A Plea for Help

A frostfall sent the temperature plunging. The warhorses snorted uneasily, blowing out clouds of white breath. Gu Shenwei sat astride his horse on the high ground, gazing out over the vast army stretching across the land.

According to the scouts, the army gathering north of Qianqi Pass was larger than they had expected.

Dugu Xian had pieced together the situation and was now explaining it. He pointed with his single arm. "East of Qianqi Pass, there's a Central Plains army camped against the mountains. We can barely see it from here. There are probably about twenty thousand men."

"There are people from the Central Plains here?" Gu Shenwei was a little surprised. He had thought the Central Plains garrisons in the Western Regions had all been wiped out.

Dugu Xian nodded. "The main Central Plains force in the Loulan Kingdom was defeated. This one slipped through the net. They probably hoped to seize Qianqi Pass when the opportunity arose, but they ran into Luoluo."

"And Luoluo hasn't immediately taken their camp?"

"I'd guess Luoluo's strategy is to concentrate all his strength on defeating our army. Once he wins this battle, the factions watching will flock to his side, and the Central Plains army will surrender without a fight."

Twenty or thirty li north of the Central Plains camp was Luoluo's main army, encamped along the river. From a distance, its endless tents looked like a vast marsh stretching along the riverbank, disappearing beyond sight.

"Luoluo's army has already grown to more than two hundred thousand," Dugu Xian continued. "A number of tribes from the eastern grasslands have come to help. They're camped northwest of Luoluo and have at least thirty or forty thousand men. They could well harass our left flank."

Dugu Xian's hand kept moving, tracing an arc until