Translated by: Hypersheep35
Edited by: Michyrr
"Lord Marquis, the Tibetans are about to attack again!"
Everyone behind the steel walls became nervous as they heard the distant yak horns blare. This attack had come faster than any of them had expected.
And all of them could hear something different in those horns. This battle would definitely be more dangerous and fraught with tension than the ones previous.
"Don't get nervous! I have everything planned out!"
Wang Chong solemnly looked forward, his body unmoving.
Dusong Mangpoje was going to move, and Wang Chong was keenly aware that he was absolutely no match for this Ü-Tsang Great General, not even with the Karmic Battle Armor.
Dusong Mangpoje was a transcendent expert on the same level as Zhangchou Jianqiong, Geshu Han, and Fumeng Lingcha. He simply wasn't prepared to fight with an expert of this level.
Rumble!
Like a flash of lightning, a massive black war banner was suddenly thrust into the air, bearing the image of a silver-white eagle. In front of this banner was a slender figure riding a stalwart divine steed of the Great Snow Mountain, a demonic god appearing before all of them.
He wasn't a very tall man, but he exuded an aura as vast as the seas that could make anyone feel tiny and meek.
Dusong Mangpoje!
Even at this distance, Wang Chong immediately recognized the Ü-Tsang Great General he had met in the capital.
Time seemed to grind to a halt.
A second seemed to drag on for countless years, and then the earth quaked. Countless Tibetan warriors charged out behind Dusong Mangpoje, a black flood of steel washing over the earth.
"Kiiill!"
As thousands of Tibetans howled with all their might, the waves of sound were like a massive explosion, stirring a fierce gale that surged toward the triangular gap.
This formidable momentum caused even the heavens to lose their color, and all the Tang paled at this sight.
"Lord Marquis!"
They all turned to look at Wang Chong. At this moment, only Wang Chong could soothe the army and guide them in the right direction.
"Do everything as before. All craftsmen should remain in the fortress. Everyone else, mount your horses and wait for my signal!"
Wang Chong's voice was indifferent and devoid of emotion, but it was precisely this voice that made everyone find their backbone and calm down.
Rumble!
The rumbling intensified as the hooves thundered, the Tibetan cavalry picking up speed as they closed the distance.
Tens of thousands of soldiers charging as one, led on by a Great General like Dusong Mangpoje—this enormous pressure was enough to make anyone shrink back in fear.
Fourteen hundred zhang, thirteen hundred zhang, twelve hundred zhang!
Clang!
A massive golden Halo of Thorns appeared beneath Dusong Mangpoje's divine steed, radiating like a brilliant sun and expanding to every Tibetan horseman, even Dayan Mangban's White Braves.
The Tibetan cavalry grew even stronger, their strength swelling to astonishing heights.
In comparison, Wang Chong's fortifications on the triangular gap were like rocks in the face of a massive wave, in danger of being shattered at any moment.
"All soldiers, withdraw!"
In a flash, a loud voice resounded across the skies. The thousands of Wushang Cavalry instantly turned around and flowed like a stream into the small fortress in the rear.
This sudden change left all the Tibetans dumbstruck, and even Dusong Mangpoje momentarily paused.
After getting used to Wang Chong's vigorous and fearless charges in the face of any number of opponents, even Dusong Mangpoje was surprised to see Wang Chong 'flee'.
"It seems like he's a little smart, but since you've already offended me, isn't it a little too late to flee?"
Dusong Mangpoje faintly smiled as he urged his horse to go even faster.
No matter what Wang Chong thought, the moment he stepped onto the plateau and built these fortifications, he had already placed himself in a perilous situation.
And when Fumeng Lingcha left, this rising star of the Great Tang, this young military genius, was foreordained to fall here.
"All soldiers, charge! Those who retreat will be executed!"
Dusong Mangpoje's order further invigorated his army.
"Damn it! Charge!"
Seeing Wang Chong flee, Dayan Mangban was furious. He could not permit Wang Chong to escape. Even if he had to pursue Wang Chong all the way back to Wushang's City of Steel, he would definitely kill him.
……
"Careful! The Tibetans are fully mobilized. They're going to attack the fortress! Even that Tibetan Great General has moved out!"
"Hurry, hurry! Open the gate; let Lord Marquis and the others in!"
"Everyone, hurry with the welding and harden the walls! If the Tibetans get in, all eight thousand of us are dead. Remember, we can't let any of them get over the walls!"
No one was more nervous at this time than the eight-thousand-some craftsmen, and the entire fortress was jittery and nervous. If it weren't for the fact that the foremen had followed Wang Chong to the southwest, they wouldn't have been able to maintain their calm and soothe the workers, convincing them that Wang Chong had everything planned out, and all the craftsmen would have already taken to their heels.
Rumble!
The massive gates opened. Eight people were needed to open the gate, but at this moment, thirty-two people were hastily working at this task.
Whoosh! A gust of wind blew in as a Wushang cavalryman charged through the gate, followed by a second, a third, and then a surging river.
"Quick! Close the gate!"
There was a thunderous roar that could be heard all over the city. The craftsmen quickly began to move, and the gears began to rumble as the gate was closed.
As the last of the Wushang Cavalry charged in, the gates completely closed.
……
"Don't let them run!"
"Kill them!"
"Kill all the Tang! Now is the time for our revenge!"
The Tibetans roared into the heavens. These last few battles had cast a shadow over the hearts of these Tibetans that once used to look down on the Tang. However, the sight of the Wushang Cavalry fleeing had immediately swept this shadow away.
There was no question that not even the Wushang Cavalry were a match for Lord Dusong Mangpoje. As long as the Great General was present, these Tang weren't even worth mentioning.
Thousands of horses cried out as they charged past the steel walls toward that small fortress in the triangular gap.
The Tibetans encountered no obstacles this time, and no beehives filling the sky with arrows. All the soldiers were able to gallop past the outlying walls and reach the base of the nine-zhang-high walls.
"Ready the hooks!" someone in the army roared. Dingdingdangdang! Countless hooks flew up to the walls. At this moment, the only soldiers that could have brought such tools meant for assaulting cities were Dayan Mangban's White Braves.
Rumble! A long, silver battering ram, its surface covered in complicated patterns, crashed against the gate with a force of ten thousand jun. The massive impact caused the entire city to tremble as it let out a deafening boom.
The White Braves were far too familiar with assaulting cities. In many battles, the five thousand White Braves had relied on precisely this set of techniques to conquer many small kingdoms of the Western Regions.
For this attack, Dayan Mangban had already known that a steel fortress had been erected at the triangular gap, so these grappling hooks and silver battering rams had been prepared in advance.
It was just that in the previous battles, the five thousand White Braves had not had any chance to reach the fortress walls to use this siege weaponry.
Whoosh!
The winds howled as the White Braves began to scale the walls. These were not the walls of that towering City of Steel in Wushang, so they were much easier to climb.
In just a few moments, the White Braves began to peek over the walls.
But the first person to appear on the wall was not any of those nimble White Braves. In a flash of light, Dusong Mangpoje and his divine steed leapt into the air.
He didn't even need to use any hooks, simply traversed that nine zhang of height with his own strength.
"Look! Over there! Shoot arrows at him!"
The walls were in chaos. The moment Dusong Mangpoje appeared, he was greeted by arrows from all sides.
This was a unit of archers that had remained within the fortress this entire time. Sensing Dusong Mangpoje's powerful aura, almost all the archers had fired at him.
"Petty tricks!"
Dusong Mangpoje faintly smiled, and he simply stood on the wall, allowing the arrows to come at him. But at a distance of three zhang, all these arrows stopped and fell to the ground.
But when this volley was finished, another volley of arrows exploded toward him.
Dusong Mangpoje gave a relaxed grin, his hawkish eyes piercing through the sky full of arrows and flitting across the city in search of something.
"Found it!"
Dusong Mangpoje chuckled as his eyes locked onto a figure opening a gate, ready to flee.