Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Boomboomboom!
The sounds of toppling walls continued to come from the mountain as the situation grew worse and worse.
"Young Master, give the order!"
On the summit, everyone was waiting for w.a.n.g Chong.
"If this continues, the only thing awaiting us will be death."
Lin Wushou and all the other generals were looking at w.a.n.g Chong, and though he couldn"t see the looks of his father or Xianyu Zhongtong, w.a.n.g Chong knew that they were waiting for him as well.
This was a familiar feeling. For a moment, w.a.n.g Chong felt like he had returned to the past, back to the bitter and desperate war against the foreign invaders.
"Young Master, give the order. Compared to pa.s.sively waiting for execution, watching as they slowly tear down the walls, it would be better if our brothers charged down and fought to the death!" a general said in agitation.
Even Luo Ji seemed to be ready to act.
In the current situation, it seemed like it wouldn"t be long before the Mengshe Zhao army picked the mountain clean of steel walls. And at the end, they would still have to face the elephants of Mengshe Zhao.
But at that time, the morale of the army would be in a completely different state.
Luo Ji finally couldn"t help but say, "Young Master, no matter what, we can"t let Mengshe Zhao continue.
"Moreover, we don"t have any better methods."
It was clear that he was more inclined toward Lin Wushou"s proposition of launching a strike.
The only people who remained silent on the summit were Old Eagle and Chen Shusun.
"Young Master, the righteous do not grasp for wealth and the kind do not command soldiers!"
At some point, Chen Guanshun had also appeared on the summit.
In the Annan Protectorate army, his rank was higher than that of Luo Ji and Lin Wushou, almost reaching Xianyu Zhongtong"s level. The moment Chen Guanshun spoke, the situation underwent a total transformation. Although he had only intoned a simple saying, he had clearly conveyed his stance as well as the stance of the other generals.
w.a.n.g Chong possessed Zhangchou Jianqiong"s token, which was tantamount to holding the highest authority in the Annan Protectorate army. Moreover, the only person who had the right to object, Xianyu Zhongtong, had handed over the reins of power, meaning that no one else could object.
But Chen Guanshun and the others had waited for too long for w.a.n.g Chong"s order to attack. w.a.n.g Chong had even issued an order that any sort of attack was forbidden. In their view, this was clearly because w.a.n.g Chong was too young and still had a little of that youthful naivete that feared too many deaths.
But the battlefield was cruel, and w.a.n.g Chong"s conduct was clearly a mistake. No matter how much one cherished w.a.n.g Chong or admired him for his strategic abilities and his desire to preserve the army, Chen Guanshun felt like he needed to urge w.a.n.g Chong to make a decision.
As long as the strategic objective could be achieved, an appropriate sacrifice was completely acceptable.
"There"s no need!"
Before Chen Guanshun could say any more, w.a.n.g Chong"s eyes flashed as he immediately waved his hand to cut off any further advice.
"The situation has still not reached that point!"
A deathly stillness settled in as everyone looked at w.a.n.g Chong in shock. It was clear that w.a.n.g Chong"s action had been beyond their expectations.
w.a.n.g Chong paid no attention to the stares of the people behind him, but strode past the banner and looked down below. The elephants trumpeted as they continued to work.
The Annan Protectorate army was like a lonesome island in the sea of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army.
But at this sight, w.a.n.g Chong"s eyes only became brighter and more determined.
Everything has its weakness, and Geluofeng"s White Elephant Corps that he spent so much time training is no different.
In a split second, countless thoughts worked through his mind. However, his mind was not in this world, but that other world.
The elephants that Geluofeng had trained were very rare in this world, with the likes of Old Eagle and Chen Shusun either having never seen or rarely seen them, always describing them as "ma.s.sive beasts". But in that other world, such beasts were very normal.
Yet those elephants were not so large.
More thoughts began to pour in, and the more w.a.n.g Chong thought, the clearer his recollections became. Elephants and humans normally kept a mutual distance from each other, each of them leaving each other to their own areas and rarely interacting.
But this did not mean that elephants had never attacked people. Many such stories had been recorded in the annals of history.
w.a.n.g Chong remembered clearly that these people had used "spring thunder" to chase away these elephants, and this so-called spring thunder was really a kind of explosive made with gunpowder.
"In other words, the ears of an elephant are very sensitive to sound, especially large sounds."
As w.a.n.g Chong muttered to himself, his eyes suddenly shone with a bright light.
These ma.s.sive elephants were still elephants, and though this world didn"t have too great an understanding of elephants, if his judgment was correct, he might need to create any sort of "spring thunder". After all, in this world of martial arts, there was an even better object to use.
A smile emerged on w.a.n.g Chong"s lips.
"General Zhao!" w.a.n.g Chong suddenly said.
"This general is here!"
Under the flabbergasted gazes of the gathered generals, General Zhao Hong, commander of all the master archer squares, strode forward with clasped hands.
"If I told you that I had a method of moving the s.h.i.+elds covering the eyes of the elephants, how much of a chance would you have of killing an elephant?" w.a.n.g Chong asked.
"How could this be possible!" Zhao Hong said, momentarily losing control of himself. Behind him, the other Annan Protectorate army generals were also stunned.
The eyes were essentially the only weak point of these elephants, but since any average person could think of this, the Mengshe Zhao soldiers could think of it as well. For this reason, they had put up defenders at almost every possible angle of attack.
Although w.a.n.g Chong had the vantage of the summit, no one understood how w.a.n.g Chong could be so sure that he could move the guards around the white-armored elephants.
"Just tell me. Can you do it?" w.a.n.g Chong coldly said.
"It can be done!"
Zhao Hong"s heart s.h.i.+vered as he hurriedly lowered his head. "Your subordinates has several archers who are completely capable of accurately striking an elephant"s eyes… if Young Master can truly move the s.h.i.+elds?"
w.a.n.g Chong nodded with satisfaction and asked, "How many of such master archers do you have in this army?"
"Your subordinate has around fifty such people!" Zhao Hong replied.
The Great Tang was different from the Goguryeo Empire and nomadic peoples like the Eastern and Western Turks, as their armies did not contain so many elite master archers or Condor Snipers, nor did they rely on such skilled archers to dominate the world. But their armies still had quite a significant number of such top-notch experts.
The problem was that the battle of Erhai had resulted in the death of many of these master archers, leaving few of them left.
"Call all of those people over and give them the best arrows!" w.a.n.g Chong firmly ordered.
"This general will carry out the order!"
Zhao Hong quickly left.
Once Zhao Hong left, w.a.n.g Chong"s gaze turned to Chen Guanshun.
"General Chen, gather the strongest generals in the army. In a while, I"ll need their help," w.a.n.g Chong said.
Chen Guanshun"s eyes were filled with shock and uncertainty. Those elephants were covered in extremely thick armor that was completely capable of blocking the attacks of master archers, something that they had already tested. Chen Guanshun didn"t understand how w.a.n.g Chong could be so certain that he would even have Zhao Hong gather master archers.
"There"s no problem. This subordinate will go now."
Although he was inwardly doubtful, Chen Guanshun displayed no hesitation, almost immediately leaving the moment w.a.n.g Chong finished speaking.
Zhao Hong and Chen Guanshun both worked very quickly.
Fifty-seven fully-equipped master archers, their quivers br.i.m.m.i.n.g with arrows, appeared before w.a.n.g Chong. Meanwhile, Chen Guanshun had brought six or seven of the strongest generals in the Annan Protectorate army to w.a.n.g Chong"s side.
All of these people gave off a vast stormy aura. It was obvious that they were nearly on par with Chen Guanshun.
"What are these fellows up to?"
The activity on the summit had quickly attracted the notice of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army. The summit could currently be described as the focus of all the soldiers. The smallest movement on the summit was a cause for concern.
"General, do you want our brothers to increase the defenses?" a guard mounted on an Erhai steed cautiously asked.
"Hmph, it"s just a bluff!"
Duan Yangyan snorted, viewing the movement on the summit with contempt. No matter what w.a.n.g Chong was thinking, since his previous attempts had failed, there was even less chance that his future attempts would succeed.
"The White Elephant Corps was established by this general. When first creating it, I hypothesized all the attacks it might encounter and incorporated these thoughts when forging the elephant armor. I don"t believe that this brat can deal with my elephants!"
Duan Yangyan turned his nose up at the summit.
But though Duan Yangyan spoke with contempt, his ensuing actions revealed a completely different att.i.tude.
"However, what you say is reasonable. Send down an order. Have our brothers tighten up the defenses. Not a single mistake can be allowed."
"Yes, your subordinate will go."
……
"Young Master, will this really be useful?"
On the summit, everyone was dumbfounded.
w.a.n.g Chong"s words had been too surprising, too inconceivable. These ma.s.sive beasts, these powerful creatures, would have such a weak point? It was utterly absurd.
Moreover, Erhai was distant from the Central Plains.
These ma.s.sive beasts that lived in the primordial forests were unknown even to the neighboring Annan Protectorate army. w.a.n.g Chong had never left the capital, much less gone to Erhai, so how did he know of them?
Before Chen Guanshun could say anything, the several Annan Protectorate army generals behind him spoke up first. "Is Young Master joking? Moreover, might I ask Young Master where he learned this information from?"
They had only come because they had heard that w.a.n.g Chong had a way to deal with the White Elephant Corps. It had to be known that given their rank, even Xianyu Zhongtong couldn"t order them around as he pleased.
Yet when they heard w.a.n.g Chong"s order, all of them immediately came.
But w.a.n.g Chong"s words truly sounded like a joke.
Roar an elephant to death?
What sort of joke was that? The strength of these ma.s.sive beasts rivaled a Profound Martial expert, and w.a.n.g Chong claimed that they could be roared to death? How could this not be a joke?