The Human Emperor
chapter-547

Translated by: Hypersheep325

“Cavalry in front, shieldmen on the perimeter, spearmen inside! All soldiers, advance!

“Master archers, prepare to receive my orders at any time!

“Twenty steps forward and to the left, cavalry, charge and scatter them!

“To the right, two hundred and ten steps, archers, concentrated fire!”

……

The two armies merged into an avalanche whose momentum and sharpness swept away everything before it. In terms of numbers, the Annan Protectorate army was now not that inferior to the Tibetan army. In the northeast region, in fact, the Great Tang already completely outnumbered the Tibetans.

Wang Chong’s orders were always preempting his enemies, and before the Tibetans had even begun to form a resistance, they were assaulted and intercepted by Wang Chong.

Xianyu Zhongtong and his forces encountered barely any resistance, sweeping down like a flood and reaching the base of the mountain.

Under the charge of almost one hundred thousand soldiers, the Tibetans in the northeast were completely routed, the disorder spreading like a wave all the way down to the base of the mountain.

“Bastard!”

In the distance, Longqinba was furious, his eyes red with rage. The moment he had sensed the turmoil, he had immediately begun riding over, but even after all this time, he had still been unable to reach the site of battle. All along the way, he had been obstructed by panicked and fleeing Tibetan cavalry.

One or two people fleeing was nothing much, but when thousands of people were fleeing, trying to fight against it was like trying to swim against the course of a flood. Even a renowned general like Longqinba could do nothing about it.

By consecutively executing six or seven runaways, he had only barely managed to stop the retreat, but he was still incapable of halting the chaos in the army, much less getting closer to the site of battle.

Longqinba was so furious that his entire body was shaking.

In this journey down south from the Tibetan Plateau, Longqinba had done as he pleased, but now, his divine strength was incapable of being exerted, serving no purpose.

“The damned Tang! Flee, then, run! I’d like to see if your one hundred thousand forces can grow wings and outrun highland steeds!”

The fires of rage seethed in Longqinba’s heart, his eyes spitting fire as he stared at the distant Tang army.

……

“Everyone, hear my order! All soldiers should break out to the north! Do not stop!”

At almost the same time, Wang Chong was hurriedly ordering the army to move north.

“Young Master, in truth, we don’t need to be in this much of a rush!”

A voice suddenly came from Wang Chong’s side. A forty-some-year-old general of the Annan Protectorate army with dark skin had ridden up, his gaze occasionally looking around at the broken Tibetan forces with deep emotion.

“With our armies now united, our numbers are now comparable to the Tibetans. While the Tibetans are fleeing and the situation is in our favor, perhaps… we could turn around and attack them, dealing the Tibetans a heavy blow!”

He had not originally had this sort of plan.

But when he saw how Wang Chong had routed the Tibetan army, leaving all of them milling around in disorder, he couldn’t help but consider the idea. Defeating these Tibetans and defeating Huoshu Huicang would be a massive victory for the Great Tang and would raise the morale of the army.

“You’re one of the generals under Lord Xianyu?”

Wang Chong was very familiar with the Annan Protectorate army generals who had followed his father, knowing their faces even if he hadn’t spoken to them. But this general… Wang Chong had never seen him before.

“This… Yes!”

The dark-skinned general stared blankly for a moment before nodding, confused as to why Wang Chong had asked this question.

“Ah, then I can’t blame you. Let me ask you, the Tibetans have arrayed their soldiers into four regions. The northeast Tibetans have been routed, but what of the Tibetans in the southwest or the northwest? And have you seen any of the Tibetan generals like Huoshu Huicang or Longqinba in this battle?” Wang Chong lightly said.

“No, I can’t say that I have!” the general said in shame.

“Since we’ve only routed one of four sides, Longqinba hasn’t appeared, and Huoshu Huicang hasn’t appeared, we shouldn’t even talk about defeating them. Moreover, have you forgotten that the more than three hundred thousand soldiers of Mengshe Zhao are still waiting in the wings? If we get into a battle with the Tibetans and both of us come away with severe losses, and then Mengshe Zhao appears, what will we do? What will happen to the civilians of the southwest? Have you forgotten what the true duty of the Annan Protectorate is?”

Wang Chong’s voice grew harsher and harsher as he went on.

Annan! Protect the south!

A protectorate had never existed purely for the sake of war, because wars would never end. The ultimate goal of these wars was to protect a single direction. This was the purpose of Annan, Anbei, Andong, and Anxi. But when a warrior spent too long engaged in battle, they would forget the duty that had been placed on their shoulders.

The dark-skinned Annan Protectorate army general instantly paled, unable to speak for a few moments.

“Let’s go! The Great Tang will have to fight with Ü-Tsang and Mengshe Zhao one day, but it’s not now! And they will pay the price for their actions! And it won’t be this small!”

With these words, Wang Chong urged his horse forward. He had many more tasks to handle.

“Young Master, what should we do about Longqinba?”

Chen Shusun only glanced at the dark-skinned general before immediately following. He had been slightly too far away to hear exactly what Wang Chong had been talking about with the general. He had other concerns.

“We might have lured away Huoshu Huicang, but Longqinba and the other generals aren’t easy to deal with. Although Longqinba isn’t as powerful as Huoshu Huicang, the discrepancy isn’t that large. He or the other Tibetan generals could show up at any moment.”

“There’s no need to worry. He won’t be able to get here!”

Wang Chong grinned and leisurely waved his hand.

“Ah?”

Chen Shusun was left speechless, looking in shock and confusion at Wang Chong.

“You still haven’t realized it? I’m already controlling the Tibetans to our left and right. As long as these two sides remain in turmoil, Longqinba won’t be able to come no matter how much of a rush he’s in. Moreover, with Huoshu Huicang heading to the southwest, someone had to replace him in presiding over the center of the army, and that person can only be Longqinba. Given his distance from us… I’ve already arranged a ‘shield’ for him. As long as I wish it, this shield will continue to hold him back,” Wang Chong indifferently said.

Buzz!

Chen Shusun’s shocked gaze moved back and forth between Wang Chong and the disordered Tibetan ranks, his jaw agape.

I didn’t think… that he’s even able to do this sort of thing!

Chen Shusun had long ago noticed that Wang Chong’s orders were specifically targeted and timed, but he hadn’t expected Wang Chong to be using these orders to control the movements of the Tibetan army. Huoshu Huicang was a Great General of Ü-Tsang who had made his name through his astounding strength. He was one of the great authorities of the southwest, and Longqinba, as one of the Five Tiger Generals under Huoshu Huicang, was also a most terrifying existence.

Yet Wang Chong had succeeded in rendering both of them powerless.

In this battle, this pair was too late in coming and incapable of approaching. Strategy and tactics at this level could be described as an art.

This made Chen Shusun take a whole new look at his impression of the battlefield as a cold-blooded, cruel, and ruthless place.

Chen Shusun had never imagined that one person’s ability to command could reach this stage.

“Let’s go. We don’t have that much time,” Wang Chong said.

With this order, all the infantry began to charge through the rain, with those who could seize any horse doing their utmost to seize one. Meanwhile, the mobile cavalry remained behind to cover the rear.

“Move out!”

Once the last wave had left, Wang Chong and his officers quickly departed while the Tibetans were still in too much chaos to form any sort of effective counterattack. Wang Chong had expanded the Halo of Dusk Stallion to its greatest extent, and this war halo was playing a critical role, allowing Wang Chong’s forces to vanish into the night before the Tibetans from the other areas could arrive.

Boom!

It wasn’t long after Wang Chong left that a massive explosion of blazing Stellar Energy burst through the rain, sending more than twenty Tibetan cavalry flying. Longqinba charged out of the rear, his face livid.

“Out of my way!”

Longqinba’s furious roar resounded through the skies. Woosh! As he looked in the direction that Wang Chong’s forces had fled, Longqinba immediately jumped forward and seized a horse from a nearby Tibetan, easily pushing its former rider ten-some zhang away.

“Everyone, follow me! Anyone who dares to defy my order will be handled according to military law! Let’s see how far these damn Tang can run!”

With this order, Longqinba charged out with a killing intent that surged to the heavens, mud and dirt flying in his wake.

Several thousand Tibetan cavalry followed closely behind, the pounding of their hooves resounding through the dark night.

“After them! I want all those bastards dead!”

Longqinba reached his right hand to his back and grabbed a massive scimitar, its hilt as wide as an average human palm. This was no ordinary Tibetan scimitar, but seemed in certain aspects rather similar to the horse-slaying sabers of the Central Plains.

“Follow General!”

“Anyone who dares to fall behind will be handled according to military law!”

“Charge! Ü-Tsang needs no cowards! Everyone, follow me!”

……

The officers under Longqinba’s command hollered their orders, their faces drenched by the rain. Under their command, Longqinba quickly gathered seven to eight thousand men, and even more were gathering behind him. The air was filled with tension.

The warhorses continued to rumble forward, the Tibetans gathering to Longqinba’s summons. The Annan Protectorate army had still not escaped its predicament.

“General, we’ve come to help you!”

An army of four to five thousand fully-equipped soldiers galloped out from the rear, its commander shouting. They seemed to be from the southeast region.

Longqinba clenched his teeth and bellowed, “Bastards, faster! Don’t let them escape!”

“Yes, Milord.”

The commander’s whispered voice came out of the darkness.

The moment this person spoke, Longqinba felt the hairs on his body stand on end as an ill foreboding took root in his heart. The first words had been fine, but the tone of the second set of words had been mumbled and strange. Tibetans did not speak like this or use this sort of tone.

But before Longqinba could continue on this line of thought, that group of soldiers had already come up from the rear and was now rapidly approaching him. He felt like there was a sharpness in his back, as if some object had locked onto him from afar.

Longqinba’s mind trembled as he realized.

Damn it, it’s the Tang!

As if struck by a lightning bolt, Longqinba suddenly understood what was happening.

The Tang!

This ‘Tibetan’ with the strange tone of voice was a Tang man!

The Tang had been disguising themselves as Tibetans to launch surprise attacks not too long ago, but Longqinba hadn’t expected them to be so cunning and daring as to leave a disguised army as they left. And this army was rapidly getting closer.

“This lot of bastards!”

Longqinba’s face was twisted into a savage expression, his teeth clenched so hard that they seemed on the verge of breaking. His opponents’ cunning and arrogance had already surpassed his imagination, and they seemed intent on resorting to any possible method.

However, if they thought that these methods could work against him, they were being far too naive, only fooling themselves.

“You things that don’t even know your own strength, die for me!”

Longqinba gave a furious roar and immediately slashed out with his massive scimitar. Rumble! The world quaked as a massive dragon of black and gold manifested behind Longqinba. With a flick of its tail, it transformed into a majestic stream of saber energy.

Boom!

As the saber energy descended, the horses did not rear up as Longqinba expected. Instead, there was a boom as the saber energy was blocked.

“An excellent saber energy from General Long. Come, take my fist!”

A vortex began to form in the air, expanding like a storm as it swept toward Longqinba.

“Wang Yan?!!”

Longqinba paled upon hearing this voice. But before he could react, another vigorous voice came from another direction.

“General Long, I am here as well!”

This voice was… Xianyu Zhongtong’s!

It was an ambush!

In an instant, Longqinba’s face became as white as a sheet of paper.

He had clearly seen Wang Yan and Xianyu Zhongtong leave, so he had never expected that they would remain behind to ambush him!

Boom!

There was an earth-shaking boom. Longqinba barely managed to bring up his saber energy in defense before he was sent flying by Wang Yan and Xianyu Zhongtong!

And Longqinba’s saber energy was not weak!

As one of the Five Tiger Generals, Longqinba had absolute confidence in his strength. If it were only Wang Yan or Xianyu Zhongtong, Longqinba would have remained fearless. But two of these veteran Tang generals completely dominated him.

Bang!

Ten-some zhang away, Longqinba crashed into a rocky outcrop, smashing it into pieces.