The Human Emperor

Side Story Chapter 23: Debut on the Battlefield! The Tang Ballistae!

“I underestimated him.”

Huoshu Songren’s eyes glinted with savagery as he looked at Li Taiyi’s smiling face.

Hiding his strength!

Huoshu Songren had thought that Li Taiyi was just a slightly smarter Prince, and from how he had surrounded that Tibetan raiding party, he was, at most, a Prince who was good at warfare. But after Li Taiyi had given pointers to that Tang general, Huoshu Songren once more had to change his view of Li Taiyi.

This was someone very capable at commanding men, someone who could threaten Ü-Tsang.

If a single order could assist that general in escaping his predicament, the generals on the Great Tang side would have already spoken instead of waiting until now to say it.

At this moment, Ormu slunk back to the Tibetan ranks, a nasty scowl on his face.

He did not dare to look at Huoshu Songren, for he had lost and affected the Tibetan morale.

Ormu lowered his head and closed his eyes, preparing to take Huoshu Songren’s rage. A rumbling voice spoke.

“You’re dismissed. Don’t repeat this next time.”

Ormu was startled, and raised his head. All he saw was Huoshu Songren’s imposing figure walking to the rear.

At that moment, Ormu’s eyes were even more filled with determination, and he said with utmost loyalty, “Yes! This general will do everything in his power to defeat the Great Tang!”

Ormu turned his horse around and rode back to the front, his body tensing as he prepared for battle.

A loss at the pre-battle duel did not count for anything!

The real show was afterward.

“General Guo, when armies clash, each person works for their own master! On this day, I will not show mercy!”

As Huoshu Songren spoke, his voice gradually turned cold.

The Tibetan army unfurled its banners and began to radiate a threatening and intimidating aura.

On the other end, Guo Dingguo looked at his subordinates and gave a slight nod.

“Get ready!”

Any more talk was meaningless. The outcome would be decided on the battlefield!

Li Taiyi looked around at the reorganizing Tibetan army and mentally remarked, Now is the time for the real battle!

Shaking the reins, Li Taiyi turned his horse around and headed to the rear of the Tang army.

Bwoooom!

Horns blared from both armies. The battle was imminent.

Song Yi returned to the Tang ranks and mounted his horse. As the general who had won the duel and raised the morale of the soldiers, he raised his horse-slayer saber with his right hand and shouted a forceful order.

“All soldiers, prepare for battle!”

As his cry resounded through the air, the air tensed, and everyone turned their attention to the front.

Rumble!

At almost the same time, red-bearded Ormu waved his hand, and three thousand Tibetan cavalry immediately came forward like a demon god emerging from the underworld.

These Tibetan horsemen were clearly elites, wearing full armor and with savage looks in their eyes. Even their highland steeds were outfitted with heavy armor.

Though their challenger had lost, this had only stimulated the Tibetans’ will to fight. Their bodies radiated a heavy energy, and even at this distance, the Tang soldiers could still feel the pressure.

A vigorous voice came from the rear of the army. “Break open the crates!”

Li Taiyi was the one who had issued this order, his face stern. Through the retraining, Li Taiyi had gained some authority, and quite a few soldiers respected him.

Upon hearing Li Taiyi’s words, the soldiers shook themselves out of their stupor, and a moment later, boom! The thirty large crates were broken open.

Wooden shards flew everywhere as the savage war machines beneath were exposed.

These war machines were taller than an adult man and had a metallic sheen. In order to make them easier to move around, they had two wheels installed beneath them. Atop these wheels was a giant crossbow, much bigger than ordinary crossbows. Loaded on the crossbow was a bolt that was ten feet long. In fact, there were at least three bolts loaded on each crossbow, with the most being five.

These war machines exuding a sharp light were none other than the ballistae.

From the initial designs to production to the test firing, they had taken a lot of Li Taiyi’s time and effort, but it could be seen that Li Taiyi had succeeded.

“What is this?”

On the other side, in the rear of the Tibetan army, Huoshu Songren saw the ballistae scattered throughout the Tang army and was perplexed.

For some reason, he felt a vague unease.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, at the front of the army, Ormu took out his curved saber with his right hand and raised it high in the air.

This unique scimitar used by the Tibetans gleamed with a cold light.

“All soldiers, prepare to move into Echelon Formation!”

Boom!

The Tibetans became excited as they rumbled in agreement, killing intent spilling off their bodies.

“Vanguard, move out!”

The killing intent coming from behind him made Ormu’s eyes also glint in excitement, and he swung down his raised scimitar.

Buzz!

The earth rumbled as the force of three thousand fully-armored Tibetan cavalry rode their highland steeds down the slope toward the Tang army.

They were moving rather slowly at first, but they began to accelerate, and by the end, the earth beneath their feet was violently shaking.

A mountainous pressure radiated from their bodies, and this pressure grew heavier and heavier as time went on.

Moreover, their dense formation also began to change, forming one echelon, two echelons, three echelons… The three thousand horsemen reformed into ten-some echelons, charging at the Tang army in wave after wave.

The Echelon Formation!

Huoshu Songren had developed this formation while training his soldiers some time ago, and it served as the strongest and most typical charging formation used against the Tang infantry.

The charging cavalry would divide themselves into countless echelons that would rush at the defensive infantry information in wave after wave.

No matter how strong and well-equipped the Tang soldiers were, even if they could stop one charge, they might not be able to stop a second, a third, a fourth…

When the number of charges reached a certain level, they would definitely be able to topple the defense line, tear apart the formation, and crush the foe.

So long as the infantry on the front line were scattered, the chaos would spread to the rest of the army! This was a secret the Tibetans had discovered after countless clashes with the Central Plains!

Rumble!

The earth groaned as the Tibetan cavalry got faster and faster, building up like a snowball rolling downhill and reaching an absurd speed.

From a distance, the army surged down like a greenish-black lightning bolt, utterly unstoppable!

At that moment, Guo Dingguo’s face turned grim.

He suddenly realized that he had underestimated this Tibetan army!

One thousand feet!

Seven hundred feet!

Five hundred feet!

When only three hundred feet separated the two armies…

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Massive booms issued from the middle of the Tang formation.

They instantly drew everyone’s attention.

It was impossible to properly describe what happened at that moment. When the thirty ballistae fired in unison, time seemed to freeze, the clacking of gears causing the air itself to vibrate. There were only thirty ballistae, but they unleashed one hundred bolts, and that momentum completely drowned out the momentum of the Tibetan charge.

The thick ballista bolts flashed a chilling light, sweeping toward the three thousand Tibetan cavalry like the scythe of death.

Fwoosh!

Before the Tibetan cavalry could react, one of the horsemen suddenly fell backward without even a groan. A ballista bolt had blasted through his chest and out his back. It even had enough force to punch through the body of a second horseman, and then a third, a fourth, a fifth…

Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

The sounds of gushing blood and snapping bones resounded through the air as the Tibetan cavalry were cut down like weeds. In a few short moments, at least three hundred Tibetan cavalry had been slain.

The battlefield fell silent, everyone staring in disbelief.

Everyone had seen those massive crates the Third Prince had brought with him into the Longxi base, but nobody had paid them any attention.

Even when they were being assembled, the soldiers had only given them passing glances.

No one had expected these ballistae to have such power.

“Charge!”

Guo Dingguo’s eyes were wide from this sight, but he was still an experienced commander, so he quickly regained his composure and ordered his men to charge.

Although he had not expected the ballistae to have this much power, they had provided the perfect chance to attack.

“Kill!”

Receiving Guo Dingguo’s order, the Tang cavalry immediately charged into the opposing Tibetan formation.

In a flash, the Tibetan cavalry fell into disarray.

Although these three thousand Tibetan cavalry had lost only a tenth of their number, the explosive power of the ballistae had left an extremely deep impression on them.

In this clash with the Tang soldiers, they acted much more cautiously, afraid that the Tang would unleash another volley.