Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Bwoooom!
Bongbongbong!
The rows of war drums and horns sounded out over the battlefield.
The alliance originally had one million soldiers in reserve, but as the sovereigns gave their orders, these soldiers began to advance like furious waves.
Boom!
The moment the most elite forces of the alliance army mobilized, the earth trembled as if unable to bear their momentum, like it would break apart at any moment.
Neeeigh! At the same time, Ozmish Khagan, Yeon Gaesomun, and the Khitan King mounted their steeds, their auras cold and chilling.
Wang Chong’s reputation was just too resounding, his strength too great. The generals on the front line were simply incapable of dealing with him. Only with all of them working together would they have a chance at intimidating Wang Chong.
And deep down, they all had a sliver of indescribable hope and expectation.
Wang Chong was like the sun at its zenith, but up until now, neither Ozmish Khagan, Yeon Gaesomun, nor the Khitan King had ever met the world’s supreme War Saint, let alone battled him.
The blood of heroes and hegemons was always hot, and these three were all sovereigns and all supreme powerhouses. In their hearts, they desired an intense battle like this.
Rumble! The Khitan King left with his Eight Divisions, Yeon Gaesomun rode out with his most elite Goguryeon soldiers, and Ozmish Khagan charged out with several hundred thousand of his elite cavalry.
The grim mood on the battlefield intensified by several times.
In the distance, in the face of this massive wave of soldiers, Wang Chong simply chuckled.
“Attack!”
Wang Chong waved his hand and gave a simple order to attack.
Following Wang Chong’s order, two hundred thousand soldiers began to march out at a slow and abnormally steady pace, fearlessly making their way to the opposing army.
As the army advanced…
Whoosh!
The ranks suddenly split open, revealing a hidden force.
Seeing the rows of gleaming, sharp arrow tips, the alliance soldiers instantly paled.
“Ballistae!”
Panicked cries resounded through the battlefield.
Terror spread across the battlefield like a plague, and the alliance soldiers tried to retreat, but it was too late.
Boomboomboom!
The ballista bolts exploded out, covered in destructive energy as they shot toward the alliance army.
Rows of alliance soldiers were cut down like weeds.
The armor on their bodies seemed to be made of paper, so fragile and useless it was against the ballista bolts.
Since almost the start of the battle, Su Hanshan’s ballista army had been rendered ineffective by the shield carts. Their greatest use was to shoot down the Xi Queen’s ice bridges.
So much time had passed that they had utterly forgotten that this lethal weapon of the Great Tang had yet to be fully used.
At this stage of the battle, nothing could be done now. At least half of the shield carts An Lushan had prepared had been destroyed, and in the earlier battle, the Tang army had intentionally worked to kill shield cart soldiers.
Though there were still many shield carts on the battlefield, they were far less concentrated, reducing their threat to the ballista army.
“Release!”
At the lead of the ballistae, Su Hanshan swung down his sword. As the numerous alliance soldiers were slain, he coldly laughed.
Did they really think that some shield carts in link formations could restrain his ballista army?
The ballista army wasn’t there to just fire the ballistae wantonly. These people were underestimating the Great Tang too much!
Bang!
With a great boom, the rows of ballista bolts glinting with the light of death thundered out.
This time, the ballista army aimed accurately through the gaps between the shield carts.
Bang!
With one volley, seven to eight thousand alliance soldiers immediately dropped.
“Release!” Su Hanshan callously ordered.
Sixteen thousand!
The alliance’s numbers were falling at an astonishing rate.
“Kill them!”
“Destroy the ballistae!”
“Don’t let them freely fire! We’ll all die if that happens!”
The alliance soldiers cried out in panic.
Su Hanshan’s army was far too frightening!
Even though it had been suppressed for so long, if it were given the slightest chance, Su Hanshan’s ballista army would instantly unleash its frightening might.
Worst of all was that the packed army was behind them, the various elites surging up. There was no place for them to retreat.
“Kill!”
As they couldn’t escape, much less leave the firing range of the ballistae, the countless Eastern Turkic cavalry suppressed their fear of death and charged at Su Hanshan’s ballista army.
Warriors that did not fear death were never in short supply on the battlefield, whether for the Great Tang or the alliance.
Tens of thousands of soldiers began to converge on Su Hanshan’s location, and all of the shield carts accelerated, attempting to restrict the ballista army’s firing range. In a flash, Su Hanshan’s ballista army was in danger.
The two sides were simply too close to each other!
“Hmph!”
But Su Hanshan coldly laughed at this sight.
The alliance thought of this matter too simply. He was the cold-faced killing god of the Great Tang, and would he ever step onto the battlefield and use such aggressive tactics without the slightest preparation?
“Shield soldiers, go!” Su Hanshan roared.
Bang!
Behind the ballistae, stalwart shield soldiers marched out. They slammed their shields into the ground and formed a human wall of steel in front of the ballista army.
Farther back were even more shield soldiers and axe soldiers, their muscles tense as they readied to strike.
And this was far from the only thing for the alliance soldiers to worry about.
Neigh!
With resounding neighs, elite Tang cavalry emerged on the flanks of the ballista army. Assuming the Arrow Formation, they charged into the ranks of the fearless alliance cavalry.
“Kill!”
Wang Chong slowly rode out from the rear.
As he issued short and terse orders, the ten-thousand-some alliance cavalry that were charging at Su Hanshan’s ballista army were immediately wiped out.
The battlefield was not a place where this loose assortment of alliance cavalry could exhibit their bravery. An army without formation was less than a mob in Wang Chong’s eyes, presenting no threat at all.
Su Hanshan’s ballista army was extremely powerful, but its defenses were too fragile. This was its greatest weakness. But since Wang Chong had mobilized three hundred thousand soldiers, this flaw was completely filled.
“Advance!” Wang Chong calmly said.
The army once more began to move.
The three hundred thousand soldiers advanced with astonishing speed, like a single massive machine. The shield soldiers, ballista army, archers, and cavalry were all a part of this giant machine.
At the front of this army, the Tang ballistae advanced atop small, silver carts.
The ballista army served as the sharp edge of this machine, and the cavalry on the flanks served as the arms.
With every attack, Su Hanshan’s ballista army would efficiently cut down the enemy. When the enemy army charged, the one-hundred-thousand-some cavalry on the flanks would charge out and take care of the remnants. It was an almost unstoppable combo.
The ballista army, shield soldiers, and cavalry worked together in a simple and extremely efficient manner. Wang Chong didn’t even need to use any complicated tactics. This combination assault alone was enough to crush through the alliance army.
Swaths of the alliance army were cut down like weeds.
Sixty thousand!
Eighty thousand!
One hundred thousand!
The alliance army’s losses were rising at a stunning rate. Goguryeons, Youzhou soldiers, Eastern Turkic soldiers, Khitans, Xi… piles of corpses were scattered all across the battlefield.
The sight of the three-hundred-thousand-some soldiers pushing unstoppably through the army made all the people on the Youzhou side grimace.
“We can’t allow them to continue attacking, or else we’ll lose all our soldiers! We will personally lead an attack on the left flank! Yeon Gaesomun, you attack the right flank! An Lushan, the center is up to you! Let’s attack together!” Ozmish Khagan called out in the middle of the howling snowstorm.
It had been a long time since he had stepped onto the battlefield, and he was somewhat reluctant to fight. But at this moment, Ozmish Khagan felt an intense sense of danger.
If they didn’t put everything on the line now, he worried that the alliance army would be slaughtered to the man, just like what had happened with the Arabian Empire.
Clang!
Ozmish Khagan’s dantian trembled as dazzling war halos erupted, spreading out like a storm over the battlefield.
The soldiers instantly felt their energies soar.
The Turkic Wolf Emperor Halo!
This was a halo that had been modified from an ancient halo that had been passed down for generations. It could greatly boost the strength of soldiers to a degree far greater than that of other Great General halos.
The only flaw was that using this halo was extremely taxing on the user. Normally, it would only be used at the most critical moments, but Ozmish Khagan couldn’t worry about such things.
Wang Chong’s reputation was just too great. He was worried that if he didn’t use it now, he would never get the chance to.