1059 The Bleeding Setting Sun, And The Ink-Black Deep Ocean (1/2)

The setting sun looked like blood. Hua Ying, the general of Tang's Vanguard Brigade stood in the whistling wind and looked toward the settling dust afar. He was finally relaxed and almost fell down. Situ Yilan steadied him.

On the fields hundreds of miles away from Guhe, bodies were scattered everywhere. North wind had been blowing for a whole day and took away most of the bloody smell. But it was still scarlet between Heaven and Earth.

They started preparing for the battle early in the morning and launched the charge around noon time. It was not until dusk that the result was drawn. The Tang army was no doubt the victor.

The Golden Tribe Royal Court suffered heavy casualties. Chanyu was in a coma. The priests who participated in the battle were all killed. The young former slave A Da survived because he was called back by the national master at the last moment to help escort the severely wounded General Bule and the remaining troops to retreat.

General Xu Chi had prepared seven hundred heavily armed cavalrymen at the edge of the battlefield, just to kill this young man.

The Golden Tribe Royal Court was completely defeated. They retreated to the north. Some Tang soldiers went to pursue them while the rest stayed to clean up.

It was the most brutal field battle throughout the last thousand years. The battlefield was extremely bloody. Broken limbs were everywhere, as well as disemboweled bodies. Dark blood flooded. Flies and mosquitoes were haunting and groaning was heard throughout the fields.

The Tang's medical unit was scanning through the fields constantly. The cavalrymen carried stretchers to deliver their wounded comrades back to the barracks. The most severely wounded soldiers were sent back to the Guhe station in carriages for further treatments. People were in a rush to save more lives.

Apart from saving their own fellows and collecting armor, they had another important mission, which was to take care of the surrendered and enemies who could no longer fight. Hundreds of Tang soldiers walked through the fields with their horses but somehow they did not gather any captives.

A grassland barbarian was lying on the field, staring at the grey sky in despair. His chest was slightly rising and falling and his face was stained in blood. A shadow fell on his face and followed by a blade.

A cavalryman of the Golden Tribe was pinned by his dead horse. His broken ribs pierced through his lungs and he was vomiting blood. He did not die immediately and kept moaning in great pain.

When he saw those Tang soldiers holding sabers coming toward him, he became relieved instead of scared. He tried to beg in his own language. Most of the ordinary soldiers from the Northern Battlefront Army knew some barbarian language. The approaching Tang soldiers understood what he was saying. They looked at each other and hesitated. Then Wang Wu limped over, raised his saber emotionlessly and chopped the head off the dying cavalryman of Golden Tribe.

One of the soldiers said, ”We just did not want to relieve him immediately.”

”I don't even care whether he was relieved or not. I chopped his head not to be merciful. It's just… there are many more heads we have to chop off. I have no time to waste with you.” Upon saying so he led his warhorse and walked toward somewhere else on the meadow with more bodies. Right after him there was a carriage piled up with chopped heads of the grassland barbarians.

Wang Wu and his fellow soldiers were indeed reluctant to relieve those wounded barbarians. But they had to do so not because of mercy, but that they needed these heads. They needed to chop their heads not because they would like to claim their contributions but because the General had commanded them to take every single head off and collect them. As for captives… there would be no captives tonight.

Hua Ying looked around the field, the bleeding setting sun and the blood stained world. He smiled in satisfaction and started coughing blood immediately. His beard was stained. As the general of the Vanguard Brigade, he definitely contributed the most in the battle today. But he did not care at all. And he knew that he would no longer need the fame from now on.

”I suppose you know exactly why I have been serving so hard in the battlefront throughout these years,” he spoke disjointedly, exhausted yet refreshed.

Situ Yilan kept quiet and helped him sit onto the ground.

The Hua family followed Li Yu. They played an ugly role in the scramble of the crown years ago. But they were defeated by Ning Que and the Empress. Hua Shanyue was killed and the Hua family declined immediately.

After this battle, probably no one would remember that. Except for Hua Ying.

”The Academy… or Mr. Thirteen, was indeed ruthless.” Looking at the bloody scenes around, Hua Ying shook his head and recalled the miserable ending of the Hua family as well as the dozens of young people from Gushan Commandery who were sent to the battlefront and died.

”If only he could have handed the wild horses to the Northern Battlefront Army earlier, or if only he could have let the general and me know ahead, I suppose there would be much less casualties throughout the past three years.”

Situ Yilan said nothing.

As a student of the Academy as well as Ning Que's previous classmate and current follower, she did not agree with Hua Ying. But she could not explain it right now because the Tang army had indeed paid great prices in the past three years due to the lack of warhorses. And so many had died today too.

”However… I like it.” Hua Ying suddenly laughed.

He said sentimentally with pride, ”The Golden Tribe, was indeed powerful… His strategy cost the least casualties… However, how ruthless he had to be throughout these years? Only in this way could we have won the war at the lowest cost. I admire him, and am sympathetic for him too.”

His words seemed illogical and complicated. But Situ Yilan understood.

Hua Ying looked toward the grassland in the dusk, the settling dust and the retreating enemies far away hunted by the soldiers from the North Battalion. Eventually his eyes closed. He was still smiling in satisfaction. It was no doubt a most charming scene for a Tang general to see the Golden Tribe being completely defeated and the arrogant Chanyu and mysterious national master retreating like homeless dogs. He could finally die in satisfaction upon seeing the victory.

Situ Yilan placed her fingers in front of his nose and kept silent for a long while. Then she pulled back her hand, laid his body onto the ground and called some surgeons to attend to him.