The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  The Youzhou commanders, whether it was Cui Qianyou, Tian Chengsi, Tian Qianzhen, Zhao Kan, Baizhen Tuoluo, or Gao Shang, were all basically unknown in the Great Tang and the wider world.

  This was why Abusi had asked the question.

  But Wang Chong knew that none of these people were mediocre.

  A lack of reputation did not mean a lack of strength. In his last life, An Lushan had led these men in sweeping unstoppably through the world, bringing calamity to the people and breaking apart the Great Tang. If they had been lacking strength, they would have never been able to do this!

  In truth, during the calamity, many Great Generals had failed to do anything to them, even died to them. This was proof enough of their power.

  Cui Qianyou, Tian Qianzhen, and Tian Chengsi had another title that they were known by: ‘demon stars’, ‘demon generals’!

  Gao Shang, Cui Qianyou, Tian Chengsi, and Tian Qianzhen were the four demon generals of the apocalypse.

  And Gao Shang, even though he was a scholar, was ranked above Cui Qianyou and the other generals.

  Without this man, many things would not have taken place.

  “If my guess is right, the Youzhou side has already found a solution!” Wang Chong said, but his face did not seem very perturbed.

  While kerosene was very flammable, it was not impossible to deal with. As for the beehives, they were just a kind of weapon. Given the abilities on the Youzhou side, they would find a solution eventually.

  Wang Chong was actually rather curious to see what their solution would be.

  “Zhang Que, how long until Lord Zhangchou arrives?” Wang Chong suddenly said.

  There was one other matter that Wang Chong was extremely concerned about.

  “Your Highness, they will be here in another eight to ten hours!” Zhang Que said.

  “And what is the progress on the ‘Storm Plan’?” Wang Chong said, placing his hands behind his back.

  “Your Highness, Xue Qianjun has sent a letter that everything is ready and that they will arrive on time!

  “In addition, the Lord Junior Guardian is also ready and is waiting for Your Highness’s order!”

  Zhang Que lowered his head and bowed.

  “Very good!”

  Wang Chong gave a slight nod.

  “Proceed according to the plan!”

  During this brief conversation, the horns blared and drums boomed. The army once more began to approach, but at a much slower pace this time.

  Seven thousand feet, six thousand feet, five thousand feet…

  The distance rapidly shrank, and the alliance army once more entered the Great Tang’s attack range. At this moment…

  Bang!

  A thunderous boom came from overhead, and a completely frozen sheep plummeted from the sky like a boulder and smashed into the ground in front of the army.

  The impact caused snow and kerosene to splash out, and the frozen sheep caused the force of the fire to somewhat diminish.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! More and more frozen sheep hurtled out of the sky and smashed into the sea of fire.

  Plush! Plush! Plush! Arrows howled out, but the interception of the arrows was not as useful this time. The frozen sheep did not crumble apart like the boulders, instead continuing their descent into the ground.

  Sensing this, Wang Chong slightly frowned.

  Not even Wang Chong had thought about using sheep to replace rocks.

  If he recalled correctly, the alliance was facing a food shortage.

  If his guess was right, this strange tactic was probably the work of Gao Shang!

  “What a problem! I really should have killed him!”

  As Wang Chong listened, he couldn’t help but sigh.

  Meanwhile, frozen sheep continued to crash down, and the blazing flames continued to dwindle.

  Bang!

  The dense ranks of the alliance army erupted with cheers, their spirits rising.

  Then, without the slightest hesitation, the soldiers began to charge across the bodies of the sheep.

  The greatest obstacle to the assault on the city was the sea of fire. Once the flames were extinguished, not even those frightening beehives were much of an obstacle.

  The countless soldiers bellowed as they charged out, and at this time, an order was sent from the rear.

  A force of around eight thousand soldiers split off and began to dig trenches on the edge of the battlefield, and channels that would guide the black kerosene into the trenches.

  As a liquid, kerosene had a certain fluidity to it. If they could divert the kerosene, they could suppress the Great Tang’s kerosene tactic!

  More and more livestock continued to rain down, and with the channels guiding away the kerosene, the blazing fire outside the fortress finally showed signs of extinguishing.

  “Raise shields!”

  In front of the army was a large concentration of shield soldiers.

  In the distance, the siege towers had seemingly lost their apprehensions and were beginning to rumble forward.

  Kaclack!

  On the walls, gears clicked as the tens of thousands of beehives prepared to fire. With a deafening howl, a terrifying downpour of arrows descended upon the alliance army.

  But the same attack had a completely different effect this time…

  Swooshswooshswoosh!

  Arrows pierced through heavy shields, stabbing into the shoulders and chests of the alliance soldiers beneath them.

  But these alliance soldiers simply roared and madly charged forward.

  In the back, a Goguryeon soldier without any sort of cover kicked one of the sheep corpses on the ground into the air.

  This sheep corpse failed to block the rain of arrows, but it did sharply reduce its speed. The Goguryeon soldier kicked up several more sheep and then continued his charge.

  The reason Gao Shang had used the bodies of livestock in place of stone immediately became apparent.

  The frozen livestock could not only suppress the flames, they could also serve as meatshields for the army.

  Clangclangclang!

  Many soldiers fell, but even more managed to successfully reach the walls. At the walls, these tens of thousands of soldiers threw up the ropes in their hands, the hooks howling through the air before latching onto the walls.

  These soldiers swiftly began to scale the walls.

  As these soldiers began to climb, above them, about thirty to forty meters from the ground, a massive boom could be heard. A moment later, a giant ballista bolt shot out like a furious dragon toward one of the siege towers.

  “Ah!”

  Cries of alarms and screams rang out as a hole two to three meters in diameter was punched through the center of the siege tower, with several alliance soldiers being blasted out through the hole.

  “Careful!”

  “Hurry and repair the siege tower!”

  Panicked voices came from the top of the siege tower.

  Though the siege tower had avoided the fate of collapse, everyone knew that the siege tower would not be able to take another such attack.

  Moreover, the structure of the siege tower had been badly damaged and the entire edifice was swaying. One alliance soldier even fell from the top.

  “Assault the city!”

  A nearby siege tower sensed that it was in danger and preemptively ordered the assault.

  Long, box-shaped mechanisms at the roof the siege tower activated, and two giant claws attached to ropes shot out and latched onto the top of the wall.

  Alliance soldiers jumped out and began to move along the ropes toward the wall.

  “Chaaarge!”

  “Kiiill!”

  All the soldiers seemed to go crazy as they bellowed. So many of them had died without reaching the wall before, but this time, they all saw daybreak, a faint sliver of hope.

  No—this was not just a sliver of hope, but a real chance of overcoming the walls!

  More and more soldiers charged, more and more men gathering beneath
the walls.

  Chapter 2178 - Fierce Battle on the Walls!

  Chapter 2178: Fierce Battle on the Walls!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Bangbangbang!

  Long siege ladders swiftly moved across the ground, and they were quickly raised and brought to lean against the steel walls.

  The walls had been covered in a thin layer of ice, making them much smoother than expected. Several of the siege ladders began to slip to the side upon placement, but more soldiers quickly gathered to support the ladders.

  “Go!”

  With war cries, the alliance soldiers began to climb the ladders up the walls.

  Boomboomboom!

  Furious explosions and red light filled the skies as flames began to blaze in the skies once more.

  The Great Tang had once more begun to launch its kerosene bombs, but this time, the alliance army was able to intercept them while they were high in the air.

  “Hahaha! Good!”

  The Khitan King heartily laughed at this sight.

  “This is true war!”

  The Khitans did not fear battle, nor did they fear death, but that way of death had been far too depressing. But everything had changed now, and the battle was beginning to lean toward the alliance side.

  “All soldiers, hear my order! Full offensive! Prepare to break the walls!”

  Goguryeo Emperor Yeon Gaesomun coldly laughed as he swiftly gave his orders.

  An Lushan said nothing, but a faint smile appeared on his face.

  The one who laughed last laughed best!

  Although Wang Chong had killed three hundred thousand soldiers at the start of the battle, so long as he could break through the walls and annihilate the Great Tang, he wouldn’t have cared if even more soldiers had died.

  “Tian Chengsi, you go as well!” An Lushan suddenly ordered.

  “Yes!”

  Tian Chengsi bowed from atop his horse and immediately rode off.

  Thwishthwishthwish!

  Piercing and fear-inducing whistling came from the front as the beehives deluged the battlefield with their arrows.

  With every passing moment, large numbers of alliance soldiers died.

  But compared to before, the alliance army now had ways to defend. No longer would they have to stand around and wait for death.

  Losses were inevitable in battle!

  These losses were entirely acceptable to the alliance.

  “Today is the day to make your name and become a noble!”

  “The King has decreed that the first to reach the walls will be richly rewarded!”

  “Army supervisors, watch from the rear! The punisher squad has already been mobilized! Execute all those who retreat! Charging forward is your only path of survival!”

  Cries and bellows rang out through the battlefield.

  Ropes, siege ladders… the soldiers of the alliance used various methods to climb the walls, with some soldiers even climbing up using the beehives protruding from the walls.

  Clang!

  An officer swung his saber, and in a flash of sparks, his Stellar-Energy-infused saber left a long scar on the beehives.

  With a clack, the beehive that had been about to unleash another downpour of arrows froze.

  Beehives were made from refined iron and reinforced with inscriptions, but it wasn’t like they were made of Meteoric Metal. When encountering powerful weapons or techniques, they would still end up being destroyed.

  More and more soldiers continued to surge up the walls, and though they encountered various obstacles, they continued their frenzied charge.

  “Hahaha, I’m finally on the walls! I am the first!”

  A soldier jumped and quickly landed at the top of the walls, and behind him, hundreds of soldiers braved the volley of arrows to join him.

  The thin sheet of fragile ice, the curved steel walls, and the beehive volleys…

  To climb these walls that were more than seventy meters high took a great deal of effort, but even so, they had finally succeeded.

  But a moment later, that cheering soldier spotted what was behind the walls and instantly froze. The eyes of the Youzhou, Eastern Turkic, Goguryeon, Xi, and Khitan soldiers all flew open in fear.

  While assaulting the city, they had not been suffering from very strong resistance, and they had not seen any Tang soldiers on the walls, the master archers having withdrawn into the fortress some time ago. But now, they finally understood why. Stationed within the walls was an army of nearly two hundred thousand Tang soldiers.

  All of these armored Tang soldiers glared at them with cold eyes, none of them making a sound. Farther in, several thousand master archers stood in neat ranks, their countless arrows aimed at the soldiers on the walls.

  This terrifying sight made the hearts of the alliance soldiers freeze.

  Before they could react, bowstrings twanged and a rain of arrows arrived. The sharp, armor-piercing heads easily pierced through their armor and penetrated into their hearts or foreheads.

  Without even a groan, these alliance soldiers went limp and dropped from the walls.

  Meanwhile, the heavy infantry lying in wait behind the walls did not move. They were still waiting, waiting for even more soldiers to gather on the walls.

  “One!”

  “Two!”

  “Three!”

  “Four!”

  “Five!”

  “Six!”

  ……

  When the count reached eight, a roar like that of a furious lion rang out. The Tang soldiers split up into teams of six and charged up the walls.

  Swooshswooshswoosh!

  Halos and Stellar Energy resonated, and in a flash, the sound of weapons slicing and stabbing into flesh could be heard. Alliance soldiers were swiftly slain on the spot, their bodies pushed off the walls.

  The Tang soldiers lying in wait far outnumbered the alliance soldiers who had just mounted the walls. More importantly, whether it was the Youzhou, Eastern Turkic, or Goguryeon soldiers, none of them could take up formation in this city assault. All of them were fighting on their own.

  But this was certainly not the case for the Tang soldiers.

  This was a division of one hundred thousand soldiers that Wang Chong had trained specifically for city defense.

  Before the start of this war, Wang Chong had worked together with Zhangchou Jianqiong to train this division. In addition, he had Zhang Shouzhi erect a model fortress and divided this division into two groups that constantly trained against each other in this environment.

  The six-man teams were the unique weapon utilized by this city defense division.

  These six soldiers attacked and defended together, sharing a tacit understanding. Moreover, their teamwork created a result where one plus one was greater than two. When fighting on the walls, these teams seemed capable of fighting against six times their number.

  “Kill!”

  Plush! Plush! Plush!

  War cries rang out, and the sound of slicing weapons came from various points along the wall. Now that this city defense division had joined the battle, it did not matter how many alliance soldiers mounted the walls. In an extremely short amount of time, they would be cleanly and swiftly cut down.

  And this was far from the only development on the battlefield…

  Boomboomboom!

  Countless giant caltrops once more began to descend, and not even the alliance army had a way to deal with this sort of heavy weaponry.

  The master archers had no way of intercepting these giant caltrops.

  “Ah!”

  Screams tore through the air as the caltrops crushed and punctured countless alliance soldiers, leaving behind crimson trails of gore.

  One of the caltrops even managed to strike a siege tower.

  Boom! It was the top of the siege tower that had been struck, and as debris flew everywhere, the ropes that fixed the siege tower to the top of the walls snapped.

  “Kill!”r />
  But the Great Tang’s offensive could not stop the alliance. The numerous deaths seemed to only spur the alliance army into further madness.

  Countless soldiers savagely roared, their combined voices sounding like a giant wave.

  Clangclangclang!

  More and more metal hooks were thrown onto the walls, and more and more siege ladders were placed down.

  With each passing moment, tens of thousands of soldiers were climbing up the walls.

  Boom!

  On the western side of the battlefield, a massive siege tower finally reached the walls. Boom! A hooked metal plate that was nearly seven meters long came crashing down, instantly creating a path that was around four meters wide and led directly to the walls.

  Bang!

  A sound wave that was infused with killing intent came from within the siege tower. Several dozen alliance soldiers charged onto the walls like bees leaving their hive.

  There were Goguryeons, Khitans, and Youzhou soldiers present in this group, all of them working together with silent understanding as they attacked the Tang soldiers.

  Creee!

  Amidst all this fighting, few people noticed the sharp screech of a bird coming from the steel fortress.

  Before the alliance soldiers could react, an agile bird flew past the walls.

  Behind this bird, the sky suddenly darkened. Tens of thousands of eagles and other birds flapped their wings and flew toward the alliance army.

  The alliance army was struck dumb by this sight.

  A sharp-eyed Goguryeon soldier on the ground instantly noticed something strange about these birds. “Watch out! They’ve got something in their feet!”

  Countless alliance soldiers looked up at the claws of these birds.

  They saw that these birds were holding some sort of ball in their claws.

  A moment later, one of the birds let go, and a heavy ball descended from the sky. More and more birds began to drop these strange balls.

  Bang!

  These balls were more fragile than they seemed. The moment one hit the ground, it burst into shards, and a black liquid splashed everywhere.

  Chapter 2179 - The Xi Queen Takes Action!

  Chapter 2179: The Xi Queen Takes Action!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325