Chapter 972: Unbending Resolve! I (1/2)
Chapter 972: Unbending Resolve! (I)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Duwu Sili was far smarter than most people imagined him to be. Dalun Ruozan wanted to preserve manpower, and Duwu Sili treasured his own troops even more than Dalun Ruozan did. Thus, even though his words were fierce and harsh, Duwu Sili had never had any intentions of sending his own men. He could hide this fact from others, but never from Dalun Ruozan.
The two Tibetan generals looked at Duwu Sili's back in understanding.
”So Great Minister already predicted that he would move?” Huoshu Huicang said.
Dalun Ruozan silently smiled. His eyes swept over the battlefield, but as they flitted over the front of the defense lines, his expression dimmed slightly.
The Arabian Empire was simply too powerful. He had traveled over a vast distance to the city of Talas with the intention of having a final battle between himself and Wang Chong, a contest of strategy, schemes, and tactics. Dalun Ruozan and Wang Chong were two of the best military strategists in the world, with very few people capable of standing equal with them.
Dalun Ruozan had deeply anticipated this contest of intellectuals. In fact, one could say that he had spent every day and night in the prison of Ü-Tsang's royal capital anticipating this encounter. But it now appeared that this desire was bound to evaporate into nothing.
The power the Arabian Empire had displayed was simply too enormous, crushing any kind of tactic, strategy, or scheme, making all plans futile. Even someone as proud as Dalun Ruozan couldn't help but shudder at this sight.
Only Wang Chong and the Great Tang would have been able to last so long under such fierce assaults. Both the Ü-Tsang Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate would have been routed a long time ago.
”Alas, the Great Tang is doomed to defeat. Although I can't personally defeat you and fulfill my wish, for me to personally see you off and serve as witness to your fall is enough!”
Dalun Ruozan gave a deep sigh. He knew that things looked grim for Wang Chong, and though he was not willing to admit it, he still couldn't help but feel a deep regret when he saw Wang Chong losing to the Arabs like this.
……
”Kill!”
At the distant defense line, the one hundred thousand Tang soldiers were facing a situation far more dangerous than anyone could imagine.
”Exterminate these infidels!”
Tens of thousands of Arab cavalry surged over the defense line into the Tang formation. In the past, the Arabs would have needed to pay a heavy price to cross the line, but there was now a large gap in the steel walls, and the tight and disciplined Tang formations were now in a state of complete collapse from the attacks of the Behemoths.
”Warning! Defeat is imminent! The Great Tang has lost twenty thousand men!
”Warning! Defeat is imminent! Talas will soon be lost! User will soon be obliterated!
”The final warning! Upon defeat, all of user's Destiny Energy will be wiped out! At the same time, all memories concerning user will be erased.”
As Wang Chong flew through the air, the cold and emotionless voice of the Stone of Destiny issued a string of messages. The terrifying jolts unleashed by the giant ape had sent Wang Chong flying for several hundred zhang.
As the winds howled around him and images flew past his ear, time seemed to slow to a crawl. Soaring backward and upside-down, Wang Chong could see the entire battlefield.
He saw the roaring Skyquaking Giants striding toward the last giant ballista, saw the Tang army in chaos, and saw countless panicked cavalry fleeing into the distance. There were both Tang and mercenaries amongst them, all of their faces pale and their eyes filled with fear.
Those four Behemoths had destroyed any confidence they had.
Rooooar! A Behemoth roared, and when Wang Chong moved his gaze past the cavalry, he could see a blood-drenched field, a land of shattered limbs carpeted by corpses of horse and man, their despairing eyes open wide to the sky.
Amongst these shattered limbs, Wang Chong could see rivers and lakes of blood, thousands upon thousands of shattered weapons, and blood-soaked banners, trampled upon by the charging Arab soldiers.
Farther ahead, close to the first defense line, Wang Chong was greeted by a scene of desolation. The other three Behemoths blocked out the sky, their eyes scarlet as they stomped down with their feet.
In front of these three Behemoths, even the hardy ground of Talas cracked and groaned. Giant boulders weighing a thousand jin were carried along by the shockwaves to soar ten-some zhang into the air. In the face of this vicious assault, the strength of man was too meager, too lowly.
No shieldman or cavalryman could stand against it.
It was there that the Tang casualties were the greatest. Even Gao Xianzhi, Cheng Qianli, and his father Wang Yan had been knocked away. Wang Chong could tell that they were worriedly shouting something at him, but he couldn't hear what it was.
He could only see a sea of corpses, their lifeless eyes filled with despair.
In that moment, an agonizing pain filled his heart.
Are we going to lose?