Death Sutra

Chapter 520: Uncertainty

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

Since the Central Plain and Norland were both working hard to win the Dragon King’s support, Gu Shenwei decided to ask Prime Minister Zhong Heng and Left General Dugu Xian to debate on behalf of the two great powers and to summon several high-ranking military officials to hear this head-to-head debate.

Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng were surprised to hear the Dragon King’s request. Their first reaction was to reject it, but they finally assured the Dragon King that they were absolutely loyal to him and had no ulterior motives on behalf of the other countries.

Although they both appeared quite reluctant, Gu Shenwei still insisted on them having a debate. “This has nothing to do with your position on this question. It’s just that I can’t force my troops to join either of the great powers without giving them a reasonable explanation. They have to know the reason,” he said.

Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian refused repeatedly, but upon seeing that the Dragon King was adamant about it, they reluntantly agreed. However, in front of the high-ranking military generals, the two men went head-to-head and were not friendly to each other at all.

Zhong Heng was the minister, so the obligation to speak first was on him. “Why should we ally with the Central Plain? The most important issue is not with the Central Plain, but whether Norland will easily give up his current ally, Golden Roc Fort. News just came that a great number of cavalrymen from Norland were heading toward Golden Roc Fort to assemble, clearly in order to support the Supreme King till the end. Negotiating with the Dragon Army seems like a stalling tactic that would not cost them anything. As long as Norland and Golden Roc Fort are still friends, the Dragon Army can only rely on the strength of the Central Plain,” he argued.

“Striking an alliance with the Central Plain gives another advantage. Since the Central Plain and the Western Region are separated far apart by the Gobi Desert, a big army would not be able to cross the border, and no more than 10,000 troops would be able to be stationed there. The Dragon Army would easily be able to fend it off. As for Norland, it borders the Western Region and already controls all the crucial roads leading east to Jade City. Ten thousand Norland cavalrymen can enter the Western Region at any time, and this should be the Dragon King’s greatest concern. As the saying goes, friends living far apart will have fewer conflicts, those living near each other will have greater conflicts, and a friend living close by must be defeated,” Zhong Heng continued.

Dugu Xian felt somewhat irritated by Zhong Heng’s words. It was not that he was eager to speak up for Norland, but that he did not want to be seen as a simpleton who did not understand simple logic. So he stood up, took a deep breath, and started to explain his reasons.

“You must remember that the Dragon King once made an alliance with the Central Plain. And what did this ally do to us? When the Dragon King was fighting against Golden Roc Fort alone in the Xiaoyao Lake region, the Central Plain didn’t provide us with any manpower or resources. It ditched us without any consideration. That’s the Central Plain’s modus operandi — in the Western Region, where the various countries constantly seek to sabotage each other, it secretly sows dissension and urges fights between countries. It always tries to reap the most benefits at the lowest cost. Is it worth making such an ally?” Dugu Xian countered.

Zhong Heng appeared much calmer than the Left General. While Dugu Xian was taking a breath, he quickly interjected, “Norland expressed its intentions of forming an alliance with the Dragon King when Golden Roc Fort had just lost a battle. How different is that alliance from the Central Plain? The powerful countries are all like that — blaming them is useless.”

Dugu Xian stared angrily at the Prime Minister. He was not used to debating, so just kept repeating his original ideas. “Befriending countries from afar and attacking those that are nearby is a good strategy, but a big country can only do that if it’s dealing with weaker and smaller countries than itself. Compared to our neighboring country, Norland, we are a very small country. How can we use this strategy when dealing with Norland? More importantly, once we’re in danger, allies from distant lands can’t offer us help in time. By the time they came to our rescue, we’d have already been destroyed by our enemies. Let’s face the reality that Norland has already occupied most of the Western Region. The forces of the Central Plain have diminished to only a few countries in the eastern part of the region. If we make an alliance with the Central Plain now, Norland will treat us as its enemy. Once it’s detemined to eliminate us, we’re doomed. We can’t resist such a powerful country, even if the Central Plain sends all of its garrison troops in the Western Region to help us. Not to mention that the Central Plain would never do such a thing, anyway,” he said.

Zhong Heng smiled and shook his head. “The Left General thinks that the troops from Norland are too numerous and too powerful for us to provoke. The truth is, in the eyes of Norland, the biggest enemy is not the Dragon Army, but will always be the Central Plain. The heroes of the Central Plain are aplenty, and even if a great number can’t be moved to the Western Region, they’d still be able to launch an attack on Norland’s border outside of the Western Region. Eighty to ninety percent of Norland’s cavalrymen are confronting the Central Plain along the borders, so only a small number of them could be deployed to the Western Region. After we establish an alliance with the Central Plain, we can work together with them to launch a two-front war against Norland. Once Norland is defeated, we’ll be safe forever,” he explained.

“The prime minister has just mentioned forming distant alliances and attacking neighboring countries. He seems to have forgotten that Norland knows this trick, as well. If I were the General of Norland, I would never fight a war on two fronts. I would retreat from the fight with the Central Plain for a while to focus on conquering the Western Region. I’d just need about a month to seize the region, and once I dominated it, I’d have more power and advantages to defeat the Central Plain,” Dugu Xian replied.

The high-ranking military generals listened intently to the Prime Minister and the Left General’s debate. Sometimes, they felt as if they were being persuaded by one of them, but most of the time they couldn’t decide who was right. Eventually, a few of them could not help but think of a third idea.

Commander Long Xiaoshi stood up and glanced around with his only eye, indicating that he had something to say. He was the tribal chief of the Danduo Peak, and one of his eyes had been taken by the giant red-crowned roc. In the battle of the seaside slope, his left shoulder had been seriously injured and still needed to be bandaged.

“You say that this country is strong, while he is of the opinion that the other is. The Golden Roc Army used to be described as invincible. Wasn’t it defeated by the Dragon King? We fought on the battlefield, not caring about losing our lives. We didn’t do that to flatter ourselves before our new master,” said Long Xiaoshi.

The commanders who were swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain nodded their heads. Because of this battle, their confidence had increased. They felt that Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng were overestimating the enemies’ strength.

Zhong Heng strongly disapproved of Long Xiaoshi’s views, but since he did not know military affairs as well as Dugu Xian did, he was happy to oblige to him. In the blink of an eye, the two transformed from debate opponents to allies.

“Old Commander Long, have you ever fought against the cavalry of Norland?” asked Dugu Xian.

There were several men in the tent who could be referred to as Commander Long or Vice Commander Long. In order to differentiate them, a word was usually added in front of their titles. “Old Commander Long” meant Long Xiaoshi. Other than “Old”, there was also big, small, black, white, left, right, et cetera.

“No,” Long Xiaoshi said proudly. “That’s the luck of the cavalry from Norland. Even if they were iron horses, I would’ve been able to cut them in two,” he boasted.

Because of the Dragon King, Dugu Xian was respectful toward the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, so he did not rebut him immediately. Instead, he slowly said, “The heavy sword of Old Commander Long is something that I admire very much. However, if the other party used bow and arrows like the female archers of the Land of Fragrance, how would you fend them off with a heavy sword?”

“The female archers did not occupy the land with their skills. If I were to meet them, I would retreat to level land and bait them into going down the mountain. Then, I would rush towards them and slaughter them with my heavy sword,” Long Xiaoshi said.

Dugu Xian smiled and nodded his head, expressing his assent and said, “That is where the problem lies. Norland uses its cavalry as its main force. In contrast with the female archers of the Land of Fragrance, they have horses that allow for easy advance and retreat. They wouldn’t be stuck in a single place, let alone make any contact with the enemy.”

“How is it possible to fight without any contact? Is it a fight of endurance to see who would collapse out of physical exhaustion from the chase?” asked Long Xiaoshi.

The cavalry of Norland was famous, but most people only saw its success because of its reputation, not the effort that it had put in. After all, Norland had won every fight it had ever fought, and as for the tactics that it used, they were hardly scrutinized by anyone.

Amongst the people in the tent, only Dugu Xian had served for both Norland and the Central Plain. As he was the only one here who understood the strengths and weaknesses of both parties, he decided to use a metaphor to illustrate the problem.

“Have you ever hunted in the snow mountains, Old Commander Long?” asked Dugu Xian.

“Of course. That is the daily work of the men of the Great Snowmountain,” replied Long Xiaoshi.

“With a sword or a bow?” asked Dugu Xian.

“With… a bow most of the times, and a sword at other times, when the prey falls into a trap and tries to resist,” he said.

“Why don’t you use a sword during ordinary times?” pressed Dugu Xian.

Long Xiaoshi creased his eyebrows and found these questions to be irrelevant to the topic at hand. “Because beasts will be beasts. They’re extremely alert and not easy to get close to. Moreover, they always struggle in their final dying hours. During that time, they may accidentally hurt the hunter. Are you suggesting that I am a beast and the cavalry of Norland is a hunter?” said Long Xiaoshi.

Old Commander Long got a little angry and drew his sword out of habit, but put it halfway back. “The Left General is a good man, and he’s one-armed. He’s in the same boat as me. I can’t bully him,” the commander thought.

Dugu Xian said, “I am full of respect towards the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain, but I’m just trying to say that your hunting techniques resemble the strategies used by Norland in their battles. The boys in that country follow their fathers into hunts as soon as they’ve learned to draw a bow. They go hunting on an even larger scale when they’re older. That’s how they develop their battle tactics.”

Dugu Xian took a few steps forward and stopped directly in front of Long Xiaoshi. “We’ve all seen the cavalry of Golden Roc Fort. They hold pikes and rush toward their enemies in a group. Then, they turn around and rush forward again. However, the strategies of Norland’s cavalry is different. The army does not rush in front of you immediately, but comes at you from an angle. Their bodies face you indirectly, which allows them to not only maintain a distance, but also to draw their bows more easily,” he said.

“The principle of Norland’s cavalry is not to rush into the crowd, but to turn at an angle within twenty steps of the enemy so if the enemy has archers, the distance will be increased. They surround you from three angles, leaving only one exit and using a rain of arrows to scare their enemies away. As soon as their enemies are scared off and trying to escape through the only exit, they run parallel to the enemy and fire their arrows, still maintaining a distance. In short, all of their strategies are the same as hunting strategies, only carried out on a larger scale,” continued Dugu Xian.

Everyone knew what Dugu Xian meant now. The Dragon Army was skilled at close-range combat. Facing the riding skills of Norland, they were limited in their abilities.

“We can defend the city,” A vice commander said, putting forth his own idea.

“If there was only the cavalry of Norland to consider, this might be a good idea. However, Norland is the eader of the north and controls many countries. Attacking the city would not require a cavalry from its own country,” replied Dugu Xian.

“Then how does the Central Plain fight Norland? I heard the Central Plain has been victorious in many battles,” asked the Vice Commander.

“Firstly, the Central Plain has many horses. It uses the cavalry to assault Norland’s encampment frequently, wiping out the whole army before Norland has a chance to get ready. Secondly, the Central Plain has a lot of manpower. Once its army conquers an area, it builds a city on it and sends people to fill it. It only stops advancing when the land is barren and no longer arable. Look at us. We don’t have nearly as many horses or people,” Dugu Xian explained.

Zhong Heng was a man from the Central Plain. He quickly added, “Not only that, but the Central Plain trains a wide variety of soldiers — infantry, cavalry, archers and engineering troops. They’re well-equipped and not lacking in anything. As such, the troops of the Central Plain are good at close-range battles, long-range attacks, charging, and raiding. Not a single skill is lacking.”

After hearing Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng explain the tactics of Norland and the Central Plain, the people in the tent fell quiet. Even after banding together, it seemed that the countries in the Western Region would still be unable to confront a large country.

The topic returned to its original issue: Out of the two parties, with whom should the Dragon Army side?

The debate lasted for the whole day. Not only did Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng hold onto their own opinions, but the other generals had their own inclinations, too. They clamoured among each other and could not reach an agreement.

Gu Shenwei had not interfered in anything from the start. He had not started this debate to achieve unity. As the Dragon King, the final decision laid with him. However, through the quarrels, he could find out everyone’s thoughts while letting everyone know the opinions of others. The most important thing was to recognise the current situation and not become overconfident just because of a recent victory.

In the evening, Gu Shenwei concluded the debate, saying he would announce his decision the next morning.

Judging from the scene, the ones who preferred to ally with Norland and the ones who wanted the Central Plain as their ally could not convince each other. No one knew what the Dragon King really thought.

On top of this, an unexpected guest had secretly come to the Xiaoyao Lake region, bringing uncertainty to the debate between Norland and the Central Plain. Gu Shenwei never expected this visitor, and this person had even evaded the surveillance of Xiaoyi’s intelligence.

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