Chapter 492: First Battle
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Just as Left General Dugu Xian had expected, the number of fierce bombs was too small to pose a lethal threat to the enemy; besides, once it left the water, its burning range and duration diminished a great deal.
Even so, their new weapon played a large role in the battle. The first wave of the Golden Roc Army suffered heavy casualties and struggled in the patches of fire. The tragic cries were more terrifying than the death itself.
For a time, everyone felt that the Dragon army was going to win.
They forgot, or neglected, that there were countless soldiers in the hands of Shangguan Jianyi, and the second wave of soldiers came quickly. Besides weapons, every soldier was carrying a bag of mud.
The fierce bomb was resistant to water, but mud was its natural enemy.
When they covered the ground with mud, the third wave of the Golden Roc Army launched their attack. They were the real main force.
The Dragon Army morale was high after its first victory. Most of the soldiers had joined the army only five months ago and had only received the most basic training; they had never held a real saber or spear before. To protect their homeland and families, they rushed onto the battlefield with great pa.s.sion.
The battle was extremely fierce. Soon, the two sides slid into a melee. The reserve soldiers joined the fight, stepping over corpses only to add more to the battlefield.
From the scene, it was difficult to predict the victor; but Dugu Xian knew that the Dragon Army was unsustainable and had few remaining men to send to the battlefield, while the Golden Roc Army kept sending a steady stream of reinforcements. If this situation continued, the Dragon Army would be defeated indeed.
So without permission from Dragon King, Dugu Xian ordered the troops to retreat.
Left General was the commander of the troops, so Dragon King could not openly intervene during the war.
Gu Shenwei wanted to join the battle several times, but he resisted his impulse.“One man could not change the situation on the battlefield. Even if I killed hundreds of enemies, it would make no difference. Besides, the situation is changeable. Perhaps before I rode to the field, the situation there may reverse.”
The retreat was difficult and risky. During the withdrawal, the troops were p.r.o.ne to lose heart. Moreover, they may completely lose composure if they were pursued by the enemy.
That was why Dugu Xian reserved some of the most powerful, strongest soldiers. When the frontline soldiers managed to retreat to the encampment, those soldiers formed a defensive line to fend off the enemy soldiers.
Shangguan Jianyi seemed eager to fight this decisive battle. When the Dragon Army retreated, he immediately sent more men to launch a more fierce attack; their horses even trampled the corpses of the Golden Roc Army soldiers.
It was at that point that Gu Shenwei joined the battle. He personally led a thousand of his guard troops to join the defensive line. Like a screen, they allowed their soldiers to pa.s.s while killing the enemy soldiers in pursuit.
The retreat process was nearly as fierce as the previous battle. In this situation, only the toughest and most disciplined soldiers could keep calm and strictly follow the order. They stepped back at the same pace to give the enemy no chance to destroy their defensive line. Even Dragon King with high martial skills could not take action on his own, let alone leaving the defensive line to chase after the enemy.
Golden Roc Army did not give up pursuit until the first wave of the Dragon Army managed to retreat to their heavily guarded encampment.
The news of Golden Roc Army’s victory reached the northern sh.o.r.e; naturally, Shangguan Jianyi did not stop the news from spreading. But when he was alone with his trusted follower, he commented, “Dugu Xian is a competent general. It’s a pity that he does not work for us.”
However, no one thought highly of Left General in the Dragon Army encampment.
In this battle, over two thousand soldiers of the Dragon Army were killed or injured. Approximately one-third of them had been killed during the retreat. Therefore, many people in the Dragon Army believed that withdrawing troops at that time was not just a mistake, but a disaster.
It was rumored that the withdrawal was Dugu Xian’s idea and Dragon King had not agreed on it. After hearing this, the other generals of the Dragon Army became more dissatisfied with the commander-in-chief.
At critical moments, Gu Shenwei openly gave his full support to Left General, and he even refused to meet those generals who had come to complain about the withdrawal.
The situation on the battlefield was complicated. Dugu Xian thought he had prevented an even bigger loss, but he could not provide much clear evidence; therefore, he decided not to say a word about it.
He waited for the final victory. Countless generals in ancient and modern times fell under the criticism of civil servants for the same reason. They could not wait until the day of victory to wash away the previous humiliation. Dugu Xian felt very lucky to meet the Dragon King alone.
The following morning, the Dragon Army abandoned their first defensive line, and then slowly retreated to their second one. This time, Shangguan Jianyi did not send soldiers to chase after them closely– he just dispatched men to follow the Dragon Army at a distance.
Dugu Xian was still in charge of military affairs, while Gu Shenwei was busy solving other issues. His most pressing task was to find out the traitors around him.
When the King of the Hui nation had been the Prince, he once overheard Shangguan Yun’s conversation with his mother.
The Queen of the Hui nation had feared Dragon King very much and was unwilling to take risks. Shangguan Yun comforted her by saying, “Dragon King is only a commoner. Now that he has betrayed Golden Roc Fort, naturally, people around him will betray him. No matter how powerful he is, he must have a weakness. As long as we find it, we can easily defeat him.”
The Queen asked for details, but Shangguan Yun did not reveal more– he only shared some words of wisdom, “Only from loyalty can you find betrayal. The sharpest weapon is not saber or sword, but—” Shangguan Yun pointed at his head. Then, he discovered the Prince and pushed him out of the room smilingly.
The King of the Hui nation was young, but he had many tricks in his mind. Gu Shenwei used to distrust his information, but not this time. “The sharpest weapon is not saber or sword, but the mind.” He had heard similar words before, so he knew that the Prince did not make up these words.
“Shangguan Yun is the proudest and favorite disciple of Mr. Zhang Hui. They have similar ideas, which is not surprising at all.
Most importantly, those words that Shangguan Yun said suggested that his plan was to buy off betrayers surrounding me, or that he has already bought them.
The King of the Hui nation spoke confidently. It means that Shangguan Yun had confidence in his plan and he had found traitors for him.
That conversation had taken place after Shangguan Yun returned from the Land of Fragrance,” Gu Shenwei mused.
The first betrayer Gu Shenwei suspected was Shangguan Ru. “She has been away from her ‘side’ for a long time, not to mention her ‘loyalty.’ Even if she was the traitor, at most she could close the gates of The Land of Fragrance to prevent the Dragon Army from entering, but she could play a major role to reverse the war situation.
Moreover, the Golden Roc Army has the advantage in numbers and weapons. The whole Western Region does not believe that I will win the final victory. It is useless for Shangguan Yun to buy off people around me.”
However, Gu Shenwei had to take precautions. When he worked out the ambush plan with Dugu Xian, he reminded himself to take all the factors into consideration– one mistake in a link could ruin the entire plan.
However, the King of the Hui nation could not provide more leads. Gu Shenwei took people around him into consideration, including Maid Lotus, Chu Nanping, Xu Yanwei, Xu Xiaoyi, Zhong Heng and even the princess of Stone Kingdom and generals of five kingdoms. He discovered that all of them had the possibility of betraying him. “If I thought more, I would lose the confidence in the whole Dragon army.
Perhaps that’s Shangguan Yun’s purpose,” Gu Shenwei thought.
Another man, across the Xiaoyao Lake, was considering this problem for the Dragon King.
Dragon King did not suspect Shangguan Fei for he had never considered Shangguan Fei as “the people around him.” Besides, Shangguan Fei’s betrayal would have very little influence on Dragon King.
When Chengguan Fei had sent Dragon King’s words to Meng Mingshu, he had recieved news of the Dragon Army’s failure in their first battle. He was aware that Meng Mingshu would not give Dragon King any response at that time.
Meng Mingshu left Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun in the palace. Meng Mingshu said it was for their safety, but they knew that they were imprisoned.
They were locked up in a room. Shangguan Fei was okay with this arrangement, but Long Fanyun was much displeased. However, he could not change it. In others’ eyes, he was just a bodyguard who had no right to make requests.
“It’s not so bad.” Shangguan Yun tried to be positive to their current situation. He continued, “Meng Mingshu did not turn us in, which means that the Dragon Army has not lost the war. He must wait until the battle is decided before he makes a decision. This man is quite insidious. I underestimated him.”
“What will he do if the Dragon Army fails,” Long Fanyun asked.
“Well, I am going to have a good night’s sleep, so do not let me imagine such a miserable ending. I can finally sleep on a bed. I missed the bed so much.”
Long Fanyun intended to sleep on the floor– however, he sat there restless. He said, “I need to go back. I can’t stay here during the decisive battle.”
“It’s not about staying out of the way. It’s about preserving strength. Maybe the Dragon King intentionally kept us here to keep hope alive for the first-line of the Dragon Army.”
Long Fanyun did not think so. As for Shangguan Fei, he did not see any hope. He said, “I have to go back. I need you to find a way to help me escape.”
He had to ask Shangguan Fei for help, as his knife had been taken away. Faced with the guards outside, he was like a tiger with its claws removed.
Shangguan Fei presented a series of ideas, but none would work. He just wanted to chat with Long Fanyun.
When he recognized Shangguan Fei’s intention, Long Fanyun stopped talking. His heart had decided: He could no longer stand by waiting for the result of the battle.
In an attempt to tease Long Fanyun into talking, Shangguan Fei said, “Ah, I remember. That old man is quite the character.”
Long Fanyun kept silent. Shangguan Fei continued, “Do you know the man that Meng Mingshu sent away? He is the King of the An nation. Although I have never met him, I am sure he is the King because I saw his attendant hold the King’s banner. Why didn’t he stay in Jade City? I don’t think he is anxious to return to his kingdom.”
Noticing that Long Fanyun was not interested in the King of the An nation, Shangguan Fei knew that he had to talk about the Dragon Army of the southern sh.o.r.e to attract his attention. He paused for a while, and said, “The King of the An nation has no soldiers, horses, money or crops. All he has is his t.i.tle. A man like him is perfect to be a puppet who could coax his former ministers and people to serve him and question whether Dragon King is right or not. The soldiers in the Dragon Army are unreliable.”
Shangguan Fei thought that this case was much likely to happen. He frowned and murmured, “Dragon King must realize this and continue to fight longer.”
Long Fanyun was thinking about his escape plan, so he did not think too much about Shangguan Fei’s words. He only remembered that Vice Commander of thousands, Wu Zongheng, who had been a.s.signed a task, was from the An Kingdom. But he did not know how important Wu Zongheng’s task was.