Chapter 1744: Aerial Battle! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”The opposing side placed many traps on Green Deer Mountain, such as horse pits, trip ropes, and even many caltrops. They were placed with great skill so that they completely blocked off the south road. Clearing them up and filling in the holes requires an extensive amount of time.
”Green Deer Mountain is surrounded by mountains and thick forests on both sides of its roads, and there are places where warhorses can't even hope to get through. Attempting a detour with tens of thousands of soldiers would only delay things even more. And taking another road would take more than half a day!
”Regardless, their time of arrival at the capital will be pushed back!”
Kim U-Seok lowered his head. He spoke the last words with particular force, as if they took all the strength in his body to squeeze out. His face went pale and cold sweat emerged on his forehead.
No one understood more than Kim U-Seok what the army being delayed meant. More importantly, the ambush on the Beiting Protectorate army was clearly connected with his negligence in gathering information.
But not even Kim U-Seok could have imagined that his opponent would use a method like this. The road to the capital from the northern frontier was long and winding. How could he possibly keep watch on every location?
But given the facts on the ground, he could not escape responsibility.
”This matter has nothing to do with you!” the Ghost King suddenly declared, breaking the oppressive mood. With vigorous footsteps, the Ghost King strode over to a nearby wall and pulled down a curtain.
Beneath the curtain was an incomplete military map of the Great Tang!
Many of the places on the map were ambiguous and not well-made, but the key locations were exceptionally detailed to an almost realistic level.
This 'contest' extended from the capital all the way to the border, so how could the Eastern Palace not produce a map of the Great Tang of its own? However, their map was clearly somewhat cruder than Wang Chong's.
The moment Hou Junji unveiled the map, he almost immediately focused on Green Deer Mountain, and then his gaze turned sharp and cold.
”We were deceived. The soldiers from the triangular gap are already here!”
Hou Junji pointed a finger at Green River Mountain and delivered a stunning conclusion.
”If my guess is correct, they've also blockaded the three roads leading away from Green Deer Mountain. To simultaneously place enough traps on three roads to hinder an army of tens of thousands of soldiers would require eight thousand people at the minimum!
”I heard before that at the Battle of Talas, the joint force of Tibetans and Western Turks, an army numbering in the tens of thousands, had been preparing to attack the Tang forces from the rear, but in the end, they ended up being delayed by the King of Foreign Lands' forces for several days. The leader of that delaying force was someone called Su Hanshan. Kim U-Seok, was this the name of the general in charge of the triangular gap?”
Kim U-Seok was startled and hastily replied, ”Yes!”
”He's the one!” Hou Junji coldly declared with a wave of his sleeve.
”Your Highness, get in touch with the Tibetans and have them do a little scouting. In all probability, a significant number of soldiers from the triangular gap have gone missing.”
”Fine!”
After a few moments of hesitation, the First Prince nodded. Neither the First Prince nor Hou Junji had been willing to use the power of the Tibetans in this operation. After all, the fewer people that knew about this plan, the better. But now, they had no other option.
”I always believed that we only needed to deal with that young scion of the Wang Clan, but to think that he would have such a formidable subordinate…! Inform Zhang Zheng that when he reaches the Yellow Scarf Mountains, he should advance through here.”
Hou Junji's finger stabbed at a point on the map.
Everyone stared in stupefaction at this part of the map. It seemed like he was just pointing at a random mountain at first, but upon careful inspection, there was actually a small mountain stream there.
This stream was extremely narrow, but it flowed all the way south until it terminated at Bullhead Pass, the last checkpoint the army needed to get through.
Everyone immediately understood what was going on.
”Yes!”
Kim U-Seok's mind was brimming with admiration as he spoke.
Taptaptap!
In the middle of all this, a series of rapid footsteps drew away everyone's attention. Hou Junji, the First Prince, Kim U-Seok, and Meng Tu all turned to look at the same time.
”Reporting!”
A Golden Guard had rushed into the hall.
”We've just learned that one thousand fully-equipped cavalry have just been sent into the King of Foreign Lands Residence. These people have been stationed around the estate, making it difficult for our men to get close!”
”What?!”
The First Prince grimaced at these words.
”This bastard is so bold! He dares to summon cavalry right at the feet of the Son of Heaven? What is he trying to do?!”
One thousand fully armed and armored cavalry was not a small number, and the First Prince couldn't help but be nervous. After all, Wang Chong was leading them, and under his command, one thousand cavalry could display the might of tens of thousands of cavalry. In the current situation, this was a force that the Eastern Palace had to fear.