Chapter 1826 - Council! (I)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Wang Chong had gathered all his intelligence using the numerous birds under Old Eagle’s control!

As Wang Chong had said many times, by knowing oneself and knowing one’s enemy, one could win one hundred out of one hundred battles.

Before the battle had even taken place, he already had such detailed notes on the enemy locations, down to the exact number of soldiers at each position. From this, the other Great Generals had developed a vague understanding of Wang Chong’s art of war, and also understood that he had not reached his status through any fluke.

“At present, with the cement road built by Protector-General, we’ve managed to save time and gather all soldiers and supplies in the City of Steel before they did. This is our sole advantage.

“However, our opponent seems extremely cautious. If we had that many soldiers in our position, we would have already launched an attack, or at least attempted to sound the enemy out.

“But the enemy seems to be only concerned with building fortifications and nothing more. This makes it extremely inconvenient for us to attack!”

Gao Xianzhi gestured at the Arab positions on the model as he spoke.

Gao Xianzhi had served as the commander for the Western Regions for many years and had fought with the Arabs before, so he had a greater right to speak on this occasion.

During the Rebellion of the Three Princes, he had been called back to the interior, and in the end, the Anxi Protectorate army had been wiped out. This was a massive blow to Gao Xianzhi, and he had come to this battle with the intent of giving the Arabs a heavy blow to avenge his slain men.

“‘Inconvenient’ doesn’t mean ‘impossible’! That Hierophant Khatabah hasn’t arrived yet. Can we not use the cover of the night to attack them? Even if we can’t kill many, we can at least deal a blow to their morale.

“As they say, morale is greatest at the first beating of the drum, but it’s spent by the third beating. If we can deal them a setback, their fighting strength might plunge.”

Zhangchou Jianqiong’s eyes were bright, and he examined the Arabian fortress on the model like he was a predator.

In Zhangchou Jianqiong’s time in the southwest, there had been at least seven years without any war. His tenure had been so peaceful that one could say that there were no wars.

Moreover, Zhangchou Jianqiong did not engage in many offensives, so many people thought that Zhangchou Jianqiong was a rather defensive and conservative Great General, little realizing that Zhangchou Jianqiong was actually an incredibly aggressive commander.

‘Tiger of the Empire’ was originally a title that signified Zhangchou Jianqiong’s style of battle. When the Ngari Royal Lineage was at full strength and was constantly attacking the southwest, Zhangchou Jianqiong had always maintained an aggressive policy. That period had been the Annan Protectorate army’s most brilliant period. It was always on the offensive, creating traps and defeating wave after wave of Tibetans.

But later on, the Ngari Royal Lineage, having taken its bitter medicine, no longer so aggressively raided the Central Plains.

And because the Tibetan Plateau was lacking in oxygen, which had severe effects on the Annan Protectorate army, there was no way of taking land on the plateau.

After making one assault on the plateau, Zhangchou Jianqiong gave up on the idea of occupying the Ngari Royal Lineage and decided to stick to protecting his region. This was what caused the people to mistakenly take the Tiger of the Empire as a defensive general.

“It’s not that simple.” Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi, standing to Wang Chong’s right, suddenly spoke. “Cavalry charges have the advantage in open areas, but our armies are primarily made of infantry.

“Our greatest advantage is the defenses His Highness has erected around Wushang. If the cavalry try to force their way through, they’ll pay a heavy price. But if we leave our defenses while outnumbered, we’ll be the ones paying the heavy price.

“In addition, perhaps you have not noticed, but the enemy has built their fortifications with a specific plan in mind. Here, and here… they’ve left open spaces where their cavalry can gather and charge.

“I sense that someone on the other side is trying to lure us into a trap. If we attempt a night raid, we’ll probably walk straight into an enemy encirclement.”

His expression was grave as he pointed at the several openings in the Arab base, and his gestures immediately had everyone’s attention.

Everyone soon focused on these gaps in the Arab defenses.

In truth, they had already examined the Arab defense line several times, but not very carefully. But Wang Zhongsi’s prompting had them examine the layout in a different light, and they immediately noticed something strange.

Yes!

The Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian was right. There really was something bizarre about the layout of the Arab base.

While the fortifications seemed packed, paths had been left between them for cavalry to charge. They even allowed for soldiers to rapidly close in on both sides.

Zhangchou Jianqiong instantly fell silent. A night raid’s advantage came in catching the enemy off guard. If the enemy was ready, then such a raid was pointless.

An Sishun also spoke. “I have some understanding of this Khatabah. In my early years, when I was traveling the world, I spent some time on the Arabian border and would occasionally hear tales about him.

“This man is a holy hero to the Arabs, and unlike others, he came from an ordinary family. Originally, he was just a preacher, but after he entered the army, he quickly became the War God of the Arabian Empire.

“He doesn’t have the usual arrogance of the Arabs, and he made his name with his intelligence, not his strength.

“Moreover, he has many formidable Great Generals under his command that excel in both attack and defense. As we’re still outnumbered, it will probably be difficult to pull off any sneak attacks.

“In addition, he is extremely skilled at training soldiers and has many kinds of soldiers under his command. I might as well add that Qutaybah, the man the King of Foreign Lands defeated last time, was his disciple! Many of his training methods were learned from this Hierophant of Arabia!”

It was surprising to everyone that An Sishun had been to Arabia in his early years, and it was even more surprising to hear that Qutaybah had been the disciple of the Hierophant.

The name of Arab War God Qutaybah was one that all of the major generals here had heard about some time ago. Tongluo Great General Abusi had heard about him from Chuluohou, and from the injuries on his Tongluo Cavalry, he had been able to understand just how formidable that man had been.

But the formidable Qutaybah had only been that man’s disciple. Abusi found it hard to imagine just how powerful the man himself was.

“No matter who this opponent is, the Tongluo Cavalry will never back down, and we are confident that we can pierce through and rout any foe. However, we Tongluo are only ten thousand. Protector-General An, if it’s really as you say, then we are in for a tough battle!” Abusi sternly said, his brows creasing in concern.

Qutaybah’s Revelation Army had been on par with his Tongluo Cavalry. If the enemy had even stronger forces, the Tongluo Cavalry wouldn’t be able to hold.

“Heh, if it’s about Khatabah’s elite soldiers… just leave them to me!”

Wang Chong suddenly chuckled, and everyone immediately turned to him, even Wang Zhongsi.

Wang Zhongsi was truly rather astonished to learn that this man was so young, not even the age of twenty yet.

Deep within the palace, Wang Zhongsi had still managed to hear much about Wang Chong, and he had been paying attention to him for some time. However, this was the first time that the old and young War Gods were fighting alongside each other!

Wang Chong sensed the gazes of the crowd, but he did not explain his reasoning.

He naturally had the strength to back up his daring words.

In the Battle of Talas, the discrepancy in manpower had been too great, but that was then and this was now. Moreover, he had even won that battle.

Now the entire strength of the empire was gathered, and he had capable and competent commanders like Zhangchou Jianqiong, Gao Xianzhi, An Sishun, Abusi, and Wang Zhongsi to hold the line. This was a force that Wang Chong could only dream of.

As for Khatabah’s special soldiers, Wang Chong did not care very much.

He had by now trained twenty thousand Wushang Cavalry, all of them equipped with Wootz Steel swords and Meteoric Metal armor. Even their horses had been armored. In both offensive and defensive power, they were incredibly formidable, and he was confident that they could rout any force.

Moreover, the Wushang Cavalry increasing from ten thousand to twenty thousand also resulted in a qualitative transformation in strength. A charge from this force would be on a totally different level of power.

Besides that, Wang Chong had the tens of thousands of soldiers in the Mo Saber Unit and the numerous men of his ballista army… No matter how strong Khatabah was, he was bound to fall back in defeat.

“In addition, with regards to small-scale raids, there’s no need. In the art of war, direct methods are used for joining battle and indirect methods are used to obtain victory. When weaker, we should attempt riskier strategies, and if we’re stronger, we should attempt to directly break the enemy. This battle is for the fate of the Great Tang. I do not believe there is a need for us to divide our forces into raids to grind away at the enemy force.

“This battle is truly a very risky one, but if we can meet the Arabs head-on and break them with pure strength, the Great Tang will have no more opponents on the continent. In the future, all the other countries will be cowed and intimidated, and the empire will enjoy a long peace. In the future, we might even be able to unite the entire continent!” Wang Chong firmly declared.

Bang!

Wang Chong’s final statement had everyone in the hall, even his own subordinates, staring in shock, great waves raging in their minds.