Chapter 593: The Decisive Battle! Besieged by Elephants! (1/2)
Chapter 593: The Decisive Battle! Besieged by Elephants!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”The White Elephant Corps?”
Wang Chong turned his head around. Although he had the memories from his past life, his experiences could never compare to these old veterans who had interacted with Mengshe Zhao for most of their lives and who had also experienced the battle of Erhai.
”Mm!”
Chen Shusun nodded, his expression extremely grave.
”The lands of Erhai are different from the Central Plains. The trees there are lush and the climate hot. There are many large beasts living there, and one of them is a beast with a long nose and incredible strength that Mengshe Zhao calls the elephant. Geluofeng began to train these massive beasts a long time, in the end training them into an army called the White Elephant Corps.
”The White Elephant Corps doesn't have many soldiers, but they are extremely powerful. In the battle of Erhai, they dealt us a heavy blow, with many of our soldiers dying to them,” Chen Shusun said.
The earth rumbled and quaked as that army of massive beasts approached. Finally, Wang Chong was able to see the White Elephant Corps that Chen Shusun spoke of. These were massive elephants, and though Wang Chong had seen elephants before, these were completely different from the ones in Wang Chong's mind.
Wang Chong had never before seen elephants this large. Each of these elephants was six to seven meters tall, some of them even as tall as eight or nine. Their massive bodies alone were enough to shake one's resolve.
How could such a large elephant exist?
Wang Chong felt an incredible shock.
Wang Chong had never seen this White Elephant Corps, and he had no recollection of them in his memories. They had probably been annihilated in the foreign invasion. But now that he saw these elephants, Wang Chong felt an impact that was difficult to imagine.
At their largest, African bush elephants would only reach heights of around four meters, but the elephants of the White Elephant Corps almost doubled that height, and each of them was sixteen to seventeen meters long.
The tusks protruding from their mouths were three to four meters long.
In all of Wang Chong's experiences, he had never seen such a massive creature.
”Those elephants are even wearing armor!” Old Eagle muttered to himself. While Wang Chong had some experiences with which to mentally prepare himself, Old Eagle was completely lacking. It was hard to describe the astonishment Old Eagle had felt upon seeing these behemoths.
”It's inscribed armor!” Wang Chong muttered.
Old Eagle was correct. These elephants were wearing thick white armor, and it was plate armor akin to that used by the Tibetans. Each plate was a foot thick and covered in inscriptions.
Wang Chong needed only a glance to recognize that these were the toughening and defensive inscriptions that he was so familiar with. These inscriptions and the thickness of the plate armor meant that even ballistae would find it very difficult to harm these elephants.
But the most shocking thing of all was still the size of the elephants.
With the armor and inscriptions, these elephants probably each weigh more than ten thousand jin, even heavier than the steel walls! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.
Each one of the metal walls that Wang Chong had had forged weighed several thousand jin, but this was insignificant to the Mengshe Zhao elephants. In an instant, Wang Chong understood Mengshe Zhao's plan.
”Mobilize the ballistae; prepare to intercept!” Wang Chong ordered.
”Yes, Young Master!”
The messengers quickly went to pass down the order. At the same time, a change also occurred in the Mengshe Zhao army.
”Hey!”
”Ha!”
Shouting, the Mengshe Zhao army surged forward, forming a human wall in front of the massive white elephants and advancing together with them.
What the Tang had worried the most about had finally occurred.
Roar!
”Ha!”
The soldiers roared as they raised their massive shields over their heads and advanced toward the mountain. At this sight, it wasn't just Wang Chong, but Chen Shusun, Wang Yan, Xianyu Zhongtong, Old Eagle, Luo Ji, Lin Wushou, and the other generals who paled as well.
Even the slowest of them could understand that these shield soldiers were protecting the white-armored elephants.
The ground continued to quake as the White Elephant Corps advanced. From the vantage of the summit, one had a clear view of their relentless advance.
One, two, three, four…
Upon careful examination, more than one thousand of these elephants were approaching the mountain. Although this wasn't a lot, these massive behemoths scattered across the plain seemed to be exuding a mighty wave of pressure.
”Hey!”
”Ha!”
……
Finally, with a set of deafening blares, the first wave of the White Elephant Corps reached the base of the mountain.
”Ready, fire!”
With this order, a volley of arrow descended like locusts. Dingdingding! The arrows landed on the massive bodies of the elephants and were deflected away.
The white armor served as thick city walls that warded off every arrow.
”Get ready!”