Chapter 498 - Cavalry! Impact!

As if feeling its master's will, the White-hoofed Shadow let out a neigh, its mane flying behind it as it increased its speed. The two forces of cavalry rapidly approached each other, faster and faster, closer and closer…

Caw caw!

Countless birds took flight as more and more dust was stirred higher and higher into the air. Two floods of black steel heedlessly charged toward each other with a determined momentum.

"Hahaha, one thousand people, one thousand! They dare to meet our charge with only one thousand people!"

In the distance, that stalwart Tibetan commander didn't dare believe his eyes. As a famous general of the battlefield, he could estimate the size of his opponent's forces with a single glance.

One thousand men dared to charge against his three thousand Tibetans? He didn't know if he should praise the enemy commander for his courage or say that he had lost his mind and was seeking his death!

"What in the world is going on?"

At this moment, even Dengba's faith was shaken. He had always believed that the enemies in the north were a strong foe, but for them to do such a thing…

Their northern comrades being wiped out… was it really just a fluke?

"Kill! Destroy them so thoroughly that not even a shred of armor is left!"

The brawny Tibetan commander pushed his three thousand cavalry to an even faster speed.

Awoooo!

The killing intent of these Tibetan warriors was provoked, and they began to brandish their scimitars, howling in excitement. It had been a very long time since they had fought a battle involving more than one thousand enemies.

……

"Hmph, let me see how strong more than one thousand Tibetans really are!" Wang Chong said with a grim smile.

Wang Chong had naturally noticed the change in the aura of his opponents, but he felt no fear. On the contrary, this only stimulated his fighting intent.

Putting aside the standpoints of the two sides and the critical role this war would have on the Great Tang, there was no question that this era was one that belonged to generals.

Compared to the world he had come from, this world had far too many renowned generals. Even an obscure Tibetan general could possess an astonishing decisiveness and courage to launch an assault across one thousand li.

In his last life, even though he had become a general in a league of his own, praised by the entire world as a War Saint, all the other generals had died by then, their stars fallen. That feeling of loneliness at the top had been a little too dismal.

The Wang Clan's premature decline and the political coup d'état had made him miss out on far too much.

In his last life, during that generation of generals, he was still an obscure wanderer who could only watch as those generals clashed with dazzling and resplendent radiance.

This was the best generation to be a renowned general! And it was the best generation for a general to die in!

Even though the generation that would come next would be the darkest of them all!

Buzz!

As a cold light flashed through his eyes, Wang Chong pushed the Halo of Dusk Stallion to its limits and transformed into a blur.

These three thousand cavalry were his first trial on his journey south!

Only by defeating these three thousand Tibetans would he have the right to deal with the vast army of Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang further south.

This was a pass he had to get through!

"Hyah!"

Forty li, thirty li, twenty li…

As the armies charged toward each other, the fifty-li distance quickly shrank.

Killing intent twisted in the air while dust filled the skies.

Ten li, eight li, seven li, six li…

The horses had almost reached their maximum speeds, a nigh unimaginable speed. And once an arrow left the bow, it was impossible to retrieve.

At this moment, neither the Tibetans nor Wang Chong could stop.

There was no retreat, only forward, and certainly no stopping.

Five hundred meters, four hundred meters, three hundred meters…

Weapons had left their sheaths and the air was fraught with tension. When one pulled the string of the bow, one had to loose the arrow. At this point, no one could retreat.

"Young Master!"

In the back, Zhao Jingdian's face was pale from anxiety.

His strength had been insufficient for Wang Chong's plans, so Wang Chong had arranged for him to be in the rear with other hired experts. It was evident that he knew nothing about Wang Chong's plans.

But it was too late to say anything now.

Two hundred meters, one hundred meters…

At this distance, it was possible to see the grimaces on the other side's faces, the bulging veins on their arms. The clattering of their armor clearly rang out in their ears.

At this distance and at their speeds, one hundred meters could be covered in a few seconds.

Ninety meters, eighty meters, seventy meters…

The atmosphere grew exponentially more tense while killing intent continued to crazily soar. Every person could hear the heavy breathing of their foes, and the sound of scimitars, spears, and swords madly vibrating in the air.

Everyone's nerves were taut to the extreme.

Sixty meters, fifty meters…

Even the horses were feeling the tension that came from the blood that was soon to splatter the air, and they began to neigh. Just when the two sides were about to clash, Wang Chong raised his arm, a harsh light flitting through his eyes.

"Net Formation!"

Wang Chong's harsh voice cut through the air.

A second seemed to stretch to infinity, and the Tibetans watched in shock as the one thousand Great Tang cavalry behind Wang Chong suddenly split into two like some two-headed snake and began diverging from their initial path.

In the space of a second, one thousand soldiers had split into two groups of five hundred!

"How is this possible?"

This sudden change stupefied the Tibetans. Some of them tried to stop this from happening, but it was far too late for that.

The inertia that came from their maximum speed was simply impossible to imagine. Even though Ü-Tsang relied on its cavalry to sweep over the world, it still could not pull off a maneuver like that under such massive inertia.

"How did they manage to do it?"

The Tibetan commander widened his eyes and clenched his teeth as he watched this sight in disbelief.

Cavalry had always charged in straight lines, and even more so at such high speeds. Changing directions wasn't impossible, but it would result in broken muscles or bones.

Forcing a change in direction had never resulted in anything good.

So serious were the consequences that the army doing it would inflict massive casualties on their own forces before even engaging the enemy.

But this lot of Tang soldiers had actually been able to so easily alter their course at such high speeds without suffering any shock.

"This is impossible!"

The Tibetan commander tightly clenched his fists and ground his teeth.

At his side, Dengba felt his heart sink.

They had encountered many Tang soldiers since their descent from the plateau, but none of them had been any challenge. These black-armored soldiers were clearly different from the rest.

"What sort of person is this?"

Dengba's eyebrows rose as an extremely ill foreboding began to emerge in his mind.

Boom!

Fifty meters was covered in the blink of an eye, and the one thousand Tang cavalry brushed against the three thousand Tibetans.

Like a massive boulder crashing into the water, before many people could react, two forces of Tang soldiers, one to the left and one to the right, struck the Tibetan echelons like massive pythons.

Clangclangclang! This deafening impact was the sound of Halos of Thorns clashing. The sharp Wootz Steel swords glimmered with cold light as they cut sharp arcs through the air and smashed against an invisible wall.

Boomboomboom!

The sound of the impacts exploded through the world. The accumulated strike of the charge and the strength of those warriors was blocked by an invisible layer of Stellar Energy before it could even touch the Tibetan cavalry.

That indistinct middle-level Halo of Fortress had suddenly become solid, forming a massive white shroud that protected the Tibetan soldiers.

The unstoppable Wootz Steel swords hacked at this fortress, sounding like they were hitting an actual wall.

One, two, three, four…

In the end, all the attacks from the cavalry at the front were blocked, the Wootz Steel swords seeming to plunge into a swamp, first slowing before quickly grinding to a halt.

"Oh no!"

Old Eagle paled at this sight.

"Not good!"

Li Siye had an equally awful grimace. This was his first time fighting Tibetans, and he had heard about their powerful defense as well as their world-famous Halo of Fortress.

But not even Li Siye could have imagined that a middle-level Halo of Fortress would be this powerful. The fusion of three thousand halos made it so that each person's sword seemed to be fighting three thousand people at once.

"If we can't even break their most basic level of defense, our defeat in this battle is assured."

In a flash, all the blood left Li Siye's face, leaving him ghastly pale. In the end, battles were different from the life-or-death duels between martial artists.

No matter how powerful the Black Dragon Bandits had been, they would have never been able to form this powerful fortress, and if not even the sharpness of Wootz Steel could cut through it, this battle would be a sure loss.

And on this sort of constantly fluctuating battlefield, the final result would probably be a complete wipeout.

"Hahaha, it's useless. Your attacks can't break our defense!"

Behind the halo, the Tibetans had been nervously watching, but at this moment, they felt greatly relieved.

Since the attacks couldn't break their defense, all that awaited the Tang was death.

Awoooo!

The Tibetans gave off their unique wolf howl, their red faces flushing with excitement at the imminent slaughter.

"Hmph, it's our turn!"

At the front of the army, the stalwart Tibetan commander revealed a look of ferocity and cruelty. Although he hadn't turned his head, he could already feel the emotions of his soldiers.

At first, he had thought that these Tang men were somewhat formidable, and had prepared himself for a hard battle. In the end, however, they still couldn't break through the Tibetan fortress!

I truly overestimated them!

With this thought, Batunlu pulled out his scimitar. At almost the same moment, scimitar after scimitar emerged from the shroud of the fortress and hacked at the Great Tang cavalry.

Offense was a two-way street. When the Great Tang cavalry were able to attack the Tibetan cavalry, the Tibetan cavalry were also able to attack the Great Tang cavalry…