Side Story Chapter 22: Two Armies Face Off! Pre-Battle Duel!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“If so, then we can try it out!” Guo Dingguo sternly said after a few moments.
“But we can only retrain forty percent of the force. The remaining sixty percent have to patrol in case the enemy attacks.”
“My thanks, General Guo.”
Li Taiyi grinned.
It was just forty percent, fifteen to sixteen thousand soldiers, but this was enough for Li Taiyi. And he was confident that the result from retraining the soldiers would make General Guo Dingguo even more willing.
The short conference came to a close, and Li Taiyi began to select the soldiers that would go through the retraining.
While Li Taiyi was retraining the soldiers, Ü-Tsang was not slacking around. Wave after wave of scouts attempted to enter Longxi, and as each of these scouts was equipped with a long saber, it was clear that they were not just there to gather military intelligence.
But before these Tibetan scouts could infiltrate the Longxi base, Wang Haibin would lead his men and wipe them out.
Upon seeing how Wang Haibin’s men performed, Guo Dingguo immediately saw the training methods in a new light. Thus, other than the soldiers who were needed for patrols, he had every soldier possible participate in Li Taiyi’s retraining.
Time slowly passed. On this day, the skies were clear and the sun was bright.
“Hmph!”
“Ha!”
Rhythmic cries rang out from the Longxi base’s training ground. There, the divisions of the Longxi army were vigorously training in unison.
Li Taiyi, Guo Dingguo, and Cui Sheng watched the training from the platform. Guo Dingguo, in particular, appeared very satisfied as he watched the army train.
He had never imagined that Li Taiyi would be able to train these soldiers into veterans in such a short time. They were on a completely different level, their bodies brimming with energy.
Bong!
Bong!
Bong!
The thundering of drums came from the distance.
“Reporting! The Tibetans are attacking!”
“What?!”
The atmosphere instantly tensed.
……
Neigh!
The neighing of horses came from the vast and somewhat uneven plain. The Tibetan army converged into a giant steel flood as it emerged from the direction of the plateau and swept toward Longxi.
After a long period of preparation and accumulation, the Tibetans had finally revealed their ambition and begun their formal invasion.
From the sky, one could see that the Tang and Tibetan armies were in a distant standoff. Though they wore different kinds of armor, they both had grave expressions that were brimming with hostility.
The Tibetan side had eighty thousand men, in neat and orderly ranks, all of them wearing black armor.
The leading ranks of the Tibetan army opened up, allowing a stalwart general atop a red horse to emerge. His brilliant eyes radiated intense killing intent, and his sun-like energy was blinding to behold.
This was Ü-Tsang Great General Huoshu Songren!
To his left and right were that red-bearded general and that vigorous general, their eyes dark and grim. These were Ormu and Wuji.
Although the Tibetan army had come suddenly and with great momentum, the Great Tang did not lose out when it came to vigor.
The forty thousand Tang soldiers radiated a heaven-devouring aura that was on par with the eighty-thousand-strong army of Ü-Tsang.
At the front, General Guo Dingguo stood tall upon his horse. His beard was as unkempt as ever, but his eyes shone with a sharpness at odds with his appearance. To his left and right were a darkly tanned general and a tall, muscular general. These were Guo Dingguo’s trusted subordinates.
In the middle of the Tang army, several warhorses were dragging a giant wooden crate that appeared to be extremely heavy. There were thirty such crates spread throughout the Tang army.
Huoshu Songren was confused by these giant crates, but he kept his face unmoved, quickly turning his gaze toward Longxi Great General Guo Dingguo.
This was not the first time the two had clashed.
“Long time no see, General Guo.”
Huoshu Songren broke the tense silence, speaking in the Tang language rather than in Tibetan.
“Huoshu Songren, we had an agreement. Are you breaking the rules?” Guo Dingguo firmly said.
“Heh, you are speaking of your Tang rules? In our Ü-Tsang, on the battlefield, there are no such rules.”
Huoshu Songren grinned.
He didn’t mind resorting to a few tricks if he could take Longxi.
However, despite his sudden attack, the Tang army did not seem panicked. This was rather surprising.
“So Great General Huoshu means… traveling a thousand li to deliver a head is a pre-battle custom of Ü-Tsang?”
A soft chuckle came from the rear of the Tang army, and then a thin and energetic figure rode out—none other than Li Taiyi.
Guo Dingguo’s eyes flashed with surprise, for Li Taiyi had spoken in Tibetan.
Huoshu Songren’s gaze darkened at these words.
Glancing over, Huoshu Songren immediately understood.
“This Sir is the Third Prince of the Great Tang?”
The noble aura of a member of the imperial household meant that they would stand out even in the middle of an army of tens of thousands. However, this was Huoshu Songren’s first time seeing the ‘famous’ Third Prince.
Traveling a thousand li to deliver a head?
If his guess was right, he had been the one to kill Blood Butcher.
“Third Prince truly has a sharp tongue. It was just a few men, so consider it a ritual offering from Ü-Tsang. However, for killing our men… the Great Tang must pay a rather high price.”
Huoshu Songren coldly laughed.
Saying this, Huoshu Songren waved his hand, and the red-bearded general at his side, Ormu, immediately rode up.
“Great General, this general requests to battle! This general is Ormu of the left vanguard! I have heard that the Tang are all brave and courageous! Who dares to battle with this general?”
Ormu pulled out his personal saber and waved it in the direction of the Tang army as he loudly spoke, a challenging look in his eyes.
At this sight, the Longxi generals frowned.
The two armies were in a standoff, and there was no need to take this challenge.
Generals dueling in front of their armies was a custom only practiced in the Spring and Autumn Period of the Central Plains.
The Tibetans were a pugnacious people, and when fighting with the Great Tang, they would issue such challenges more than half the time. It was a special tactic of theirs.
Morale before the battle would have a major effect on the outcome!
If they agreed and lost, the army’s morale would be damaged, but if they didn’t agree, they would be acknowledging that they were weaker, which would also damage morale.
This was a well-tested tactic from the Tibetans.
“Deputy General Song Yi, serving under General Guo, accepts the challenge!”
The Great Tang naturally wouldn’t lose out in this aspect. Ormu had barely spoken when that tanned general at Guo Dingguo’s side rode out, his eyes radiating fighting intent.
The man could lose, but not the army!
He would not permit these Tibetans to act so brazenly!
“Haha, is that so? Let me see how many blows you can take!”
Ormu sinisterly smiled as he urged his horse forward.
Although he was more muscular than the average Tibetan, he was also more nimble, particularly when it came to horsemanship. The Tang cavalry were rather pitiful in comparison.
This was the reason Ormu had elected to issue the challenge.
Moreover, when charging, a rider was usually cautious, one hand holding the reins while the other held the saber. But he was different, for he held a saber in each hand—a move which had won him fame in both Ü-Tsang and the Central Plains.
This was because dual-wielding sabers would make him twice as lethal as the ordinary horseman, and this wasn’t even considering the bone-shattering power with which he wielded them.
“Hmph!”
Song Yi rode forward, his horse dragging a long wooden box behind it.
This was Song Yi’s weapon, the horse-slaying saber. The saber weighed fifteen jin and was seven feet long, the blade being three feet and the hilt being four. Song Yi had killed countless enemies with this blade, and each time he lunged with it into battle, he appeared all the fiercer.
Unlike Ormu, Song Yi dismounted and gripped the saber with both hands, assuming the posture of a horseslayer infantryman.
He had come ready for this battle.
He had brought this horse-slayer saber specifically for Ormu.
Neigh!
The battle between generals quickly began, with Ormu striking first.
As Ormu charged, the veins on Song Yi’s arms bulged, and then he squatted down and swung his saber at the legs of the horse.
Ormu was riding an excellent steed, and with a swift tug on the reins, the horse leaped and avoided any damage.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Three blades clashed, but there was no outcome. However, because of their immense focus, both generals were already panting for breath.
At the edge of the battlefield, the muscular general next to Guo Dingguo nervously said, “General Guo, Song Yi can’t last.”
“There are rules to these duels. No interference until the outcome is decided,” General Guo solemnly said.
This was not merely a matter of focus. Song Yi was wielding his fifteen-jin horse-slayer saber, and he was clearly more tired than Ormu.
Song Yi grew more and more tired, and as he weakened, Ormu’s eyes began to glow with a ruthless light.
At this moment, a clear voice came from the rear of the Tang army.
“Southwest! Horizontally slash at the second section!”
Song Yi unconsciously glanced at that location, surprise in his eyes.
Time was short, so without a second thought, Song Yi did as the voice said and horizontally slashed to the southwest.
Neigh!
At that moment, the incredible happened.
Song Yi’s swing struck right at the feet of the horse. The horse let out a neigh as it lost balance, charging forward and tossing Ormu off its back.
Swish!
Ormu didn’t have a slow reaction time, yet he still had been caught off guard by Song Yi.
As he landed on the ground, he still didn’t understand how Song Yi had managed to predict where he was.
Ormu did not understand the Tang language.
But there were people in the Tibetan army that could.
At this moment, Huoshu Songren had a dark look in his eyes as he turned to the person in the Tang army who had given Song Yi this advice.
It was the Tang Third Prince again!