Boom!
Winds gusted as dust exploded, covering the earth. Deep within the dust, a cyan saber energy cut through the sky, a hundred zhang tall as it tore through the air and hurtled toward Wang Yan's group.
This saber energy left black fissures wherever it passed, even in the air. It was enough to make anyone pale. Whether it was Luo Ji or Chen Shusun, anyone in the Annan Protectorate army would be insignificant before this saber energy. No single general would be able to block such a blow.
Buzz!
Right when Huoshu Huicang struck out with his saber, a transformation occurred on the mountain. Under countless stunned gazes, the halos of Wang Yan and the several dozen Tang generals behind him began to glimmer, then suddenly blaze to life. In the blink of an eye, all of them had fused together, manifesting in a massive golden-armored god standing tall on the mountain.
The Mighty Miracle God!
A thought flashed through Wang Chong's excited mind. The Great Tang possessed countless powerful formations that could gather the power of numerous generals, even the power of the entire army, and transform this power into an extremely powerful existence.
The Mighty Miracle God Formation was one of these formations, and it was the most powerful technique available to Wang Yan's army. Wang Chong had heard about it in his past, but he had never seen it.
This was Wang Chong's first time seeing his father use the Mighty Miracle God Formation.
Boom!
There was a heaven-shaking boom that sent the world quaking, the mountain trembling. As Wang Chong watched from the distance, he saw the shining golden figure of the Mighty Miracle God bring its palms together and block Huoshu Huicang's terrifying saber.
Immediately after blocking the saber, the Mighty Miracle God raised its massive right hand and punched at Huoshu Huicang. Before the punch had even landed, the massive energy that preceded it had already forced away all the air in a radius of several hundred zhang.
The earth seemed to groan in pain at this mighty energy, seeming ready to split apart at any time. Just when Huoshu Huicang seemed about to die under the punch of the Mighty Miracle God, his body suddenly began to explode with golden light and Buddhist mantras echoed across the heavens.
"Om! Ma! Ni! Pe! Me! Hung1!"
As these strange incantations echoed through the heavens, a golden Buddha, ten-some zhang tall, its body burning with red flames, stood up from where Huoshu Huicang had been standing.
Boom!
The golden Buddha raised a palm, singlehandedly blocking the punch of the hundred-zhang tall Mighty Miracle God. Rumble!The earth shuddered and splintered as dirt and gravel rocketed into the air. The warhorses nearby were thrown neighing into the air, where they were torn to pieces by the clash of Stellar Energy.
This destructive energy made everyone who saw it shiver in fear.
"The Vairocana2 Buddha Golden Body Mantra! Huoshu Huicang finally used it!"
In a place that no one could see, Mengshe Zhao Great General Duan Gequan looked at that ten-some-zhang-tall golden Buddha, a smile of anticipation on his face.
The Vairocana Buddha Golden Body Mantra was one of the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple's greatest techniques. Only the Great Generals of Ü-Tsang were allowed to cultivate techniques of that level.
Ü-Tsang had various Great Generals, and each one of them practiced a different supreme technique, while outsiders would never have a chance to even touch these techniques. This was also Duan Gequan's first time seeing this particular technique.
"The Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple's supreme techniques truly are formidable!"
Duan Gequan's gaze subconsciously turned to the other end of the mountain. The newly-appointed Annan Protector-General was standing there, a dense collection of generals surrounding him.
In both armies, the only figures who had yet to move were him and Xianyu Zhongtong. The Annan Protectorate army's 'Vajra God' and Wang Yan's 'Mighty Miracle God' were the two mountains standing before the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army.
In their victory at Erhai, Duan Gequan had experienced Xianyu Zhongtong's Vajra God. The Vajra God was hailed as the strongest formation of the southwest. If Zhangchou Jianqiong were the one using it, Duan Gequan would definitely have to keep his distance, but Xianyu Zhongtong did not even have seventy percent of Zhangchou Jianqiong's strength, so Duan Gequan naturally had nothing to fear from him.
He couldn't do much against Xianyu Zhongtong, but Xianyu Zhongtong couldn't do much against him. Thus, these two stood to the side while Wang Yan and Huoshu Huicang battled it out.
Boom!
While Wang Yan was engaged in fierce combat with Huoshu Huicang, the sounds of fighting erupted from elsewhere. Wang Chong quickly turned and noticed that a vast army was currently using this opportunity to charge up the mountain.
Dalun Ruozan!
Wang Chong's eyes narrowed as his gaze immediately locked onto that familiar figure in the ranks, garbed in a blue robe and waving his feather fan. It was none other than Dalun Ruozan.
Only Dalun Ruozan could possibly use the moment when everyone's attention was on Wang Yan and Huoshu Huicang to launch an attack.
His army of hundreds of thousands instantly began to exert a powerful pressure.
There was no doubt now that this was the main thrust of Dalun Ruozan's assault. The area where Wang Yan and Huoshu Huicang were fighting was just bait.
Wang Chong could smell danger in the air.
"All soldiers, hear my order! Assume positions!
"Archers, get ready!"
Wang Chong's voice resounded through the battlefield.
Swoosh!
With Wang Chong's order, the entire summit suddenly fell silent. All the soldiers and generals seemed to be fixed in place while a somber energy began to rise into the heavens. Wang Chong's Myriad Stars Formation was slowly beginning to come to life.
Although this was not its complete form, although this was only a rudimentary form, in Wang Chong's hands, this was enough power.
"Great Minister!"
At the base of the mountain, a rather aged Tibetan elder stood together with Dalun Ruozan, a concerned look in his eyes. This was a tribal elder from the Tibetan Plateau. When Ü-Tsang went to war, a few of their wise and farsighted elders would occasionally follow the army.
The battles Wang Chong had directed had left a very deep impression on this elder, making him feel a great deal of apprehension toward that youth on the summit.
"We have no path of retreat. Wang Zhongsi is already headed toward Longxi. If the King of Generals loses, Geshu Han will lead his army south, resulting in our total failure in this campaign. War requires sacrifice. No matter what, we must win this battle."
Dalun Ruozan stood at the base of the mountain, his eyes brimming with unprecedented determination. At this moment, he seemed not like a minister, but a valiant general.
"The Central Plains is awash with strategies and tactics that allow them to multiply the power of their attacks. Right now, we have many more soldiers than them, and this is currently our greatest advantage. No matter what tactic they use, as long as we can maintain this absolute advantage and continuously apply pressure, squeezing and constricting them, all their tactics and strategies will crumble. This is the most effective mechanism we have for destroying them."
"This… I understand."
They both fell silent, but the army around them only redoubled their efforts, their killing intent causing space itself to warp.
______________
1. Om Mani Padme Hum, or Om Mani Peme Hung, is a Tibetan Buddhist mantra associated with Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. In Tibet, he is known as Chenrezig, and in China, he is more known through the female incarnation Bodhisattva Guanyin.↩
2. Vairocana is a Buddha who is primarily associated with the concept of emptiness. His name in Chinese literally translates to 'Great Sun', hence its manifestation here.
Chapter 609: The Decisive Battle! Meat Grinder!
Tra
nslated 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!"
……
Wang Chong's voice resounded over the mountain. The first to attack was not the majestic Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army but the Annan Protectorate army. Thwishthwishthwish! Countless arrows howled through the air, descending into the center of this flood of steel.
Boom!
It was like a boulder smashing 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.
Thwishthwishthwish!
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 Wang Chong's archers were truly not critical to this army of hundreds of thousands.
However, Dalun Ruozan had still underestimated the objective of Wang Chong's plan. As the arrow volleys threw the flood of black steel into chaos, a tiny flaw was revealed, upon which Wang Chong immediately triggered the Myriad Stars Formation.
The tens of thousands of Tang soldiers were like turbulent streams of water, intersecting, crashing, 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 Wang Chong's mind in a veritable waterfall. Meanwhile, countless halos were clashing 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 surpassed everyone's imaginations, even Wang Chong's. Wang 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 Wang Chong the severity of their losses.
Dalun Ruozan had apparently already made the greatest decision he could make. He had determined to exchange a massive 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 Wang Chong was beginning to run out of space to maneuver.
Against this bold and decisive enemy commander who cared not for the sacrifice or price, even Wang Chong's strategies were no longer so easy to use or effective.
Against this sort of opponent, even Wang 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 gushing down the slopes.
The intensity of the battle had surpassed 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 Wang Chong who had seemingly appeared out of thin air.
Deep within Dalun Ruozan's heart, eradicating Wang 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. Wang Chong was far more vigilant than anyone could imagine. Without even considering the vast sea of soldiers that surrounded him, Wang Chong was liable to run the moment things began to look just slightly off.
After witnessing Wang 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 Wang Chong down.
……
Rumble!
The battle continued. To the south, the massive Mighty Miracle God was engaged in a hurricane of a battle with the Vairocana Buddha. The golden circular halo of a Buddha, akin to a shining sun, had appeared behind the Vairocana Buddha's head, and behind, the faint image of a massive 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 God 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 God 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 God Formation could not only absorb the energy of other generals, but that o
f ordinary soldiers as well. This was also the reason Wang 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 Wang 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 Wang Chong's mind, the endless warnings from the Stone of Destiny, let Wang Chong know that Dalun Ruozan's plan was finally beginning to show its effects. Wang 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 Wang 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 Wang Chong's and Dalun Ruozan's armies were suffering massive casualties.
"Cavalry, mount your horses!"
At the climax of the battle, Wang 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, Wang 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.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 382