The Human Emperor
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chapter-2174
Chapter 2174: Khitan Braves! (I)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
On the crowded battlefield, there was no space for the soldiers to dodge. In just a few moments, the caltrop had pierced through numerous alliance soldiers and ended their lives.
As the caltrop rolled, it left a long and bloody path through the army.“Release!
“Release!
“Release!”
Orders came from inside the fortress, and steel clattered and gears groaned. One giant caltrop after another arced through the air and crashed outside the fortress.
The dense ranks of the alliance army instantly became a killing zone, with one of the caltrops even smashing into the Goguryeo soldiers transporting sand. Screams erupted as hundreds of Goguryeon soldiers were crushed like ants beneath the giant caltrop.
They unleashed their Stellar Energies and hacked at the caltrops with their weapons to stop them, but their resistance was futile.
“Retreat!”King Bojang instantly paled.
The division transporting sand was not made of elites, so how could they stop these things?
On the walls, whether it was the aloof Su Hanshan or Chen Burang and Sun Zhiming, all of them were relieved to hear the screams down below.
An Lushan and his allies harbored ill ambitions. If they were allowed to enter the interior, countless common folk would suffer from disaster. They would never hold any pity for enemies.
The kerosene bombs and giant caltrops instantly rendered the area in front of the fortress into a forbidden zone.
“Release!”
From the distant ranks of the alliance army, an order was shouted, and then the air howled as a massive boulder wreathed in destructive force hurtled toward the walls.
One boulder, two, three...
Hundreds of catapults were unleashed, aimed at the areas the kerosene bombs and caltrops were coming from.
Only catapults could deal with catapults!
In the face of the Great Tang’s fierce offensive, the alliance immediately used their own catapults to retaliate.
The alliance had its catapults, and so did Wang Chong.
But unlike the alliance, Wang Chong’s catapults were the metal catapults once used by Arabia.
The only difference was that the Arabs had used the metal catapults to fling giants while Wang Chong had modified them to throw giant caltrops.
The catapults could throw heavy things a very long distance, but there was a long interval between firing times—a critical flaw. However, Wang Chong’s metal catapults had special mechanisms that shortened the firing interval, even though they were launching caltrops that each weighed several tons.
“Pass on my order! Have the Condor Snipers and master archers on the forward siege towers aim at the kerosene bombs. Detonate them at a distance of one thousand feet or more!”
Beneath the six banners of the alliance, Gao Shang put away his folding fan, a sharp light in his eyes as he spoke.
Nearby, a Goguryeon general was taken aback and instinctively turned to Goguryeon Emperor Yeon Gaesomun.
The Condor Snipers on the siege towers were their men. What right did an advisor from Youzhou have to order them around?
“Didn’t you hear? Go!” Yeon Gaesomun said without even turning his head.
“Yes!”
The general felt his heart chill as he dropped his head and ran off.
“For this battle, let my men handle it!” The Khitan King spoke up in a gruff voice, plucking at his thick beard as he surveyed the battlefield.
“My sons are the bravest. While you might be afraid of flames, we are not!”
The Khitan King’s words made everyone fall silent, everyone looking at this rather ‘special’-looking Khitan King with strange looks.
Tian Chengsi was particularly taken aback, barely able to say a word.
This was kerosene that both water and sand found hard to extinguish. The Youzhou cavalry were brave, but not even they dared to charge in.
“Hahaha, the Khitan King is truly fierce and courageous. Since that is so, then I must trouble you!”
An Lushan heartily laughed, choosing to believe in the Khitan King.
With a laugh, the Khitan King turned and left to make arrangements.
A string of orders swiftly began to shift around the battlefield.
Kaclack!
Atop the siege towers, the Goguryeon Condor Snipers pulled back their bowstrings and took aim at the sky.
Boom!
With deafening howls, countless arrows shot out of the siege towers and collided against a kerosene bomb.
Thudthudthud!
The kerosene bombs began to explode more than one thousand feet in the air.
The detonation of one kerosene bomb even managed to trigger a chain explosion with the waves of heat and flames it unleashed.
No ordinary master archer could have so accurately calculated the trajectory of the kerosene bombs and detonated them more than one thousand feet in the air, but this was as normal as breathing for the Condor Snipers.
The scattering and explosion of kerosene would normally only add to the flames and create even more damage, but this was why Gao Shang had required the kerosene bombs to be detonated more than one thousand feet in the air.
This would allow all the kerosene to burn out in the air so that it would present no threat on the ground.
Whoosh!
As the kerosene bombs exploded, a blazing sea of fire appeared in the cold skies, a red light plating the clouds in a glorious sight.
Wang Chong looked up at the blazing clouds and slightly frowned.
Gao Shang! A thought flashed through Wang Chong’s mind.
The alliance had many experts: An Lushan, Gao Shang, Cui Qianyou, Tiechi Bileli, and Yeon Gaesomun. They were all mighty powerhouses that excelled in both judgment and strategy. Defeating them was no easy task.
But the more this was the case, the more determined Wang Chong was to break them.
“Hmph, petty tricks!”
Wang Chong coldly laughed and quickly regained his composure.
The battle had only just begun, but the alliance had already lost numerous people without even climbing the walls.
“If you really think that working together would be enough to defeat the Great Tang, you’re too naive!”
......
Meanwhile, with the assistance from the archers on the siege towers, the pressure on the alliance was greatly reduced.
Even so, the sea of fire in front of the fortress presented a formidable barrier to the alliance army.
If they did not find a way to extinguish the flames, they still would not be able to assault the fortress.
“Stand aside!”
At this moment, gruff shouts came from the rear. Boom! A giant tree trunk flew out from the army and crashed into the sea of fire.
The tree trunk was covered in black kerosene and began to burn.
But at this moment...
Clap!
A foot stomped onto the thick trunk. At the same time, a Khitan warrior, his hair tied into braids, began to walk across the burning trunk, holding a tree trunk under each arm.
Thud! Thud! The two tree trunks were also tossed into the sea of flame, the three tree trunks together forming a ‘path’ through the sea of fire.
“Let me!”
A Khitan warrior with bronze eyes, his body radiating fighting intent, charged like a bull into the sea of flames, also carrying two trunks under his arms.
The blazing flames scorched the man, but neither this man nor the previous Khitan warrior seemed to notice, not even caring about the smell of burning flesh coming from their bodies.
Thumpthump!
More and more aggressive Khitan warriors, their bodies covered in wolfskin, began to charge in, throwing giant logs into the sea of fire and creating temporary ‘paths’ across the flames.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, one of the Khitan warriors fell into the sea of fire and was soon set aflame, but the other Khitan warriors seemed to not see, not even frowning as they charged forward.
This sort of courage was truly astonishing.
The Khitan Tribe controlled a small territory and was located between various other countries, but through brute strength, they had carved out their own land and held out against the attacks of other countries.
Even though Andong Protector-General Zhang Shougui had tried many times to defeat them, he had been defeated each time, suffering significant losses with each attempt.
Through this, one could see the ferocity of the Khitans.
But a hundred rumors did not compare to a single meeting. At this moment, everyone could once more understand just how frightening the Khitans were!
Atop his horse, King Bojang realized what was going on, and his expression turned harsh as he began to issue orders.
“Go!
“All soldiers, hurry and put on sand!
“Anyone who has carried less than eight bags of sand in five minutes will be executed!”
He now understood that these fearless Khitan warriors were braving the flames to create a path through the sea of fire to the walls of the fortress.
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