But even so, Fumeng Lingcha had to admit that Dayan Mangban was a truly daunting adversary.
This powerful halo was not something ordinary cavalry could endure. Just this alone proved that in terms of training, Dayan Mangban was far above ordinary commanders.
Fumeng Lingcha was also praised for his ability to train soldiers, and his troops were always extremely well-disciplined. It was precisely for this reason that even though the Qixi Protectorate did not have many soldiers, it was able to firmly protect Qixi.
Both the Ü-Tsang Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate could do nothing against the Qixi Protectorate overseen by Fumeng Lingcha.
But even the soldiers trained by Fumeng Lingcha were outshone by Dayan Mangban's White Braves.
Even Fumeng Lingcha had to admit that.
If it were him fighting against Dayan Mangban's five thousand White Braves, Fumeng Lingcha would definitely have to put in all his effort and maintain strict command over his soldiers.
"Dusong Mangpoje might be stronger, but he's not as good of a commander as Dayan Mangban. For Ü-Tsang to have this kind of person is truly a disaster for my Great Tang and Qixi. If there's a chance, once Wang Chong is dead, I have to kill him as quickly as possible to prevent him from becoming an even bigger problem."
Fumeng Lingcha's eyes glowed with a fierce and murderous light.
……
"Ready!"
As the five thousand White Braves approached in a seething cloud of dust, Wang Chong waved his hand, a grim look in his eyes.
He had never underestimated his opponents, much less a powerful foe like Dayan Mangban.
"Li Siye, get ready to use the Ten Charges Ten Victories Formation!" Wang Chong solemnly ordered.
"Yes, Lord Marquis!"
Li Siye knew that Wang Chong was serious and quickly went to make the arrangements.
In all his time with Wang Chong, Li Siye had never seen him so solemn. In the past, regardless of the opponent he faced, he would always appear composed and confident, but with Dayan Mangban, he was completely different.
Li Siye could sense that Wang Chong was being particularly cautious with Dayan Mangban.
Wang Chong could tell that Li Siye was surprised, but he chose not to explain.
In his last life, he hadn't interacted much with Dayan Mangban, but had heard far too many tales about him. Dayan Mangban was a madman, but he was also an extremely fearsome opponent. In the end, he had become an Imperial Great General of Ü-Tsang, and one who was even stronger than Dusong Mangpoje.
There were far too many stories about the cities and countries he had destroyed.
And besides, someone who could lead five thousand White Braves to stop the advance of the Arabian Mamelukes in the aftermath of the Tang defeat could not be a mediocre individual.
Any opponent who dared to look down on him was only bringing destruction upon themselves.
Chapter 780: The White Braves, the Great Bon Formation!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"All soldiers, hear my order! Change formation…"
A thunderous voice quickly rose from behind Wang Chong. With Li Siye's order, the five thousand Wushang Cavalry quickly began to shift.
Neigh! As horses whinnied and armor clattered, the Wushang Cavalry quickly completed the formation change. In a flash, the aura of the army transformed, and a frigid and fiendish aura began to surge into the sky.
A simple change of formation instantly attracted the attention of all spectators to this battle. Even the grass around the Wushang Cavalry had begun to exude a grim and bleak aura.
"Milord, what's going on over there?"
"Such thick fiendish energy! What is that brat doing?"
"Those cavalry of Wushang don't seem normal."
The people of the Qixi Protectorate were quick to notice the transformation of the Wushang Cavalry. On this tense battlefield, a change in the forces on any side would draw everyone's focus.
No one understood what Wang Chong was doing. Even though the Wushang Cavalry hadn't even begun to charge, they seemed even more dangerous and fierce than before.
Right now, anyone who looked at Wang Chong's forces, even at great distances, would instinctively feel a deep unease. If they looked carefully, they would even feel that the five thousand Wushang Cavalry were unleashing some invisible energy that was blurring the air around them.
None of them had ever encountered such a situation before.
Although they were clueless as to the meaning of all this, everyone could sense that the Wushang Cavalry had become extremely formidable.
"It appears to be some sort of formation…"
Among the Qixi generals, none was more experienced than the commander of the western front, Heba Ye. His pupils had constricted into tiny holes as he stared at the Wushang Cavalry.
Heba Ye knew almost all the formations of the Great Tang like the back of his hand, and he alone was capable of utilizing several of them whenever the situation called for it.
Heba Ye had spent many years campaigning in the Western Regions, and few people could compare to him in this aspect. But even Heba Ye could not recognize the formation Wang Chong was using.
From the aura, it was definitely a top-class battle formation, so there was no reason he shouldn't have seen it, or at least heard of it.
"Milord…"
Heba Ye subconsciously turned to the Qixi Protector-General, Fumeng Lingcha. In terms of experience, no one could surpass Fumeng Lingcha.
He was the Protector-General of Qixi, one of the Great Tang's few and most elite Great Generals, and there was probably very little that he did not know.
But to Heba Ye's surprise, what he saw was Fumeng Lingcha with his brow tightly creased, staring hard in Wang Chong's direction.
It appeared that he was just as mystified.
Stunned, Heba Ye was momentarily speechless.
……
"Milord!"
Fumeng Lingcha and the Qixi Protectorate army were far from the only ones unsettled by the change in Wang Chong's army. At the same moment, in the rear of the Tibetan army, the generals had turned serious and were beginning to look toward Dusong Mangpoje.
Dayan Mangban and his five thousand White Braves were admittedly formidable, but those Wushang Cavalry of the Great Tang also gave off an aura of ferocity, and after experiencing the unstoppable charge of those five thousand Tang, witnessing them cut down Tibetans like they were weeds, no one dared to underestimate them.
Those corpses that still carpeted the battlefield had been the price for underestimating the Tang.
Dusong Mangpoje remained silent, his expression as placid as an ancient well. But those officers who were familiar with him had clearly noticed that when Wang Chong's forces had changed formation, Dusong Mangpoje had leaned forward and his muscles tensed. But he had very quickly relaxed, regaining his normal composure.
"Milord, that Tang isn't easy to deal with. What if we send soldiers to reinforce General Dayan?" a Tibetan general nervously said to Dusong Mangpoje.
When they had heard that Huoshu Huicang and Dalun Ruozan had lost in the southwest to that Great Tang youth, most of them hadn't believed it, but after witnessing that inconceivable explosion, all of them regarded that seemingly 'ordinary' youth like a god.
"There's no need!"
Dusong Mangpoje's eyes flashed for a moment.
"Dayan Mangban's five thousand White Braves are already more than enough. His five thousand soldiers are our strongest force. If not even Dayan Mangban can do anything about the Tang, sending more soldiers would just be adding to our losses."
"But when Dalun Ruozan and General Huoshu Huicang…"
A reluctant Tibetan general wanted to say more, but he was quickly interrupted by Dusong Mangpoje.
"Dalun Ruozan is Dalun Ruozan and Dayan Mangban is Dayan Mangban, and the soldiers of the Ngari Royal Lineage are far inferior to those five thousand White Braves!" Dusong Mangpoje ind
ifferently said, but then he remembered something, and his brow slightly creased. "But what you say is reasonable. Zhagong, bring five thousand soldiers to assist."
"Yes, Milord," a Tibetan general replied before quickly turning around. Rumble! A few moments later, another trail of dust rose from the Tibetan army and another horn blared. Another force of five thousand Tibetan cavalry galloped off, following close behind the five thousand White Braves.
……
"Milord, the Tibetans have sent out more men!"
Xu Keyi became nervous as he saw the second cloud of dust and he subconsciously turned to Wang Chong.
"Don't worry about it!"
Wang Chong's face was cold and emotionless. His strategic objective this time was Dayan Mangban and his five thousand White Braves. As long as he achieved this goal, he really didn't care about the five thousand additional Tibetan cavalry.
"Get ready! Attack on my signal!"
Wang Chong raised an arm, his eyes locked onto the distant Dayan Mangban. The five thousand White Braves were in full gallop, and leading the charge was the steely-eyed Dayan Mangban. He alone exuded an aura that swept over the earth, that seemed capable of toppling mountains.
As a Saint Martial expert, Dayan Mangban's strength had reached an incredible level that would make the vast majority of martial artists lower their heads and tremble in fear.
But Dayan Mangban did not care for anyone else. His expression was resolute, his eyes fixed on the distant Wang Chong as if nothing else existed in this world except killing Wang Chong. He could see nothing else and remained unmoved no matter what happened around him. Not even the five thousand reinforcements from Dusong Mangpoje were able to induce any ripple of emotion.
"Come! With this strike, I will crush your bones into powder!"
Dayan Mangban clenched his teeth, his killing intent surging.
Although he seemed insane, Dayan Mangban was actually someone who preferred all the plans to be made before moving out, and his plans had been perfect here. He had the yak herd, the barley flour, the full army behind it… A lion would still use its strength when hunting down a rabbit, but it was precisely because he had done so that Wang Chong had taken the chance to create that damaging explosion.
To the proud Asura War God of Ü-Tsang that was Dayan Mangban, twenty thousand deaths was an utter disgrace.
Thus, in this assault, Dayan Mangban had cast aside all plans and caution. No matter what tricks Wang Chong had, he would use absolute power to crush them into dust. This time, there were no barriers. On this flat and open plateau, nothing could block his path.
"All soldiers, assume the Great Bon Formation!"
Dayan Mangban pressed his body against the back of his horse, his eyes glimmering with a savage light as he thrust his arm into the air! Rumble! Around a thousand zhang from Wang Chong's forces, the five thousand White Braves suddenly let out a shout and began to change their formation, rays of light exploding out of their bodies.
Buzz!
In a flash, the five thousand White Braves adeptly spread apart, assuming a whole new formation while still charging at high speeds. This was not the Tibetan Echelon Formation, but a powerful formation that had never been seen before.
"Om!"
"Ma!"
"Ni!"
"Me!"
"Hung!"
The moment they assumed the formation, the five thousand White Braves were covered in a grim shroud. In the air, an ancient and enigmatic voice suddenly began to speak from out of the depths of spacetime. Each of the six syllables it intoned carried an explosive strength that bolstered the White Braves.
When the sixth and final syllable was spoken, the White Braves underwent a fundamental transformation. This already formidable force of cavalry instantly soared to astonishing heights.
An energy as vast as the mountains and seas exploded out of the White Braves, threatening to drown the entire world.
This aura was so powerful that even the distant Fumeng Lingcha and his Qixi Protectorate army experienced a formidable pressure. It was like those five thousand soldiers were not charging at Wang Chong, but at them.
"What sort of formation is this!"
Even Fumeng Lingcha slightly paled at this sight.
He had long ago heard of Dayan Mangban's reputation, but since the Ü-Tsang Empire was located on the extremely isolated plateau and did not have much interaction with the surrounding countries, outsiders had little specifics on its interior. Added on to that the facts that Dayan Mangban was not as famous as Great Generals like Dusong Mangpoje and that he rarely campaigned in Qixi, even a Great General like Fumeng Lingcha had never made him a target to watch.
But when he witnessed the transformation of the White Braves, Fumeng Lingcha knew that he had been wrong. He had truly been underestimating this man. Perhaps Dayan Mangban was not as famous as Dusong Mangpoje, but he was a powerful martial artist and formidable commander, and he knew extremely powerful formations. If one had to rank them by threat level, he was definitely above Dusong Mangpoje, not below.
Chapter 781: A Clash of the Strongest Cavalry!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"Those cavalry from Wushang are in danger!"
By Fumeng Lingcha's side, Heba Ye and the other generals of the Qixi Protectorate army looked worriedly on at the seemingly unstoppable White Braves. Although they were opposed to Wang Chong, Wang Chong having even offended their Protector-General, all of them couldn't help but feel sympathy.
After all, they were all people of the Great Tang, and moreover, the Qixi Protectorate army would eventually have to fight with Dayan Mangban as well.
Rumble!
The earth shuddered under the charge of the White Braves, their five thousand seeming like an army of tens of thousands, their momentum unstoppable. If the White Braves could contend against twice or thrice their number, then these White Braves in formation were finally displaying the abilities worthy of their status as the guardians of the royal capital, defenders of the Tibetan Plateau, the strongest of all the soldiers of Ü-Tsang.
Right now, the White Braves were capable of contending against eight times, nine times, even ten times their number.
This was the true face of that terrifying army that could contend against the elite Arabian Mamelukes.
The earth was shaking so intensely that it seemed ready to sunder apart. In front of these White Braves, any commander would feel an endless pressure and a deep-rooted fear.
It's finally here!
On the other end of the battlefield, behind the countless steel walls, Wang Chong's eyes narrowed in an expression of unprecedented gravity as he gazed at the charging White Braves.
The Great Bon Formation!
Dayan Mangban had finally revealed the formation he had used to battle against the Mamelukes on the plateau, that formation passed down from the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple, the most powerful formation of the plateau!
'Bon' referred to the 'Bon religion', the oldest religion of the Tibetan Plateau. Its origins were far older than the Ü-Tsang Empire, even older than the religion of the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple.
All Tibetans believed that the Great Bon1 was a religion that belonged to an extremely ancient civilization of the plateau that had vanished long ago, and the Great Bon had been an existence similar to the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple of the current era. All information about that civilization, including the Great Bon religion, had completely disappeared, with only a few snatches of information being passed down. This information was preserved in the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple for those who came after to revere it.
The Great Bon Formation was a powerful formation of the Bon faith that the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple had preserved, and the White Braves had used secret techniques of the Bon faith to cultivate it.
The mysterious white symbol emblazoned on the sides of the White Braves' steeds was the symbol of the Great Bon.
These were tales
that had only begun to emerge from the Tibetan Plateau in the era of the great calamity!
When Dayan Mangban's White Braves used the Great Bon Formation, they became the strongest cavalry force on the plateau, and also one of the strongest cavalry forces in the world! Not many soldiers could stand atop this towering precipice, with the White Braves being one of them and the Arabian Mamelukes being another.
Wang Chong's Wushang Cavalry was also one of them!
But in his previous life, Wang Chong had never had a chance to lead his Wushang Cavalry in a battle against the Asura Dayan Mangban's White Braves.
This is also fine! Let me see whose soldiers are stronger! Who can truly claim to have the strongest cavalry in the world!
Wang Chong, mounted on his White-hoofed Shadow, stared at the approaching White Braves with a look of unprecedented anticipation in his eyes.
By the time of his ascendancy in his last life, the stars of all the generals had fallen, leaving the starry night dim. Although he had been praised as the supreme War Saint throughout the ages and had obtained the recognition of his seniors, as a commander, he still had some regrets. He had never been able to truly test his abilities against those powerful adversaries.
The Wushang Cavalry had been acclaimed as the number one cavalry of the world, a title they had obtained through their battles with the otherworldly invaders and acknowledged by all the people of the world. But the Wushang Cavalry had never fought against the White Braves of the Tibetan Plateau, never fought against the Arabian Mamelukes who had defeated the Great Tang, Gao Xianzhi, and his Anxi Protectorate army, and had never fought against the Turkic Wolftooth Cavalry, so their reputation felt a little undeserved.
But now, he could finally fulfill one of his regrets.
"Ready!"
With a clang, Wang Chong unsheathed his sword and aimed it forward, the silvery-white Wootz Steel gleaming beneath the dark clouds with a cold light. The energy of his soldiers gathered together, and the Ten Charges Ten Victories Formation began to change.
The formation from before had only been at its basic stage, and it suddenly began to exude an energy several times more somber and intense.
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