Chapter 1913: Army at the Doorstep of the Arabian Capital! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”Reporting!”
A panicked horseman rode toward the walls, leaving a trail of dust behind him.
”Milord, it's terrible! The three western gates are all under attack! Khorasani and people from neighboring countries disguised themselves as militia to sneak in! More than one hundred thousand men are involved in the assault!”
”What?!”
Abu Muslim shuddered as if he had been struck by a lightning bolt.
Khorasani?
People from neighboring countries?
Could it be that when the empire was gathering its militia, the Khorasani, the rebels, and the armies of the vassal kingdoms had already joined together and made a plan, waiting for the Tang army to arrive to launch their assault?!
”These bastards! Do they really think that a hundred-thousand-some people can shake us? What about our three-hundred-thousand-some elite cavalry and several hundred thousand militia? Since they dare to betray the empire, we'll kill them first!”
Next to Abu Muslim, the eyes of the Arab noble governing Khorasan went red with killing intent as he roared.
Even if Arabia had been defeated, was it the turn of these clowns to play tricks?!
”Milord, let me take some men to wipe them out!”
The generals around Abu Muslim were all enraged.
But as Abu Muslim was pondering what to do…
Bang!
The earth shuddered, and a thunderous clang came from the gate. Abu Muslim's heart tightened, and everyone turned to see that a massive metal bolt had slammed into Khorasan's massive gate.
Khorasan's gates were forged from the finest Deep Sea Xuan Metal and had been reinforced with countless formations and inscriptions of various sizes. These were gates that were made to create a most formidable fortress.
Moreover, after retaking Khorasan, in order to prevent the Tang from taking the city, the Arabs had further reinforced the gate. In normal circumstances, it should have been impossible to breach Khorasan's eastern gate.
But everyone could see that the terrifying strength of the bolt had caused the massive metal gate to cave inward, and the thick bolt had even penetrated through the metal to protrude from the other side.
An Arab general glanced at the wavy patterns on the ballista bolt and immediately understood what was going on.
”It's a giant ballista bolt forged from Wootz Steel!”
In the war of the northwest, they had all witnessed the power of the giant ballista bolts against the Behemoths, but as terrifying as they were, they had not had those wavy patterns, patterns that were naturally created by Wootz Steel.
While Deep Sea Xuan Metal was tough, it could not stand against a giant ballista bolt made of Wootz Steel, no matter how many formations and inscriptions it was reinforced with.
Buzz!
Abu Muslim and the other generals immediately looked in the direction the bolt had come from.
They saw a giant ballista escorted by countless Tang soldiers, pointed straight at the city gate.
Nearby, numerous soldiers and craftsmen were busy putting together an assortment of parts into a second giant ballista.
Abu Muslim and his men felt their hearts sink to rock bottom.
The Tang had taken apart those terrifying giant ballistae and transported them here!
”He had these special ballista bolts ready for some time! From the moment this war started, he had predicted this day and was amply prepared for it!”
As he stared at that youth on that divine steed with white hooves, Abu Muslim suddenly realized something, but enlightenment only made his heart heavier.
For what reason did they have to be born in the same era? Abu Muslim's heart was filled with an indescribable mix of complicated emotions.
”Release!” Wang Chong called out, and another Wootz Steel giant ballista bolt thundered into the gate of Khorasan. Kaboom! The gate caved farther inward as yet another hole was punched through it.
Every Wootz Steel weapon cost as much as a city, and forging these giant ballista bolts took great quantities of Wootz Steel. Each one cost as much as forty million taels of gold, and Wang Chong had only forged four.
These Wootz Steel bolts were not very useful against Behemoths. After all, there were only four, so they could only kill four Behemoths, while the Behemoth Army had many more than that.
But they were perfect for attacking the mighty city gates of the Arabian Empire.