If one looked down from the sky, one would see that the vast earth was covered in black dots. These were tens of thousands of black tents. Around these black tents, sparks flew as furnaces spewed flames into the sky. Next to the furnaces was a bare-chested Ouzan blacksmith, his back drenched in sweat and his skin bronze in the heat of the furnace. He was currently hammering away at his plate armor.
In the Neigh Plateau, a muscular Ouzan highland steed galloped by, stirring up a cloud of dust. On its back was an Ouzan soldier, his expression savage as he loudly bellowed.
Gallop! One, two, three, four … Thousands of Ouzan cavalry followed closely behind this warhorse. But unlike ordinary Ouzan cavalry, the armor on these Ouzan cavalry was clearly incomplete, and their armor was not the usual black, but green.
In the Ouzan Plateau, only one kind of person would wear this green armor: recruits!
Strong winds blew and flags fluttered in the wind. If one's gaze was fixed on the center of this area, they would discover a black war flag over two hundred feet long fluttering in the air. On the black war flag, a white elephant standing upright and a crisscrossing scimitar pattern was extremely eye-catching!
This was Tsongkha's Zhangzhung Recruit Training Center, the most famous recruit training center of the Ouzan Empire and the largest of the three major recruit training camps.
Tsongkha trained recruits for the Ouzan Empire and provided an endless supply of fresh blood. At the same time, he was highly regarded by the four Royal Lineages of the Ouzan Empire.
Whether it was Huoshu Huizang or Dusong Mangpoje, a significant portion of the soldiers under the command of these Imperial Great Generals had come from Tsongkha.
Every year, the number of recruits trained here could reach twenty to thirty thousand.
Flapflap!
With a flap of its wings, a black messenger pigeon swooped down and quickly flew into the center of the camp, into the largest black tent. Inside the tent, an arm wrapped in black armor reached out and quickly caught the black carrier pigeon that flew down from the sky.
"General, it's a letter from Sir Dayan Mangpoje!"
A voice rang out in the tent. It was a young Ouzan bodyguard in black armor. With the carrier pigeon on his arm, he turned around and said to the tall and sturdy figure with an aura as vast as the mountains and seas.
The tent was very quiet. There was not the slightest sound, only the sound of blades scraping against bones.
"Read it!"
After a long while, a voice rang out in the tent. Following a series of clanking sounds, a dignified Ouzan general in his thirties or forties slowly raised his head from the center of the tent. This Ouzan general had a dark red face and was dressed in armor. He was seated on a chair made of yak bones, one hand gripping an Ouzan scimitar while the other was polishing a yak horn more than two feet long.
Disturbed by his bodyguard, the dignified Ouzan general changed his posture, loosened his grip on the scimitar and yak blade, and turned to the bodyguard. His eyes were as cold and piercing as those of a Bodhi Vajra Buddha forged from iron and bronze, striking fear into the hearts of all who looked at them.
"Yes!"
The bodyguard only glanced at him before lowering his head and beginning to read the contents of the letter.
"Written by Sheboche: Qixi is in a state of emergency. Fomonlința's army is pressing down, and the northern border is in grave danger. Soldiers are urgently needed. Five thousand Qinghai Soldiers are requested!"
The young bodyguard sensed the danger in the last word and his expression turned extremely grim. He subconsciously turned to look at his commander behind him.
"Haha, it's this trick again."
To his surprise, the dignified Ouzan General was not the least bit worried, and even coldly chuckled.
"It's indeed my cousin's style! If you want soldiers, just ask for them. Why mention Qixi? Our Ouzan Plateau is easy to defend and hard to attack. If we really run into a powerful foe, we can just have the shepherds retreat. And when did the northern border become in a state of emergency? Moreover, if I remember correctly, even if Fomonlința is enraged, it should be because he led the White Braves in a sneak attack on their base and killed Pulan He and his five thousand Tang soldiers, right? Since he wanted to launch a sneak attack, did he not think of what an enraged Fomonlința would do?
"In the end, he's just targeting my several thousand Qinghai Soldiers!"
At the edge of the tent, the young Ouzan bodyguard was dumbstruck. He had been by the general's side for some time now, and he had come into contact with the letters sent by the ministers and generals of the four royal lineages to request for the transfer of troops. All of the letters were well-behaved and honest. None of them had lied about military intelligence, and none of them had tried to fill their own pockets to satisfy their own selfish desires.
"Then … General, should we refuse?"
The bodyguard hesitantly asked.
"There's no need. Given that fellow's personality, he won't rest until he achieves his goal. He'll send an endless stream of letters, and he might even personally come to Tsongka. We'll be in great trouble if that happens. No one understands his personality better than I do, and he's capable of anything. "
The dignified Ouzan general said.
“！！！”
The bodyguard was dumbfounded, no longer knowing whether to send soldiers or not.
"Heh, but this time, he's been a villain for nothing. The Tsenpo's letter has already been sent to me. Even if he hadn't requested it, I would still have sent soldiers to him. Write a reply for me. Tell him that there's no need to worry about soldiers. Three months from now, the first wave of eight thousand cavalry will be sent to the northern border after completing their training. In addition, the Qinghai Soldiers he wants will also be sent, but … only two thousand at most!
"The Qinghai Soldiers are carefully selected from the various armies, and their aptitude far surpasses that of the others. They also cultivate the secret techniques passed down from the Great Snow Mountain Temple. These techniques are extremely powerful, but extremely difficult to cultivate. Aside from them, no other soldier can cultivate them. Moreover, as the strongest cavalry, their training is much more complicated than the others. They basically need at least two years before they can finish. There are only seven thousand people here, and he wants five thousand for himself. Although I'm the general in charge of Tsongka's Zhangzhung, does he really think I'm part of the Dayan Clan? "
The dignified general sneered, exposing the relationship between him and Dayan Mangpoje.
In the Ouzan Empire, other than the Tsenpo, the Prime Minister, and the four Prime Ministers, the Dayan Clan, the Dusong Clan, and the Four Great Clans were the most powerful. The Dusong Clan's Dusong Mangpoje was one of the Great Generals of the Ouzan Empire, and although the Dayan Clan had yet to produce a Great General, it had many Brigadier Generals.
'Dayan Pugyal' was one of them.
Although he was not as infamous as his cousin, Dayan Mangpoje, who had uprooted cities and uprooted countries and razed the small kingdoms around the Ouzan Empire to the ground, making them unable to sleep at night, in the interior of the plateau, Dayan Pugyal's status was even higher than Dayan Mangpoje's.
Dayan Pugyal had sent countless soldiers to the Four Royal Lineages of the Ouzan Empire, and even the four vassals and the four Prime Ministers were extremely courteous to Dayan Pugyal.
"Yes, your subordinate will do so!"
The young guard hurriedly said as he prepared to leave.
"Wait a moment!"
As if recalling something, Dayan Pugyal suddenly called out to that guard who was about to leave.
"Help me investigate that youth from the Tang Dynasty called Wang Chong … Gather all the information on him, including his family and background."
"Yes, General!"
The young guard froze for a moment, but he quickly left.
In the tent, as Dayan Pugyal watched his bodyguard leave, his eyes dazed for a moment. He quickly retracted his gaze and lowered his head to a map in front of him. This was an exquisite map of the Ouzan Empire, but around the Ouzan Empire, Sindhu, the Western Regions, the Abbasid Caliphate, the Turks, and even the Tang Dynasty were all visible.
Dayan Pugyal's gaze swept over the map, quickly settling on a red dot in the northeast of Ü-Tsang.
Wushang!
This was the place where that youth from the Tang Dynasty, who had attracted the attention of countless people in Ouzan, resided. Dayan Pugyal had overseen Tsongkha for many years, but he had never encountered a Tang people who could attract so much attention.
Dusong Mangpoje and Dayan Mangpoje had already gone there.
Even the Tsenpo had broken protocol and sent a letter for the first time, asking about the Elephant Bear Training Camp and requesting that more soldiers be sent to the north. In Dayan Pugyal's entire life, he had never encountered such a situation.
And all this was because of a youth from the Tang Dynasty called Wang Chong.
I really want to know … just what sort of person is this Tang people?
As this thought flitted through Dayan Pugyal's mind, he quickly calmed down.
… …
Crack!
A scimitar swept through the void, and with a flash of cold light, it was accompanied by a series of crisp sounds, and clusters of thorns and branches were instantly cut in half. Whoosh! A triangular-headed green snake shot out from the nearby bushes like a bolt of lightning.
However, just as it shot out three feet, it was grabbed by a powerful palm in mid-air. The huge thumb squeezed hard, and with a "puchi" sound, juice splattered everywhere. The head of the triangular-headed green snake was crushed into pieces.
"Go!"
"Pay attention to the thorns on both sides!"
"Vanguard, clear the gravel beneath your feet and clear the path for the warhorses."
"Keep up, keep up! Be careful to hide! Don't get exposed! "
… …
As the east gradually brightened, no one noticed that a force of five thousand was advancing through the lush forest toward the plateau. This was an extremely narrow path, winding and twisting like a belt that extended from Longxi all the way to the towering Ouzan Plateau.
"Marquis, how much longer do we have to go up?"
Cheng Sanyuan asked in a low voice.
"Another hour. It should be daybreak by the time we get there."
Wang Chong said.
As he rode on his warhorse, he constantly scanned his surroundings. Everything around him seemed familiar, but it was not exactly the same. This was not his first time here, nor was it his first time passing through this winding path.
However, it was obvious that up until now, no one had discovered this hidden passage apart from him. In other words, this place was still in an unexplored state. Thorns and shrubs grew everywhere, as well as the twisting branches that extended from both sides and the occasional venomous snake.
They had already killed several hundred venomous snakes. Any other army would have long since found it difficult to advance. But to the Wushang people, who had grown up in the high mountains and precipitous cliffs, this was nothing more than child's play.
Not a single venomous snake had been able to get close, much less launch a sneak attack. Moreover, the Wushang people were also able to harvest and clear away the thorns blocking the path with incredible speed.
This was something no ordinary army could accomplish.
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