Chapter 895: The Second Defense Line! (1/2)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Buzz!

Thousands of craftsmen piled on carriages like ants as they went to carry out Wang Chong's orders. Upon arriving on the eastern side of Talas, they ignited the furnaces, and black smoke and the sound of banging metal soon filled the air. The massive modules of steel were quickly hammered into the ground and soldered together to form a sturdy wall on the east.

Wang Chong had prepared for today's battle for more than two months, and he had been assisted in this venture by all the smithing clans and other smiths of the Central Plains. The endless stream of steel modules arriving at Wushang had been precisely in preparation for any unforeseen events like this.

The greatest advantage modular construction had over ordinary methods was its speed.

With Wang Chong's order, the vacant and open land in the rear of the Qixi Protectorate army was soon covered by a long and straight steel wall, a firm line of defense for the more than one hundred thousand Tang soldiers.

This was just like how Wang Chong had built a nine-zhang-high steel wall at Wushang in the space of a single night. Only he could perform such miraculous feats.

Amidst roiling smoke, the thousands of craftsmen were still pouring solder, but they were only a few moments away from completing their work. On the other end, the more than one hundred thousand soldiers were beginning to move according to Wang Chong's orders.

”Go, go, go!”

In front of the first line of steel defenses, Chen Bin, wearing a suit of Meteoric Metal armor and gripping a Wootz Steel sword, was issuing order after order. The ballista corps, holding three thousand ballistae and fifteen thousand men, cleanly divided into two. Seventy-five hundred men began to board the transport carriages and set up ballistae in three rows, five hundred ballistae to a row, each of them aimed at the empty spaces between the steel walls.

The steel walls were the best barrier against the charge of cavalry. If the Arabs wanted to get through, they would need to break formation and come in through the openings between the walls, exactly where the ballistae could maximize their firepower.

As the fifteen hundred ballistae were being set up, rows of infantry carrying shields began to arrive, lining up to also face the openings. The soldiers of Greater and Lesser Balur were also mobilized for this defense.

The soldiers of these two kingdoms were not as elite as those of the Great Tang, and in this era dominated by cavalry, Greater and Lesser Balur were practically nonexistent. But their spearmen and pikemen were among the best, and they were far more skilled in their use of pikes than the pikemen of any other faction.

This was one of the primary reasons Wang Chong had hired their soldiers. The pikemen of the Balurs were almost a perfect match with the shieldmen of the Great Tang. This was an intimidating defense line that was ideal for countering cavalry.

Rumble! As the soldiers of Greater and Lesser Balur and the infantry and shieldmen of the Great Tang finished forming their line, the Gangke King rode forward on a large brown horse, leading the Gangke and the other mercenaries of the Western Regions in taking their positions.

”Everyone, hear my order! There will be no retreat until I say so! Those who disobey will be executed!”

The Gangke King's eyes blazed like stars as they fiercely swept past the steel walls to fall on the surging black waves of the Arab army. Around him, the Gangke stood with their backs straight in a neat square, their eyes vicious and brimming with fighting intent. Arabia versus the Great Tang! This was a clash of lion versus elephant.

In this war, everyone had to make clear where they stood, who they had chosen.

There was no question that the Gangke had chosen the Great Tang.

”Come! Even if I die in battle today, I do so without regrets!”

The Gangke King's eyes were bright, and his black cape flapped in the wind. His entire body seemed to be ablaze with power and energy. The Gangke King was one of the few Saint Martial experts under Wang Chong's command, and he was even stronger than the Invincible Great General Li Siye.

The Gangke King had always been proud, and in the Western Regions, there was no one who could make him bow his head. But now, the illustrious Gangke King had chosen to lower his head to Wang Chong.

The once-meek Gangke, the filthy pigs of the Western Regions, had finally been able to wash their bodies clean of shame and stand upright. The Gangke King was willing to offer his death to repay the Great Tang and Wang Chong for their aid!

”Come! Fight…”

The Gangke King gripped his Barbaric God Axe, all the blood in his body seething.

……

Rumble!

While the Gangke King prepared to fight to the death, the rest of the Tang army was rapidly mobilizing. From above, it looked like a surging river on the plains around Talas, but though it appeared turbid, it was actually moving in a disciplined and orderly fashion.

Only Wang Chong was capable of so quickly mobilizing an army of more than one hundred thousand soldiers in such an orderly fashion.