This sort of scouting mission had been as easy as blowing away dust.
For a group of rigorously trained and powerful martial artists, memorization with a single glance was an extremely basic skill.
“Truly the work of gods!”
Even though he had seen it numerous times, the Khitan King still couldn’t help but sigh in wonder, though it was hard to say whether it was over the craftsmanship of the Divine Works Elder’s subordinates or Wang Chong’s steel fortress.
“With this model, things will be much easier once we break through the walls! At the very least, their defensive measures will be ineffective against us.”
“But reports from the Tang capital are saying that they plan to fight us in the complicated streets and lanes of the fortress in the final phase of this war.”
Cavalry were not omnipotent. As much as three months ago, the alliance spies in the capital had learned that the King of Foreign Lands was intending to fight a city battle like never before, fighting in lanes and streets to deal with the alliance soldiers.
The explanation was that the power of a cavalry charge was greatly reduced in complicated streets, while infantry could exploit the terrain to their advantage.
They had all taken this for an exaggerated rumor, but now that they saw the internal layout of the steel fortress, they could not rule out the possibility.
“We can’t get careless! If it were anyone else, that would be one thing, but I’m sure all of you remember the Great Tang’s steel defense line, and how the Arabs reacted when those steel modules first appeared on the battlefield.”
An Lushan’s words that left everyone surprised.
“Lord Protector-General has never gotten along with that King of Foreign Lands, as if there is some deep-seated grudge between the two of you. Why are you suddenly praising him?” the Xi Queen said, smirking. “This doesn’t match Lord Protector-General’s style!”
“He must be killed, and even now, I have not spoken about sparing him,” An Lushan coldly replied, completely unmoved.
“But killing him doesn’t mean that I can underestimate him when it comes to strategy. Anyone who could erect this sort of fortress could be considered a genius deserving of everyone’s respect, and in this world, no one can ever look down on a War Saint!”
An Lushan glanced at the metal model, his eyes flickering.
Even he couldn’t help but praise Wang Chong’s ability.
He had to admit that many of the things Wang Chong had done were things that the people of this world had never attempted in the last several hundred years, perhaps even in the last one thousand years.
That fortress to their south was not as they had imagined, a main hall and several barracks. Different from how fortresses had been built for hundreds of years, Wang Chong had constructed an incredibly complicated base.
The place was crisscrossed by defense lines, at least two hundred layers set up in all directions. Moreover, these defense lines supported each other rather than standing alone.
This layout meant that even if they broke through the walls, they would still have to go to great lengths to destroy the Tang army.
These intersecting defense lines could also buy the Tang army critical time to engage in a strategic retreat.
If he weren’t seeing it with his own eyes, An Lushan would have never believed that someone would ever build such a complicated fortress.
The mood in the hall turned strange. Hearing An Lushan give Wang Chong such a high evaluation, even Genesis Supreme couldn’t help but subtly shoot him a glance.
“But even a genius is still a human, not a god, and a human is bound to make mistakes. In this battle, his fate is sealed!”
Chapter 2223 - Self-Satisfied Genesis Supreme!
Chapter 2223: Self-Satisfied Genesis Supreme!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
An Lushan slowly turned to Genesis Supreme and the Divine Lords attending him.
An Lushan’s final words made everyone silently curse. After all those words, in the end, An Lushan was just flattering Genesis Supreme.
“Lord Protector-General, it seems like this lowly woman underestimated you. Everyone says that Lord Protector-General has a proud personality, but it seems like this was an exaggeration. Lord Protector-General, it seems like you’re even more formidable than all of us added together!” the Xi Queen said with a cold laugh.
An Lushan did not take this comment to heart. There was probably no one in the northeastern countries that did not know about the Xi Queen’s ability to make insinuations.
“Venerable One, what should we do now?” An Lushan directly asked Genesis Supreme.
“In seven days, we will utterly destroy that steel fortress to our south!” Genesis Supreme coldly said, getting straight to the point.
Everyone paled at these words.
Goguryeo Emperor Yeon Gaesomun hesitated before sternly saying, “But, Venerable One, the Great Tang’s steel fortress is far too tall and sturdy. Ordinary siege ladders don’t even reach halfway up the walls, making taking the walls a difficult venture. Moreover, in this period of time, we’ve tried many methods to destroy the outer walls, but all of them failed!
“Every foot of those walls has been implanted with ten times the number of inscriptions and formations walls normally have. As for their toughness, even precious swords and sabers can only leave a few faint scars, and this even damages the blades of the weapons.”
The greatest problem was not the powerful Tang soldiers, but those soaring walls. The alliance army primarily consisted of cavalry, and not even the most formidable cavalry could fly over the walls. As for infantry…
There was no empire in the world that could contend against the Great Tang’s infantry.
Without the walls hindering them, things would be much easier to resolve. At the very least, they would be much more confident in their chances of victory.
“There’s no need to worry yourself. This god has made plans for everything. In eight days, the fortress is certain to fall!” Genesis Supreme indifferently said, his eyes half-closed.
Genesis Supreme’s voice instantly silenced the hall, and everyone stared speechlessly at him.
Was Genesis Supreme saying that he had already found a way to breach the walls?
Everyone almost instinctively turned to An Lushan and Gao Shang.
These two were rather calm, their faces unperturbed. It seemed that they had known about this beforehand.
“Venerable One, be at ease. We will do everything in our power to cooperate. I am confident that everyone else will do the same, yes?”
An Lushan softly chuckled.
Everyone was taken aback, but they quickly responded.
“Yes!”
“We will naturally follow Venerable One’s lead!”
Everyone bowed.
At this point, they didn’t have many choices. Without Genesis Supreme’s help, the alliance would be no match for the Great Tang. Putting aside anything else, the removal of the formation around Youzhou would instantly cause grievous losses to the alliance.
They were now meat on the chopping block, and Genesis Supreme had invisibly taken control of the alliance.
While this meeting was called a ‘discussion’, Genesis Supreme had really summoned them to give orders. He had no plans to discuss anything with the alliance.
The meeting quickly ended, and the alliance quickly began to prepare for the battle in a few days.
……
As the alliance got to work, the steel fortress remained calm. It appeared that the Great Tang was not at all concerned by this unprecedented Great Ice Age and the alliance army.
Whoosh!
Howling winds swept over the world!
In the middle of the raging snowstorm, the soldiers of the alliance swiftly approached the fortress.
These were master scouts carefully selected from the ranks of the alliance. They were all Imperial Martial realm commander
s, and even in this extreme cold, they could use their reserves of Stellar Energy to endure for at least two hours.
The Yeluohe were strong and did not fear the cold. In this weather, they were like fish in water. This should have made them the finest scouts, but in the end, the Yeluohe were lifeless creatures. Even if An Lushan could control the Yeluohe from a distance, his control was limited to ten-some Yeluohe, which was far too few.
In the end, actual humans were needed to gather intelligence.
The walls of the steel fortress were so imposing that their outlines were visible even in the middle of the snowstorm.
This wasn’t their first time seeing these walls. Ten-some days of constant scouting had made the alliance scouts extremely familiar with them.
About eight thousand feet from the fortress, a Khitan brave suddenly said, “There’s no sign of activity. It seems that the King of Foreign Lands is prepared to use this fortress to defend to the very end!”
“The Yeluohe are simply too strong, and no human soldiers can stop them,” an Eastern Turkic scout said. “The Wushang Cavalry are so strong and have defeated so many other elite cavalry forces, but in this one battle, they lost ten thousand men. If they had not made a timely retreat, they could have been completely wiped out. If I were him, I wouldn’t sortie lightly either.”
This period of time in which all the members of the alliance had mingled had gradually caused the alliance soldiers to realize something.
There was a chance that Youzhou’s Yeluohe simply weren’t human. No human could possess this sort of fighting power, could survive even being punched through by a Tang ballista.
Any martial artist who had a body of flesh and blood could not possess this ability.
Moreover, their crimson eyes were cold and emotionless. Whenever they trained with them in the snowstorm, the alliance soldiers would always shiver whenever they saw those eyes.
If their superiors hadn’t given orders, the alliance soldiers might have fled a long time ago. After all, no one wanted to spend time together with a ‘corpse’.
“Let’s go! Everyone, just make a few rounds and then return to deliver our reports,” a Xi warrior said.
In the northeast, the various countries stood alone, but when it came to communicating with each other, there were no barriers.
Excluding Goguryeons, almost everyone in the region shared Turkic as a common language, even in An Lushan’s Youzhou army.
An Lushan had originally had many Hu under his command. Thus, when allying with the other countries, there was little problem when it came to communication.
Gallop!
With three members to each scout team, they began to ride toward the steel fortress’s northern walls. As before, they would also need to patrol the eastern, western, and even southern walls.
From the model, they knew that the Great Tang had three other gates. In the previous battle, Wang Zhongsi had used the western gate to get out and lead the surprise attack force against them. The alliance had to guard against this.
Eight thousand feet!
Seven thousand feet!
As they got closer and closer, the outer walls grew clearer and clearer. Everything was normal for these men, but a few moments later, they noticed something different.
“What’s that?”
A Xi warrior pulled his horse to a stop and looked up at the walls.
“Mm?”
The others frowned, astonishment on their faces.
What could there be on the walls? They had come here many times and had never discovered anything new. Moreover, the fortress had an enormous Psychic Seal that prevented even Psychic Energy experts from gathering any information. The others felt that the Xi warrior was making a fuss over nothing, but when they looked up, they were immediately struck dumb.
“That’s… fire?”
Through the snowstorm, they could see blazing fires atop the walls.
Moreover, they could also hear roaring laughter from within the fortress, so loud that there had to be tens of thousands of people laughing.
But because the winds were blowing from north to south and they were standing upwind, it was difficult to hear unless they were up close.
What were they doing?
They speechlessly glanced at each other.
Unable to suppress their curiosity, they immediately rode up to the walls.
The surging cold wave hindered the vision and judgment of master archers, serving as a cover for them.
After riding another several thousand feet, they were able to smell a thick and oily fragrance in the air.
“This is… the smell of roast pig? They’re roasting pigs in the fortress?”
The three of them couldn’t even remember the last time they had eaten roast pig. They would have never imagined that on this cold and frigid battlefield upon which the cold wave ran rampant, they would once more smell this nostalgic fragrance.
“No, not just roast pig, but roast lamb too! And they’ve sprinkled it with cumin.”
The Xi warrior’s nose twitched as he spoke.
Compared to roast pig, they were more familiar with the scent of roast lamb. The familiar fragrance made their fingers twitch. The three of them quickly realized that the Great Tang was holding a feast for its army.
“Impossible! That can’t be. I must be dreaming. How is this even possible!?” the Eastern Turkic warrior murmured in a daze.
The three of them felt like they were in a dream. It was like this place wasn’t a bloody battlefield, but a peaceful and friendly city.
The three of them didn’t say a word. They were seemingly entranced by the scent, their bodies involuntarily taking them toward the walls.
Chapter 2224 - Feasting the Army!
Chapter 2224: Feasting the Army!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Roooar!
At this moment, a bestial roar came from the fortress, causing the walls to vibrate.
A hairy and savage head suddenly emerged from behind the towering walls, the eyes even larger than a man.
The King Ape!
All three of the scouts instantly recognized this being.
In that previous battle, the power of the King Ape had branded itself into the minds of the alliance soldiers like a nightmare. Seventy to eighty of the powerful Yeluohe had died to the King Ape’s feet, their bodies crushed into pancakes by the King Ape.
Those Yeluohe had no opportunity to display the abilities of their undying bodies. But at this time, the King Ape was paying no attention to the three alliance scouts outside. Its attention was also drawn to the blazing fires on the walls.
“Take it!”
Hearty laughter rang out, and then a familiar figure seized a roast pig and threw it at the King Ape.
The King Ape opened its bloody maw and swallowed the roast pig in one bite.
“It’s him!”
The three of them were stunned. If that general on the wall wasn’t Wang Chong, who else could it be?
A sharp cry came from the walls. “Your Highness, enemy attack! Alliance scouts have been discovered outside the walls!”
Atop the wall, Wang Chong was seated on the main seat and was gazing at the burning bonfire in front of him. Upon hearing that cry, he glanced over and instantly spotted the three alliance scouts outside.
“Not good! Run!”
The three outside the walls saw Wang Chong’s gaze and shivered, their souls almost fleeing their bodies as they turned their horses around and began to ride back the way they had come.
The King of Foreign Lands was incredibly strong, so strong that not even Genesis Supreme could do anything to him. It would be different if they ran into anyone else, but if it was Wang Chong, so long as he wanted to strike, they had no chance of escaping.
“Heh, let them go. Today is a feast for the troops, a day to celebrate and make merry, not draw blood. When it comes to matters of war, let them be resolved on the battlefield!” Wan
g Chong lightly said as he drew back his gaze.
At his level, Wang Chong had little interest in lowly soldiers like this.
Everyone exhaled in relief upon hearing Wang Chong’s words.
Wang Chong was the supreme commander of the Great Tang, and his orders were absolute. Since he had spared their lives, they naturally didn’t need to do anything.
Seeing that the three were hesitant to leave, Wang Chong was taken aback, but he quickly understood.
“What? You want to eat this?” Grinning, he glanced at the fire, tore a leg off a roasting lamb, and threw it over.
“Though we are at war, emissaries are not to be executed. This lamb leg is for you!”
After throwing out the lamb leg, Wang Chong withdrew his gaze. He calmly gazed at the fire, smiling as the soldiers drank and ate.
Outside the walls, the three alliance scouts had complicated expressions as a struggle took place in their minds. On one hand, they were enemies at war. But on the other hand, it had been a long time since they had tasted gourmet food, before the first blizzard of the cold wave.
Compared to the whole roast lambs and pigs the Tang were feasting on, the rations the alliance had might as well have been blocks of stone.
If not for this, the three of them would have never been so easily lured over by the food of their enemies.
After a brief moment of hesitation, they came forward.
It was just one lamb leg. So long as none of them mentioned it, nobody would know.
But a moment later, their faces froze.
When Wang Chong had thrown the lamb leg from the wall, it had still been piping hot, yellow and tender. But only a few moments after being thrown from the wall, it had been frozen solid and covered in white frost, becoming as hard as rock.
Their faces shifted between green and white.
On the wall, Wang Chong was completely unperturbed.
With the entire world frozen over, the only reason Wang Chong was able to roast pigs and lambs on the wall was that he had designed the fortress to have many areas with small formations that could draw energy from under the ground to resist the cold. In the range of these small formations, the cold-resisting effect was much stronger, and they could block out the wind and raise the temperature to an almost normal level. Their small range meant that these formations did not affect the large formation.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 1337