Chapter 1866: Old Enemies Battle Once More!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Kiiill!”
Abu Muslim swung his sword and instantly exploded forward, leading the charge into the battlefield. Behind him, the countless Arab cavalry suddenly went into motion like arrows from a bow, a steel dragon soaring toward the front line.
One thousand feet, two thousand feet, three thousand feet…
Abu Muslim’s army accelerated, and in just a few moments, they had charged into the spot between the Great Tang’s left flank and center.
At this position, many of the Great Tang’s elite s.h.i.+eld soldiers, spearmen, and axemen were gathered, and they were putting up a fierce resistance against the Arab soldiers. The defense line here was like an iron board, stubbornly holding back the Arab charge.
The resistance and counterattacks were so fierce that quite a few Arab cavalry instinctively avoided the area.
“Careful!”
“All soldiers, defend!”
Sharp orders cut across the battlefield. No one had expected Abu Muslim’s sudden a.s.sault, and amidst the vast sea of soldiers, it was hard to notice another army advancing through it. By the time the Tang soldiers realized what was going on, it was too late.
Rumble!
In normal circ.u.mstances, the entrance of Abu Muslim’s army should have meant a tough battle, but the area between the left flank and center army was already a gathering of elites. The s.h.i.+eld soldiers together with the steel walls were completely capable of holding out against additional soldiers.
However, to everyone’s shock, when Abu Muslim’s army charged in, in that brief moment, a ma.s.sive gap appeared between the left flank and center army.
Rumble! Abu Muslim’s army thrust into this momentary gap like a sharp knife, and what should have been a tight and steely defense became weak and fragile. Moreover, as Abu Muslim’s army charged in, it rapidly s.h.i.+fted formations, widening the gap and separating the Tang left flank from the center.
An army that had once been one was now two, and both sides fell into disarray.
While Abu Muslim’s grasp of strategy could not compare to w.a.n.g Chong’s, he was undoubtedly amongst the top tier. Given the regular training standards of the Tang protectorate army, Abu Muslim might not have had this chance, but since this ma.s.sive gap had presented itself to him, he needed to exploit it.
Rumble! Horses neighed while steel clashed against steel. Before the Tang could react, the area between the center and the left flank had fallen into chaos.
“Not good!”
Gao Xianzhi immediately grimaced.
He had actually been keeping watch on Abu Muslim all this time, but unfortunately, Abu Muslim was too cunning, too patient. His bitter defeat at Talas had been like a poisonous snake hiding in his heart, making him even more difficult to deal with than before. It seemed like Abu Muslim had been guarding against him from the moment he had set out to the moment of the actual attack, doing his utmost to conceal his advance. By the time Gao Xianzhi had noticed, Abu Muslim had already succeeded.
Neigh!
Numerous Tang soldiers were cut down, and in just a few moments, the chain reaction unleashed by Abu Muslim’s charge had caused a large chunk of the defense line to crumble. This began to affect the areas around it, and not only was the left flank showing signs of collapse, even the Nine Dragon Army’s battle with the G.o.d’s Ordained Cavalry was affected.
Abu Muslim had remained silent, biding his time for this single blow that was fast, vicious, and accurate. If this continued, the left flank would be utterly lost.
With this method, Abu Muslim took the stage, once more displaying his superb command ability!
Clang!
Cold light flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes, Gao Xianzhi took out his sword and pointed it at the distant Abu Muslim.
“All soldiers, a.s.semble and prepare to follow me!”
A moment later, Gao Xianzhi charged forward on his horse, his body exuding an unstoppable momentum.
“Follow the lord!”
“Kiiill!”
Cheng Qianli, Xi Yuanqing, Lou s.h.i.+yi, and Gao Xianzhi’s other subordinates cried out as they followed.
Behind them, tens of thousands of Tang soldiers followed like a frenzied dragon.
When the Western Regions were lost, the Anxi Protectorate army had been wiped out, an army that Gao Xianzhi had only recently managed to rea.s.semble. Fortunately, when the First Prince called Gao Xianzhi back to the capital before the Rebellion of the Three Princes, Gao Xianzhi had already transferred away all his elite strength.
And in terms of strength, the Big Dipper Army was on par with the Anxi Protectorate army.
Gao Xianzhi himself was also at the peak of his strength!
“Abu Muslim, your opponent is me! Let’s have a fight!”
When Gao Xianzhi was still two-hundred-some feet away, he soared into the air with his horse, charging at Abu Muslim as his sword cleaved through the air.
“Eight Ultimate Sunderings Art!”
A bolt of lightning cleaved across the sky, Stellar Energy gathering together into dark thunderclouds. Wreathed in destructive energy, Gao Xianzhi’s sword descended onto Abu Muslim.
Meanwhile, Abu Muslim turned upon sensing Gao Xianzhi’s familiar energy, killing intent erupting out of his eyes.
“Gao Xianzhi, you came at just the right time! I’ve been waiting!”
Abu Muslim’s body seethed with energy as he cast aside his sword and took from his back a large black scimitar. Boom! Abu Muslim soared into the air, straight at Gao Xianzhi.
Boom!
The two Great Generals clashed in the air, their Stellar Energies battering against each other and exploding.
Unexpectedly, this clash was a draw!
During the Battle of Talas, Gao Xianzhi had actually been slightly weaker than Abu Muslim, but in this clash, not only had Gao Xianzhi been able to match his strength, Abu Muslim had also sensed a powerful repulsive force in Gao Xianzhi’s body.
“How could this be?”
Abu Muslim was deeply shaken by this.
The majority of people stopped making progress at the Great General level. If they had the ability to reach an even higher level, they would have done so long ago and not waited until now. For Great Generals, getting to higher levels grew increasingly difficult, and even a tiny increase in strength did not come easily.
It had only been a year. For Gao Xianzhi to have improved so much was simply absurd.
But Abu Muslim didn’t have the time to ponder these things. On the other side, Gao Xianzhi was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with fighting intent and already making his next attack.
As Gao Xianzhi held down Abu Muslim, Cheng Qianli, Xi Yuanqing, and the others led the Big Dipper Army in charging into Abu Muslim’s army.
“Kill!”
Countless weapons flashed as the Big Dipper Army soldiers swiftly engaged the Arabs.
Neither side backed down in this engagement, and as sparks flew through the air, Arabs and Big Dipper soldiers were cut down in twos and threes.
The Big Dipper Army swiftly displayed their well-tempered fighting power. The area between the Great Tang’s left flank and center had suffered such a heavy shock that even Zhangchou Jianqiong and An Sishun had been affected, and things had been trending toward disaster, but with the entry of Gao Xianzhi and the Big Dipper Army, the situation was stabilized.
Whew!
In the rear, King Song breathed out a sigh of relief.
King Song had exchanged his robe for golden armor at this time, but he was not a real general, nor had he ever commanded a large-scale battle. There was little he could do in a major campaign like this.
And never in his life had King Song experienced such a perilous situation.
Far too many crises had already taken place.
Whoos.h.!.+
As a gust of wind blew past, King Song glanced at w.a.n.g Zhongsi and Tongluo Great General Abusi. The Great Tang had already committed nearly four hundred thousand soldiers to the battle. The only soldiers they had left in reserve were those commanded by w.a.n.g Zhongsi and Abusi.
Abusi seemed to sense King Song’s gaze, and calmly replied, “The battle’s not at a point where I need to intervene!”
King Song nodded and said nothing, turning his gaze once more to the front line.
On the elephant Behemoth, Khatabah saw that the front line was at a stalemate. His brow furrowing, he immediately shouted, “Pa.s.s on my order! Send another three hundred thousand soldiers!”
“Yes!”
Down below, a messenger bowed and quickly mounted a horse.
Khatabah’s expression was cold, his eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with killing intent.
The Arabs had already lost an estimated four hundred thousand soldiers in this battle, with a significant number of these losses coming from the ballista army. Added together with the losses from yesterday, Khatabah had already lost six hundred thousand soldiers.
This was an astonis.h.i.+ng sum!
But for the Hierophant, it did not matter how many people died. As long as he could overcome the Tang Empire and completely subdue the east, he did not care what sacrifices had to be made.
“Let me see just how long you can hold on!”
The Hierophant’s eyes glinted with chilling light.