Chapter 373: Clash of Troops!
"It has finally begun!"
At the same time, the "deserters" whom the military inspector had spoken about were surveying the situation from another hill.
From afar, they could see that the three hundred Tibetan armies had divided themselves into around a dozen echelons. Kicking up a huge cloud of dust, they charged down the mountain with alarming momentum.
It wasn"t the first time Zhao Yatong, Fang Xuanying, and the others had witnessed this, so they were still able to keep their cool. However, the newcomers, Bai Siling, Xu Gan, and Huang Yongtu, were startled by the sight before them.
The charge of the three hundred soldiers felt like a force far beyond their grasp.
The Iron Cloak Highwaymen seemed nothing at all in comparison to them.
"How can they be so powerful?" Stunned by the sight before him, Huang Yongtu muttered under his breath.
This was the first time he had stepped onto a battlefield against the soldiers of a hostile nation. Even though the enemy was only three hundred strong, it had overturned the overly simplistic preconceptions he had held about war.
Xu Gan was a little calmer than him, but his complexion still showed that he was stunned by the sight before him.
w.a.n.g Chong was the only one who could retain his calm in the face of everything. He had none of Bai Siling"s shock nor Zhao Yatong"s apprehension.
To him, war was nothing more than a daily routine.
The three hundred Tibetan soldiers before him were just a walk in the park. He knew that the sight before him was just the appetizer.
The true might of the Tibetan cavalry was yet to be shown.
Weng!
As expected, from afar, as the three hundred Tibetan soldiers reached the halfway mark of the mountain, something suddenly lit up. It started with just a single glow, but before long, the second, third, and fourth one appeared...
Eventually, the entire Tibetan cavalrymen formation was shrouded in a white glow.
"What"s that?" With twitching eyelids, Huang Yongtu asked worriedly.
"Halo of White Yak, the war halo of Tibetan soldiers!" w.a.n.g Chong replied.
The Tibetans had always revered the white yak, viewing it as a sacred beast. The Halo of White Yak was also one of the most famous war halos of the Tibetans.
The pair of white horns it had on its head were incomparably powerful and sharp in a charge, allowing them to overwhelm any opponent.
Weng!
As soon as w.a.n.g Chong said those words, an illusory image of innumerable ma.s.sive white yaks appeared in the air, rus.h.i.+ng toward the formation of the Great Tang soldiers at the bottom of the mountain.
With widened mouths, they roared furiously with a resounding MOOOOOOO!
Along with that earth-shattering roar, the cloud of dust kicked up by the cavalrymen suddenly grew tenfold larger. At the same time, the white halos beneath their feet resonated with one another, eventually forming a ma.s.sive white formation.
In just an instant, the aura of the three hundred Tibetan cavalrymen surged to an astounding level.
In that instant, the group above the mountain paled in shock.
As the saying went, it is always the bystanders who has the clearest view of the situation.
This was the first time Zhao Yatong and the others were seeing a charge of the three hundred Tibetan soldiers from afar, and it looked completely different from how it looked like when they were on the opposite end of the charge.
"This isn"t the end yet!" Looking at this sight, w.a.n.g Chong sighed deeply.
The greatest mistake of that Big Dipper Army commandant was to arrogantly choose to engage the Tibetans in such terrain.
He might have moved the defense line three hundred meters behind the foot of the slope, but how much difference could that make?
Under the continuous impact of the Tibetan cavalrymen"s echelons, w.a.n.g Chong could already see the Great Tang soldiers" formation being dissipated, and the entire army falling into ruins.
"Prepare yourselves, we"ll be setting off soon!" Just as everyone was stunned by the Tibetan cavalrymen"s charge, w.a.n.g Chong raised his right hand and gave the signal for them to set off.
With the uproar the Tibetan cavalrymen had caused, as well as the deafening reverberation from the Halo of White Yak, it would conceal any noise regardless of what w.a.n.g Chong"s group was going to do, making it hard to notice them.
In other words, this was the perfect timing to strike them!
Weng!
Leaping onto the back of his steed, w.a.n.g Chong took the lead and charged off the slope of the mountain. The others quickly followed suit.
Bai Siling, Zhao Yatong, Xu Gan, Huang Yongtu, and Fang Xuanying, along with the other two hundred Great Tang cavalrymen hidden amid the lush trees charged down the slope.
And at this moment, not a single person from either side had noticed them yet.
------
Hong long long!
By the time the imposing charge of the three hundred Tibetan cavalrymen was just about to reach their frontlines, the Big Dipper Army commandant"s face had already turned incredibly grave.
He finally noticed the crucial error he had made.
He might have borrowed tower s.h.i.+elds from the Big Dipper Army in order to deal with the Tibetan cavalrymen"s charge, but he had taken it for granted that the tower s.h.i.+elds would simply stop them one way or another.
The confidence he had gained after borrowing those two hundred tower s.h.i.+elds had eroded in the face of the astounding impetus of the charge of the Tibetan cavalrymen.
But at this point, it was already too late for regrets.
"Prepare yourselves!!" His voice resounded clearly amongst the Great Tang soldiers as he uttered his final command.
The battle was about to begin!
It felt like a storm would soon fall upon this area, and the aura of war was swiftly reaching its peak.
All of the s.h.i.+eld bearers, axe soldiers, archers, and cavalrymen held their weapons tightly in their grip with tensed bodies. Their eyes were fixated on the charging Tibetan cavalrymen, waiting for the moment to strike.
Hong long long!
The sound of clopping hooves crested as the steeds positioned in the Flying Wedge Formation swiftly closed the distance to them.
Just when the Tibetan cavalrymen were only three hundred zhang away, the Big Dipper Army commandant cut down his sword diagonally.
Hong long!
The two hundred tower s.h.i.+elds fell heavily on the ground., and as if struck by a ma.s.sive hammer, the ground rumbled violently.
The two hundred tower s.h.i.+elds formed a long wall which served as the primary defense line of the army.
At the same time, pitch-black war halos materialized beneath the feet of the s.h.i.+eld bearers. As the two hundred halos resonated as one, a loud metallic reverberation echoed in the air.
In an instant, the aura shrouding the two hundred s.h.i.+eld bearers surged twofold. As if a link between them and the earth had been established, they stood firmly on the ground.
An aura of invulnerability burst from the s.h.i.+eld bearers in the frontline.
ROARRRRRRR!
The two hundred s.h.i.+eld bearers roared ferociously. Under the provocation of the Tibetan soldiers, they too emanated an aura of fearlessness and ferocity.
It was not without reason that Great Tang had been dubbed the number one military force in the world, instilling deep fear and apprehension in its enemies.
The two hundred Great Tang s.h.i.+eld bearers had undergone strict training from the Big Dipper Army, and they were all qualified warriors.
Even if the Tibetan cavalry were twice as strong as they were, the men would still stand their ground fearlessly.
Looking at the determined s.h.i.+eld bearers, some spirit finally returned to the eyes of the Big Dipper Army commandant. Indeed, so what if the Tibetans were formidable!
With these s.h.i.+eld bearers, there was no need for him to fear the Tibetan cavalrymen. As long as he could stop their very first charge, he would be able to turn the tides of the battle to his side!
"Archers, ready!" the Big Dipper Army commandant roared.
At this point, the army of eight hundred was beginning to show its prowess. It was filled with troops of diverse specialties, and each men had their own role to play.
Unleas.h.i.+ng their True Martial halos, brilliant light emerged throughout the formation. Following which, the innumerable halos interwove with one another to form a powerful war formation!
"Release the arrows!"
Innumerable arrows carrying formidable might that could shatter even boulders fell like rain upon the formation of the Tibetan cavalrymen. Surprisingly, the first side to launch an offense wasn"t the Tibetan soldiers, but the army of Great Tang.
Regardless of which battle one was in, the archers were always the first to engage the enemy.
Hong hong hong!
As countless arrows fell upon the Tibetan cavalrymen, they lowered their heads and took the arrows head-on with their heavy armor.
Those arrows ended up being easily deflected by the Tibetan cavalrymen, and even the most powerful of them only ended up denting the cavalrymen"s armor.
"Hahaha..." Frenzied laughter filled the battlefield as the Tibetan cavalrymen overcame the rain of arrows.
"Let"s teach those Great Tang soldiers what a true warrior is. We shall show them what true despair looks like!" The Tibetan commander charging at the forefront suddenly uttered as few words in Tibetan, and the Tibetan cavalrymen suddenly began moving about.
Hong long!
A different energy suddenly burst forth from the three hundred Tibetan cavalrymen. They had originally brought their speed to their maximum, but all of the sudden, their aura suddenly grew as heavy as mountains, and even the ground seemed to depress beneath them.
Shadows gathered around them, and vaguely, one could see an arch-like fortress. As it was only at its primary level, it was unable to display its complete form, resulting in an indistinct appearance.
But nevertheless, the pressure emanated by them increased by almost tenfold.
Weng!
Upon seeing this sight, the Big Dipper Army commandant suddenly trembled uncontrollably, and his face turned ashen-gray.
"Halo of Fortress!"
At this instant, he finally understood where the feeling of incongruity and nervousness came from. He had committed a fatal error.
Hong long!
In the next instant, the first echelon of the three hundred Tibetan cavalrymen crashed heavily onto the s.h.i.+eld bearers on the frontline...