Chapter 594: The Decisive Battle! The Danger of Wang Chong! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”But, Milord, if this continues, our defenses at the base of the mountain will be completely dismantled,” Lin Wushou worriedly said.
He had come here for the express purpose of requesting an order to move out. He would not normally have done such a thing, but Wang Chong was inexplicably slow in giving the order this time.
”Mengshe Zhao still hasn't attacked up the mountain yet. What they want is for us to leave our positions and attack them,” Wang Chong calmly said.
As he peered down the mountain, his mind was a hive of activity, quickly considering countermeasures. He had to admit that Geluofeng and Dalun Ruozan truly deserved their reputation as powerhouses of the southwest border.
The White Elephant Corps was truly a thorn in Wang Chong's sole.
In a defensive battle, one hundred thousand could contend against five hundred thousand primarily by relying on advantageous geography, terrain, and defenses. Geluofeng, through the use of his White Elephant Corps, was slowly dismantling these defenses and was in no rush to attack.
The Mengshe Zhao soldiers were in no rush to attack, and it was impossible for Wang Chong's forces to leave the mountain and attack them. And as long as Wang Chong stood by and did nothing, the steel walls on the mountain that he had invested so much of his fortune into, his lifelines in this battle, would eventually all be dragged away.
The Annan Protectorate army would truly be forced into a corner.
”But, Young Master, do we really have to sit here and wait for death?”
Lin Wushou looked at Wang Chong, the disappointment in his eyes difficult to conceal.
”No need!”
After a few moments, Wang Chong suddenly ordered, ”Order the master archer square over here for me.”
It took only a few moments for the fully-armored captain of the master archer square to appear before Wang Chong.
”Young Master!”
The master archer captain lowered his head and bowed.
”What methods do you have to deal with the White Elephant Corps elephants?” Wang Chong asked.
”The elephants are covered completely in armor. When the Mengshe Zhao people were forging this armor, they already considered how to deal with a master archer square,” the captain sincerely said.
The White Elephant Corps had only a thousand-some elephants. If they did not have the sufficient defense, they would be slaughtered in a single engagement, so Geluofeng had made ample preparations against this possibility.
”What about the joints? If we can fire at the joints, the elephants' movements will be hampered, allowing us to slow their operation.”
Wang Chong's brow furrowed.
”No! Mengshe Zhao chose Tibetan plate armor precisely for this reason, and they made the armor even thicker than Tibetan plate. Besides the defensive capabilities of the plate armor itself, there are also very few places where the joints of the plate armor are linked together, so there's far too little chance of success.”
The master archer captain sighed.
”What about the eyes? The plate armor can't be so formidable as to even obscure the eyes, right? If we can fire into the eyes of an elephant, we might even be able to kill it in one shot,” Wang Chong sternly said.
”The eyes of the elephant truly are a potential weakness to be exploited, but their eyes are extremely small, completely unlike their massive bodies. In addition… Young Master also saw that the Whitestone Corps has stationed ten-some soldiers on each elephant devoted to defense. Moreover, these warriors are clearly well-trained. Our chances are very small.”
”If we don't have a chance, then let's create one. Since the soldiers are protecting it, we'll just shoot down the soldiers!” Lin Wushou suddenly inserted himself into the conversation, sweeping down in a cutting motion with his hands as he spoke.
Before the master archer captain could speak, Chen Shusun spoke up. ”It's useless! The White Elephant Corps will definitely have made plans against this possibility. In order to remove that sort of defense, we would have to kill the entire White Elephant Corps.”
Things on the battlefield were never so simple. Since Geluofeng regarded the White Elephant Corps with great importance, he had equipped them with the best armor covered with many defensive inscriptions and even made armor for their underbellies. He had probably already thought of every possibility.
The only part that he couldn't defend was probably the eyes, because it would do him no good if his defensive measures blinded the elephants as well. Even so, Geluofeng had still prepared an extremely large army to protect them.
From a certain perspective, from the moment the Mengshe Zhao people had begun to develop this corps, they had thought of every possible flaw and developed countermeasures against them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dust continued to rise from the base of the mountain. While they had been speaking, the outermost circle of steel walls around the mountain had been pulled out. Each under the escort of several dozen soldiers of the White Elephant Corps, the elephants pulled away the heavy steel walls, dragging them step by step from the mountain.
Cries of alarm could be heard all over the base of the mountain. No longer protected by the outer perimeter of steel walls, having lost the tug of war with the elephants, the Annan Protectorate army was forced to move farther up the mountain.
And from start to finish, the Mengshe Zhao soldiers never attempted to pursue. Only when a few Annan Protectorate army soldiers got too close would they attempt to suppress them.
The dismantling of the walls proceeded with almost unbelievable calm.
And from the summit, one could see that Mengshe Zhao had dispatched a great number of generals for this operation. A general would be supervising at every location, immediately bellowing a stern rebuke at the smallest sign of attack. Anyone who seemed to cross a sort of invisible boundary would immediately suffer the lash of the whip.
This entire attack was difficult to imagine.
But this sight failed to alleviate the worries of the people on the summit. It only made their hearts sink like stones.
”The Mengshe Zhao soldiers are now very cautious.”