Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Dugu Xian didn't like wars that were full of surprises, no matter whether he won or lost in the end. He also didn't believe that Luoluo's army would be defeated and forced into a retreat just because their King's Flag had fallen down. So, he spent a lot of time collecting information about what Luoluo's armies had been doing throughout that day, and then tried to a.n.a.lyze it. Hopefully, he would learn why the allied forces, which was composed of various individuals all with their own agendas, had won this war, and why Luoluo, who had a large number of single-minded troops and was well-prepared, had lost.
At last, he concluded, "We have Duodun to thank for our victory."
Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei, who was currently aimlessly pacing up and down, raised his head in astonishment. "What do you mean?"
Dugu Xian was excited about this revelation, as if he had just solved a puzzle. "I imagine that the whole thing went down like this: Duodun wanted to use Luoluo's army to eliminate the Dragon Army and then force the Naihang Tribe and Shulitu to surrender. But Luoluo counterplotted and had secretly reached another agreement with the Naihang Tribe. He planned to wipe out Duodun's Left Corps by outflanking them and then attacking from two sides so as to breach the formation of our allied forces."
"I agree with you." Gu Shenwei's speculations had reached a similar point as those of General Dugu.
"Do you know how many troops Luoluo sent to his left wing? 100,000 - exactly 100,000! He was also worried that the Naihang Tribe might have second thoughts, so he wanted to finish the battle as quickly as possible. This is the reason why we should thank Duodun - Duodun's plan accidentally distracted the main force of Luoluo's army! If it weren't for his plan, then the attack launched by our Middle and Right Corps probably would have become a suicide mission."
This was the part that Gu Shenwei had been unaware of. Luoluo's armies had scattered and his major generals had fled. Although the ordinary prisoners didn't know the fine details of Luoluo's plan, Dugu Xian was an experience general. He was always able to piece the overall story back together from a couple sc.r.a.ps of confession.
"But there were only 10,000 men under Liman's command."
"Mmm. And afterwards, the Second Consort led about 20,000 men there, but they didn't help much - they scattered and fled the moment they set foot on the battlefield. Thus, there were only about 13,600 cavalrymen at Liman's command. He's an outstanding general - he lasted very long given his resources. I admire him."
Dugu Xian was an una.s.suming man, but when it came to battle tactics, he had his own pride. He rarely showed such admiration for any other general.
"It's a pity that he serves Duodun."
Dugu Xian was unwilling to talk about anything irrelevant to the war. "Certainly, Duodun's stupidity was not the only reason that we won this war. That unexpected and reckless detour that you took afterwards was the other crux upon which our victory rested. You broke the morale of Luoluo's army, and that's not even mentioning the influence you exerted on them by breaking the King's Flag's pole. The Middle Regiment under my command was exhausted by that point, and Shulitu's Left Regiment was disarrayed and had no confidence at all. If it weren't for the opposing side being in an even worse state, we would have never won."
These words were almost bordering on flattery, and Dugu Xian didn't do this very often. Gu Shenwei didn't say anything, though he had a lot in mind that he wanted to talk about.
"The young king Shulitu helped a lot too. He made sure that the Right Regiment arrived at the battlefield in time. To be honest, I have a completely new appraisal of him now - "
"Was it Instructor Shangguan who told you to come?" Gu Shenwei suddenly asked.
Dugu Xian's face flushed conspicuously red. He raised the only hand he had left and scratched his forehead as he stammered out, "Uh… It was me myself… Um… Instructor Shangguan did come to me."
"What did she say?"
"She said that you have too many things on your mind, and that she hoped that I could talk to you and offer some help." Now that it was no longer a secret, Dugu Xian stopped beating around the bush. "Casualties are inevitable in a war. I heard that there's even such a saying among killers - 'You try to kill people, and people try to kill you.' It's even more accurate during war. But as long as you win the war, any cost is acceptable. Dragon King… The Dragon Army's performance was excellent in this war. You should go outside and take a walk. You'll hear the Norland soldiers' comments about the Dragon Army's performance - they literally think that the Dragon Army are troops sent by G.o.d. But a couple of days ago, they still believed that Western Regioners were typical cowards."
"I know what you mean."
That was his cue to leave, so Dugu Xian bowed and left. He wasn't as concerned as Shangguan Ru had been earlier. Although the Dragon King was young, he was the one who had the strongest will out of all the people that Dugu Xian knew.
After staying in the tent alone for a while, Gu Shenwei decided to take Dugu Xian's advice and go for a walk.
Right outside the Dragon King's tent, there was his 1,000-men direct army, with swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain, savage soldiers, and slaves of the Land of Fragrance as the main force. During this battle, they had been the ones who had stayed the closest to the Dragon King. Thus, they were also the ones who had suffered the heaviest casualties, and there were only two hundred of them left.
They were enjoying the last few sunny days of this year outside their tents, polis.h.i.+ng their weapons, and chatting. Upon seeing the Dragon King, all of them stood upright and saluted him with their eyes.
They were soldiers of few words, and they were particularly taciturn in front of the Dragon King. But the reverence and pride in their eyes was the most heartfelt Gu Shenwei had ever seen. Led by the Dragon King, they had won yet another victory, and their reputation had spread far beyond the Western Regions now.
Gu Shenwei walked forward slow steps, exchanging a glance with every soldier who was looking at him.
Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong were behind the Dragon King, fulfilling their duty as always. Han Fen was a few steps further away. Among all the people here, she was the least well known - very few people knew that it was this somewhat insane woman who had saved Mo Chu's life.
Han Fen didn't care at all. She stared back at everyone who was looking at her as if they were having a staring compet.i.tion, and she defeated all of them.
A little further away, there were the tents of the common Dragon Army soldiers, most of whom were from the Shule Kingdom. This had been, for many of the soldiers, their first time fighting in a large-scale battle, and they were very excited about the victory. At the sight of the Dragon King, they instantly stood up and cheered. And then, following Wu Zongheng's lead, all of them knelt down on one knee, lowered their heads, and paid their respects to the Dragon King.
These soldiers needed encouragement, but Gu Shenwei didn't know what to say. He walked over and raised Wu Zongheng up before saying aloud, "You've earned your qualifications, and from now on, you won't have to kneel before anybody ever again."
The 10,000 Dragon Army troops under Wu Zongheng's command had had an impressive performance on the battlefield. These Shule Kingdom soldiers - who had followed the Dragon King and rushed into the opposing army's headquarters - had fought just as valiantly as the main army.
The soldiers stood up slowly and watched the Dragon King, the look on their faces growing firm. This reward offered by the Dragon King was even more precious than land and wealth.
Gu Shenwei kept moving forward and now reached the Norland soldiers' tents. The number of guards following him had exceeded a hundred by now.
The Norlanders needed their horses. Even in their own camp, most of them were either sitting on the ground or riding on their horses. Very few were walking.
They were experienced soldiers. They liked victory, and they revered heroes.
Many people had performed heroic deeds during the final showdown against Luoluo, and the Dragon King was the one who had outs.h.i.+ned all the others. That scene of his shooting the arrow and breaking the Luoluo's King's Flag's pole had been engraved into these soldiers' memory, whether they had seen it with their own eyes or not.
Those Norland soldiers held their bows and raised them above their heads, rhythmically yelling the same word in Norland language. Gu Shenwei knew the meaning of that word - "G.o.d's favored one".
He accepted this address, but he didn't stop walking.
The southeast corner of the encampment was a special area. Most of the deceased soldiers' corpses were placed here.
Gu Shenwei stopped.
He was not a sentimental man, and he did not fear death. However, he stop a thought from surfacing in his mind over and over again: these soldiers had died because of him - simply because he wanted to seek revenge.
Big Snow Mountain had harbored hatred towards Golden Roc Castle for generations, and they had volunteered to follow the Dragon King because they also wanted to seek revenge. But instead, they had died in a strange land one batch after another, and most of them hadn't even seen what Jade City looked like. Gu Shenwei had promised them that he would take Golden Roc Castle in three years, and now, he only had half a year's time left.
The savages and slaves of the Land of Fragrance had followed him half of their own will and half out of coercion. Maybe they had never really figured out whether the Dragon King was their master or their commander-in-chief, and still less likely that they understood the cause of the war.
Back when the residents of Shule Kingdom were known for their cowardliness, peasants could still stay alive. But now, to prove that they were brave soldiers, more than half of them had ended up dead. Nearly 10,000 soldiers of Shule Kingdom had died on the gra.s.slands, staying north of Heavenly Mountain forever.
Pointing at a body, Gu Shenwei said to those beside him, "His name is Xie Dezhi."
Tie Linglong and Han Fen walked over and took a look, wondering why the Dragon King had mentioned this soldier's name.
Gu Shenwei himself also didn't know what he wanted to say. He had expected a lot of thoughts to occur to him when he saw these bodies, but he was wrong. There were only more dead people here.
But he couldn't be completely stoic either. This war was different from the battle of Xiaoyao Lake. The Dragon Army troops were utter outsiders, and they seemed to have a hundred reasons not to fight in this war.
Then he walked to the area where the injured were, and he was also greeted with cheers and salutes.
Outside a tent, he saw Shangguan Ru.
Shangguan Ru smiled at him. Her face was haggard and it seemed like she hadn't had a good sleep for days. "Doctor Sun's in the tent."
Gu Shenwei nodded. "You should get some rest."
"I'm not tired. You haven't had any sleep for three days yourself, right?"
It had been three days since the end of the war. Gu Shenwei felt that it was unbelievable. The sound of the wind and the neigh of warhorses still seemed to reverberate through his ears, "Mmm. I've got used to it."
Shangguan Ru's eyes were meaningful. "You should pay a visit to the Second Consort. She has some secrets to tell you."
She had been meaning to tell him this for three days.
"What kind of trick does the Second Consort want to play this time?"
"I don't think it's a trick."
Suddenly it dawned on the Dragon King that Shangguan Ru still wanted to find out his new "parentage." He responded, "I will meet her." But actually, he wasn't interested at all.
Doctor Sun walked out of the tent, his face full of restlessness. He had almost plucked out all his hair, and he didn't change his att.i.tude even before the Dragon King. "What are you doing here? Do you want to help? Do you know how to treat diseases? Step aside."
The Dragon King's guards made way for him. Doctor Sun was one of those people who was highly respected within the encampment, and n.o.body minded his bizarre temper.
Han Fen didn't step backwards. "I can treat diseases and I'm pretty good at it."
Doctor Sun still remembered his experience in Waning Moon Hall. "By 'treat diseases,' do you mean helping people vigorously stand up, or do you mean making them quietly fall down and never standing up again?"
Han Fen thought for a while before answering, "I can do both. The latter's easier."
"Alas," Doctor Sun flicked his sleeves and left angrily. After walking several steps away, he suddenly realized that his previous behavior was a little rude, so he hurriedly turned around, walked in front of the Dragon King, and bowed. "Long Fanyun's not dead, but I don't know whether he can be deemed alive or not either."
Doctor Sun went to another tent to treat injured soldiers. A smile lit up Shangguan Ru's face as she said, "This is good news."
Gu Shenwei knew what Doctor Sun meant. The swordsman had lost his mobility, and he would spend the rest of his life in bed. This was probably not "good news" for Long Fanyun.
"You're not coming?" Shangguan Ru asked in surprise.
Gu Shenwei shook his head. Neither the dead nor the injured had calmed him, so he only had one choice left.
He led the guards to the main tent of the Middle Regiment where Dugu Xian, Shulitu, and the others were.
"Bring them here," Gu Shenwei said. His words were orders.
Azheba still hadn't recovered from his injury yet, and he had to stand on one foot. Like the five surviving companions of Duodun, his hands were tied together.
Duodun was the only one who was standing with his head up. He had failed to escape - the Dragon Army had caught up with him. Mo Lin had the prince write a written order and then handed him over to the soldiers.
Liman stood beside Duodun. Neither of the two were tied up
Panic-stricken, Mo Chu was also standing on the side. He was no longer the Commander-in-chief, and he had also failed to escape - Han Fen had been following him closely and taken him back directly.
These men had severed most of their "relations" themselves. Gu Shenwei believed that it was finally time to use his saber.
As his hand grasped the hilt of his saber, he finally found the calmness he desired.
