Chapter 873: Arrival at the Battlefield! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Rumble! The charge of the Tang army caused a hint of turmoil to run through the distant Arab army.
”Bastard! How could there be this many Tang soldiers? Why didn't we get any reports about this!!!”
On a distant hill, a fully-armored Arab officer furiously cursed in Arabic, his eyes wide open in rage, his entire face contorted as he gazed at the vast and intimidating army before him.
The order he had been given said that there might be an army of twenty to thirty thousand approaching Talas. Although it wasn't certain if this was a Tang army, out of an abundance of caution, his superiors had decided to send a force of around seven thousand cavalry to check it out. The Abbasid Caliphate was a country of war. All of its people, from top to bottom, were practiced fighters. This force of cavalry was riding the mighty Arabian steeds. This was a force strong enough to deal with sixty to seventy thousand soldiers, but this enemy had even more soldiers than that.
The Arabs did not shrink from battle, but this army clearly did not consist of ordinary soldiers. This forbidding and imposing momentum and sharp aura were clearly indicative of a veteran army, elites amongst elites.
Only a madman would take seven thousand soldiers to contend against an army of more than one hundred thousand such soldiers.
”Retreat! Hurry and withdraw!”
”Someone! Report this to Lord Governor!”
Screams and shouts filled the air as the seven thousand Arab cavalrymen panicked and began to retreat. Meanwhile, the vast army of reinforcements from Qixi seemed to swallow up the earth as it unstoppably surged forward.
……
In a place around seven or eight li from Talas, a region of low hills, the cold winds blew and the grass swayed and trembled. Although the nearby Talas had long been drowned in blood and corpses, this place was silent as if frozen in time.
”Kiiill!”
But at this moment, a sharp cry tore through the skies, shattering the silence.
”Run away!”
”The Tang army is coming!”
The Arab cavalry suddenly poured out from the hilltops, shouting in panic as they fled toward Talas. This sudden transformation quickly attracted the notice of the soldiers on the battlefield. The Arab forces stationed on the easternmost flank of the battlefield were the first to notice.
”What's going on?!”
”Aren't these Abdullah's men? Didn't they just leave? Why are they coming back!”
”Bastards! They're in such a mess. What in the world could frighten them so badly?”
The sight of these panicked soldiers immediately had some of the Arab warriors furious with rebuke. Arabia was a country built on war, and they worshiped courage and ferocity. Those who fought unflinchingly at the front lines had always received their utmost respect, while those timid ones who fled in panic were always the first to be cast aside.
”Hurry and inform Lord Governor! The Tang army has arrived!”
”The Tang reinforcements are here!”
One of the Arabian horsemen at the very front paid little attention to the rebukes of his comrades, using all his strength to crazily shout.
”Absurd!”
But those warnings only incurred further rebukes. The army split apart as a savage-faced Arab general rode out upon a mighty Arabian steed. His right hand rested on the scimitar at his waist while his body seethed with killing intent.
”The most elite soldiers of the Great Tang are right here. What other formidable soldiers could Anxi possibly have?
”Even if the Great Tang really did send reinforcements, what is there to be afraid of? We've gathered more than three hundred thousand soldiers here. Lord Governor has long ago ordered that any coward who flees on the battlefield will be immediately executed! Are these scoundrels seeking death?”
As the strongest existence on the continent, the Abbasid Caliphate had subdued countless states on its periphery, big and small. For this war, the Abbasid Caliphate had even gathered an army of more than three hundred thousand elites in Talas's vicinity. At a time like this, was there anything that could threaten them? What could possibly be worth fleeing in such panic?
But the Arab general soon found it impossible to say any more. Behind those fleeing Arab cavalry, some invisible pair of hands was seemingly shaking the hills, causing them to shudder and tremble. While small at first, the trembling grew more and more intense, and even the battlefield around Talas seemed to be shaking.