Wang Chong nodded. He had no doubts about the Formation Elder’s strength.
“I’ve prepared three thousand men for you. These men are yours to command, and I’ve also readied all the resources. I’ll entrust this task to you, Senior!”
The Formation Elder quickly left with the diagram.
Rumble!
Not long after the Formation Elder left, the earth suddenly began to sway, and then a massive energy accompanied by the roaring of massive beasts came from the northwest.
Fierce vibrations traveled through the earth.
The entire City of Steel began to shudder like a plank on the ocean.
The city instantly went deathly silent, and countless eyes turned toward the Arab base in the northwest.
Standing in the hall, Wang Chong also turned to the northwest. Even though his vision was blocked by the walls, Wang Chong could distinctly sense guards radiating cruel and brutal energy, and in the middle of these guards was a vast destructive power like a massive volcano.
All the Governors and Deputy Governors, Abu Muslim included, paled in comparison to this power.
“Khatabah!”
As this name came to mind, Wang Chong’s face turned grim.
The supreme commander of the Arab forces, the instigator of this war, had finally arrived on the battlefield!
This also meant that all of the Arab soldiers had finally arrived.
The battle was on the verge of breaking out!
……
Several hundred li away, the Arab base was shaking as a steel flood made of countless soldiers rushed toward it.
The massive Behemoths stood out amidst this army like looming mountains.
And amongst all the Behemoths, the golden elephant Behemoth stood out the most.
“The eastern world… I’ve finally arrived!”
In front of the golden tent on the back of the Behemoth, Hierophant Khatabah stood with his arms spread open. As he stared at the scene before him, his eyes burned with ambition.
To conquer the world and make it bask in the glory of Arabia was his lifelong desire. But a certain accident several decades ago had put a stop to his ambitions.
But as time passed, he was finally able to appear in the lands he had dreamed about and fulfill his last unrealized dream.
“Hierophant!”
“Hierophant!”
“Hierophant!”
The millions of Arab soldiers got down from their mounts and kneeled to the Hierophant, their expressions brimming with respect and reverence.
Roooar!
The Behemoths roared, and in front of the golden tent, Khatabah slightly nodded and then ordered the Behemoth to slowly come forward.
The entire world trembled at its approach.
Khatabah did not pause, and his mount soon made its way through more than half the base to arrive in front of the domed fortress at the very front. From there, his eyes looked toward the southeast, where the gleaming silver of the enemy base was.
The steel defensive line that extended for several hundred li and the disciplined army behind it exuded strength and power, even in Khatabah’s eyes.
“…But the stronger the foe, the more worthy they are to conquer!”
Khatabah smiled, his chest bursting with endless ambition.
Neigh!
At this moment, the neighing of warhorses came from the other side, and Khatabah instinctively turned to look at the source of the turmoil.
Far in the distance, a young figure atop a white-hoofed steed had emerged from the army of infidels, moving toward him with incredible speed.
This sudden development immediately caught the attention of Khatabah and all the Governors and Deputy Governors in the army.
“Khatabah?”
A massive mental wave rippled over, carrying with it a booming voice that erupted over the Arab base.
Hwooo! The massive energy contained in the voice created a whirlwind.
Interesting.
Khatabah faintly smiled from atop his Behemoth.
There was no language impediment when communicating through mental waves, but his foe had deliberately chosen to convert his mental wave into a voice so that everyone could hear. He clearly had ulterior motives.
Most interesting of all was that this man did not use the Tang language, but Arabic.
“Wang Chong?”
Khatabah’s lips slightly opened, and a moment later, a massive Psychic Energy that could make any Great General pale swept through the air and exploded over the Great Tang defense line.
Even though this was his first time seeing his foe, Khatabah was already certain that this youthful figure was his most powerful foe, the Wang Chong spoken of by Abu Muslim and the Caliph!
Upon hearing Khatabah’s voice, Wang Chong smiled and pulled on the reins of his horse.
But a moment later, his face went ice-cold.
“Hierophant, with this full mobilization, have you already prepared for the destruction of your country?”
Wang Chong’s voice was carried across space and rumbled over the Arab base.
Buzz!
All the Arabs immediately exploded in rage, and even Abu Muslim and the other Governors reddened.
“This bastard!”
“He dares to speak such arrogant words in front of the Hierophant!”
“This time, all of Arabia has moved out, nearly four million soldiers in all. This is enough to flatten the eastern world! Does he really think he’s that lucky!?”
But on the back of his Behemoth, the silver-robed Khatabah was unperturbed.
“In the east, there is a saying: a mantis trying to block a carriage does not know its own strength. You infidels enjoy wagging your tongues in an attempt to win some small verbal victory, but this will not change your fate of destruction. Now, before this war begins and all the east is turned into a sea of fire, I will ask as was asked in the past: fight? Or surrender?”
Khatabah’s cold and majestic voice resounded over the City of Steel with a threatening menace.
The world went still. Not only did the Arab soldiers fall silent, so did the Tang camp. Wang Zhongsi, Gao Xianzhi, Zhangchou Jianqiong, An Sishun, Abusi… all of them looked toward the northwest.
A hint of anger flashed across their faces, but none of them spoke. Wang Chong was the Nine Provinces Protector-General appointed by the Sage Emperor, and he was the supreme commander ranked above all the others. Since he had already begun to speak, there was no need for the rest of them to say anything.
“Hahaha, I was about to ask the same thing! At the Battle of Talas, I told you Arabs before that Talas would not be the end between the Tang and Arabia, that since you dared to step into the east, you needed to be ready to pay the price. Alas, you did not listen to me, so you lost Samarkand, Khorasan, and the lives of one million soldiers!
“This time, I will ask you once more. Khatabah, since you dare to step into the east, have you prepared to pay the price? This time, the Great Tang will not stop at Samarkand and Khorasan. The armies of the east will march all the way to Baghdad and conquer all of the western world. All of your people will become slaves of the Great Tang, all your wealth will become the Great Tang’s, and all of Arabia will become Great Tang territory. All of this… Khatabah, Abu Muslim, are you ready for that?”
Wang Chong’s eyes erupted with dazzling light.
Whoooah!
Wang Chong’s words elicited another uproar from the Arab base, and Abu Muslim in particular went ghastly white.
He recalled that Wang Chong really had said these words before the Battle of Talas, but Abu Muslim had not taken them seriously at the time. Now that he looked back, Wang Chong had been true to his word, pushing his army all the way to Khorasan and threatening the heartland of Arabia.
If not for the Great Tang’s Confucian Sect calling him back, the Tang army might have still been garrisoned in Khorasan.
In front of the golden tent, Khatabah’s robes ruffled. Although he was calm and
unmoved on the surface, his eyes flashed with rage.
“It seems that we cannot negotiate!”
Khatabah’s icy voice boomed above the City of Steel.
“Since that is the case, we fight! As a price for your refusal, Tang, there will be no hostages in this battle. All of you will die here. In addition, as a price for your arrogance and disrespect, once I conquer the east, I will choose several cities to offer as blood sacrifices until I have executed two million people! Such is the price for resisting us and refusing my kindness!
“In addition, all Tang will serve as eternal slaves of Arabia! This is the order of Khatabah! Apolis, after this battle, set up a stele so that all of Arabia may have a permanent testament to this decree!”
Chapter 1829 - Battle in Three Days!
Chapter 1829: Battle in Three Days!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Yes!”
A booming voice came from behind Khatabah.
As the revered Hierophant of the Arabian Empire, Khatabah had a custom that everyone knew of. Before assaulting a city, he would set up a stele upon which the words he had spoken would be engraved. The words on the stele would record the fate of his foes. These steles held even more weight than the decrees of the Caliph, and no one in the empire could alter them.
As the Arabian Empire rose and expanded, Khatabah had erected five steles in total. Each time, a powerful country was wiped out and many of its people enslaved. At the site of every stele was a mountain of corpses with not a single hostage taken.
With this callous and cold behavior, Khatabah established that he would stick to his word, striking fear and terror into all his foes. Khatabah’s way of fighting influenced those who fought with him, and in a way, he had created the current ferocity of Arabia and the fearless fighting style of its soldiers!
In the City of Steel, everyone turned cold, flames burning in their eyes.
“These barbarians!”
Zhangchou Jianqiong clenched his fists. Even though his nearly two years as Minister of War had softened his personality somewhat, these arrogant words still filled his heart with murderous rage.
But Wang Zhongsi was rather calm.
“Let them be. What decides the outcome of a war will always be the strength of both sides, not their words. When the battle begins, we’ll just use force to make them submit!” Wang Zhongsi declared.
As the previous War God of the empire, Wang Zhongsi had faced many verbal challenges, but he had never been moved by them. And in the end, the corpses of his enemies fallen in the hills, plains, valleys, and underneath the banner of the Great Tang were far more intimidating than any words!
The eyes of Abusi, An Sishun, and Gao Xianzhi flashed. Khatabah’s words had provoked their killing intent.
No one had ever dared to challenge the Great Tang like this!
“Further words are pointless. Khatabah, three days from now, let’s decide things between us! This time, I will fulfill my promise and ensure that Arabia will no longer have a chance to rise again, that it will forever be a vassal of the Great Tang!”
Wang Chong’s eyes coldly flashed, and after saying this, he turned his horse around and rode back to his camp.
In front of the massive domed fortress, Khatabah and the other Arabs were all infuriated by Wang Chong’s words, but Khatabah did not retort. He had his elephant Behemoth turn around and stomp back into the Arab base.
“Prepare for battle! In three days, we will destroy the Great Tang and conquer the east!”
Khatabah’s cold and emotionless voice resounded in everyone’s ears.
……
Whoosh!
With Khatabah’s arrival, countless messenger birds took to the skies. Ü-Tsang, Mengshe Zhao, the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates, and even the distant Goguryeo Empire were paying attention to this unprecedented war.
“Your Majesty, who do you think will win this war?”
To the northeast, in the city of Hwando, a Goguryeon general with three swords sheathed on his back looked toward the stalwart and divine figure in front of him.
“Hmph, it’s hard to say. All the herding people know of the strength of the Arab cavalry. And we also have to consider those ancient technologies they found that allowed them to raise that Behemoth Army. If it were our Goguryeo under attack, it would be very hard for us to hold. As for the Tang… I have yet to meet that King of Foreign Lands, but he’s already defeated the Arab Behemoth Army once. Now that he has the help of the other Great Generals, the Great Tang’s unsurpassed infantry, and that steel defense line to hold off a cavalry charge, it’s really hard to say who will win between those two empires.”
The howling winds buffeted Yeon Gaesomun’s hair as he spoke. The cavalry charge had an unparalleled might, and probably only the Great Tang could use infantry to hold it off.
The generals behind him turned pensive.
“It’s just a pity that our Goguryeo cannot take part in this great war!”
Yeon Gaesomun sighed from atop the walls of Hwando as he turned his eyes in another direction. Numerous soldiers were standing to the southwest, black banners flying above them.
Youzhou! Zhang Shougui! The Andong Protectorate army!
The Western Regions and Goguryeo were far away from each other. If one were intent on it, they could make it through the Xi, the Khitans, and the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates to reach the Western Regions, but in Youzhou was that constant thorn of an existence that struck fear in Yeon Gaesomun’s heart and hindered his advance.
Zhang Shougui did not have many soldiers, but he remained heavily rooted into the earth, nailing down the Eastern Turks, the Khitans, the Xi, and Goguryeo. Yeon Gaesomun might have had one million soldiers, but he did not dare to lightly cross that man. When it came to savagery and ferocity, the Great Tang’s commander in Youzhou was entirely his equal.
The moment he sent out his soldiers, Zhang Shougui would immediately attack. Even if he completely locked down Hwando, that man would probably cross on boats to attack. The only person that man feared was Yeon Gaesomun himself. No one else could do anything to him!
Yeon Gaesomun was well aware of this, and it only made him feel more helpless.
The Great Tang had withdrawn the soldiers from all the other protectorates, but Youzhou’s garrison remained. It was probably out of consideration for Goguryeo that this decision had been made.
“However, Zhang Shougui, don’t celebrate just yet! It won’t be long before the land of Youzhou will be Ours as well!”
Yeon Gaesomun looked to the southwest, a sharpness in his eyes.
……
At the same time, a falcon flew up into the lofty Tibetan Plateau, and Wang Chong’s conversation with Khatabah was also relayed into the hands of Imperial Minister Dalon Trinling.
Even though the land from the Western Regions to the City of Steel was occupied by Tang and Arabs, by sending a few experienced scouts, it was not a difficult task to gather information.
“…Three days? What does that mean? It’s one thing that the King of Foreign Lands proposed it. He’s a crafty fox who certainly has his reasons. But Khatabah is hailed as the Hierophant of Arabia, and he has always appeared to be an extremely proud and aggressive person. Since the Arab army has arrived, why did he agree to start the battle in three days? This doesn’t at all match his reputation!” Namri Songtian commented, holding the report.
Wang Chong had proposed the battle in three days, and Khatabah had surprisingly accepted. This was truly abnormal.
“Heh, proud? Aggressive? Would a person like this, with so little intelligence, really be capable of becoming the Hierophant of Arabia? Could he really have been undefeated and invincible as he brought Arabia to its current status?”
Dalon Trinling’s eyes had a sharp light, and his words left Namri Songtian frozen in shock.
Yes!
If Khatabah were really as proud and aggressive as he put on, could he have ever
reached his current revered status?
Namri Songtian could barely speak.
“His arrogance and aggressiveness are simply to confuse and paralyze his opponents. There’s even a chance that those of weaker resolve will throw down their weapons and surrender, avoiding any meaningless losses. But if the Hierophant of Arabia had really been this simple, someone would have killed him ages ago… That man, deep down, is just as crafty and cautious as his Great Tang counterpart,” Dalon Trinling nonchalantly remarked, his sharp words instantly revealing the true faces of the supreme commanders in that war.
“While the Arab commander might appear unrestrained, he is actually very apprehensive about the Great Tang and feels threatened. In these three days, he intends to settle his plans. While he will strike at the end, it will not be until he understands his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses!
“Despite having an army of more than two million elites and even that Behemoth Army, he is still so cautious. The Great Tang is probably in no better state. This is a true clash of dragons. Not even I can tell who will win in the end. However, there is one thing I can be sure of. Until this war is over, Namri Songtian, I do not wish to see the slightest movement of your side that could draw their attention.”
Dalon Trinling profoundly stared at Namri Songtian.
Namri Songtian hastily lowered his head in shock.
……
Three days went by in a flash. In this period, both the Great Tang and Arabia seized the moment to carry out their final preparations. On Wang Chong’s side, the main hall of the City of Steel was brightly lit throughout the day and night. Wang Chong and the other top commanders surrounded the model and simulated numerous scenarios, adjusting their distribution of soldiers, their tactics, how they would attack, and what sort of counterattacks they could expect from the Arabs.
It was an extremely intense session, with multiple scenarios being formed. At times, Wang Zhongsi or An Sishun would play the role of the enemy and attempt to simulate how the Arabs would attack and respond.
This level of simulation, this level of strategizing, was an extremely rare sight in the continent. Even Wang Chong derived much benefit from the discussion.
Six hundred thousand soldiers and the assistance of titans like Wang Zhongsi, Gao Xianzhi, and An Sishun—it was a formidable army that Wang Chong had only ever been able to dream about. With all these powerful figures at his side to help him plan and strategize, even if he faced an army of millions, what did he have to fear?
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 1118
