Chapter 2176: Lethal Gold!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Some of the Khitan warriors were able to compress their Stellar Energy into frontal s.h.i.+elds.
Although the Khitan Tribe had far fewer warriors than the other countries, the strength of their soldiers was much greater.
Even in the face of these terrifying killing weapons, the Khitans felt no fear.
What beehives? They were just trash to the Khitans!
But though the Khitans reacted quickly, those on the walls reacted even more quickly.
With the turning of gears, arrows emerged from the numerous holes of the beehives, the sharp tips pointed at the charging Khitan warriors.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Before the Khitan warriors could charge very far, countless concentrated arrows poured out, covering every inch in front of the walls.
Only those who had experienced it for themselves could understand the true power of the beehives.
The arrows blotted out the sky like dark clouds, a piercing whistle tearing through the air.
“Go!”
But in the face of this full-out barrage, none of the Khitan warriors fell back.
Bang!
A Khitan warrior raised up his s.h.i.+eld of Stellar Energy to block the downpour of arrows. At the same time, he wound a rope around his right wrist and pulled, using the momentum to mount the walls and send his saber slicing at the nearest beehive.
The Khitan soldiers were all br.i.m.m.i.n.g with strength, and this slash of his could have easily shattered a boulder, let alone the beehive and its complicated internal mechanisms. He was confident that he could slice the beehive in half and turn it into a pile of sc.r.a.p.
But when the arrows made impact, what happened was far different from what he had imagined.
Fwoos.h.!.+
As the arrows made impact, the sharp tips glinted with a strange light as they somehow pierced through the giant s.h.i.+eld of Stellar Energy.
Before the Khitan warrior could react, plushplus.h.!.+ All of the arrows pierced through the Stellar Energy s.h.i.+eld and into his body. Blood gushed out through the numerous wounds, carrying away his life.
How could this be? What arrows are these that not even the Stellar Energy of the Khitans can stop?
The Khitan warrior’s eyes widened in disbelief as all the strength left him. His body went limp, and as his body fell from the walls, his vision went dark.
Thudthudthud!
He did not come cras.h.i.+ng to the ground alone.
Those agile Khitan warriors who had been climbing the walls like monkeys were instantly turned into corpses and made to plummet into the sea of fire.
“Armor-piercing arrows! Armor-piercing arrows!”
“They used armor-piercing metal for the arrows!”
A fearful cry tore through the battlefield.
Though the beehives were powerful, their flaw was that their arrows were short, weak, and short-ranged, not comparable to a strong bow. Thus, they could only damage warhorses and weaker soldiers.
Normal soldiers had powerful Stellar Energy and wore thick armor, which should have been enough to greatly reduce the damage of the beehives.
But contrary to everyone’s expectations, the Great Tang had crafted these arrows from armor-piercing metal.
Though these arrows did not appear like regular armor-piercing arrows, from their l.u.s.ter, it appeared that they were at least fifty percent armor-piercing metal.
The Khitans hated using armor, and at such close quarters, this sort of habit was fatal.
“Ah!”
Screams tore through the air as the pincus.h.i.+oned Khitans fell from the walls.
One strike!
Only one strike!
The more than seven thousand Khitans and their reinforcements had been instantly slain.
There was not a single survivor to be found.
Silence!
Deathly silence!
The soldiers of the alliance army were left with their mouths agape, their eyes wide open.
In the distance, the Khitan King’s body went cold, his face pale.
This had come too suddenly. The Khitan King began to tremble.
He seemingly did not dare to believe that so many of his pugnacious Khitan braves had been killed in just a single engagement. They had yet to even properly fight, and had not gained any of the glory or honor a warrior deserved, only died a meaningless death on the battlefield.
The Khitans were not as large as the other countries, and this loss of nearly one-tenth of his forces had the Khitan King stricken with grief.
The others around the Khitan King were even more shocked. Gao Shang had ceased to wave his fan, and stared speechlessly at the battlefield.
Armor-piercing arrows!
No one had expected the Great Tang to be so extravagant and use this sort of expensive material on the beehives.
Each beehive could launch sixty or more arrows, even as many as one hundred. If all these beehives had been equipped with armor-piercing arrows, just how much armor-piercing steel would be required?
How many tens of thousands of taels of gold was this?
Truly, using gold like it was dirt!
In that single wave, w.a.n.g Chong had used at least seventy million taels of gold, and this had been only one volley.
“Madman!” Tian Chengsi muttered in shock.
There was no other word that could describe what they were all feeling.
There was no one else in the world besides w.a.n.g Chong capable of such a thing.
Besides shock and curses, there was also another, more complicated feeling.
“Too frightening! He has to die if we want to conquer the Great Tang.”
Elsewhere, Cui Qianyou’s eyes flashed with apprehension.
He had always feared w.a.n.g Chong’s martial arts, especially after what had happened during the feast of all countries, where all of them, including his master, An Lushan, had almost died to w.a.n.g Chong in the northeast corner of the capital.
Only on the battlefield did Cui Qianyou realize that w.a.n.g Chong’s grasp of strategy was even more frightening than his martial arts.
He was called the War Saint and had a divine grasp of strategy. With each operation, he would carefully balance the pros and cons, but besides caution, his plans also did not lack for madness.
Only the most insane of madmen would use seventy million taels of gold to produce beehive arrows.
However, w.a.n.g Chong had to consider that when the calamity arrived, all gold left in the treasury would be nothing more than sc.r.a.p metal.
Rather than letting it go to waste, it would be better to exchange it for weapons to increase his chances of victory.
In this aspect, it was completely in line with w.a.n.g Chong’s style, and what seemed insane was actually rational.
Boomboomboom!
Meanwhile, yet another volley fired, and all the Khitan soldiers within five thousand feet of the walls, including their reinforcements, were slain to the last man. Even the tree trunks the Khitans had thrown onto the sea of flames were pincus.h.i.+oned with arrows.
At this point in the battle, the alliance army had lost at least three hundred thousand men. The battlefield was covered in bodies, but the a.s.sault on the city had yet to even begin.
Although the Great Tang’s steel fortress was right in front of them, it seemed as if some invisible barrier stood in their way.
The Great Tang’s layer after layer of attacks had turned that region into a zone of death.
A booming and cold voice came from the depths of the fortress. “An Lushan, Ozmish Khagan, Khitan King, Xi Queen, Yeon Gaesomun… is that all you’re capable of?
“This king still has seven hundred thousand soldiers that have yet to act. To try and rebel against the Great Tang with this little ability, is that not laughable?”
All of the sovereigns turned ashen upon hearing w.a.n.g Chong’s voice.
Although they knew that w.a.n.g Chong’s words were meant to damage the morale of the alliance army, they could not help but be enraged.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
The Khitan King clenched his fists so hard that they audibly cracked.
His Khitan soldiers had suffered grievous losses, and there was no doubt that w.a.n.g Chong was mocking him.
“Attend me! This king will kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d personally!”
The Khitan King’s eyes were red with rage, his body trembling.
More than eight thousand Khitan soldiers had died without even killing a single enemy. This was not how Khitan braves should have died!
“Khitan King, calm yourself. Don’t take that boy’s bait. He’s hoping for you to personally take action!” A voice came from the side, urging the Khitan King to stop.
Surprisingly, it was An Lushan who had spoken at this time.
In this war, it was Youzhou that had lost the most soldiers. The Underworld Cavalry had been almost completely wiped out. But at this time, An Lushan was unexpectedly the most rational.
Gao Shang looked over at the Khitan King and said, “Correct! Khitan King, if you take action, you will truly have fallen for his trap!”
The Khitan King and his Khitan warriors were extremely fierce and brave, and they would be very useful in the other parts of the battle. They could not be so easily thrown away here.
“So you’re saying that we should just let that b.a.s.t.a.r.d continue to act c.o.c.ky?” Yeon Gaesomun stepped forward, his eyes narrowing.
“Your Majesty, please wait. Let me think!”
Gao Shang dropped his head, a pensive look in his eyes.
All fell silent as An Lushan, Yeon Gaesomun, Tian Chengsi, and even the furious Khitan King turned to look at him.
Gao Shang had been very inconspicuous, not interacting much with the other sovereigns, but everyone knew that An Lushan had his current status, had been able to bring Zhang Shougui down, precisely because of this seemingly weak Gao Shang and his farsighted strategies.
A few moments later, Gao Shang finally raised his head and spoke to the sovereigns.
“Everyone, I have a way to deal with this steel fortress, but I will need your cooperation!”
……
Bwoooom!
A plaintive horn blared, and the alliance army began to surge once more. The battle was restarting much more quickly than had been antic.i.p.ated.