荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

After the years and months of collaboration and opposition, it was truly hard to say if Wang Chong and An Sishun were friends or enemies. It would be one thing if Wang Chong had been like Fumeng Lingcha, only thinking about rising to higher and higher positions of authority and seeking personal gain. An Sishun would have shown no mercy to such a man. But alas, Wang Chong was not.

If one looked back on Wang Chong’s career, any ordinary person, when faced with situations like the war of the southwest or the Battle of Talas, where one was heavily outnumbered and had a high chance of death, would back away in fear or try to buy time. In the aftermath, they would probably submit memorials to court with various excuses and difficulties.

But Wang Chong was different. Even though he knew that only death awaited and that the chances were grim, he heedlessly charged into the fray. This was not something a man who was only anxious for personal gain would do. Moreover, in these situations of almost certain defeat, Wang Chong had managed to win.

One after another, he had defeated those foes who had vastly outnumbered him, leaving the bones and blood of his enemies strewn across the battlefield to serve as the foundation for his heroic reputation and the building blocks for his path to nobility!

An Sishun asked himself and knew that he could not do such a thing.

Putting aside his discrimination against the Hu, An Sishun understood that he was no match for Wang Chong’s talent in the art of war. While Wang Chong also had various ‘flaws’, he was definitely one of the most talented and outstanding leaders of the Great Tang and could make any officer revere him.

After all that had happened, An Sishun truly found it hard to say what his relationship with Wang Chong was.

“Wang Chong, we finally meet!”

Outside the City of Steel, in front of Zhangchou Jianqiong, Gao Xianzhi, and all the others, An Sishun arrived with the Beiting Protectorate army and was the first to speak.

His few words were bursting with a variety of emotions.

The two of them had worked together several times, but their actual meetings were few and far between, and not once had they fought alongside each other.

It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Everyone knew of the relationship between Wang Chong and An Sishun. He had even joined Fumeng Lingcha in censuring Wang Chong and seeking his execution. There was a real fear that these two Great Generals might start fighting each other, throwing their side into chaos before the Arabs even attacked.

“Haha, General An, thank you for your assistance in the border incident!”

To everyone’s surprise, Wang Chong put on a gentle face, smiling as he rode over to An Sishun and bowed.

An Sishun didn’t know much about Wang Chong, and the information he had gathered only described Wang Chong’s battle record. But Wang Chong knew much about An Sishun. Although the Beiting Protector-General had various problems, such as the inevitable desire to promote Hu over Han, he was not a petty man who would place his personal grudges over the public good when danger was imminent.

Just like Big Dipper Great General Geshu Han, An Sishun could speak proficiently in the Tang language, and while the two were born as Hu, they had both been immersed in the Tang culture. They were both proper and proud Great Generals!

“Protector-General’s words are too much. This was only this An’s duty! There is no need for thanks!”

An Sishun’s eyes flashed in surprise as he replied.

Whoosh!

Upon hearing ‘Protector-General’, Zhangchou Jianqiong, Gao Xianzhi, and Abusi all sighed in relief. Wang Chong had been granted the title ‘Nine Provinces Protector-General’ by the Sage Emperor, and when An Sishun addressed Wang Chong as ‘Protector-General’, he was implying that he would accept Wang Chong’s orders and would also not bring up old quarrels at this time. This was wonderful news for the other generals.

“Great General, please come inside!”

Wang Chong extended a hand in invitation, and An Sishun swiftly led his army into the City of Steel.

Any one of the five titans who had gathered here would be enough to shake the region, and their combined presence in the City of Steel had the northwest in a state of unprecedented tension. All the foreign kingdoms felt this pressure. The King of Foreign Lands alone was enough to turn over the entire northwest, and these four additional titans had boosted the Great Tang’s force to a frightening level.

War could break out at any moment!

Finally, the last of the titans arrived—Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi.

Before the Rebellion of the Three Princes, Wang Zhongsi offended the First Prince and was banished to Siam, far on the empire’s border. Returning to the capital in itself was extremely time-consuming, let alone gathering and equipping an army.

“Paying respects to the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian!”

Outside the City of Steel, Wang Chong led the others in welcoming this man.

Wang Chong had an extremely respectful expression on his face as he greeted this Great General. Few could compare to Wang Chong’s current status in the empire, but Wang Zhongsi was still one of the Great Generals that he respected the most.

The previous War God of the Great Tang had spent almost his entire life on horseback, rendering great service for the empire. His only flaw was that his personality was too honest and forthright. The First Prince had exploited this, causing the man to retire at the peak of his career and end his life on the campaign trail.

If Wang Zhongsi had still been in the army, the Great Tang’s situation would not have been like this.

“There is no need for Your Highness to be polite. His Majesty has made you the Nine Provinces Protector-General, so for this operation, you have complete command.

“I have come here so that Your Highness may receive the soldiers of the Imperial Army, and to serve at Your Highness’s command. There is no Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian here, only Wang Zhongsi. There is no need for this courtesy,” Wang Zhongsi sternly said.

The faces of Zhangchou Jianqiong and the other Great Generals immediately turned respectful. Wang Zhongsi far surpassed these men in both record and character, and they could not help but respect him.

Wang Chong, however, knowing that Wang Zhongsi’s personality was the same as ever, only lingered on him for a few moments before turning to the orderly ranks of the armies behind Wang Zhongsi: Soaring Dragon, Sea Dragon, Xuanwu, Feather Forest, Imperial Forest...

All these soldiers were sharp-eyed and straight-backed, like a steel wall. As he swept his gaze over the army, he quickly spotted several familiar figures.

“King Song!

“Old butler!”

Wang Chong called out in surprise.

“Heh, I’ve already completely recovered. With this war in the northwest, I have a chance to contribute my strength, so how could I pass up this opportunity?”

King Song smiled as he came forward, the gray-robed old butler at his side.

“General Li, you come as well!”

King Song beckoned, and the crowd parted, allowing Great General Li to slowly step forward with the rolled-up Nine Dragon Blood War Banner in his hand.

Wang Chong quickly led the group into the City of Steel. Seven days later, Xue Qianjun arrived with the Wushang Cavalry and his two hundred thousand soldiers. With this, all the soldiers of the Great Tang had arrived.

At this time, the City of Steel contained Wang Chong, Gao Xianzhi, Zhangchou Jianqiong, Wang Zhongsi, Abusi, and An Sishun. There were also top-class experts like King Song, the old butler, and General Li. Besides that, there was also an army of six hundred thousand elites, including the Big Dipper Army, the Dragon Stallion Army, the Wushang Cavalry, the Mo Saber Unit, the ballista army, the Divine Martial Army, the Azure Martial Army, and the Xuanwu Army, all of them battle-tested.

And after constant work and labor, three massive defensive lines had been established, each oriented in a different direction. They extended for nearly eight hundred li, and consisted of more than three hundred rows and twenty thousand columns.

Even if the Turks or the Tibetans attempted to attack from the sides, they could be easily fended off.

Moreover, the ‘beehives’ had been installed behind the first line of steel walls so that they could cover every angle. This was truly a mighty fortress.

The City of Steel and the area for several hundred li around it was covered in birds that constantly patrolled for any sign of activity, nothing escaping their gaze.

Besides the usual rock eagles, hawks, and hunting falcons, there were also many Goguryeon gyrfalcons.

In the Rebellion of the Three Princes, Old Eagle had killed Goguryeon Eagle King Kim U-Seok, at the same time obtaining the flute that he used to train and order his birds. With this flute, Old Eagle was able to command all the gyrfalcons, rock eagles, and other birds that Kim U-Seok had trained. These were the treasures Kim U-Seok had spent decades working on, and all of them became Old Eagle’s.

Kim U-Seok had trained these eagles in a special way so as to avoid someone being able to steal his flute and seize control of his birds.

But his defensive measures had been useless against Old Eagle, who easily removed his restrictions and brought all those birds under Wang Chong’s service.

......

“The Arabs have already gathered an army of two million in the Western Regions. While 3.8 million is an empty number, more than half of it is capable of fighting. Given how badly they outnumber us, we have a tough fight ahead!”

In the main hall of the City of Steel, the six major leaders—Wang Chong, Wang Zhongsi, Abusi, Gao Xianzhi, An Sishun, and Zhangchou Jianqiong—had gathered. Around them were various generals and titled generals.

All of them were in the midst of a serious discussion, surrounding a massive model that was ten feet wide and six feet long. Suiye, Qixi, the Turkic steppe, the Tibetan Plateau, the triangular gap... all of these features were present. Even the new Arabian fortress and its surrounding fortifications had been marked out in meticulous detail.