Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
This was the first time that Fang Wens.h.i.+ had ever argued with Norlanders before, and he actually felt that he was no match for them at all.
Duodun and his small group of advocates didn't have any strong arguments, and Fang Wens.h.i.+ was confident that he could convincingly defeat them with his logic. However, every time he tried to speak, his voice was drowned out by their wild yells.
A tall and strong general who supported Duodun's proposal was standing right in front of Fang Wens.h.i.+, and would occasionally move one or two steps to block him in. Although Fang Wens.h.i.+ was fatter than he used to be, his strength hadn't grown at all. He was unable to push that general away or evade him, and so, Fang Wens.h.i.+ was gradually forced into a corner.
"Listen to me…" Fang Wens.h.i.+ was anxious. Those generals had no fighting spirit in them at all, and the shelter Duodun had suggested was extremely tempting
"You idiots…" Even Fang Wens.h.i.+ himself couldn't hear his own words, and he was nearly knocked down by the general in front of him.
Duodun clearly understood the best way to incite men of the gra.s.slands men: sugar-coat the action of taking refuge, and change "defense" to tactics and bravery. "Even if Luoluo has a million troops, what can he do to us? He can't breach the walls of Heaven's Pa.s.s, and he can't defeat the snow of winter either. So regardless of whatever route he takes to come here, he'll have to retrace his steps back home!"
"True! Luoluo thinks that he can blindside us. Well, we can just hold our position."
"We're Norland cavalrymen, not the inflexible armies of the Central Plains. We advance when we should advance, and we retreat when we should retreat. Even the Khan himself once retreated to guarantee victory."
More officers came into the tent uninvited. Although they weren't ent.i.tled to talk, they always yelped to show their approval every time someone expressed support for Duodun's opinion.
Fang Wens.h.i.+ had no choice but to resort to his only ally by repeatedly waving his arms at Shulitu.
Shulitu saw that white, fat hand, but deep down in his heart, he also believed that retreat was their best choice. Despite his misgivings, he trusted the Dragon King more than he trusted himself, so he tried several times to express his opinion. But in the end, it turned out that his voice was even lower than Fang Wens.h.i.+'s.
Long Fanyun and Mo Lin elbowed their way into the tent and walked straight to Shulitu's side. Upon realizing that the tent was growing increasingly disordered, both of them were a little concerned.
When the two entered, Azheba, who had been standing by Shulitu, went back to Duodun's side. He was one of the few people who had stayed silent throughout this whole process.
Shulitu exhaled deeply.
Long Fanyun and Mo Lin simultaneously made an attempt to hush the crowd, commanding, "Hus.h.!.+ Hus.h.!.+"
Their voice drowned out all the other voice. Duodun's companions tried to yell louder, but realized that they were bound to fail after a while.
A louder voice was more effective than any soft-spoken words in this occasion.
"The young king would like to have a word," Mo Lin said as his severe eyes swept through the crowd, imparting a commanding air to Shulitu.
Shulitu gave a grateful glace to the two before turning to address the generals. "Before leaving, the Dragon King said that he believed that we should fight this war if it came to it, and that even if we had to retreat, our destination should be the Xiaowan Kingdom."
A general immediately added, "We don't want to disobey the Dragon King's orders. He'll be back soon, so we can discuss our options now, and ask for his consent when he's back. If the Dragon King's decision is to fight, we won't refuse, will we?"
Approval swelled from both inside and outside the tent.
Yet Shulitu clearly knew that, although the general had said this, the decision of the generals would also directly influence the opinions of the troops. Even if the Dragon King himself tried, he wouldn't be able to make any difference when it came to that.
"But if we retreat, then what are we going to do with the 50,000 soldiers trapped in the Royal Court? They're surrounded, and are probably expecting us to save them."
This was tricky. All 50,000 troops were members of the Court Attendants Army and were a powerful combat force. It would be a considerable loss if they were all lost.
One of Duodun's companions nudged his way to Shulitu and said, "I'm a guest of His Highness. May I have a word?"
Fang Wens.h.i.+ was having a silent staring contest with the big general, and before he could do anything, Shulitu had already nodded his consent. "By all means."
In a loud voice, the companion then said, "I don't think that there's any need for us to worry about the 50,000 men in the Royal Court because they are guarding the Khan's mausoleum. If Luoluo still has even a modic.u.m of his senses left, he won't dare do anything stupid there. Besides, Luoluo's target has always been us — the young king's main force and the Western Regions guarded by Prince Duodun. Thus, he won't be able to spare many troops to attack the Royal Court."
His speech received immediate approval. A general loudly shouted, "That's right. As long as our two princes' 100,000 troops still exist, we can pin down most of Luoluo's men. So, we're already doing our brothers in the Royal Court a favor."
Shulitu had to think of another reason. "Even if we retreat, we should go to the Xiaowan Kingdom. The Dragon King has prepared enough provisions for us there."
Duodun made his move then. After letting out a few booming laughs to attract the crowd's attention, he walked to Shulitu's side and slapped a hand on his shoulder. "The Dragon King suggested that we should go to the Xiaowan Kingdom, but he only made that suggestion out of kindness. We can understand if you also think that we should go there, but I don't think that any of you have actually been to the Xiaowan Kingdom before. I've been there, and it's a very small city that can only hold a couple ten thousand residents. It can't hold 100,000 troops. So this means that the Dragon King actually still wants to fight outside the city."
"Heaven's Pa.s.s is even smaller than the capital city of the Xiaowan Kingdom," Fang Wens.h.i.+ finally managed to find an opportunity to rebut Duodun's words, even as half of his arm waved helplessly above the others' heads.
Pretending to not know who had spoken up, Duodun directly responded by saying, "Heaven's Pa.s.s has half of the Western Regions behind it and there's plenty of s.p.a.ce there. But the Xiaowan Kingdom is located beside a valley. If we go there, we'd have nowhere to retreat to."
All of the generals and officers nodded. The more they thought about it, the more reasonable Duodun's opinion became in their eyes.
"Wait! I still have something to say!" Fang Wens.h.i.+ yelled in a high-pitched voice. He didn't know where he found the strength to do so, but he suddenly knocked down his opponent with his fat body and pushed his way to directly face Duodun, even as he sweated buckets.
Duodun raised his head arrogantly and one of his companions blocked Fang Wens.h.i.+'s path. "Are you a Norlander? Can you ride or shoot? Have you ever been to or fought in a battlefield?"
All of these questions were criteria used to a.s.sess the competence of a gra.s.slands man, and naturally Fang Wens.h.i.+, had none of them. But he was not convinced at all and sharply reb.u.t.ted, "Are you the young king's general? Can you map out any strategies? Have you read any war books, or have you any knowledge of military tactics?"
The companion was stunned. Fang Wens.h.i.+ maintained his momentum and resumed his diatribe. "As for the battlefield part, maybe you should ask your own master first."
This was Duodun's biggest disadvantage. He had gained command of army merely because a group of young officers had supported him; he didn't actually have any previous experience of fighting in a war.
Smiling, Duodun pushed his companion aside and faced Fang Wens.h.i.+ himself. "Are you the military counselor of both the young king and the Dragon King?"
Fang Wens.h.i.+ nodded as he asked, "Am I qualified to talk?"
"In this tent, the young king is the one who decides everything."
In desperate need of help, Shulitu hurriedly said, "Of course the military counselor's qualified to talk. Whatever he says, it is all on my behalf."
Actually, Fang Wens.h.i.+'s mind was in a mess right now. His fight with that big general had taken up most of his energy, and he couldn't even think as fast as he usually could. "See? I'm qualified to talk."
All he could do was try to delay for time, which meant he had to grab hold of every reason he could find to contradict his opponents. Anyway, he couldn't fail the Dragon King and let Duodun take the army away.
One of Duodun's companions impatiently said, "Then talk."
"Eek?" Fang Wens.h.i.+ put on a surprised look, "His Highness Duodun said that young king is the one who decides everything here. What qualifies you to make such a decision? Do you think you have a greater say than His Highness?"
That companion's face was full of anger as he shouted back, "I don't…"
Duodun stopped his companion and looked at Fang Wens.h.i.+, smiling without saying anything.
The generals and officers around started whispering in each other's ears. Fang Wens.h.i.+ knew that if he didn't say something at once, the situation was going to fall into disorder again. "Golden Roc Castle!" he yelled out.
"How does this have anything to do with Golden Roc Castle?" a general asked with a frown.
With a flash of inspiration, Fang Wens.h.i.+ consolidated many things that the Dragon King had told him and drew a wild conclusion from it all. Usually, he would try to find more evidence to support his plans, but at this moment he said in an indisputable tone, "We can't go to Heaven's Pa.s.s. It's a trap!"
All the people on Duodun's side were stunned, and the smile on the prince's face also disappeared. He snapped, "You dare slander me?"
Regaining his confidence, Fang Wens.h.i.+ shook his head repeatedly as he explained, "No, no. You misunderstood me, Your Highness. I said that Heaven's Pa.s.s is a trap, as Your Highness is actually a victim yourself."
This time even Shulitu was bewildered. "What are you trying to say, counselor? Is it a net set by Luoluo?"
Fang Wens.h.i.+ shook his head yet again, but his shake didn't mean that Shulitu was wrong — rather, he had just done so out of habit. "I received a reliable message saying that an adviser was a.s.sisting Luoluo. And I later received an even more reliable message saying that someone was colluding with the Unique King in Heaven's Pa.s.s. The reason why Luoluo's army is forcefully advancing at us is because he wants to lure us into Heaven's Pa.s.s, and then have Golden Roc Castle will attack from Thousand Hors.e.m.e.n Pa.s.s in the east. If that happens, the gate of the Western Regions will be wide open, and Heaven's Pa.s.s will be under attack from both the front and the back. Who will be able to escape then?"
There was an a.s.sertive look in Fang Wens.h.i.+'s eyes. Only a small part of his words were confirmed facts, and the rest of them was just his speculation. But he refused to give anyone the chance to doubt him.
His tactic worked. With just the thought that they might be attacked from both the front and from the back, the crowd changed their mind. Suddenly, the majority would rather stay in the Xiaowan Kingdom beside a valley.
"How do you know that the Golden Roc Castle — " one of Duodun's companions asked.
"I just know," interrupted Fang Wens.h.i.+ gravely. "The Dragon King has been fighting against the Unique King for many years and he has his own intelligence sources. I can't reveal too many details in front of so many people, but I know that Golden Roc Castle sided with Luoluo a long time ago. There's no doubt of it."
Fang Wens.h.i.+'s heart was beating like a hammer.
"What does it matter? We can just send our troops there and take Thousand Hors.e.m.e.n Pa.s.s."
"It's too late. I can guarantee you that Thousand Hors.e.m.e.n Pa.s.s has already fallen into Luoluo's hands. Why did he attack the Central Plains army that was stationed in the Western Regions first? It's precisely because that army was very close to Thousand Hors.e.m.e.n Pa.s.s and he was worried that they might beat him to it."
"You said that there's a mole in His Highness's army. Who is it?"
"I'll tell His Highness in private in case that mole becomes alerted and tries to flee."
Fang Wens.h.i.+ felt that the situation had changed. Although Duodun had a lot of followers, all of them were servicemen who only wanted to fight at the right time, right place, and with the right allies.
"Let's wait for the Dragon King to come back. Maybe he'll have a better idea," someone offered to the immediate approval of the crowd.
Duodun tried hard to remain composed. "It seems that I have a score to settle with the Unique King. He dares to manipulate me."
"The Unique King will never admit it." Fang Wens.h.i.+ decided to set a contingency plan just in case. "I'll tell Your Highness who the mole is later. Then you can see what's been going on once you investigate it."
"Ha, I already know who the mole is." Duodun didn't want to be deemed ignorant, and he had already guessed that Fang Wens.h.i.+ was probably referring to Mo Chu. "All of you are worried that that Thousand Hors.e.m.e.n Pa.s.s has fallen into the enemies' hands. How about this, then? We stay put for the moment while I myself will lead my army to Thousand Hors.e.m.e.n Pa.s.s and take it. After that, I'll invite the rest of the army to the Western Regions."
"If the Dragon King can convince the Naihang Tribe to come back to us, we can just fight Luoluo head-on. Actually, maybe you should lead your army out of Heaven's Pa.s.s and join us." Fang Wens.h.i.+ had become greedy with his victory and was beginning to covet Duodun's army.
"We can talk about this after the Dragon King returns," rejected Duodun blandly. Like most of the other people in the room, he didn't think that the Dragon King would succeed.
At this moment, Gu Shenwei was solidly surrounded by a large number of cavalrymen, and there was no sign that Zhe Su would soften his stance at all.
