Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The most terrifying thing about these Erhai elephants was that they remained completely unaffected by the debuff effect of the Bane of the Battlefield. At this very moment, they had become the sharp tool utilized by the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army to break the Tang lines.
Biaaaah!
Two elephants shrilly blared as their giant feet slammed down on the Tang soldiers like descending mountains.
"Aaaaah!"
Fear spread across the faces of all of the Annan Protectorate army soldiers, for their resistance was insignificant against the impervious and overpowering elephants.
As that heavy foot crashed down, the Tang soldiers had no time to dodge, and even their armor crumpled with them as they were smashed into pulp.
Biaaaah! The elephant raised its trunk high as it rampaged unstoppably through the Tang ranks.
Roar!
Suddenly, a sonic attack struck. The ma.s.sive energy contained within this voice jolted aside the metal covers, allowing the sound to explode in the elephant"s mind.
Right when the elephant raised its head in fright, a metal halberd flew through the air and pierced into the elephant"s eye, embedding itself deep into its skull. The elephant"s legs went soft as it crashed into the ground, blood gus.h.i.+ng out from its punctured eye.
Although they possessed a powerful vitality and enormous strength, beasts were not humans, and the intelligence of elephants was far beneath that of humans. Against human experts, it was still easily felled by a single strike.
"Axemen, cut down the guards on the elephants!"
The middle of the mountain was in chaos. A fully-armored general bellowed this order, his eyes red with madness. The Annan Protectorate army had never been in such a perilous situation before. The lives of more than eighty thousand soldiers were holding on by a single thread. If they could not stop this wave of attacks, the entire army would be wiped out.
In order to stop this attack, all the generals invested all their energy.
"Kill the elephant guards!"
Bangbang! Two soldiers of the White Elephant Corps, struck by whirling axes, dropped down from the head of an elephant. Soon after, two Tang soldiers as nimble as apes began to climb up the elephant"s nose! Sploos.h.!.+ Two sharp swords stabbed into the eyes of the elephant.
"Seize them!"
"d.a.m.n it, don"t let them escape!"
Sabers and spears madly stabbed down from the elephant"s head at the Tang soldiers, but those Tang soldiers had already rolled back down the elephant"s corpse and vanished.
Five days had been enough for Dalun Ruozan and the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army to think of many ways to protect the elephants against the Tang attacks, but w.a.n.g Chong had also had ample time to think of methods to deal with the elephants. Killing the elephant guards was one of these methods.
Rumble!
In this fierce melee, dust suddenly began to rise from the southeast as a ma.s.sive boom rang out. When the battle was at its most intense, the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang forces in the southeast retreated without warning. All the Tang soldiers were caught by surprise, but in the intense melee, their bodies dragged them forward in pursuit.
"Interesting—they"re learning from me!"
At the summit, w.a.n.g Chong"s eyes lit up as he saw this, a smile appearing on his face. Dalun Ruozan had actually taken the move he had used against the Mengshe Zhao army and used it against him, replaying this familiar scene before his eyes.
"Pa.s.s on my order. Transfer General Luo Ji to the southeast."
"Yes, your subordinate will go."
A messenger quickly stood up and left to deliver this order.
"Dalun Ruozan, if you want to use my methods to deal with me, you have to see who your opponent is."
A sneer crept onto w.a.n.g Chong"s lips. Dalun Ruozan was truly formidable to have grasped this tactic in such a short time and to have successfully trained a group of soldiers in it, but his spear was still a far cry from breaking w.a.n.g Chong"s s.h.i.+eld.
Luo Ji"s troops were extremely skilled in offense. If they had the smallest chance, they would immediately bite down and refuse to let go. If the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army dared to intentionally reveal a flaw before him, they would only be ruining themselves.
w.a.n.g Chong could tell at a glance that the level to which the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army had trained this tactic was definitely not enough to deal with a general of Luo Ji"s caliber.
It was like how a bag could cover a staff but couldn"t cover a spear.
Withdrawing his gaze from the southeast, w.a.n.g Chong turned his attention to the north, where an army dressed in armor of gold and white was currently charging up the mountain. Not even the elites of the Annan Protectorate army were capable of stopping it.
The Dragon Son Corps was the most elite corps of Mengshe Zhao. Under the command of Crown Prince Fengjiayi, it was displaying a most terrifying offensive power. Even without the a.s.sistance of the other armies or the protection of the White Elephant Corps, it had already succeeded in piercing more than halfway through the Annan Protectorate army"s lines.
Weapons, armor, strength… the Dragon Son Corps occupied the highest place in Mengshe Zhao. In terms of pure strength, neither the Annan Protectorate army nor the Tibetan armored cavalry were a match for the Dragon Son Corps.
Even w.a.n.g Chong"s Bane of the Battlefield was much less effective against them, its debuff effects greatly limited.
The Dragon Son Corps was Mengshe Zhao"s trump card. In the battle of Erhai, Geluofeng had drawn this sharp sword to shatter the defensive lines of the Annan Protectorate army in a single blow and deal Xianyu Zhongtong a crus.h.i.+ng defeat.
In this mad a.s.sault of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army, the greatest threat to the Tang did not come from Duan Yangyan"s White Elephant Corps, but Fengjiayi"s Dragon Son Corps.
To w.a.n.g Chong, the Dragon Son Corps was the claw of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army that he most desired to clip.
"Begin!"
w.a.n.g Chong turned his head to Lin Wushou.
"Your general will carry out the order!"
Lin Wushou gave a solemn bow before quickly leaving the summit.
……
"All soldiers, hear my order!
"Everyone only acts according to my orders. Those who disobey will be executed!"
……
A fierce blaze crackled in Fengjiayi"s eyes, burning with an unprecedented fighting intent. His gaze seemed perpetually fixed on the summit, nothing else seeming to exist in his eyes except w.a.n.g Chong.
Kill him!
For Jiaosiluo, and for myself!
Fengjiayi"s mind was in great turmoil. He was like an arrow fired from its bow, never stopping until it reached its target. The only thought in his mind was to kill w.a.n.g Chong.
"Crane Wing Formation! Advance at full speed!"
Fengjiayi unsheathed his sword, his entire body covered in blood as he strode over the corpses of Tang soldiers and continued to advance. Behind him, the armor on these corpses seemed to come to life, struggling free of their former owners and transforming into metal men.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Fengjiayi stretched out a palm, and before any Tang soldiers could approach, the swords would be ripped out of their hands, the writhing of their armor causing them to fall screaming to the ground.
Rumble!
While Fengjiayi"s Dragon Son Corps was boldly advancing, the stampeding of hooves and countless screams came from behind it.
Fengjiayi s.h.i.+vered as he turned around. A group of unknown cavalry had suddenly thrust into the side of his troops, cutting the Dragon Son Corps in two.
"Great Tang cavalry!"
Fengjiayi"s pupils constricted, his entire body trembling in rage. In all these days battling with the Great Tang, Fengjiayi had never seen their cavalry.
This sudden strike from the Tang cavalry was like a needle stabbing into Fengjiayi"s heart.
"Defensive retreat!!!"
His heart turning ice-cold, Fengjiayi let out the loudest order he had ever given in his life. An army divided in two had always been the most dangerous signal for any kind of soldier.
If the Great Tang succeeded in this move, half of the Dragon Son Corps would end up at the Great Tang"s mercy. In that battle several days ago, Fengjiayi had personally witnessed what had happened to the eight thousand Tibetan cavalry that had ended up surrounded by the Great Tang.
If he could not promptly break out, the Dragon Son Corps would receive its greatest blow since its establishment.
Boom!
Nearly one hundred metal men led the charge, after which the whole of the Dragon Son Corps began a defensive retreat.
"Defensive retreat!"
"Defensive retreat!"
Fengjiayi had bellowed with all his might, but his order had come too late. Cries of war filled the air as a unit of Tang axemen came charging over, a wave of giant flying axes preceding them.
Axemen were the infantry with the most offensive power and were also the best kind of infantry for breaking defenses. Fengjiayi had never expected w.a.n.g Chong to bring these soldiers over to deal with him.
"Block them!!!"
Fengjiayi"s eyes were wide in rage, a tension that he had never felt before gripping his body. But before his troops could even start working to stop the axemen, screams came from his front-left ranks as a unit of s.h.i.+eld soldiers came charging out.
"Kiiiill!"
Their bellows shook the skies. The Annan Protectorate army which had been slowly giving ground suddenly reversed, soldiers charging in from all around, their weapons coldly gleaming. Not even Fengjiayi could tell just how many soldiers w.a.n.g Chong had prepared to kill him.
"Success!"
The elated cheer of a Great Tang general came from the chaos behind Fengjiayi. Turning, he saw that the Annan Protectorate army had worked with the cavalry to strike a thunderous blow through the Dragon Son Corps, successfully cutting off and encircling a part of it.
"d.a.m.n it, I"ve fallen for the trap!"
Fengjiayi was both furious and shocked, his vision seeming to go black. He had never imagined that w.a.n.g Chong would react so quickly and fiercely, leaving him no time to respond.
"That"s what it means when they say that the hard is easy to break!"
w.a.n.g Chong only snorted as he watched his troops slowly retract around the Dragon Son Corps, his attention quickly turning elsewhere.
In the end, Fengjiayi was too young, and his understanding of the art of war was not even on the same level.
"If it were possible to unite the world solely through the strength of troops, shouldn"t the Great Tang have already united the world? What need would it have for any military strategy?"
The fate of the Dragon Son Corps was set. There were more important things that w.a.n.g Chong needed to deal with.
"Careful!"
"All troops, stand ready. Focus on defense."
A nervous air hung over the base of the mountain, the Tang soldiers peering warily down the mountain. They gripped their weapons so tightly that the veins on their arms bulged out while cold sweat dripped from their brows. All of them could smell the thick scent of death.