These soldiers formed Gao Xianzhi’s personal guard and were the soul of all of Anxi. In those two months of bitter battle, they had always charged to where the fighting was the bloodiest and most intense, but they had paid an enormous price for their actions, suffering particularly severe casualties when Abu Muslim had personally led an assault on the walls. Their numbers had plummeted from eight thousand all the way to four thousand.
And even these four thousand had all been severely wounded. In the later stages of that battle, only several hundred of the Iron Wall Army had actually been capable of fighting.
In the following battles, Gao Xianzhi had them remain in the city to recuperate, not even using them at the most intense moments of battle. After more than a month and assisted by the many medical supplies Wang Chong had brought with him, the army had finally recovered the strength to fight.
Gao Xianzhi would be greatly relying on them for this battle.
Their numbers may have been greatly reduced, but the Iron Wall warriors that had survived those two months of bitter fighting were the best of the best and could intimidate any foe on the battlefield.
The entire Tang army was somber and silent, but the energy bursting from their bodies was vast and intimidating.
The huge war machine that was the Great Tang was once more glimmering with a savage light.
……
In the distance, the vast and clamorous Arab army was getting closer and closer to Talas. Finally, at a distance of around seventy li, the flood of steel stopped.
Four large banners fluttered above the army of four hundred thousand. These four banners depicted the black Nile River, a black crescent moon, a burning black hell flame, and a scimitar burning with black flames. These four banners symbolized four of the finest commanders of the Arabian Empire.
Four figures exuding boundless energy stood beneath these banners like mighty giants.
“Abu Muslim, this is that Tang army you spoke of?”
The first to speak was Governor Osman of Cairo, his eyes widening in surprise.
Osman initially hadn’t been very concerned about this eastern conquest. He had been under the impression that the news from Talas had been exaggerated or that Abu Muslim had tried to hide errors and faults from his old friend. But Osman now had to admit that even though this Great Tang wasn’t very well known in Arabia, all of Arabia, including himself, had probably underestimated these eastern people.
The scouts of this empire were of the highest quality. Due to initially underestimating them, the Arabs had almost let these scouts escape and send word back to the army in the rear, thus ruining the Arabs’ plans. Thus, to deal with the scouts, the Arabs were forced to use nineteen of the finest master archers of the Arabian Empire. But even then, they had still managed to let a scout escape.
Besides that, this Tang army before him only numbered sixty-thousand-some, but their steady, composed and grim aura was something that Osman had never seen before. Not even the armies of the Sassanid Dynasty could compare.
“Mm.”
Abu Muslim nodded as he solemnly surveyed his foe.
“The eastern world is extremely mysterious and completely unfamiliar to us. This army might only be sixty thousand strong, but the soldiers that have survived up to this point are all elites. Everyone must be careful.”
“Heh! No matter where these Tang came from or how strong they are, they’re not worth my interest. There doesn’t exist an army that we Mamelukes can’t break. I’m only interested in one thing. Where are those Great Tang cavalry you spoke of equipped with Wootz Steel? And where is the commander who defeated you?”
Aybak rode his horse forward, his eyes coldly scanning the army ahead.
Ordinary conflicts could not satisfy Aybak or his Mamelukes. Only by defeating the strongest armies in the world could the Mamelukes forge their reputation for invincibility.
Ziyad suddenly spoke. “Lord Aybak, it’s the group of cavalry on their left flank. That mountain of a man riding the red warhorse is their leader. In addition, these eastern infidels also have a kind of ballista with incredibly lethal power. Milord, you must be extremely cautious!”
As Ziyad spoke and Aybak turned his head to look, Li Siye also turned his head at the same time. Inexplicably, their gazes met, the air between them seemingly crackling with electricity. And then, at the same moment, the two of them looked away…
Chapter 1054 - The War Begins!
Chapter 1054: The War Begins!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Hmph, Abu Muslim, relax. I will personally defeat this Great Tang army for you, destroy Talas, and flatten this first obstacle on your road to the east.”
Aybak coldly laughed.
“I have no doubts about the strength of the Mamelukes, but I hope that you can keep in mind that young Great Tang commander,” Abu Muslim said, his eyes emotionless. From the moment he had spotted that young figure behind the first defense line, his eyes had never left him.
“In addition, Masil and his Behemoth Army died at the hands of that Tang commander.”
These words immediately plunged the area into silence. Masil might not have been a particularly well-known figure in the Arabian Empire, but almost everyone knew about the Behemoth Army. Not even Aybak dared to claim that his Mamelukes could deal with the Behemoths with only their advantage in numbers. In a flash, the distant figure of Wang Chong seemed to gain a magnetic force, drawing to it the gazes of Aybak, Osman, and Abu Muslim.
“There is no harm in being cautious. I’ve already notified the eastern world’s Tibetans and Western Turks. They will be of great assistance to us in dealing with the Tang. With them, we can utterly crush the Tang!” Abu Muslim said.
“There’s no need for all that trouble!”
At this moment, a cold and unyielding voice spoke. The golden-armored Qutaybah slowly rode out from beneath his black hell flame banner. His eyes were cold and a bloodthirsty smile hung on his lips.
“Abu Muslim, you’ve truly disappointed me. You face this battle like you’re afraid of your own shadow. It seems I really did overestimate you.”
Buzz!
Abu Muslim, Aybak, and Osman immediately turned to look at Qutaybah while Deputy Governor Ziyad had an extremely nasty and fearful grimace on his face. As Abu Muslim’s right arm who had fought alongside him for ten-some years, Ziyad had a deep respect and admiration for Abu Muslim. In the past, anyone who dared to humiliate Abu Muslim would have long ago earned a reprisal from Ziyad for the sake of safeguarding Abu Muslim’s reputation. However, no matter how dissatisfied Ziyad was, he could only swallow his anger against this man.
The Governor of War, Qutaybah!
This was the strongest governor in the Arabian Empire. He was an extremely terrifying fighter who also commanded the finest troops. Not even Abu Muslim and Ziyad could compare to him in these aspects.
In the Arabian Empire, Qutaybah possessed a strength that no one could dispute.
“I don’t know about any Tibetans or Western Turks, and the Arabian Empire doesn’t need such weak allies to conquer a single country. Pass on my order! Prepare to attack!” Qutaybah coldly ordered.
“But, Milord…”
Ziyad wanted to say more, but Abu Muslim cut him off.
“Qutaybah, we’ll do as you say!” Abu Muslim said.
Qutaybah only glanced at Abu Muslim before turning around and vanishing into the army.
Once Qutaybah was gone, Ziyad began to angrily complain. “Milord! Qutaybah’s conduct is out of line! They’ve never interacted with the Tang and have no idea how powerful they are. The Tibetans and Western Turks are already on the way. Can he not even wait two days?”
Abu Muslim shook his head and slowly said, “Ziyad, we were already defeated at Talas, thus losing the right to speak for this battle.”
Arabia was an extremely realistic and callous country. Everything was decided through strength. No matter how illustrious Abu Muslim had been before as the
Governor of Iron and Blood, defeat was defeat. The loser had no right to argue.
“Although Qutaybah is brazen, his strength is unquestionable. With his soldiers going into battle and us assisting him, victory is possible even without the Tibetans and Western Turks. As long as we can conquer the entire eastern world, my private grudge with Qutaybah is immaterial. Pass on my order! Prepare for battle!”
Abu Muslim waved his hand.
“Yes!”
Ziyad struggled for a few moments before finally accepting the order.
……
While the Arabs were observing the Tang, behind the steel defense, Wang Chong, Gao Xianzhi, and the other Tang commanders were also observing this Arab army of unprecedented size and power.
“Milord! The Arabs are preparing to move!” Xue Qianjun, standing next to Wang Chong, suddenly said.
“Pass on my order! Prepare for battle!”
Bwoooom!
At this moment, the resounding blare of a horn rose from the Arab camp. The atmosphere instantly shifted and all voices died away. Rumble! The halted Arab army began to surge, the four hundred soldiers once more advancing upon Talas with a mountain-toppling momentum.
Clang!
An Arab general with sharp eyes suddenly unleashed his war halo with a metallic bang, a dark moon spreading out from beneath his warhorse. This halo was enormous, swiftly encompassing tens of thousands of Arab soldiers.
This was a signal for more and more sharp war halos to burst from the hooves of the Arabian warhorses. The size of these halos was more than double the size of the halos they had seen from the previous Arab army, and the strength revealed in them was even more dazzling and powerful.
Even from a distance, one could sense an extremely oppressive stench of blood.
Buzz!
A second later, a dark shadow suddenly cast itself over the earth and began to rapidly encroach upon Talas. A mysterious black fog seemed to cover the Arab soldiers, fusing with them and making them hard to distinguish from each other.
The four hundred thousand Arab cavalry became like an avalanche, picking up speed as it rumbled toward Talas. Such was their speed that in the blink of an eye, they had covered several thousand zhang while continuing to accelerate.
Buzz!
Wang Chong’s eyes flew open in shock.
What an incredible speed!
Abu Muslim’s army could not have displayed such terrifying speed. Wang Chong was sure that this was the army belonging to the Arab War God, Qutaybah.
“This is a powerful force!”
Wang Chong’s face was extremely grim as he looked forward. The force behind this charge was almost tangible and had already surpassed the strength of the vast majority of the world’s armies. Not even Abu Muslim’s army could have achieved such a thing.
“Wang Chong!”
Cheng Qianli spoke as he rode his horse up to Wang Chong’s side, his eyes looking at a certain point in the sky. Prompted by this voice and Cheng Qianli’s extremely grim expression, Wang Chong looked up and saw that the invisible energy in the air, manifested at first only through the shrouding shadow, was beginning to form a sandstorm.
This was clearly a powerful army that also cultivated a powerful technique. It had even pushed this technique to the very limit and produced an illusion!
“…This time, the enemy we face is probably far more powerful than we imagined!” Cheng Qianli muttered.
In all his years in the Western Regions, Cheng Qianli had faced many powerful soldiers, including those of the Western Turks and Ü-Tsang, but none of them had been able to produce such immense pressure. From a certain perspective, this was nearly on the ‘formation phenomena’ level of cavalry formations.
“We all underestimated Arabia! The Great Tang has always had its attention on the borders of the Central Plains, never paying much attention to Arabia. We understand them far too little! This empire is far more difficult to deal with than we imagined!” Cheng Qianli sternly said.
The Great Tang and Arabia had interacted before, but these interactions were economic and commercial. Caravans took extremely long to transport their goods, a round trip taking six months at the minimum. Moreover, the Great Tang only knew that those plump and likable Arab merchants were extremely wealthy with all kinds of coral, agate, jade, and jewels… but it knew nothing else.
In contrast, Arabia knew a great deal about the Great Tang. Arab merchants could enter the Great Tang’s capital, but Tang merchants were rarely permitted to enter Khorasan, much less Baghdad.
After some time, Gao Xianzhi sighed and reproached himself. “I bear some responsibility for this. As the Anxi Protector-General, I am duty-bound to patrol the borders for the Emperor, but despite my many years overseeing the Western Regions, I know barely anything about Arabia, so how could others?”
Gao Xianzhi had presided over the Western Regions for ten-some years, and he had many reasons for not gathering information on Arabia. The political landscape of the Western Regions was very complex, and just suppressing the various kingdoms took a great deal of his energy. Moreover, Arabia was very far from the Great Tang with many small kingdoms between them… but regardless, these were all just excuses.
“After this battle, as long as I survive, whether in victory or defeat, I will submit a memorial to the Imperial Court and think of every way to expand the vision of the Tang to look beyond the Central Plains. We must gain a better understanding of Arabia and the other countries!” Gao Xianzhi sternly said.
“Lord Protector-General, now is not the time to talk about such things. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss these things once we defeat the Arabs. In addition, the Arabs… are not as powerful as you think!” Wang Chong suddenly said, his eyes shining with profound wisdom.
The Arabs were strong, but the Great Tang was also an opponent like none the Arabs had ever faced.
“We must win this battle, no matter what!”
Wang Chong clenched his fists.
Chapter 1055 - Crimson Moon Vanguard!
Chapter 1055: Crimson Moon Vanguard!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Ready!”
Wang Chong’s order unleashed a chorus of groaning gears. At the second line of the Tang formation, the ballista soldiers got down on one knee and began to swiftly load their ballistae. At the same time, the soldiers manning the steel walls began to push arrows into the beehives.
Bang! Bang!
At the very front, the heavy shield infantry leaned forward, propping their left feet against their shields while their right feet braced against the ground. Stellar Energy began to circulate through their entire body as they built up power.
On the other side, there was a metallic clanging as the black storm of the Arab army suddenly began to gleam with red light and the cavalry at the front pulled out their weapons. These were dark red Arabian scimitars, each one more than three feet long, double the size of normal Arabian scimitars, but more than double the weight.
Crimson Moon Scimitars!
These were the weapons that Qutaybah had equipped on his leading group of soldiers, the Crimson Moon Vanguard. The best Arab smiths needed three thousand days of constant forging to create these weapons, and they required many precious metals to forge. They were incredibly heavy and needed incredible arm strength to raise. Moreover, many Arab armies had tried to use these weapons before, but the only soldiers capable of fully displaying their strength, who had made them known throughout Arabia, were the Crimson Moon Vanguard under Qutaybah.
The soldiers of the Crimson Moon Vanguard had been specially selected for their astounding arm strength. In their hands, the heavy Crimson Moon Scimitars were extensions of their body. They were completely in tune with them, and the bloodthirsty nature of the scimitars was displayed to its full and gruesome extent.
It was precisely for this reason that Qutaybah placed great value on the Crimson Moon Vanguard. In every offensive battle, he would always send
them in the first wave.
And very few people knew that when the Crimson Moon Scimitars first emerged from the furnace, they were a gorgeous silver like the moon in the night. But as the Crimson Moon Vanguard killed more and more people, their scimitars gained that red hue. Every time they unsheathed their scimitars, the air would be filled with the pungent scent of blood.
This almost suffocating odor could place an immense pressure on opponents with weaker wills!
“Kiiill!”
Bellows shook the heavens as the savage-faced Arab cavalry of the Crimson Moon Vanguard charged at the first defense line.
Three thousand zhang, two thousand zhang, one thousand zhang… The innumerable Arab cavalry were an immense wave set to crash upon the Tang defense line.
Rumble! In that moment, the earth seemed on the verge of sundering apart and the steel walls began to quiver. Even though Zhang Shouzhi had used tens of thousands of jin of metal and stone to firm up the foundations of the walls, they were still shuddering.
Buzz!
Just when this massive wave was about to crash into the defense line, Wang Chong’s eyes flashed and he stomped forward. Boom!This stomp seemed to have the weight of ten thousand jun, making the earth groan and creak underfoot.
Milky-white ripples immediately began to spread from Wang Chong’s feet, rushing toward the Arab army. Time seemed to stop for a moment as that sandstorm that had concealed the Arabs instantly vanished. The dark shadow on the ground that had closely followed the Arabs also faded away.
Brroooom! With an enormous rumble, the halos under the Crimson Moon Vanguard fiercely shook. Their lights began to fade as the effects of the war halos were instantly halved.
The Arab army behind the Crimson Moon Vanguard suffered even greater effects. In the blink of an eye, the hundreds of thousands of Arab cavalry felt their halos becoming like candles in the wind, thrown into unstable chaos by the Bane of the Battlefield Halo.
Neeeigh! Warhorses cried out as the orderly Arab ranks fell into disarray.
“How could this be?”
The eyes of the Arab soldiers in the rear bulged out of their eye sockets. They had never seen or heard of such a thing before.
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