The Human Emperor

With an order from Zhang Shouzhi, a massive crate next to him exploded, and then with a deafening rumble, a large piece of dark metal howled through the air and struck the legs of an armored giant.

Clack! The dark piece of metal swiftly separated into an object akin to a bear trap and clamped around the giant’s legs. Clack! Its clamping strength was so powerful that it even managed to pierce through the legs of the giant, instantly drawing blood.

“Ah!” The giant screamed in pain at this sudden attack. He tried to shake off the dark metal on his legs, but it was far heavier and sturdier than he had imagined.

Each metal piece weighed several thousand jin, and the armored giants were already rather clumsy. Dragging around this piece of steel that weighed so much immediately made him lose his balance and stagger to the ground.

“Release!”

“Release!”

“Release!”

Zhang Shouzhi continued to issue his orders, launching more and more of these dark metal contraptions at the armored giants.

Giant Beast Traps!

This was a method Wang Chong and Zhang Shouzhi had developed together to deal with the armored giants.

From the incomplete Skyquaking Giants in the war of the southwest to the green-armored giants of the Battle of Talas, and finally to these even more powerful giants now, the Arabs had been gradually perfecting this army. Wang Chong and his generals had long ago predicted this.

The giants were much more intelligent than the Behemoths, and their tenacious vitality, terrifying strength, and formidable outer defenses made them very difficult for the Great Tang to deal with.

The ballistae were effective against them, but one or two bolts was not enough to kill them, and they could be easily dodged!

Thus, Zhang Shouzhi thought of the idea of the Giant Beast Traps.

From a certain perspective, the armored giants were like massive beasts. If they were held down so that they could not move normally, their threat would be minimized and they could be more easily killed.

“Mo Saber Unit, kill!”

Li Siye bellowed, using this chance to charge in with his Mo Saber Unit, whose soldiers seethed with killing intent.

War cries instantly filled the air.

“Kill them all!”

Fear appeared in the eyes of the armored giants, and they began to crazily struggle. Massive armored fists punched here and there, and weapons swung down.

“Die!”

The first to charge was none other than Invincible Great General Li Siye, his expression as cold as ice. With one swing of his giant Wootz Steel sword, he jolted the weapon out of an armored giant’s hand, and he took a flying leap and swung his sword at a crack in the armor of the giant, fiercely slashing at the neck.

Plush! Blood gushed out as the giant’s head spun through the air, traveling more than seventy feet with eyes wide open in fear. It was as if even in death, the giant could not believe that he had died so quickly at the hands of a human.

“Kiiill!”

With resounding cries, the Mo Saber soldiers split into teams of ten and began to attack the armored giants.

In the rear, the Confucian Sect experts provided support. Whenever an armored giant rallied, they would send a powerful burst of Psychic Energy into their minds, causing the giants to once more fall into disorder and pain.

Plush! Plush! Plush! In just a few moments, several dozen giants were beheaded and the situation rapidly reversed. But at this time, Wang Chong no longer had the leisure to worry about the giants.

At the front line, the earth was quaking as the Behemoth Army rapidly approached.

Boom! A massive palm slammed down, fierce shockwaves spreading out amidst churning clouds of dust and knocking over ten-some steel walls.

As furious roars resounded over the heavens, the Behemoth Army placed the Tang defense line in grave danger.

But the Behemoth Army was only the start. As the Behemoth Army charged forward, piercing shrieks came from above. A dark cloud appeared above the sea of Arab cavalry and began to approach the Tang defense line with astonishing speed.

“The giant birds!”

The Tang soldiers cried out in alarm. The Arabian Empire had shown no hesitation this time and had immediately sent their giant bird army, mixed together with their hunting falcons.

But moving even faster was the Arab cavalry on the ground, surging forward in a steel torrent under the cover of the Behemoths to rapidly close the distance with the Tang defense line.

Ten thousand feet, five thousand feet, two thousand feet…

Although the two sides had yet to collide, the massive cloud of dust stirred up by the army had already engulfed the Tang army like a great wave.

“Kiiill!”

“For the Caliphate!”

“Exterminate these infidels!”

The millions of Arab cavalry were getting faster and faster.

All of the Arab riders were at peak morale, their faces turning fiercer and fiercer and their horses neighing in response.

On the other side, the six hundred thousand Tang elites focused their minds and prepared for battle.

Behind them was Longxi and the entire empire!

Every person understood that this battle would decide the fate of the Central Plains and the Great Tang. The empire had sent forth all its elites, and defeat was no longer an option.

“Ready!”

“Ready!”

“Ready!”

Cries resounded over the entire army, and the air grew tenser and tenser. Wang Chong, Zhangchou Jianqiong, An Sishun, and Gao Xianzhi all had solemn expressions, but all the soldiers of the army had only determination, not fear.

Silence!

Absolute silence!

All the Great Generals turned to Wang Chong.

As the Nine Provinces Protector-General, Wang Chong wielded absolute control over the army.

“Move out!”

A cold flash in his eyes, Wang Chong swung his arm and ordered the army to mobilize.

In a flash, the wooden crates burst open, allowing tens of thousands of birds of all types to take to the air to face the giant bird army.

At almost the same time, the Behemoth Slayers stepped forward, raising their giant swords.

Farther off, bolts were loaded onto their ballistae. With the Mo Saber Unit, the Confucian Sect experts, and Zhang Shouzhi’s craftsman team holding down the armored giants, the giant ballistae were able to focus their aim back onto the Behemoths.

Su Hanshan’s tens of thousands of ballistae also began to take aim at the Arab cavalry.

Compared to those giants that needed several ballista bolts each to take down, the ballistae would be far more effective on the Arab cavalry.

With a great howl, the several dozen giant ballistae fired first.

The massive bolts shot forward like furious dragons, their power causing space to tremble and gales to rip across the land.

Right after the giant ballistae were the tens of thousands of regular ballistae, the shrieking of their bolts sounding like the dirge of death.

The moment when the Arab cavalry arrived at the Tang defense line was when they were at their fastest and most powerful, but it was also when they were at their most concentrated and most brittle.

The ballista bolts cut through the Arab cavalry, and screams of the dying filled the air.

Even though the Arab cavalry had already seen the power of the Tang ballistae and mentally prepared themselves, with many of the Arab cavalry pushing out as much energy as possible to defend themselves, they were still not able to escape the fate of death.

Even the strongest cavalry in the world were remarkably fragile in the face of ballistae.

No matter how much they struggled, they were still pierced through by the ballista bolts, bloody holes punched in their armor as they were blown off their horses.

From the very start of the battle, the tens of thousands of ballistae displayed overwhelming power.

From a distance, one could see those charging Arab cavalry being blasted away, dead without even having a chance to grunt.

It was as if all of this had been practiced countless times. The first row fell, then the second and the third.

In this brief time, at least one hundred and fifty thousand Arab cavalry had been slain, inertia continuing to roll their bodies forward.

“Careful!”

“It’s the ballistae!”

“Dodge it!”

Panicked cries rang out.

At the same time, several giant ballistae concentrated their fire and worked together with a single Behemoth Slayer.

This was only the first, and in short order, five or six Behemoths had fallen.

The giant ballistae were under Chen Bin’s command, and their targets had been carefully selected. When these Behemoths fell, their massive bodies served as a barrier that slowed the advance of the Behemoths behind them.