The Human Emperor

Side Story Chapter 19: Arrival at Longxi!

“Mm.”

Li Taiyi, wearing casual clothes, nodded from atop his horse.

As a Prince, Li Taiyi should have had a personal carriage, but he did not take it.

As a commander, he needed to set an example with his actions in order to enjoy the whole-hearted support of his men.

Leading one’s troops was a basic principle for a commander.

Li Taiyi looked behind him.

Though there were only one hundred people, their gathered energy was comparable to the three thousand soldiers in front of him.

These men were those that Wang Haibin had gathered and trained.

Though they had belonged to different squads, after a few days, they appeared like soldiers who had worked together for many years. This was yet more proof of Wang Haibin’s ability to train soldiers.

Li Taiyi turned his head and shouted, “Move out!”

The force of more than three thousand men marched out like a raging torrent.

As the army marched through the city gate, a figure high on the walls watched Li Taiyi with bright and brilliant eyes.

……

Ten-some days later, after crossing numerous mountains, Li Taiyi’s force of three-thousand-some soldiers finally arrived at the Longxi base.

Tents were set up for ten-some li, their pennants flapping in the wind.

Compared to the peace and quiet of the capital, this place was heavily guarded and tense.

“Welcome, Third Prince!”

In the Longxi base, a muscular and bearded general walked out, his expression somber as he personally welcomed Li Taiyi.

Guo Dingguo!

Li Taiyi instantly recognized this man as the highest commander in Longxi.

Although his beard was rather unkempt, the man possessed a pair of sharp eyes and radiated a vigorous energy. It felt like a mountain was walking over rather than a man.

And this was actually rather close to reality.

The terrain of the empire was complex, and Guo Dingguo was currently like a sturdy mountain that assured the safety of the western border of the empire and the nearly one million civilians living along it.

And from what Li Taiyi knew, this Great General possessed brilliant martial arts and was well-read in military texts. Whether it was old-style soldiers or newly-established units, he would need just a few times to see through their flaws.

Guo Dingguo commanded high prestige within Longxi.

“General Guo, what is the situation?”

Li Taiyi dismounted, a look of respect on his face.

General Guo glanced over Li Taiyi’s army and indifferently said, “It’s rather tense. We’re currently playing out scenarios in the strategy tent. Since Your Highness is here, you might as well participate.”

Li Taiyi could tell that General Guo was merely offering out of courtesy, and he was actually very reluctant.

The empire was in a tense situation, and for Guo Dingguo, Li Taiyi’s several thousand men were hardly useful for anything. And at a time like this, the Imperial Court had sent a Prince over for ‘tempering’.

This was just causing trouble.

It would have been much stranger if Guo Dingguo had a good impression of him. It was actually quite decent of him to suppress his anger and treat him politely.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Li Taiyi kept his opinions to himself and faintly smiled.

“I must trouble General, then.

“Haibin, bring up those things.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” Wang Haibin respectfully said from atop his horse.

“Right, Your Highness, the army has its own rules and is different from the palace. During your stay at Longxi, please do not act too excessively.”

Guo Dingguo swept his eyes over the convoy, his eyes spotting the giant crates loaded onto the carts as he spoke.

He had already noticed at least thirty of these giant crates.

The status of a Prince was special, meaning that he could not be treated like an ordinary soldier, and Guo Dingguo had already prepared himself. After all, this was the famously unreasonable Prince Xuan.

But if the Third Prince was this ‘extravagant’ and had brought so much ‘luggage’ with him, bringing his habits from the palace to the army, it would have a bad influence on the army.

“Heh, General Guo, be at ease. I understand.”

Li Taiyi softly chuckled.

These were naturally not his luggage, and Guo Dingguo had clearly misunderstood. But Li Taiyi did not explain, as Guo Dingguo would naturally understand in the future.

“Please!”

Guo Dingguo slightly frowned, but he quickly regained his composure and began to lead the way.

Li Taiyi nodded and followed Guo Dingguo to the main tent.

Meanwhile, the three-thousand-some soldiers began to work on unloading the thirty massive crates and on setting up camp.

As Li Taiyi approached the main tent, he could already hear the sounds of a fierce argument.

“The Tibetan cavalry come in and out like a gale, and many civilians have already died. The people are in a panic!”

“We have to stop him! These bastards! Do they really think that the Great Tang can’t do anything to them with only infantry?”

“Damn them!”

Li Taiyi’s eyes flashed as he lifted the curtain and walked in.

Seeing that someone was coming in, the tent fell silent, its occupants turning to look. When they saw Guo Dingguo come in with Li Taiyi, they froze for a moment, but they quickly understood and saluted him.

“Paying respects to the Third Prince!”

For them, Li Taiyi was simply a Prince who was seeking military achievement. They naturally could not take any risks and showed all due courtesy.

“There is no need for everyone to be so polite,” Guo Dingguo said. “His Third Highness has just arrived. Everyone, continue your discussion so that His Highness can understand the situation on the border.”

“Yes, Milord.”

Everyone nodded, understanding Guo Dingguo’s intentions.

It was not uncommon for Princes to ‘temper’ themselves on the border, and they usually just went through the motions. This was clearly true for the Third Prince as well. General Guo’s meaning was that they should operate normally and not worry themselves too much over the presence of the Third Prince.

On the other end, Li Taiyi saw this and knew what they thought of him, so he found a place where he could listen.

An officer with dark tanned skin pointed at the leather map on the wall of the tent and sternly said, “General Guo, through our discussion, we have discovered several villages that have suffered the heaviest raiding. I advise garrisoning soldiers here so that they can provide reinforcements when needed.”

This map was rather scorched and old, but it presented a clear picture of the border between Longxi and Ü-Tsang. The area this officer was pointing at had a high concentration of villages.

“No, the Tibetans are crafty people. Once we go over, they’ll immediately switch targets,” another stalwart officer argued, stepping forward. “Moreover, we Tang primarily have infantry, while the Tibetans are excellent riders. Let alone fighting them in a head-on confrontation, we wouldn’t even be able to catch them.”

“But if we don’t do this, what will happen to the civilians? Are we going to just watch as the Tibetans slaughter them?” the tanned officer replied in agitation.

“You know of our situation. We lack soldiers, and the soldiers we do have are infantry that have to defend such a large area. If we scatter our forces too much, who would be able to take the consequences if the Tibetans exploited this weakness? What would we do if something happened to the capital?” the other officer retorted.

The tanned general was immediately rendered speechless.

Longxi was the gateway to the capital. They were forced to consider this point.

Another officer came forward. “I advise splitting off several more units and dividing the defense line into several regions, each defended by a unit. If one region discovers Tibetan cavalry, they can let out a smoke beacon so that the nearby two units can swiftly reinforce them.

As he spoke, he used a charcoal brush to draw several lines on the map, dividing the long defense line into sections.

“In this way, we can defend against the Tibetan cavalry and protect the civilians while also ensuring that our forces are as strong as possible.”

The officers in the tent seriously considered this notion and each began to nod in agreement.

But at this moment, Guo Dingguo frowned and said, “No!”

The officers turned their heads, confusion in their eyes.

“In the past, we could have implemented Cui Sheng’s plan, but the situation has changed. Ü-Tsang’s intent is obvious. It clearly intends to penetrate into the interior of the Great Tang,” Guo Dingguo sternly said.

“If we divide the army into units and have them each man an area, our overall strength is certain to drop. If Ü-Tsang chooses to focus on a single area or splits their army even more, do we intend to scatter the entire army?

“The Tibetan cavalry have already raided several dozen villages. Our first priority is to track them down before they can inflict greater harm, not divide our army into defensive positions.”

The tent fell silent at Guo Dingguo’s words.

“But, Milord, the Tibetans have cavalry and are much faster than us. Every time we’ve gotten a report, we always arrive too late. We simply can’t make it in time,” a Longxi officer hesitantly said.

“Moreover, they have several thousand men, and with the power of the Tibetan Echelon Formation, they can defeat armies of seven to eight thousand people. Without sufficient military force, even if we catch them, we won’t be able to defeat them. Small forces simply won’t do.”

Guo Dingguo said nothing, his thick brows furrowing.

He also knew about this problem, but he had yet to find a solution.

They simply had far too many problems that they needed to worry about.

“General Guo, if possible, please allow me to try. I might be able to find them.” In this moment of silence, a vigorous voice suddenly spoke.

Everyone turned in shock and saw that the one who had spoken was Li Taiyi.

Although Li Taiyi had said nothing until now, he had been carefully listening.

He basically understood the situation now. The Tibetans had dispatched a significant force of cavalry that was currently sowing chaos throughout Longxi.

It was apparent that they had already dealt significant damage.

The Longxi army had the responsibility of guarding the border, so it could not ignore all of this. But the enemy was constantly moving around and was highly mobile, so the Longxi army had been unable to do anything to them.

Most importantly…

Though Guo Dingguo had not mentioned it, Li Taiyi knew that the reason the Tibetans had yet to invade the Great Tang was that they were unfamiliar with the interior.

The chaos being sowed by this cavalry was secondary. They probably had another mission of gathering intelligence on Longxi.

If they were able to gather too much information, they would eventually be able to make the situation extremely unfavorable to the armies of Longxi and the Great Tang.

“Third Highness, absolutely not! The battlefield is not the capital and is no joke! This is a place where life can be lost at any time.” That stalwart officer from before immediately stepped forward in opposition.

The Third Prince could find the Tibetan cavalry force that they couldn’t?

What sort of joke was this?

And let alone finding them, the battlefield was fraught with dangers. Given the Third Prince’s status, if something happened to him while he was fighting the Tibetans, who here could take responsibility?

“Third Highness, let us deal with this matter,” Guo Dingguo said with a frown.

This was an important matter. If something happened to the Third Prince, the Longxi army would no longer have to think about how to deal with the Tibetans.

“General, I understand your concerns. In front is the advancing Tibetan army, while a mobile force causes trouble in the rear. The situation is tense. However, what we face is not a battlefield, only a force of wandering Tibetan cavalry. Even if there is danger, how great can it be?

“Moreover, Imperial Father has given me a force sufficient to protect me. Nothing will happen. Even if something does occur, I have already explained to Imperial Father that it has nothing to do with any of the officers present,” Li Taiyi said with a smile.

“But…”

Guo Dingguo wanted to say something, but Li Taiyi cut him off.

“The army lacks in cavalry, and in these circumstances, only the several thousand elite cavalry I have brought from the capital can successfully pursue these Tibetans. If we succeed, we can ease the worries of the officers present and make some contribution to the Great Tang. If we are no match, we can still retreat. Is that not the case?”

Li Taiyi grinned.

The officers fell silent.

Li Taiyi’s words were reasonable. If the force was entirely made of cavalry, then even if they couldn’t win, escape was completely possible within Longxi.

“Is Your Highness truly confident in your ability to catch this hidden force of Tibetan cavalry?” a Longxi officer couldn’t help but ask.

Li Taiyi’s words were simply too shocking.

When had the infamous Third Prince become so competent?

“Heh, if you don’t try, how can you know?” Li Taiyi said with a smile.

The hall fell silent. After a long while, Guo Dingguo spoke.

“Since that is so, then we must trouble Your Highness.”

The Third Prince should not be in much danger, since had brought some three thousand soldiers with him, and he was not guaranteed to find the mobile and unpredictable Tibetan cavalry anyway. Moreover, if the Third Prince succeeded, the pressure on their army would be reduced. And if he failed, the effect on the army would be minimal.

“Cui Sheng, assist him and ensure that no harm comes to His Third Highness.”

“Yes!”

Cui Sheng saluted.

Cui Sheng was the strongest Longxi officer. With Cui Sheng’s domineering strength at his side, the Third Prince would not be in any mortal danger.

Li Taiyi did not try to refuse this gesture from Guo Dingguo. His eyes flashed as he recalled a few things.

In truth, he had some understanding of this Tibetan cavalry force that was vexing Guo Dingguo’s Longxi army.

Though the Tibetans were only raiding the Tang border, the raids were particularly intense this year, and numerous civilians had already lost their lives. Although the Great Tang had dispatched an army to head them off, as it consisted of infantry, it could not directly confront the Tibetan cavalry. Even if the infantry ran into them, the Tibetans could just ride away.

This was what so vexed Guo Dingguo and his officers. However, they probably did not know that while this force of marauding Tibetan cavalry was small, it would be the architect behind a gruesome tragedy on the border that would leave the Central Plains stunned.

After plundering the middle section of the border, it would charge in through the north and enter the interior of Longxi, where it would occupy the village of Feng and slaughter all one thousand, five hundred or so inhabitants. At that time, blood truly flowed through the streets of that town, and the history books called it the Massacre of Feng.

The occupation of Feng broke the defense line and forced the Great Tang into a bitter defensive battle.

As Li Taiyi examined the middle section of the border on the map, his gaze turned dark.

If his guess was right, that cavalry force would soon appear there.

He would not allow history to repeat itself!

……

Past Longxi, on the Tibetan Plateau, herds of livestock grazed on the green grass. All was peaceful and calm, caressed by a gentle breeze.

The round Tibetan tents had been set up on the plateau, and several armored Tibetan soldiers patrolled the area with their hawkish eyes, large sabers in hand. Though they were not tall, the environment they had grown up in imbued all of them with a formidable energy.

“Are the preparations for tonight’s raid complete?”

On the drilling ground of this Tibetan camp, a force of one thousand cavalry moved as a single unit. The one who had spoken was a muscular man who stood across from this force of cavalry.

This man was a general who specialized in leading cavalry on raids, and his nickname was ‘Blood Butcher’.

Blood Butcher had a cruel personality, particularly when he led his troops on raids, which always resulted in widespread death. This was how he had earned his nickname. But it was through his formidable strength that he had killed his way to becoming a commander of one thousand men.