“Hold! Don’t let them get in!”
“Stop them! If they get in, we’ll lose!”
“Kill! Everyone, follow me!”
At this sight, all the soldiers became frantic. The shieldmen, axemen, spearmen, and mercenaries all went red in the eyes as they furiously charged into the gap. But they were too late. The tens of thousands of Arab cavalry had been charging at the first defense line for some time and they had now finally found a vent for the pent-up pressure.
“Ah!”
Screams filled the air as the soldiers were mowed down by the Arab charge. Even in death, they were still trying to charge forward, but the strength of a single individual was far too limited. Trying to stop these incessant waves of charging cavalry was like an ant trying to shake a tree.
“Iron Wall Army, get ready!”
Gao Xianzhi furiously pulled out his sword, and with his bellowed order, the four thousand soldiers of the Iron Wall Army assembled, their bodies exploding with a powerful aura as their eyes locked onto the gap.
Defeat was already taking shape and the strength of ordinary soldiers was incapable of stopping this steel flood of Arab soldiers. Only the Iron Wall Army could fill this gap.
“Move out!”
Gao Xianzhi waved his sword forward, and the determined Iron Wall Army immediately strode forward, streaking like a comet toward the gap
Clang!
When they arrived at the gap, all the Iron Wall Army soldiers pulled out their swords. The four thousand swords began to vibrate as one, creating an intimidating pressure.
“Kill them all!”
The leading Iron Wall soldier’s eyes flashed cold as he swung his sword down and led his soldiers like wolves lunging at a flock of sheep into the Arab army.
Plush! His sword immediately stabbed through a horse charging, piercing through its rider and out their back. Thump! With a shake of his wrist, the Iron Wall soldier tossed aside the deceased rider and horse. The horse and rider together with their armor weighed nearly one thousand jin, but they seemed to be practically weightless as they were flung off the soldier’s sword and into a group of Arab cavalry.
Boom!
After killing the first Arab horseman, the Iron Wall soldier strode forward and stabbed through a second horseman. Boom! Boom! Boom! The Iron Wall soldier confidently strode forward, his every step firm and determined. Squelch! Blood gushed out around this Iron Wall soldier, each of his blows mowing down the Arab cavalry like weeds.
Despite all the Arab cavalry present, not a single one was able to stop this Iron Wall soldier.
Boomboomboom!
The four thousand soldiers of the Iron Wall Army used this method to advance unstoppably through the Arab army, carving a bloody path.
Neigh!
Horses whinnied in terror. Even the well-trained and fearless Arabian warhorses took fright at the cruel and terrifying momentum of the Iron Wall Army, rearing up on their hindlegs and attempting to get out of the way.
But the four thousand soldiers of the Iron Wall Army continued to advance at terrifying speed. No matter how many Arab cavalry charged at them, nothing could stop their assault. One thousand, two thousand, three thousand… the famed Arab cavalry weren’t even able to last a single blow in front of the Iron Wall Army. They were cut down in batches, their corpses piling up on the battlefield.
“Kill them!”
The first to realize what was going on were Qutaybah’s Crimson Moon Vanguard. A horseman of this famed vanguard waved his scimitar and soon charged at an Iron Wall soldier in front of him.
“Kill!”
The large Crimson Moon Scimitar left a long scar in the air, its dark red surface reflecting the savage face of this Crimson Moon Vanguard. The Crimson Moon Vanguard were extremely experienced in combat and had killed countless formidable opponents. Using a ‘Crimson Leap’, he exerted all his strength. His scimitar had enough strength to shatter steel, let alone flesh and blood. But while confronting this mountain-sundering blow from the Crimson Moon Vanguard, the Iron Wall soldier stood firm like a rock standing tall in a river. His face was emotionless and his eyes gave the Crimson Moon Vanguard a cold glance as he stabbed forward with his sword.
Swoosh! The sharp edge of the sword pierced through the warhorse and then through the Crimson Moon Vanguard and out his back. At this moment, time seemed to stop, and the large Crimson Moon Scimitar froze in the air. Man and horse, weighing more than one thousand jin, were held aloft by a single sword.
“H-…how? How could the eastern world have such powerful warriors!”
This Crimson Moon Vanguard’s eyes were wide in utter disbelief.
At the moment of his death, he felt a deep chill in his heart. After participating in the conquest of so many factions and killing so many foes, for the first time, he discovered that this world was also home to a warrior so skilled in the art of killing. His Crimson Moon Scimitar had not even fully swung down before he was pierced through his vitals. That strike had been clean and straightforward, performed with no extraneous strength. It was the product of his worst nightmares.
Rumble! The four thousand soldiers of the Iron Wall Army continued their unstoppable charge. Dust churned and the earth rumbled as the Crimson Moon Vanguard were cut down.
“Craftsman team, get ready to repair the gap!”
A loud and bright voice resounded over the steel defense line, and the creaking of machinery began to rise from the rear of the Tang army. Operated by countless craftsmen, long mechanical arms of complicated construction ferried the heavy steel walls hanging from them to the front of the defense line. Boom! As the steel walls dropped down, the long steel spikes extending from their bottoms plunged into the rock and earth. In the blink of an eye, a new steel wall had appeared on the defense line, followed by a second, a third…
Meanwhile, the four thousand soldiers of the Iron Wall Army had created a straight line across the battlefield, holding the gap against the endless Arab attacks.
No matter how many Arab soldiers charged in, the four thousand soldiers remained immovable. The actions of the Iron Wall Army rallied the rest of the soldiers, and the shieldmen, axemen, sabermen, and spearmen swiftly formed a new defense line.
“All Wushang Cavalry, wait for my order. Prepare to move out!”
Meanwhile, Wang Chong had been coldly observing those enormous silver weapons from atop the White-hoofed Shadow. After knocking over the first batch of steel walls, these silver siege weapons had been rapidly moved away to another spot on the defense line.
Although the Iron Wall Army was powerful, it could not take care of those silver siege weapons. The danger was still present and the tens of thousands of Arab cavalry were still capable of pouring through any other gap created.
Boom!
As the hundreds of silver siege weapons were just about to reach another segment of the defense line, Li Siye suddenly pulled the massive sword from his back and charged out of one of the gaps in the walls, his eyes coldly flashing.
Ten Charges Ten Victories!
Li Siye and his several thousand elite Wushang Cavalry immediately exploded with an enormous aura as they executed one of the ten strongest formations of the apocalyptic era.
Ten Charges Ten Victories had always been a formation meant to be used against a far more numerous enemy. There was a heaven-shaking rumble, the tremendous momentum of the four-thousand-some Wushang Cavalry completely drowning out that of the tens of thousands of Arab cavalry on the front lines.
“Ah!”
Screams filled the air as halo clashed against halo, weapon struck weapon, and warhorse crashed into warhorse. Wherever the Wushang Cavalry went, chaos and collapse followed. No one could stop them—not Qutaybah’s elite soldiers, not Abu Muslim’s soldiers, and not Osman’s soldiers.
“Huang Botian, bring a group and block those Arab soldiers! Kong Zi-an, you lead a group to destroy those silver weapons!”
Li Siye swiftly ordered the four-thousand-some Wushang Cavalry
into two groups.
Bangbangbang! One group of Wushang Cavalry immediately turned and charged at one of the silver weapons. Their swords swinging down left Arab soldiers screaming in pain while their warhorses sent them flying more than a hundred feet. The superb Arabian scimitars were cut to pieces upon first collision with the Wootz Steel weapons.
Many Arab cavalry didn’t even have time to react before a cold light flashed, cutting their armor into pieces. Only when they lowered their heads in shock did they realize that the blood drenching the sky was spurting out of their chests, after which their eyes dimmed and they dropped to the ground.
“Everyone, hear my order! Pay no attention to the other Arab soldiers. Focus all your attacks on the gears and joints of those silver weapons. Those are the weak points! If we break them, the Arabs won’t be able to use those weapons!”
Chapter 1060 - A Battle Without Precedent in History (IV)
Chapter 1060: A Battle Without Precedent in History (IV)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The furious winds began to truly whistle. In the urgent situation, Kong Zi-an didn’t have time to say anything more. Unsheathing his Wootz Steel sword, he slashed it at the exposed gears of the silver weapons. Clang! Even a slash with all of Kong Zi-an’s power was only able to leave a cut about one inch deep on the silver weapon.
These were the ‘Behemoths’ that Qutaybah had brought from the northern war zone. They had been exquisitely forged with many of the finest materials and had been further reinforced with thousands of defensive and toughening inscriptions. Their toughness was difficult to imagine. Even the attacks of the Great Tang ballistae could not effectively damage them.
This was why Kong Zi-an had decided to avoid the main body and attack the exposed gears.
Clang! The moment Kong Zi-an pulled his sword away, another Wootz Steel sword slashed down, leaving a shallow cut on the external gear. Then came a third, a fourth, a fifth… Hundreds of Wootz Steel swords hacked down, and in a few seconds, the external gears of this ‘Silver Behemoth’ were severed. Kong Zi-an and the others had succeeded in destroying the crucial mechanisms of this siege weapon.
“Let’s go!”
Kong Zi-an’s eyes flashed with cold light as he rode off toward the second silver weapon. A few seconds later, another silver weapon had been crippled.
“Kill!”
Seeing that the silver weapons were under attack, the surrounding Arab cavalry became nervous and surged at the enemy.
But they were simply no match for the power of the Ten Charges Ten Victories Formation. The faster and fiercer they came, the more quickly they were felled.
Boomboomboom!
Kong Zi-an’s men tore through the Arab ranks like a tornado, constantly assaulting the silver weapons. It didn’t take long for more than half of the silver weapons to be destroyed. Kong Zi-an’s men were so fast that they only paused at each silver weapon for a few moments before leaving for the next. Moreover, they had divided their two-thousand-some men into sixty-some groups. So rapid and numerous were they that not even the Arabs could keep up.
After some time, the several hundred silver weapons were all crippled, each one surrounded by corpses. In the course of this furious assault, the four thousand Wushang Cavalry had killed more than nine thousand people, all of them elites.
“Kill them!”
The four thousand Wushang Cavalry made another round through the Arab cavalry, sowing death and chaos, before turning back to the defense line. In this entire process, not a single one of them had been wounded.
“How was it?” asked Wang Chong behind the defense line as he continued to look ahead to the battlefield.
“Too powerful!”
Li Siye gave a long sigh, breathing hard. Behind him, the four thousand Wushang Cavalry also seemed a little pale and tired. Although none of them had been injured in this sortie, they had consumed an unbelievable amount of physical energy.
This one whirlwind of a sortie had consumed just as much strength as a regular battle.
Li Siye knew what Wang Chong was asking, and sternly reported, “…This wave of Arabs is stronger on every level. Their training, techniques, martial arts, weapons proficiency, their halos, and cohesion are all stronger than Abu Muslim’s soldiers.”
Li Siye was a top-notch commander who had also served for a spell at the Beiting Protectorate, giving him a sharp gaze that allowed him to very accurately judge his opponents. Although they had put on a brilliant performance just now, sweeping through the Arab ranks, destroying the several hundred silver siege weapons, ‘easily’ killing more than nine thousand elites, and coming away completely unscathed, only Li Siye and his men knew the true ferocity of this battle.
Li Siye hesitated for a long while before finally concluding, “With just our sixty thousand men, it will be very difficult to hold for very long!”
The disparity in numbers was far too obvious. Moreover, the Arabs had come with some of their finest soldiers and were at the peak of their morale. Even the Wushang Cavalry had exhausted themselves in their single sortie, let alone the other soldiers.
Wang Chong said nothing, but his heart slightly sank.
Li Siye was not the sort to lightly give up even when the opponent was extremely powerful, and he certainly wasn’t the kind of person who would say ‘it will be very difficult to hold for very long’. If even he was saying something like this, that could only mean that the situation was even more severe than he let on.
The disparity in numbers was still not a weakness the Great Tang could overcome.
“You’re dismissed. Rest well! In a little while, I’ll have need of you again!” Wang Chong ordered.
“Yes, Lord Marquis!” Li Siye deferentially said.
Li Siye didn’t even try to seat himself cross-legged on the ground. Still on his Ferghana steed, he closed his eyes and began to adjust his energy. White streams of steam began to rise from his body as he slowly recovered.
The battle was currently extremely intense, with the first defense line coming under immense pressure at every moment. Li Siye and his Wushang Cavalry simply didn’t have enough time to rest. They needed to be ready to enter the battlefield at any moment.
“Milord, should we commit the Mo Saber Unit?” asked the Gangke King suddenly from atop his black-spotted white horse.
In this interval of more than a month, the Gangke King, Xi Yuanqing, and Lou Shiyi had been training up the Mo Saber Unit. This was a new unit, a new type of soldier, a kind of soldier that wielded immense power. Most importantly, they were a unit of ten thousand that excelled at dealing with a vast sea of opponents like this.
The Wushang Cavalry and Iron Wall Army had already stepped into the fray. Only the Mo Saber Unit remained in reserve.
“It’s still not time yet!”
Wang Chong shook his head as he gazed at the four black banners flapping in the wind, his expression grave and somber.
“The Arabs still haven’t committed their strongest units. Governor Osman hasn’t sent in his strongest soldiers, nor has Abu Muslim, and the Mamelukes also haven’t moved… In addition, none of the five commanders has moved!”
The situation was already extremely dangerous, and even those heavy and nigh unshakable steel walls were swaying and trembling as if on the verge of collapse. If Wang Chong, Wang Yan, Gao Xianzhi, or Cheng Qianli entered the battlefield, they could immediately alter the situation.
But at this time, none of these four dared to make any rash actions.
The Arabs had three governors, one deputy governor, and the Mameluke commander. These were five individuals who could display a Great General level of strength, and none of them had moved. If the Tang commanders wasted their strength in this battle between lower-level soldiers, they would be large beasts showing their backs, their weakness exposed. In the end, they would be certain to suffer a destructive blow.
The battle between armies was important, but the battle between
Great Generals was also a crucial factor!
……
Whoosh!
On the other end of the battlefield, the four black war banners flapped in the wind, but all was quiet beneath them. This place and the battlefield were like two different worlds.
To all the armies except Abu Muslim’s, this was their first time experiencing the strength of the eastern world, of the power that lay to the east of the Cong Mountains. In this short amount of time, this empire called the Great Tang had mobilized two powerful armies that had crushed elite Arab veterans with overwhelming power.
At this moment, these commanders finally understood how the illustrious Governor of Iron and Blood had lost to the Tang.
At the very least, this eastern Tang army was not as impotent as they had first imagined.
A deputy general suddenly rode up from behind Governor Osman of Cairo and asked, “Milord, do we need to send in the Beheader Army? The opponent is extremely powerful. We can only contend against them if we send in the Beheader Army!”
The Beheader1 was the god of the Nile River, and the legends said that it was a giant crocodile that lived in the Nile. Osman was the Governor of Cairo and the strongest unit of soldiers under his command had taken on the name ‘Beheader’. This unit of soldiers had followed Osman in his conquest and had won victory after victory. Although their numbers were small, they were extremely experienced in battle and far more powerful than the other soldiers.
In the war against the Sassanid Dynasty, Osman’s Beheader Army had been responsible for sweeping aside the points of resistance in the enemy army and had rendered great service in their elimination of powerful Sassanid forces.
The four thousand infantry on the enemy side possessed supreme strength. The only force under Osman’s command that could deal with them was probably the Beheader Army.
“If that’s the case, then leave those eastern Wushang Cavalry to me!”
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 677
