Chapter 528: Turning Point! Counterattack! (1/2)
Chapter 528: Turning Point! Counterattack!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”A good chance! Charge! These fellows can't hold on any longer!”
”Awooo! Kill them all! Don't let a single one escape!”
”General has ordered that each kill will be rewarded with ten heads of sheep or cattle!”
”Wash them away! The Annan Protectorate army can't last!”
”Charge!”
……
The Tibetans crazily howled. The Annan Protectorate army had managed to last for so long, its defense practically impervious.
But this fierce resistance had only stimulated the Tibetans' killing intent. The Tibetans were famed for their ferocity and courage, and a stronger opponent only increased their desire to subjugate them. Moreover, they were fighting against old rivals, mortal foes. There was no better chance to destroy the Annan Protectorate army.
Boom!
There was no need for an order as thousands of Tibetans rushed into the breach like water flooding through a sluice gate. They could see the summit in the distance, the Tang commander's tent. As long as they could cut down the banner, the army would crumble.
”Kiiiill!”
Brash shouts in Tibetan rang through the skies, mixing in with the clomping of hooves and the splashing of rain. The forest of Tibetan scimitars glimmered with a bloody light in the air.
”Go, hurry!”
The local commander urged his troops on, his eyes bloodshot from anxiety. How could two legs outrun four? If it wasn't for the fact that the cavalry at the front had already dropped their speed because they were in the middle of battle and the cavalry were charging uphill, all the Tang soldiers would have already been killed.
But even so, this full retreat would probably result in the sacrifice of many soldiers.
”Milord, I hope that your decision is correct!”
The officer glanced at the summit, his heart bleeding with anxiety. Battles required sacrifice, and there was no doubt that his soldiers had now become this sacrifice. But this was the nature of war. No matter what the truth was, he had no one to blame.
He could only hope that everything was worth it.
”Master archers, in front, five hundred to six hundred steps, scattered fire!”
Wang Chong gaze emotionlessly at the collapsing formation in the northeast.
Twangtwangtwangtwang!
A volley of arrows flew through the sky like a cloud of locusts. Horses whinnied as one Tibetan after another dropped to the ground with their horses.
Several hundred Tibetan cavalry scattered over a large area fell to the ground, causing the cavalry charge to suddenly slow. And the moment they slowed, the retreating Tang army felt that a great pressure had been lifted off their shoulders, that a chance for survival had emerged.
Everyone hurriedly made their way to the summit.
”Get ready!”
Wang Chong's face was a sheet of ice, while his gaze was fixed on the base of the mountain. Everything was reflected in his mind like a flower in a mirror, a moon in the water. No detail could escape his eyes.
The surging tide of Tibetans rushed into the breach like a river of carp, getting closer and closer to the summit. At this distance, Wang Chong could even see the veins on their foreheads, but he remained unmoved.
The banner over his head was madly flapping in the rain, but Wang Chong's heart was a placid lake.
Time flew by, seeming both like seconds and endless hours. An extremely cold countdown suddenly began on the summit.
”Three!”
”Two!”
”One!”
When he said 'one', Wang Chong's golden-armored right hand swung down.
”Inform Generals Zheng Gaonian, Zhang Zhi, and Feng Long to break out of formation and begin to attack the right!
”Inform Zhao Qian, Huang He, and Fu Long to take up the Single-Line Snake Formation!
”Go!”
……
Messenger after messenger galloped away.
Boom!
In the next moment, just when the arrogant and vicious Tibetans were about to reach the summit, the situation changed. The disorderly and passive army in the north suddenly came to life.
Thousands of soldiers in Square Formation began to move forward like grinding gears.
The changes began from the end of the defensive line. Without warning, an infantry square suddenly changed directions, plunging into the flood of Tibetan cavalry like a sharp knife, cleaving it in two.
And at the same time, at the summit of the hill, hundreds of massive ballistae were suddenly pushed forward.
”Not good—it's an ambush!”
”A trap! This is a trap!”
”How despicable! Kill them all!”
……
Warhorses whinnied as the first wave of ballista bolts swept through hundreds of Tibetan cavalry. Outside of the formation, the Tibetan forces were too scattered for the ballistae to show their full power.
But Wang Chong had intentionally left this gap, a narrow corridor through which the Tibetans would chase down the 'fleeing soldiers' and attempt to break the formation of the Annan Protectorate army. As they charged toward the summit, their army became extremely compact.
Moreover, at the same time, the Tibetans were being pushed in by soldiers from the left and right.
The Tibetans had originally held the advantage in numbers, but at this moment, the breach that Wang Chong had laid down had allowed him to achieve local superiority. Tens of thousands of soldiers from the Annan Protectorate army had succeeded in surrounding eight to nine thousand Tibetan cavalry.
”Quickly, retreat! Open up a gap so that we can rejoin the main army!”
”Don't let them divide us!”
”Everyone, follow me!”
……
A formidable Tibetan commander in the breach had noticed that something was wrong and began to turn around, charging toward the 'opening'. As long as he could widen that opening and meet up with the rest of the army, the trap would fall apart.
In addition, as long as they could link up with the main army, the Tang army would be caught in their own trap, would have dug their own graves.
”Kill them all!”
”You pile of trash, hurry up! Don't let them join together!”
”Quickly!”
……
The Tibetans outside the breach were also in a rush, the thousands of cavalrymen filled with rage. No one had expected this to happen. This was a tactic that the Great Tang had never once used before.
But they didn't have time to react.
Crash! A snake suddenly stabbed into the middle of the army. At this crucial moment, Zhao Qian, Huang He, and Fu Long had completed their Single-Line Snake Formation.
The two armies layered over each other, forming a double-edged sword. One was aimed inward to lock the Tibetans in the pocket and the other was faced outward to stop the rest of the Tibetans from charging in.
Roar!
Bongbongbong!
Bwoooom!
The situation in the northeast suddenly intensified. One side wanted to save the eight to nine thousand trapped cavalry while the other side was doing their utmost to stop them. Both sides were giving it their all, scimitars shining and swords flashing, horses neighing and people screaming, and the rain pouring down to drown everything away.
And the shift in the northeast had knock-on effects. When the Tibetans saw how desperate the northeast had become, they all began to shift their forces there to offer their aid.
”Kill them!”
”We can't let them succeed!”