Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 1178 – Hanwu Emperor’s Pain
6th month, 11th day, Hetao Battlefield.
The effects achieved by the beast wave exceeded everyone’s expectations. When Xiao Chaogui handed over the detailed intelligence report to the command headquarters, even the cold and cool Baiqi was stunned.
“Is this not too much of a coincidence?” Even Baiqi was in disbelief, “The beast wave coming at such a right time, coincidentally coming when their camp blew up. I have never heard of something like that happen before.”
Ouyang Shuo smiled, “The heavens forsake the Peacock Dynasty. General, when the right time comes, and we do not act, things might go against us instead.” Ouyang Shuo did not expect that such an unassuming talisman would actually achieve such miraculous effects.
It seems like Blood Romance was the lucky star of Great Xia.
When Baiqi heard that, he cupped his fists and said solemnly, “I understand, I will arrange the troops to chase for victory. We will give the enemy troops a heavy blow as revenge for before.”
“That’s right.” Ouyang Shuo smiled.
Baiqi continued, “My king, I will need your help on this. Please summon the imperial city guards to catch the enemy off guard.”
In order to not raise the suspicions of Great Zhou, it was best if they summoned the Great Han imperial guards later. However, in Baiqi’s eyes, now was the best time to do so, and they could not let matters drag on any longer.
They had no choice but to summon the guards early.
After all, with just the strength of Dragon Legion Corps, even though the Peacock Dynasty troops had suffered heavy losses from the beast wave, they still had 500 thousand troops at the border that the Dragon Legion Corps could not match up to.
At most, they would only be able to reach a stalemate.
If one added in the 320 thousand Great Han iron cavalry, the situation would be totally different. Great Xia’s forces would be comparable to the enemy troops, and with the valiant Dragon Legion Corps and Great Han iron cavalry, the combat strength distribution would be totally one-sided.
Ouyang Shuo did not hesitate, agreeing to Baiqi’s request with a smile, “Let’s go outside of the city!”
“Yes, my king!”
Very quickly, their group arrived outside of Pangbin City.
Currently, the Peacock Dynasty army that was in charge of monitoring the Pangbin City troops were on high alert and ready to reinforce Durava after learning about what happened to their troops.
Seeing the Dragon Legion Corps in Pangbin City moving out, they did not dare to take it lightly, and the entire camp was ready in wait.
Ouyang Shuo did not bother about them, swiftly completing the summoning.
It only took an instance, and an eye-catching white light flashed outside of Pangbin City. Once the white light faded, 320 thousand Great Han iron cavalry appeared, a truly astounding scene.
The leading general looked at Ouyang Shuo with a complicated expression, cupping his fist, “I am the Great Hang general that is in charge of leading the troops to reinforce you. My troops are under your command, Xia King.”
To allow the summoned imperial city guards to be thrown quickly into battle, and for no other unexpected changes to occur, Gaia ruled that the summoned guards would follow orders unconditionally.
For example, in the previous Battle of Naijia, even if Durava purposely used the imperial city guards as cannon fodder, there was nothing that they could do.
Only under specific circumstances would the imperial city guards explode.
Seeing that the one who came was not Wei Qing, a look of disappointment flashed across his eyes. Ouyang Shuo was well read regarding history and knew about Shangguan Jie.
Shangguan Jie was famous for his ability and skill; he was appointed Grand Servant, and when Hanwu Emperor Liu Che was sick, he was appointed as left general and given the title of Anyang Lord.
Looking at his experience, although he was appointed as the left general, he had never worked in the military. Instead, he had worked in the Imperial Court. For the Hanwu Emperor to send this person to lead the army, one could see how frustrated he was.
After Emperor Zhao of Han ascended, Shangguan Jie’s son married Huo Guang’s daughter, and their families got closer to one another. Prior to this, Shangguan Jie already had a good relationship with Huo Guang.
When Huo Guang was out, Shangguang Jie often took over Huo Guang’s administrative duties.
Following which, because Shangguan Jie’s son was punished for seeking an official appointment for Princess Eyi’s boyfriend, it caused Huo Guang and Shangguan Jie to not see eye to eye.
In the 1st year, 9th month of Emperor Zhao’s rule, Shangguan Jie along with Liu Dan and Sang Hongyang tried to assassinate Huo Guang. Not long after their failure, Shangguan Jie was killed.
Ouyang Shuo noticed from his eyes that he was trying to avoid him.
The smart Ouyang Shuo naturally understood the reasoning behind that. Huo Guang, who had a past history with Shangguan Jie, was currently working in Great Xia and was holding the high post of Liaojin Provincial Governor.
Comparing the two, it was obvious why Shangguan Jie felt complicated.
The reason why Ouyang Shuo remembered Shangguan Jie, apart from his relationship with Huo Guang, was also because of his granddaughter’s legendary journey as empress. This journey interested him.
Shangguan Shi entered the palace as a concubine at six. A month had passed, and she became the empress, becoming the youngest empress in Chinese history.
Emperor Zhao of Han was the youngest son of Hanwu Emperor. After his elder son Liu Ju committed suicide, Hanwu Emperor’s heart turned cold. Only before his death did he make Emperor Zhao of Han the crown prince.
After the death of Hanwu Emperor, Emperor Zhao of Han ascended the throne at only eight. 74 BC, he who had ruled for only 14 years died from an illness in Chang An. At that time, he was only 21 years old.
Following which, with the support of Huo Guang and other ministers, the Marquis of Haihun ascended to the throne, and Shangguan Shi became empress dowager.
27 days after the Marquis of Haihun took the throne, due to excessive spending and indulgence, he was kicked off the throne.
After that, he was once again supported by Huo Guang, and he let Liu Xun get adopted by Emperor Zhao, becoming Emperor Xuan of Han.
And Emperor Xuan was crown prince Liu Ju’s grandson, who committed suicide in the coup against Hanwu Emperor. History was such a cycle, twisting and turning and even returning to the same starting spot.
Maybe his tough childhood allowed Emperor Xuan to understand the pain of the people, as during his rule, he chose talented people to support him. Among these people, there were the famous 11 officials of Kirin court.
Emperor Xuan was a famous ruler in Chinese history. During his rule, the entire country was peaceful, the economy was prosperous, and everyone recognized him as their ruler. People claimed that West Han’s rule under him was the strongest.
In a period where temple titles for dead emperors were known for being hard to get, Liu Xun was one of the four that actually got one. The other three were Liu Bang, Hanwen Emperor, and Hanwu Emperor.
49 BC, Emperor Xuan died, and Emperor Yuan took over. The 40 year old empress dowager became the grandma-empress dowager until the 37 BC, where she died at the age of 52.
She was the second person after Empress dowager Lu to become a grandma-empress dowager. However, she was not the winner of a battle for power in the Imperial Court or a female ruler that held all power. She was just a weak little grass would be killed at any moment that if she did not listen.
From her title, she held a huge honor that every girl in the world wished for, getting everything that she wanted. However, in truth, that was far from it.
Becoming empress at six, empress dowager at 15, and grandma-empress dowager at 40, she had no children, her adopted children filling up the palace. Her father and brother were killed when she was eight, her husband died when she was 15, and the mother’s side of her family all died when she was 24. Huo Chengjun was her only relative left in the world.
These things took away the happiness of her childhood, only leaving her with grievances and loneliness. Shangguan Shi was bounded in the palace by rules and customs until she died.
When Ouyang Shuo read about that part of history, he was filled with emotions.
Now, seeing her grandfather, Shangguan Jie, who was the reason why she entered the palace in the first place, Ouyang Shuo felt like he had traveled through time.
However, Ouyang Shuo was still Ouyang Shuo, and he quickly came back to his senses. After accepting the greeting, he turned toward Baiqi and said, “General Shangguan will listen to general Baiqi’s orders.”
“Yes!”
Shangguan Jie bowed toward Baiqi, confirming their relationship.
After the handing over, Ouyang Shuo immediately reentered into the city, handing the battlefield matters to Baiqi. Immediately, Baiqi used his appointment as the commander of the command headquarters to announce a series of orders.
He ordered the 5th legion to exit the city to hunt down the remnant Peacock Dynasty forces and try to kill Durava.
After the beast wave, only a small number of the 400 thousand odd Peacock Dynasty troops remained. Furthermore, they were split up, and this was the best chance to strike them. As long as the 5th legion attacked adequately, they would be able to wipe them all out.
With the ability of Xiao Chaogui, he obviously would not let Ouyang Shuo down. The 5th legion had suffered heavy casualties, and everyone in the army hated Peacock Dynasty to the bone, so the morale was not a worry.
With everything going for them, if they succeeded, it would be like them cutting away an arm of Peacock Dynasty.
As for the remaining four legions of the Dragon Legion Corps, Baiqi ordered them, together with the 320 thousand Great Han iron cavalry, to launch an assault at Peacock Dynasty.
The first to get hit was the army that was outside of Pangbin City. Under the leadership of Shangguan Jie, the 320 thousand iron cavalry vanguard swarmed the enemy like a wave.
The moment the enemies saw the summoned Great Han iron cavalry, they were terrified, and their faces turned ashen white. They did not even hesitate and fled immediately.
Unfortunately, no matter how fast they were, they could not outrun the Great Han iron cavalry.
The battle raged once more; the country war situation had turned on its head.
…
China region, Great Han, Luoyang.
Within the majestic palace, sitting on the ice-cold dragon throne, Hanwu Emperor, who was over 50, looked on, his face totally green. His hands were in an eagle claw grip as he held the two supports on his throne tightly. Currently, his eyes were blood red.
“What a bully; what a bully!”
The prideful Hanwu Emperor had never expected that his dynasty would fall to such a state because of his pride and him not bowing his head to Great Xia.
The moment the 320 thousand guards were teleported out, his heart turned cold. Based on the previous example, the moment the guards were teleported away, only a tenth of them would be able to return.
This was fatal to the Great Han Dynasty.
Great Xia’s revenge was simple and vicious, infuriating Hanwu Emperor. However, there was nothing he could do. Great Han sat in the mid plains and enemies were all around him. The moment the imperial city guards were gone, the enemies would tear him to shreds.
In the wilderness, this was to be expected.
The only way out for Hanwu Emperor was to surrender to one of the sides to keep his life. However, with his character, he would not surrender even if he died.
Due to that, all the more he would not lower his head to Ouyang Shuo.
The current news of the guards being teleported away was totally locked down. However, paper would not be able stop fire, and the moment the news spread out, Great Han would collapse.
On the ice-cold dragon throne, a ruler of a generation was solemnly seated.
…
6th month, 16th day, Hetao battlefield.
In a short five days, the Peacock Dynasty army was forced back, unable to put up a decent fight. Luckily for them, Durava managed to escape. After gathering up with the main force, he managed to barely stabilize the situation.
Even then, he was not able to turn the losing situation around.
To expend the 320 thousand Great Han iron cavalry on the battlefield, Baiqi’s attacks were cruel and resolute. As the battle went on, he did not bother about sacrifices and just aimed to cause as many casualties to the Peacock Dynasty army as possible.
“Those lunatics!”
Under the ferocious attacks of Great Xia, Durava’s face turned green. He gritted his teeth and showed the decisiveness of a great ruler. He ordered them to leave Hetao Province, losing the ambition of taking it down.
This time, Durava had lost everything. Not to mention the heavy casualties, but he was even forced to flee before taking down a single city.
After this one battle, his reputation in India fell greatly.
When Gupta Dynasty on the southside received the news of Peacock Dynasty retreating, they who had been hampered by the Guards Legion Corps followed suit and swiftly disappeared into the ocean.
Any slower, and they would have been surrounded by the Great Xia Army.
Gupta King Akbar was truly an experienced member of Azure Badge. His attacks were not really eager, but when retreating, he was the fastest to do so. Before the Indian Ocean Squadron even reacted, they were back in India.
One could not help but praise them.
Along with the Gupta Dynasty backing off, the country war that India had started ended haphazardly. The results made one drop their spectacles in shock.
However, even more shocking news was about to follow.
Peacock Dynasty wanted to retreat, but Great Xia did not allow them to so. Seeing that the country war month was not over yet, the Great Han iron cavalry chased, charging into Peacock Dynasty territory and engaging in slaughter.
The tables had turned.
To Great Xia, the Great Han iron cavalry was a suicide squad. Naturally, they should use them to their fullest potential. They needed to sweep the territory of Peacock Dynasty, destroying the villages and snatching their riches as a form of revenge.
“How they treated us, we are going to return it to them in full,” Ouyang Shuo said.
The reason Ouyang Shuo made this decision was not purely for revenge. First, he wanted to use the iron cavalry to make the job of the southeast warzone easier in the future. Secondly, he wanted to destroy the defenses of Peacock Dynasty to crush their confidence and to stop their rise.
Only by giving them a heavy blow could Ouyang Shuo ensure that Durava would not have any other thoughts.
One more point was that if he reduced the power of Peacock Dynasty, causing it to fall to around the same level as Gupta Dynasty, changes would occur in the internal competition of the India region.
When the two tigers fought one another, they would not have any energy to fight Great Xia.
That could help ensure the peace of the Hetao Province border, and it would also buy enough time for Great Xia to wipe out their internal problems.
Once the country war month ended, apart from the summoned imperial city guards, Peacock Dynasty would have lost 400 thousand troops. That was the loss of an entire legion corps, and its border territories would be turned to ruins.
Before the start of the war, Durava would have never thought that the battle would end like this.
