Chapter 569: The Decisive Battle! The Highest Level of the Art of War!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Boom!
The bloody flag on the summit fluttered for a few moments in the wind before suddenly swinging down. In the next moment, the Annan Protectorate army soldiers who had been putting their lives on the line to defend suddenly loosened up. It was like a bowstring that had been pulled to the breaking point and then suddenly released. In an instant, other than the area where Duan Wuzong was fighting, the Whitestone Corps across the front lines subconsciously began to pursue.
"Not good!"
Duan Wuzong was hypersensitive to his surroundings, and his eyes widened as he noticed this out of the corner of his vision. At any other moment, he would have had ample time to put a stop to this, but now, just when Duan Wuzong was opening his mouth to shout out an order, a bloody light suddenly assailed him. A massive saber cleaved down from the skies, imbued with a destructive energy.
Boom!
Stellar Energy reverberated as two tyrannical energies clashed, their collision transforming into a pillar of light several zhang thick. The order that Duan Wuzong had been preparing to shout out was instantly pushed back into his mouth by Zhao Wujiang's saber.
"Quickly, retreat! Don't chase them!"
At the base of the mountain, Crown Prince Fengjiayi trembled at this sight, his heart seized by anxiety. He had subconsciously taken a few steps forward, but only when a cold gust blew past did he realize that the sounds of fighting on the mountain were too loud for his voice to be heard.
"Disaster! The past is repeating!"
"It's this move again!"
At the base of the mountain, Dalun Ruozan and Huoshu Huicang also paled. They recalled that the Annan Protectorate army had used exactly this move not too long ago to inflict a defeat on the Whitestone Corps.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"With General here, the Annan Protectorate army can no longer hold on!"
The Whitestone Corps soldiers in the rear didn't understand what was going on up ahead. They only sensed that the front had loosened and immediately rushed up to fill the ranks. The wisdom in Wang Chong's decision to choose this mountain as the place to start the battle was once more showing itself. The incline of the slope and the metal walls looming from its surface greatly limited the vision of the soldiers in the rear. It was simply impossible for them to promptly learn what was happening on the front lines, and certainly not something as subtle as Wang Chong's shift in tactics.
Boom!
As a crowd of soldiers surged forward, their orderly formations once more fell into chaos. The effects from Duan Wuzong's joining the front lines were instantly nullified.
"Kill!"
On the mountain, the dense ranks of spearmen and axemen of the Annan Protectorate army formed a mighty wall and swiftly fell upon the disorderly Whitestone Corps line. Clangclangclang! The clanging of metal and a chorus of screams filled the heavens. An army without organization or formation, in which each soldier was fighting on its own, was nothing more than a scattered mob. Against a regular and organized army, it couldn't even take a single blow.
Swooshswooshswoosh!
Cold pikes plunged in through the chest and out through the back, snuffing out the lives of Whitestone Corps soldiers in mere seconds.
One, two, three, four…
Ten, one hundred, one thousand…
In the blink of an eye, thousands of Whitestone Corps soldiers had fallen. The disorderly Whitestone Corps was simply no match for the unstoppable Annan Protectorate army.
Rumble! Duan Wuzong suddenly pushed back Zhao Wujiang with a slash of his sword and quickly turned around to make some distance, his complexion ashen. "All rear troops, forward! Soldiers in the front, hold the line! Pursuit is forbidden without an order!" Before the battle started, he had already thought about how to defend against this Tang tactic. Even though he had been prepared, he had still unexpectedly fallen for the trap.
Boom!
Bloody light flashed as Zhao Wujiang pursued with his saber. Duan Wuzong had only bought enough time to give this single order before he was once more caught up in battle.
"Duan Wuzong, you still have time to give orders? You should first worry about yourself! Take my sword!"
"Damn it, Zhao Wujiang! You think that you can hold me down like this? Die for me!"
Duan Wuzong's furious roars echoed through the heavens. Alas, no matter how furious he was, when Wang Chong dispatched Zhao Wujiang, his advantages had been completely nullified.
However, despite all this, Duan Wuzong's order had still been useful.
The Whitestone Corps had learned from the Great Tang, learned from the Annan Protectorate army. Purely in terms of ability to execute orders, it was only a little lacking compared to the Great Tang.
"Rear troops, forward! Fill the ranks!"
"Forward troops, pull back! Hold the line!"
"Anyone who dares to charge out of the line will immediately be executed!"
"Quickly! Anyone who dares to act slowly will be handled according to military law!"
Acting on Duan Wuzong's orders, the hundreds of officers of the Whitestone Corps began to adjust, issuing their own orders. Through the officer core of the Whitestone Corps, Duan Wuzong's orders were swiftly carried out. In a very short time, the Whitestone Corps quickly cut off its crumbling front line.
The disorganized soldiers at the front were abandoned while the Whitestone Corps formed a new front line behind them. Further back, the dense ranks of the Whitestone Corps were coming up to reinforce. The previous collapse seemed to be completely ineffective against the rest of the one hundred thousand soldiers of the Whitestone Corps.
Duan Wuzong had already grasped the essence of utilizing his troops. This is no longer something as simple as imitation. He's already managed to truly grasp the idea of changing formations and developed his own style. It looks like Geluofeng, in his many years reigning over the Six Zhao, has engaged in some bold and decisive reforms. At the very least, Mengshe Zhao truly does have the strength to challenge the Annan Protectorate army.
As Wang Chong stood on the summit and watched the Whitestone Corps cut off the front from their rear and swiftly reform their lines, he couldn't help but give a nod of approval. Even as an enemy, Wang Chong had to admit that Geluofeng hadn't managed to conquer the Six Zhao and bring Mengshe Zhao to its current state purely through luck.
It had been no coincidence that the Whitestone Corps led by Duan Wuzong had dealt a heavy blow to Xianyu Zhongtong's Annan Protectorate army.
The current Mengshe Zhao truly did have the military resources to expand outward. At the very least, the Whitestone Corps had immediately decided to give up on some of its soldiers and reform its lines, rendering the tactics of the Annan Protectorate army ineffective, which was not something any ordinary army could do.
Unfortunately for you, it's still useless!
Wang Chong coldly chuckled and made a hand signal, once more giving an order. The blood-red signal flag once more began to wave. Bangbangbang! All the disorderly Whitestone Corps soldiers who had been abandoned were quickly cut down.
Roar!
Bellowing, the sabermen, spearmen, and axemen retreated while the shieldmen charged forward. From the middle of the mountain to the base, the thousands of Annan Protectorate army soldiers once more contended with the soldiers of the Whitestone Corps. Meanwhile, the rest of the army continued to do nothing. Xianyu Zhongtong, Wang Yan, Chen Shusun, and the other high-ranking generals of the Annan Protectorate army, excluding Zhao Wujiang, remained in their positions. None of them moved, as if the battle below had nothing to do with them.
"Kill!"
Countless Tang soldiers surged out like water gushing out of a flood gate, once more charging toward the formations of the Whitestone Corps.
It was a squeeze, a constant squeeze.
A similar scene took place once m
ore, as the thousands of soldiers of the Whitestone Corps also charged. But without Duan Wuzong, the Whitestone Corps no longer presented a lethal danger to the Annan Protectorate army.
Boom!
When the two armies clashed and the two fell into a fierce melee, something surprising occurred.
"Retreat! Quickly withdraw!"
While the Whitestone Corps was completely unprepared, the Tang soldiers at the very front of the lines suddenly retreated. And then something very strange took place.
As if being punched by countless invisible fists, thousands of Whitestone Corps soldiers were carried along by their inertia in pursuit. The formation that had been so tidy and disciplined a few seconds ago once more fell into the exact same chaos.
Under the eyes of Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huicang, Geluofeng, Duan Gequan, and Fengjiayi, these powerhouses of the southwest, the Whitestone Corps once more seemed to fall under Wang Chong's spell, once more fell into the exact same predicament.
At this moment, let alone foreign powerhouses like Geluofeng and Huoshu Huicang, even Xianyu Zhongtong and Wang Yan on the summit gasped.
Duan Wuzong was already doing his utmost to get out of the predicament that Wang Chong had trapped him in, and all the officers of the Whitestone Corps were doing all they could to maintain order in their lines. But in the blink of an eye, all their efforts were rendered for naught. The entire Whitestone Corps once more became a plaything in Wang Chong's palm.
"Hisss, this boy! Duan Wuzong is simply no match for him. He's just being played around with!"
At the base of the mountain, Dalun Ruozan had at some point stopped waving his fan. That leisurely smile on his lips had gradually tightened as he focused.
I'm afraid that I've underestimated this boy!
This was the only thought in Dalun Ruozan's mind.
All of Wang Chong's previous battle were completely meaningless to Dalun Ruozan, as he had not witnessed them. The only ones he had truly seen were Wang Chong's three clashes with the Whitestone Corps. The first two times had not left a very deep impression on him. At the most, he had realized that Wang Chong was quite the talented individual.
But with this third time, with this battle taking place before him, his impressions instantly changed.
Whether Duan Wuzong was willing or not, no matter how hard the officers of the Whitestone Corps worked, no matter how well their soldiers worked together, no matter how much training they had gone through, none of it mattered before this youth called Wang Chong.
With a simple and casual order, Wang Chong had made the efforts of Duan Wuzong and the officers of the Whitestone Corps completely meaningless.
No matter how mentally prepared those soldiers had been, they had still fallen for the trap without the slightest resistance.
What a frightening level of military arts! This youth called Wang Chong is going to be far more troublesome than we thought! He's probably going to be the greatest impediment for our Ü-Tsang Empire in the southwest!
Dalun Ruozan's brow furrowed as this thought flashed through his mind.
He was never one to lightly furrow his brow, but everything was different now.
The Annan Protectorate army was still the same Annan Protectorate army, but the person commanding it was completely different. It was someone incredible sharp and vicious, someone whose thoughts were nigh unfathomable!
Chapter 570: The Decisive Battle! Facing a Dilemma!
Chapter 570: The Decisive Battle! Facing a Dilemma!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Bangbangbang!
The situation on the battlefield was constantly fluctuating. While Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huicang, and the others were dazed by the tactics being displayed by the Tang army, Wang Chong's tactics were already beginning to show their effects. As the orderly yet dense ranks of the Tang army charged down the mountain, a harvest of slaughter took place once more. One soldier of the Whitestone Corps after another screamed as they were felled by the spears and axes of the Annan Protectorate army.
"Kill! Don't be afraid of them!"
A few of the braver Whitestone Corps soldiers grew furious and roared, attempting to charge forward and take down a few Tang soldiers with them. But with flashes of light, squelch squelch squelch! Sabers and swords stabbed in, running them through. It took mere moments for these fearless soldiers of the Whitestone Corps to fall backward, their eyes wide open.
That shouldn't be!
As these Whitestone Corps soldiers fell, their hearts were filled with reluctance. By the shore of the Erhai, they had killed their fair share of Great Tang elites.
And through the deaths of these elites of the Annan Protectorate army, they had built up a formidable self-confidence.
The Whitestone Corps was not one bit lacking compared to the Annan Protectorate army. No! It far surpassed it!
But none of them understood how things could have changed so quickly. This battle had been fought in a complete fog. Although they had been able to see everything clearly, they were clueless as to what had happened in their defeat.
We clearly had the advantage, so why did it turn out like this…
With these final thoughts, the minds of these Whitestone Corps soldiers went dark. Thud thud thud! Countless corpses covered the mountainside. This time, the casualties the Whitestone Corps had suffered far surpassed the first time, and the deaths had happened over a much shorter period of time.
When more than ten thousand people were taking part in a battle, the number of deaths could climb to a massive sum far faster than people could imagine.
"Warning: the number of deaths in the Annan Protectorate army has reached 1021! User is one step closer to obliteration!
"Congratulations to user! For killing 20000 Mengshe Zhao soldiers, the limit has been increased by 1000 (500*2). The condition for user's obliteration has been updated! When the remaining soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army drop below 39000, user will be obliterated!"
……
A familiar voice unleashed a waterfall of messages in Wang Chong's mind. As he stood on the summit, his hair flying in the wind, a smile crept onto his face.
"The Whitestone Corps… only has eighty thousand soldiers left!"
Mengshe Zhao organized its army in a similar fashion to the Great Tang's. It mostly consisted of infantry, and amongst all the corps, the Whitestone Corps, whose soldiers wielded protective shields, was always the corps at the very front.
Without the protection of the Whitestone Corps, the Mengshe Zhao would present much less of a threat to the Great Tang.
The quality of the Great Tang's equipment was known throughout the world. All of its soldiers were armed to the teeth. If the Whitestone Corps didn't exist, the Great Tang would be able to quickly exploit their advantage in equipment.
With 1021 deaths, this is almost a 20:1 ratio in casualties. Not bad! If I can keep this ratio, the one hundred thousand Great Tang soldiers can grind away all five hundred thousand soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army!
Wang Chong inwardly sneered. With regards to these people with wild ambitions who coveted the Central Plains and the Great Tang, only a harsh lesson would let them understand down to their very bones that there were some things and some people that could not be offended, that could not be coveted!
"Pull back! Back! Back!"
On the mountain, all the soldiers were panicking. The initial eight-thousand-some casualties hadn't caused much of a stir, but now that this number had reached twenty thousand and was still increasing, everything had changed.
Twenty thousand deaths in an army of one hundred thousand was one death in every five soldiers… The corpses scattered over the mountain were not something that anyone could disregard.
"Retreat!"
"Damn it! What did these scoundrels do!"
……
In three consecutive waves, the Tang army had used exactly the same method to defeat the Whitestone Corps, leaving all the offic
ers of the Whitestone Corps terrified. They had completely understood the plan and intention, yet they still could not prevent their enemies from using this simple plan to defeat them.
"Bastard!"
Duan Wuzong was both shocked and infuriated. The Medicine King behind him and the massive Halo of Thorns under him were both being pushed to their maximum level. Boom boom boom! One wave of Stellar Energy after another crashed against Zhao Wujiang.
Duan Wuzong was also putting his sharp sword to good use, unleashing a storm of blows on Zhao Wujiang.
"It's useless!" Zhao Wujiang declared in a bone-chilling voice, his eyes giving Duan Wuzong a profound stare. He had long ago sensed and understood Duan Wuzong's intentions.
"To want to break free of me now, isn't that a little too late?"
Bang!
His right foot pressing against the hardy ground, Zhao Wujiang charged forward like a war god, his long saber slicing through the air with a momentum that could cleave open the heavens. As he slashed down at Duan Wuzong, the pair once more engaged in a fierce battle.
Even though Duan Wuzong already wanted to retreat, no matter how much effort he put in attempting to break free from Zhao Wujiang, his attempts had all failed.
"Bastard, you madman!"
Duan Wuzong's heart was seething with rage. The losses inflicted on the Whitestone Corps made him want to cry tears of blood. These were the soldiers that he had personally trained. The Whitestone Corps was a project that he had poured much of his life into.
Even though the Whitestone Corps had possessed the numerical advantage, it was like a plaything in the hands of the Great Tang. Before the waves of soldiers could show their power, they had become corpses on the mountain.
Although the officers in the army had done their utmost to restrain the army and maintain the formations, their efforts had been fruitless before the tactics of the Great Tang.
"Hahaha, Duan Wuzong, I know that you've been imitating the Great Tang all this time, and I also know that you've always wanted to surpass the Great Tang, surpass me. For Mengshe Zhao to hold such ambitions, to want to take from the Great Tang despite all it has done to help Mengshe Zhao, from military to agriculture, from Confucian teachings to silk production, is absolutely despicable. But, Duan Wuzong, Mengshe Zhao will never succeed, and you will never succeed. Do you know why? Do you know where you are lacking?"
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 420
