Chapter 2189: Gao Shang’s Unease!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Before An Lushan had risen to power, Andong Protector-General Zhang Shougui’s reputation had resounded throughout the northeast.
Even after An Lushan’s ascension, Zhang Shougui’s name still struck fear into the hearts of the other countries.
There was no other reason. It was simply that Zhang Shougui was too powerful!
Before his arrival in the northeast, although the Great Tang had held Youzhou, it had basically not existed to the other countries battling with each other.
But when Zhang Shougui took command of Youzhou, he began to attack the other countries like a madman: Goguryeo, the Xi, the Khitans, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate… Zhang Shougui singlehandedly altered the power structure of the northeast.
In Zhang Shougui’s wars, all of the countries lost soldiers and generals. All of them had their interiors penetrated by Zhang Shougui. This was particularly true for the Xi and the Khitans, which had almost collapsed from Zhang Shougui’s sudden assault.
In the end, these countries that had once attacked each other were forced to work together to resist the Great Tang and put a stop to that string of defeats.
“A pack of demons and monsters dares to clash weapons with this Zhang!”
Zhang Shougui’s body seethed with killing intent that was almost tangible as he thunderously roared, silencing the battlefield.
“An Lushan, you treasonous son, this old man will personally end your life on this day!”
Zhang Shougui turned his bloodshot eyes on the distant An Lushan and Gao Shang.
Zhang Shougui’s killing intent and hatred had twisted his face into a savage visage that made An Lushan and Gao Shang tremble and take several steps back.
“Bastard!”
An Lushan was both shocked and afraid, his hands and legs going somewhat numb.
Though he had been planning his rebellion against the Great Tang for some time, and dealing with Zhang Shougui had been part of this plan, now that he saw Zhang Shougui again, An Lushan felt an instinctive fear. This fear was like that of a mouse seeing a cat, one that was branded into his soul.
“That was then and this is now. Master no longer needs to fear him!”
Gao Shang walked up behind him and placed a hand on his back, bringing An Lushan back to his senses.
“Mm!”
An Lushan nodded, and he became both angry and vexed.
He clenched his teeth and savagely ordered, “Tell Cui Qianyou that he needs to kill Zhang Shougui no matter what. He can’t be allowed to live any longer.”
Yeon Gaesomun, Ozmish Khagan, the Xi Queen, and the Khitan King all had strange looks on their faces.
Though they said nothing, they all empathized.
In this war, the last person they wanted to see was Zhang Shougui.
As the tyrant of the northeast, Zhang Shougui had not merely trained the Youzhou army, he also knew the fighting styles of Goguryeo, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Xi, and the Khitans like the back of his hand.
Unlike Wang Chong, he was extremely familiar with their strengths and weaknesses.
“Pass on my order! Find a way to kill Zhang Shougui!”
The sovereigns of the northeast swiftly gave their own orders.
Meanwhile, by the walls, Zhang Shougui was ready, his body seething with killing intent. With two hundred thousand soldiers at his command, the Zhang Shougui who had been tormented by illness, disappointment, and anger was now restored to that sharp blade of the empire.
Zhang Shougui pulled out his sword and bellowed, “Attack!”
Rumble!
The earth rumbled as two hundred thousand soldiers, a mixture of infantry and cavalry, swept out of the gap in a great wave.
“Kill!”
In the face of the nearly two million soldiers of the alliance army, the two hundred thousand soldiers lunged like fierce tigers.
Two thousand feet!
One thousand feet!
Rumble!
A moment later, the armies collided like gigantic waves.
Clang!
At the moment of impact, a dark black war halo, so black that it seemed to absorb light, erupted from Zhang Shougui’s feet and spread over his army. Three halos appeared under each of the two hundred thousand Tang soldiers, instantly boosting their energies by several levels.
With Zhang Shougui’s halo, the two hundred thousand Tang soldiers instantly tore a large gap through the alliance army.
“Ah!”
In the dense ranks of the alliance army, a Goguryeon soldier was caught off guard and instantly cut down.
The Tang soldier who had done the deed erupted with Stellar Energy and continued charging forward, blasting back two Youzhou soldiers. Behind him, more Tang soldiers rushed into the gap.
The alliance soldiers were cut down like weeds.
“Hold! Hold!”
“Stop them!”
The alliance generals frantically yelled as they tried to hold the line. Countless shield soldiers gathered, but with a mighty boom, the defense line crumbled once more.
“Kill!”
Zhang Shougui’s eyes were bloodshot, and he radiated a baneful energy that soared to the heavens. As he waved his sword, a part of his army charged out and crushed the defense line before him.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Under Zhang Shougui’s command, the army of two hundred thousand Tang soldiers was like the incessant tide, attacking, attacking, and attacking again. Wherever there was resistance, Zhang Shougui’s army would attack.
Routed!
Routed!
Routed!
The charging alliance army crumbled under Zhang Shougui’s assault.
In this frontal clash, Zhang Shougui used no tactics, formations, or strategies. He simply had his army attack, attack, and attack again, and this was enough to thoroughly rout the alliance army.
Truly a pillar of the Great Tang!
Wang Chong couldn’t help but emotionally sigh at this sight.
Old ginger was still better than the new, and Zhang Shougui deserved his reputation as one of the luminaries of the Tang military, an existence equal to Wang Zhongsi. Several months of torment and humiliation had not only failed to bring him down, the experience had stimulated a fighting power that was even more frightening than before.
On the surface, Zhang Shougui was only telling his army to attack like some brute with no skill whatsoever. But in truth, his crude commands concealed an extremely sharp sense for the battlefield.
Every place he ordered his army to attack was exactly where the alliance army was weakest.
The alliance army did not have much cohesion, and there were many openings between the various armies. Zhang Shougui was able to notice these weak points and constantly attack them, sowing chaos and widening the gaps.
Moreover, Wang Chong had given him elite soldiers, and when an army of elites attacked the enemy at their weakest, they worked with double the efficiency.
The alliance army was naturally incapable of stopping him.
Rumble!
The two hundred thousand Tang soldiers continued to push forward. Zhang Shougui had yet to even use his cavalry, and he had already crushed the enemy.
On the other side, the alliance soldiers all paled. As for An Lushan and his Youzhou generals, they all nastily scowled.
The Roaring Tiger Army had already been wiped out, so they had believed that Zhang Shougui was nothing but a toothless tiger, not much of a threat at all. But to their surprise, Zhang Shougui’s hatred had driven him to even more frightening heights.
An Lushan felt his skin crawl and his heart thump at this sight!
He clenched his teeth and almost crazily said, “Tian Qianzhen really isn’t enough. Pass on my order! Send in Cui Qianyou, Zhao Kan, and Baizhen Tuoluo as well!”
Zhang Shougui was far too frightening. If he were not killed, An Lushan would never be able to rest easy.
“Master, you can’t lose yourself!” Gao Shang softly whispered, his calm and collected voice bringing An Lushan back to his senses.
The shadow Zhang Shougui had left on An Lushan’s heart was just too great. Not even Gao Shang could change this.
“The other countries have already taken action. If Master wants to deal with Zhang Shougui, Cui Qianyou’s soldiers are enough.”
Although Gao Shang did not approve of using so many soldiers on Zhang Shougui, if they didn’t find a way to suppress Zhang Shougui and drive away this shadow on An Lushan’s heart, a panicked An Lushan would be an even greater danger to the army.
Gao Shang’s words proved effective. An Lushan raised his head and saw that the other countries had also begun to move their armies against Zhang Shougui.
Zhang Shougui’s army of two hundred thousand had drawn eight hundred thousand soldiers from the alliance. As Zhang Shougui began his assault, the armies of the other countries had formed a large net that sought to wrap around Zhang Shougui’s army.
Although Zhang Shougui was extremely strong, the other countries had their own renowned generals. Now that Zhang Shougui had entered the fray, the other countries had swiftly made the corresponding adjustments.
An Lushan finally completely calmed down.
It all depends on Tiechi Bileli now, Gao Shang thought to himself.
An army fueled by desperate courage was bound to win!
An enraged Zhang Shougui was simply too frightening, and his keen understanding of the other countries made it difficult to kill him in a short time. He could only hope for developments on the other front.
There, the Golden Wolf Army, the Sunchaser Cavalry, and the Dark Shadow Cavalry were charging at Abusi’s Tongluo Cavalry from three different angles. If they defeated the Tongluo Cavalry, the three elite armies together with hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be able to break through the rest of the Tang defense line and utilize the other two gaps to enter the fortress.
At that point, no matter how fierce Zhang Shougui was, he would not be able to stand alone.
Moreover, once Tiechi Bileli and Tian Qianzhen were free, they could come around and attack Zhang Shougui from the rear. The three elite forces of cavalry would be enough to utterly crush Zhang Shougui’s army.
Wang Chong, let’s see how you deal with this! Gao Shang mentally remarked.
Neither Abusi nor Zhang Shougui was worth fearing. What truly made Gao Shang apprehensive was that man who had been in the rear in this entire time, standing beneath the giant banner: Wang Chong.
Both Abusi and Zhang Shougui were simply executing Wang Chong’s plans.
This was particularly true for Zhang Shougui. Without Wang Chong’s intervention, the former Andong Protector-General would have been dead long ago.
Wang Chong had secretly brought him to the Cang Province precisely to deal with them.
But Gao Shang had a strong intuition that Wang Chong was hiding some other trump card. The supreme War Saint could not possibly have only these few tricks.
However, at this time, he still could not fathom what Wang Chong was hiding.