raised his head, his eyes fixed on that general.
Sensing the change in Dayan Mangban, all the Mountain Army generals in the tent fell silent out of fear. No one understood why Dayan Mangban had such a large reaction, but in an instant, everyone subconsciously turned toward that thin and small general.