Chapter 526: Stabilizing Morale! (2/2)

”Than what of Protector-General Xianyu and the other southwest generals?” Wang Chong asked.

”This… we didn't see Lord Xianyu Zhongtong. The rain is so fierce that even the Tibetans lost quite a few of their people in the storm, and so did we. I'm afraid that we've temporarily lost touch with Lord Xianyu Zhongtong,” Chen Shusun sternly said.

Their breakout in this downpour hadn't come without a price. It was no easy task for so many people to escape in an orderly fashion.

As expected!

Wang Chong couldn't help but furrow his brow upon hearing about what had happened to Xianyu Zhongtong, but he quickly regained his composure.

Wang Chong gaze swept over that nearby soldier who was substituting for his big brother, and he suddenly ordered, ”Take off your armor and give it to me. Starting from now, this army is under my command!”

”Young Master…”

”Now is not the time to argue!”

Wang Chong waved his hand and took out King Song's golden token. Raising it high in the air, he spoke in a voice that brooked no objection. ”This is King Song's token. Given King Song's temperament, do you think he would give me his token on a whim? Moreover, from north to south, Tibetan cavalry have completely covered the southwest. Uncle Chen, do you think that I got through them through sheer courage? I know that you have your doubts, but now is not the time to talk about that.”

Chen Shusun was momentarily speechless.

This was truly a general's tiger cub. Even though Wang Chong was still young, he was still a descendant of a clan of generals and ministers, so he had at least some understanding of strategy. Moreover, everything Wang Chong had said was correct. King Song had always made a clear distinction between public and private when it came to military affairs. If he had given Wang Chong his token and allowed him to come south, he had to have had his reasons.

He also must have felt that Wang Chong was suited for this job, and this judgment would not have been stained by his friendship with the Wang Clan.

Chen Shusun suddenly pointed at that young soldier and ordered, ”Didn't you hear? Take off that armor!”

I hope that Young Master is right! Chen Shusun said to himself.

This was a desperate move at this point. There were few in this army who understood battlefield formations, and there were none who could reach Wang Fu's level. Otherwise, he would have been the one sitting there, and he wouldn't have needed someone to act like his Eldest Young Master.

Wang Chong said nothing, and his mind was not as distracted by such thoughts as Chen Shusun's. The urgent task at hand was to quickly take control over this battle.

”How many people do we have?” Wang Chong asked as he swiftly equipped the armor.

”There is no estimate, as we lost quite a few people in the storm. But it should be forty or fifty thousand, and some of the soldiers should be with Lord Xianyu Zhongtong,” Chen Shusun said.

”How many people do the Tibetans have? And did Mengshe Zhao send any soldiers?” Wang Chong asked.

”It's around seventy or eighty thousand,” Chen Shusun immediately said with lowered head. ”For the moment, we've seen no one from Mengshe Zhao. The Mengshe Zhao army is made primarily of infantry, and their training is lacking compared to ours. For the 300,000 soldiers of Mengshe Zhao to pursue in this pouring rain while still maintaining order is simply impossible. This was why Eldest Young Master said that we're only facing Tibetans for the time being. However, The Crown Prince of Mengshe Zhao, Fengjiayi, is leading several thousand cavalry in pursuit of our army!” Not even he realized that he had already accepted Wang Chong's role as commander of the entire army in place of his Eldest Young Master.

”Fengjiayi…”

Wang Chong's eyes narrowed and began to exude a cold light.

The prosperity of Mengshe Zhao was simply not comparable to the Great Tang. It could not be like the Great Tang and establish so many protectorates and deal with so many enemies at the same time. Even now, Mengshe Zhao was only dealing with the imperial protectorate on the empire's southwest corner.

And to need an entire kingdom to deal with only a corner of another country, it was clear which was stronger.

Moreover, the distinguished generals in the Great Tang was far superior to Mengshe Zhao's, and they were more numerous as well. But Fengjiayi was one of Mengshe Zhao's distinguished generals.

Fengjiayi was no mediocre and incompetent crown prince of some small state, but a valiant crown prince rarely seen in Mengshe Zhao's history. Moreover, he was both courageous and wise. In addition, Mengshe Zhao, as a vassal of the Great Tang, had a custom of sending its crown prince to the Imperial Court as a hostage—though the Great Tang did not call them hostages.

Any normal royal descendant or crown prince would be unwilling to be a hostage, but Fengjiayi was different. He had volunteered, expressing his desire to go to the Great Tang. He had yearned to go to the Great Tang ever since he was a child, but his yearnings had a completely different purpose from what many had imagined.

As the crown prince of a foreign kingdom, Fengjiayi was surprisingly diligent. Fengjiayi maintained an intense curiosity for everything: strategy, tactics, martial arts, the imperial household, the common people. While he was a hostage in the imperial capital, even his teachers praised his diligence and talent, even presenting a petition to the Sage Emperor requesting that Fengjiayi be made an official so that he could stay in the Great Tang and enter the court.

This break in custom was quite the accomplishment for Fengjiayi.

But Fengjiayi had sternly refused this gesture.

Fengjiayi's courage had been famous throughout the capital, and his talent had been praised as being the best of the best. He had come from the royal lineage of Mengshe Zhao, and now he had the Sage Emperor's blessing, so he was able to learn a great number of martial arts. He also had access to many resources that no normal person could ever get ahold of, so he grew with astonishing speed.

In the capital, even the Crown Prince's Junior Guardian, Wang Zhongsi, had been full of praise, hailing him as both an excellent scholar and general, a potential Great General. From this, one could easily imagine how talented he was.

But Fengjiayi had a goal in mind, one that was clear to himself, though perhaps not to the Tang.

He wanted to use what he had learned from the Great Tang to strengthen Mengshe Zhao.

And when compared to his father, Geluofeng, Fengjiayi was even more ambitious. He was young and bursting with energy and talent. He had studied the strategy texts, been taught by Wang Zhongsi, received the martial arts manuals of the Great Tang imperial household, and had access to countless resources. Fengjiayi wanted to use all this to strengthen Mengshe Zhao and accomplish his goal of completely breaking free from the Great Tang.

In the offense against the Great Tang, Fengjiayi commanded the vanguard of the allied army. He and Mengshe Zhao Great General Duan Gequan were the two sharp daggers that Mengshe Zhao planned to thrust into the heart of the Great Tang's southwest.

The crown prince of the foreign kingdom that the Great Tang had raised had now become its greatest foe, ringing the bell of its demise!