Chapter 918: Huoba Sangye! (2/2)
Their howls reaching the heavens, the countless mercenaries of the Western Regions lunged forward like a tiger leaping down from a mountain, their weapons flailing in the air.
And this was not the only shift on the battlefield. Around a thousand zhang from the second defense line, Sun Zhiming, Zhuang Zhengping, Chi Weisi, Gao Feng, and Nie Yan had paired up, the soldiers led under these pairings 'coincidentally' distributed across the eastern, central, and western parts of the battlefield. When the drums began to thunder, these officers began to move together.
”Lord Marquis has sent the signal! Go!”
”Haha, Dalun Ruozan still took the bait. He's still no match for Lord Marquis!”
”Hurry! Don't delay Lord Marquis's plans! Sir Li Siye has already completed his mission, so it's our turn now!”
All these officers had eyes glowing with vim and vigor. Dalun Ruozan believed that he had a deep understanding of the marquis, but alas, the marquis was far more formidable than Dalun Ruozan could imagine. In terms of tactics and strategy, Dalun Ruozan and the marquis had always been on different levels. Rumble! The three groups of Tang soldiers in the eastern, central, and western parts of the battlefield immediately began to push out to their sides.
If one looked down from the sky, one could see that these three groups had formed an enormous arc that divided the hundred-thousand-some-strong Turko-Tibetan army down the middle. The tens of thousands of soldiers charging out from the second defense line completed this trap, encircling about sixty thousand Tibetan and Turkic cavalry.
An army of nearly one hundred thousand had surrounded an army of around sixty thousand, and the larger army even had the power of ballistae on their side. One could easily imagine what would happen to the encircled enemy.
”Not good!”
Dalun Ruozan immediately paled. All of this had been unexpected and had happened too quickly. Dalun Ruozan had sectioned off Wang Chong's forty thousand cavalry into three places, and he was confident that he had fully suppressed them. In Dalun Ruozan's plan, he was on the verge of defeating them. But now, Dalun Ruozan understood that those three groups of cavalry hadn't been forced into those positions at all.
From the very start of the battle, they had intended on being partitioned into those areas.
”Order all the soldiers on the vanguard to retreat!
”Order the left wing and right wing to advance and do all they can to break the Tang's blockade line!
”Tell Huoba Sangye to abandon his battle with the Wushang Cavalry and advance to scatter the three groups of Tang cavalry!”
Dalun Ruozan immediately gave a string of orders. The blustery winds on the hill stirred his robes and hair, and while Dalun Ruozan seemed calm on the surface, a hint of anxiety was still visible deep within his eyes.
Dalun Ruozan had made his name many years ago, and even when he had been matching wits with a Great General of the Central Plains like Zhangchou Jianqiong, he had never felt the smallest ripple of emotion. However, when fighting Wang Chong, Dalun Ruozan had to put in all his energy and focus. Wang Chong's art of war was a complete mismatch from this generation, and his strategy and tactics were unconventional and unpredictable.
The fierce battle between the three supreme cavalry forces should have been the main draw of this battle, the clash that would decide the overall outcome. But in Wang Chong's view, this was just bait, with the battle between the more than one hundred thousand Turko-Tibetan cavalry and the Tang cavalry being the true objective.
One second ago, Dalun Ruozan had held the advantage, but now, the situation had suddenly reversed. His vast army had been cut in two, with half of it now in desperate straits and at risk of being completely wiped out! This sort of situation could only ever have happened to him when fighting against Wang Chong.
Rumble!
The army immediately began to move according to Dalun Ruozan's orders. In a cloud of roiling dust, the Celestial Wolf, Wushang, and Mutri Cavalry were engaged in savage combat, but when Huoba Sangye received Dalun Ruozan's order, he hesitated for only a few moments before turning around.
”All soldiers, hear my order! Disregard the Wushang Cavalry and follow me!”
The armor of the Wushang Cavalry was too sturdy and had been further bolstered by many toughening inscriptions. The weapons of the Mutri Great Cavalry were simply incapable of cutting through this armor. There was no way this battle could be brought to a close in a short time. In addition, he would still have a chance to fight a decisive battle with the Wushang Cavalry, but not if the rest of the army was routed.
”Hyah!”
With a shout, Huoba Sangye immediately led his Mutri Great Cavalry streaking like a fireball into the distance.
”Great General has ordered us to go as well!”
At almost the same time, Chekun Benba received the order from Duwu Sili as well. Duwu Sili and Dalun Ruozan currently shared in both victory and defeat. If the army were routed and suffered too many losses, there would be no way to continue this battle. Forty-thousand-some Western Turkic cavalry alone would be able to accomplish nothing.
Moreover, Turkic cavalry were also included in the approximately sixty thousand men trapped in the encirclement.
Gallop! A few moments later, Chekun Benba had led the several thousand Celestial Wolf Cavalry away. For these two cavalry forces to abandon the battle with their foe at almost the same time seemed absurd, but it had truly happened.
If Wang Chong succeeded in dividing and wiping out those sixty thousand soldiers, he would win the battle outright. In comparison to this severe consequence, the stalemate between the three cavalry forces was not very important at all.