The Annam Protectorate's water shortage was already quite serious. Dalun Ruozan's surprise attack was effective. On the same day, Wang Chong's army ran out of water.
Now, even high-ranking generals like Luoji had rough skin and cracked lips. It was obvious how serious the Annam Protectorate's water shortage was.
The Annam Protectorate had less than a tenth of its original number of stoves, and the war horses' drinking water was restricted to the limit.
The morale of the army had long fallen. Everyone was panicking. At this time, Dalun Ruozan still used drinking water to disturb the Annam Protectorate.
"Although this move is simple, it's quite effective. We don't have a good solution at all! "
The Eagle looked at the foot of the mountain worriedly.
The Tang dynasty's water shortage was no secret. Even the low-ranking soldiers knew that there was not much water left in the barracks. Every day, Dalun Ruozan would have people come to the front of the formation and wantonly use water to bathe and wash the horses, provoking everyone.
They were already severely dehydrated. Under such circumstances, everyone felt their lips becoming increasingly dry and cracked. Their hearts were getting more and more thirsty.
This was a completely uncontrollable instinctive reaction.
Even though everyone knew that this was a battle of life and death, they still had this uncontrollable reaction.
The Eagle could feel the restlessness and restlessness even from the top of the mountain. One could imagine how they felt.
"Kill the horses!"
Wang Chong suddenly said.
"What?"
The Eagle was stunned. He couldn't react in time.
"Kill some of the war horses and use their blood to temporarily quench our thirst. This is the only expedient for now. "
Wang Chong said in a low voice.
"But, without the war horses, what will happen to Young Master's plan? Moreover, the Annam Protectorate doesn't have many war horses now. "
The Eagle was stunned. He never expected Wang Chong to suddenly suggest such a strategy.
In the previous battles, the mountaintop cavalry that Wang Chong had set aside had played a huge role. It could even be said that they had played a key role in turning the tide of the battle. Fengjiayi had led Mengshe Zhao's most elite 'Dragon Son Corps' and had almost pierced through the Tang Dynasty's defensive lines, killing their way to the summit.
In the end, it was Wang Chong's cavalry who used a surprise attack to seize an opening and cut off the Dragon Son Corps from the front to the back, breaking his edge. More than a third of the Phoenix Son Corps had died in battle, and even Fengjiayi had almost died on the mountain.
If it wasn't for his subordinates escorting him as he fled for his life.
Without warhorses, the Tang dynasty would lose a lot of room to maneuver.
"Just kill some of them. Every day that he could delay was one day at a time. Now, they were competing to see who could last longer. Pass down the order. Now, the daily consumption is calculated by the drop. Unless it's absolutely necessary, you absolutely can't waste a single drop of water. "
Wang Chong said.
For an army of sixty thousand to be supplied with water by the drop every day, this was simply unimaginable for a regular army. But right now, there was no other way. If it were in the past, this sort of thing would absolutely cause a massive panic.
But now, after Dalun Ruozan's incessant embellishment, there was actually nothing to worry about.
This could be considered a wrong move.
"This subordinate understands."
The Eagle nodded.
"In addition, Dalun Ruozan's current situation isn't any better than ours!"
Under the banner, Wang Chong looked across from him and suddenly laughed.
Dalun Ruozan had done his best, pouring pot after pot, bag after bag, bucket after bucket at the base of the mountain in front of all the Annam Protectorate soldiers, washing horses, bathing.
But in his own situation, Wang Chong didn't even need to do anything, didn't need to imitate him, and it was already chaotic enough.
There was a shortage of water, so he just had to conserve a little.
Previously, he used to take one bag a day, but now he took five or six drops twice a day. Seven or eight drops was enough, and he could endure it for a while. But without beef and mutton, what if he couldn't get used to the food of farming tribes?
Ask people who ate beef and mutton every day to eat rice? Eat vegetables? That was what they called 'grass'!
Anyone else might have been able to endure, but Ouzan was famed for his viciousness, courage, and belligerence. He wasn't the sort of person who could control his temper.
Standing at the top of the mountain and looking down, the front of the formation was completely calm. But the rear of the Mengshe – Ü-Tsang army was in chaos. Even at this distance, Wang Chong could still hear the clamor.
In a single day, Wang Chong had seen seventeen or eighteen fights, all of them between Mengshe – Ü-Tsang soldiers. Wang Chong could easily guess that Ouzan's men were running low on food, so they had definitely turned their attention to Ouzan's men.
After all, Mengshe – Ü-Tsang were nominally allies, and Ouzan had only sent soldiers for Mengshe Zhao's sake.
Alas, the two sides didn't speak the same language, so this became pure and unreasonable quarrelling, intentionally finding fault with each other and even starting to fight. The gap between them only grew deeper and deeper.
If this continued, Wang Chong wouldn't even need to do anything to see the Mengshe – Ü-Tsang army begin to wear each other down and suffer heavy casualties.
Dalun Ruozan, no matter how monstrously intelligent you are, you still couldn't have imagined this. If you want to deal with the Tang dynasty, you'll have to pay the price! No matter what, Ouzan will never be the victor!
Wang Chong quietly said to himself as he looked into the distance.
I need to calm down for a bit. The Eagle, I'll leave this place to you.
With these words, Wang Chong turned and vanished from the summit.
… …
At the base of the mountain, in his tent, Dalun Ruozan's situation was far more serious than Wang Chong had imagined.
Letter after letter flew into Dalun Ruozan's hands like snowflakes. On the first day, countless warhorses and spies were traveling back and forth between the plateau and the Tang dynasty's southwest. A plague of unprecedented proportions was currently breaking out on the plateau.
Hundreds of thousands, even millions of cattle and sheep were falling to the ground in large swaths. Although cattle and sheep were the staple food of the Ouzan people, once they were infected with the plague, they could no longer be used as food.
And if they ate infected cattle or sheep, even humans would die of the disease, and there was no way to treat them.
Dalun Ruozan had only sent several hundred thousand soldiers to besiege the plateau, forcing Wang Chong and the Tang people into a state of thirst. But Wang Chong had plunged most of the steppe into a famine.
The plague was currently spreading from the Ngari Royal Lineage to the entire plateau. Its effects were so great that even the Tsenpo had been alarmed. Right now, the Tsenpo had mobilized a large number of soldiers to intercept the Ngari royal lineage and kill all the wandering cattle and sheep. Even the Great General who was locked in battle with Geshu Han had been pulled out of the army.
From this, one could easily imagine the severity of this matter.
But even so, there was no guarantee that no fish would escape the net.
The more Dalun Ruozan looked at the documents on the table, the more alarmed he became. If not for the fact that the war for the southwest had reached a critical juncture and it was hard to get off a tiger if you rode it. He would have long since led the army back.
"This son of the Wang Clan!!"
Dalun Ruozan clenched his fists, the veins on his forehead bulging.
As the wise minister of the Ngari Royal Lineage, Dalun Ruozan had always held a feather fan in his hand. He had always given the impression of a cultured and refined man who rarely got angry. But this matter had completely surpassed the limits of what Dalun Ruozan could accept.
Wantonly spreading a plague across the steppe, poisoning and killing tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, turning the entire steppe into a land of plague. If one did not know about this matter, they would find it very difficult to imagine that a youth not even seventeen years of age could do such a thing.
Dalun Ruozan had always believed that Wang Chong had some talent but lacked experience in the art of war. Only now did he realize that this youth on the mountain possessed a heart even colder and more frightening than he had imagined.
"Have you found those thousand-some elite cavalry?"
Dalun Ruozan asked.
"Replying to Prime Minister, they come and go without a trace, and they are extremely strong. The tribal herdsmen of the plateau are simply incapable of stopping them. Moreover, their weapons are also very sharp. When our weapons touch them, they easily break. "
A messenger had been kneeling at the entrance to the tent for some time.
"Sharp?"
Dalun Ruozan closed his eyes, vaguely recalling something.
"By the way, Prime Minister, the experts of the Great Snow Mountain Temple are already tracking them."
The messenger raised his head and said as he recalled something.
"Got it."
Dalun Ruozan raised his head and looked at the top of the tent, but his expression did not change in the slightest. After such a long time, the cavalry still had not been dealt with. Obviously, they had found a way to get rid of the people of the Great Snow Mountain Temple.
Moreover, this terrible disaster had already spread across the plateau. What awaited Ouzan would be a disaster that would last for years, decades, or even decades. Right now, the plateau was already a hell.
The damage had already been done, and it was already too late to say anything.
"Pass down my order, block the news. Before the war ends, don't let anyone know about what happened on the plateau."
Dalun Ruozan closed his eyes and said, his clothes trembling. In his decades as a Prime Minister, this was the first time he had been forced to this point.
"Yes, Prime Minister," the messenger replied.
The messenger in the tent responded. When he got up, his body paused for a moment, but he quickly stood up.
"Speak! What did you find? "
Dalun Ruozan asked without raising his head.
"Prime Minister, if that kid on the summit … He can speak our language of Ouzan."
The messenger gathered his courage and looked at the Great Minister in the tent, his eyes full of worry. That son of the Wang Clan was the instigator of all this. This was the best time for him to spread the news.
"Impossible!"
Dalun Ruozan denied without hesitation. He raised his head and closed his eyes, making it impossible to discern the slightest emotion on his face.
"Even though he's the one who spread the plague, if he's a smart person, he won't say anything. No one will believe him either. "
Many people knew that the logistics of the Ouzan army had encountered a problem. But no one could have guessed that this was related to the unprecedented plague on the plateau.
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