Chapter 1743: Intercepting the Beiting Protectorate Army!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Rumble!
Not long after the man went inside the stone house, there was a tremendous boom. The earth quaked as numerous Imperial Army soldiers in full armor emerged from their hiding spots and surrounded the house.
“n.o.body move! Imperial Army inspection! Anyone who moves without permission will be killed!”
The creaking of strings could be heard as arrows were aimed. Several dozen soldiers with fiendish expressions kicked open the door and charged in.
“Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!”
In the face of all these weapons and arrows, the ten-some Hu wearing Han attire cried out in panic, raising their hands as they kneeled on the floor. Behind them were wooden crates holding steel.
“d.a.m.n it! Why is it a bunch of Hu?!”
The Imperial Army soldiers in the room glanced at each other in shock. After wasting half a day, all they ended up catching were a bunch of Hu merchants who were secretly selling steel. While top-cla.s.s steel was considered a military a.s.set in the Great Tang and had been placed under even stricter control because of w.a.n.g Chong, these people were far from the people they actually wanted to arrest.
“Take them away! Lock them up and give them a harsh lesson!”
The Eastern Palace scout leading the group savagely waved his hand.
“In addition, report to our superiors that the operation has failed and that we have yet to find the King of Foreign Lands’ men!
“Everyone else, listen up! Disperse and start searching! We must find the soldiers the King of Foreign Lands has hidden in the city!”
“Yes!”
The spies and scouts of the Eastern Palace called out in agreement and quickly dispersed, taking the Imperial Army soldiers with them.
The remote alley quickly calmed back down. What those dispersed Eastern Palace spies and the Imperial Army soldiers did not know was that not far behind the stone house they had surrounded, a pair of eyes had been silently watching them until they vanished into the distance.
“His Highness was right. The Eastern Palace really did start moving against us. Fortunately, His Highness already predicted the Eastern Palace’s movements and had us move locations, or else we would have been the ones captured just now!”
The man muttered to himself and quickly turned around.
“Everyone, listen up! Immediately report what happened here to His Highness! In addition, this place is no longer safe, so we’re moving locations! No one is to go out unless ordered to!”
“Yes!”
The people in the room affirmed and began to relax. If one looked carefully, one would discover that these people all had sharp eyes, p.r.o.nounced temples, and hands covered in calluses. They exuded a disciplined and battle-tempered aura that would make anyone stop and stare. It was obvious that they were soldiers.
When Kim U-Seok’s spies were working with the City Guard to sweep the capital for w.a.n.g Chong’s soldiers under the excuse of searching for enemy spies and a.s.sa.s.sins, past the western gate of the capital and far to the west, where mountains stretched into the distance…
No one appeared in this remote place besides hunters, hired guards, and the occasional caravan.
At this moment, the mountains were silent.
Whoooah!
Without any warning, the trees began to shake and countless birds took to the skies in fright, rising up from both sides of that path winding between the mountains. Cree! Large eagles emerged from the distant sky, flying in formation and constantly circling as if they were searching for something.
Rumble!
A few moments later, the earth itself began to tremble under a stampede of hooves, and an army of tens of thousands of soldiers began to approach this place at terrifying speed.
Neigh!
With a flash of light and a resounding neigh, a pitch-black stallion leapt out from the base of the mountains. Upon its back was a stalwart, black-bearded general with copper eyes.
“Faster! Faster! The destination is the capital! Advance at full speed! Everyone, keep up! Those who disobey will be executed!”
The rough voice exploded like thunder across the mountains.
Urged on by these harsh cries, the Beiting army picked up speed, the horses neighing and banners snapping as they rushed along the road to the south.
After marching night and day from the northern frontier, Zhang Zheng’s army had finally reached Green Deer Mountain. At his current speed, he could reach the capital in another three days.
Things can get started once my army reaches the capital! Your Highness, we’re finally realizing the promise we made with each other! Even if Zhang Zheng must splatter his brains across the ground, he will help you sit upon the seat of the Nine and Five!
Zhang Zheng sat upon his black steed, a bright light in his eyes.
Standing at the summit of this mountain, he could see near and far, the entire realm before him. At that moment, Zhang Zheng felt great pride.
With a wave of his sword, he ordered his army to surge down the mountain and advance toward the capital. But the army had only gotten halfway down the mountain when—
Neigh!
The ground suddenly collapsed! The several dozen warhorses at the very front shrieked as they sank into the earth.
Plus.h.!.+ Plus.h.!.+ Plus.h.!.+ The spikes protruding from the earth instantly took the lives of these horses. Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of soldiers behind them continued to travel forward under their immense inertia.
“Not good! There are traps up ahead!”
The soldiers paled in fright as they pulled on their reins, but it was too late. More plaintive neighs could be heard as horses plunged into the pit. Even more pits began to appear; it seemed as if traps had been placed across the entire road.
“What’s going on?!”
In the back, Zhang Zheng scowled at this sight.
……
Meanwhile, at the King of Foreign Lands Residence…
“Reporting!” A spy team captain got down on one knee. “Your Highness, we’ve just learned that the Eastern Palace has begun to move as expected. Under the pretext of searching for spies, they’ve begun to search the city for our men!”
“What a fast reaction!”
w.a.n.g Chong’s eyes flashed. He had already moved all his reserves in advance while also creating signs of soldier movements elsewhere to draw the attention of his foe.
But it seemed like his bait had proved ineffective. His opponent had already determined that his soldiers were in the city. This level of intuition and accuracy of judgment was truly frightening.
This was the most formidable opponent w.a.n.g Chong had encountered since his reincarnation. He had to admit that Hou Junji was truly a powerful foe, and that he fully deserved his reputation as a valued subject of Taizong’s era and the number two War G.o.d of the Great Tang.
w.a.n.g Chong quickly calmed back down. While the Army-Shattering War G.o.d was difficult to deal with, w.a.n.g Chong himself was no easy customer.
“What are our losses?”
“While the enemy moved quickly and abruptly, Your Highness’s early warning meant that all our brothers had already gone underground. The food there is enough for them to go seven or eight days without problem.”
The spy team captain lowered his head, shooting w.a.n.g Chong a surrept.i.tious glance of admiration.
The error of a single hair could lead to a discrepancy of a thousand li. Only now did the spy team captain realize the astonis.h.i.+ng level of strategy and flexibility his liege had reached.
While that man in the Eastern Palace was strong, his liege had still been able to predict his actions and take countermeasures.
And this wasn’t just an outlier, but had already happened many times.
“Very good! I understand.”
w.a.n.g Chong had no idea what the spy team captain was thinking, and his eyes turned grim as his mind whirred.
“Until they receive my next order, they are not allowed to make any reckless moves.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The spy team captain hastily lowered his head.
“This subordinate will withdraw.”
“Wait!”
w.a.n.g Chong suddenly called the man back. He flicked a finger, sending a letter whose ink was still wet toward the man.
“Take this letter and do as it says.”
“This subordinate will deliver this order!”
The spy team captain took the letter and departed.
“Reporting!”
As the man was leaving, another man entered the hall.
“General Su Hanshan has just sent word that, following Your Highness’s orders, he has successfully hindered the Beiting Protectorate army at Green Deer Mountain!”
Buzz!
w.a.n.g Chong’s heart thumped as he raised his head, a smile slowly forming on his lips.
……
Eagles circled over the Eastern Palace, keeping a vigilant watch.
“What?!!”
A thunderous roar exploded through the hall, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with shock and disbelief.
“Zhang Zheng’s Beiting Protectorate army was attacked at Green Deer Mountain? But how is that possible?”
The First Prince stared at Kim U-Seok with a pale scowl on his face.
“Your Highness, the report was verified several times! Your subordinate just received the news as well.”
Kim U-Seok lowered his head, his body drenched in cold sweat.
Everyone in the hall was stunned, and even the Ghost King couldn’t help but frown. While Zhang Zheng couldn’t compare to Gao Xianzhi or Geshu Han, he was still a capable and veteran general. He was only a sliver away from becoming a Great General, and he had tens of thousands of Beiting Protectorate army elites at his side.
Hindering an army was not something that could be done by a single person!
“We’ve been watching the army at the triangular gap this entire time, and the soldiers there have yet to move. Zhang Zheng has tens of thousands of soldiers with him, so how could he be so suddenly attacked?” Meng Tu muttered in disbelief.
The report from Zhang Zheng had arrived just a few moments ago and had been marked as extremely urgent. This was a ma.s.sive surprise and blow to all of them.
“Did Zhang Zheng say what soldiers he encountered?” The Ghost King’s voice broke the silence. His brows were tightly furrowed in thought.
Everyone turned to Kim U-Seok in antic.i.p.ation.
“Zhang Zheng and the Beiting Protectorate army did not encounter any soldiers!”
Kim U-Seok’s answer left them flabbergasted.
No soldiers? What did that mean?
If he hadn’t run into any soldiers, then why had Zhang Zheng’s army come to a stop?