Previously, this Great Tang army had intentionally concealed itself, waiting for the two armies to engage in close combat before suddenly making a move. This small detail immediately became extremely useful. Even though Jiudu Fuluo had decisively ordered the Western Turkic cavalry to retreat, they had still left tens of thousands of corpses on the battlefield.
The more than one hundred thousand Western Turkic cavalry fled into the distance, and even the Turkic cavalry that had fled far away could hear the screams of the soldiers behind them. This battle had only lasted for a short time, but Jiudu Fuluo and his Western Turkic cavalry had paid the price of eighty thousand lives. On the other hand, the Beiting Protectorate had lost less than five thousand soldiers. This sort of loss ratio had never been seen before.
"Enough! All of you, come back! This battle should be enough to make Jiudu Fuluo not dare to act rashly for a year! "
With An Sishun's order, all the pursuing soldiers of the Beiting Protectorate retreated. The Beiting Protectorate had far too many infantry and supply wagons, and in terms of agility, they were far inferior to the pure cavalry of the Western Turkic army. Moreover, the ballista army could not follow in the attack.
"Lord Protector-General, our mission is complete, and you have seen the power of the ballista army. Now is the time for you to fulfill your promise."
While An Sishun was rejoicing and all the Beiting Protectorate soldiers were rejoicing, a cold and untimely voice suddenly rang out. The aloof young ballista officer riding a Turkic horse had appeared at An Sishun's side.
"Buzz!"
In an instant, the surroundings became silent, and even the sounds of cheering became much softer. The surrounding Beiting Protectorate soldiers turned to the young officer, and An Sishun's brow creased, his face instantly turning gloomy.
"Young man, you're quite bold. Do you know that if I wanted to, I could kill you right now?"
An Sishun sternly said, his eyes slowly turning as sharp as swords.
"If Lord Protector-General wants to kill me, I naturally cannot resist, but these are two separate matters. I have fulfilled my promise to Lord Protector-General. The Western Turkic army has been defeated, and the Sanmi Great General Jiudu Fuluo has retreated. Now is the time for Lord Protector-General to fulfill his promise. I trust that someone of Lord Protector-General's status will not go back on his word, yes? "
The cold-faced young general said with a firm expression. Even in the face of an elite Imperial Great General like An Sishun, his expression remained unperturbed.
"How dare you! A lowly deputy general dared to be so rude to Protector-General! I don't believe that our Beiting Protectorate army can't deal with a lowly deputy general like you! "
Next to An Sishun, a dark-faced Beiting Protectorate general finally couldn't help but rebuke him.
"Lord Protector-General, if you want, feel free to kill me. But the deal still had to go through, and the Beiting Protectorate army had to send reinforcements to Talas. By the way, although I am only a lowly deputy general with insignificant status, the seal of the Qixi Protectorate is stamped on my transaction with Lord Protector-General. It represents our Qixi Protector-General. I hope that Lord Protector-General will carefully consider this matter! "
The young general with a calm expression did not dodge. He stared at An Sishun in front of him, and his eyes showed no signs of backing down.
"Bastard! How dare you threaten the Lord! "
"Kill him! I don't believe that that Qixi Protector-General would dare to do anything to our lord! "
The surrounding generals of the Beiting Protectorate were enraged.
"You dare!"
"If anyone dares to touch our lord, we'll fight them to the death!"
"At worst, either the fish dies or the net splits. Brothers, prepare to move!"
… …
In the rear, the soldiers of the 'Qixi Protectorate' were enraged. One of them took off his helmet and threw it to the ground, a savage expression on his face.
"You dare!"
Clangclangclang! The surrounding soldiers of the Beiting Protectorate were also enraged. These soldiers of the Qixi Protectorate did not seem like regular soldiers at all. Their temperament and style made them seem more like bandits and brigands.
"Enough! All of you, stay your hands! "
An Sishun immediately ordered all the soldiers of the Beiting Protectorate to put away their weapons.
"Young man, tell me, what is your name?"
An Sishun turned his head and looked at the cold-faced young general in front of him. He had to admit that even though An Sishun had seen countless generals and weathered many storms, this young general's courage and daring was truly impressive. This had left an extremely deep impression on An Sishun.
"Su Hanshan!"
The aloof young general spoke in a tone that was neither servile nor overbearing, his eyes determined and fearless.
"Not bad, I'll remember you! My words just now were just a joke. I will definitely keep my word and immediately lend you the soldiers I promised. An Beiliu, go and make arrangements for him to select some elites to accompany him back to Qixi. "
"Many thanks, Milord."
Su Hanshan's expression softened, and with a wave of his hand, the ballista soldiers immediately fell silent.
Although these people were bandits and brigands of the Silk Road, all of them used to being unrestrained and undisciplined, all of them treated Su Hanshan with the utmost respect. Under Su Hanshan's training, these people were no longer bandits and brigands. This was also due to Su Hanshan's powerful charisma and talent as a commander.
To put it bluntly, if anyone dared to touch Su Hanshan now, these people would definitely die for him.
Su Hanshan quickly left with the entire ballista army and the ten thousand elites of the Beiting Protectorate. In the Beiting Protectorate, Su Hanshan had left behind three thousand ballistae.
"Milord, ten thousand elites is much more than we agreed on with the Young Marquis. Is Milord really going to let them leave?"
Next to An Sishun, an extremely intelligent looking general spoke up.
"Haha, why wouldn't I agree? I'm just lending them, not actually giving them to the Qixi Protectorate. Moreover … did you really think that I would agree so easily? Long before this, I had already sent a memorial to the Imperial Court requesting the loan of ten thousand elites. No matter what the outcome of this battle is, our Beiting Protectorate army is undefeatable. "
An Sishun faintly smiled.
"But Milord, that fellow called Su Hanshan is rather daring. Wang Chong is in the distant Talas, but he actually thought of making a deal with Lord Protector-General. And from the soldiers he's trained, it seems like they're completely willing to die for him. This sort of training ability is one in ten thousand. It would be wonderful if he could be transferred to our Beiting Protectorate. "
On the side, another general said, and after saying this, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
This general was only speaking from the bottom of his heart, but An Sishun's smile instantly vanished as he gazed in the direction Su Hanshan had left, his gaze extremely profound.
"Beggar, that Su Hanshan … keep an eye on him for me. If possible, do everything in your power to recruit him to our Beiting Protectorate."
An Sishun suddenly said, his words causing all the generals to tremble and turn to look, including the praising Beggar. Everyone knew that this person truly did have some courage to speak so harshly to the Imperial Protector-General, but none of them could have imagined that the Protector-General actually had such a high opinion of him that he wanted to recruit him to the Beiting Protectorate.
"Yes, Milord!"
Beggar's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he lowered his head and respectfully replied.
The other generals also obediently lowered their heads. Just like the ballista soldiers trained by bandits and highwaymen, all the soldiers of the Beiting Protectorate were absolutely subservient to An Sishun.
Courage, strategy, initiative, leadership, fearlessness … this sort of independent demeanor is not the talent of a general, but … the talent of a Great General!
An Sishun's eyes were cold, countless thoughts flitting through his mind.
When an Imperial Great General encountered another Imperial Great General, they would always feel the same way. An Sishun saw this sort of thing in this young commander called Su Hanshan. Because that was his younger self!
When he thought about how the youngest son of the Wang Clan at Talas had so many talented subordinates of great potential under his command, An Sishun couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy.
… …
The entire Nine Provinces was once more thrown into turmoil by the Battle of Talas.
The distant Qixi Protectorate was like the eye of a storm, drawing countless elite soldiers to its location. As the only way to Qixi, Wushang's City of Steel became the best witness to all this.
"Look!"
On the high walls of the City of Steel, a young child suddenly pointed into the distance and excitedly shouted.
These words immediately attracted everyone's attention. All the children and craftsmen on the walls of the City of Steel, as well as the disciples of the great clans, merchants, and pedestrians, turned to look.
Rumble! In the direction the child was pointing, a group of seven thousand soldiers, clad in shining armor and exuding a majestic aura, were silently galloping away from Wushang's City of Steel toward the Qixi Protectorate headquarters in the rear. In the center of this group of black-armored cavalry was a war banner emblazoned with the image of the Big Dipper Army.
"It's the Big Dipper Army! It's Great General Geshu Han's Big Dipper Army! "
Someone in the crowd cried out.
"Look! It's the Divine Martial Army!"
At the very front of the army was a group of black-armored cavalry that was particularly eye-catching. Compared to the other Big Dipper Army soldiers, this group of black-armored cavalry had a deep and solemn aura, and they were at least three times stronger. Although there were only three thousand of them, their movements were unified and their orders were strictly obeyed. Their aura was even greater than that of thirty thousand soldiers.
The air within three feet of them was so blurry that nothing could be seen clearly!
"I didn't think that the Big Dipper Great General would send the Divine Martial Army!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
