The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  A rain of arrows shrilly whistled through the air, a cloud of locusts tearing open the heavens. Everyone was surprised that it was now, and not before the battle or right before the clash of the two armies, that Wang Chong chose to use his archers. In normal circumstances, using archers at this point was meaningless.

  But Wang Chong did not carry this mindset.

  As the rain of arrows descended, a most unexpected thing occurred, almost like a magic trick…

  Neigh!

  Horses whinnied as the arrows fell upon them like locusts. This number of arrows falling in an area only ten-some zhang in radius, just through pure strength, was enough to eliminate this part of the army. One Tibetan after another began to crash to the ground with their horse, sharp arrows flying through the chinks in their armor and nailing them dead to their horses.

  The death of thirty to forty cavalry was insignificant to a force of more than ten thousand, a splash of foam on the ocean. But in the middle of a charge, the death of these thirty to forty horsemen resulted in a surprising effect.

  Neiggggh! Several hundred Tibetan cavalry were unable to stop in time and crashed into the deceased horsemen, and the cavalry behind them were also affected. Some of the cavalry attempted to detour, but then, plingplingpling! The second and third wave of arrows fell into the army, causing the cavalry in other areas to attempt a detour.

  As the cavalry crashed against each other as they attempted to stop, the formation was thrown into chaos.

  Crack snap crash! As horse smashed into horse, the sounds of cracking bones and tearing muscles was heartrending. One wave, two waves, three waves… only three waves of arrows, the death of only a hundred-some people, ended up causing mass chaos. If one looked down from the sky, one would be able to see that the line of areas struck by the arrows had thrown the center of the Tibetan formation into utter chaos.

  The area of chaos continued to expand, and the charge could not stop. And when these charging cavalry reached the front lines, they also threw them into chaos.

  Three arrow volleys, several thousand arrows, seemed insignificant in this sort of large-scale battle. Yet in Wang Chong's hands, these three arrow volleys had completely wrecked the Tibetan offensive.

  "This, this…!"

  Xu Shiping and his officers looked at this scene, their eyes wide and jaws agape in speechlessness.

  Even Old Eagle and Li Siye felt a massive shock.

  If several thousand arrows could always have this effect on the fierce battlefield, then any faction would do so. But every experienced soldier knew that it was essentially impossible to achieve such an effect. This was not a normal happenstance. The only reason those several thousand arrows had had such an effect was that Wang Chong had chosen the right time!

  The probability of producing this effect was truly far too low.

  This was also the first time Old Eagle and Li Siye were experiencing Wang Chong's terrifying intuition and calculations. This was completely different from Wang Chong leading one thousand cavalry to defeat Batunlu.

  This had an especially deep impact on Li Siye. In one aspect, he had wanted to fight in Beiting because there were wars to fight there, but another aspect was that there were talented commanders there who he found worthy enough to follow. But for the first time, Li Siye discovered that this teenager also had the same qualities.

  The last time he had seen such a thing, it had been done by the Beiting Vice Protector-General, An Sishun.

  But unlike An Sishun, Wang Chong appeared to be intentionally hiding his skills. Yet this aspect alone made him seem even more impressive than An Sishun.

  The more time he spent with Wang Chong, the more Li Siye felt that this teenager was shrouded in a befuddling fog.

  But no matter what, Li Siye had finally realized that there was something else about this youth that made him worth following.

  At this moment, Wang Chong suddenly spoke. "Old Eagle, get ready! It's going to be your turn soon!"

  His expression was cold and calm, carrying not a sliver of emotion. At moments like these, he would always enter a most rational state, and it was only in this state that he could fully utilize an army's power.

  "Yes! Young Master!" Old Eagle immediately replied, his right hand reaching for the Wootz Steel sword at his waist as he quickly turned and went down the platform.

  And when Old Eagle was turning, a fierce gale blew across the peak. Nobody noticed that momentary flash of light in Wang Chong's eyes!

  Chapter 512: Major Battle (III)

  Chapter 512: Major Battle (III)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "Damn it!"

  In the Tibetan army, Xiangyang Dalu watched what was happening on the mountain, his face green with rage. His hand gripping the hilt of his scimitar was shaking, the veins bulging out.

  "Everyone, follow me! I'll kill all of them!"

  A general did not lightly step out onto the battlefield. Xiangyang Dalu originally believed that the first wave would have been sufficient to break through the defensive line. To his surprise, not only had the defensive line not broken, his own forces had been thrown into chaos. His disorderly vanguard had now become the greatest barrier for his forces, utilized by the Great Tang to prevent further attacks.

  Clang!

  As he held his scimitar aloft, it let out a shrill cry, like that of a bloodthirsty beast. Xiangyang Dalu personally led the charge, bringing six thousand of his elites with him up the mountain.

  "Kill anyone who dares to stop us!"

  As a warhorse galloped, a head went flying into the air. With the general present, the chaos on the front lines had greatly subsided. Xiangyang Dalu led the charge, leaving a trail of dust as he headed for the summit.

  "Third, Fourth, and Fifth Square Formations should be ordered to retreat!

  "Commandant Xu, is it ready?"

  ……

  Wang Chong stood on a rock. Before Xiangyang Dalu had even begun his charge, Wang Chong had already issued his order.

  Xu Shiping lowered his head and reported, "Milord, everything is ready!" But in truth, he had no idea what exactly he had been doing.

  Wang Chong's tactics seemed completely different from traditional ones.

  "Execute it!"

  ……

  Boom!

  A massive Halo of Thorns expanded from under Xiangyang Dalu's feet. Wrapped in an astounding power, Xiangyang Dalu and his hundreds of cavalry crashed against the sturdy defensive lines like a meteor. No person or defensive line could stand up to this power.

  As a Profound Martial realm expert, Xiangyang Dalu was second only to Bachicheng.

  There were certainly experts who could stand against him, but not these True Martial realm Tang soldiers. Xiangyang Dalu planned to use his own strength to open up the battlefield and crush this defensive line.

  "Kill them all for me!" Xiangyang Dalu roared in Tibetan, his ruthless voice resounding through the sky. At this moment, Xiangyang Dalu would even kill a god or Buddha if they dared to stand in his way.

  But then, something completely unanticipated happened. That hardy rock of a defensive line suddenly began to retreat. As if some invisible knife had cut it open, a large opening suddenly appeared in the dense defensive line.

  And this opening was rapidly expanding.

  "What's going on?"

  Even someone as richly experienced as Xiangyang Dalu couldn't help but be stunned. In all his years in the army, he had never once encountered such a situation. On the fierce battlefield, such an opening was fatal! However, despite Xiangyang Dalu's surprise, his horse did not slow. That opening that seemed to naturally open up before it made that highland steed almost instinctively charge in.

  "Hmph, I don't care what you're up to, but if you dare to open such a gap in front of me, you're only seeking death!"

  A cold light shone in Xiangyang Dalu's eyes. Not only did he not attempt to slow his horse, he urged it on. For infantry to dare to open up
a gap in their formation while fighting cavalry was suicidal. To all types of cavalry, a single gap in an opponent's defensive line was enough to immediately destroy the rest of it.

  In Xiangyang Dalu's view, it was utterly childish for these Tang soldiers to do such a thing.

  Horses neighed as Xiangyang Dalu instantly led his army into the gap. The Tang army parted like waves, but when Xiangyang Dalu saw what had been hiding behind that army, he paled. At his level, very little could cause him to lose his nerve, but this was certainly one of them.

  "Ballistae!"

  That forest of shining lights on the slope caused Xiangyang Dalu's expression to instantly change. Behind the defensive line were more than one hundred ballistae. These ballistae, carved with all sorts of powerful inscriptions, from left to right, from front to back, were all pointed at the Tibetan army behind Xiangyang Dalu.

  "Despicable!"

  Xiangyang Dalu roared in anger, a terrible grimace on his face. He had never expected that the Tang army's voluntary retreat had been concealing a trick, a trap, a trap made of ballistae. The whole world knew of the Great Tang's ballistae and their ability to pierce through Stellar Energy. Yet if there had only been one or two, Xiangyang Dalu wouldn't have cared.

  But more than a hundred ballistae were not something that Xiangyang Dalu could ignore.

  More importantly, the Tang army had clearly been preparing them for some time. By the time he saw the ballistae, they had all been readied to fire, leaving no chance of dodging.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  It was impossible to describe that sudden transformation. When those hundred-some ballistae simultaneously fired, even the heavens dimmed. The air vibrated as those mechanisms triggered, drowning out the sounds of fighting elsewhere. Thick ballista bolts, their tips glistening with a sharp light, shot toward the Tibetan cavalry in the gap like scythes of the god of death.

  From top to bottom, left to right, these ballista bolts cut off the retreat for these Tibetan cavalry and left them nowhere to dodge. Not even an expert like Xiangyang Dalu had much space to maneuver, much less the ordinary soldiers behind him.

  Ploosh!

  Blood exploded as a Tibetan cavalryman and his horse were blown through by a black ballista bolt. The massive bolt pierced through his chest and came out through his back to continue its journey to the Tibetan behind him, and then a third, a fourth, a fifth…

  This cruelest of sights created a most gruesome beauty. Ballistae were the most terrifying weapons on the battlefield. Even the famed plate armor of Ü-Tsang was no match for this many ballistae. It crumpled like paper, putting up no resistance.

  Wang Chong's order to open up a gap had baited the Tibetan cavalry in and now created a most dreadful sight. This sort of drawn-out cavalry formation in such a narrow area allowed the Great Tang ballistae to work at maximum effectiveness.

  Crash! Crash! Crash!

  As bones and blood flew everywhere, Tibetans were cut down like weeds. It took only a few moments for at least seven hundred Tibetan cavalry to be felled without a groan.

  No one had ever used ballistae like Wang Chong had, and no one had ever pushed the power of ballistae to this level.

  More importantly, even Xiangyang Dalu had been caught in Wang Chong's trap.

  Pengpengpeng!

  Bolt after bolt cut through the air, all aimed at Xiangyang Dalu, sealing the space around him. On such short notice, Xiangyang Dalu had no time to dodge. He could only push the Stellar Energy in his body to the limit and hope that it could stand against this storm of attacks.

  The attack just now had been indescribable, and Xiangyang Dalu, who had been leading the charge from the very front, suffered the brunt of the attacks.

  In truth, Wang Chong had also aimed the majority of attacks at this valiant general of Ü-Tsang.

  Boomboomboom!

  One bolt after another—each carrying enough force to shatter stone, puncture through the thick Tibetan plate armor, and kill seven or eight cavalry in a line—began to crash down onto Xiangyang Dalu's wall of Stellar Energy. In front, behind, to the left, and to the right, the attacks crashed down on him like a rain of fireworks.

  At least seventy massive ballista bolts struck Xiangyang Dalu's Stellar Energy wall, but all of these incomparably fierce bolts were stopped by that invisible wall before they could even touch him. Xiangyang Dalu's seething Stellar Energy barely stumbled before this barrage.

  Not one of these seventy to eighty ballista bolts had been able to pierce through his Stellar Energy.

  However, the famous ballistae of the Great Tang were not easily blocked. Although Xiangyang Dalu had managed to block them, he could feel the Stellar Energy in his body being rapidly exhausted, his face paling with it. In but an instant, Xiangyang Dalu had lost two-thirds of his Stellar Energy, even though he was completely uninjured.

  "Damn it!"

  Xiangyang Dalu's complexion was ashen and panicked. For the first time, he felt fear.

  These more than seven hundred elite cavalry were his personal guards, following him wherever he struck, the best of his tribe and some of the best under General Huoshu Huicang's command. They had participated with him in this war to exterminate the Tang army, but in this moment, these subordinates who had wholeheartedly trusted him had died without even a groan.

  They had once hunted down countless brave soldiers of the Great Tang, and were capable of fighting tigers and capturing dragons, but they had been as fragile as paper before these ballistae.

  He might have been able to dodge those bolts if they had come one at a time, but his adversary had not given him this chance. Seventy or eighty bolts had come at once, expending two-thirds of his Stellar Energy in less than a second. In his many years as a soldier, he had never encountered such a formidable opponent.

  Even though he hadn't even seen his enemy or even figured out who they were, Xiangyang Dalu began to fear them.

  That attack that had lasted for less than a second had utterly shattered his arrogance.

  At this moment, the valiant and pugnacious Xiangyang Dalu began to think about retreating.

  "Hmph, since you've already come in, are you still thinking about leaving?"

  Before Xiangyang Dalu could even turn his horse around, he heard a chilling voice at his ear. The moment the barrage of bolts had stopped, the skies dimmed as a sharp Sword Qi flew through the air like a rainbow, cleaving down from the skies. In a flash, Old Eagle, Commandant Xu, Li Siye, and all the other officers roared as they leaped from their horses and converged around Xiangyang Dalu like tigers…

  Xiangyang Dalu found it impossible to breathe, his entire body suffocated.

  His face ghastly pale, he felt for the first time the shadow of death!

  "Aaaaah!"

  A scream cut through the mountains and then was suddenly cut down. Time seemed to stop, and all the Tibetans from the middle of the mountain down to the foot began to show expressions of fear. They were no strangers to that voice. It had been Xiangyang Dalu's scream as he faced his end.

  The battle had not even gone on for fifteen minutes, but the distinguished Xiangyang Dalu of the Ngari Royal Lineage had already died while charging up the mountain.

  It had all been finished so quickly that Xiangyang Dalu had not even had a chance to run. In this moment, the brave and ferocious Tibetans began to be afraid.

  It was only now that they suddenly began to notice that this Tang army was completely different from what they had expected.

  "How could this be!"

  Bachicheng's eyes almost popped out in rage as he saw Xiangyang Dalu vanish from the battlefield like a firework. His fists were clenched, the veins on his arm bulging. He didn't dare believe his own eyes.

  It was too sudden!

  Bachicheng had not even mentally prepared himself and Xiangyang Dalu had died.

  "Useless trash, you've truly disappointed me!"

  The fires of rage seethed in Bachicheng's heart as he howled out between his clenched teet
h.

  The first emotion Bachicheng felt upon Xiangyang Dalu's death was not sorrow or defeat, but explosive rage. There was no doubt that Xiangyang Dalu's incompetence was difficult to accept. In this campaign, Great Minister Dalun Ruozan and Great General Huoshu Huicang had left three valiant generals behind.

  Among them, Xiangyang Dalu had been the closest.

  This was why Bachicheng had summoned him.

  Bachicheng had once had high hopes for Xiangyang Dalu. He hadn't expected him to fail so easily!

  Chapter 513: Major Battle (IV)

  "Everyone, heed my orders! Assume Echelon Formation! All soldiers, charge! Those who retreat will be executed!"

  Bachicheng's eyes were frigid, his entire body exploding with a chilling aura of dread.

  "Yes, General!"

  The beast-like calls of the Tibetan cavalry echoed through the skies.

  In the Ü-Tsang Ngari Royal Lineage, Bachicheng's prestige was incomparable to Xiangyang Dalu. In both the internal conflicts within the tribe and in the battles against the Great Tang, Bachicheng had already proved his strength. In the fight against the 60,000 soldiers of the Tang army, Bachicheng had led the charge that had broken through the Tang center.

  His very high status among the Five Tiger Generals was based on this ability.

  With Bachicheng himself deciding to personally take part, the six thousand Tibetan cavalry once more exploded with an intense will to fight. The gloom brought about by Xiangyang Dalu's death was instantly swept away.

  Whoosh!

  His eyes spitting lightning, Bachicheng took from a subordinate the holy banner of Ü-Tsang, several zhang tall and as thick as an arm, emblazoned with a white yak over a black background. Meanwhile, his right hand held his scimitar.

  "Kill!"

  Like a bolt of lightning searing across the sky, Bachicheng urged his horse forward, scarlet-red flames bursting from his body and enveloping the entire army. He led them like a fiery cloud toward the summit, the aura and momentum of his six thousand cavalry completely different from Xiangyang Dalu's.

  The massive mountain trembled, sending rocks constantly rolling down from the summit. And at this point, Bachicheng had not even reached the foot of the mountain.