Chapter 889: Lingering Echo! II (1/2)
Chapter 889: Lingering Echo! (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”Wait a moment! Milords, betraying the Great Tang was Wanhe Peiluo's will, a result of his greed for power and wealth. It has nothing to do with anyone else. Please, Milords, give us a chance. Our Karluk Tribe is willing to fight to the death for the Great Tang, battling the Arabs until the very end!!”
The Karluk captain Guli kneeled on the ground, his face pale as he spoke.
These words immediately silenced the area.
Gao Xianzhi placed his hands behind him and closed his eyes, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking. Meanwhile, Cheng Qianli and the other officers of the Anxi Protectorate army turned to Wang Chong. Wang Chong had been the one to discover the Karluk scheme, and by closing his eyes, Gao Xianzhi was clearly passing authority on this matter to Wang Chong.
In addition, the Anxi Protectorate army was emotionally too close to the Karluks, so it was not very appropriate for them to handle this matter. In contrast, Wang Chong had no relationship with the Karluks and did not stand to gain or lose, allowing him to make an objective decision.
”Hmph, can I believe you?”
”After doing this, are the Karluks still worth trusting?”
Guli lowered his head and said through clenched teeth, ”Milord, please give us another chance. I know that it will be very difficult for you to trust us, but I swear to the god of the tribe who dwells above the Nine Heavens that our Karluk Tribe will never betray the Great Tang. In addition, are not the people of the tribe in Milord's hands? If we Karluks show the slightest hint of betrayal, Milord does not need to act with mercy and can kill them all! Our wives and children are all in Milord's hands. Milord can be sure that we will not dare to act rashly!”
Wanhe Peiluo was dead and the trend was irreversible. Guli understood well the principle of 'winner takes all', and that the lives of all the people in his tribe and the fifteen thousand warriors in the city rested on his words as well as the decisions of this youthful Protector-General.
With a single order, this youth could bring an end to the illustrious Karluks, wiping them and their more than one thousand years of history from the face of the Western Regions.
Wang Chong said nothing, nor did anyone else. It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
Guli, Guduo, and the other Karluk officers all silently kneeled, a nervous tension in the air as beads of sweat began to emerge from their foreheads. Life and death could be decided in an instant. With the shake of a head from this Qixi Protector-General, all their heads would be rolling on the ground.
The Karluks had always been fierce, as they otherwise would not have become allies of the Anxi Protectorate army. But these veterans of many battles were now nervously trembling in unease.
”Hmph!”
Wang Chong noted their reactions and gave a cold laugh. He turned to glance at Vice Protector-General Cheng Qianli, who hesitated a moment before giving a nod. Wang Chong then turned to the nearby Gao Xianzhi. Gao Xianzhi neither shook his head nor nodded, but the expression in his now-open eyes conveyed his answer.
”Count yourselves lucky!” Wang Chong said with a frigid smile.
Whoosh! The Karluk officers immediately exhaled and relaxed as if freed of a great burden. In that moment, the tens of thousands of Karluks had escaped the clutches of death. Not even in all their battles had they ever been in such danger.
There had been no clanging swords and sabers, no killing intent or gruesome carnage, but it had been dangerous all the same!
”Guli, don't get too happy! No one can tolerate betrayal,” Cheng Qianli sternly warned as he loosened Guli's restraints. ”Temporarily overlooking this doesn't mean forgiveness. The Karluk Tribe… I never once imagined that you would actually betray us.”
Guli did not retort, his heart bursting with shame.
”General, be at ease. There will not be a next time. On the battlefield, we will prove to Milord that the Karluks are worthy of your trust.”
”I hope that is the case.”
……
Cheng Qianli, Guli, and the other Karluk officers quickly departed. Wanhe Peiluo was dead, and the fifteen thousand Karluk warriors in the city needed to be taken care of. All Wang Chong could do was dispatch eight thousand elite Qixi soldiers into the city to help maintain order.
In addition, Chen Bin and his three thousand ballista teams were dispatched into the city. The strength of these ballistae would be enough to exterminate the Karluks in a few seconds. If Guli dared to have any other ideas, he would truly be seeking his own death.
After watching Cheng Qianli leave, Wang Chong finally turned to Gao Xianzhi and worriedly asked, ”Lord Protector-General, how are your injuries?”
Gao Xianzhi was currently in an awful state. Two months of bitter fighting had left his armor in tatters, his body covered in wounds, and his strength greatly exhausted. In the fight against Wanhe Peiluo, Wang Chong could sense that while Gao Xianzhi remained powerful, he could only command around sixty percent of his peak strength.
The Battle of Talas was no small affair, and the only true individual at the Great General level in the more than one hundred thousand soldiers of the Great Tang was Gao Xianzhi, with not even Wang Chong counting. Gao Xianzhi's status was linked directly to the outcome of the battle.
”Decent. I can hold on. Abu Muslim probably isn't doing much better!”
Gao Xianzhi seemed to understand what Wang Chong was worried about.