843 Calmness (1/2)
Dugu Xian didn't like wars that were full of surprises, no matter whether he won or lost in the end. He also didn't believe that Luoluo's army would be defeated and forced into a retreat just because their King's Flag had fallen down. So, he spent a lot of time collecting information about what Luoluo's armies had been doing throughout that day, and then tried to analyze it. Hopefully, he would learn why the allied forces, which was composed of various individuals all with their own agendas, had won this war, and why Luoluo, who had a large number of single-minded troops and was well-prepared, had lost.
At last, he concluded, ”We have Duodun to thank for our victory.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei, who was currently aimlessly pacing up and down, raised his head in astonishment. ”What do you mean?”
Dugu Xian was excited about this revelation, as if he had just solved a puzzle. ”I imagine that the whole thing went down like this: Duodun wanted to use Luoluo's army to eliminate the Dragon Army and then force the Naihang Tribe and Shulitu to surrender. But Luoluo counterplotted and had secretly reached another agreement with the Naihang Tribe. He planned to wipe out Duodun's Left Corps by outflanking them and then attacking from two sides so as to breach the formation of our allied forces.”
”I agree with you.” Gu Shenwei's speculations had reached a similar point as those of General Dugu.
”Do you know how many troops Luoluo sent to his left wing? 100,000 – exactly 100,000! He was also worried that the Naihang Tribe might have second thoughts, so he wanted to finish the battle as quickly as possible. This is the reason why we should thank Duodun – Duodun's plan accidentally distracted the main force of Luoluo's army! If it weren't for his plan, then the attack launched by our Middle and Right Corps probably would have become a suicide mission.”
This was the part that Gu Shenwei had been unaware of. Luoluo's armies had scattered and his major generals had fled. Although the ordinary prisoners didn't know the fine details of Luoluo's plan, Dugu Xian was an experience general. He was always able to piece the overall story back together from a couple scraps of confession.
”But there were only 10,000 men under Liman's command.”
”Mmm. And afterwards, the Second Consort led about 20,000 men there, but they didn't help much – they scattered and fled the moment they set foot on the battlefield. Thus, there were only about 13,600 cavalrymen at Liman's command. He's an outstanding general – he lasted very long given his resources. I admire him.”
Dugu Xian was an unassuming man, but when it came to battle tactics, he had his own pride. He rarely showed such admiration for any other general.
”It's a pity that he serves Duodun.”
Dugu Xian was unwilling to talk about anything irrelevant to the war. ”Certainly, Duodun's stupidity was not the only reason that we won this war. That unexpected and reckless detour that you took afterwards was the other crux upon which our victory rested. You broke the morale of Luoluo's army, and that's not even mentioning the influence you exerted on them by breaking the King's Flag's pole. The Middle Regiment under my command was exhausted by that point, and Shulitu's Left Regiment was disarrayed and had no confidence at all. If it weren't for the opposing side being in an even worse state, we would have never won.”
These words were almost bordering on flattery, and Dugu Xian didn't do this very often. Gu Shenwei didn't say anything, though he had a lot in mind that he wanted to talk about.
”The young king Shulitu helped a lot too. He made sure that the Right Regiment arrived at the battlefield in time. To be honest, I have a completely new appraisal of him now – ”
”Was it Instructor Shangguan who told you to come?” Gu Shenwei suddenly asked.
Dugu Xian's face flushed conspicuously red. He raised the only hand he had left and scratched his forehead as he stammered out, ”Uh… It was me myself… Um… Instructor Shangguan did come to me.”
”What did she say?”
”She said that you have too many things on your mind, and that she hoped that I could talk to you and offer some help.” Now that it was no longer a secret, Dugu Xian stopped beating around the bush. ”Casualties are inevitable in a war. I heard that there's even such a saying among killers – 'You try to kill people, and people try to kill you.' It's even more accurate during war. But as long as you win the war, any cost is acceptable. Dragon King… The Dragon Army's performance was excellent in this war. You should go outside and take a walk. You'll hear the Norland soldiers' comments about the Dragon Army's performance – they literally think that the Dragon Army are troops sent by God. But a couple of days ago, they still believed that Western Regioners were typical cowards.”
”I know what you mean.”
That was his cue to leave, so Dugu Xian bowed and left. He wasn't as concerned as Shangguan Ru had been earlier. Although the Dragon King was young, he was the one who had the strongest will out of all the people that Dugu Xian knew.
After staying in the tent alone for a while, Gu Shenwei decided to take Dugu Xian's advice and go for a walk.
Right outside the Dragon King's tent, there was his 1,000-men direct army, with swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain, savage soldiers, and slaves of the Land of Fragrance as the main force. During this battle, they had been the ones who had stayed the closest to the Dragon King. Thus, they were also the ones who had suffered the heaviest casualties, and there were only two hundred of them left.
They were enjoying the last few sunny days of this year outside their tents, polishing their weapons, and chatting. Upon seeing the Dragon King, all of them stood upright and saluted him with their eyes.
They were soldiers of few words, and they were particularly taciturn in front of the Dragon King. But the reverence and pride in their eyes was the most heartfelt Gu Shenwei had ever seen. Led by the Dragon King, they had won yet another victory, and their reputation had spread far beyond the Western Regions now.
Gu Shenwei walked forward slow steps, exchanging a glance with every soldier who was looking at him.
Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong were behind the Dragon King, fulfilling their duty as always. Han Fen was a few steps further away. Among all the people here, she was the least well known – very few people knew that it was this somewhat insane woman who had saved Mo Chu's life.
Han Fen didn't care at all. She stared back at everyone who was looking at her as if they were having a staring competition, and she defeated all of them.
A little further away, there were the tents of the common Dragon Army soldiers, most of whom were from the Shule Kingdom. This had been, for many of the soldiers, their first time fighting in a large-scale battle, and they were very excited about the victory. At the sight of the Dragon King, they instantly stood up and cheered. And then, following Wu Zongheng's lead, all of them knelt down on one knee, lowered their heads, and paid their respects to the Dragon King.
These soldiers needed encouragement, but Gu Shenwei didn't know what to say. He walked over and raised Wu Zongheng up before saying aloud, ”You've earned your qualifications, and from now on, you won't have to kneel before anybody ever again.”
The 10,000 Dragon Army troops under Wu Zongheng's command had had an impressive performance on the battlefield. These Shule Kingdom soldiers – who had followed the Dragon King and rushed into the opposing army's headquarters – had fought just as valiantly as the main army.
The soldiers stood up slowly and watched the Dragon King, the look on their faces growing firm. This reward offered by the Dragon King was even more precious than land and wealth.
Gu Shenwei kept moving forward and now reached the Norland soldiers' tents. The number of guards following him had exceeded a hundred by now.
The Norlanders needed their horses. Even in their own camp, most of them were either sitting on the ground or riding on their horses. Very few were walking.
They were experienced soldiers. They liked victory, and they revered heroes.
Many people had performed heroic deeds during the final showdown against Luoluo, and the Dragon King was the one who had outshined all the others. That scene of his shooting the arrow and breaking the Luoluo's King's Flag's pole had been engraved into these soldiers' memory, whether they had seen it with their own eyes or not.
Those Norland soldiers held their bows and raised them above their heads, rhythmically yelling the same word in Norland language. Gu Shenwei knew the meaning of that word – ”God's favored one”.
He accepted this address, but he didn't stop walking.
The southeast corner of the encampment was a special area. Most of the deceased soldiers' corpses were placed here.