Chapter 632: The Decisive Battle! The Defeated Mengshe–Ü-Tsang Army!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Fengjiayi had always felt a deep respect and admiration toward his father, regarding him as his goal and model in life. He could not allow anything to happen to his father!
“Your Majesty!!”
At this moment, Duan Gequan was even more panicked and fearful than Fengjiayi. As Mengshe Zhao’s only Great General, Duan Gequan had always been extremely calm and subtle, rarely revealing his emotions. But Geluofeng’s heavy injuries had caused the Erhai Great General to reveal a completely different side of himself: panic, worry, and incomparable fear!
The Duan Gequan of this moment had none of his previous composure.
“Your Majesty, our great ambitions have still not been achieved! You have to be okay!”
Duan Gequan was on the verge of going crazy.
Geluofeng and Duan Gequan were lord and vassal, but only Duan Gequan knew that they were also friends, brothers, compatriots, comrades who supported each other as they worked to achieve the same dream!
To take Mengshe Zhao from a small kingdom to a hegemon of the world had been a dream that Geluofeng and Duan Gequan had tirelessly worked toward for decades.
“Your Majesty, no matter what, you have to be okay!”
Duan Gequan’s heart was aflame with both worry and anger.
“Wang Yan, Xianyu Zhongtong, I want your lives!”
Boom!
In an instant, Xianyu Zhongtong clashed palms with Duan Gequan and was sent flying. On the other side, Wang Yan was jolted away by Huoshu Huicang. But all of this was too late. The plans that Wang Chong had taken such pains to set up were now beginning to reveal themselves.
The Mengshe Zhao soldiers on the summit were in complete chaos, and their panic was causing the Tibetan soldiers to crumble as well.
‘To shoot a person, first shoot the horse, and the capture the underlings, first capture their king.’ Geluofeng’s fall had been an annihilating blow to the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army.
“Kill!”
At almost the same time that Geluofeng fell, a heaven-shaking roar rose up from below the mountain. A group of nearly one thousand cavalry arranged in a long line, wielding swords flashing with cold light, were riding out from the dust.
Although their numbers were few, these one thousand cavalry proceeded with a mighty momentum, exuding the dreadful aura of a far larger army.
And leading the charge was a figure of massive constitution mounted on a Ferghana steed. He was more than two meters tall, his giant figure exuding a wild aura, the massive sword on his back particularly striking. Even from a distance, he exuded a powerful psychological pressure.
“Li Siye! Young Master, it’s Li Siye!”
Old Eagle stood on tiptoes as he looked at the distant but approaching force of cavalry, an elated look on his face. He had known Li Siye for a while, so he was extremely familiar with him and the large sword on his back.
“Mm, he really managed to make it!”
Wang Chong stood at the edge of the summit and looked into the distance, his eyes glimmering as he inwardly rejoiced. He had known that Li Siye had arrived on the battlefield much earlier than Old Eagle had known.
Although he was far from reaching the levels of his future self, in this battle, the future Invincible Great General of the Great Tang had truly not disappointed him!
Rumble!
The cavalry led by Li Siye were extremely fast. By the time they had entered the vision of Wang Chong, they were already traveling at an extremely fast pace.
And underneath Li Siye’s feet, a special stormy halo was pushing the speed of his forces to the limit.
Rumble!
The earth quaked as horses galloped. This kind of distance could be covered in mere moments for cavalry galloping at the speeds of Li Siye’s force. It was difficult to imagine the speed of these cavalry charging at their maximum.
This was the reason cavalry were hailed as the most powerful of soldier types!
A distance of several li was crossed in a flash, and Li Siye’s cavalry crashed into the collapsing lines of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army. “Aaaaah!” Screams shook the air as the cavalry plunged into the lines like a massive beast plowing into a flock of sheep. No one could stand against the charge of these nearly one thousand cavalry traveling at maximum speed.
The Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang soldiers would only have to approach to be immediately flung into the air as if they weighed nothing. And before they could land, swift streams of saber energy would slice them into pieces.
For the first time in the war of the southwest, this unit of soldiers equipped with Wootz Steel weapons displayed their might!
“Ah!”
Li Siye’s cavalry was unstoppable, going wherever it pleased and leaving screams in its wake.
“Anyone who stops me dies! Kill!”
Li Siye’s eyes glowed with a bloody light. He wielded the massive Wootz Steel sword Wang Chong had forged for him as he charged vigorously through the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang ranks. It was impossible to say how long he had waited for this battle.
For a time, he had wanted to end his mission and return to the battlefield to assist the embattled Wang Chong. In the end, however, Li Siye had managed to suppress this urge.
Wang Chong had a complete plan for the southwest, and his need for Li Siye to carry out the plan on the plateau far surpassed his need for Li Siye’s skill on the battlefield.
But now, Li Siye could finally unleash the murderous rage in his heart.
“Criminals against the Great Tang will all be punished!”
Li Siye’s eyes were red as he bellowed, his force traveling so fast that it only left a trail of dust as it charged up the mountain. Wherever he passed, hundreds of Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang soldiers would scream as they were thrown into the air and cut to pieces by incredibly sharp streams of saber energy.
As this unit of nearly one thousand cavalry charged up from the base of the mountain to the summit, it cut the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army in two.
When Li Siye’s army suddenly appeared and led his forces up the mountain, Wang Chong made his own moves.
“Tell the cavalry to get ready!”
Wang Chong raised his army, his eyes shining as he looked down the mountain.
Geluofeng’s heavy injuries had caused a domino effect, throwing the entire Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army into chaos. Even Duan Gequan was no longer willing to battle, much less anyone else.
But to Wang Chong, this was still far from enough.
“Ready! Move out!”
At the back of the mountain, that waterfall of caltrops several dozen zhang wide that Wang Chong had left had been half-cleared by the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army. With Wang Chong’s order, there was a massive boom as several dozen craftsmen accompanied by infantry appeared.
At this moment, no one was pouring more caltrops down to replenish this river. Instead, large planks of steel were being pushed down the slope.
One, two, three…!
The craftsmen and infantry swiftly moved down the steel planks and began to join them together. They worked quietly, lightly, and nimbly, with no extraneous motions.
In just a few moments, a path of steel planks had appeared on the river of caltrops.
Neigh!
Wang Chong mounted the White-hoofed Shadow and took the lead, charging down the mountain along the new path.
“All cavalry, follow me! Charge!”
Wang Chong raised his sword, his resounding voice like a peal of thunder.
Rumble! In few seconds, the cavalry had charged down. Clangclangclang! Buffed by the Halo of Dusk Stallion and borrowing the steep slope of the mountain, the cavalry quickly reaching an astonishing speed that even surpassed that of Li Siye’s force.
“Kill!”
The several thousand Great Tang cavalry led by Wang Chong plunged like a sword into the disorderly Mengshe–Ü-Tsang ranks, splitting the army in two.
“Kill!”
On the summit, Old Eagle had already received the signal and issued an order for a general offensive.
Boom!
A mighty roar came from the summit. The thousands of Annan Protectorate army soldiers bellowed as they charged down the summit like a flood.
That Myriad Stars Formation that had the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army trembling in fear had finally ‘broken’, but not in the way they had imagined.
The Annan Protectorate army maintained its ranks as it charged down the mountain, its momentum callous and resolved. The Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army was immediately punctured full of holes, the entire army collapsing into mayhem.
“Ah! My hand!”
“Run! The Tang are coming!”
“His Majesty—we don’t even know if he’s alive… We’ve lost!”
“We’ve lost! The army has lost! Everyone, run!”
……
The Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army was in a complete mess, with all the noises forming a single miserable din. Many soldiers in the midst of fleeing were stamped down, squeezed aside, or knocked over, thus meeting their deaths.
The more than two hundred thousand soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army were suffering a terrifying number of casualties.
Not a single unit on the mountain could put up a fight. Any soldier that tried to fight back would be drowned in the flood, even crushed under the feet of their comrades.
When the defeat of an army was decided, no one could alter the course.
At the base of the mountain, Dalun Ruozan saw the flood of defeated soldiers. His body was ice-cold, his mind in complete confusion.
“No, it can’t be!”
Dalun Ruozan’s hands were clenched into fists, his entire body was trembling, and his eyes had gone red. He found it impossible to believe that the united army of Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang with more than five hundred thousand troops had still lost to the 180,000 soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army and that meager army of reinforcements.
A moment ago, the Annan Protectorate army had seemed on the verge of collapse, Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang on the verge of victory. But now the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army had been completely routed.
When the Annan Protectorate army gave up on defense and began to attack, gushing down the mountain in a flood, what resulted was a one-sided massacre.
More than two hundred thousand cavalry, thirty years of work, and a month of arduous battle… in the end, all of it had come to naught. To Dalun Ruozan, this was not just a war. It represented the grand strategy of the Ü-Tsang Empire. By taking the southwest, they could have shaken the Great Tang and stirred the ambition the entire world had toward the Central Plains.
But this battle had ultimately ended in defeat.
At this moment, Dalun Ruozan felt an intense reluctance.