Chapter 493: The First Battle! Sweep Away Everything! (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The ten-man commander leading the motley group of Great Tang soldiers hardened his heart and suddenly ordered, "Let's go! While the green hills last, there's still wood to burn! We first have to survive, and then we can avenge our slain brothers in the future!"
Rumble!
The moment he spoke, the earth quaked. Behind them, to the southwest and the southeast, more Tibetan cavalry suddenly appeared, forming an encirclement with the original group of a hundred-some Tibetan cavalry and charging toward the hill.
All this had occurred too suddenly, and everyone on the hill paled. They had dared to enter a standoff with the Tibetans because they had a path that they could retreat down at any time.
But they had not realized that these Tibetans had been drawing their attention while sending their comrades around the back to cut off their retreat.
"Hahaha, just die. After letting you escape for two days, did you think we would keep letting you? Today, all of you will die here!"
At the back of the cavalry, that Mengshe Zhao officer roared with laughter.
These Tang men were dead for sure!
They had been so slow to act so as to make these Tang soldiers let down their guard and buy time. They had already communicated with the other groups of Tibetan soldiers and were just waiting for them to come and complete the encirclement.
Gallop!
Warhorses rumbled forward, leaving trails of dust behind. Three hundred to four hundred Tibetan cavalry arrogantly shouted as they wielded their scimitars and charged toward the hill in their center.
Their eyes were sinister and ruthless, all of them set on letting no Tang soldier escape alive.
"It's over!"
In a flash, all the Tang soldiers on the hill were filled with despair.
It had already been hard to deal with one hundred Tibetan cavalry, and now their numbers had tripled.
"Brothers, we fight to the death!"
The leader of the Tang soldiers drew his sword and raised it high. Since there was no chance of survival, they might as well fight to the death!
As seconds flashed by, as the Tibetan cavalry got closer and closer and all the Great Tang soldiers were ready to fight to the death, the ground suddenly began to shake, the earth fiercely trembling like it was a giant wooden board.
"What's going on?"
"Has our army arrived?"
"How can it be so severe? Isn't it just us around here?"
……
This sudden quaking took everyone by surprise. The charging Tibetan cavalrymen halted their charge and began to warily look around.
But before they could find out what was going on, there was a clear screech from the skies. A massive eagle had appeared, flying out from the north.
This screech was quickly followed by the neighing of horses and a sudden tide of black steel appearing at the peak of the nearest hill. It surged down the hill, swiftly rushing toward the Tibetans.
"Not good—it's the Tang army!"
"Take formation, take formation!"
"Forget them; prepare to receive the enemy!"
……
A series of panicked shouts in Tibetan resounded through the air. The true appearance of that tide of steel had thrown the Tibetan cavalry into panic.
The Annan Protectorate army's 180,000 elites had already been defeated, as had the 60,000 reinforcements. Although Longxi was close, the Big Dipper Great General Geshu Han and his Big Dipper Army were being held down by We Tadra Khonglo. Logically speaking, the Great Tang shouldn't have had any soldiers available.
No one understood where this wave of Tang soldiers had come from, but the reality before them could not be denied. That pitch-black armor was not the armor of Ü-Tsang, nor was it the armor of Mengshe Zhao.
And Tibetans did not look like that!
"Readyyy!"
After a short period of disorder, the Tibetans quickly finished reorganizing. Their halos began to resonate and the warhorses began to line up and face the enemy. Murderous intent began to stir as they aimed their ferocity at the approaching Tang soldiers.
It was the nature of Tibetans to be ferocious and combative. As long as they could gather more than one hundred soldiers, one hundred Tibetans would dare to fight against three hundred.
Three hundred to four hundred Tibetans would dare to fight against an army of one thousand!
After all, the Great Tang had so many armies, and not all of them could be as formidable as Geshu Han's Big Dipper Army!
"Kill!"
"We've already defeated the Great Tang's regular army. These reserve troops are no match for us!"
"Slaughter them all!"
……
The Tibetan cavalry rallied themselves and drew out their scimitars. They completely ignored the ten-some soldiers on the hill and turned to face the Great Tang cavalry charging them from the other end.
Tibetans were not ones to easily retreat. A more powerful foe only served to stimulate them, and this time was no different!
In a few moments that black-armored tide of Great Tang cavalry drowned out the three-hundred-some Tibetans.
Bangbangbang!
In a flash, spear struck armor, saber clashed against sword. There was an incessant series of thumps, like two rocks crashing together.
The Stellar-Energy-infused scimitars and spears of the Tibetans worked with their resonating halos to slash and cut at the black armor of the Great Tang cavalry. Yet these scimitars that were able to cut through stone bounced off like they were hacking at walls of steel, leaving not a single mark behind.
"What's going on?"
"How could this be?"
……
In an instant, all the Tibetans were stunned and panicked by the result.
The Tibetans here had all taken part in at least two battles. They had the sufficient experience, strength, and energy, and they had killed no small number of Great Tang cavalry.
But no Great Tang elite had been like this, wearing armor that was so impervious. Their scimitars hadn't even been able to dent it, much less slash through it.
"Kill!"
They were given no time to comprehend. Clangclangclang!Sword were raised and slashed through the air, their sharp edges cutting through Stellar Energy and flesh.
One by one, the Tibetan cavalrymen were cleaved in two by these swords before they could even react, swept away without even being able to block a single blow.
The majestic and forceful Stellar Energy on their bodies was cut apart like tofu by those strange swords.
Thumpthumpthump!
These Tibetan cavalrymen that been full of bluster just a moment before now began to drop to the ground without even a groan, the chunks of their bodies like fallen wooden beams.
A single exchange had left more than two hundred Tibetan cavalry hacked down like barley stalks.
"What sort of weapon is this?"
The remaining Tibetans paled in shock and began to scatter. But before they could get very far, several swords would slash down and they would fall, their wounds glossy with blood.
"How is it? Are there any survivors?"
A stalwart giant of a man stopped in front of the last Tibetan corpse and turned to look back.
"There's no more. All 347 Tibetans are accounted for!"
Zhao Jingdian reined in his horse, glanced at the pile of corpses behind him, and then cleaned the sword in his hand.
This was not the first time he and Li Siye had worked together. The pair had deeply cooperated with each other when training the clan experts in Deflecting Blade Manor.
"Let's clean the place up. Bury the bodies to avoid disease!" Li Siye ordered, and then he swept his gaze over the scattered Tibetan corpses, his heart greatly moved.
What a sharp saber!
He was already well aware of the sharpness of the Wootz Steel weapons, but not even he had imagined that a thousand men equipped with Wootz Steel weapons would display such power.
In normal circumstances, these three hundred Tibetans would need some time to annihilate, even with an advantage of numbers, and a significant price would have had to be paid.
But against one thousand Wootz Steel swords, these Tibetans hadn't even been able to last a few moments before being utterly defeated. Their side hadn't even suffered a death.
This disparity in casualties was unimaginable on the bitter grounds of the battlefield.
In truth, Li Siye was not the only one shocked by the result of this battle. The True Martial realm experts of the great clans were also astonished.
"It's so sharp!"
"A good sword, a good sword!"
"It's truly inconceivable. I've been hearing for a long time that Wootz Steel weapons are all-conquering, but I didn't think that they would be sharper than rumored. Even armor as thick as this was cut open!"
"This battle was way too easy!"
……
Although these experts had experienced their fair share of life-or-death battle, this was still their first actual battle. This result had caused their confidence to swell.
At this moment, probably only Wang Chong was unsurprised at this result.
"Congratulations to user for killing 345 Ü-Tsang regular cavalry!"
"Congratulations to user for killing 346 Ü-Tsang regular cavalry!"
"Congratulations to user for killing 347 Ü-Tsang regular cavalry!"
……
A string of messages flew through his mind, ultimately stopping at 347. And with these voices, an invisible energy began to flow toward him, strengthening Wang Chong.
His Bane of the Battlefield halo was strengthened once more. Just one battle had equaled Wang Chong's harvest in exterminating the Goguryeon assassins and King Sosurim.
Wang Chong closed his eyes and sensed the increase in energy within his body. After a few moments of silence, he opened his eyes once more.
"As expected!"
A thought flitted through Wang Chong's mind as his gaze swept over the slain Tibetans.
In his last life, an army of only ten thousand Arabian Mamelukes equipped with Wootz Steel weapons had swept through the entire Great Tang army. The sharp Wootz Steel weapons had been unstoppable, cutting through soldiers like they were melons or vegetables.
For him to use the same strategy against the Tibetans had naturally given the same result.
But at this time, Wang Chong had no mind to ponder these matters. He had more important concerns than this small-scale battle.
"Hyah!"
Wang Chong urged the White-hoofed Shadow toward that distant hill, riding through the battlefield toward those ten-some Great Tang soldiers.