The Human Emperor
chapter-933

Chapter 933: Predicting the Enemy (III)

“Who goes there?!”

With a harsh shout, the deserted second defense line was suddenly covered in figures. Gears creaked as the dreadful Tang ballistae swiftly appeared on the walls, their sharp and savage bolts shining with a cold light in the darkness.

“Stop! We’re on your side!” A voice came out of the darkness. “We received Lord Marquis’s order to attack the Tibetans. The mission is complete and we are returning to report on the results!”

“Oh? How did it go?”

The Tang general on the second defense line appeared much more relaxed. The marquis truly had dispatched many groups of soldiers tonight to attack the Tibetans.

“That Dalun Ruozan is too formidable. We weren’t even able to get close. We tried several times, but all of them failed, so we’ve come back to report,” the person opposite replied, but though his horse slowed, it did not stop.

“That’s true. The Tibetan Great Minister really is very capable. Even Cheng Sanyuan’s group failed, much less your group.”

The Great Tang general’s face seemed unsurprised in the flickering light of the torches.

“But Lord Marquis has given his orders that everything should be done according to regulation. Dismount for now. The people in the rear will take care of the horses. Then, hand over your weapons and come inside!”

“Understood!”

The person nodded as he led his forces toward the steel walls.

Fifty steps, thirty steps!

They were getting closer and closer, but when they were still twenty-some steps away…

Twang!

Gears crunched and strings twanged as the ballistae fired. Before those men could react, several dozen of the ‘returning soldiers’ were shot through by the ballista bolts and dropped from their warhorses. Neeeigh! The warhorses cried as this group of soldiers was left dumbfounded by this abrupt attack.

“What are you doing?!”

A confused and furious voice came out of the darkness, utterly baffled that they would be attacked by their own side.

“Hahaha, still pretending?”

At this moment, the Tang general suddenly appeared in the gap between the steel walls, his right hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Lord Marquis only dispatched four groups of soldiers. The first three groups have already returned after completing their mission, while the fourth group hasn’t even started their attack. Just how could they be coming back in failure? You should be a little smarter when choosing lies, Ti! Bet! An!”

The pauses between each syllable were bursting with ridicule.

Buzz!

For a moment, the ‘Tang soldiers’ on the other side were quiet. And then, this silence, this ‘shock’, transformed into an earth-shaking roar.

“Kill!”

“Kill them!”

“Kill all these Tang!”

Outside the steel walls, the ‘shocked’ Tang soldiers revealed their true identities, their brash shouts in Tibetan resounding into the distance. Boom! Their warhorses suddenly accelerated, shooting toward the second defense line like lightning bolts.

As they charged, these Tibetan elites reached under their horses and removed the large and thick shields they had prepared.

“Kiiill!”

When they cast aside all pretense, these Tibetans began to explode with a fierce killing intent. They charged, aiming particularly for the Tang ballistae.

Twangtwangtwang!

The ballistae rumbled as they madly fired off their bolts. However, without as much preparation, the ballistae were not as effective. Moreover, the Tibetan general leading the way had a storm of energy around him that was knocking away the bolts being fired at him.

“Charge!”

This Tibetan general pressed himself against his horse and charged forward with unbelievable speed, his sudden acceleration catching everyone’s attention.

“Concentrated fire!”

As this order thundered in the air, the ballistae immediately fired as one at this Tibetan general. But there was only a boom and the whinny of a horse as it was felled. Before the ballistae had even fired, the Tibetan general had jumped off the horse and begun to travel on foot, appearing at the gap between the steel walls with remarkable speed.

The lights of the furnaces and torches clearly outlined the hard lines of this general’s face. It was not Huoba Sangye, but just like Huoba Sangye, this man was a Saint Martial expert.

“Careful!!”

The Great Tang general roared, and countless soldiers immediately began to attack the Tibetan Saint Martial expert. But this Tibetan general cared not for their attacks, dodging them as he shot toward a ballista.

Bang!

The shapeless energy of laws emerged from the depths of space-time, gathering in the fist of Abu Sangji, a fierce general of Ü-Tsang’s Yarlung Royal Lineage. Boom! Abu Sangji punched out at the large ballista, which briefly shook before immediately exploding into shrapnel.

It was like it had been made out of paper.

“Don’t worry about them! Hurry and destroy their ballistae!” Abu Sangji fiercely bellowed. After destroying one ballista, he immediately moved to the next, ignoring the attacks of the Tang. A dauntless general of the Yarlung Royal Lineage, Abu Sangji had yet to reach the Brigadier General level of Huoba Sangye, but he was still an extremely formidable warrior.

The gap between him and Huoba Sangye was not large at all!

Although Dalun Ruozan’s expedition to the west to attack the Tang seemed to be a personal venture that went against the Tsenpo’s will, he actually had many supporters. Abu Sangji had come to serve Dalun Ruozan according to the will of the Yarlung King, and he had been closely following Dalun Ruozan this entire time.

The Great Tang ballistae were extremely sturdy as well as repairable, so only Metal element experts were capable of totally destroying them. This was why Dalun Ruozan had sent him on this night raid.

The Tang army at Talas was currently bursting with experts and elite Tang generals. They could arrive at any moment, so not even Abu Sangji could act recklessly. Time was short, so Abu Sangji needed to destroy the ballistae as quickly as possible.

This was the true purpose of the night raid. After all, killing several hundred to a thousand Tang guards out of an army of one hundred thousand was like pouring a cup of water on a burning cart.

Roooar!

“Kill!”

With Abu Sangji leading the way, the Tibetan cavalry braved all sorts of attacks to force their way through the second defense line. None of them stayed to fight, all of them heading straight for the ballistae behind the defense line. Boom! A Tibetan soldier rushed to a ballista and swung his fist down, smashing it into pieces.

“Enemy!”

Cries of warning resounded over the night sky as wave after wave of Tang warriors rushed in. The wisdom in attacking after the Zi Period became evident, because even though Talas and its environs played host to more than one hundred thousand Tang soldiers, the vast majority of them were asleep, which was necessary for the battle tomorrow morning. Thus, not many soldiers were immediately available to rush to the site of the attack.

But despite this, the number of Tang soldiers available was still greater than the number of Tibetans attacking. Wave after wave of cavalry rushed in, their weapons gleaming in the firelight.

“Hurry!” Abu Sangji roared.

The innumerable Tibetan cavalry pushed through the gap in the walls, forcing their way to the ballistae. The soldiers Abu Sangji had brought were all special soldiers with a Metal element ability. Although they differed in the strength of this ability, they could all deal maximum damage to the Tang ballistae.

Bangbangbang!

One, two, three… in a few short moments, Abu Sangji had destroyed ten-some ballistae. Meanwhile, his thousands of Tibetan cavalry had divided into two groups. One group used their shields to hold back the Tang while the other group did its utmost to attack the Tang ballistae.

Although these people were weaker than Abu Sangji, their greater numbers meant that they were able to destroy at least seventy Tang ballistae in the same period of time. Pieces of the destroyed ballistae were soon raining down from the skies.

One hundred, two hundred… This group of elite Tibetan cavalry had only begun the attack a few moments ago, but as their goal was very clear, they quickly managed to destroy nearly three hundred ballistae. To the Tang army, which only had around three thousand ballistae in all, this was an enormous loss, one that was only getting worse.

However, the Tibetans were also paying an enormous price…

“Ah!”

Wretched screams filled the air. More than one thousand Tibetan elites had died behind the second defense line. Too many Tang soldiers were pouring in, and each Tibetan horseman had to contend against four or five soldiers at the same time. Even though they were elite soldiers wearing the best armor, they were still incapable of blocking so many attacks.

Swishswishswish! Sabers and swords found their way through the chinks in the Tibetan armor. Clean swords would stab in through the front and come out the back, dripping blood. Their eyes going wide, the Tibetans made strange gurgling sounds before dropping to the ground. The blood flowed from their bodies, seeping into the earth and dyeing it red. A thick mist of blood rapidly began to rise over the battlefield.

It took only a few moments for more than half of the Tibetan raiding force to be killed, but Abu Sangji did not care.