Chapter 1044 - Arabia! The Army Gathers!
Chapter 1044: Arabia! The Army Gathers!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“But Father, Young Marquis Wang Chong is the Son of Heaven’s disciple, and his grandfather Duke Jiu is revered and admired throughout the world. Moreover, in the war of the southwest, the Young Marquis expended all his wealth to hire and equip several thousand mercenaries, and then put himself at great risk by going to the southwest. In the end, he managed to reverse the tides and rescue the civilians of the southwest from disaster. Is not a loyal and righteous subject like this worthy of our Yuchi Clan’s assistance?”
Yuchi Fen gripped his swollen cheek, but he still wanted to argue his case.
“Bastard! The winner is made king while the defeated is scorned. The Wang Clan is a loyal subject today, but how do you know that it won’t be a traitor in the future? Moreover, our Yuchi Clan’s Ultimate Martial Army only serves the country. It is not for the Wang Clan to use. If we let the outside world know that our Yuchi Clan worked with the Wang Clan and then another disaster arrives, do you think our Yuchi Clan will still have a future? Do you think that the Sage Emperor will pardon us again?”
The Yuchi Patriarch’s eyes were harsh and stern.
Yuchi Fen was stunned into speechlessness by these words.
“Vile spawn, why haven’t you moved yet!” the Yuchi Patriarch angrily said.
“Enough!”
At this moment, an elderly voice came from underground and echoed through the reception hall. Both the Yuchi Patriarch and Yuchi Fen paled in shock. In addition, a hint of respect appeared on the Yuchi Patriarch’s face while a hint of surprised delight appeared on Yuchi Fen’s face as if he had encountered his savior.
“Grandpa Zeng!”
“Fen-er’s words are correct!” the elderly voice said.
“Forefather!”
The Yuchi Patriarch slightly grimaced at these words.
“Fen-er, Grandpa Zeng asks you, the Wang Chong you spoke of is Duke Jiu’s grandson and is both loyal and righteous. Is that so?”
The elderly voice continued, ringing like thunderous peals in the ears of the father and son.
“Grandpa Zeng, I’m absolutely sure of it!” Yuchi Fen declared.
“Grandpa Zeng understands. Yuchi Feng, bring that letter over me and let me take a look.” The elderly voice spoke with absolute majesty.
“Yes, Forefather!”
The Yuchi Patriarch hesitated for a moment, but, unable to defy the will of his forefather, he brought the letter into the inner court.
……
Several days later, deep into the night, the ground in the rear courtyard of the Yuchi Residence suddenly split upon, revealing a massive tunnel. A second later, black-armored cavalry began to ride out from the tunnel. Each of these cavalrymen had a fierce and doughty aura, like a sword unsheathed and ready to slash. Their auras were also extremely heavy and stable, imbuing them with a formidable sense of strength. Most unique of all was the helmets these cavalry wore.
All of these black-armored cavalrymen had a cruel and callous mask on their faces.
“Hyah!”
The leader of the Ultimate Martial Army pressed on the flanks of his horse and led his more than two thousand soldiers of the Ultimate Martial Army into the darkness.
……
Time slowly passed. The Great Tang, Ü-Tsang, the Western Turkic Khaganate, and Arabia were all putting every possible moment into increasing their strength for the upcoming battle. The danger hanging over Talas grew by the day. Not one of these four empires showed any signs of wanting to retreat or leave the situation as it was.
Winds would precede the coming of a storm. Everyone knew that Talas was a bomb, but nobody knew when it would explode.
……
In the distant Arabian Empire, in the Pearl of the West that was Khorasan, flames and smoke filled the skies night and day to the chorus of hammering metal.
Every day, many suits of Meteoric Star armor would be forged for the elite Mameluke warriors. This supreme force of the Arabian Empire was advancing through its own methods every day, becoming more dauntless and terrifying.
Rumble!
Countless Arab smiths were working every day in the estate of the Lord of Khorasan. In the middle of their constant hammering and forging, the ground began to shake, intense tremors arising from the west. The trembling was accompanied by the neighing of countless warhorses and the harsh shouts of cavalrymen. It appeared that a great force of cavalry was approaching Khorasan.
This noise threw the smiths into chaos. Khorasan had experienced many rebellions, but the Mamelukes had still not managed to capture the remnants of the Sassanid Dynasty.
No one knew if these Sassanid remnants were coming for them. These people loathed the Arabs, and these smiths who forged the mighty weapons of the Arabian Empire would naturally be one of their targets.
Clang! Clang!
In a metallic clanging, the Mamelukes on the perimeter began to prepare countermeasures.
“Stand down!”
The lordly estate shook as a tall and erect figure emerged. Mameluke Commander Aybak stared at the approaching army and faintly smiled.
“This is Osman and his army!”
The smiths were all stunned, and then relieved to hear these words. The Mamelukes on the perimeter also dispersed according to Aybak’s order.
Osman was the Governor of Cairo and one of the strongest governors of the Arabian Empire!
He had clearly appeared at Khorasan to join with the Mamelukes holding this place down so that they could set off for Talas.
“Although he’s a little late, it’s not by too much.”
Aybak smiled as he muttered to himself.
Neigh!
At this moment, the resounding cry of a horse tore through the sky. As this neigh still echoed in the air, the western sky suddenly turned red as if set aflame. In the middle of this flaming light, a powerful storm of energy appeared.
“Hahaha! Aybak, you also wish to take a share of the Tang at Talas?”
This thunderous voice left all of Khorasan quaking in fear. From this distance, Aybak could clearly make out that steel tower of a figure and his thick brown beard. He was riding a black steed taller than a man, galloping toward him like a demon god rising from Hell.
He was followed by a powerful and well-equipped army that seemed for all the world like an apocalyptic flood.
“Hahaha, Osman, I’m acting on an imperial decree. You wouldn’t question the decrees of the Caliph and the High Priest, right?”
Aybak laughed as a tyrannical aura exploded from his body like an erupting volcano. The surrounding ground began to quake while space began to twist. His energy was not one bit inferior to Osman’s.
In the distance, Osman’s tiger-like eyes exuded an intimidating light as he galloped forward at astonishing speed. In just a few moments, Osman and his lofty black steed had appeared outside the Lord of Khorasan’s estate like a descending god.
The rushing wind blew out Osman’s enormous black cape, causing it to snap in the wind. This only made Osman’s muscular figure seem even larger and mightier!
“Hah, Aybak, it seems like we’re going to work together again!”
Osman looked down from his horse at Aybak and chuckled.
“Correct! But this time, our goal is no longer Khorasan, but the even greater objective to the east, an even vaster world! This time, we are conquering the entire east! Osman, I welcome you!”
Aybak grinned.
Osman laughed as he trotted his horse forward and dismounted, whereupon he gave Aybak a hug.
The three conquerors who had brought upon the destruction of the ancient Khorasan Dynasty had gathered once more.
……
The horns of war were already blowing. Now that Osman and his more than one hundred thousand soldiers had joined together with the ten thousand Mamelukes, this strategic city of the east had become a military fort.
With Osman’s arrival, the enormous war machine of the Arabian Empire began to turn.
In a place no one could see, another enormous army was progressing with astonishing speed, marching night and day from Tarsus in central Arabia’s north to Khorasan. The mobilization of this army’s commander caused a stir throughout the Arabian Empire.
Even the Caliph was keeping a watch on this army’s movements.
This army flew the banner of a blazing black hell flame, and beneath this flame was the crumbling continent aflame!
This banner was known throughout the Arabian Empire, because the person it represented was the Arabian Empire’s most illustrious governor: the Governor of War, Qutaybah!
In the Arabian Empire, this name was even more famous than those of the Governor of Iron and Blood, the Governor of Cairo, and the Mameluke Commander, the three conquerors of the Khorasan Dynasty. In Arabia, this was the governor who had fought the most wars, killed the most experts, and destroyed the most empires.
If not for the fact that the Caliph had sent Abu Muslim, Osman, and Aybak to conquer Khorasan while sending Qutaybah to the north so as to maintain the balance of power, Khorasan would have been conquered by one man, not three.
The title of the ‘Three Conquerors’ would also have ceased to exist.
The Three Conquerors were now joining with Governor Qutaybah to gather the most supreme force in the history of the Arabian Empire. This was a force that could fight a war on the same level as the one it had fought against the Sassanid Dynasty, an empire-level war.