The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  Making the ground quake and crack was well within the abilities of Huang Botian’s Stone General.

  “Not good!”

  The composed Umar finally paled in shock and consternation. But his troubles were far from over. In the next moment, a dark red ripple emerged from the rear of the Tang army, sweeping over the battlefield. As this ripple swept past him, Umar felt the steely energy in his body suddenly drop.

  The Bane of Generals Halo!

  Wang Chong also struck at this moment. He was currently between Tier 6 and Tier 7 of the Saint Martial realm, and no one except supreme experts of the Great General level could resist the effects of his Bane of Generals Halo.

  Chapter 878 - The Arabs, Defeated! (III)

  Chapter 878: The Arabs, Defeated! (III)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “An excellent chance!”

  Li Siye’s and Huang Botian’s eyes brightened at the same time as they sensed Umar’s sudden weakness, and the two launched their attacks almost simultaneously. Meanwhile, the thunderous galloping of hooves came from all around. Bangbangbang! The five thousand Wushang Cavalry had arrived like a furious storm, striking at Umar’s Stellar Energy barrier from all directions.

  Umar’s energy dwindled away at an astonishing speed, weakening him to a nearly inconceivable level.

  Ten Charges Ten Victories!

  When the five thousand Wushang Cavalry used this formation, famed in another timeline as being one of the Ten Great Formations, on a single person, not even a renowned Arab general like Umar had any chance of survival.

  “No!”

  Umar, known for his cold-heartedness and firm resolve, was now ghastly pale, an intense fear seizing his heart. His martial arts were fierce and majestic, capable of blocking the combined attacks of Li Siye and Huang Botian at the same time. However, when five thousand Wushang Cavalry were charging at him, not even Umar stood a chance. In his military career, this was his first time seeing so many cavalry attacking one person.

  One person, no matter how powerful, could not simultaneously fight against five thousand people. In this moment, he could finally smell the stench of death. He wanted to ride his horse and flee, but Huang Botian was controlling the terrain through the Stone General, causing rocks to bulge out of the ground and block his exits, with the dense ranks of the Wushang Cavalry taking care of the rest.

  “Aaaaah!”

  In the final moment, Umar only had time to gather up all the strength in his body and raise up his illustrious Arabian saber to stop the attack coming from overhead! But then there was a boom and an explosion of energy as a sharp and massive sword slashed down. This slash cleaved the clouds, cleaved the heavens, cleaved Umar’s pitch-black barrier of Stellar Energy, and cleaved apart that divine Arabian scimitar that had accompanied Umar throughout half his life.

  Neeeigh! With one last whinny, Umar’s Arabian steed was cut in half along with its rider in an explosion of blood.

  “Thus are the enemies of the Great Tang punished!”

  Li Siye used his sword to raise Umar’s corpse high into the air while Stellar Energy seethed from his body, transforming it into a burning flame that captured the attention of half of the battlefield. In that moment, Li Siye was as imposing as a god of the high heavens.

  Bang!

  Although none of them could understand what Li Siye was saying, the death of Umar completely shattered the will of the Arab forces on the eastern front.

  “General is dead!”

  “General Umar has been killed by the Tang!”

  “Everyone, run!”

  All the Arabs were now frantically scrambling to flee, the defeated army surging like a tide to the main army in the rear. So abrupt was this sight that the Arab army that had just about finished adjusting its formation and was preparing to attack instantly fell into turmoil.

  “Kill!”

  “All those who offend the Han will be executed, no matter how far away they are!!”

  “All those who offend the Han will be executed, no matter how far away they are!!”

  “For the Great Taaaang!”

  Roars echoed over the battlefield as the one hundred thousand soldiers of Qixi charged red-eyed toward the fleeing Arabs like fierce tigers lunging down mountains at their prey. At this stage, tactics were no longer necessary. The entire Arab line had collapsed, and the Tang soldiers were rushing in like a massive wave to fill the gap.

  The Wushang Cavalry, the ballista army, the Gangke King, the soldiers of Greater and Lesser Balur, the Annan Protectorate army, the Qixi Protectorate army… all of these people melded into a single flood that surged toward the army of three hundred thousand Arabs. Although the Arabs far outnumbered the Tang, and although the Arab soldiers in the rear tried to put up some resistance and get to the front to battle, the panicking army in front of them made it impossible to reverse the trend.

  “Milord!”

  “Look over there!”

  “The Arabs have actually been beaten back!”

  “How could this be!”

  In the distance, on the walls of Talas, countless eyes looked on in astonishment at the fleeing Arabs. They had long ago noticed the arrival of the reinforcements, but the frenzied Arab assaults made them incapable of caring. Moreover, after two months of unending battle, no one understood more than the Anxi Protectorate army just how formidable the soldiers of the Abbasid Caliphate were.

  These were soldiers far more powerful than any other army they had encountered. A mere one hundred thousand reinforcements, with a significant portion being mercenaries, defeating three hundred thousand fierce and doughty Arab soldiers was a story that belonged only in fairytales. But to their surprise, this army of reinforcements had not only won, but had achieved an overwhelming victory.

  The walls were quiet as those Arabs that had been constantly scaling the ladders receded like the tide. The cries and shouts of that army of reinforcements fighting with the Arabs in the distance had given the Tang soldiers an unprecedented shock, but also an unprecedented hope!

  At this moment, a tired yet still dignified voice rang out in their ears. “Pass on my order. Open the gate and work with the Qixi Protectorate army to attack the Arabs from two sides.”

  Gao Xianzhi stood on the gate tower like an imposing mountain, his hands resting on his sword. His armor was in tatters and stained with blood, deep wounds visible wherever one looked. The consecutive battles had worn away at both his Stellar Energy and his physical energy, but he remained calm and erect, as if he would never be toppled.

  “Yes! Milord!”

  A messenger at Gao Xianzhi’s side excitedly left with this order. A few moments later, there was a rumbling as the twisted and deformed gates of Talas slowly opened, allowing the excited soldiers of the Anxi Protectorate army to charge out.

  The three hundred thousand Arab soldiers were already on the verge of collapse from the attacks of the Qixi reinforcements, and the sudden assault of the Anxi Protectorate army from within the city threw them into even further disarray, triggering a wholesale rout.

  “I didn’t think… that he would actually show up!”

  When no one else was left on the walls, Gao Xianzhi gave a long sigh, his expression relaxing, that lofty figure of his finally slackening a little.

  ……

  Outside Talas, the Arabs were in a complete rout, panic spreading through their ranks as quickly as a landslide!

  “Bastards! Hold! Kill them!”

  “Fleeing is forbidden! Get back there and attack!”

  “Anyone who disrupts the formation dies!”

  The Arab commanders in the rear furiously roared in an attempt to halt the rout. But in the blink of an eye, they themselves were swept up in the panicked flood of soldiers and dragged into the rear.

  “Retreeeeat!”

  With the trend of the battle seeming irreversible and the Tang soldiers pursuing like starving tigers or wolves, the Arabs finally gave t
he order to retreat. The army of three hundred thousand left behind a battlefield covered in corpses as they drew back to the west.

  “Lord Marquis! We’ve won!”

  In the rear of the Tang army, Xu Keyi turned to Wang Chong, his face full of respect.

  “It was a victory, but not a complete one!” Wang Chong indifferently said. Leaving behind the confused Xu Keyi, he slowly trotted the White-hoofed Shadow forward. On the battlefield, the clashing of metal, the neighs of horses, the shouts of fighting, the screams of the dying, and the twanging of bowstrings had all mixed into a single din. But Wang Chong had a calm demeanor, like he was on a leisurely stroll, as he rode past the Arab corpses, past shattered and abandoned weapons.

  Soldiers followed closely behind, with Wang Chong becoming the center of the battlefield. He was like a sun that had dropped down to the earth, exuding a dazzling light that no one could ignore.

  The Arabs were retreating in a panic, leaving this battle with grievous casualties, but even now, they had probably not come to grips with the fact that they had lost, even losing their elite general Umar, the Arabian Arrow. However, Wang Chong had expected all of this.

  Whether it was the elimination of the Arabian hunting falcons and the killing of their scouts on the perimeter, or the preemptive assault on and victory over Umar’s seventy thousand soldiers so that their rout could be used against the rest of the Arab army, all of it had been the result of his careful and meticulous planning.

  In Wushang’s City of Steel and the Qixi Protectorate headquarters, Wang Chong had used that topographical model of Talas to simulate his plans countless times, and now, all of these plans had been perfectly realized.

  ‘The general who makes many calculations in the temple before battle will achieve victory, while one who makes few will suffer defeat.’ This was one of the simplest principles of the art of war. For this victory, Wang Chong had labored many days and nights, pondering every possible detail.

  The Arabs might have thought of this defeat as a coincidence, but for Wang Chong, it was an inevitability.

  “Reporting!”

  As Wang Chong continued to progress through the battlefield, a messenger galloped up and dismounted to kneel on the ground.

  “The Arabs have retreated past the designated point. Should we continue to pursue them?”

  “There’s no need!”

  Seated on the White-hoofed Shadow, Wang Chong gazed at the retreating Arabs and shook his head.

  “Inform Li Siye, Chen Bin, and the Gangke King to slow the pursuit!

  “In addition, inform Zhang Shouzhi’s group that they can begin!”

  “Yes! Lord Marquis!”

  The messenger quickly remounted and galloped off.

  Rumble! The earth trembled as thousands of transport carriages crossed the hills, carrying countless craftsmen and furnaces. Behind them were even more carriages, loaded down with miniature mountains of steel modules.

  Chapter 879 - A Meeting of Protector-Generals, Gao Xianzhi!

  Chapter 879: A Meeting of Protector-Generals, Gao Xianzhi!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Mooo!

  Behind the carriages was a veritable sea of cows and sheep, all of them surging over the hills to arrive at the battlefield. And after the livestock came the carriages carrying food and supplies… Only at this stage in the battle did the people in charge of logistics finally enter the battlefield.

  With everything settled, Wang Chong turned his head back around and continued his leisurely ride to Talas. Over there, Wang Chong could already see that lofty figure walking toward him.

  “Lord Protector-General!”

  When the distance between them was rather small, Wang Chong stopped. Even though Wang Chong was a reincarnator who had once been the revered ‘War Saint’, this was the first time Wang Chong was seeing this famous ‘Wall of the Empire’ whose name was known throughout the Western Regions. The Western Regions War God Gao Xianzhi was so famous that in his last life, when he was just a mere scion of a great clan, Wang Chong had regarded him as a nigh unreachable existence.

  As for later, when the calamity broke out, and Wang Chong’s star soared into the heavens and began to strive to reverse the tides, the star of this legendary Great General of the Western Regions had long ago plunged down from the skies of the Great Tang!

  Thus, from start to finish, Wang Chong had never had a chance to meet this illustrious Great General of the empire!

  Refined, handsome!

  This was Wang Chong’s first impression of Gao Xianzhi. Even though his breathing was ragged, his body covered in wounds, and his expression haggard from fighting battle after battle, his every movement exuded a sense of grandeur. Even amongst other Great Generals, he would still stand out from the rest.

  There was a rumor that Gao Xianzhi had admired the culture of the Great Tang ever since he was a child, so much so that he had studied abroad in the Great Tang when he was only seven. Wang Chong didn’t know if this rumor was real or false, but based on the demeanor that Gao Xianzhi exuded, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance that it was true.

  “Protector-General Wang, my gratitude is beyond words. This Gao represents all the Anxi Protectorate army in expressing our deepest thanks to Milord!”

  A mixture of emotions appeared in Gao Xianzhi’s eyes for a moment before, under countless eyes, he gave a respectful bow. In this Battle of Talas, the Anxi Protectorate army had been at the end of its rope, so at its limit that Gao Xianzhi had already prepared for the complete annihilation of the army and was getting ready to offer one last sacrifice for the empire.

  If not for the timely arrival of Wang Chong’s reinforcements, the Anxi Protectorate army would have probably become naught but a part of history.

  Wang Chong was a full generation younger than Gao Xianzhi, and his seat of Qixi Protector-General was also controversial, at least amongst the other Protector-Generals and Great Generals of the empire. By addressing him as ‘Protector-General’, Gao Xianzhi had fully displayed his respect for and acknowledgment of Wang Chong.

  “Lord Protector-General, there is no need for such courtesy. This was Wang Chong’s duty. Lord Protector-General, what are the casualties within the city?”

  A hint of surprise flashed through his eyes as he clearly noticed the significance of how Gao Xianzhi had addressed him.

  “We’ve lost more than half our men in this battle, and there are more than four thousand wounded within the city. In addition, we lack medicine, and our food supplies are almost all used up,” Gao Xianzhi said, his eyes growing dim. The Anxi Protectorate army had always been victorious in its campaigns over the Western Regions, but now it had suffered a wound of unprecedented severity, one that would take a very long time to recover from.

  “Understood.”

  Wang Chong nodded, sympathy in his eyes.

  “With regards to medicine and supplies, Lord Protector-General has no need to worry. I have brought enough to resupply you. Kong Zi-an, take the medicine and food into the city.”

  “Yes! Lord Marquis!”

  Kong Zi-an waved behind him, and the waiting convoy of carriages loaded with food and medicine entered the city. After two months of battle, Talas was bound to be lacking in all sorts of resources. Having already predicted this, Wang Chong had naturally prepared to resupply the city.

  Bang!

  As the carriages rolled into Talas, metal clattering and shouting began to rise from the battlefield. Upon hearing this noise, Gao Xianzhi and the Anxi generals around him subconsciously turned to look. What they saw were furnaces belching out smoke while hundreds of craftsmen stood next to specially-made transport carriages, unloading and planting massive steel modules into the earth.

  The metal clattering just now had been the sound of their hammering.

  All the craftsmen worked like they were extremely familiar with the process, hammering and binding with order, discipline, and astonishing efficiency
. It took only a few moments for tall silvery-white walls to begin rising outside of Talas.

  Not only that, the reinforcements from Qixi that had been chasing the Arabs like a surging tide clearly began to slow their pursuit as they passed the steel walls, and a visible gap had appeared between them and the fleeing Arabs.

  “Lord Protector-General, this is…”

  The one to speak was a bearded and swarthy general at Gao Xianzhi’s side. Around him, the other Anxi generals were equally dumbfounded. Wang Chong’s army of more than one hundred thousand currently had the advantage, so now was the time to strike while the iron was hot and inflict even more casualties on the enemy. But for some reason, Wang Chong’s forces had clearly given up on the pursuit, allowing the defeated Arabs to get away.

  Given Wang Chong’s reputation and how his army had performed just now, such a low-level and serious error should never have happened.

  And there was also those busy craftsmen and those steel walls… The Anxi generals were left befuddled and bewildered, none of them able to understand what these soldiers from Qixi were up to.

  Gao Xianzhi remained silent. He had his speculations, but he also seemed to not understand too clearly.

  Wang Chong’s way of battle was completely different from the traditional model. Moreover, it was very difficult to imagine that a commander would bring noncombatants like craftsmen as well as furnaces to a battle involving more than one hundred thousand soldiers. Such a thing had never happened in the history of warfare; only Wang Chong was capable of thinking of such an idea.

  Wang Chong looked at that tyrannical general exuding a storm of energy and suddenly asked, “Is this General Cheng Qianli?”