The Human Emperor
chapter-1097

Chapter 1097: Another Battle!

“Everyone, listen up! The first group of soldiers will be in the Kan position, the second will be at the Kun position, the third will be at the Qian position, and the fourth will be at the Li position1… Everything will be just as we practiced! Do you understand?!”

Behind the first defense line, Xue Qianjun looked excitedly at the Western Turkic army as he spoke. The roiling clouds and awe-inspiring thunder were nothing more than a joke to Xue Qianjun.

Daring to fight with Lord Marquis in terms of schemes! Duwu Sili, you’re still far from that level!

With this thought, Xue Qianjun charged forward, while Banahan and the Gangke King were even faster, sweeping past Xue Qianjun to welcome Shamask and Chekun Benba.

Kan, Kun, Qian, Li… these were directions on the compass used by the Central Plains, and the mercenaries of the Western Regions had no idea what they meant. Thus, Wang Chong had placed several Tang soldiers amongst each group of mercenaries and had the Tang soldiers lead the attack.

With a rumble and roar, the mixed force of Ferghanans, Karluks, and Tang, more than ten thousand in all, charged with astonishing speed at the Western Turks.

Awooo! In the face of this abrupt charge of Tang cavalry, a wolf was struck on the forehead by a sturdy horse hoof that shattered its bones. Its corpse went rolling across the ground for some distance before finally coming to a stop.

Meanwhile, a cold light flickered out from the charging cavalry and slashed at another large wolf. Even though the wolf had sensed this danger and retracted its neck, it was too late. In a flash of light, the gray wolf was chopped in half.

Tens of thousands of wolves howled in pain as they were crushed by this motley force of Tang cavalry. The courage of the wolves finally failed them and they began to scatter in fright.

Now, there were no more obstacles between the Western Turks and this motley force sent by the Tang. More importantly, both sides were riding at maximum speed and were separated by a distance of less than two hundred feet.

Boom!

Just before the two armies were about to clash, a massive boom came from overhead. Shamask and Chekun Benba were both dumbstruck as thunder exploded in their ears. Over the heads of this ‘mob’ sent out by the Great Tang, clouds had begun to gather. This was clearly also ‘formation phenomena’.

“Impossible!”

“Bastard!”

Shamask and Chekun Benba were immediately enraged by this sight. But before they could react, the more than ten thousand Tang soldiers split up into eight groups and rammed into the Western Turks’ formation phenomena.

One small and one large, one weak and one strong—for the first time on the foreign battlefield of Talas, two kinds of formation phenomena clashed.

Time seemed to stop for a moment. Duwu Sili, Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huicang, Dusong Mangpoje, and even the distant Qutaybah, Abu Muslim, and Aybak were all watching.

Even the Arabs were greatly tempted by the ancient and powerful strength that was formation phenomena.

“Now is the time to see the final result!”

Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi were also looking at the left flank, a strange light in their eyes.

Boom!

A giant axe seemed to slash across the sky as the two armies clashed, and the formation phenomena that had appeared over the twenty thousand Western Turkic cavalry were suddenly cut in two, shattering into countless pieces that vanished without a trace.

“No!”

In the distance, Duwu Sili’s eyes went wide and he nearly stopped breathing. He had spent a great deal of effort, taking Chen Bin hostage, negotiating with Wang Chong, and even scheming against Dalun Ruozan, to finally get his hands on this formation phenomena technique and cultivate it. He had never expected it to be broken apart in just a single moment.

In that moment, all of Duwu Sili’s hopes and ambitions dissolved into nothingness.

But this was only the beginning.

The moment the formation phenomena were shattered, there was a wretched scream as the energies of countless Western Turk cavalrymen were thrown into chaos and they were knocked from their horses by the mixed force of Tang cavalry. Their strength that had been boosted by the formation phenomena plunged in seconds.

Moreover, the collapse of the formation caused a backlash on all the soldiers. Not only were they unable to maintain their increased level of strength, their cultivation levels rapidly decreased while their Stellar Energy ran rampant. They were utterly incapable of fighting against the Great Tang cavalry.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

From the clash of the two armies burst countless screams as the Turkic cavalry were knocked from their horses, sabers sweeping across their necks and unleashing sprays of blood. Four thousand, six thousand, eight thousand… in just a few seconds, the Western Turks sustained horrendous losses.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The incessant sound of falling corpses made Shamask’s face twist and contort.

The Western Turkic Khaganate had only deployed less than twenty thousand soldiers for this battle. To lose more than eight thousand in one clash was a heavy wound.

Neeeigh! All was chaos and mayhem in front of the Tang left flank.

Duwu Sili had a nasty grimace on his face. If one looked carefully, one would notice that he had clenched his fists, which were slightly trembling.

But just as the Western Turks were beginning to flee, a stampede of hooves could be heard from behind them…

“Kill!”

Right behind Shamask and Chekun Benba was a vast army of Tibetan soldiers. In just a few moments, they had covered the intervening ground and stabbed into the Great Tang army.

“Kill them!”

Dayan Ersongrong, Darlag Nyetsai, Qili Sulong, and the others roared as they charged into the Tang defense line.

As the young prodigies of the great clans charged at the Tang defense line, the sabers in their hands had already unleashed vigorous streams of saber energy.

Boomboomboom! The saber energy sent a significant number of Tang soldiers flying into the air.

And right behind them, in a great cloud of dust, was the enormous Arab army.

The sight of this tremendous army of Arab cavalry charging had tremendous psychological impact, as if these horsemen could sweep over the defense line and trample them underfoot.

Wang Chong’s face instantly turned grim.

The Western Turks and Tibetans were just the appetizer for this battle. The Arabs had never thought about relying on them.

“Ready!”

Wang Chong waved his hand and gave an order.

Creeeak! The six thousand ballistae spread themselves out over the Tang defense line and took aim at the Arabs.

At other places along the line, the other soldiers assumed their positions.

“Release!”

Su Hanshan waved his hand, and countless ballista bolts flew out like dragons roaring out of the sea. Even though this was not the first time the Tang ballistae had exhibited their power on the battlefield, the shrill howl still made everyone tremble in fear.

Bangbangbang! In the blink of an eye, countless horsemen were shot through by the ballista bolts, but the soldiers behind them didn’t even slow. Instead, they used various methods to stimulate their horses to travel at maximum speed.

If there was no way to defend against the Great Tang ballistae, the best method was to shorten the time needed to charge so that the losses sustained during the charge were reduced.

Rumble! The Arab cavalry rode over a field of corpses as they accelerated to frightening speeds.

“Cui Piaoqi, get ready!” Wang Chong suddenly said, his eyes still fixed on the tense battlefield.

“This general will go!” A cold and deep voice came from behind him, exuding a will to fight that soared to the heavens.

Cui Piaoqi, mounted on a stalwart warhorse, his head held high and his back straight, unsheathed his sword. Behind him, more than seven thousand Wushang Cavalry were arranged in orderly rows, their muscles tensed like taut bowstrings as they prepared to charge.

In yesterday’s battle, the Wushang Cavalry had fought one versus three, and the three had been the Mamelukes, Mutri Great Cavalry, and Celestial Wolf Cavalry. This battle had resulted in three thousand men being lost. This was the largest loss the Wushang Cavalry had ever suffered from the time it had been established, but the Wushang Cavalry had also dealt many casualties to their three opponents.

“Move out!”

With Wang Chong’s order, the seven thousand Wushang Cavalry shot forward like sharp arrows. Rumble! The earth seemed on the verge of cracking apart as the seven thousand Wushang Cavalry jumped out from the first defense line and plunged into the Arab soldiers before they could react.

“Ah!”

The Arabs were instantly thrown into disarray as the Wushang Cavalry rode through them as if they were made of paper. The seven thousand Wushang Cavalry were facing more than ten times their number in enemies, but they showed no fear whatsoever.

Five thousand, seven thousand, eight thousand, ten thousand… These Arab elites couldn’t take even one blow from the Wushang Cavalry. In just a few short moments, the Arabs had sustained nearly ten thousand losses while the Wushang Cavalry were practically unharmed. Their charge had caused absolute mayhem in the Arab army.

“Aybak, it’s time for your men to go!”

Abu Muslim’s eyes flashed as he suddenly spoke.

______________

1. These positions are a part of the Eight Trigrams and are each associated with a direction. In most variants of the Eight Trigrams, these positions correspond with north, south, east, and west.↩