Chapter 839: Adjustment of Strategies! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
When Dusong Mangpoje and Huoshu Huicang were leaving the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple, in the distant City of Steel in Wushang, another scene was taking place.
Once the news that Wang Chong had been promoted to Qixi Protector-General began to spread, the entire City of Steel turned jubilant. What could be more exciting than one's lord being promoted to Protector-General, ranking amongst the highest and most authoritative figures of the empire? Reaching such a lofty post in just a year was like the morning sun breaking over the horizon at dawn. One would follow such a lord without hesitation, as the prospects were guaranteed to be limitless!
Everyone seemed to have been given a shot in the arm, frenziedly practicing and training so that they could increase their strength. The entire City of Steel was filled with a proactive and energetic atmosphere.
But in Wang Chong's residence, an entirely different mood dominated. All the tables, chairs, and stools that had once filled this spacious room had been moved, and a massive model of the Western Regions now occupied the center of the room. The topography and the kingdoms of the Western Regions were all realized in startling detail, and the Anxi Protectorate, the Tibetan Plateau, the Turkic steppe, Qixi, and Wushang seemed to mirror their real-life counterparts.
Wang Chong had not disregarded the Western Regions while dealing with the Ü-Tsang Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate, dispatching many scouts to gather information on the military situation and geography of the regions. Several hundred of the best scouts had still needed several months to produce the information that was finally condensed into this strategic model of the Western Regions.
”…On the Ü-Tsang Empire's side, I've already killed Dayan Mangban and wounded Dusong Mangpoje, and the White Braves essentially don't exist anymore. In addition to that, they lost almost one hundred thousand elites. Coupled with the plague I spread through the southwest, the Ü-Tsang Empire should be badly wounded. It won't have the strength to threaten us in the short term.
”As for the Western Turkic Khaganate, the one who had attacked us the most and was the leader of the war faction was the Black Wolf Yabgu, Agudu Lan. He died in front of Qixi Armory along with four thousand of his best elites. With these people dead, the greatest threats to us have been eliminated, and the Western Turkic Khaganate will find it very difficult to produce another person as formidable and difficult to deal with as Agudu Lan. With these two important individuals dead, Qixi is essentially safe and unthreatened.”
Wang Chong explained all this as he pointed at Ü-Tsang and the Western Turkic Khaganate on the model. All the commanders of the City of Steel had gathered around him: Li Siye, Huang Botian, Xu Qiqin, Xu Keyi, Cheng Sanyuan, Su Shixuan, Chen Bin… even Zhang Shouzhi was present. Everyone was listening with rapt attention to Wang Chong.
”Then, Milord, what should our next objective be?” Xu Keyi suddenly asked. ”Should we invade Ü-Tsang and the Turkic steppe, launching an assault that will make them lose any ability to attack the Great Tang?”
The eyes of everyone in the room brightened at Xu Keyi's suggestion. Of all the Protector-Generals and Great Generals of the empire, there was probably no one more proactive than Wang Chong. All of the renowned generals of the Great Tang, even the likes of Geshu Han, An Sishun, Zhang Shougui, and Fumeng Lingcha, had essentially adopted a policy of passive defense, with the occasional offense. Rarely was there someone like Wang Chong who penetrated deep into enemy territory to battle on foreign soil, even establishing a fortress to serve as a permanent base. These fortresses would serve as a fish bone in the throat, a dagger at the back, leaving enemies extremely uncomfortable.
In this aspect, not even Gao Xianzhi could compare to Wang Chong!
”Ü-Tsang and the Turks will have to be dealt with eventually, but they aren't where the greatest threat is coming from. That comes from elsewhere!”
Wang Chong drew back his finger and scanned the room.
”Ah?!”
The gathered officers were astonished by these words, glancing at each other in dismay. The greatest threats around Wushang and Qixi were none other than the Tibetans and the Turks. None of them could think of any other empire that could pose a greater threat.
At the very edge of the crowd, Chen Bin had an idea and hesitantly voiced it. ”Is Milord referring to those Hu in the Qixi Protectorate?”
”Of course not. They're not even worthy of that.”
Wang Chong grinned and didn't keep them in suspense. Taking a small red flag, he swept his arm past Wushang, Qixi, Anxi, and the Cong Mountains, finally placing the flag at the very western edge, near the sea.
”Our true enemy is right! Here!”
”The Arabian Empire?! How could it be them? Aren't they just a tiny country? What sort of threat could they pose?”
”That's right! They might not even be able to contend against Mengshe Zhao. How could they be even stronger than Ü-Tsang? And aren't Gao Xianzhi and the Anxi Protectorate army in the west? With them there, what country could threaten us?”
”Lord Marquis, might you have picked the wrong spot? I've met Arabs in the capital. All of them are round and fat, and they give such big smiles that their eyes scrunch up. Even if they come in hundreds of thousands, we could easily defeat people like that. How could they possibly threaten us?”
The people in the room were flabbergasted at the place Wang Chong had stuck the red flag. No one had imagined that the threat Wang Chong spoke of would be this extremely faraway land. Many of them suspected that Wang Chong had put the flag in the wrong place.
Wang Chong said nothing to these gasps of surprise, only faintly smiled. When he first began to build this city in Wushang, everyone believed that his goal was to build a commercial city through which he could make a fortune, or else they believed that he wanted to use this city as a base to push back the Tibetans and Turks. However, Wang Chong's goal had never been the Ü-Tsang Empire, and certainly not the Western Turkic Khaganate. At this stage, there was no longer any need to hide his aim.
From start to finish, he had had only one enemy and adversary: that massive empire west of the Cong Mountains.
Arabia!