Chapter 903: The Terrifying Dalun Ruozan! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Dalun Ruozan!
Wang Chong didn't even need to think to know that Dalun Ruozan had given the order. There were two commanders on the eastern battlefield. One of them used wolves while the other used vultures. They had separately decided to launch their probing attacks using different methods. Wolves and vultures were creatures of the steppe and the plateau, and Duwu Sili and Dalun Ruozan could get as many of them as they wanted. Not even the severest of losses would make them suffer the slightest heartache.
But they also served as excellent ways to test Wang Chong's defenses on the eastern battlefield.
”Since this is the case, I'll fulfill your desires!”
Wang Chong gazed at those two figures on the hill with bright eyes and a gentle smile on his lips. Duwu Sili and Dalun Ruozan were dreaming if they thought that a vast army of wolves and vultures could break his defense line, and even if they were just probing, they had little chance of finding out anything useful.
Twenty zhang!
Ten zhang!
”Release!”
A cold voice rose from the eastern defense line. In the next moment, the air began to buzz as if crowded with thousands upon thousands of bees. Just as those wolves and vultures were about to arrive, the dense collections of holes atop the steel walls suddenly gleamed with cold light, and tens of thousands of arrows burst out from them.
Awoooo!
An arrow immediately punched a bloody hole through the forehead of the foremost wolf, and seven more arrows immediately nailed the corpse to the ground. This was a mere prelude to the symphony of death about to begin, as tens of thousands of arrows were still in the air, buzzing down from the skies. Soon, the area for eighty zhang in front of the second defense line was a sea of wolf corpses nailed to the ground.
Plushplushplush! In the air, the vultures shrieked in alarm as arrows shot through their necks, wings, and chests, and they plunged to the ground. Down below, it was easy to see the Great Tang soldiers aiming long rectangular chests with numerous holes in them into the air.
A small adjustment was all that was needed to turn the skies into a death zone as well.
Wolves howled and vultures shrieked, the din lasting for only a few seconds, and then the sky was cleared of vultures while the ground was covered in corpses. The battlefield fell silent.
Buzz!
On the distant hill, beneath the banner of the golden wolf, Duwu Sili's eyes were twitching, his face pale.
”What is this?!”
Duwu Sili felt like his understanding of the world had completely changed as he stared at that youth in the distance. Although he had come at Dalun Ruozan's invitation and his goal was also to exterminate all the strength the Great Tang had in the Western Regions, he had never once exchanged blows with Wang Chong.
Those steel installations that could launch tens of thousands of arrows in seconds were something Duwu Sili had never seen in his entire life, and completely overturned his understanding of archery.
Nearby, Dalun Ruozan's eyes were also raging with emotion.
When he had fought with Wang Chong in the war of the southwest, Wang Chong only had his steel walls. In the face of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army, he could only passively defend. This sort of terrifying killing machine had not been brought into being yet. These beehives were a formidable barrage weapon, and Dalun Ruozan had long ago heard in the royal capital's prison that Wang Chong had used them against Dayan Mangban.
But to hear and to see were two completely different concepts.
When that vast sea of arrows had suddenly appeared in the sky, everyone on the hill had sensed a shock that reached into the deepest depths of their soul.
”Release!”
Similar orders were not only being shouted on the eastern side of the battlefield, but to the west of Talas as well, from the first defense line. Buzz! Tens of thousands of arrows exploded into the air, completely engulfing the Iron Beast Army and the Arab soldiers charging up from behind them.
”Release!”
”Release!”
”Release!”
Each of the thousands of beehives installed on the steel walls had a soldier to operate it. The tens of thousands of arrows blocked out the skies as they whistled through the air. Each arrow was far less lethal than a bolt from a ballista, and a significant portion was blocked by Arabian armor. However, the terrifying number of arrows being fired had created a similarly terrifying power.
Plushplushplush! The sound of arrows plunging through flesh could be heard all across the western Talas battlefield. Before warhorses and their riders could even reach the first defensive line, they would topple to the ground, their bodies covered with arrows. In a few short moments, the area in front of the first defensive line was piled with corpses.
”Fire!”