The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  “As expected, the Divine Land Cauldrons really can counter the Yeluohe.”

  Wang Chong was now absolutely sure.

  But even so, the Tang was at a disadvantage in this battle. The thirty thousand Yeluohe battered the Tang formation like ceaseless waves, and many losses were piling up. In the face of the Yeluohe’s overwhelming power, human soldiers stood no chance.

  Icy energy poured out of the Yeluohe and penetrated into the bodies of the ordinary soldiers. Many of the soldiers were half-white and half-blue as they died, and they swiftly hardened, layers of ice creeping over them.

  “Go!

  “Pass on my order! Assist the Yeluohe from the sides and attack! We can’t let the Tang army retreat to the fortress!”

  In the rear, Cui Qianyou observed the battlefield from atop his horse.

  He had already brought his army back to the rear, doing all he could to create distance between him and the Tang army. The Yeluohe killed without blinking and did not recognize friend or foe. The first to have fallen to their attacks had been his soldiers, but everything had changed now.

  The Yeluohe were charging at the front, and the alliance army simply needed to assist from the sides, holding down the Tang army until it was completely wiped out.

  This was a rare opportunity!

  Clang!

  Cui Qianyou pulled out his sword.

  “Kill!”

  Following Cui Qianyou’s order, the alliance army once more attacked, and the situation turned even worse for the Great Tang.

  But even so, Cui Qianyou decided to call over several messengers.

  “Inform Tian Chengsi, Tian Qianzhen, Eastern Turkic Great General Tiechi Bileli, and the other generals to divide their forces into two to intercept Wang Zhongsi and that army approaching from the sea. We can’t let them get back to the steel fortress.”

  Cui Qianyou’s eyes flashed with a harsh light.

  His intuition told him that this was a chance.

  Wang Zhongsi and Bahram were leading their armies to join Wang Chong in an encirclement. This had been a serious threat to the alliance, but now, it was an opportunity. The two armies were extremely far from the fortress. If they were held down and prevented from joining the rest of the Tang army, the alliance could make a clean sweep of the Tang army.

  “Yes!”

  The messengers swiftly turned and left.

  “Hmph, ‘War Saint’? Nothing but an empty title! In this world, there is no such thing as a War Saint.”

  Cui Qianyou stared at the distant Wang Chong as he spoke, his expression cold.

  Wang Chong was underestimating him too much. How could one seek the world without a few special tricks? In the end, Wang Chong would pay a price for his arrogance.

  Once this battle was over, the rising comet that was Wang Chong would wink out of existence.

  “Reporting! Bad news!”

  Cui Qianyou had just barely thought about these things when the earth suddenly began to shudder, originating from south of the fortress.

  The shuddering was so great that it drowned out the sounds of fighting. Yeon Gaesomun, the Khitan King, Cui Qianyou, Tian Qianzhen, King Bojang, Tiechi Bileli, and An Lushan in the rear all looked toward the south.

  “Kill!”

  Heaven-shaking war cries erupted from the distance, so loud that the walls of the fortress vibrated. A few moments later, a black tide of steel appeared on the horizon.

  “How is this possible?” An Lushan couldn’t help but blurt out in alarm.

  Zhangchou Jianqiong, the tiger of the Tang Empire’s southwest, had arrived with reinforcements!

  “How could he be this fast?”

  Gao Shang’s eyes widened in disbelief.

  Too fast!

  Zhangchou Jianqiong had marched his soldiers much faster than they had anticipated.

  Neeeigh!

  Regardless of how stunned the alliance army was, a force of tens of thousands of cavalry were charging onto the battlefield.

  “The Wushang Cavalry! It’s the Wushang Cavalry!”

  Cries of alarm came from the alliance army, countless soldiers staring at this force of cavalry in fear.

  Starting from the Battle of Talas, Wang Chong’s cavalry force had been tempered through war after war, defeating formidable opponent after formidable opponent. By now, it was known throughout the world and acknowledged as the supreme cavalry force.

  In truth, the rise of the Wushang Cavalry could be traced back to the war of the southwest with their predecessor, the one thousand mercenaries Wang Chong had recruited from the great clans and equipped with Wootz Steel weapons. They had won everyone’s respect, and those Wootz Steel swords with their enchanting patterns were their best symbol.

  “How could this be? Wasn’t this force still in the rear?”

  The Khitan King showed a hint of fear and apprehension.

  The Khitans did not fear death, and they would not retreat even when facing the strongest foes. But even the most arrogant of the Khitans understood that the Tang had reached peak mastery in the art of forging weapons. In this aspect, the Khitan Tribe was far behind.

  Rumble!

  In just a few moments, the Wushang Cavalry led by Li Siye, with Kong Zi-an and Cui Piaoqi at his left and right, shot onto the battlefield like a comet.

  Clangclangclang! Dazzling halos burst out from the feet of the Wushang Cavalry, the tens of thousands of halos resonating with each other and linking all of the horses together.

  Boom!

  With a boom of thunder, the tens of thousands of Wushang Cavalry became so powerful that they caused lightning to crackle above them.

  Even the Yeluohe leader noticed their presence, glancing in the direction of the Wushang Cavalry.

  “Kill!”

  Beneath the six massive banners, An Lushan gnashed his teeth, his expression savage.

  In order to destroy Wang Chong, he needed to destroy Wang Chong’s renowned Wushang Cavalry.

  There was no need for An Lushan’s order. The thirty thousand Yeluohe quickly sensed the threat from the Wushang Cavalry, and the army swiftly began to charge in the Wushang Cavalry’s direction.

  Boom!

  The Yeluohe stirred up a snowstorm in their wake, appearing like an enormous dragon as they charged across the battlefield.

  The two most lethal armies in the world rapidly closed the distance between each other, neither showing any signs of retreat.

  The battlefield became deathly still, the tension reaching maximum as everyone watched the two armies get closer and closer.

  Two thousand feet!

  One thousand feet!

  Three hundred feet!

  In this high-speed charge, the two sides had already reached a dangerous distance.

  “Ready!”

  “Kill!”

  In the front of the army, Invincible Great General Li Siye gripped his giant sword with both hands, a look of resolve and anticipation in his eyes as he stared at the Yeluohe.

  Behind him, the Wushang Cavalry raised their Wootz Steel swords to the sky.

  There was no doubt that the Yeluohe were the strongest foes they had yet faced, but no one intended to back down.

  Chapter 2209 - Wushang Cavalry Versus Yeluohe!

  Chapter 2209: Wushang Cavalry Versus Yeluohe!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Rumble!

  The two strongest forces of cavalry in the world collided with each other.

  Li Siye swung his giant sword, sending a fierce wave of Stellar Energy sweeping across the battlefield and several hundred Yeluohe flying into the air.

  Even with their undying bodies, the Yeluohe were still insignificant to Li Siye.

  At the same time, amidst a collision of flesh and armor, thousands of Wushang Cavalry and Yeluohe were knocked into the air.

  This battle between these two supreme forces was shockingly gruesome. In terms of speed, the two forces of cavalry held nothing back, both accelera
ting to the maximum, and their impact was nothing that bodies of flesh and blood could endure.

  Even inhuman creatures like the Yeluohe found it hard to endure.

  …Because they were facing the Wushang Cavalry!

  In a flash, both sides suffered losses, but for both armies, this was only the beginning.

  Clangclangclang!

  As this first clash subsided, the tens of thousands of Wushang Cavalry and Yeluohe began to swiftly fight with each other.

  Swish!

  In a cold flash of light, a Wushang horseman swung his Wootz Steel sword at the neck of an opposing Yeluohe. Almost instinctively, the Yeluohe swung its rusted sword to block.

  A moment later, the two rode past each other, and a broken sword and large head went flying into the air. Without its head, the Yeluohe charged another several dozen feet before dropping to the ground.

  The Yeluohe were so strong that ten-some Tang elites working together were still not enough to kill one, but the Wushang Cavalry were not ordinary opponents.

  The Yeluohe’s ancient swords and armor, though rusted, were extremely tough, but they were still not enough to stand against Wootz Steel swords.

  Thudthudthud!

  In one clash, at least two thousand Yeluohe were beheaded and fell to the ground.

  In this brief battle, the Yeluohe had lost more to the Wushang Cavalry than against any other force.

  This lethality left the Youzhou generals stunned and flabbergasted.

  It was precisely because they knew what the Yeluohe were that An Lushan and his subordinates more keenly felt how frightening Wang Chong’s cavalry were.

  Before this war, during An Lushan’s discussions with his subordinates, it had even been claimed that no human army could stop the Yeluohe. But the Wushang Cavalry were clearly an exception.

  “This man will always be a threat to me. No matter what, I must annihilate this army.”

  In the distance, An Lushan narrowed his eyes, sensing a formidable threat.

  Boomboomboom!

  The Yeluohe quickly adjusted, even more Yeluohe changing directions and charging at the Wushang Cavalry.

  In the hearts of the Yeluohe, the newly arrived Wushang Cavalry were far more threatening than the Nine Heavens Ten Earths God-Devil Annihilation Formation, becoming a target they had to exterminate.

  “Retreat! Everyone besides the Wushang Cavalry and ballista army should retreat into the fortress!” Li Siye boomed. He swung his giant sword, explosive Stellar Energy sending ten-some Yeluohe flying into the air.

  While still in the air, the chests of the Yeluohe caved inward, their bones shattered, and their bodies were cleaved in half.

  With the arrival of the Wushang Cavalry, the Tang side had regained its vigor, but Li Siye knew that the current situation was not as optimistic as it seemed.

  Although the Wushang Cavalry had killed two thousand Yeluohe, cutting them in half, this renowned cavalry force had also sustained an enormous impact.

  Fwoosh!

  Nearby, a Wushang horseman was caught off guard, a Yeluohe slashing at his warhorse as well as the horseman that had nimbly moved under its belly like a monkey.

  Although this terrifying swing was blocked by the Meteoric Metal armor Wang Chong had prepared, the shock made the Wushang horseman vomit blood, his determined face paling.

  But not everyone was so lucky. Elsewhere, plush! The sharp tip of a rusted sword pushed out from the neck of a Wushang horseman, instantly killing him.

  The swords were not the only thing that was threatening about the Yeluohe.

  In the melee, one of the Yeluohe suddenly reached out with a long arm, grabbing a Wushang horseman and raising him into the air. The moment its palm made contact, a concentrated icy energy infused with decaying death energy entered the Wushang horseman’s body.

  Crack! Clack! The Wushang horseman’s body turned blue and soon became an ice statue.

  The Yeluohe threw the corpse to the ground, and with a thud, the ice statue that had been the Wushang horseman turned into numerous shards of ice that burst out from the armor. All that was left behind was an empty suit of Meteoric Metal armor.

  Two thousand, three thousand, five thousand… the Wushang Cavalry were suffering much greater losses than anticipated.

  The sight made Li Siye’s heart bleed.

  These soldiers had been with him through life and death, brothers in battle.

  Moreover, before this, the Wushang Cavalry had only consisted of about ten thousand people. If not for the recruitment of new blood, the shipments of Hyderabad ore from Sindhu, and the Meteoric Metal sent over by Wang Liang, they would have never been able to expand to this scale.

  But now, in just a few moments, the Wushang Cavalry had lost more than half its number.

  Even so, nobody backed down, even though they knew their opponents were nearly inhuman.

  This was because all of them knew that they were the last barrier for the Great Tang, the protector of the millions of people of the Central Plains.

  Boomboomboom!

  At this most intense moment of the battle, the ballistae thundered. Su Hanshan, who had brought even the ballistae that had previously remained in the fortress, had once more entered the fray.

  In a flash of light, a Yeluohe that was fighting with a Wushang horseman dropped to the ground, its head obliterated by ten-some ballista bolts.

  The ballistae fired in row after row, and several hundred Yeluohe were beheaded.

  Su Hanshan’s eyes flashed as he scanned the battlefield and suddenly ordered, “Change targets! Aim at the joints of the horses’ legs!”

  Bang!

  The ballista army swiftly executed Su Hanshan’s order, and ballista bolts began to explode through the air and strike the forelegs of the Yeluohe horses.

  With a loud neigh, a horse lost its balance and collapsed into the ground, stirring up ice and snow as the Yeluohe atop it was thrown forward.

  It took only a few moments for thousands of Yeluohe to be affected and thrown from their horses.

  Su Hanshan’s impromptu change of tactics immediately sowed chaos in the Yeluohe ranks, greatly reducing the pressure on the Wushang Cavalry.

  On the other side, with the Wushang Cavalry and the ballista army holding off the Yeluohe, the others sensed that this was the best moment to retreat.

  “All soldiers, withdraw in batches!”

  Tongluo Great General Abusi was first to issue orders, after which Sun Zhiming, Chen Burang, and Zhang Shougui began to give similar orders.

  Though he was extremely unwilling, Zhang Shougui was still a top-class Great General, and he immediately understood that the appearance of the Yeluohe had altered the balance of the battlefield.

  These inhuman Yeluohe were simply too powerful. Retreating to the fortress was currently the best option.

  “Let’s go!”

  Zhang Shougui swiftly gave the order to retreat, but not directly. He first attacked the opposing Youzhou soldiers, particularly the soldiers that An Lushan had newly recruited, before beginning his retreat.

  “Pass on my order! Prepare to withdraw!”

  At the same time, Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi saw the flag signal in the distance.

  He had yet to exert his full strength in this battle, but the initial goal had been achieved. The alliance army was in disarray, lost and confused. The Eastern Turks, the Khitans, the Xi, the Goguryeons… the alliance soldiers were all stricken with panic and fear.

  The appearance of those two armies had completely upset their plans. More importantly, their initial momentum had been stopped and their confidence annihilated.

  As for Youzhou, the appearance of the Yeluohe and Genesis Supreme had left An Lushan devoid of any trump cards. From the Great Tang’s perspective, he did not have any secrets.

  Creee!

  Coming to his senses, Wang Zhongsi whistled in Bahram’s direction.

  Wang Zhongsi had interacted with Bahram a few times and was confident
that the man would understand what he meant.

  Wang Zhongsi drew back his gaze and spoke to a black-bearded subordinate. “Zhou Cang, pass on my order! Order the Yellow Sands Army to cover our retreat!”

  ‘To fight in yellow sands until armor turns golden.’ This was a maxim that Wang Zhongsi had carved into his desk, and he had established the Yellow Sands Army based on this motto.

  Wang Zhongsi’s army did not fight for fame or fortune, but to protect the country and its borders to the death!

  So long as the country was at peace, it did not matter if their bones were left scattered across the yellow sands. This was the conviction held by the Yellow Sands Army.

  Time was short, and several groups of Yeluohe were charging toward them. It was clear that An Lushan had noticed Wang Zhongsi’s movements and wanted to use the Yeluohe to hold them down.

  Chapter 2210 - The Samsara Battle Armor!

  Chapter 2210: The Samsara Battle Armor!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Kill!”

  The Yellow Sands Army quickly charged into the alliance army from an angle, throwing its ranks into chaos.

  Meanwhile, the rest of the army began to fall back without delay.

  Rather than going straight to the fortress, they chose the more complicated route of going through the Eastern Turkic steppe, back the way they had come.

  While this was rather time-consuming, it was also much safer.

  “Retreating so quickly? These Yeluohe are really more frightening than I expected!”

  Bahram heard Wang Zhongsi’s whistle. He had only been in the Central Plains for a short time and still did not know much about the Yeluohe. Moreover, with more than half the battlefield between him and the rest of the war, all he could hear was the fierce sounds of fighting. However, even though he lacked the details, he could tell that the Yeluohe held the advantage on the field.

  “Tell Xue Qianjun that the Aswaran Cataphracts will open the path. Have the others charge with us! We’ll go straight through and return to the fortress!”

  Bahram’s gaze was confident, and he elected to choose a completely different path from Wang Zhongsi’s.

  The Aswaran Cataphracts were different from other soldiers in that both soldier and horse were covered in thick metal armor.