823 The Situation (1/2)

This was the first time that Fang Wenshi had ever argued with Norlanders before, and he actually felt that he was no match for them at all.

Duodun and his small group of advocates didn't have any strong arguments, and Fang Wenshi was confident that he could convincingly defeat them with his logic. However, every time he tried to speak, his voice was drowned out by their wild yells.

A tall and strong general who supported Duodun's proposal was standing right in front of Fang Wenshi, and would occasionally move one or two steps to block him in. Although Fang Wenshi was fatter than he used to be, his strength hadn't grown at all. He was unable to push that general away or evade him, and so, Fang Wenshi was gradually forced into a corner.

”Listen to me…” Fang Wenshi was anxious. Those generals had no fighting spirit in them at all, and the shelter Duodun had suggested was extremely tempting

”You idiots…” Even Fang Wenshi himself couldn't hear his own words, and he was nearly knocked down by the general in front of him.

Duodun clearly understood the best way to incite men of the grasslands men: sugar-coat the action of taking refuge, and change ”defense” to tactics and bravery. ”Even if Luoluo has a million troops, what can he do to us? He can't breach the walls of Heaven's Pass, and he can't defeat the snow of winter either. So regardless of whatever route he takes to come here, he'll have to retrace his steps back home!”

”True! Luoluo thinks that he can blindside us. Well, we can just hold our position.”

”We're Norland cavalrymen, not the inflexible armies of the Central Plains. We advance when we should advance, and we retreat when we should retreat. Even the Khan himself once retreated to guarantee victory.”

—

More officers came into the tent uninvited. Although they weren't entitled to talk, they always yelped to show their approval every time someone expressed support for Duodun's opinion.

Fang Wenshi had no choice but to resort to his only ally by repeatedly waving his arms at Shulitu.

Shulitu saw that white, fat hand, but deep down in his heart, he also believed that retreat was their best choice. Despite his misgivings, he trusted the Dragon King more than he trusted himself, so he tried several times to express his opinion. But in the end, it turned out that his voice was even lower than Fang Wenshi's.

Long Fanyun and Mo Lin elbowed their way into the tent and walked straight to Shulitu's side. Upon realizing that the tent was growing increasingly disordered, both of them were a little concerned.

When the two entered, Azheba, who had been standing by Shulitu, went back to Duodun's side. He was one of the few people who had stayed silent throughout this whole process.

Shulitu exhaled deeply.

Long Fanyun and Mo Lin simultaneously made an attempt to hush the crowd, commanding, ”Hush! Hush!”

Their voice drowned out all the other voice. Duodun's companions tried to yell louder, but realized that they were bound to fail after a while.

A louder voice was more effective than any soft-spoken words in this occasion.

”The young king would like to have a word,” Mo Lin said as his severe eyes swept through the crowd, imparting a commanding air to Shulitu.

Shulitu gave a grateful glace to the two before turning to address the generals. ”Before leaving, the Dragon King said that he believed that we should fight this war if it came to it, and that even if we had to retreat, our destination should be the Xiaowan Kingdom.”

A general immediately added, ”We don't want to disobey the Dragon King's orders. He'll be back soon, so we can discuss our options now, and ask for his consent when he's back. If the Dragon King's decision is to fight, we won't refuse, will we?”

Approval swelled from both inside and outside the tent.

Yet Shulitu clearly knew that, although the general had said this, the decision of the generals would also directly influence the opinions of the troops. Even if the Dragon King himself tried, he wouldn't be able to make any difference when it came to that.

”But if we retreat, then what are we going to do with the 50,000 soldiers trapped in the Royal Court? They're surrounded, and are probably expecting us to save them.”

This was tricky. All 50,000 troops were members of the Court Attendants Army and were a powerful combat force. It would be a considerable loss if they were all lost.

One of Duodun's companions nudged his way to Shulitu and said, ”I'm a guest of His Highness. May I have a word?”

Fang Wenshi was having a silent staring contest with the big general, and before he could do anything, Shulitu had already nodded his consent. ”By all means.”

In a loud voice, the companion then said, ”I don't think that there's any need for us to worry about the 50,000 men in the Royal Court because they are guarding the Khan's mausoleum. If Luoluo still has even a modicum of his senses left, he won't dare do anything stupid there. Besides, Luoluo's target has always been us — the young king's main force and the Western Regions guarded by Prince Duodun. Thus, he won't be able to spare many troops to attack the Royal Court.”

His speech received immediate approval. A general loudly shouted, ”That's right. As long as our two princes' 100,000 troops still exist, we can pin down most of Luoluo's men. So, we're already doing our brothers in the Royal Court a favor.”

Shulitu had to think of another reason. ”Even if we retreat, we should go to the Xiaowan Kingdom. The Dragon King has prepared enough provisions for us there.”

Duodun made his move then. After letting out a few booming laughs to attract the crowd's attention, he walked to Shulitu's side and slapped a hand on his shoulder. ”The Dragon King suggested that we should go to the Xiaowan Kingdom, but he only made that suggestion out of kindness. We can understand if you also think that we should go there, but I don't think that any of you have actually been to the Xiaowan Kingdom before. I've been there, and it's a very small city that can only hold a couple ten thousand residents. It can't hold 100,000 troops. So this means that the Dragon King actually still wants to fight outside the city.”

”Heaven's Pass is even smaller than the capital city of the Xiaowan Kingdom,” Fang Wenshi finally managed to find an opportunity to rebut Duodun's words, even as half of his arm waved helplessly above the others' heads.

Pretending to not know who had spoken up, Duodun directly responded by saying, ”Heaven's Pass has half of the Western Regions behind it and there's plenty of space there. But the Xiaowan Kingdom is located beside a valley. If we go there, we'd have nowhere to retreat to.”

All of the generals and officers nodded. The more they thought about it, the more reasonable Duodun's opinion became in their eyes.

”Wait! I still have something to say!” Fang Wenshi yelled in a high-pitched voice. He didn't know where he found the strength to do so, but he suddenly knocked down his opponent with his fat body and pushed his way to directly face Duodun, even as he sweated buckets.

Duodun raised his head arrogantly and one of his companions blocked Fang Wenshi's path. ”Are you a Norlander? Can you ride or shoot? Have you ever been to or fought in a battlefield?”

All of these questions were criteria used to assess the competence of a grasslands man, and naturally Fang Wenshi, had none of them. But he was not convinced at all and sharply rebutted, ”Are you the young king's general? Can you map out any strategies? Have you read any war books, or have you any knowledge of military tactics?”