Chapter 753: First Battle! (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"Ready!"
With a shout, w.a.n.g Chong finally unleashed his "Halo of Dusk Stallion". With a metal clattering, a dark-black halo tinged with red rapidly expanded under w.a.n.g Chong"s feet, spreading to all the Wushang Cavalry.
Buffed by the Halo of Dusk Stallion, the already formidable Wushang Cavalry instantly became even stronger, their strength, speed, and dexterity all receiving ma.s.sive boosts.
But this was only the beginning. Buzz! A second Halo of Dusk Stallion emerged from w.a.n.g Chong"s body to cover the army, and then a third!
The Halo of Dusk Stallion had also grown stronger after the journey to the southwest. As w.a.n.g Chong"s cultivation level rose from the True Martial realm to the Imperial Martial realm, the halos had increased from one to three.
Three Halos of Dusk Stallion pushed the power of the Wushang Cavalry to an inconceivable level. Most frightening of all was that the five thousand Turkic warhorses seemed to break through some sort of threshold. They shot through the air like they were flying, leaving blurs behind them.
The Wushang Cavalry were currently traveling at double the maximum speed of a normal warhorse.
"Ah!"
As if sensing this change, the Tibetan army began to cry out in alarm.
"What"s going on?!"
"How could they be so fast!"
"How did these Tang do it? How could they have such fast horses?"
The Tibetan highland steeds grew up on the plateau and were blessed with a muscular physique, a powerful endurance, and a frightening charge. They were why Ü-Tsang could contend against the Great Tang and intimidate the kingdoms of the Western Regions.
To the Tibetans, the highland steeds definitely ranked amongst the best warhorses in the world. But the Tang, who did not breed warhorses and did not have any good pastures, somehow had warhorses even faster than theirs.
"Ready!"
Just when the Tibetans were falling into minor turmoil, a dignified, calm, and resounding voice echoed through the skies. At this moment, only one person had been able to maintain their calm: the commanding general of Zhangzhung Recruit Training Camp, Dayan Pugyal.
His face of steely determination showed no flicker of emotion. From start to finish, his gaze had been locked on the distant w.a.n.g Chong.
As the commanding general of Zhangzhung Recruit Training Camp, Dayan Pugyal knew the military systems of the surrounding countries like the back of his hand, including Great Tang"s. At a glance, he could tell that the youth in the very center was the leader of the Tang army.
Dayan Pugyal did not recall there being such a young cavalry general in the vicinity of Longxi, but there was another person who seemed to match this youth"s appearance. However, at a time like this, his exact ident.i.ty was not important.
"Echelon Formation! Concentrated charge!"
Dayan Pugyal and his red horse stood in the center of the army, and as he waved his sword, the twenty-seven thousand Tibetans s.h.i.+fted.
The speed of the army did not undergo any change, but the soldiers began to separate into layer after layer and close around the center. In the blink of an eye, the training camp cavalry had formed into the famed Tibetan Echelon Formation.
Eight hundred zhang, seven hundred zhang, six hundred zhang…
As the distance grew smaller and smaller, the killing intent grew denser and denser. On the flat plateau, both Tibetan and Wushang could see the individual pieces of armor on their foes, the hairs in the manes of their horses, even the breath coming from their mouths.
Five hundred zhang, four hundred zhang, three hundred zhang…
The air was growing tenser and tenser, and each person felt like the blood in their body was about to freeze. Everyone was looking forward, their eyes locked on their foes.
Two hundred zhang, one hundred zhang, fifty zhang!
"Kill!"
All the soldiers, whether Tibetan or Wushang, raised their weapons and gave a heaven-shattering roar.
At this moment, the atmosphere was saturated with killing intent. For the Tibetans and Wushang, fifty zhang was a distance that could be covered in mere seconds.
This distance was continuing to shrink. Thirty zhang, twenty zhang, ten zhang…
Rumble!
With an earth-shaking boom, the five thousand Wushang Cavalry clashed against the twenty-seven thousand Tibetans in Echelon Formation like two ma.s.sive beasts ramming into each other.
At this moment, the whinnies of warhorses, the crashes and thuds, the clas.h.i.+ng of swords and scimitars, and the screams from soldiers on both sides mixed into a single din.
Surprisingly, the valiant Tibetans lasted for only a few moments before the five thousand Wushang punched through the first echelon.
All the Tibetan cavalry in front of the Wushang were cut down, the warriors cleaved in two. In this land far from the Central Plains, w.a.n.g Chong"s five thousand Wushang Cavalry debuted their oppressive and crus.h.i.+ng strength.
Many of the Tibetan cavalry failed to get close before being cut in two by the peerlessly sharp edges of the Halo of Dusk Stallion.
"Don"t panic! Hold the formation!"
"Charge in from the sides!"
The panicked shouts of the Tibetan officers rang out over the battlefield, but there was no time for them to adjust their tactics. Boom! The five thousand Wushang Cavalry punched through the second echelon, then the third, the fourth…
In front of the Wushang Cavalry, the Tibetan attacks and defenses might as well have been made of paper. None of the Tibetan cavalry could stop w.a.n.g Chong"s army for even a moment.
Neeeigh! Horses reared up in fright. In a few short moments, the Tibetan losses had reached an astonis.h.i.+ng number. Three thousand, four thousand, five thousand…
"How could this be? How could they possess such a formidable strength!"
Even Dayan Pugyal paled at this sight.
The Tibetans were renowned across the world for their ferocity in battle, and there had never been a force like this Tang cavalry before him, possessing such a frightening strength.
The Echelon Formation came in wave after wave, like the ceaseless tide. In the past, the Echelon Formation had always succeeded in stopping a charge, eventually bringing the speed of the enemy down to zero.
In this open plain, cavalry without speed was doomed. But this Tang cavalry had pierced through ten-some echelons now, yet showed no signs of slowing.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Ah!"
The sounds of heavy collisions could be heard as more and more Tibetan cavalry were killed and their formation was thrown into chaos. If one looked down from the sky, one could see that w.a.n.g Chong"s forces had completely punched through the army of twenty-seven thousand Tibetans.
"Cutting Formation!"
The moment the five thousand Wushang Cavalry had punched through, w.a.n.g Chong waved his sword and gave another order. Boom! While still traveling at extreme speeds, the Wushang Cavalry suddenly turned around, maintaining their speed.
Gallop!
In a stomping of hooves, the five thousand cavalry suddenly adopted a completely different tactic. The army had suddenly divided itself into many small squads that began to stab into the sides of the Tibetan army, weaving and intersecting with each other.
Buffed by the three Halos of Dusk Stallion, the five thousand Wushang Cavalry had reached a monstrous speed. In a few seconds, they had once more caught up to the Tibetan army.
These Tibetans had started off charging toward w.a.n.g Chong"s army, but carried on by the inertia of their charge, they were now being attacked in the rear. The army instantly fell into chaos.
Boom! Countless warhorses whinnied as they fell. w.a.n.g Chong"s forces were moving far faster than they were.
"Ah! They"re coming from the rear!"
"Run, run!"
"What sort of army is this?"
"How could cavalry be this fast?"
All the Tibetans were stunned by this Tang army. In their experience, even cavalry had a limit to their speed, yet this Tang army seemed to be shattering this limit.
There had never been an army like this, charging at high speeds through their formation and then turning around and swiftly catching up to them. It was like they were completely unaffected by inertia.
This had completely overturned their understanding of cavalry.
Flee!
This was the only thought left in the minds of the Tibetans.
Rumble! The Tibetan rear was in complete disorder, and this was only the beginning. Their sharp weapons slicing through flesh and armor, w.a.n.g Chong"s five thousand soldiers had divided into fifty groups, fifty snakes crisscrossing the Tibetan army at high speeds.
Not even plate armor could resist this enormous strength. Although the armor was externally unharmed, the internal organs within were pulverized by the impact.
The power of cavalry, the power of the high-speed charge, and the power of the halos—these three powers had layered over each other into a strength that no ordinary person could imagine.
The Wushang Cavalry were simply rolling over the Tibetans.
Six thousand, seven thousand, eight thousand!
w.a.n.g Chong"s five thousand had completely shattered the Tibetans. Only five minutes had pa.s.sed, yet the twenty-seven thousand Tibetans had already lost more than eight thousand of their number, and this number was continuing to rise like a s...o...b..ll rolling down a hill.
All the Tibetans showed a deep fear and panic in their eyes. The number of deaths was truly too astonis.h.i.+ng, and the power of this Tang army had exceeded their most terrifying nightmares.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
In an area a hundred-some zhang from where the Tibetan formation had been punched through, Dayan Pugyal"s entire body was trembling, his eyes red. During the first clash, he had intended to rely on his overwhelming numbers and the charge of the Echelon Formation to block the enemy. After that, he would have his forces wrap around from both sides and exterminate the five thousand Tang.
But he hadn"t expected the Tang to pierce through his entire formation, and they were traveling at such frightening speeds that his two flanks were unable to wrap around them.