Chapter 1018 - Dalun Ruozan's Smile
Chapter 1018: Dalun Ruozan’s Smile
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Meteoric Stars!
The carriage in front of Aybak was loaded with enormous and complete Meteoric Stars. This was the first time Aybak had ever seen one in such a well-preserved state. The vast majority of Meteoric Stars would burn fiercely as they plummeted from the skies. By the time they hit the ground, they would just be irregular remnants, which were what was known as Meteoric Metal.
For their original state to be maintained even after landing was incredibly rare! Most importantly, any Arab smith understood that a perfectly preserved Meteoric Star could serve as the best forging material with the highest efficiency. This kind of Meteoric Star could be forged into large numbers of Meteoric Metal armor of the finest quality.
If there were seventeen to eighteen carriages with such things, could it be…
At this moment, even someone as cruel and callous as Aybak couldn’t help but swallow. To the Mamelukes, this number of Meteoric Stars was unquestionably an extremely valuable gift.
But… how did the High Priest know I needed Meteoric Metal?
As this thought flitted through his mind, Aybak thought back to the thin priest’s words and suddenly felt an intense fear and respect. He had only just received Abu Muslim’s letter, but the High Priest seemed to have predicted this and had sent these Meteoric Stars ahead of time. Such a being was truly unfathomable and worthy of reverence.
But Aybak did not continue on this line of thought. No one who attempted to predict the movements of the High Priest had a good ending.
“Milord, these carriages…”
Aybak hurriedly raised his head and began to speak his thoughts.
“Hahaha, correct! These seventeen carriages all have Meteoric Stars. This is the High Priest’s gift to the Mamelukes. This is only the first batch. The second and third batches are already on the way and will arrive at Khorasan soon. With armor made from this, the Mamelukes will definitely rise to a new level of power and produce even more dazzling accomplishments. In addition, the High Priest has also provided a powerful formation to assist the Mamelukes on the battlefield!”
As the tall and thin priest spoke, he once more gestured behind him. Whoosh! The black cloths on the seventeen carriages were pulled off. As expected, each of them was loaded with pitch-black and spherical Meteoric Stars.
“Impossible!”
Although he had already predicted it, the sight of these seventeen Meteoric Stars on the seventeen carriages was still an enormous shock to Aybak. The frequency of Meteoric Star landings was already very low, so finding one was quite good, let alone seventeen. Moreover, to find one perfect Meteoric Star amidst one thousand landings was amazing.
But there were seventeen before his eyes!
This had already surpassed common sense. No one except the High Priest could be capable of such a feat.
“What request does the High Priest have?” Aybak asked.
Visits and gifts were not made for no reason. The High Priest had never met him before, yet he had gifted him Meteoric Stars and a powerful formation. Aybak did not believe that such things would be given without condition.
“Haha, Milord is wise!”
As expected, the black-robed priest chuckled and explained.
“Lord Aybak can take all these things, but the High Priest has one request, and this request does not conflict with Milord’s objective… A young commander has appeared at Talas. This is the High Priest’s target. He hopes that Lord Aybak can take this commander’s head and send it to the Temple!”
Aybak was at first dazed, and then he understood, and finally, he was relieved.
“Please tell the High Priest that Aybak swears on his life that he will fulfill the High Priest’s desire.”
……
The severe defeat at Talas was like a boulder crashing into the lake of the Arabian Empire. And with the High Priest’s intervention, the course of the entire war began to veer off into unpredictable territory.
But one thing was certain: not only had this defeat not damaged this vast empire’s will to battle, it had only further provoked it. Countless soldiers were now gathering in Khorasan, ready to advance to Samarkand and then to the Black Forest, and the stench of war could be smelled everywhere.
Meanwhile, to the east of Talas, some sixty li away, the atmosphere was much more mellow.
The first battle had concluded. Whether it was the Great Tang, Arabia, Ü-Tsang, or the Western Turks, all sides had suffered severe casualties. Each party needed some time to rest and recover from the injuries of battle.
While the Great Tang was rebuilding its fortifications and hardening the city, Dalun Ruozan and Duwu Sili were also welcoming a period of peace.
Flap flap!
An Arabian hunting falcon flew down from the sky and into Dalun Ruozan’s tent.
“What did Abu Muslim say?”
Dalun Ruozan was kneeling in front of a table, his head lowered over the map of the continent as he spoke.
“This is Abu Muslim’s seventeenth letter.”
On the other end, Huoshu Huicang had taken the letter from the hunting falcon. After glancing over it, he closed it.
“It’s the same as the last one. He hopes that we can continue to hold the east and cut off Wang Chong’s path of retreat. It seems that Abu Muslim doesn’t trust us very much.”
“Haha, we were spectators to the last battle, so Abu Muslim naturally has a poor view of us. That he didn’t curse and berate us in his letters is already very courteous of him.”
Dalun Ruozan softly chuckled. He lowered his head and continued to study the map before him.
“But he can’t blame us for that,” Huoshu Huicang argued. “Until the third wave, Abu Muslim didn’t even send out his own troops, so we certainly couldn’t. Moreover, the day before, we had just devoted all our strength and suffered even greater casualties than he had. As for later on, the Arabs had won the battle. Who could have expected the situation to reverse so quickly? The Tang had four Behemoths under their control, so if we charged in then, we would just be delivering ourselves to death’s doorstep. How could he blame us for our actions?”
This battle had been far too unpredictable. Neither Huoshu Huicang nor Dalun Ruozan had hoped to see it turn out like this.
“Haaah…”
Dalun Ruozan couldn’t help but sigh at Huoshu Huicang’s words.
“You can’t blame Abu Muslim for this either. We truly miscalculated. That person’s division of the battlefield proved effective in the end. All this might have been unexpected for us, but to that person, it was probably inevitable,” Dalun Ruozan said.
If not for Wang Chong’s two steel defense lines, the Turko-Tibetan army would have joined together with the Arabs long ago and completely surrounded the Tang. The battlefield would have never turned out as it did, where one side attacked while the other could only act as a bystander. The effects of Wang Chong’s division of the battlefield initially had not been obvious, but no one could ignore them now.
“Send Abu Muslim a letter. In a polite way, tell him that no matter what, we Tibetans and Western Turks will hold the eastern line and not allow the Tang to leave.”
“This…” Huoshu Huicang hesitated a moment before finally giving a nod. “Fine.”
“That’s right. How is Duwu Sili doing?”
Dalun Ruozan suddenly changed the topic.
This question seemed to relax the mood in the tent, and a rare smile appeared on Huoshu Huicang’s lips.
“Duwu Sili has completely lost himself in formation phenomena. Ever since that day, he has put everything into cultivating in the hopes of bringing his Celestial Wolf Illusory Formation to the highest level.”
Huoshu Huicang faintly smiled. Even though they still hadn’t identified the flaw in the version of formation phenomena that Wang Chong had given them, all the elite Tibetan commanders knew that this version was fake. Thus, even with it in hand, no one had read nor cultivated it, and everything was peaceful.
But their allies, the Western Turks, were different. Twenty li away, their camp was a hive of activity. Countless soldiers were shouting and sweating as they galloped to and fro. This compared to the Tibetan camp was like a different world.
“Haha, once he realizes that something is wrong, Duwu Sili will stop himself.”
Dalun Ruozan chuckled.
“I truly can’t understand it. Duwu Sili is a famous Great General, one of the strongest around. How can he not notice such a simple trick?”
Huoshu Huicang shook his head.
There was no such thing as an inexperienced or ignorant Great General. The thought that Duwu Sili was considered one of the best Great Generals made the situation even more confusing.
“A horse can stumble and a human can make mistakes. Even though Duwu Sili is an Imperial Great General, that doesn’t mean that he can’t make an error. As allies, we should still send him a letter telling him to take caution. In addition, send someone to observe the Western Turks and see what exactly they are doing.”
Dalun Ruozan lightly smiled. In truth, he was rather curious to see what they had managed to produce from this fake formation phenomena document, that they were still happily working away at it without a moment of rest.
“Yes! I will handle this matter.”
Huoshu Huicang gave a knowing smile and left the tent.
Gallop!
A few moments later, a horseman rode out from the Tibetan camp, traveling the official road around twenty li to the east. Once he crossed the hill ahead, he would be greeted by the wide and open plain home to the Western Turkic camp.
Boom!
Before he could even approach, he heard a clap of thunder. The horseman glanced upward in confusion and saw nothing but clear skies. It did not seem like there was a thunderstorm coming.
“What’s going on here?”
The horseman was so surprised that he inadvertently pulled on his reins and slowed down.
“Are my ears playing tricks on me?”
The Tibetan horseman quickly came back to his senses and began riding toward the hill.
Urging his horse on, the horseman quickly reached the top of the hill.