This Dalun Ruozan … is truly difficult to deal with!
In the Western Turkic tent, Duwusili raised the curtain and walked out. As he glanced in the direction that Dalun Ruozan had left, Duwusili's eyes flashed with a strange light.
"The army retreated without even informing me. Is this some kind of small warning?"
A playful smile appeared in Duwusili's eyes. There were people who could see through his style and see through his true intentions, but very few people could be like Dalun Ruozan, able to see through everything with just a single glance.
"Pass on my order! The army is to retreat and follow the Ouzan army to the east! "
Duwusili immediately ordered.
"But Milord, what about that person in the tent?"
A voice asked.
Listening carefully, when this person spoke, one could hear bursts of moans coming from within the tent.
"Bring him along. This person is priceless now. If anything happens to him, we will have to pay for it." If something happens to him, I'll ask only you! "
Duwusili said.
"Yes!"
The person in the tent shivered and no longer dared to say another word.
Rumble! Not long after the Ouzan army had left, Duwusili led the remaining soldiers and the wolf pack into the distance.
… …
In front of Talas, Gao Xianzhi, Cheng Qianli, Wang Chong, and Cheng Qianli were all silent upon hearing Zhang Shouzhi's orders. Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huizang, Dusong Mangpoje, and the tens of thousands of Ouzan soldiers had not moved. Only Duwusili had come to take advantage of the chaos, but he had destroyed the most important and final giant ballista of the army.
They had managed to hold off the entire Skyquaking Army, saving the giant ballista from their frenzied assault. But they had not been able to stop Duwusili's final attack. With thousands of parts flying through the air, there was not a single giant ballista left in Talas.
"Can it be repaired?"
Gao Xianzhi said subconsciously. This was his first reaction.
The giant ballistae had been built from scratch under the leadership of Zhang Shouzhi. No one was more familiar with giant ballistae than him. If there was one person who could repair it, it would be him.
"Very difficult."
Zhang Shouzhi shook his head and said with a solemn expression,
"Duwusili is a top-class Imperial Great General, and his methods are different from others. A giant could destroy a giant ballista, let alone an Imperial Great General. I checked and found that more than eighty percent of the giant ballista's parts were destroyed, including some of the finest and most precious parts. Just collecting, forging, and inscribing these parts took us a very long time. All the materials are extremely precious, and there's only a very small chance that we can repair them. "
Gao Xianzhi instantly fell silent.
The giant ballista had played the greatest role in this battle. If the giant ballista had been destroyed, it would have dealt a significant blow to them. After all, no one knew if the Arabs had any other inhuman powers.
"It's fine. Leave this matter to me."
Wang Chong indifferently said. Others might not know if the Arabian Empire had any other inhuman powers, but Wang Chong knew that the Behemoth Army and Skyquaking Army were their strongest forces. After suffering so many losses in such a short time, the Arabian Empire no longer had the strength to muster any more inhuman powers.
"Senior Zhang, let's follow the old rules. After collecting the remaining parts of the two giant ballistae, they would be able to reassemble them into a new one. As for whether it can shoot arrows, that's not important. The most important thing is to raise the morale of the army. Moreover, we know that the giant ballistae are very difficult to reassemble, but the Arabs and Ouzan don't know this. Putting a model there will at least have some effect on intimidating them. "
Wang Chong slapped the crossbow.
The last Behemoth on the battlefield of Talas was in his hands. To tell the truth, there really was no need to build a giant ballista that could deal with the Behemoth so quickly.
And even if it could, there was no need to do it so quickly.
"Understood! If that's the case, this old man will be able to make another one very quickly. "
Zhang Shouzhi nodded, understanding Wang Chong's meaning.
In the last war, Wang Chong had used a bunch of fake Tang Dynasty ballistae to deceive the Ouzan. He was clearly using the same trick again.
"Rumble!"
While they were discussing, a cloud of dust suddenly rose up in the distance. On the high hills, an army rolled like the tide, retreating into the distance.
"It's the Ouzan!"
Xue Qianjun exclaimed in delight and excitement, all the pressure he had accumulated over the last few days swept away.
"The Arabs have retreated, and the Tibetans must have seen Abu Muslim retreat and decided to retreat as well," Wang Chong said.
"Rumble!"
As he spoke, the Western Turks began to retreat.
Seeing this scene, everyone's faces were filled with joy, and their expressions became much more relaxed. If the Western Turks and Ouzan weren't threatening them, they would be in a much better situation.
"It's not that simple!"
Wang Chong shook his head, his brow slowly creasing as he gazed in the direction of the two armies. As he spoke, the four commanders — Wang Chong, Gao Xianzhi, Cheng Qianli, and Wang Yan — stood up.
"Wang Chong is correct. This battle truly did have an effect on the Ouzan and Western Turks, but whether it's the Celestial Wolf Great General Duwusili, Huoshu Huizang, or Dalun Ruozan, none of them are the kind of people who easily give up."
Gao Xianzhi agreed. Although the retreat of the two armies had made things much easier for them, Gao Xianzhi was still deeply worried.
"Remember, if you haven't defeated the enemy, it can't be considered a true victory. You can't lower your guard in the slightest."
Wang Chong slightly nodded. In this aspect, he shared the same opinion as Gao Xianzhi. As commanders of the Tang dynasty, the two of them had many things in common.
All was quiet as the group watched the Ouzan and Western Turks leave, none of them speaking. Only Wang Chong's eyes twitched as he watched the Western Turks leave, as if he was thinking about something.
"Wang Chong, what's wrong?"
Gao Xianzhi immediately sensed something and turned his head.
"Something's wrong."
Wang Chong's deep frown drew everyone's attention with his words.
"Wang Chong, what's wrong? Did you notice something? "
Cheng Qianli asked. Although he hadn't known Wang Chong for long, Cheng Qianli knew that this young Qixi Protector-General would never speak without thinking. If he felt that something was wrong, something must have happened.
"I don't know."
Wang Chong slowly drew back his gaze.
"This isn't my first time fighting with Dalun Ruozan, and I have some understanding of his style. The battle is over and the Arabs have been defeated. For Dalun Ruozan to choose to retreat, temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack, reorganize his army, and bide his time is completely consistent with his usual style. But that Celestial Wolf Great General … I feel that something's wrong. "
"Duwusili?"
Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli glanced at each other in surprise. Neither of them had expected Wang Chong's focus to be on the Celestial Wolf Great General Duwusili.
"Lord Protector-General, you have more seniority than I do. Have you ever interacted with this Duwusili before? Do you understand him? "
"This … I and Duwusili belong to different war zones, and the two of us haven't had many direct interactions, so I haven't paid much attention to him."
Gao Xianzhi frowned, a look of recollection on his face.
"But based on what I know, the outside world says that Duwusili is a very difficult person to deal with. Back then, he was only able to sit in the position of Qi Jin because he had killed the previous Qi Jin through iron-blooded means. That person was also very famous among the Western Turks. "
Wang Chong's brow furrowed even more, the strange feeling in his heart intensifying.
All was quiet as everyone stared at Wang Chong. No one dared to disturb him at a time like this. As for Gao Xianzhi, Cheng Qianli, and Wang Yan, Wang Chong, all of them had thoughtful expressions on their faces. But this was just a simple retreat. Unlike Wang Chong, they found it very difficult to sense anything from it.
"Senior Zhang Shouzhi, I'll have to trouble you to repeat what you just said."
Wang Chong's gaze swept over Zhang Shouzhi as he spoke.
Zhang Shouzhi was confused, but he did not dare to be negligent and hurriedly repeated what he had said before.
When Zhang Shouzhi repeated what he had said a second time, everyone perked up their ears, but not even Gao Xianzhi or Cheng Qianli understood. What did Duwusili's destruction of the giant ballista have to do with the strange feeling that Wang Chong had spoken of?
It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Everyone was confused, but Wang Chong's eyes slowly began to sharpen.
"Something's wrong! There's something strange about Duwusili!"
Wang Chong firmly said.
"Wang Chong, what did you discover? Is there something wrong with Duwusili destroying the giant ballista? "
Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli hurriedly said.
"It's not the giant ballista, but Duwusili. Lord Protector-General, General Cheng, let me ask you, what do you think Duwusili's goal is in crossing the second defense line alone? "
"Of course, it's to deal with …"
Cheng Qianli immediately said. But just when he was about to say 'Wang Chong', he suddenly thought of something and froze, unable to speak.
"Have you noticed?"
Wang Chong gave Cheng Qianli a profound glance, knowing that he had understood.
"On the surface, Duwusili seems to be coming for us, but from start to finish, we've never met him. There's definitely something strange about this Duwusili. His goal isn't us, but something else."
Wang Chong's thoughts were getting clearer and clearer, and his eyes were getting sharper and sharper. On the side, Gao Xianzhi had the same concern in his eyes as Wang Chong. If Duwusili was coming for them, it would be fine, but if he wasn't, it would truly be troublesome. Even more dangerous was that the battle was over. No matter what Duwusili's goal was, he had probably succeeded by now.
"Xue Qianjun! Pass on my order! Gather the army! I want you to investigate it again! Especially the ballista army and the Wushang Cavalry! Don't miss a single detail! "
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