The Human Emperor

In Taihe Palace, all the officials had gathered!

“Honored officials, listen well! Starting from this moment, all our strength must be gathered to assist the military. Inform all the local governments to give their full support to the war effort.

“The Chamberlain of Dependencies is to draft a decree to be sent to Arabia stating that since Arabia wants war, We will give it to them. This war will be one to the end for the Great Tang and Arabia. Only one of us will remain after this. This war will not stop at the northwest. This time, the Great Tang will take Baghdad and conquer the western world!

“Wang Chong, We approve of your memorial. Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi, Tongluo Great General Abusi, Minister of War Zhangchou Jianqiong, Anxi Protector-General Gao Xianzhi, Beiting Protector-General An Sishun, the Big Dipper Army, the Annan Protectorate army, the Beiting Protectorate army, and seventy thousand soldiers of the Imperial Army are all at your disposal and to be sent to the northwest.

“In addition, inform Ü-Tsang, the Eastern and Western Turks, and Mengshe Zhao that any country who joins Arabia in this war will be the Great Tang’s mortal foe. Once Arabia has been subdued, We will treat them as we did Arabia and crush them underfoot!

“Wang Chong, We grant you the Commander Tally, granting you the title of Nine Provinces Protector-General and full authority over the military!

The Sage Emperor’s majestic voice rumbled through Taihe Palace.

“This subject will carry out the decree!”

Wang Chong got down on one knee and solemnly bowed.

“May the Emperor live ten thousand years!”

A resounding cry echoed through the palace. Not a single person opposed the Sage Emperor’s decree. Even the Confucian Sect’s staunchest supporters in the militarist-Confucian conflict had bowed their heads.

With the Sage Emperor’s decrees, all of the Nine Provinces began to move, the entire Central Plains coming to life like a massive war machine.

Countless soldiers began to gather, and the furnaces of the weapon shops and smiths began belching black smoke. The ringing of steel could be heard throughout the land.

As the Bureau of Military Personnel and Bureau of Works issued orders, an endless stream of military supplies began to flow toward the northwest.

Although Wang Chong had harnessed the power of the Nine Provinces in his previous wars, this time was different. The Sage Emperor’s order had galvanized the entirety of the Great Tang’s industrial strength. All the craftsmen worked day and night to forge. Wang Chong’s previous efforts weren’t even in the same league.

……

Deep within the Imperial Palace, in a dark underground cell…

As the cell door opened, a slender Hu man slowly walked out.

The sunlight caused the man to cast a long shadow on the ground.

“Great General has had it hard! The Sage Emperor has ordered me to come and pick you up!”

A voice came from in front of him. Gao Lishi, wearing his silk robe, held his horsetail whisk in his left hand and a folded Great General’s robe in his right. Standing at the stairs leading to the exit, he smiled.

“Eunuch Gao, thank you for your concern!”

An Sishun smiled and bowed. There was no surprise on his face, and this development had apparently been completely within his expectations.

After the Setting Sun Villa incident, the First Prince had charged An Sishun with dereliction of duty and had him imprisoned. This matter had caused quite the uproar, and many people had been worried about him, yet the man himself had been unperturbed.

He had always known that as long as that man still remained enthroned in Taiji Palace, all this would be as transient as a fleeting cloud.

“Great General, the Sage Emperor has issued a decree. We must trouble General again with a war in the northwest!”

“This lowly subject obeys the decree!”

……

To the south of the Imperial Palace, at the Minister of War Residence…

After reading through the decree, Zhangchou Jianqiong sighed, unable to speak for some time.

“The day is finally here!”

As Zhangchou Jianqiong muttered to himself, his mind was swept up in a great turmoil. Zhangchou Jianqiong had not stepped onto the battlefield once since taking command of the Bureau of Military Personnel.

And when he went further back in time, the three-way standoff in the southwest between the Great Tang, Mengshe Zhao, and Ü-Tsang meant that it had been many years since Zhangchou Jianqiong had participated in such a large-scale war.

King of Foreign Lands Wang Chong, Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi, Wall of the Empire Gao Xianzhi, Beiting Protector-General An Sishun, and himself—they would all be fighting alongside each other. Zhangchou Jianqiong had imagined such a scene many times, but he had never believed that it would ever happen.

The Great Tang simply had too many enemies surrounding it, and its six hundred thousand soldiers were forced to be distributed in every direction. But now, everything had changed.

This time, the Great Tang was truly mobilizing all its power, gathering all of its Great Generals. Just the thought of it had his blood boiling.

Suddenly, Zhangchou Jianqiong clenched his fingers and pulled out the sword that had served him his entire life.

As the sword left its sheath, a cold light flashed through the air. At the same time, Zhangchou Jianqiong’s voice resounded through the hall.

“Tell Xianyu Zhongtong to mobilize the full strength of the Annan army and march to the northwest!”

……

On a winding mountain road leading to the capital, a powerful figure mounted on a snow-white steed was riding toward the capital, the sound of galloping hooves bouncing off the rock walls. Behind him were ten-some elite horsemen.

As if sensing something, that immensely powerful figure pulled on the reins of his horse.

“Milord, we can finally fight together again!”

Feng Changqing was waiting at the top of the mountain, wearing a simple cloth robe and holding a suit of armor for a Great General.

On the mountain, Gao Xianzhi slowly began to smile.

……

The news of the war between the Great Tang and Arabia rapidly spread to all the other countries like an engulfing storm. For the first time, the Great Tang was sending all its soldiers to the northwest, only leaving the garrisons in the northeast untouched.

King of Foreign Lands Wang Chong, Tongluo Great General Abusi, Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi, Wall of the Empire Gao Xianzhi, Tiger of the Empire Zhangchou Jianqiong… any one of these names was enough to alarm the surrounding countries.

These names had all been gathered together, and a vast army was being placed under their command and being sent to the northwest. This was a force that could make anyone shiver.

The news coming from the Great Tang made the other countries think back to thirty years ago, when the Great Tang was sweeping over all the other countries.

This time, all the countries surprisingly chose to remain quiet. None of them chose to exploit this opportunity to deploy their armies and hold down the Great Tang’s soldiers.

All of Wang Chong’s subordinates had gathered in the King of Foreign Lands Residence.

Wang Chong pulled aside a large silk cloth, revealing the massive model beneath.

This model perfectly replicated the topography of the continent and the distribution of soldiers. Even the marching routes of the Arab army and the layout of their defenses had been drawn out in detail. All of this had been established on the reports from the Western Regions that numerous scouts had sent back.

Tang and Arabs looked far too different from each other, and Tang scouts couldn’t even get close to the Western Regions. Fortunately, Wang Chong had previously hired many Hu to serve as scouts, and he was still receiving reports from them.

“What has Su Hanshan said?” Wang Chong asked, still staring at the giant model.

The garrison in the Western Regions had been completely wiped out, leaving only the soldiers at Qixi and in the triangular gap. But after the mess the Confucian Sect had caused in Qixi, it was no longer as formidable a force.

However, the elite force Wang Chong had at the triangular gap was still capable of posing an enormous threat to the Arabs.

“Ü-Tsang has retreated on its own, and not a single soldier of theirs can be seen for one thousand li. Even their shepherds seem to have drawn back. For the moment, Su Hanshan doesn’t have to worry about any attacks from the rear.

“However, there aren’t that many soldiers stationed at the triangular gap. At present, there are around thirty thousand soldiers garrisoned there. But we also have fifty thousand soldiers at the base between Greater and Lesser Balur, as well as Great General Bahram’s twenty thousand elite cavalry. In total, we have about one hundred thousand men, enough for a good battle!

“But as Milord has yet to arrive, Su Hanshan does not dare to order an attack!” Li Siye said.

He had fought alongside Su Hanshan for a long time now, and even though he had entered the capital to pacify the Rebellion of the Three Princes, he was still keeping in touch with Su Hanshan through letters. Thus, he knew the situation there like the back of his hand.

“How many soldiers does Arabia have in the Western Regions?” Wang Chong said.

Zhang Que bowed and reported, “The Arab vanguard does not have too many soldiers. The force that they used to ambush the Anxi Protectorate army was about twelve thousand soldiers, but they were all heavy cavalry!

“Great General Gao Xianzhi was not there to hold down the Western Regions, and the Confucian Sect commander who took over was not good in battle, so the losses were serious.”

He had been keeping a close eye on the Western Regions from the moment he had received the news of the assault. Even though he had called back almost all his spies and scouts for the Rebellion of the Three Princes, Wang Chong had ordered him to leave some men behind in the Western Regions.

“We’ve also learned that the remnants of the Shi Kingdom also took part in this operation. The Prince of the Shi Kingdom that escaped gathered an army of fifty thousand men and also hired the service of several tribes. This force joined the Arab vanguard, and the Anxi Protectorate army was simply no match.”

Zhang Que’s words had everyone in the hall frowning.

The Shi Kingdom was one of the Nine Clans of Zhaowu and had also been one of the wealthiest kingdoms west of the Cong Mountains.

When Gao Xianzhi launched an assault and destroyed the Shi Kingdom, one of the Princes managed to escape. This Prince had now returned to give the Great Tang a massive problem.

“In addition, the Arabs came extremely well prepared. This was evident from the fact that they managed to avoid all our spies and detour completely around Talas.

“After the Western Regions fell, the Arab armies in the rear rapidly advanced, working with their infiltrators to occupy Talas and then the rest of the Western Regions.

“As for the army of one hundred thousand soldiers consisting of the remnants of the Shi Kingdom and the tribes they hired, it is the reason General Su has remained on standby for now.

“Meanwhile, the Arab army is marching very quickly. They’ve already gathered an army of two to three hundred thousand and have begun to set up fortifications in the Western Regions!”

“Set up fortifications?”