Chapter 1175 - Attack Mid-Crossing!
Chapter 1175: Attack Mid-Crossing!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Release!”
With another order, tens of thousands of arrows poured out, engulfing the Arabs on the Tigris River. Thunkthunkthunk! The target of the beehives this time was no longer the Arabs, but the wooden boats they were using to cross the river.
“Careful!”
“Protect the boats!”
The Arabs reacted very quickly, but wooden boats were inevitably different from soldiers. They were too densely packed and also not as easy to protect. Crack! A boat, pockmarked with holes, rapidly sank into the Tigris River.
One boat after another began to sink. The Arabs had made many preparations, covering the wooden boats with steel plates, but these were of little help against the powerful beehives.
“No matter the price, all soldiers charge!”
Amidst thundering hooves, three enormous storms of energy approached. The Three Titans of Black Radiance soon appeared on the shores of the Tigris River, looking up at Wang Chong, Gao Xianzhi, and Bahram on the walls.
In their exchange of letters, Wang Chong’s group had completely played around with the Three Titans, utterly infuriating them and making them want to immediately execute Wang Chong.
No one in the entire Arabian Empire had ever dared to humiliate them like this.
Rumble!
In a flash, as all the Tang, Khorasani, and rebel soldiers watched, another batch of more than ten thousand boats was brought up from the rear and cast onto the Tigris River. In a short while, the Tigris River was once more covered in wooden boats.
“Charge!”
With this order, the boats began to vie against each other, shooting forward like sharp arrows toward the imposing walls of Khorasan.
“Cui Piaoqi, Li Siye, Banahan, Gangke King, get ready!” Wang Chong ordered, staring at the charging Arabs.
“Yes! This general will go!”
All of them replied in unison and then began to head down the walls.
Gao Xianzhi stared at the opposing army and gave his own order. “Qianli, Yuanqing, Shiyi, the three of you go as well.”
At almost the same time, Bahram spoke. “Aiben, you go.”
“This general will go!”
A basic-level Great General behind Bahram bowed and swiftly departed.
As the boats got closer and closer, people were constantly being shot through and boats were constantly sinking. Massive waves swept up men and horses and carried them downstream. The Arabs were sustaining enormous losses—tens of thousands of men in this crossing after just a few rounds of assault. But tens of thousands was a tiny number when one remembered that the Arabs had gathered more than seven hundred thousand soldiers.
Splash!
In a splash of white froth, a boat crossed the Tigris River and reached the opposite shore.
An Arab horseman covered in heavy black armor jumped off the boat and landed on the shore, followed by another, and another… More and more cavalry were leaping onto shore and charging toward the vast walls of Khorasan.
“Kill them all!”
“Prepare the ropes!”
“Get the siege ladders ready!”
Cries resounded through the air as the Arabs once more displayed their impressive mobilization and organizational abilities. In the field of conquest, there were very few civilizations that could compare to the Arabs. The Arabs not only did not panic under the assault of the beehives, but even began to organize into siege teams on the opposite shore.
Looking down from the vast walls, one could see the heavily-armored Arab soldiers swiftly taking up metal pieces and constructing siege ladders. There was also an Arab horseman taking out enormous black leather bags, removing long ropes from them.
“City assault teams, get ready!” an Arab general loudly called out.
The long ropes were swiftly passed to burly soldiers, their muscles brimming with explosive power, a head taller than the average Arab soldier.
Swish!
Purely through the strength of their arms, these powerful soldiers began to spin the ends of the ropes around. Taking aim, they threw the thick and heavy ropes up to the high walls.
Thwishthwishthwish! When they were just a few feet from the walls, an astonishing scene took place. Metal cables as thick as fingers suddenly extended from the ends of the ropes, a sharp metal claw attached to the end of each cable. Clangclangclang! Seven or eight claws flew forward, firmly latching onto the top of the walls of Khorasan.
“Go!”
The moment these ropes had attached, a nimble Arab soldier immediately began to scale the walls with astonishing speed.
A vast number of soldiers was gathered beneath the walls. In just a few moments, the eastern shore of the Tigris River was packed with Arabs, and even the rapid flow of the Tigris River was so completely covered in boats that not even a spray of water could be seen.
The atmosphere intensified!
Wang Chong stared down from the high walls, his hands behind his back, his expression calm, and his eyes emotionless. Behind him, everyone was waiting for Wang Chong’s order.
Wang Chong said nothing, only silently watched as more and more Arabs crossed the Tigris River and disembarked on the eastern shore. Fifty thousand, one hundred thousand, one hundred and fifty thousand… When the number of soldiers on the eastern shore had reached two hundred thousand, Wang Chong’s eyes flashed and he immediately swung down his hand.
“Attack!”
With Wang Chong’s order, all the beehives on the walls fired in unison, covering the sky in arrows. At the same time, the several thousand Tang ballistae that had yet to fire suddenly changed their targets. Rather than aiming at the Arab soldiers on the river, they angled downward and took aim at the countless Arab soldiers scaling the walls.
Buzz!
The Arab soldier farthest up the walls suddenly saw a gleaming ballista bolt aimed at him, as well as the large form of the ballista behind it. His eyes went wide and his pupils constricted as an unprecedented sense of crisis swept through his mind.
“Not good! Run!”
The Arab soldier was stricken with fear, and without a second thought, he loosened his grip and prepared to jump. But before he could do so, the air boomed as an enormous ballista bolt shot forward like a dragon emerging from the sea, shooting straight through his shoulder, the massive force carrying him down.
Squelchsquelchsquelch! The ballista bolt sent blood flying everywhere as it flew through the Arab soldiers scaling the walls like it was skewering grasshoppers. The sound of ballista bolts punching through flesh and bone filled the air.
Thudthudthud!
In just a few short moments, twenty-some Arab soldiers, pierced through by a ballista bolt, began to shower from the sky like raindrops. The thick ropes fiercely shuddered and shrieked as thousands more Arab soldiers fell from the sky.
Su Hanshan’s ballista army had made an explosive entry onto the battlefield, killing fifteen to sixteen thousand Arab soldiers in a single volley. Ever since the Battle of Talas, where all the ballista bolts had been used up, Su Hanshan had strictly controlled how the ballista bolts were used.
Until the new batch of ballista bolts arrived, the tens of thousands of ballista bolts that Zhang Shouzhi had repaired would be their only source of ammunition.
For the Great Tang, however, the ballista bolts and beehives were only the beginning.
Rumble!
As the Arabs looked on in shock, the massive and sturdy gates of Khorasan flew open with a bang. The Arabs had expected this to be the most difficult part of the battle, but now, it had been easily realized. But then, an even more shocking thing occurred.
“Kill!”
With a heaven-shaking roar, tens of thousands of Tang, Khorasani, and rebel soldiers charged out of the gates, their eyes bulging in rage and killing intent boiling off their bodies.
“Watch out! Take up formation!”
The Arab soldiers on the eastern shore fell into panic. In terms of manpower, the Arabs had the absolute advantage. Six to seven hundred thousand soldiers were more than enough to defeat the motley array of forces in the city. No one had expected that the outnumbered Great Tang would dare to launch an offensive.
“Damn it!”
On the opposite shore, the Three Titans of Black Radiance immediately grimaced.
“Pass on my order! All soldiers, cross the river as soon as possible! We can’t give them a single chance!”
“Yes!”
Ten-some messengers immediately scattered to inform all the generals of this new order. But all this was too late. This surging tributary of the Tigris River had become the chain wrapped around the neck of the Arab army.
The Arabs had hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but the soldiers on the western shore and on the boats could not be used in battle. The only ones that could fight with the Great Tang were the two hundred thousand soldiers on the eastern shore. In terms of numbers, the Arab army on the eastern shore had no advantage whatsoever.
An attack mid-crossing!
Wang Chong looked down from the walls of Khorasan as the winds howled around him, the sliver of a smile on his lips.