Chapter 752: First Battle! (I)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"Lord Marquis, the Tibetans have discovered us and are quickly forming up!"
On the steppe, Li Siye galloped behind w.a.n.g Chong, his gaze cold, his expression as calm and steady as a mountain, as if nothing could ever move him.
"It"s fine. Let them form up!"
w.a.n.g Chong grinned and raised an arm. Suddenly, the galloping Wushang Cavalry stopped, coming to a complete halt within a single second. All five thousand moved in unison, making no error, as orderly as if they were all part of a single person.
"Strike like fire; be as immovable as a mountain." In these aspects, w.a.n.g Chong"s five thousand soldiers were so well-trained that even Fumeng Lingcha"s most elite infantry could only sigh in praise.
Bwoooom!
As the mournful horns blew, attracting the attention of w.a.n.g Chong"s forces, the Tibetans reacted very quickly. In the short time since their birds had discovered w.a.n.g Chong"s forces, all the Tibetans had formed up, and even those bare-chested blacksmiths had put on armor and joined the ranks. Thousands of Tibetan soldiers, mounted on the renowned highland steeds, were charging toward w.a.n.g Chong"s forces with a momentum that could knock over mountains, stirring a ma.s.sive cloud of dust in their wake.
In front of this sea of Tibetan cavalry, the five thousand Wushang seemed like the light of a firefly in the face of the bright moon.
"Milord, the enemy"s soldiers far exceed ours!" Li Siye"s voice came from the side, tinged with the slightest hint of concern.
"Mm. They do have many more than us," w.a.n.g Chong lightly said, but his face showed no change of emotion. Tsongkha"s Zhangzhung Recruit Training Camp should have had around twenty thousand recruits, and if one added onto that the regular soldiers guarding the camp, this number climbed to twenty-five or twenty-six thousand. In pure numbers, they were five times the size of the Tang force.
In addition, the Tibetans were naturally courageous and pugnacious people, so even though these were recruits, they were not one bit inferior in terms of bravery or strength to regular soldiers of other countries. They could not be thought of as just simple recruits.
Buzz!
The plateau trembled. The Tibetans weren"t traveling very fast, but their momentum was frightening.
Gallop!
While w.a.n.g Chong"s troops quietly waited, a Tibetan horseman suddenly broke out of the ranks and began galloping ahead of the rest.
"Milord, they"re sending an emissary!" Zhang Que said.
From the moment he had created the "eagle team", Zhang Que had been formally registered into the army by w.a.n.g Chong and given the duties of both messenger and scout.
"There"s nothing to discuss!"
w.a.n.g Chong looked at the emissary and sneered. If two armies were of equal strength, they had a custom of sending emissaries to each other. However, although they were called emissaries, they were actually meant to seek out information. The Tibetans still had no idea of the capabilities of the Tang force, nor did they know how the Tang had managed to get onto the plateau.
w.a.n.g Chong naturally would not give them this chance.
"Xu Keyi, get ready!"
"Yes, Lord Marquis!"
Xu Keyi immediately took a large bow from his back. The bow was nearly four fingers wide, and the bowstring was made from a combination of alligator sinews, water buffalo tendons, and metal string, endowing this bow with incredible strength.
Bang!
There was a whistle as the bowstring vibrated. A moment later, a metal arrow four feet long shot through the air like a lightning bolt, swiftly piercing through the Tibetan horseman some several li away. The sharp arrow stabbed through the front of the neck and out the back, the enormous power within it separating the head from the rest of the body.
This sight was so sudden and unexpected that the vast sea of Tibetan cavalry came to a sudden stop.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
A thunderous roar of fury came from the distance, not in Tibetan, but in the familiar Han language. In front of the sea of Tibetan soldiers, a muscular general riding a red warhorse angrily unsheathed his sword, his eyes fixed on w.a.n.g Chong"s forces, his body churning with an aura as vast as a mountain.
"Ready! Attack!"
Rumble!
The clattering of metal rang out through the earth. Even from several li away, it was still possible to hear this sound. A dark red Halo of Thorns emerged from that general"s body and sank to the ground, forming halo after halo that spread to the rest of the army.
In the blink of an eye, the twenty-thousand-some Tibetan warriors began to exude an intimidating aura, their strength rising to a completely different level.
Bwoooom!
The earth quaked, and the release of that ma.s.sive halo seemed to be a sort of signal. The plaintive yak horns began to sound from the side of the army, and the vast wave of Tibetans began to move once more, rapidly picking up speed.
In a few seconds, the army of twenty thousand had reached an incredible speed, traveling with the force of an avalanche toward the five thousand Wushang Cavalry.
"Kiiill!"
"Kill them all!"
"Charge!"
Tibetan shouts filled the sky and the neighing of horses shattered the serenity of the plateau. Battle and slaughter seemed to have awakened that desire hidden deep within the Tibetans. The air was fraught with tension as the twenty-seven thousand members of the Zhangzhung Training Camp army surged forward.
The halos that these Tibetans personally cultivated began to emerge, rumbling as they fused together, exploding with such astonis.h.i.+ng power that the surrounding air began to blur.
Tsongkha was one of Ü-Tsang"s recruit training camps and a target that was liable to be attacked, but this did not mean that Tsongkha was an easy target.
Twenty-seven thousand Tibetan cavalry wearing plate armor was a force powerful enough to make any opponent withdraw their claws and check themselves.
Rumble!
The earth shuddered and dust roiled. The distant fields of gra.s.s, subjected to the impact of that distant energy, began to tilt in w.a.n.g Chong"s direction.
Yet the five thousand Wushang Cavalry remained unmoving in the raging winds, as steady as a mountain.
The distance continued to close, the shuddering growing larger. Ten li, eight li, five li…
"Ready!"
When the distance closed to three li, clang! Cold light flashed as a sharp sword was unsheathed and aimed into the air. In the light of the morning sun, w.a.n.g Chong"s clothes flapped in the wind as his cold voice resounded over the area.
"Charge!"
Rumble! This order was like a boulder splas.h.i.+ng into a lake, stirring countless ripples. The silent mountain of Wushang Cavalry suddenly shot forward like an arrow leaving the bow, leaping out from behind w.a.n.g Chong. In that moment, the heavens and earth shuddered in fear.
When these five thousand Wushang Cavalry charged forward with the same movements and the same speed, they produced an aura that could intimidate any opponent.
Neigh!
Amidst the fierce gusts and neighing of horses, the peaceful steppe was suddenly enveloped by the thick clouds of war. The atmosphere was so tense that it was stifling.
"Kiiill!"
Though far outnumbered, the five thousand Wushang Cavalry showed no signs of retreating. These warriors who knew no fear charged straight into the enemy.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, and the earth shook under the hooves of the Wushang Cavalry as if it couldn"t take their weight. And the Wushang Cavalry were only getting faster and faster, faster and faster.
Four seconds, five seconds, six seconds…
Churning clouds of dust flew into the sky. A ma.s.sive hoof rose and then came down, stomping a blade of gra.s.s into powder and leaving behind a deep hoofprint, its owner continuing to gallop forward. On the backs of their horses, the Wushang Cavalry were nervous, but they were also determined.
This was the first battle for these newly-trained cavalry, and they were facing an opponent several times their number.
But compared to ordinary soldiers, the five thousand Wushang were far more composed.
Wushang Village was surrounded by steep cliffs and high mountains. To walk amongst them was to travel on the edge of life and death, the slightest misstep resulting in a plunge into an abyss and having their bodies shattered at the bottom. After living for so long in such an environment, the Wushang had a far smaller fear of death than the average person, making them even more suitable for the cruel battlefield.
Seven seconds, eight seconds, nine seconds…
The two sides drew closer and closer, the Tibetans no longer black dots on the horizon. At these distances, it was even possible to make out the details of their armor. Clang! A pitch-black Halo of Thorns suddenly emerged from the body of a Wushang cavalryman, sinking into the ground and completely enveloping him.
There was a second, a third, a fourth… In these few seconds, five thousand pitch-black halos, their edges as sharp as swords, suddenly emerged from the Wushang Cavalry. Their strength instantly swelled, and their auras became much heavier.
Even light seemed to be twisted as it pa.s.sed through.
Whoos.h.!.+
As a black halo swept over the plain, bits of gra.s.s flew into the air as if the gra.s.s had been cut down.
The Wushang Halo!
The five thousand Wushang Cavalry were finally using that supreme cavalry halo that had awed the world!
Rumble!
The earth quaked and dust seethed as the five thousand Wushang Cavalry grew faster and faster, drawing closer and closer to the twenty-seven thousand Tibetan soldiers.