Chapter 47 : The Vanished Anxi Army
Chapter 47: The Vanished Anxi Army
By the time May arrived—
With the Dragon Ranking updated that month, Jiang Zhaoming’s position had risen into the top forty, now ranking thirty-ninth.
His dazzling performance on the Dragon Ranking made all the princes of the realm change their perception of this Prince of Anxi.
No one could have foreseen that this Prince of Anxi, who had only arrived in Anxi for a year, could achieve such astonishing accomplishments in such a short time.
What was even more shocking to the princes was that, judging from the current state of Anxi Prefecture, Jiang Zhaoming still had plenty of Imperial Destiny Value within reach.
For instance, among the ten counties in the eastern part of Anxi Prefecture—Yili, Luntai, Kuqa, Cangbei, and Beiting—five counties had already completely returned to the embrace of the Great Zhou.
As for the remaining five, Jiang Zhaoming only needed to resolve the Blue Wolf Army in Loulan County to easily reclaim them.
That meant Jiang Zhaoming was only one final step away from ruling the entire Eastern Anxi.
Unfortunately, the uproar within the central territories had little effect on this outer frontier land of Anxi.
Shortly after concluding his deal with the Prince of Huzhou, trouble broke out in Cangbei County.
Inside the Cangbei City Lord’s Mansion—
Personal guard Xu Xian hurried into the hall and presented a piece of intelligence.
“Your Highness, yesterday the Blue Wolf Army dispatched five units of Blue Wolf Cavalry, committing unspeakable atrocities across several southwestern counties of Cangbei!”
Jiang Zhaoming took the communication talisman and skimmed through it briefly.
“The Blue Wolf Army, on the previous day, dispatched five corps of ten thousand riders each, launching indiscriminate massacres upon seven towns including Shajin and Luoping in the southwest of Cangbei County. A total of 1.24 million civilians perished. Fortunately, with the support of the Black-Armored Army and the Queshe Army, the slaughter did not spread further.”
Xu Xian quietly stole a glance at Jiang Zhaoming, yet saw his expression remain utterly calm, as if nothing had happened.
It was not that Jiang Zhaoming did not care about the matter—he had already learned of it from Qin Qiong and the others.
No matter how furious he was, he could only suppress it for now. The most important thing at present was to avenge those 1.24 million souls.
After a long silence, Jiang Zhaoming suddenly spoke. “Xu Xian, hear my command—prepare an edict for me.”
Hearing this, Xu Xian immediately knelt and began drafting the imperial decree.
“Transmit this: the Black-Armored Army, Queshe Army, Beiting Army, Prefectural City Army, Luntai Army, Kuqa Army, and Bandit-Subduing Army shall immediately set forth and attack Loulan! Furthermore, within the ten eastern counties of Anxi, whether garrison troops or rebels, as long as they join in the assault on Loulan, their past transgressions shall be dealt with leniently.”
Xu Xian was startled, and as he wrote, he spoke softly, “Your Highness, this is a grave matter. Should we not first consult with the other generals?”
Jiang Zhaoming replied in a deep tone, “The generals will support my decision. Issue the command directly.”
After a pause, he added, “Considering that Kuqa is far away, the Kuqa Army may remain for now.”
Xu Xian nodded, crossed out the name of the Kuqa Army, and waited quietly.
However, Jiang Zhaoming said nothing more. Xu Xian then placed the completed decree before him for approval.
Jiang Zhaoming glanced over it, took out his dragon-patterned jade pendant, and instantly, a dragon-engraved seal imprint fell upon the top of the decree.
The decree spread swiftly throughout Anxi Prefecture, stirring unrest across the ten eastern counties.
Following the decree’s issue, all the generals under Jiang Zhaoming’s command immediately convened to plan the assault.
Each commander quickly completed their strategy and led their respective forces to deploy toward their targets.
As for several misguided armies within the prefecture—upon reading that line, “Past transgressions shall be dealt with leniently”—they grew restless with anticipation.
Countless powers began to weigh and measure—who would win this war?
But the answer was evident. Since Jiang Zhaoming’s arrival in Anxi, he had never suffered defeat. His army clearly appeared stronger.
Thus, among the five eastern counties of Anxi that had yet to return, apart from Loulan, the remaining four saw the emergence of numerous “righteous armies.”
These righteous armies, unified under local governments, formed a not-insignificant force.
Altogether, they numbered thirty-seven thousand soldiers, composed of roughly a hundred small factions.
Jiang Zhaoming did not expect this force to stand against the Blue Wolf Army.
After all, without Divine Power–realm generals or any battle formations, such an army would be nothing more than cannon fodder in battles of this scale.
It was no exaggeration to say—even two thousand soldiers from the Prefectural City Army could rout them completely.
Still, this army was not entirely without purpose.
Reclaiming Loulan County was unlike reclaiming any other county.
The rebels in other places were no more than bandit-like rabble.
Yet, within Loulan County, the Blue Wolf Army was not such rabble—they were the true rulers of Loulan.
Beyond the Blue Wolf Army itself, Loulan also had its own county army, as well as numerous county militias and local volunteers—all under their control.
These county militias and village troops were numerous, complex in composition, and extremely scattered.
If Jiang Zhaoming’s regular army were to handle all these local forces, it would consume immense time and effort—and risk giving the Blue Wolf Army an opening.
Hence, these thirty-seven thousand strong, capable yet untrained irregulars, were perfectly suited to deal with those local militias and volunteers.
Still, during the massacre, the Blue Wolf Army had displayed formidable strength.
Even after the Black-Armored Army and Queshe Army had slain nearly twenty thousand Blue Wolf Iron Cavalry, they still retained many riders.
In that massacre, the Blue Wolf Army had deployed thirty thousand heavy cavalry, ten thousand light cavalry, and ten thousand mounted archers.
Including their infantry—at least forty thousand heavily armed elite foot soldiers—they possessed no fewer than ninety thousand elite troops.
Aside from these ninety thousand elites, they could still mobilize the Loulan Army.
Even if Loulan’s best had already been absorbed by the Blue Wolf Army, the Loulan Army remained a regular army proficient in battle formations.
That alone meant at least another ten thousand elites.
By rough estimation, there were no fewer than one hundred thousand regular elite troops lurking within Loulan County.
“This Blue Wolf Army truly won’t be easy to deal with.”
As he pondered, Jiang Zhaoming took out a communication talisman, personally penned a message, and stamped it with the dragon seal.
After confirming there were no mistakes, he set the talisman aflame.
However, as the talisman burned, Jiang Zhaoming’s brows furrowed.
“What’s going on? Why didn’t it succeed?”
He watched as the white smoke from the burning talisman drifted erratically instead of forming a connecting line.
Frowning, he checked again whether he had used a sending or receiving talisman.
It was indeed a sending talisman—so why couldn’t it transmit?
There was only one possible reason—the recipient was no longer within the borders of the Great Zhou.
“Where has General Wan gone?”
Jiang Zhaoming sat down again, brows tightly knitted.
“Logically speaking, even the thirteen western counties are part of the Great Zhou. No matter where he is, General Wan should still be able to receive the message.”
Puzzled, three days passed.
The armies long stationed along the border between Cangbei and Loulan began their slow advance toward Loulan.
Yet Jiang Zhaoming still could not reach Wan Donglai—nor could he contact the generals of the Yili Army.
This was growing strange.
What exactly were Wan Donglai and the Anxi Army doing?
At the very moment the Prince of Anxi needed to mobilize his troops, he was unable to reach his two most powerful armies.
He had intended to summon Wan Donglai—if not the man himself, at least some elite troops of the Anxi Army or Yili Army.
With those elites, combined with his current forces, crushing the Blue Wolf Army would not have been difficult.
“Forget it. Once I take Loulan, I’ll go ask you myself.”
Irritated, Jiang Zhaoming tossed aside the failed talisman and began thinking of other ways to strengthen his forces.
In truth, he was reluctant to conjure another army from nothing—it would draw far too much attention.
Within the small Anxi Prefecture, two powerful armies—the Black-Armored Army and the Queshe Army—had already appeared out of nowhere within a single year. Not to mention the Black Soil Hills standing within Yili County.
If another formidable army suddenly emerged and pledged allegiance to Jiang Zhaoming, anyone would find it suspicious.
If they merely suspected that the Qin Clan was secretly supporting him, that would still be acceptable.
But if they investigated further and discovered that the Qin Clan had no such hidden armies, everything would become dangerously suspicious.
Although the only one in the world capable of intervening with him was his imperial father—and his father was a man who valued paternal affection deeply—
The imperial heart was unfathomable.
The Emperor of Great Zhou was, after all, the sovereign of the realm.
No matter how much affection he held for his son, he would never allow a power within Great Zhou beyond his control.
If it were only the Black-Armored Army or the Queshe Army—forces he could crush at will—that would be one thing.
But should Jiang Zhaoming one day reveal an unimaginable Fortune Blessing, it might truly provoke father and son into opposition.
For all the Great Zhou Emperor’s Highness, Jiang Zhaoming was not so blindly confident as to think he could oppose the entire Great Zhou.
Throughout the generations, the imperial succession of Great Zhou had always proceeded smoothly in accordance with the Ancestral Decree of Great Zhou—did anyone truly believe that all the enfeoffed princes willingly surrendered their fiefs?
Of course not.
Those princes commanded vast territories and millions of soldiers—how could they yield them so easily?
Yet, through every succession of Great Zhou emperors, no prince had ever succeeded in declaring independence. All had obediently relinquished their lands.
This was not due to brotherly affection or shared loyalty to tradition.
It was because, once the heir was chosen, the Prince vested with the Life Fate · Imperial Authority could command the world with a single word.
The mightiest armies of Great Zhou—the personal troops of several Divine Generals—were all bound under the Emperor’s authority.
Take, for instance, the Qin Clan’s Qin Halberd Guard, commanded by Divine General Qin Peng, a cultivator above the Golden Body Realm. Even its ordinary soldiers numbered eight thousand Divine Power experts.
The Qin Halberd Guard alone could sweep across the realm, cutting down all rebellious princes.
Under such circumstances, who in the world would dare rebel against the Great Zhou? Which prince could possibly break the ancestral decree?
Yet, what was truly alarming was that ever since the emergence of that Other-Dimensional Passage within Great Zhou’s borders—
Neither the Qin Halberd Guard nor any of the other powerful legions led by Great Zhou’s Divine Generals had appeared in public again.
If not for those generals still occasionally showing themselves before the people, the world might have thought something grave had happened within the Great Zhou.
But the secrets behind it ran too deep—even Jiang Zhaoming himself could not discern the truth.
The absence of Great Zhou’s elite legions for over a century had emboldened nations like Great Jin and Great Liao, awakening their predatory ambitions.
This had led to the northern wars of Great Zhou, the coastal pirates, and the secession of Anxi.
Nearly all enfeoffed princes’ fiefs lay on Great Zhou’s borders, while its most prosperous heartlands remained under imperial control.
As for the princely titles bestowed upon princes like Jiang Zhaoming—
In truth, they were merely tests for the princes.
Tests of their temperament, strategy, courage, vision, and political skill.