The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  Chapter 1175 - Attack Mid-Crossing!

  Chapter 1175: Attack Mid-Crossing!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Release!”

  With another order, tens of thousands of arrows poured out, engulfing the Arabs on the Tigris River. Thunkthunkthunk! The target of the beehives this time was no longer the Arabs, but the wooden boats they were using to cross the river.

  “Careful!”

  “Protect the boats!”

  The Arabs reacted very quickly, but wooden boats were inevitably different from soldiers. They were too densely packed and also not as easy to protect. Crack! A boat, pockmarked with holes, rapidly sank into the Tigris River.

  One boat after another began to sink. The Arabs had made many preparations, covering the wooden boats with steel plates, but these were of little help against the powerful beehives.

  “No matter the price, all soldiers charge!”

  Amidst thundering hooves, three enormous storms of energy approached. The Three Titans of Black Radiance soon appeared on the shores of the Tigris River, looking up at Wang Chong, Gao Xianzhi, and Bahram on the walls.

  In their exchange of letters, Wang Chong’s group had completely played around with the Three Titans, utterly infuriating them and making them want to immediately execute Wang Chong.

  No one in the entire Arabian Empire had ever dared to humiliate them like this.

  Rumble!

  In a flash, as all the Tang, Khorasani, and rebel soldiers watched, another batch of more than ten thousand boats was brought up from the rear and cast onto the Tigris River. In a short while, the Tigris River was once more covered in wooden boats.

  “Charge!”

  With this order, the boats began to vie against each other, shooting forward like sharp arrows toward the imposing walls of Khorasan.

  “Cui Piaoqi, Li Siye, Banahan, Gangke King, get ready!” Wang Chong ordered, staring at the charging Arabs.

  “Yes! This general will go!”

  All of them replied in unison and then began to head down the walls.

  Gao Xianzhi stared at the opposing army and gave his own order. “Qianli, Yuanqing, Shiyi, the three of you go as well.”

  At almost the same time, Bahram spoke. “Aiben, you go.”

  “This general will go!”

  A basic-level Great General behind Bahram bowed and swiftly departed.

  As the boats got closer and closer, people were constantly being shot through and boats were constantly sinking. Massive waves swept up men and horses and carried them downstream. The Arabs were sustaining enormous losses—tens of thousands of men in this crossing after just a few rounds of assault. But tens of thousands was a tiny number when one remembered that the Arabs had gathered more than seven hundred thousand soldiers.

  Splash!

  In a splash of white froth, a boat crossed the Tigris River and reached the opposite shore.

  An Arab horseman covered in heavy black armor jumped off the boat and landed on the shore, followed by another, and another… More and more cavalry were leaping onto shore and charging toward the vast walls of Khorasan.

  “Kill them all!”

  “Prepare the ropes!”

  “Get the siege ladders ready!”

  Cries resounded through the air as the Arabs once more displayed their impressive mobilization and organizational abilities. In the field of conquest, there were very few civilizations that could compare to the Arabs. The Arabs not only did not panic under the assault of the beehives, but even began to organize into siege teams on the opposite shore.

  Looking down from the vast walls, one could see the heavily-armored Arab soldiers swiftly taking up metal pieces and constructing siege ladders. There was also an Arab horseman taking out enormous black leather bags, removing long ropes from them.

  “City assault teams, get ready!” an Arab general loudly called out.

  The long ropes were swiftly passed to burly soldiers, their muscles brimming with explosive power, a head taller than the average Arab soldier.

  Swish!

  Purely through the strength of their arms, these powerful soldiers began to spin the ends of the ropes around. Taking aim, they threw the thick and heavy ropes up to the high walls.

  Thwishthwishthwish! When they were just a few feet from the walls, an astonishing scene took place. Metal cables as thick as fingers suddenly extended from the ends of the ropes, a sharp metal claw attached to the end of each cable. Clangclangclang! Seven or eight claws flew forward, firmly latching onto the top of the walls of Khorasan.

  “Go!”

  The moment these ropes had attached, a nimble Arab soldier immediately began to scale the walls with astonishing speed.

  A vast number of soldiers was gathered beneath the walls. In just a few moments, the eastern shore of the Tigris River was packed with Arabs, and even the rapid flow of the Tigris River was so completely covered in boats that not even a spray of water could be seen.

  The atmosphere intensified!

  Wang Chong stared down from the high walls, his hands behind his back, his expression calm, and his eyes emotionless. Behind him, everyone was waiting for Wang Chong’s order.

  Wang Chong said nothing, only silently watched as more and more Arabs crossed the Tigris River and disembarked on the eastern shore. Fifty thousand, one hundred thousand, one hundred and fifty thousand… When the number of soldiers on the eastern shore had reached two hundred thousand, Wang Chong’s eyes flashed and he immediately swung down his hand.

  “Attack!”

  With Wang Chong’s order, all the beehives on the walls fired in unison, covering the sky in arrows. At the same time, the several thousand Tang ballistae that had yet to fire suddenly changed their targets. Rather than aiming at the Arab soldiers on the river, they angled downward and took aim at the countless Arab soldiers scaling the walls.

  Buzz!

  The Arab soldier farthest up the walls suddenly saw a gleaming ballista bolt aimed at him, as well as the large form of the ballista behind it. His eyes went wide and his pupils constricted as an unprecedented sense of crisis swept through his mind.

  “Not good! Run!”

  The Arab soldier was stricken with fear, and without a second thought, he loosened his grip and prepared to jump. But before he could do so, the air boomed as an enormous ballista bolt shot forward like a dragon emerging from the sea, shooting straight through his shoulder, the massive force carrying him down.

  Squelchsquelchsquelch! The ballista bolt sent blood flying everywhere as it flew through the Arab soldiers scaling the walls like it was skewering grasshoppers. The sound of ballista bolts punching through flesh and bone filled the air.

  Thudthudthud!

  In just a few short moments, twenty-some Arab soldiers, pierced through by a ballista bolt, began to shower from the sky like raindrops. The thick ropes fiercely shuddered and shrieked as thousands more Arab soldiers fell from the sky.

  Su Hanshan’s ballista army had made an explosive entry onto the battlefield, killing fifteen to sixteen thousand Arab soldiers in a single volley. Ever since the Battle of Talas, where all the ballista bolts had been used up, Su Hanshan had strictly controlled how the ballista bolts were used.

  Until the new batch of ballista bolts arrived, the tens of thousands of ballista bolts that Zhang Shouzhi had repaired would be their only source of ammunition.

  For the Great Tang, however, the ballista bolts and beehives were only the beginning.

  Rumble!

  As the Arabs looked on in shock, the massive and sturdy gates of Khorasan flew open with a bang. The Arabs had expected this to be the most difficult part of the battle, but now, it had been easily realized. But then, an even more shocking thing occurred.

  “Kill!”

  With a heaven-shaking roar, tens of thousands of Tang, Khorasani, and rebel soldiers charged out of the gates, their eyes bulging in rage and killing intent boiling off their bodies.


  “Watch out! Take up formation!”

  The Arab soldiers on the eastern shore fell into panic. In terms of manpower, the Arabs had the absolute advantage. Six to seven hundred thousand soldiers were more than enough to defeat the motley array of forces in the city. No one had expected that the outnumbered Great Tang would dare to launch an offensive.

  “Damn it!”

  On the opposite shore, the Three Titans of Black Radiance immediately grimaced.

  “Pass on my order! All soldiers, cross the river as soon as possible! We can’t give them a single chance!”

  “Yes!”

  Ten-some messengers immediately scattered to inform all the generals of this new order. But all this was too late. This surging tributary of the Tigris River had become the chain wrapped around the neck of the Arab army.

  The Arabs had hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but the soldiers on the western shore and on the boats could not be used in battle. The only ones that could fight with the Great Tang were the two hundred thousand soldiers on the eastern shore. In terms of numbers, the Arab army on the eastern shore had no advantage whatsoever.

  An attack mid-crossing!

  Wang Chong looked down from the walls of Khorasan as the winds howled around him, the sliver of a smile on his lips.

  Chapter 1176 - Battle, the Three Titans of Black Radiance!

  Chapter 1176: Battle, the Three Titans of Black Radiance!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  From the moment Wang Chong set eyes on the tributary of the Tigris River, he knew that this city would be far harder to attack than imagined. And under his command, this city could exert far greater might than it ever had under the Arabs.

  These walls were much sturdier and even more difficult to attack. At Talas, Wang Chong had even needed to erect two lines of steel walls so that he could divide the Tibetans and Western Turks from the Arabs, but that was not necessary here. This river had already fulfilled Wang Chong’s strategic requirements, allowing him to employ the tactic referred to in the art of war as ‘attack mid-crossing’.

  Boomboomboom!

  The air droned as the Wushang Cavalry and Aswaran Cataphracts led the charge out of the gates, sweeping unstoppably through the Arab ranks. Wherever their swords and scimitars slashed down, the Arabs would be thrown into chaos, tossed into the air, hacked at by weapons, and left dead or wounded. The Arab formation fell apart.

  With the Wushang Cavalry and Aswaran Cataphracts serving as the vanguard, the other Khorasani and rebel soldiers followed closely behind, battering against the Arabs on the eastern shore like massive waves.

  And this was far from over. Wang Chong stomped down, immediately unleashing his two powerful war halos on the world. The waves of energy attached themselves to the feet of the Arab soldiers, and in a clatter of metal, at least half of the Arabs felt their war halos flicker and sway, their strength plunging.

  The Bane of the Battlefield Halo!

  The Bane of Generals Halo!

  After unleashing these war halos, Wang Chong immediately stomped down his foot again, releasing a third war halo. This time, however, his target was the Wushang Cavalry.

  The Halo of Dusk Stallion!

  Wang Chong’s three Halos of Dusk Stallion attached themselves to the Wushang Cavalry, and the Wushang Cavalry instantly became like tigers with wings. Their speed, strength, and dexterity all received massive boosts. Rumble! The Arabs were already unable to stop the charge, and now, they were thrown into a complete rout.

  “Ah!”

  A burly Arab horseman screamed as he was thrown ten-some meters into the air by the impact of a Wushang Cavalry. While still in the air, his chest caved in and all his organs shattered, resulting in his death. And similar scenes were occurring all across the battlefield.

  “Bastard!”

  On the western shore of the Tigris River, the Three Titans of Black Radiance were forced to watch as the soldiers on the eastern shore were utterly crushed, their corpses piling up like mountains and their blood running in rivers as the Tang, Khorasani, and rebels charged out of the city. The sight left them absolutely infuriated.

  “All governors, hear my order! Immediately move out and kill these Khorasani remnants and eastern infidels!”

  In a rush of wind, the enormous capes worn by the Three Titans swept out as they shot into the air. Amidst fierce neighing, the air seemed to cave in, leaving six sets of deep hoofprints floating in the sky. Somehow, the Three Titans of Black Radiance could traverse the air as if it was solid ground.

  As the three rode out on three black-armored warhorses, black flames suddenly erupted from the hooves of their horses, making the three appear like demon gods of the apocalypse. Clang! A massive black war halo erupted from beneath the Head of Black Radiance as he took the lead in charging at the walls.

  He was swiftly followed by the other two.

  “Haha, it’s about time to move out!”

  Wang Chong chuckled, his hair flying in the wind. Before his enemies could attack, he jumped from the high walls of Khorasan, immediately shooting toward the Three Titans of Black Radiance.

  “Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art!”

  Wang Chong was as fast as lightning, and as he shot forward, the illusory images of the sun and moon appeared on his shoulders. Winds suddenly stirred as all the air on the battlefield began to madly revolve around Wang Chong. Even the three warhorses of the Three Titans were not immune, their bodies swaying and their positions in the air becoming unsteady, almost dropping from the sky.

  And below Wang Chong, blood and energy were bursting out of the bodies of the Arab cavalry and surging in a bloody mist into Wang Chong.

  “Damn it!”

  The Three Titans of Black Radiance grimaced at this sight. Boom! A black spear as thick as a child’s arm smashed forward, unleashing a shockwave that swept through the surroundings and began to contend against Wang Chong’s terrifying absorption powers.

  “Careful!”

  As Fadi, the Head of Black Radiance, stabilized himself in the air, someone nearby called out anxiously to him. Fadi raised his head and was instantly alarmed. He could see that the young Tang commander had already recovered, but what shocked Fadi the most was that there were three identical Wang Chongs. Not even someone of Fadi’s cultivation could determine which was the real one.

  “This is impossible! What technique is this!”

  Fadi’s brows rose while his mind reeled in shock. Illusions were not some exceptionally high-class technique, but illusions that could fool Great Generals were incredibly rare. Never in all his years of campaigning had Fadi encountered a situation like this.

  “Kill him!”

  After their initial shock, the Three Titans quickly calmed down. Boom! Three spears shot out as one, and three torrents of destructive energy erupted from their bodies and stabbed into the air. At that moment, even the fabric of space itself seemed to have been pierced.

  Bangbang! Two of the Wang Chongs immediately exploded into shards, but at this moment, a roar resounded through the air.

  “Great Destruction Art!”

  “Black Radiance’s Corrosion!”

  Two destructive and immense torrents of golden energy collided in the air. Boom! In a flash of light, Fadi yelled as he was forced back several hundred feet, traveling from the eastern shore all the way back to the western shore. There was a mighty shockwave as Fadi’s warhorse stomped down. Neighing, it swayed several times before finally succeeding in stabilizing itself.

  At this sight, half of the battlefield fell silent. On the western shore of the Tigris River, hundreds of thousands of soldiers stared in speechless shock at what they had just witnessed.

  The Empire’s White Corpse Hular was a powerful governor renowned throughout the empire, and the Three Titans of Black Radiance were even more renowned and powerful than Hular. Even Governor of the East Abu Muslim was a little lacking in comparison. No one had expected Fadi to be thrown back se
veral hundred feet by a single move from Wang Chong. He was completely beneath the youthful Tang in terms of strength.

  This group of Arab commanders truly is much more formidable!

  In the air, Wang Chong stretched his hands and feet, not pursuing his foe. Ever since he had broken into the Great General level, his strength had soared like a rocket, and there were very experts now who could contend with him, much less defeat him. Even the Three Titans of Black Radiance were no match for him. However, they were still top-class governors of the Arabian Empire. Even Wang Chong would find it very difficult to quickly dispose of them.

  “Bastard! Work together to kill him!”

  As Wang Chong strode forward, the air droned, and he suddenly felt danger from behind him. At this moment, the Blood of Black Radiance and the Blade of Black Radiance, both gripping their mighty spears, charged at Wang Chong from two completely different directions.

  “Hahaha, you want to gang up on him? Chong-er, I’ve come to help you!”

  At this moment, a booming voice came from overhead, and then a prodigious and unstoppable energy poured down, shrouded in tens of thousands of wind streams.

  “Who is this!”

  “Careful!”

  Imron was visibly shocked by this dreadful energy. The young commander before him was already extremely formidable, but the martial artist overhead appeared to be even stronger. With no time to think, the two of them focused all their strength on the person above them.

  With a heaven-shaking boom, three destructive energies clashed. But before the effects of this attack could settle, Wang Chong thrust his palm forward, unleashing his own mountain-toppling attack.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The air exploded, sending out bolts of energy flying for thousands of feet. On the ground, thousands of Arab cavalry were pulverized before they even had time to scream.

  Two figures shot out like cannonballs amidst these destructive waves of energy.

  “Damn it!”

  Imron and Firas immediately unleashed their powerful war halos and managed to stabilize themselves, but they had both become ghastly pale. Although the two of them had succeeded in resisting the combined assault of Wang Chong and the Demonic Emperor Old Man, they had suffered significant internal injuries.