Chapter 919 - Wang Chong's Art of War!
Chapter 919: Wang Chong’s Art of War!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“General, Lord Marquis has succeeded!!”
Cheers broke out from the battlefield. As the Celestial Wolf Cavalry and Mutri Great Cavalry began to gallop off, Kong Zi-an could no longer contain his joy and excitement. The marquis did not lightly act, but once he did, the outcome of a battle would be decided. Based on the worried and anxious looks on the faces of the Celestial Wolf Cavalry and Mutri Great Cavalry, it was clear that the marquis’s plan had succeeded.
“Mm.”
Li Siye nodded. Only he roughly understood Wang Chong’s plan, with the rest of his soldiers essentially knowing nothing. With the plan executed, it was time for the Wushang Cavalry to withdraw as well.
“All soldiers, hear my order! Immediately turn back and impede the Celestial Wolf Cavalry and Mutri Great Cavalry! Don’t let them disrupt Lord Marquis’s plan!”
Li Siye’s eyes flashed with a sharp light as he patted his horse and immediately charged off in pursuit of the two cavalry forces.
“Let’s go!”
Huang Botian, Kong Zi-an, and the others followed, leaving a trail of dust as they galloped off. The three Halos of Dusk Stallion provided such an enormous boost in speed that the Celestial Wolf Cavalry were only able to charge a little distance before the Wushang Cavalry caught up.
“Stop them!”
After a brief flurry of thought, Chekun Benba had his Celestial Wolf Cavalry turn around and charge toward Li Siye. However, Chekun Benba had miscalculated. While still several dozen zhang away, Li Siye and the Wushang Cavalry made a sudden turn, completely ignoring inertia as they drew a massive arc along the earth and essentially swerved around the Celestial Wolf Cavalry.
In all the world, only the Wushang Cavalry were capable of such a feat.
Boom!
Before Chekun Benba could catch up, the Wushang Cavalry had already bypassed them and were charging toward the Mutri Great Cavalry ahead.
“Damn it! After them!”
Chekun Benba was infuriated. Shamask had suffered a drastic drop in strength, plunging to the Imperial Martial realm, so he was no longer capable of using the Celestial Wolf Illusory Formation. Chekun Benba was also not at the Brigadier General level and was similarly incapable. Thus, the Celestial Wolf Cavalry simply could not catch up to the Wushang Cavalry boosted by three layers of the Halo of Dusk Stallion as well as the Ten Charges Ten Victories Formation.
Neigh!
Almost immediately after the Wushang Cavalry bypassed Chekun Benba’s forces, a mountainous figure on the hills suddenly charged out on his horse, leaping more than ten zhang into the air and landing on the plains, catching Dalun Ruozan and the others completely by surprise.
“Duwu Sili!!”
Dalun Ruozan couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
Huoshu Huicang rode up on his horse and asked, “Great Minister, what do we do? Duwu Sili has moved out, completely against the plan we set out beforehand.”
After a few moments of silence, Dalun Ruozan said, “Let him go!”
In his original plan, the Imperial Great Generals would only move out at the final moment. It wasn’t because he was being overly cautious, but because Great Generals had a special status. Once one side mobilized their Great Generals, the other side would undoubtedly adopt their countermeasures, and in the end, what would occur was a battle between two Imperial Great Generals.
Not only would this be of little help to the battle, but the fight between two Great Generals would spread to many ordinary soldiers and increase the meaningless losses on both sides.
Thus, in large battles, Imperial Great Generals would not enter the fray unless absolutely necessary. However, this was an urgent situation, so Duwu Sili’s decision was within reason.
“Huoshu Huicang, Dusong Mangpoje, you two might as well go too, to avoid any surprises!” Dalun Ruozan said.
Huoshu Huicang and Dusong Mangpoje grunted and set off, their horses loudly neighing as they leapt from the hills like dragons flying out from the sea. In a flash, the entire battlefield began to quake.
Duwu Sili, Huoshu Huicang, and Dusong Mangpoje descended upon the battlefield like a storm, immediately attracting the attention of everyone on the battlefield. Even the distant Abu Muslim had noticed.
“The Tibetans and Turks have mobilized. We should move out as well. Pass on my order! All soldiers, attack!”
With a rumbling, Abu Muslim placed his hands on the armrest of his golden throne and slowly stood up, a powerful desire to fight erupting from his body.
Rumble!
At almost the same time, a powerful energy rose from the high walls of Talas in response. All the Arabs could see a tall and slender figure, grasping a sword and wearing a full suit of black armor, standing on the southeast corner of the walls like a god, his eyes shining with a light more dazzling than the sun’s.
At this moment, the tens of thousands of Arab soldiers seemed like fireflies in front of the bright moon.
“Gao Xianzhi!”
Abu Muslim’s body trembled, and though he had been prepared to step out just a moment ago, he suddenly stopped. Two months of bitter combat had made Abu Muslim quite familiar with this commander of the Anxi Protectorate army. This was the first person of the Great Tang to win his admiration, and though they were enemies, Abu Muslim still held a great deal of respect for Gao Xianzhi, both for his strength and for his resolve!
“Lord Governor?”
A voice came from his side. A burly Arab general was staring at the Abbasid Governor of Iron and Blood, awaiting his decision.
“Inform Ziyad to continue commanding the battle. All soldiers, continue the attack!” Abu Muslim said as he sat himself back down.
He and Gao Xianzhi had exchanged far more than just once. If they fought, the battle would take some time to be decided. Even though he had always held the advantage in this battle, Abu Muslim had never been able to do much against Gao Xianzhi. If it was Gao Xianzhi stepping forward, there was no need to continue this clash between Great Generals.
Such a fight would be utterly meaningless!
……
“Duwu Sili!”
Meanwhile, on the eastern battlefield, behind the second defense line, Wang Chong spotted the storm of energy signifying that the Celestial Wolf Great General was entering the battle. Smiling, he had his White-hoofed Shadow trot forward.
The Celestial Wolf Great General!
He was one of the best Great Generals of the Western Turkic Khaganate, and though Wang Chong had never met him before, he had heard many legends about him. Of the formidable foes ringing the Great Tang, the Celestial Wolf Great General counted as one of the upper class, with his martial arts and wartime methods becoming the subject of analysis in the apocalyptic era, material that Wang Chong used to become the War Saint.
I’m truly looking forward to it!
Wang Chong continued to smile as he quickened his pace. Around him, Xu Keyi’s ballista army was also rapidly advancing. Volley after volley of ballista bolts covered the earth. Wang Chong’s plan was already proving effective. The encircled Tibetan and Turk cavalry were in chaos, and the attacks coming from all sides were inflicting terrible losses.
Swooshswooshswoosh!
As another volley of ballista bolts landed, thousands of Tibetan and Turkic cavalry dropped to the ground, their blood flowing thick over the earth around shattered weapons, some of it even turning into bloody mist.
In the distance, Li Siye’s Wushang Cavalry were doing their utmost to impede the Mutri Great Cavalry. He was not directly attacking them, but instead using the three layers of the Halo of Dusk Stallion to reach the battlefield ahead of them.
“Scatter them!” Li Siye roared. Wielding his enormous sword, he led the charge into the Tibetan and Turkic cavalry, swiftly followed by his men.
“Kiiill!”
Neigh!
Horses shrilly neighed as Li Siye and his five thousand Wushang Cavalry used their advantage in speed to charge against the cavalry again and again. If not even the Celestial Wolf Cavalry were a match for the Wushang Cavalry, ordinary cavalry certainly were not. The only sounds were screams and the thumps of warhorses crashing to the ground. After a few rounds of charges, all the Tibetan and Turkic cavalry around the middle of the dividing line had been routed.
“Ah! It’s the Wushang Cavalry! Run! They’re too strong! We’re no match for them!”
“Get out of the way! Don’t block the road! Ah!”
The Wushang Cavalry under the Ten Charges Ten Victories Formation had thrown the entire area of the battlefield into disarray, the Tibetans and Turks losing any semblance of organization and formation. Many of the Tibetan and Turkic cavalry panicked in the face of the Wushang Cavalry’s power and wanted to flee, but the surge of soldiers advancing cut them off.
“Bastards! They’re far too despicable!”
The most enraged of all were the Mutri Great Cavalry, the officers fuming as they saw they were being obstructed by the disorder of their own side. They had only been a little slower than the Wushang Cavalry, but this tiny delay had completely lost the Mutri Great Cavalry their chance. With so many panicked soldiers in front of them, the Mutri Great Cavalry would have to kill their way through if they wanted to assault the Tang encirclement.
“Go! I don’t care who it is! Kill anyone who gets in the way!” Huoba Sangye declared in an icy voice, his body leaning forward as his eyes shone with a frigid light.
Bang!
Before all of his soldiers had heard his order, there was a black flash of light. An enormous black silhouette had shot forward and smashed into a Turkic horseman ahead. With a tremendous boom and a plaintive whinny, the horseman was sent flying more than ten meters into the air.
Boomboomboom! Huoba Sangye’s body was brimming with Stellar Energy as he continued to heedlessly smash his way through. The sounds of the collisions were like a rain, mixing in with the screams as Huoba Sangye knocked another six horsemen into the air.
Everyone was stunned by this abrupt scene.
Even the panicked Tibetan and Turkic cavalry were dumbfounded. No one had expected Huoba Sangye to lash out against his own side. Swish! A scimitar gleamed and flames sputtered as a Tibetan and his mount were cleaved in two. Huoba Sangye’s face was callous and cold this entire time, and as the scarlet scimitar in his hands dripped blood, his eyes showed no signs that he cared.