Chapter 1872 - Surrounding the Tongluo!
Chapter 1872: Surrounding the Tongluo!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Rumble! Dust churned through the air as the Tongluo Cavalry charged forward with shocking momentum.
This was the first time since the start of this battle that the Great Tang had left its defense line to take the battle to the enemy.
Let alone the sea of Arab cavalry on the steppe, even Khatabah couldn’t help but slightly frown at this surprising development.
Sixty thousand feet, fifty thousand feet, forty thousand feet!
As the distance shrank, Abusi and his Tongluo Cavalry only got faster and faster.
The Tongluo did not exceed ten thousand, and they were invincible above ten thousand!
This was no mere saying, but a principle that had been established by the Tongluo through hard work, blood and fire, and the corpses of countless foes. No matter who their opponent was, even if it was ten times their number, the Tongluo would never retreat, never show fear.
This was the conviction of the Tongluo!
“Kill!”
With a heaven-shaking roar, the Tongluo Cavalry pulled out their swords, their bright halos booming and clattering, and charged into the steppe like a primordial beast.
The fabric of space itself shuddered, and the world dimmed.
As the Arab cavalry charged over, they spotted the twenty thousand Tongluo Cavalry and exploded with killing intent.
The Arabs had gone to great lengths to conceal this surprise attack, taking a long detour through the Turkic steppe. And they had done all this precisely to catch the Great Tang off guard.
At this moment, they were a tiger let out of its cage, at the peak of their power.
For them, the Tongluo Cavalry were nothing but lambs to the slaughter. Most importantly, in this war, the Tang had been hiding behind their layers of steel walls like a turtle in its shell.
In this sort of environment, the Arabs could display none of their invincible might. As a nation of riders, the king of the desert, they had been longing for an engagement like this, a simple and upright clash of cavalry without any tricks.
“Everyone, hear my order! Kill them all!
“Now is the moment to subjugate the eastern world!
“Let them witness the power of the Arab cavalry!”
Leading the army was a Governor from a distant province on the Arabian border. He unsheathed his savage scimitar and bellowed, and the two-hundred-thousand-some Arab cavalry roared in reply.
“Kill!”
The vast sea of Arab cavalry riding out from the Eastern Turkic steppe shot forward like a black lightning bolt, wrapped in killing intent as they charged at the twenty thousand Tongluo Cavalry.
Closer!
Even closer!
Boom!
Like a massive wave crashing against the shore, the starkly contrasting forces of the Great Tang and Arabia slammed together.
“Ah!”
Screams tore through the air as countless cavalry were knocked flying by the terrifying force of the collision, tossed around helplessly like bits of paper.
Weapon clashed against weapon while warhorse bashed into warhorse, making it impossible to distinguish friend from foe. One could see the enemy wherever one looked. Plush! Plush! The sounds of blades cutting into flesh also filled the air.
After a seemingly interminable second, one in which countless collisions occurred and large numbers of people were knocked off their horses, finally…
Neigh!
Boom! Countless cavalry screamed as they were knocked into the air, and the stalemate was broken.
With Tongluo Great General Abusi serving as the tip, the twenty thousand Tongluo Cavalry plunged like a sword into the two hundred thousand cavalry, piercing straight through their formation with horrifying force.
Rumble! Countless Arab cavalry were knocked away. In this direct clash of cavalry, the Tongluo Cavalry had displayed their formidable power, using overwhelming strength to pierce straight through the Arab cavalry.
Three thousand, five thousand, seven thousand, nine thousand… swaths of the Arab cavalry were cut down under the edge of the Tongluo Cavalry, none of them able to stop their mass charge.
Arab cavalry continued to fearlessly charge in, but they were all scattered and slain by the Tongluo Cavalry.
All resistance and attempts to counterattack were futile.
When the Tongluo Cavalry reached peak momentum, they were simply unstoppable.
Shock! Incomparable shock!
All the Arab cavalry were stunned by these bronze-armored cavalry, and also extremely afraid. They had never imagined that the eastern world could possess such powerful cavalry. There were clearly only twenty thousand of them, but they had more charging power than an army of two hundred thousand.
On the other end, the Arab Governors and Deputy Governors who were watching this battle were also deeply stunned.
“How could this be? How could they be this powerful?” a Deputy Governor muttered as he stared.
The greatest advantage the two hundred thousand cavalry had was surprise. All of the Tang army had been drawn into the battle on the front line, so the two hundred thousand cavalry coming out of the Turkic steppe should have been enough to make the Tang army collapse. But what had happened was completely different from what they had expected.
In the distance, Abusi remained cold and callous, and the twenty thousand Tongluo Cavalry were disciplined, moving like a most intricate and most frightening killing machine. After piercing through the Arab army, they suddenly turned around and plunged into the Arab army again, causing chaos and encountering no resistance wherever they went.
Once! Twice! Thrice!
Abusi and his Tongluo Cavalry were brimming with energy as they constantly charged in and out of the two hundred thousand Arab cavalry.
Despite the vast difference in numbers, the outnumbered side had the upper hand.
“Damn! Die! Die for me!”
“Get in there!”
“Shameful! All of you, charge!”
The Arab generals gnashed their teeth in fury. The Arab cavalry continued to charge in, but it was like throwing an egg at a stone. All that resulted was showers of limbs dropping from the air and gruesome corpses carpeting the landscape.
Ever since the Sage Emperor had withdrawn into the palace and ceased to personally campaign, the Tongluo Cavalry had lost its stage. This was the first time in a long while that the Tongluo Cavalry had a chance to display its peak strength in the public eye.
Just when it seemed like the two hundred thousand cavalry were about to fall apart and retreat, a furious roar rang out.
“Bastard! You all deserve execution!
“First army group, third army group, seventh army group! Coordinate your movements! Don’t follow them! Scatter! I want all of you to disperse!
“The rest of you, follow me!”
In the middle of the army, a stalwart Arab Governor brimming with energy stared at Abusi, his eyes burning with rage. As he shouted a string of orders, many generals gathered around him.
At the same time, the panicked Arab cavalry seemed to be energized, and they swiftly composed themselves.
The orders of that Arab Governor had the disorderly Arab cavalry scattering like a kaleidoscope, splitting off into various groups instead of chasing the Tongluo Cavalry.
Buzz!
As Abusi led his soldiers to defeat another group of Arab cavalry, he suddenly realized that all the Arab cavalry had dispersed, leaving a large vacant region around him.
“I’ve finally encountered a real foe!”
Abusi pulled on the reins of his horse and turned to that Arab Governor.
That he was able to so quickly salvage the disorderly army showed that this Arab Governor was no weakling. There was no doubt that the Tongluo Cavalry had run into an actual opponent.
This is fine too! Let’s fight to our heart’s content! Abusi said to himself.
Though this was unexpected, given the size of the Arabian Empire, it had to have some extraordinary individuals. Moreover, the Arabs had sent all their elites for this war, and there would inevitably be outstanding generals in their ranks.
And this Arab Governor was one of them.
But Abusi felt no fear, only an intense desire to fight. After spending so long in the capital, only now was he considered a true general.
The Tongluo lived to fight, and only now could they be considered authentic warriors!
“Kill!”
With this single word, Abusi led his army in a fearless charge toward that Arab Governor’s position.
On the other side, that Arab Governor’s eyes burned with rage.
“Go!”
With this one order, the temperature suddenly soared. A moment later, countless Arab cavalry charged at the Tongluo Cavalry.
Space seemed to freeze, as did time.
Rumble!
A moment later, the two armies fiercely clashed.
“‘This enemy is too smart! Great General has been held down!”
On the other side, an important member of the Bureau of Military Personnel standing next to King Song looked away from the battlefield with extreme unease.
“The Tongluo Cavalry are peerless when it comes to combat prowess, but the enemy has far more soldiers than the Tongluo Cavalry. As long as they can successfully organize themselves, they can still pose a major threat to the Tongluo Cavalry.
“In the current circumstances, even if Great General Abusi can win, it will take some time.”
The Central Plains had also sent all their elites for this war. At this stage in the battle, even Abusi’s Tongluo Cavalry had joined the battle. This was the last of the Great Tang’s forces, and there would be no other support.
More importantly, despite the massive casualties the Arabs had suffered, they still had their primary force, and tens of thousands of Arab cavalry continued to pour in. Although these waves of cavalry had yet to break the defense line, as long as they kept coming, the defense line would eventually fall.