Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen faintly smiled, their bodies relaxing.
“They won!” Cui Qianyou suddenly said.
“They won!” Tian Qianzhen repeated.
The battle just now had been too gruesome, the energy released by the confrontation of the two formations too shocking. Not even they had known who would come out the victor, but in the end, it seemed that the Youzhou side had been just a little better.
The white skeleton suppressing the hell millstone was a sign of how this clash would go. There was no question that Youzhou had won.
“All soldiers, prepare for a general offensive!” Cui Qianyou coldly ordered, a callous light in his eyes.
The fate of those forty thousand soldiers was sealed. Their formation had been broken, so it would only be a few moments until they broke. What he needed to do now was to marshal the alliance army for an assault on the walls.
“Get in touch with the other countries. Mobilize the assault forces…”
Cui Qianyou waved a hand, calling over a messenger to get in touch with the other Great Generals.
As the head of the alliance, Youzhou needed to send out its soldiers first. But this also meant that the Great Generals and elite soldiers of the other countries had yet to mobilize.
But at this moment, an unexpected development occurred on the front line.
Awooooo!
In the seething mist of blood in front of the steel fortress, the giant white skeleton manifested by the Underworld Formation suddenly trembled and let out a miserable howl of pain. Its two white claws had been thrust into the hell millstone, but at this moment, there was a sharp crack as a monstrous force snapped them off.
With a great rumbling, the millstone began to turn once more, pulverizing the white skeleton into pieces.
Without the hindrance of the white skeleton, the giant millstone slammed into the Underworld Cavalry like a giant beast.
Chapter 2170 - The Two Armies Clash!
Chapter 2170: The Two Armies Clash!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Ah!”
The screams of the dying filled the air as the massive millstone knocked aside countless Underworld Cavalry.
Boom! The bloody mist permeating the battlefield was scattered by a frightening force, and everyone was finally able to see what was truly going on.
The tens of thousands of Tang soldiers were no longer at their peak, and a massive chunk had been torn out of the Hell Wheel Formation. Their numbers had been reduced by more than six thousand, and the ground at their feet was covered in corpses.
Since the start of this battle, this army had appeared invincible and unstoppable. No one had been any match for them, their strength proved through the fact that they had killed two hundred thousand while suffering minimal losses.
This was the first time this army had suffered such heavy losses.
Moreover, they were clearly both mentally and physically wounded.
When infantry clashed with cavalry of the same level, losses were inevitable.
But regardless of the losses they had suffered, they had at least been able to maintain the circular Hell Wheel Formation. The Underworld Cavalry had not been so lucky.
“Ah!”
Across from the Tang army, the bodies of countless Underworld Cavalry covered the ground. They had died miserable deaths, cleaved open by swords, and they had lost over sixteen thousand of their men.
Most importantly, in this clash, the Underworld Cavalry’s formation had been utterly broken.
Without the boost from the formation and the speed of their charge, these cavalry had become infantry on horseback, not even a match for ordinary infantry.
“Kiiill!”
A Tang commander in front of the steel fortress raised his sword high, his face chilling. Now that the Underworld Formation had been broken, he ordered the army to go on a full offensive.
With a great rumble, the Hell Wheel Formation began to turn like a grinder, sweeping toward the remnants of the Underworld Cavalry.
A general should pursue a desperate enemy to the very end!
The formation had been broken, so now was the best time to deal with the Underworld Cavalry.
“Impossible, absolutely impossible!”
“How could the Underworld Cavalry lose? They had clearly managed to suppress that millstone!”
“This is an elite army our Youzhou spent several years training up! How could it lose to some no-name army?”
“Impossible! Is there no army that can deal with that Tang army?”
All the Youzhou soldiers had been struck dumb.
They were on the verge of going crazy!
They had always been proud of the Underworld Cavalry and had been confident in its victory, but the final result had taken everyone by surprise.
“How is this possible?”
Tian Qianzhen was also deeply stunned, his eyes wide open.
They had lost too quickly!
The two of them had not been mentally prepared at all for this.
A moment later, the two of them looked up at Wang Chong.
After stationing those forty thousand soldiers in front of the steel fortress, Wang Chong had not done anything more, no matter how intense the battle became or how many opponents they had faced. He had not even grown uneasy after the two had calmed the panic and sent out the Underworld Cavalry.
The two of them hadn’t understood what was going on at first, but now, they had a flash of insight.
So, did he expect this all along… the two of them mentally muttered.
Wang Chong seemed to sense their gazes, and coldly laughed.
“Hmph! Too simpleminded! The Hell Wheel Formation isn’t the strongest, but it’s not something that the Underworld Cavalry alone can break!”
Youzhou might have believed in their victory, but in Wang Chong’s mind, they had never had any chance.
Cavalry truly did have an advantage over infantry, but anyone who thought that this alone could break the Hell Wheel Formation was far too naive.
If it were that easy, why would Wang Chong have gone to such great lengths to train this army of heavy infantry?
“Ah!”
Screams broke out from the front. Before the Underworld Cavalry could react, the Hell Wheel had swept them into the formation, and the giant swords slashed, cutting down the Underworld Cavalry.
The army began to rapidly collapse.
Three thousand!
Six thousand!
Eleven thousand!
More and more Underworld Cavalry collapsed into pools of blood. The two of them had been engaged in such a close melee that the Underworld Cavalry couldn’t escape even if they wanted to.
In addition, they were surrounded by soldiers, so they couldn’t run very fast.
Bang!
The heavy swords swung down again and again, killing four to five thousand Underworld Cavalry on the spot.
This was not the one-on-one clash everyone had initially imagined. As the Underworld Cavalry were swept up in the Hell Wheel Formation, they would each face six or seven Tang heavy infantry.
In this situation, individual strength no longer mattered. Even when ten-some Underworld Cavalry grouped together to jointly defend, they were unable to avert their ultimate fate.
An Underworld Cavalry with their formation shattered did not possess the strength to contend against the Great Tang’s heavy infantry.
“Retreat! Retreat!” the officers of the Underworld Cavalry frantically yelled.
A landslide of a rout! A true landslide!
In this clash, they had utterly lost. If they did not retreat now, their entire army might be wiped out.
Bang!
The surviving Underworld Cavalry immediately began to madly flee, and as they fled, the screams of thousands of dying Underworld Cavalry came from behind as the Tang soldiers pursued.
“Pass on my order! Tell Baizhen Tuoluo to mobilize the White Bear
Tuoluo Soldiers!
(TN: Tuoluo can also refer to a star in Chinese astrology that is usually interpreted as an evil omen.)
“Get in touch with the armies on the front lines! No matter what, we have to stop the Tang heavy infantry!
“Notify the Eastern Turkic Khaganate and the Goguryeo Empire that it’s their turn to send out soldiers! They need to hold down the Tang army and make sure they don’t withdraw! They’re at the end of their strength and won’t be able to last for long!”
At this dangerous moment, Cui Qianyou grimly issued several orders. With his final order, his eyes flashed with cold light.
Though the Tang heavy infantry seemed unstoppable, Cui Qianyou’s Great General intuition told him that this was his chance.
Even though this army had already slain more than two hundred thousand soldiers, including the Andong Protectorate’s Underworld Cavalry, this resplendent feat had come at a price.
Even the strongest soldiers still had bodies of flesh and blood.
Losses were inevitable in battle.
Although the Tang heavy infantry had won this battle, it had come at a heavy price. Their strength had declined, and they were no longer so frightening.
In addition, Youzhou had been the first to send its soldiers. This was not because Cui Qianyou was stupid, but because they were paving the way for the other countries.
The soldiers of Youzhou were far from enough to win this battle. The rest of the alliance was needed for success.
Now, the other countries had no more excuses.
Bongbongbong!
War drums thundered, swiftly delivering Cui Qianyou’s orders to the front.
“You stay in the rear. I’ll go up ahead to supervise the battle!” Tian Qianzhen suddenly rode forward as he spoke to the nearby Cui Qianyou.
Cui Qianyou nodded and watched as Tian Qianzhen swiftly disappeared.
The army of more than two million had only sent out several hundred thousand soldiers into the field, and Great Generals from neither side had participated. However, Tian Qianzhen did not need to personally take action. He simply needed to be at the front to maintain the morale of the army so that the alliance army could focus on fighting.
In the Eastern Turkic army, Tiechi Bileli’s eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he ordered, “Pass on my order! Prepare to mobilize the Golden Wolf Army!”
With the cold wave descending, the territory of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate would soon be turned into a land sealed by ice. Only working together with everyone else and conquering the Great Tang would allow them to avoid the brunt of the cold wave. Moreover, the Great Tang had many more cities and granaries than the other countries.
So long as the Great Tang was sacrificed, the other countries could avoid the calamity of the cold wave.
This was not the time to conserve strength and plot against each other. No matter what, they had to defeat the Great Tang as quickly as possible.
“Yes!”
A messenger quickly departed.
The Golden Wolf Army!
This was one of the elite armies of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In terms of fighting power, it was definitely on par with An Lushan’s Underworld Cavalry.
The Eastern Turks had committed everything to this decisive war against the Great Tang.
“King Bojang, it’s time for you to move out!”
(TN: King Bojang was the twenty-eighth king of Goguryeo, and he was essentially a puppet king controlled by Yeon Gaesomun.)
Goguryeon Emperor Yeon Gaesomun narrowed his eyes as he spoke.
About six feet behind him, a short Goguryeon general with a scar across his left eye respectfully said, “Yes, Your Majesty!”
King Bojang!
This was a fierce general under Yeon Gaesomun, and though he had yet to reach the Great General level, he was a peak Brigadier General. Moreover, he was an extremely senior general who possessed mastery over the saber. He wasn’t a Great General, but he wasn’t far from one.
Most importantly, King Bojang was a master strategist, and the soldiers under his command were strong and fierce, willing to fight to the death.
The strength displayed by the Great Tang was just too much. This was not the time to conserve strength.
Chapter 2171 - Sun Archers!
Chapter 2171: Sun Archers!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
It took only a short while for the alliance to mobilize its forces, and following Cui Qianyou’s orders and the pounding war drums, the alliance army began to converge.
“Kiiill!”
“Great General has come to the front line to oversee the battle! Those who retreat will be executed!”
“What? How could it be like this?”
“The Majesties are already angry, and they’re using the scarlet gold drums to push us on. We either kill them all or die ourselves!”
“It’s all or nothing! With so many of us, there’s no way we can’t win! Let’s go!”
The urgent pounding of the drums made everyone panic.
Before the war, the alliance members had convened and decided that war drums would be used as signals, in addition establishing the way they would be used.
The war drums were divided into many types, and the scarlet gold drums were one type. The pounding of these drums had a metallic timbre. Once these drums began to thunder, if the walls were not broken through in a certain amount of time, all the soldiers and generals would be executed.
With the cold wave coming, the only chance of survival lay in occupying the Great Tang. In order to reach this goal, the countries were willing to pay any price.
“Kill!”
With a furious roar, the countless red-eyed alliance soldiers charged at the Tang force from all sides.
Forward was death, and retreat was also death!
Compared to being cut down by one’s own people, it was better to fight to the death with the foe. Moreover, everyone could sense that the turning of the Hell Wheel had grown unstable. These heavy infantry were not as powerful as they once were.
It was now more possible to contend against them.
But though these soldiers charged out, they were not the first to attack.
Rumble!
The earth began to tremble as large silhouettes blotted out the sky.
One of the alliance soldiers at the very front looked up and saw an enormous structure overhead, and he shouted in excitement, “Siege towers! It’s the siege towers!”
As if in response to this soldier’s shout, atop the siege tower, soldiers with broad backs and wide shoulders nocked arrows to their bows, pulled the strings back, and took aim at the heavy infantry.
Swish!
One of the master archers released, and the arrow streaked through the air.
As a heavy infantry soldier began to move, an arrow pierced through a chink in his armor right beneath his neck, punching through his neck and out his back.
Not even the heavy infantryman’s thick Stellar Energy had been able to stop it.
“Armor-piercing arrows!”
“Condor Snipers!”
The soldiers gathered on the walls of the steel fortress grimaced.
Those archers atop the siege towers were not using ordinary arrows, but armor-piercing arrows. This was the only way for the arrows to have penetrated through the Stellar Energy barrier and through the helmet and the armor at the back.
Ordinary master archers did not have such strength and accuracy. These could only be the Condor Snipers of Goguryeo.
Goguryeon infantry couldn’t match the Great Tang, and its cavalry couldn’t match the Eastern Turks, let alone Arabia. But if there was one aspect in which Goguryeo surpassed all the other countries, it was in the Condor Snipers.
The most elite master archers were the Condor Snipers!
It was said that Condor Snipers could accurately shoot out the eyes of a gyrfalcon in the air, leaving the plumage untouched. They could accurately strike certa
in muscles of a gyrfalcon to make them lose balance and ‘fall’ from the sky, allowing the gyrfalcons to be captured.
In the Goguryeo, the saying went ‘three eagles with one arrow’, even ‘four eagles with one arrow’.
The best of the Condor Snipers didn’t just know how to find the right angles. They could lead the target, which led them to be able to take down several eagles with one arrow.
What seemed like fantastical archery truly existed in Goguryeo.
Moreover, Goguryeo had maintained a tradition of selecting astonishingly talented children and training them when they were only four or five years old.
These children had to loose arrows ten thousand times a day, and by the time they were adults, they had to do it one million times.
No ordinary master archers could reach this level.
Thwishthwishthwish!
This one arrow was a sort of signal, and with a piercing whistle, the ten-some Condor Snipers atop the siege tower loosed their arrows in unison, unleashing a volley of death.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Heavy infantry dropped to the ground without making a sound, their bodies nailed to the ground by the armor-piercing arrows.
With a great rumble, even more siege towers arrived on the battlefield.
Wang Chong blinked as he suddenly ordered, “Chen Burang, suppress the Condor Snipers!
“Su Hanshan, assist him!
“Tell the soldiers on the front line that they can retreat now!”
The forty thousand heavy infantry had killed more than two hundred thousand enemy soldiers, broken An Lushan’s Underworld Cavalry, and dealt a heavy blow to the enemy morale. There was no need to keep on fighting.
From Wang Chong’s position, he could see that the elite armies of the alliance were converging. While the Hell Wheel Formation was formidable, it was not enough for one to go against ten thousand, for forty thousand to directly challenge the entirety of the alliance army.
Moreover, war was not a game. Though the forty thousand soldiers had vanquished their foe, it had come at the heavy cost of ten thousand losses.
When only twenty-seven thousand soldiers were left, the Hell Wheel Formation could no longer be maintained.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 1308
