Chapter Ninety-Six: Urgent Report from the Frontier

Then Yuri Gotne turned to the men at his side and ordered, “At once, organize rescue operations. Save as many people as possible.”

“Yes, my lord!”

No sooner had they begun than a guard rushed over, saluted Yuri Gotne, and reported, “My lord, we have received a call from Chief of Staff Dadu Kur.”

Yuri Gotne froze for a moment and said, “What? Wasn’t he in Gekur as well?”

Then he suddenly remembered that Dadu Kur had already led an assault team through a secret ventilation shaft into the Gekur base. He immediately said, “Dadu Kur? Give me the communicator.”

At once, the guard handed him the device. Yuri Gotne lifted it, took the receiver, and said, “Kur, my friend, where are you?”

Dadu Kur answered, “My lord, I’m currently with a group of soldiers and some prisoners, nearly eight hundred men in all. We’re working hard to clear the debris and approach the ventilation shaft I designed earlier. It’s relatively sturdy and should not have collapsed. Once we get there, we’ll be able to come out. Please send someone to meet us.”

Yuri Gotne replied with excitement, “Good, my friend. Saving so many people is a great achievement. I will credit you for it, a major merit. I’ll come personally to receive you.”

Dadu Kur answered emotionally, “Thank you, my lord. Long live the lord!”

And so, while Yuri Gotne and the others were busy with the rescue in the Gekur base for months, in the imperial palace of the Western Capital of the Great Prosperity Kingdom, Emperor Zhao Xinglong was lost in the splendor of song and dance. Just as he was about to compose an impromptu poem, a guard suddenly rushed in and reported, “Urgent report! The Haijin Kingdom has fallen, the Luge Kingdom is in grave peril, and the Liangu Kingdom has already divided its forces and marched south, crossed the Huai River, and is approaching the Yangtze!”

“What!”

Struck by the news, Zhao Xinglong was so shocked that he could not even hold the brush he had intended for his poem; it slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. Then, in a trembling voice, he asked, “Ho-how many men have come?”

The guard answered, “According to reports, about two hundred thousand.”

“What?”

Hearing this, Zhao Xinglong’s earlier mood vanished completely. Trembling, he said to the guard, “Immediately summon all civil and military officials to discuss the matter. At once!”

“Yes!”

The guard hurried away at once.

At the same time, after several months of training, Zhang Desen’s special forces had taken initial shape. Zhang Desen was now thinking about how to find a real target for field testing.

Coincidentally, he was also preparing to take Zhao Chengming and the others by airship to meet the Liu Trading House convoy that was returning to the Western Capital. After all, Zhang Desen had flown back ahead of them before, so for the others in the city, they were still on the road home.

Because Zhang Desen’s fame in the Western Capital had grown enormously by now, there would surely be many admirers rushing to welcome their beloved “Odd-Clothed Hero.” For that reason, Zhang Desen and the others needed to make certain things appear reasonable; otherwise, unnecessary trouble might arise.

What Zhang Desen had not expected was that, during this time, the Crown Prince of the Great Prosperity Kingdom, Zhao Degou, after being rejected when he proposed marriage at the Liu residence, had actually joined forces with Councilor Qian and submitted a memorial to Emperor Zhao Xinglong, falsely accusing Zhang Desen.

The main content of their accusation was this:

Zhang Desen had no master in the Southern Dian Kingdom at all, and his departure from the Western Capital was merely because he did not wish to accept the official post bestowed by the emperor and thereby disappoint imperial favor.

Therefore, they requested that officials be sent to the Southern Dian Kingdom to investigate.

Zhang Desen found this amusing. After all, the Southern Dian Kingdom was already in complete chaos; going there would be pointless. Still, he would need to prepare a few explanations.

Meanwhile, the reason Zhao Degou and the others had done this was likely out of a sense of crisis.

Zhang Chengwei and the others analyzed the situation and concluded that the prime minister’s power had greatly increased because of Zhang Desen. Before this, Crown Prince Zhao Degou had been close to Councilor Qian, while the second prince Zhao Guangzhou had been close to Prime Minister Zhang Chengwei, and both factions held influence within the civil bureaucracy.

But then Zhang Desen suddenly became the “Odd-Clothed Hero,” indirectly expanding Prime Minister Zhang Chengwei’s influence among the common people. And because he defeated the first warrior of the Liangu Kingdom, Xiao Liba, his fame soared. In an instant, he became an object of admiration within the Great Prosperity military, and even Feng Yucai, the first man in the Great Prosperity army, drew closer to Prime Minister Zhang Chengwei, further strengthening the power of Zhao Guangzhou and Zhang Chengwei.

Moreover, Zhang Desen was now the son-in-law of the Liu family, which meant that Zhao Guangzhou and Zhang Chengwei’s camp suddenly had abundant financial support as well. This made them feel even more threatened.

Perhaps Zhao Degou’s earlier actions had been meant to weaken Zhang Chengwei’s power from the outset.

At that moment, a Liu household retainer suddenly rushed over and said to Zhang Desen, “Young master, the prime minister has something urgent come up and cannot come today.”

Zhang Desen asked, “What happened?”

“According to reports, the Liangu Kingdom destroyed Haijin Kingdom and marched south. Their vanguard has already approached Yangzhou. His Majesty has summoned all civil and military officials to the palace for discussion.”

“Oh?” Zhang Desen became interested, for this seemed like an excellent target to test his blade upon. He then asked, “Where is their commander? Is he in Yangzhou as well?”

The retainer answered, “That I do not know. But according to the usual habits of the Liangu commander, even if he is not there now, he will likely arrive before long.”

Hearing this, Zhang Desen said, “Try to bring me some more accurate intelligence. By the way, how many men do they have?”

“They are said to have one hundred thousand.”

“Good. Go and gather more precise information for me!”

“Yes!” With that, the retainer withdrew.

Seeing that Zhang Desen seemed somewhat excited, Li Longfang asked, “Captain, do you mean to...?”

“That’s right. I was just worrying about finding someone for a field test, and I never expected a target to come knocking on the door.”

Li Longfang said with some concern, “But the enemy has three hundred thousand men, while all of us together amount to only ninety-five!”

Zhang Desen replied, “Don’t worry. I’m not foolish. I’m not very interested in wiping out three hundred thousand men, but I am very interested in the head of their commander.”

At this time, the atmosphere in the imperial palace of the Great Prosperity Kingdom’s Western Capital was extremely grave.

In fact, several months earlier, after Feng Qiwei had led his troops out on campaign, Councilor Qian had, in order to ensure that Qian Yanei had sufficient troops, supplies, and other resources, continuously moved the Great Prosperity Kingdom’s forces and materiel westward under various pretexts over the course of those months. Prime Minister Zhang Chengwei, having already intended as much, did not stop him. As for General Feng Yucai, after the earlier disputes, he feared that Emperor Zhao Xinglong might suspect him of harboring excessive military power, so he had little to say on the matter.

But this left only about fifty thousand troops available around the Western Capital of the Great Prosperity Kingdom. Although those fifty thousand did not include the Imperial Guard, it was impossible to mobilize the Imperial Guard at will. Yet even with the current situation, the total number, including the Imperial Guard, could not exceed fifty thousand. Facing the Liangu Kingdom’s one hundred thousand troops, it was nothing more than a drop in the bucket.

Just when everyone had no good solution, an even worse piece of news arrived. A guard rushed into the great hall and reported, “Urgent report! Earlier information was wrong. The Liangu army has already broken through Yangzhou and other places, crossed Tai Lake, and is approaching the Western Capital!”

“What!”

This time, the entire hall erupted even more violently. After Zhao Xinglong dismissed the guard, he asked, “Since matters have come to this pass, what wise counsel do you have, ministers?”

Just as everyone hesitated, the Grand General Feng Yucai stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, do not be alarmed. As long as you permit me to mobilize every troop that can be mobilized, I will surely protect Your Majesty’s safety until reinforcements arrive.”

Zhao Xinglong finally felt somewhat reassured and said, “My loyal minister is indeed a pillar of the state. The troops around the Western Capital are yours to command as you see fit, but I still need the three thousand imperial guards to defend the city. Still, I can spare ten thousand of them for the Grand General. Do as you please, Grand General.”

Zhao Xinglong had always regarded the Imperial Guard as the very foundation of his survival, so being able to give out even ten thousand was already more than enough. At this, Feng Yucai said, “Thank you for Your Majesty’s trust. I will certainly live up to Your Majesty’s expectations. But please issue the decree as soon as possible and transfer back as many western troops as you can.”

Zhao Xinglong replied, “Do as you wish, loyal minister. I will personally handle the rest.”

At that point, there was nothing more to say in court, so the assembly was dismissed.

Then Grand General Feng Yucai gathered the fifty thousand troops around the Western Capital, plus ten thousand Imperial Guards, with the fastest speed possible and hurried north to meet the enemy.

Very soon, the matter spread throughout the entire Western Capital. Upon hearing that the Liangu Kingdom’s three hundred thousand-strong army was already bearing down on them, the city fell into complete chaos, and many people began packing their belongings in preparation to flee.

At this time, Zhang Chengwei, who had just left the court, did not return home. Instead, he headed straight to Mount Wu, to Zhang Desen’s special forces training ground. At the same time, Zhang Desen had already told Li Longfang and the others that he wanted to use Liangu Kingdom’s southern invasion to test the special forces’ strength. They were now discussing how to proceed. Although Li Longfang, Zhao Chengming, and the others had spent this period training special forces alongside Zhang Desen, and they had come to deeply approve of Zhang Desen’s new training methods, knowing that the forces shaped by such methods would be extremely formidable, they were still worried that Liangu Kingdom’s army was too large and not easy to deal with. Zhang Desen, however, said, “It’s precisely because they have so many troops that they often let down their guard. As long as our special forces infiltrate quietly and strike by capturing the leader first, the matter may be over before they even react. Without their commander, the enemy army will likely be unable to form much combat power at all.”

Just as Zhang Desen finished speaking, a voice rang out. “How ignorant and arrogant!”

Everyone was startled to see that it was Prime Minister Zhang Chengwei, and they hurried to salute. But Zhang Chengwei said, “Enough, no need for ceremony...” Then, turning to Zhang Desen, he said, “Desen, you are being far too fanciful. I have already received word that the great general sent by the Liangu Kingdom this time is Wanlu Wudi, the younger brother of Emperor Wanlu Tianbao and one of the Liangu Kingdom’s marshals. This man is born with prodigious strength and is highly skilled in warfare. During the wars to unify the Liangu Kingdom, he repeatedly won victories despite being outnumbered, and the nations all called him the Invincible Warrior General. More than that, Haijin Kingdom fell at his hands. Just now, even Grand General Feng Yucai said that unless the forces were evenly matched, he did not think the odds were good. And now you want to defeat him with these mere ninety-three men? You are the one who does not know the height of heaven and the breadth of earth. Do you take war for child’s play?”

After hearing this, Zhang Desen said calmly, “Father, I do not intend to swallow the entire three hundred thousand-strong Liangu army. You are right: to think I can devour one hundred thousand troops with only ninety-three men would indeed be unrealistic. But I am very interested in swallowing their commander!”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengwei said, “You... this... alas...”

They argued for a while longer, but seeing that Zhang Desen would not yield, Zhang Chengwei could only say, “Very well. If you insist, I cannot stop you. But remember this: if you encounter anything you cannot handle, do not force yourself. I will help you pack some things, and if the situation becomes uncontrollable, you must hurry to a safe place.”

Zhang Desen replied, “Thank you for your concern, Father. It is just that I feel Wanlu Wudi will not live through tonight.”

Zhang Chengwei could only sigh. “Ignorant and reckless...” Then he turned to Li Longfang and said, “Longfang, you know what you should do, yes?”

Li Longfang said, “Rest assured, Prime Minister. As long as I, Li Longfang, still draw breath, the young master will absolutely be safe and sound.”

Only then did Zhang Chengwei leave with a sigh.

Seeing this, Zhang Desen decided that tonight he would make a name that would shake the world.

Li Longfang suddenly asked Zhang Desen, “Do we proceed according to the plan?”

Zhang Desen answered without hesitation, “Yes. I want to see exactly what makes that Wanlu Wudi so invincible.”