Chapter 569: The Decisive Battle! The Highest Level of the Art of War! (1/2)
Chapter 569: The Decisive Battle! The Highest Level of the Art of War!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Boom!
The bloody flag on the summit fluttered for a few moments in the wind before suddenly swinging down. In the next moment, the Annan Protectorate army soldiers who had been putting their lives on the line to defend suddenly loosened up. It was like a bowstring that had been pulled to the breaking point and then suddenly released. In an instant, other than the area where Duan Wuzong was fighting, the Whitestone Corps across the front lines subconsciously began to pursue.
”Not good!”
Duan Wuzong was hypersensitive to his surroundings, and his eyes widened as he noticed this out of the corner of his vision. At any other moment, he would have had ample time to put a stop to this, but now, just when Duan Wuzong was opening his mouth to shout out an order, a bloody light suddenly assailed him. A massive saber cleaved down from the skies, imbued with a destructive energy.
Boom!
Stellar Energy reverberated as two tyrannical energies clashed, their collision transforming into a pillar of light several zhang thick. The order that Duan Wuzong had been preparing to shout out was instantly pushed back into his mouth by Zhao Wujiang's saber.
”Quickly, retreat! Don't chase them!”
At the base of the mountain, Crown Prince Fengjiayi trembled at this sight, his heart seized by anxiety. He had subconsciously taken a few steps forward, but only when a cold gust blew past did he realize that the sounds of fighting on the mountain were too loud for his voice to be heard.
”Disaster! The past is repeating!”
”It's this move again!”
At the base of the mountain, Dalun Ruozan and Huoshu Huicang also paled. They recalled that the Annan Protectorate army had used exactly this move not too long ago to inflict a defeat on the Whitestone Corps.
”Kill!”
”Kill!”
”With General here, the Annan Protectorate army can no longer hold on!”
The Whitestone Corps soldiers in the rear didn't understand what was going on up ahead. They only sensed that the front had loosened and immediately rushed up to fill the ranks. The wisdom in Wang Chong's decision to choose this mountain as the place to start the battle was once more showing itself. The incline of the slope and the metal walls looming from its surface greatly limited the vision of the soldiers in the rear. It was simply impossible for them to promptly learn what was happening on the front lines, and certainly not something as subtle as Wang Chong's shift in tactics.
Boom!
As a crowd of soldiers surged forward, their orderly formations once more fell into chaos. The effects from Duan Wuzong's joining the front lines were instantly nullified.
”Kill!”
On the mountain, the dense ranks of spearmen and axemen of the Annan Protectorate army formed a mighty wall and swiftly fell upon the disorderly Whitestone Corps line. Clangclangclang! The clanging of metal and a chorus of screams filled the heavens. An army without organization or formation, in which each soldier was fighting on its own, was nothing more than a scattered mob. Against a regular and organized army, it couldn't even take a single blow.
Swooshswooshswoosh!
Cold pikes plunged in through the chest and out through the back, snuffing out the lives of Whitestone Corps soldiers in mere seconds.
One, two, three, four…
Ten, one hundred, one thousand…
In the blink of an eye, thousands of Whitestone Corps soldiers had fallen. The disorderly Whitestone Corps was simply no match for the unstoppable Annan Protectorate army.
Rumble! Duan Wuzong suddenly pushed back Zhao Wujiang with a slash of his sword and quickly turned around to make some distance, his complexion ashen. ”All rear troops, forward! Soldiers in the front, hold the line! Pursuit is forbidden without an order!” Before the battle started, he had already thought about how to defend against this Tang tactic. Even though he had been prepared, he had still unexpectedly fallen for the trap.
Boom!
Bloody light flashed as Zhao Wujiang pursued with his saber. Duan Wuzong had only bought enough time to give this single order before he was once more caught up in battle.
”Duan Wuzong, you still have time to give orders? You should first worry about yourself! Take my sword!”
”Damn it, Zhao Wujiang! You think that you can hold me down like this? Die for me!”
Duan Wuzong's furious roars echoed through the heavens. Alas, no matter how furious he was, when Wang Chong dispatched Zhao Wujiang, his advantages had been completely nullified.
However, despite all this, Duan Wuzong's order had still been useful.
The Whitestone Corps had learned from the Great Tang, learned from the Annan Protectorate army. Purely in terms of ability to execute orders, it was only a little lacking compared to the Great Tang.
”Rear troops, forward! Fill the ranks!”
”Forward troops, pull back! Hold the line!”