Chapter 1600: Punish No Matter How Far! (III)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Relax; it will be fine!”
Hulugan forcefully composed himself. He was now feeling a hint of remorse. He had thought that a mere raid was no big deal, as many more people had died in the previous wars between the two countries. But it had ended up causing such a major problem.
If he had known that filling his belly would cause so much trouble, he would have never done such a thing, but it was too late to have second thoughts.
But despite his situation, Hulugan was not panicked.
“Everyone, don’t panic. We’re in the camp, protected by twelve thousand soldiers. Even if those Tang have the protection of the G.o.ds, and each one of them is able to take on ten of us, they still wouldn’t be able to beat our force. We just need to pa.s.s the night, and once tomorrow comes, we’ll have the army in the rear take over and then immediately leave. As for tonight, I’ll go to Lord As.h.i.+de and have him strengthen the guard. No matter what, we can’t let those Tang get close!”
After saying this, Hulugan began to stride toward the commander’s tent, his back straight and his steps firm. His unaffected demeanor managed to calm down his men.
None of them noticed that Hulugan’s clothes were already completely drenched.
……
Time slowly pa.s.sed, and the entire Turkic camp was on guard, the place turning into a veritable fortress. Ever since that Tang force had appeared, the Turks had not relaxed for even a second, even though the enemy force was only made up of several hundred soldiers.
Time marched on, going from nightfall to the Zi Period, to the second watch, the third watch, then the fourth watch. The appointed two hours had pa.s.sed long ago, but the steppe remained quiet, the only sounds being the howling of the winds through the gra.s.s.
Without the Turks even realizing it, day was about to break, just another thirty minutes until the skies to the east began to lighten. After a tense night, even the Turkic soldiers on the sentry towers began to feel their eyelids sag as intense drowsiness overcame them.
They had not sensed it while they had been nervous, but now that the tension had pa.s.sed, and they realized that those Tang had been all bark and no bite, they now felt the drowsiness to be nigh unstoppable.
Their previous vigilance was now being replaced by intense fatigue.
Suddenly!
Swis.h.!.+
There was a piercing whistle as an arrow flew through the air and struck a master archer, sending him flying from his sentry tower.
Rumble! The earth began to tremble as a black flood emerged out of the darkness and began to rush toward the Turkic camp.
Thwishthwishthwis.h.!.+
Even before the warhorses had gotten close, thousands of arrows howled through the air toward the northern end of the camp.
As the arrows pierced through flesh, screams and chaos erupted from the northern part of the camp.
“Enemy attack—” someone loudly cried out in panic, but they were only able to get halfway through before they abruptly cut off.
An arrow around four feet long had cut through the night and accurately struck the shouting Turkic officer, punching through his armor like it was paper.
All of these arrows possessed an extremely powerful armor-piercing ability.
Boom!
The entire camp was in chaos. No one had expected the Tang to launch a sneak attack, and that rain of arrows didn’t seem like it was coming from a force of three or four hundred, but an army of thousands.
“Prepare for battle!”
Amidst burning bonfires, countless people rushed out of their tents in full armor.
But as they were running, rumble! The four hundred Tang with their stampeding horses and clattering armor came out of the darkness like monsters and plunged into the camp.
The camp had twelve thousand soldiers who were drowsy from standing on guard the entire night, so they were completely unprepared.
Clang! In a cold flash of light, a Turkic soldier who had just rushed out of his tent was cut in two.
Amidst the blazing fires, the Tang cavalry had taken up their fierce Arrow Formation and stabbed into the heart of the camp, cutting down the soldiers in their way.
Clangclangclang! The nearly tangible halos under their feet clattered as they resonated with each other and combined into a large formation.
Wherever they went, the Turkic cavalry were cut down like weeds, the corpses scattered across the ground.
Clang!
Suddenly, a warhorse kicked over a large bonfire, sending sparks flying that instantly set numerous tents alight.
The blazes soared straight into the clouds.
“How could it be like this? There are twelve thousand of us! How could those Tang dare to raid our camp?!”
“They really attacked! These scoundrels really did what they said, but how could they dare?”
“Crazy! They’re all crazy!”
The shouts and screams throughout the camp had every Turkic soldier feeling an immense shock.
Although their superiors had ordered them to be on their guard against a Tang attack, none of them had actually believed this would happen. A force of four hundred attacking twelve thousand was simply suicidal.
But that which they had never believed possible was truly taking place.
“Don’t be afraid! There are only four hundred Tang! Everyone, gather around me and we’ll kill them together!” a rough and crude voice resounded. This was the vanguard of the Black Wolf Army, so it was not lacking for fierce and courageous men in its ranks.
In the blink of an eye, a stalwart man of imposing girth emerged from his tent.
His fierce voice managed to somewhat calm the chaos.
But a moment later, a sharp arrow as thick as a finger pierced straight through the center of his forehead. The force of the arrow dragged his body ten-some meters, splattering his brains across the ground.
Bang!
As the Turkic officer collapsed with eyes wide open, everyone else turned pale with shock.
The neighing of horses came out of the darkness.
Before anyone could react, a black warhorse bulging with muscle and covered in black armor charged out like some primordial beast.
The Tang horseman riding upon it exuded a cold aura.
“Run!”
The courage of the Turkic soldiers finally broke, and they began to scatter in fear. Soon, the blazing of fires and the screams of the dying filled the camp once more.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! Where are those Tang soldiers!?”
At this moment, in a flash of light, an ashen-faced As.h.i.+de charged out of the commander’s tent.
His fists were clenched in fury.
For a tiny force of four hundred to so recklessly attack his army of more than ten thousand was simply absurd, but such absurdity was taking place right in front of his eyes.
“Milord! They attacked suddenly and under the cover of the night, so we don’t know where they are at the moment!”
“Absurd! Go wherever you hear the horses!”
As.h.i.+de kicked aside the guard who had reported and then turned to the fires blazing to the north.
“Send three thousand elites immediately toward the area the fire is coming from. Kill every last one of those Tang!”
As.h.i.+de pointed at the northeast corner, and with his order, three thousand soldiers galloped away.
As the overall commander of the army, As.h.i.+de had a group of several thousand elites that protected him at all times. This was a well-disciplined and powerful force, each soldier possessing an iron will.
This abrupt attack in the darkness had no effect on their mental state.
The horses rumbled off, but then they soon rumbled back, appearing before As.h.i.+de once more.
“Milord, there were no Tang in the northeast corner.”
As.h.i.+de was dumbstruck.
“How could this be!?”
This was As.h.i.+de’s first reaction, but he soon noticed another fire starting up, this time to the northwest.
As.h.i.+de ordered his men to go without hesitation, and they charged off to the northwest.
“Milord, there are also no traces of the Tang army in the northwest!”
As.h.i.+de’s expectations were once more let down. He continued to send his forces to potential trouble spots, but his men continued to find no trace of the Tang.
As.h.i.+de rapidly began to lose his composure.
“How could this be!?”
As.h.i.+de was stunned like he had never been before. The entire camp was resounding with the shouts of fighting and the burning of fires, but none of the soldiers he had sent had been able to find any trace of the enemy.
And this was precisely that moment of the day where it was darkest, before dawn. The Tang had also managed to mix in with the Turks, the cries of their horses sounding alike.
Even someone of As.h.i.+de’s cultivation level found it hard to tell the difference.
As he gazed into the darkness, he couldn’t help but feel slightly baffled.