Chapter 868: Backhanded Trick, Secretly Controlling the Karluks! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Flapflap!
As Wang Chong's army of one-hundred-thousand-some soldiers set out from Qixi, countless eagles and other birds flew in all directions. Such a large-scale mobilization had attracted the attention of countless people. On the distant Tibetan Plateau, ten-some Tibetan cavalry took one last look at the vast army before turning around and galloping away.
”Finally moved out?”
In that underground prison outside the royal capital of Ü-Tsang, there was a creak as a cell was unlocked. As Huoshu Huicang and Dusong Mangpoje watched, a figure pushed aside the hair around his face, raised his head, and walked out.
Buzz!
All was quiet, and nothing at all had happened, but in the eyes of Dusong Mangpoje and Huoshu Huicang, the entire world seemed to shake at this man's footsteps. After so long, Ü-Tsang, the Great Tang, and the Western Regions were finally about to experience a new wave of changes!
……
Awooo!
The moment the army left Qixi, a massive wolf waiting on the border between Qixi and the Western Turks began to howl, its mournful calls traveling for more than ten li. Howl responded to howl, traveling from the border of Qixi deep into the Turkic steppe.
Gallop!
A few moments later, in a place twenty to thirty li from the Qixi border, five Turkic soldiers turned their heads and called over their own wolves before galloping off. Several hours later…
Neigh!
The loud and vigorous neigh of a warhorse came from the summit of Mount Sanmi, the home of the Western Turkic Khagan's court. With this cry, a muscular figure slowly walked forward, appearing like a god before the gathered Turks.
The skies seemed to dim, all sunlight blocked out by that man's figure.
”Irkin!”
All the Turkic cavalry in the area instantly lowered their heads, expressions of respect and subservience on their faces. 'Irkin' was a term of address in the Turkic language for an individual of extremely high status. Other than Ishbara Khagan, the Emperor of the Western Turks, there was only one person in the region that deserved such deep respect from these Turkic soldiers: Great General Duwu Sili.
Just like in the Great Tang, although the Turks were brave and excellent warriors, very few of them could obtain the title of Great General, and Duwu Sili was one of them.
It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop!
Duwu Sili loomed tall on Mount Sanmi, his scornful eyes exuding a light as bright as the blazing sun. He said nothing, only sat on his Divine Sun steed, his aloof gaze slowly scanning the earth like a god surveying the lands.
Whoosh!
His right hand waved behind him, and Duwu Sili leapt forward, crossing twenty-some zhang with a single jump. Boom! When the warhorse landed, dust flew into the air and tens of thousands of warhorses neighed in reply. Gallop! Thousands of Turkic cavalry poured out from behind Duwu Sili, churning up a cloud of dust.
Each of these Turkic cavalrymen had a storm of energy around them, and even the five thousand hand-picked elites led by the Black Wolf Yabgu could not compare to them. In addition, these Turkic cavalrymen were also distinguished by their mounts. Each of them was taller and more muscular than the other Turkic horses, each of them seeming to have dragon blood running through their veins.
Rumble!
The horses rumbled off into the west. After the battle at Qixi Armory, the entire Turkic steppe finally began to stir to life once more.
……
Flapflap!
One messenger bird after another flew off. Ü-Tsang and the Western Turks were far from the only ones to react to Wang Chong's expedition, and they were far from the only ones watching. Many of these birds in Qixi's airspace were flying toward the many kingdoms of the Western Regions.
Gaochang, Loulan, Yuezhi, Danhuan, Gumo, Wusun1… even Greater and Lessur Balur. All these states of the Western Regions, big and small, were paying attention to this war.
When the city gate came under fire, the fish in the moat would be caught in the crossfire. Although this was a clash between the Great Tang and the Arabs, the greatest empires of the east and west, it was tied to all the kingdoms of the Western Regions. All of them needed to make a choice in this war.
……
The surging undercurrent did not only have an effect east of the Cong Mountains!
”What have you found?”