"Oh no!"
This was the only thought that remained in Dalun Ruozan's mind as he watched the fleeing sparrow.
Although sparrows were common in the Western Regions, they were extremely rare in the barren, rocky, and barren lands west of the Cong Mountains, because there was nothing for sparrows to hunt for. Moreover, the weather was getting colder, and sparrows would never appear in a place like this in this season.
Twang!
In the time it took for a spark to fly off a flint, there was a loud sound. The bowstring trembled, and a long arrow shot out from behind. Although it was shot later, it arrived first. The arrow pierced through the sparrow, and the huge force caused the sparrow's corpse to fall to the ground. But Dalun Ruozan's expression did not change at all because of the fall of the sparrow. At the end of his vision, he could see a small black silhouette vanishing into the distance.
It was a gray-brown sparrow hawk.
As the vultures hunted down the five rock eagles, everyone's attention was focused on the sky. It was also at this moment that the grayish-brown sparrow hawk soared into the sky from a distant tree branch and rapidly tore through the air. Its speed was extremely fast. In just a short while, it had already flown out of sight. Even the archers could not reach it, let alone the vultures in the sky.
"I miscalculated!"
Dalun Ruozan closed his eyes and gave a deep sigh, the hands hidden in his sleeves trembling.
From start to finish, he and Wang Chong had been winning this invisible contest. The tens of thousands of Ouzan soldiers were already eighteen li from Talas, but Wang Chong had shown no reaction. Unexpectedly, just as he was about to succeed, he had fallen prey to one of the sparrows that Wang Chong had hidden in the tree.
When patrolling, all flying birds were in the air. The higher they flew, the more they could see. Thus, no one would place scouting birds on the ground or on a tree. Dalun Ruozan had accurately determined where Wang Chong had set up his defenses, but he had not expected to lose here.
"Prime Minister, what do we do?"
Everyone seemed to sense something, and they all turned to Dalun Ruozan. Even Huoshu Huizang and Dusong Mangpoje paled. Something unexpected happened. A sparrow hawk had completely disrupted everyone's plans.
It was too late to stop it. Whether Wang Chong was prepared or not was a completely different matter to them. There was no question that the moment that sparrow hawk flew out, they had been exposed.
The mood instantly turned grave.
"Prime Minister, should we change the plan? Should we continue forward? "
Huoshu Huizang probed.
Dalun Ruozan said nothing, but his eyes were constantly shifting, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
After what seemed like a second, but also like countless eons, Dalun Ruozan suddenly smiled and shook his head.
"As expected, as expected of the person I know. If he really did not know anything and allowed us to sneak all the way to the City of Talas, I would actually feel a little uneasy. But now is the true battle between us. Since we've been discovered, there's no need to hide it. Unfurl the banners and remove the cloth wrapping the hooves. We will openly march into Talas! "
"Yes! Prime Minister! "
Rumble! This time, the Ouzan army no longer concealed itself. Tens of thousands of soldiers stirred up a cloud of dust as they galloped toward the City of Talas.
… …
"Marquis! It's bad! "
At the same time, outside the distant city of Talas, Zhang Que rushed in a panic to Wang Chong's position.
"What's wrong?"
Wang Chong, his father Wang Yan, his big brother Wang Fu, the Invincible Great General Li Siye, and the King Of Gangke were observing the Arabs. When he saw Zhang Que's expression, he turned his head and slightly frowned.
"Marquis, something big has happened! An army of tens of thousands of soldiers has appeared behind us. They're moving with incredible speed, and all the scouts I set up along the way, as well as the birds in the sky, have been eliminated by them. They've already gotten close to Talas and are less than ten li from us! "
Zhang Que kneeled on the ground, his face ghastly pale.
"What!"
Next to Wang Chong, Wang Yan, Wang Fu, Li Siye, and the King Of Gangke trembled in shock, all of them grimacing. All of them had been discussing a strategy to deal with the Arabs, but now, they had fallen deathly silent.
To the east of the City of Talas, across a plain, more than two hundred thousand elite Arab soldiers and Abu Muslim, the Arab Governor of the East, were eying them like a tiger watching its prey. While all of them were focused on the Arabs, the sudden appearance of an army of tens of thousands in the rear was extremely fatal.
The Tang Dynasty was now under attack from both the front and the rear. This was a major taboo in leading an army!
It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.
Zhang Que kneeled on the ground, beads of sweat oozing out of his forehead, drenching his robes. Keeping watch on the perimeter, discovering enemy forces ahead of time, and scouting out enemy forces — this was Zhang Que's duty in the army. But tens of thousands of enemy soldiers had advanced without him noticing at all, even allowing them to get so close. This was a massive dereliction of duty.
This was an enemy army of tens of thousands!
The enemy had stealthily approached and attacked his scouts and flying birds. Their hostility was obvious. If his own mistake resulted in his army being attacked, Zhang Que would never be able to forgive himself.
"What's going on here? Where did these enemies come from? How could the entire Western Regions have so many soldiers? "
Wang Yan was the first to speak. Upon receiving Zhang Que's report, Wang Yan's first reaction was that this was impossible.
Wang Chong had only just arrived at the City of Talas a day ago, so how could an army of tens of thousands suddenly appear in the rear? And there had been no warning at all? This was too sudden!
"… Zhang Que, are you sure?"
Wang Yan stared at Zhang Que. Seeing Zhang Que nod, Wang Yan's expression instantly turned grim.
The expressions of the other generals also darkened.
"How could this be? Did the Arabs bribe the other kingdoms of the Western Regions? "
Wang Fu muttered, and his expression became extremely solemn.
If this was a one-on-one battle, Wang Fu wouldn't have cared. But now, there was a wolf in front and a tiger in the back. The entire Qixi army had fallen into an unprecedented passive and disadvantageous position. The Battle of Talas was of utmost importance. The outcome of this battle would directly affect Anxi, Longxi, and the Anxi of the capital. The Tang Dynasty simply could not afford to lose.
"Impossible!"
Wang Fu had barely spoken when the King Of Gangke rejected the idea.
"The Western Regions are all small countries that can't gather an army of tens of thousands. Moreover, it's still uncertain who will win the war between the Tang Dynasty and Arabia. The kingdoms of the Western Regions will not, nor do they have the courage to, intervene at a time like this. A war between elephants and lions is not something they can participate in. "
'Elephants and lions' was the impression all the kingdoms of the Western Regions had of this war between the Tang Dynasty and Arabia. Anyone who was swept up in this war would be crushed into powder. The wisest course of action was to stay out of the way, and this was what the kingdoms of the Western Regions were doing.
The King Of Gangke did not believe that any of the small countries of the Western Regions would seek their own destruction at a time like this!
"But we've already cleaned out the soldiers of Ouzan's northern border. There are no more soldiers to send, and the Black Wolf Yabgu Agudu Lan was killed by Marquis. All the soldiers on the border have also been cleaned up. If it's not the kingdoms of the Western Regions, who else could it be? What other faction could gather an army of tens of thousands at a time like this? "
Li Siye spoke up as well, and his expression was equally solemn.
The two largest armies in the vicinity of the Western Regions were Arabia and the Tang Dynasty. It was simply impossible for a third faction to appear out of thin air. The strangest thing was that the tens of thousands of soldiers on the other side were only ten li from Talas and could arrive at any moment. But even now, no one knew who these people were, not even the origins of this faction.
This sort of situation had never happened before!
Everyone turned to look at Wang Chong. Wang Chong said nothing, his fingers lightly tapping as if he was thinking about something. A few moments later, Wang Chong finally opened his eyes.
"There's no need to think about it. It must be Ouzan and the Western Turkic Khaganate!"
“！！！”
Everyone was flabbergasted by Wang Chong's words.
"… In all of the Western Regions, only Ouzan and the Western Turkic Khaganate are worthy of waiting for Abu Muslim and his hundreds of thousands of Arab soldiers!"
Wang Chong indifferently said as he gazed at the vast sea of Arab soldiers. Wang Chong's voice was neither loud nor soft, but his deep eyes exuded a powerful conviction. For a moment, everyone was silent as they stared at Wang Chong, speechless.
"But Marquis, didn't we just sign a truce with the Western Turks?"
Li Siye said in shock.
"Agreements have always been made to be torn up. We signed so many agreements with Ouzan, but didn't Ouzan still tear them up?"
Wang Chong calmly said. At this critical moment, he was the only one who could maintain his composure.
"In the Battle of Talas, the Tang Dynasty and Arabia mobilized all their forces, emptying Qixi and Anxi of their forces. It seems like Ouzan and the Western Turks saw a chance and moved out. Zhang Que, scout again!! "
"Yes, Marquis!"
Zhang Que's expression was grave, and without a word, he immediately flew off.
Zhang Que left quickly, but he returned even faster. It only took a few moments for him to return with a report.
"Reporting to Marquis: there are more than seventy thousand soldiers in the rear, all of them Ouzan cavalry. Moreover, the enemy isn't even trying to conceal themselves. They are flying the banner of Ouzan."
Zhang Que's face was pale, his voice trembling.
Everything was as Wang Chong had predicted, and the surrounding officers all grimaced. The Ouzan and the Western Turks had actually moved out at this moment. They were now in an extremely disadvantageous position. But Zhang Que had not even finished speaking.
"… Marquis, besides the Ouzan war banner, we've also discovered a black Ouzan war banner with white yak hair in the Ouzan army!"
Zhang Que raised his head and stealthily sized up Wang Chong as he hesitantly said.
"Buzz!"
The Gangke King had no reaction to these words, but Wang Yan, Wang Fu, Li Siye, and the others all trembled and turned to Zhang Que. At this moment, even Wang Chong couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. There was only one place in the Ouzan Empire that worshiped the white yak and used it as its war banner.
The Ngari Royal Lineage!
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