Chapter 908 - Containing the Great Generals!

“What’s going on?!”

The figure of Abu Muslim in the rear, which had been as steady as Mount Tai, suddenly shuddered as he sprang from his chair in extreme shock. He had participated in many wars and conquered many countries, but he had never seen something like this. A force of more than two hundred thousand elite Arab cavalry had instantly weakened.

Not only that, the sudden drop in strength had thrown the Arab formation at the front into disarray, with numerous Arab cavalry too slow to react ending up impaled on the pikes of the enemy. Boom! Ballista bolts shot over the shield wall and struck the rows of Arab cavalry some twenty zhang away.

Roooar!

A soldier of the Iron Beast Army roared, one hand holding the corpse of a warhorse as he rushed dauntlessly toward a thick ballista bolt. But this time, the Dark Blood Shield and Iron Beast Halo were not effective. Once it blew through the horse corpse, the ballista bolt continued unabated, easily piercing through the soldier’s armor and then carrying along his body through the air.

It then struck a second, third, a fourth… In a short period of time, the black ballista bolt had pierced through eight Arab cavalrymen, nailing the last four to the ground.

Whooshwhooshwhoosh! Similar sights played out elsewhere on the battlefield. The hundreds upon thousands of ballista bolts fell like a thick rain over the battlefield, but their effect this time was totally different. Bangbangbang! Corpses crashed to the ground as the area in front of the first defense line was swiftly cleared.

“Release!”

“Release!”

“Release!”

Amidst the ballista army, Chen Bin coldly looked down from a transport carriage, his sword constantly swinging down. Having served Wang Chong for so long, Chen Bin was completely clear on what had happened. This was an incredibly rare opportunity, the best chance for the ballistae to display their might.

Swooshswooshswoosh!

Nine thousand!

Ten thousand!

Eleven thousand!

Twelve thousand!

The Arab losses had instantly ballooned under the intense ballista fire, and this number was still climbing. Currently, the Arabs had lost twenty-four thousand men to Chen Bin’s ballistae.

……

The Arabs were far from the only ones affected. So were the Tibetans and Western Turks on the eastern line.

The Tibetans and Western Turks had been relying on their overwhelming numbers to suppress Li Siye, Sun Zhiming, Zhuang Zhengping, Chi Weisi, and the others, but the moment Wang Chong unleashed his Bane of the Battlefield Halo, the situation was immediately reversed. The Turko-Tibetan force instantly found themselves on the back foot, with many of their number dying to the charge of the Wushang Cavalry and other Tang cavalry.

“What is that? Just what did that brat do?”

In the rear, Duwu Sili narrowed his eyes, his pupils constricting, his shock no less than Abu Muslim’s on the other end of the battlefield. Almost instinctively, he turned to Dalun Ruozan and Huoshu Huicang. This was Duwu Sili’s first encounter with Wang Chong, but this was not the case for Dalun Ruozan and Huoshu Huicang. If there was one person who understood what had just happened, it could only be Dalun Ruozan.

“Great General, I also have no explanation for this matter.”

Dalun Ruozan bitterly smiled. He knew what Duwu Sili was thinking, but he really could not explain it. This was not his first time exchanging blows with Wang Chong, but Wang Chong still had many mysteries about him, like what had taken place just moments ago.

“In truth, a similar thing took place in the war of the southwest, but it definitely wasn’t as powerful as it is now. it seems that it isn’t just his status and grasp of strategy that have improved. His strength has also increased.”

Wang Chong had far too many mysteries. His art of war, his use of metal modules, the cement road he had built through the Great Tang, and the unique halos he used… Dalun Ruozan had never encountered as inexplicable an existence as Wang Chong before.

His background and education could all be traced, but nothing could be found to explain all the strange things about him. They seemed like two completely different people!

“There’s no other way except using Great Generals to somewhat ameliorate the effect,” Dalun Ruozan said, his eyes turning toward Duwu Sili and Huoshu Huicang.

Even though he had made ample preparations for this battle, there were some things beyond Dalun Ruozan’s ability, like battles between martial artists. Dalun Ruozan had relied on his intelligence, strategy, and schemes to gain his reputation as a wise minister. He pondered more about the general situation and put little attention on his individual strength.

It was more appropriate for Imperial Great Generals like Duwu Sili, Huoshu Huicang, and Dusong Mangpoje to think about such things.

This current sight was a challenge that Wang Chong was issuing to these Great Generals.

“This is all that we can do.”

Duwu Sili subconsciously furrowed his brow. As one of the highest commanders of the battlefield, he would not recklessly step onto the battlefield, only entering the fray at crucial moments of the battle or when the enemy’s Great Generals decided to enter the battle. But now, even though the Great Tang had not sent any Great General into battle, a single halo was enough for him to break this rule and enter the field. This made Duwu Sili rather unhappy.

Not only that, all halos consumed energy. In other words, using their halos would consume the strength of Duwu Sili and the other Great Generals. In the later stages of the battle, when Great General fought against Great General, this lack of energy might prove fatal. It was for this reason that commanders of armies had always shared a tacit understanding to not intervene in the early stages of a battle.

But the circumstances no longer permitted this action!

If he continued to delay, all his cavalry would end up completely routed by the forty thousand Tang cavalry.

Duwu Sili would not permit this.

Buzz!

Duwu Sili raised his head, his back straightening and his eyes gleaming with a harsh and fierce light as he took a fierce stomp forward. Boom! Beneath Duwu Sili’s boot, the hill shuddered, and a golden light began to spread outward, soon transforming into a huge and dazzling golden halo of the Saint Martial realm. Crowns began to appear within the halo, different from the crowns worn by the Emperors of the Central Plains. The images of sheep and wolves had been carved upon the dome of the crown, topped by an unfurled golden eagle.

This was the typical crown worn by the Western Turkic Khagan.

Buzz! Halo after halo expanded beneath Duwu Sili’s feet, spreading to the Western Turkic army. The effect of Wang Chong’s Bane of the Battlefield Halo began to drastically decrease.

Bang!

At almost the same time, the earth swayed as Ü-Tsang Great General Huoshu Huicang took two steps forward, his own war halo exploding from his body in a dazzling golden light. Like a storm, it spread to the tens of thousands of Tibetan cavalry to resist Wang Chong’s Bane of the Battlefield Halo.

The Tibetans and Turks were not the only ones to execute this strategy. At the first defense line, the earth shuddered as if impacted by some tremendous force. The Abbasid Governor of the East, Abu Muslim, had moved at the same time, his pitch-black halo bolstering each of his soldiers.

Wang Chong’s one halo had constrained the Turks, Tibetans, and Arabs at once, so three Great Generals needed to mobilize to counteract him. This was an unprecedented feat.

“They made a move, as expected!”

In the distance, Wang Chong sat on the White-hoofed Shadow, beneath the banner of the Qixi Protectorate army, not one bit surprised by this scene. In fact, there was even a smile on his face. There were hidden schemes and open schemes. The partitioning of the battlefield had been Wang Chong’s first open scheme, and this was his second.

In order to resist the effects of the Bane of the Battlefield Halo, Huoshu Huicang, Duwu Sili, and Abu Muslim would have to use their most powerful halos to passively counter it. The battle had barely begun, but three Great Generals of the enemy side were already beginning to weaken.

Halos consumed energy, and starting from now, as the battle dragged on, Huoshu Huicang, Duwu Sili, and Abu Muslim would only get weaker and weaker. If this battle continued for an hour, their strength would drop from the peak of the Saint Martial realm. But for Wang Chong, things were entirely different.

The Bane of the Battlefield Halo did consume energy, but it was a minuscule amount that would barely affect him. It mostly consumed the energy that was stored within the heavens and earth.

“Since you’re already doing it, I might as well fulfill your wish!”

Wang Chong continued to smile as he unleashed his other halo. Boom! Another flash of light burst from his body as Wang Chong spread his Bane of Generals Halo over the battlefield.

Buzz! In that moment, the battlefield that Huoshu Huicang, Duwu Sili, and Abu Muslim had barely managed to bring under control once more shifted. Without any warning, the various generals of Ü-Tsang, the Western Turks, and Arabia suddenly felt their halos flickering and their energy dropping an entire tier.

This set off a chain reaction, the halos being emitted by these generals to bolster their troops also beginning to weaken under the effects of the Bane of Generals Halo. The soldiers of the three armies immediately felt their strength suffer another small drop.