The more one attacked these scimitars, the faster and more lethal they would become, and they only inflicted even greater losses.
The surrounding darkness served as the ideal cover, making their movements ethereal and hard to counter. In these circumstances, retreating was the best option.
“Heheh, do you think you can escape?”
Although Nurman didn’t understand the Tang language, he only needed to see the charging reinforcements now withdrawing to understand what was going on.
“If you want to escape, you have to see if I agree to it first!”
A hint of cruelty flashed through Nurman’s eyes. Whoosh! He swung down his right hand, and then volleys of arrows began to howl out of the darkness once more. Plushplushplush! The torches were once more extinguished, allowing darkness to descend.
Phweeet! A dazzling arc of light streaked through the darkness. With so little light, it was only possible to hear the screams as ten-some Tang soldiers were felled.
“Kill them!” Nurman savagely roared. Countless arcs of light shot forward. But just when Nurman was prepared to commence yet another slaughter, the unexpected occurred…
Bang!
Hearing a rumble overhead, Nurman looked up and saw a massive boulder, half a man tall, tumbling through the air in his direction.
“What’s going on here!”
His eyes narrowed and his face paled, but before he could react, the boulder had landed. Boom! Three of the cavalry belonging to the Wings of Death screamed, unable to dodge in time, and were pulverized. Moreover, the shrapnel and shockwave from the impact sent ten-some surrounding soldiers flying into the air.
Sudden!
Too sudden!
Nurman had never predicted this sort of attack, but this was only the beginning. Boom! Bang! Crash! Boulder after massive boulder rained down on the Wings of Death.
“Damn it! How could this be happening?!”
Let alone his Wings of Death, even Nurman was left dumbfounded by this development.
“Retreat! Quickly retreat!” Nurman called out in Arabic.
This battle had completely surpassed his predictions. Everyone knew that the greatest flaw of catapults was their poor accuracy. They could be several hundred meters off the mark, perhaps even more than that. But in this pitch darkness, these catapults were firing with incredible accuracy on their position.
The scimitar attacks of the Wings of Death were incapable of countering this kind of assault, so the only choice was to retreat.
Neeeigh! The Wings of Death which had held the solid advantage now fell into panic and disorder as they hurriedly retreated from the catapult fire.
“Hmph, let’s see how capable you are!”
In a place beyond Nurman’s vision, Chen Burang was standing next to a large steel catapult, a derisive smile on his lips. These catapults had all been modified by Zhang Shouzhi. They had a thirty-some-meter adjustable arm and frame that could allow them to fire even farther, and they had also been equipped with large steel wheels, granting them a degree of flexibility on the battlefield.
“Pass on my order! Smash them! Smash them all! Adjust the angle by ten degrees!
“Did you think retreating was enough! How naive!”
Chen Burang coldly laughed. After completing his mission, he had been heading back to Talas when he heard the sounds of fighting. Chen Burang had grown up deep in the mountains, where he had developed astounding hearing. When he heard a sound, he could identify its specific position. Nurman’s men could hide from normal people, but they couldn’t hide from him.
These large boulders fired by the steel catapults were not something that even the best of Nurman’s Wings of Deaths could handle. Those struck by the boulders were essentially doomed. Moreover, the pitch darkness could not only be used as a cover by Nurman’s men, but by the rain of boulders as well.
By the time the Wings of Death could notice these boulders, they would already be too close to avoid.
Boomboomboom!
As explosions rang out in the darkness, Nurman’s Wings of Death were forced into a completely passive position.
Chen Burang waved his arm and ordered, “Alter the direction by thirty degrees! Fire on those master archers as well!”
His ears had not only identified Nurman’s position, but the position of the Arab master archers as well. Although these archers were not aiming at the Tang, by extinguishing the torches and furnaces, they presented just as much of a threat as Nurman’s men.
Boomboomboom! Screams and explosions could be heard from the Arab camp. Chen Burang’s catapult assault forced the opposing archers to retreat in panic.
Creee!
Suddenly, a cry came from within Talas, neither too sharp nor too loud. It was very easy to miss amidst the din of battle, but Chen Burang heard it, and he gave a faint smile.
“Enough. We’ve given them a lesson! Everyone, escort the catapults back to the city!” Chen Burang said.
“But Milord, what about those Arabs who were attacking us?” one of the soldiers near Chen Burang asked.
“There’s no need to worry! Didn’t you hear that cry? Our mission is complete. Lord Marquis has already arranged for what will come next. Those Arabs… are doomed!”
Chen Burang chuckled, a scornful smile on his lips.
He had never doubted the marquis’s orders. Since the marquis had ordered him to come back, everything was assuredly settled.
“Let’s go!”
The large catapults clanged and clattered as they began to roll toward Talas, escorted by thousands of soldiers.
……
“Damn! Damn! Damn!”
Nurman’s entire body was aflame with rage, on the verge of exploding. The Wings of Death had been completely scattered by the catapults and no longer presented any sort of threat.
“All soldiers, hurry and assemble!”
Nurman’s Wings of Death had needed to kill countless people, leave seas of blood and mountains of corpses in their wake, to achieve their current infamy. But despite their many years of service, they had never once been dealt so heavy a setback.
“No one can force us to this point! Die for me! For each of us killed, I will have the Tang bury ten men with them, or even more!”
Horses rumbled in the darkness as Nurman rapidly reassembled his forces.
Grievances had to be avenged. This was a principle that all Arabs understood.
Just when Nurman was prepared to turn back and attack the Tang again…
Whoosh! A fire arrow shot through the air, falling in front of Nurman. The weak light of the fire revealed the surprised faces of the Wings of Death. Nurman felt his heart thump with an ill foreboding.
But before he could even open his mouth, fwoosh! A blazing torch was thrown from the first defense line, spinning through the air before landing in front of Nurman. This was a signal for hundreds upon thousands of torches to be thrown in from all directions, surrounding the Wings of Death.
Chapter 940 - After the Battle
Chapter 940: After the Battle
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The darkness swiftly receded, exposing this mysterious Arab raiding force for the first time. Somewhat dazzled by the light, a bearded soldier of the Wings of Death raised an arm to block his eyes and had his horse trot backward. The Wings of Death were so used to attacking their enemies from the shadows that they found the sudden light of the torches extremely uncomfortable.
In truth, the entirety of the Wings of Death showed signs of panic at the appearance of these torches.
“Damn it! Put out these torches now!”
Nurman almost instinctively felt danger. The situation was extremely poor, as it seemed like the enemy commander had already found a way to deal with his men. Never in his career had he felt such intense danger.
“Withdraw!”
Nurman raised his arm high in the air and gave the order to retreat. But he was too slow, as the enemy com
mander was far more formidable than he had anticipated.
Boom!
A bowstring twanged, and a ballista bolt more than one zhang long flew out from behind the first defense line, shooting through one of the Wings of Death. So swift was his death that he didn’t even have time to scream as the bolt punched through both him and his horse.
The ballista bolt continued unabated, in the end piercing through six Wings of Death before disappearing into the darkness.
Great Tang ballistae!
Nurman immediately realized what had happened, and his face grew as white as paper. During the day, he had seen these ballista bolts in action. The howl of each one through the air was the roar of the death god.
For this night raid, he had intentionally chosen an area not defended by the Tang ballistae. He had not expected them to arrive so soon.
“Run!”
Nurman was no longer just nervous, but in a complete panic. The range of the Tang ballistae was far greater than the scimitars of the Wings of Death, as was their power. In a direct confrontation, the Wings of Death had no chance against this Tang heavy weaponry.
To put it simply, the Great Tang ballistae were the bane of the Wings of Death!
“Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!”
After shouting the order three times, Nurman immediately began to ride away. Behind him, the Wings of Death began to flee with him. However, the Great Tang had prepared long for this moment, so how could it allow them to easily escape? If Nurman’s Wings of Death survived, they would continue to inflict gruesome massacres on the Tang forces.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The ballista bolts poured in from all sides, fired en masse at the fleeing Wings of Death. Warhorses were fast, but they could never outrun ballista bolts. Levers were pulled and the air thundered as the once-unstoppable Wings of Death were cut down like weeds.
Thud! Crash! In the blink of an eye, countless cavalry of the Wings of Death had been felled, their corpses scattered along the ground. The whinnies, screams, thuds, and the booming of the ballistae created a discordant din as the pungent scent of blood began to waft through the darkness.
This one-sided conflict had rapidly tilted in the other direction. Nurman’s Wings of Death, which had dominated the field, were now being dominated by the Great Tang ballistae.
“Release! Release! Release!”
In the distance, Chen Bin was swinging his arm down again and again, releasing volley after volley of ballista bolts at the fleeing Arabs.
“Let me see just how far you can run!”
Chen Bin’s expression was cold and hard as iron. These Arabs were far too crafty, their methods of attack far too dreadful. It had taken mere moments for the defenders behind the steel walls to suffer grievous casualties. This was a group of elites extremely skilled in night raids. Their methods were clearly well thought out and planned, from the archers extinguishing the torches to attract attention to the scimitars coming in afterward to reap the harvest.
No ordinary force of soldiers was capable of this, so Chen Bin could not let them escape.
“Release! Release! Release!”
Chen Bin’s expression was cold and his eyes devoid of emotion. Staring at the Wings of Death, he swung his arm down again and again.
Chen Bin was the true commander of the ballista army, and he had been with it from its establishment up to the present. He was the only one who could utilize their full might; not even Xu Keyi was capable of replicating his performance.
The ballista bolts continued to snatch away at the lives of the Wings of Death, each inflicting large losses. However, Chen Bin’s eyes were focused on one person. Although ballistae did not have as great a range as catapults, they could still fire extremely far, and in Chen Bin’s hands, dealing with a single person was far too easy.
“It’s too late to think about escaping!”
Chen Bin stood on a transport carriage, his eyes locked on the distant figure of Nurman, a hint of killing intent within them. Anyone who dared to kill so many Tang and think about retreating unscathed was truly delusional.
Ten steps, nine steps, eight steps, seven steps…
Chen Bin silently counted down, and then he swung down his arm.
“Second team, fire!”
Boom! More than sixty ballistae fired as one, all of them aimed at the distant Nurman, their ballista bolts launching from their strings like dragons.
“Not good!”
Nurman grimaced. Although his back was to the first defense line, the moment the ballistae fired, he instinctively felt an incredible danger approaching him. His muscles tensed and his scalp went numb, and every pore of his body began to ooze out cold energy.
Despite participating in many battles, Nurman had never felt such an alarming dread.
Booooom! A prolonged peal of thunder was approaching him at astonishing speed.
“Go!”
With no time to think, Nurman took a flying leap from his horse. Arabia was a country of cavalry, and for a general to be without a horse was unthinkable, but Nurman did not have time to worry about such trivialities. Bang! Mere moments after Nurman jumped away, twenty-some thick ballista bolts intersected at his horse, nailing it to the ground.
Nurman’s heart was cold with fear, but he was still not out of danger.
When Chen Bin’s forces had begun their assault, Chen Bin had already considered his paths of escape. More than seventy ballistae had sealed off the space around him, leaving Nurman nowhere to run.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The moment Nurman jumped away, at least seventeen ballista bolts followed him in pursuit, aimed right at his back. Nurman only had time to let all the Stellar Energy in his body explode outward before the bolts landed.
“Ah!”
Nurman screamed as the Stellar Energy around him flickered. Although he had succeeded in blocking all the bolts, he was sent flying by the force of the impact.
Breeee!
As Nurman flew through the air, a horse rode out of the darkness, a muscular figure riding upon it.
“The Great Tang’s Xi Yuanqing is here! Hand over your life!”
Boom!
There was a heaven-shaking boom, and then silence.
At almost the same time that Xi Yuanqing suppressed Nurman, the Arab camp suddenly exploded with the sounds of fighting, and countless Arabs poured out amidst blazing fires in pursuit.
……
This night raid lasted until almost dawn before finally settling down. Only when the elites of the Anxi Protectorate army responsible for raiding the Arabs returned did this night truly come to an end.
Torches fiercely burned along the walls in the reception hall of the Lord of Talas. The yellow light made the faces of the people in the room shifty and indistinct. Wang Chong, Gao Xianzhi, Cheng Qianli, Li Siye, Chen Bin, Xi Yuanqing, Huang Botian, and the other officers who had taken part in the night raids were present, as well as Ferghanan Chief Banahan and Karluk Chief Guli.
The atmosphere in the room was solemn.
“How was it?”
Gao Xianzhi first turned to Li Siye. In this operation, Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi had acted separately against the Tibetans and the Arabs, each left to their own devices. But now that the battle was over, it was time to take stock of the gains and losses.
“Sun Zhiming and Cheng Sanyuan were both discovered beforehand, so their three forces didn’t suffer any losses. But we still encountered some resistance in the Tibetan camp, and several of the teams were obstructed, leading to losses of around sixty to seventy men,” Li Siye sternly replied.
They had made ample preparations for this operation, and had even worn Tibetan armor to confuse their foes, yet they had still lost around sixty men. This was war. No matter how cautious one was, losses were inevitable.
Gao Xianzhi nodded.
“What of the Tibetans?”
Chapter 941 - Dalun Ruozan's Bewilderment!
Chapter 941: Dalun Ruozan’s Bewilderment!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“At least six thousand!” Li Siye said.
In the Tibetan camp, it was impossible for him to get an exact count of the number killed, only make a rough estimate. Even so, that a raiding force of around four thousand was able to kill around six thousand while suffering losses of around sixty of their own was truly a major success.
“Not bad! This means that the Tibetans and Western Turks together have around sixty thousand men left. The space and methods available to Dalun Ruozan are getting smaller and smaller. We can presume that he will be even more cautious with his future operations.”
Gao Xianzhi gave a satisfied nod.
Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi’s goal in the raid on the Tibetans had been exceptionally clear: efficiently damaging their enemy’s effective strength, constantly grinding away at the number of men under Dalun Ruozan’s command.
In this aspect, the night raid had achieved its goal.
“What of Lord Gao?” Wang Chong asked.
Just like Gao Xianzhi did not know the specific details of the raid on the Tibetans, Wang Chong did not know what Gao Xianzhi had done. All the details, including the number of losses, were only known by Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli, the highest-ranked commanders of the Anxi Protectorate army.
“Hahah, the operation turned out exactly as I predicted. Abu Muslim truly did not take a single precaution. He was too confident, so confident that he believed the mere fact that he had more than two hundred thousand soldiers meant that we wouldn’t dare to attack him. So our operation went off very smoothly,” Gao Xianzhi said with a smile.
“Perhaps it wasn’t just that he was too confident. He might have also believed that even if we succeeded, it would barely be an itch, something that would have no effect on the overarching situation.”
Wang Chong faintly smiled.
“If Abu Muslim thinks that this raid had no effect on the overarching situation, then he’s made a grave mistake.”
Gao Xianzhi turned to one of the deputies behind him.
“Huaishun, have you finished settling down the Arabian hunting falcons? How many did we manage to get?”
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 610