Chapter 1081 - A Battle Between Top-Class Armies (VII)
Chapter 1081: A Battle Between Top-Class Armies (VII)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Bang!
Stellar Energy swept through the field in a heaven-shaking explosion. In the middle of a roiling cloud of black mist, the Death Army soldier raised his scimitar and barely managed to block the Ultimate Martial Army soldier’s stunning blow.
But even so, the enormous and unstoppable force of the sword jolted him back. Bzzz! The Death Army soldier’s body trembled and his face paled.
Whether fighting one-on-one or charging en masse, the Death Army soldiers rarely encountered anyone who was a match for them. Their infamous reputation had been built upon a mountain of corpses made of their foes.
Even top-class armies like the Dragon Stallion Army and Iron Wall Army were incapable of halting their offensive, but the brightly-armored Ultimate Martial Army had managed to force them back in a single clash. This was truly an incredible strength.
They had unquestionably encountered a truly formidable opponent.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The swords of the two thousand soldiers of the Ultimate Martial Army came as fast as lightning, as heavy and unyielding as mountains.
This sight wasn’t just a surprise to Abu Muslim, Osman, and Aybak. Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli were rather taken aback as well.
The Ultimate Martial Army had restrained its aura as it stood in the rear, making it appear no different from the other armies.
But once it entered the field, it seemed to become a completely different army. These soldiers were as swift as the wind but had as much weight as a mountain. Each one of them was a storm in human form. All that was visible was the flickering light of their swords while the clashing of weapons rang out incessantly in everyone’s ears.
In terms of speed, strength, agility, and fighting techniques… this Ultimate Martial Army displayed a high level of proficiency. The fighting style employed by these soldiers was perhaps not the most efficient for killing a foe, but it was upright, honest, and imbued with an unstoppable momentum.
Moreover, their techniques were extremely tight and close, presenting no flaw to their foes. Even those Death Army soldiers who had grown numb from all the time they had spent killing couldn’t find any weakness. All their fierce and vicious attacks were stopped by these Ultimate Martial Army soldiers.
No matter how crafty the angle, how fierce the method, or how swift the speed, the Ultimate Martial Army soldiers would always be able to use a simple and obvious method to block these attacks, and even launch a counterattack. Qutaybah’s Death Army began to feel an enormous pressure.
“Ah!” Cries of alarm came from the dense ranks of the Arab army.
The soldiers Qutaybah had brought from the northern war zone had all witnessed the Death Army soldiers slaughtering enemy soldiers, and had also seen the gruesome trail of carcasses they had left in their wake.
They were the most efficient killing machines, avatars of the god of death.
The sight they were witnessing now gave them all an unprecedented shock.
Even the distant Qutaybah couldn’t suppress a slight twitch in his eyes.
He had seen all kinds of crafty, vicious, and fierce opponents, but he had never seen anything like the Ultimate Martial Army that used simple and honest techniques to overcome the Death Army. There were merely two thousand of these soldiers, but Qutaybah sensed that they had undergone an entirely different training regimen compared to the Divine Martial Army, Divine Prison Army, or Iron Wall Army, its own unique brand.
These two brands seemed to be of two entirely different eras!
“Wonderful!”
Behind the steel defense line, the Tang soldiers exploded in cheers when they saw the two thousand soldiers of the Ultimate Martial Army display their strength. Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli also showed expressions of delight, as this Ultimate Martial Army had been far more outstanding than they had imagined.
“Alas, the Ultimate Martial Army is too small! Only two thousand people!”
At a time like this, the most apathetic person was probably Wang Chong.
He was not at all surprised by the transcendent fighting power of the Ultimate Martial Army, as they symbolized the power of another era, the supreme might of Tang Taizong’s era. That was an era of chaotic war. The Great Sui had just collapsed and all the world was seeking power. In many places, warlords had set up their own kingdoms. This was truly an era in which heroes vied for supremacy.
Although the people were in misery in that chaotic era, this era had produced the strongest and most valiant soldiers of the continent. The Ultimate Martial Army was the strength that had been passed down from that era.
Even though the Great Tang had reached an unprecedented golden age and hegemony under the Sage Emperor, its age of peak martial prowess had probably been under Emperor Taizong.
As a top-class army of that era, the Ultimate Martial Army was distinct in the forthright, open, grand, and honest nature of its style. The brands on the bodies of these soldiers symbolized the tyrannical power of that age. But as that era faded away, those elite armies that had vied for supremacy over that era faded with it.
Only the two thousand soldiers of the Ultimate Martial Army remained.
But even though there were only two thousand, everyone could see their power.
……
Regardless of what the commanders of the two sides thought, the Ultimate Martial Army had once more altered the course of the battle. As the soldiers of the Ultimate Martial Army pulled out their swords and entered the battle, bright and imposing halos of multiple colors burst from their feet, rapidly spreading to the entire army.
Hwooo! All the Origin Energy in a radius of one hundred li suddenly began to gather in the area, flowing into the bodies of the Divine Prison Army, Divine Martial Army, Dragon Stallion Army, Iron Wall Army, and Roaring Tiger Army.
Besides that, the boost provided by these halos caused the energy in the bodies of these soldiers to come alive, their Stellar Energy to flow even faster.
The Ultimate Martial Halo!
This was the halo for which the Ultimate Martial Army was famed. The purpose of this halo was not to increase strength, but to increase the speed at which soldiers could recover Origin Energy and Stellar Energy while in battle, as well as the speed at which energy and blood flowed through the body. It also increased the body’s physical strength and endurance.
This halo allowed the army to have more explosive bursts of strength, but also endure for longer.
The situation around the one thousand stalled silver war machines underwent a clear and obvious shift. The soldiers of the Divine Martial Army, Divine Prison Army, Iron Wall Army, Dragon Stallion Army, and Roaring Tiger Army appeared to have more energetic movements, and their attacks and reactions both became faster.
With this shift, the Blood Beast Army, Ironblood Army, and Fearless Army instantly came under tremendous pressure.
Even the Death Army lost much of its advantage.
This made all the Arabs widen their eyes in shock.
After some time, Gao Xianzhi finally spoke. “Wang Chong, this still isn’t enough! We don’t have the numbers. We should consider sending in another army!”
This was a battle in which neither side was willing to give an inch, and no one had begun to retreat as of yet. But the Great Tang’s disadvantage remained as obvious as ever: it was outnumbered. As time passed, the Death Army began to swiftly exert its advantage in manpower.
As the four thousand extra men surrounded the elite forces of the Great Tang, the situation once more became tense.
Bang!
A soldier of the Iron Wall Army was too slow to react and was stabbed through the right breast by a Death Army soldier. At the same time, an enormous force flung him into the air, and he crashed back down, his impact creating a large hole. Soon after, a Divine Prison Army soldier was wounded. Elsewhere, the Divine Martial Army and the Roaring Tiger Army were beginning to be pushed back.
“Wang Chong!”
Gao Xianzhi shot another glance at Wang Chong. Although his expression remained calm, the look in his eyes and tensed muscles revealed his unease.
The numbers were not equal!
The Arabs had more men, so once one corner began to collapse, the rest of the Tang army would follow like dominoes.
Bang!
In the time it took Gao Xianzhi to call out Wang Chong’s name, several dozen more soldiers were heavily wounded by the Death Army. In this round, even the soldiers of the Roaring Tiger Army were wounded. The elite warriors trained by Zhang Shougui had even managed to suppress Abu Muslim’s Fearless Army, but they were also finding it difficult to hold up against the stronger and more numerous Death Army.
The howling winds blew about Wang Chong’s black hair, but his young face remained unperturbed and calm.
“There’s no need to worry! Have them continue!”
Wang Chong’s expression was firm.
The battle continued and intensified…
Swords and sabers flashed in the air as the weapons on both sides took aim at the vital points on the bodies of their foes. In this dangerous battle, both sides were displaying their best skills. The slightest lack of care would result in injury or death. And from start to finish, the Great Tang did not retreat.
The Arabs also did not dispatch any additional armies.
At this stage in the battle, almost all the elite forces of the Arab army had been deployed. There weren’t many reinforcements left to send.
In comparison to the white-hot battle, the area under the four black Arabian war banners and behind the steel defense line of Talas were both eerily quiet. The commanders on both sides maintained a silent stalemate.
The Blood Beast Army, the Divine Martial Army, the Ironblood Army, the Iron Wall Army… these armies were battling not only over Talas. They also represented a clash between Arabia and the Great Tang, a rivalry between the two strongest empires of the east and west, a contest of wills between their commanders.
“The Great Tang and Arabia! For one continent to have two such powerful empires is truly a misfortune for our Ü-Tsang!”
To the left of the four great war banners, the Eagle of the Steppe, Dusong Mangpoje couldn’t help but emotionally sigh.
These elite armies of the east and west were far too powerful, so powerful that they exceeded the realm of soldiers.
Any one of these soldiers could cleave in two a Tibetan horseman charging at full speed. These were the most powerful of warriors, but such powerful armies were an incredibly rare sight in Ü-Tsang. At the very least, in the Tibetan army present at Talas, only the Mutri Great Cavalry was capable of contending with these armies.
“Haaah…”
Dalun Ruozan’s only reply was to give a very long sigh.