Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Boom!
There was no hesitation as two mighty waves of soldiers smashed against each other on the slopes of the mountain, resulting in the most intense clash of the entire battle. Of the more than four hundred thousand soldiers, almost all of them had been committed, with Geluofeng and Duan Gequan holding back a single unit in reserve.
This time, Dalun Ruozan resorted to no tactics or strategy. It was a straightforward advance, one that relied on pure pressure. Once one"s soldiers far outnumbered one"s opponent"s, numbers became the best strategy, the best tactic.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
Bellows rang out through the sky. The roiling wave of black steel was enough to make anyone pale.
"Get ready!"
"Get ready!"
"Go!"
……
w.a.n.g Chong"s voice resounded over the mountain. The first to attack was not the majestic Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army but the Annan Protectorate army. Thwishthwishthwis.h.!.+ Countless arrows howled through the air, descending into the center of this flood of steel.
Boom!
It was like a boulder smas.h.i.+ng into a river. The numerous arrows pierced through necks, cheeks, knees, and bodies. Hundreds upon thousands of Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang soldiers began to fall, and a small hint of disorder immediately appeared in the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang ranks.
Thwishthwishthwis.h.!.+
One wave, two wave, three waves… innumerable arrows continued to strike with lethal precision, causing the chaos to continuously expand.
"It"s useless. Once the number of soldiers reaches a certain level, local victories are no longer a concern."
Dalun Ruozan looked at the mountain, his eyes calm.
If a hundred-man army lost a hundred men in battle, the entire army would be wiped out. If a two-hundred-man army lost a hundred men in battle, it would be a severe wound. For a thousand-man army, it would be a setback. But when this army swelled to several thousands, tens of thousands, the effect became triflingly small.
The injuries inflicted by w.a.n.g Chong"s archers were truly not critical to this army of hundreds of thousands.
However, Dalun Ruozan had still underestimated the objective of w.a.n.g Chong"s plan. As the arrow volleys threw the flood of black steel into chaos, a tiny flaw was revealed, upon which w.a.n.g Chong immediately triggered the Myriad Stars Formation.
The tens of thousands of Tang soldiers were like turbulent streams of water, intersecting, cras.h.i.+ng, colliding, wrapping around the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang soldiers like nooses.
"Congratulations to user for killing 3412 soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army!"
"Congratulations to user for killing 6733 soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army!"
"Congratulations to user for killing 9188 soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army!"
"Congratulations to user for killing 12340 soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army!"
……
In a few short moments, a string of messages gushed through w.a.n.g Chong"s mind in a veritable waterfall. Meanwhile, countless halos were clas.h.i.+ng and clattering below. Attack halos, strength halos, dexterity halos, power halos, defensive halos, charging halos… tens of thousands of war halos, all of them different, covered every inch of ground on the mountain.
The ferocity of this battle had surpa.s.sed everyone"s imaginations, even w.a.n.g Chong"s. w.a.n.g Chong"s Myriad Stars Formation allowed his soldiers to become sharp nooses that cut the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army into pieces, encircling them so that they could be cut down.
The soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army were hacked down like stalks of wheat, and the constant waterfall of messages in his mind clearly conveyed to w.a.n.g Chong the severity of their losses.
Dalun Ruozan had apparently already made the greatest decision he could make. He had determined to exchange a ma.s.sive number of deaths for the ability to constantly shrink the area in which the Tang army could operate. Even though wave after wave of Mengshe–Ü-Tsang soldiers was being felled, more continued to come up from the rear.
This method was simple and cruel, but rather effective. With this rather significant price, the Tang army was slowly being squeezed, and even w.a.n.g Chong was beginning to run out of s.p.a.ce to maneuver.
Against this bold and decisive enemy commander who cared not for the sacrifice or price, even w.a.n.g Chong"s strategies were no longer so easy to use or effective.
Against this sort of opponent, even w.a.n.g Chong had to be awed.
……
"Milord, we"ve paid a very heavy price!"
As he watched the soldiers continue to fall, the tribal elder found it very hard to keep his composure. From his place at the base of the mountain, he could clearly see red rivers of blood gus.h.i.+ng down the slopes.
The intensity of the battle had surpa.s.sed his expectations. The ground on the mountain was already saturated with blood, and in this state, it was impossible to tell if this blood belonged to the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army or the Annan Protectorate army.
"There"s nothing to be done. This is the price that we must pay."
Dalun Ruozan slightly closed his eyes. He himself found it very hard to remain calm in the face of this gruesome battle. The Annan Protectorate army was putting up far more of a fight than he had expected.
In his decades managing the Ngari Royal Lineage, not even Zhangchou Jianqiong could push him to this state. But all this was necessary, a price that had to be paid.
"Human wave tactics… This kind of Great Tang truly makes one uneasy! If the Great Tang has a few more talents like this, Ü-Tsang might never be able to compete."
Dalun Ruozan looked up at the summit, a vague anxiety hanging over his heart.
In the course of the southwest war, not even Dalun Ruozan had realized that his original intent of exterminating the eighty-thousand-some soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army had become the intent to eliminate that w.a.n.g Chong who had seemingly appeared out of thin air.
Deep within Dalun Ruozan"s heart, eradicating w.a.n.g Chong was now even more urgent than eliminating the Annan Protectorate army.
But Dalun Ruozan could not allow a single shred of his intentions to be leaked. w.a.n.g Chong was far more vigilant than anyone could imagine. Without even considering the vast sea of soldiers that surrounded him, w.a.n.g Chong was liable to run the moment things began to look just slightly off.
After witnessing w.a.n.g Chong disguising his soldiers as Tibetans to attack Mengshe Zhao and as Mengshe Zhao soldiers to attack the Tibetans, Dalun Ruozan surprisingly had no confidence in his ability to hold w.a.n.g Chong down.
……
Rumble!
The battle continued. To the south, the ma.s.sive Mighty Miracle G.o.d was engaged in a hurricane of a battle with the Vairocana Buddha. The golden circular halo of a Buddha, akin to a s.h.i.+ning sun, had appeared behind the Vairocana Buddha"s head, and behind, the faint image of a ma.s.sive snowy mountain could be seen.
This was a sign that a supreme technique of the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple was being exhibited to its limits.
Buzz!
Stellar Energy was converging from all around, gathering in that halo and in the image of the snowy mountain. Although the Ü-Tsang Empire did not have supreme battle formations on the level of the Mighty Miracle G.o.d Formation, it still possessed many supreme arts and devices that could harness the strength of its soldiers.
Though their level was greatly lacking when compared to the Mighty Miracle G.o.d Formation.
Neigh!
Behind Huoshu Huicang, the highland steeds were whinnying as they fell to the ground, the ever-valiant TIbetan soldiers beginning to dispiritedly drop to the ground as if all the energy had been drained from them.
And across from Huoshu Huicang, the Annan Protectorate army was faring little better. Clangclangclang! Though their halos were still resounding, the Tang soldiers had clearly become a little weaker.
The Mighty Miracle G.o.d Formation could not only absorb the energy of other generals, but that of ordinary soldiers as well. This was also the reason w.a.n.g Yan and Xianyu Zhongtong could use their formations to resist Huoshu Huicang and Duan Gequan.
The battle in the south had fallen into a stalemate, while on the other side, the battle between w.a.n.g Chong and Dalun Ruozan had reached a white-hot intensity.
"Warning! 1280 soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army have died!"
"Warning! 2314 soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army have died!"
"Warning! 3215 soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army have died!"
"Warning! 3847 soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army have died!"
……
The ringing messages in w.a.n.g Chong"s mind, the endless warnings from the Stone of Destiny, let w.a.n.g Chong know that Dalun Ruozan"s plan was finally beginning to show its effects. w.a.n.g Chong"s Annan Protectorate army began to suffer a large number of casualties.
This was a contest of wills. Strategy and tactics were useless here.
Dalun Ruozan was endlessly hurling soldiers into the breach, the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army surging up the mountain, never stopping no matter how great a resistance they encountered. No matter how many soldiers they lost, more soldiers would always be there to take the place of the fallen.
And the forty thousand soldiers w.a.n.g Chong commanded showed another face: cool, callous, a rock standing against the frenzied waves. No matter how many Mengshe–Ü-Tsang soldiers pushed forward, they would never retreat.
Both w.a.n.g Chong"s and Dalun Ruozan"s armies were suffering ma.s.sive casualties.
"Cavalry, mount your horses!"
At the climax of the battle, w.a.n.g Chong"s eyes flashed as he suddenly mounted the White-hoofed Shadow. A chorus of neighs came from behind him as one Great Tang horseman after another arrived on the summit.
Clang!
Without hesitation, w.a.n.g Chong pulled out his Wootz Steel sword.
"Lin Wushou, I leave command of the army to you!"
Neigh!
The White-hoofed Shadow let out a loud cry as it led more than two thousand Great Tang cavalry charging down the mountain like a bolt of lightning. With this, the Great Tang had used all its reserves.
Rumble!
No person could describe the impact w.a.n.g Chong"s two thousand cavalry had on the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army. w.a.n.g Chong had chosen to strike at the place where the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army had the fewest troops, where it was weakest.
The Halo of Dusk Stallion allowed w.a.n.g Chong"s cavalry charge down the mountain to become the sharpest knife, stabbing through the entire Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army in a single blow.
Rumble! Under countless eyes, the entire mountainside was thrown into chaos. w.a.n.g Chong"s Myriad Stars Formation had already been putting on more and more pressure, and w.a.n.g Chong"s two thousand cavalry were the straw that broke the camel"s back.
"Ah!"
Screams filled the air as the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army fell into disarray. w.a.n.g Chong"s Myriad Stars Formation used their momentum to advance, quickly hewing down the Tibetan and Mengshe Zhao soldiers.
"Congratulations to user for killing 78615 soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army!"
"Congratulations to user for killing 86135 soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army!"
"Congratulations to user for killing 91543 soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army!"
"Congratulations to user for killing 98712 soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army!"
……
A string of messages exploded through w.a.n.g Chong"s mind, and when these voices reached their peak, w.a.n.g Chong received a surprising message.
"Congratulations to user! For killing more than 200,000 foreign soldiers, you have fulfilled the upgrade conditions. The Bane of the Battlefield Halo has advanced to the third level!"
The entire world seemed to fall quiet for a moment, time seeming to slow to a crawl. Buzz! w.a.n.g Chong could feel a ma.s.sive energy suddenly explode out of his body and expand to the horizon.