Chapter 2382: Times Have Changed! Immense Strength!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The caravan was divided into three camels per team, with each team pulling a specially designed cart that was packed with oil barrels. This caravan stretched into the distance in a spectacular sight.
Gao Xianzhi waved his hand and firmly declared, “Move out!”
A moment later, with the clinging of camel bells, the caravan slowly began to move toward the east, escorted by several thousand elite cavalry.
Both Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun sighed in relief as they watched the caravan depart. After three years of constant work, they had finally completed their mission.
The rest will depend on the others, the two mentally remarked as the caravan disappeared into the distance.
……
Moving away from Arabia’s Riyadh oil extraction region eastward toward Samarkand, then to Talas, then to Suiye, and finally to the City of Steel in Wushang, it was possible to hear the sounds of fighting, a somber energy shaking the heavens.
Amidst clouds of dust, large numbers of soldiers were locked together in ‘combat’. Arabs, Sassanids, Han, Mengshe Zhao, Tibetans, Turks… all kinds of soldiers were fighting against each other.
Judging by the clouds of dust and the thundering of hooves, there were at least five million soldiers gathered here.
Careful inspection would reveal that the soldiers had been divided into seven regions. Each region had been assigned a different color and its own tents, barracks, training camps, and stables—so many that they stretched endlessly into the distance.
“Kill!”
With a resounding war cry, two forces of soldiers seething with killing intent charged out from their hiding spots and clashed in a place near the Cong Mountains.
Before the two forces had even clashed, there was a metallic clatter as dazzling war halos erupted from their feet. Each soldier had at least six halos, and from a distance, they appeared like brilliant stars.
Boom!
The two forces collided like comets, a collision that lacked any sort of gaudiness. The crashing and booming made the earth shudder and rumble.
In the first clash, countless soldiers were thrown into the air. Despite this, these soldiers were able to display extraordinary skill and ability. As they were knocked into the air, they immediately somersaulted to shed the force. Some of the soldiers even pushed off the backs of their horses, using the power of the collision to shoot out, smoothly avoiding the center of the battle while reducing the shock to the minimum.
The two forces quickly began to fight. The soldiers began to swiftly maneuver on the horses, constantly shifting between the back and abdomen of their horses. Some of the cavalry directly dismounted from their horses, one hand holding the saddle as they ran alongside the horses and swiftly struck out with the sword in their other hand. With incredible skill, they cut down their opponents from their mounts.
Their bodies were as light as swallows and as agile as apes. A few moments later, with a great rumble, several more forces entered the battlefield, these soldiers exuding a harsh and savage aura.
These newcomers did not display any kind of prodigious skill. Simply by thrusting out their spears, they unleashed terrifying torrents of Stellar Energy, using this most practical and simple method to knock aside everyone in front of them.
As these soldiers entered the fray, they sent flying the soldiers of the other two forces and threw the entire battlefield into disarray.
Neigh!
As the battle was beginning to intensify, a loud neighing came from the direction of Talas. Those two forces of unstoppable heavy cavalry turned around nervously and immediately took up a defensive posture.
One wave, two waves, three waves… An area for several thousand li around the Cong Mountains had become an intense battlefield, with different soldiers with different styles and different traits emerging on the battlefield, one by one. This continued from sunrise to sunset, as if the battle would never end.
And when a force of soldiers finally dropped from exhaustion, a new force was certain to emerge from a nearby barracks. It was like this was a war game that would never end.
Ten-some li away, there was a tall metal observation platform, banners and flags flapping around it. Several powerful figures, storms of energy gathered around them, were observing the nearby battlefield from this platform.
Compared to the intense din of fighting, this place was so quiet that it seemed to be part of another world.
Bahram, Yeon Gaesomun, the Khitan King, the Xi Queen, Ozmish Khagan, We Tadra Khonglo, Namri Songtian, Wunu Shibi, Mengshe Zhao’s Duan Gequan and Fengjiayi, Ü-Tsang Imperial Minister Dalon Trinling, and Great Tang War God Wang Zhongsi were all gathered on this small platform, their expressions solemn.
In that conference three years ago that had lasted several days and lights, the upper echelons of each country had gathered together and ultimately divided the continent into several large regions. Amongst all the regions, the central region being overseen by Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi and Ü-Tsang Imperial Minister Dalon Trinling, assisted by the Great Generals of the land, had the most important role.
In the first year, the countries had all embarked on massive recruitment drives and put the troops through intense training. But in the second year, the veterans and new recruits were organized into different groups to train separately. And in the third year, the armies were broken up and the veterans and new recruits mixed together. The region was divided into seven separate sections, and battles between these sections began to take place.
Everyone worked with all their strength, understanding who their future foe would be.
They were not facing a mortal army, but the Celestial Army that Heaven had built up over countless epochs.
No one understood how powerful the Celestial Army really was, but there was no doubt that it could surpass any human army.
Only by training to the strictest standard did humanity have any hope of winning that war.
They had already trained a large number of soldiers. Each of these forces had battled against top-class forces like the Wushang Cavalry, Mo Saber Unit, Aswaran Cataphracts, Divine Martial Army, Xuanwu Army, and Celestial Wolf Cavalry. While they could not defeat armies like the Wushang, they could at least last for several dozen rounds. Compared to three years ago, the difference was like night and day.
“Kill!”
A loud war cry resounded over the battlefield. From a distance, an army emerged with unstoppable momentum, and their immense strength augmented by their charging formation pushed aside all opposition, no matter what their background was.
This force of tens of thousands of cavalry seemed like a moving wall of steel.
The Wushang Cavalry!
The force moving out at this time was none other than Wang Chong’s Wushang Cavalry.
The threat presented by the Wushang Cavalry caused all the other soldiers on the battlefield to turn around and face them, even those soldiers who had previously been defeated. All of them joined together and charged at the Wushang Cavalry.
“Ah!”
Screams rang out. Even though they were no match for the Wushang Cavalry, none of the soldiers on the battlefield retreated. On the contrary, they fearlessly charged forward.
As they charged, these forces that had originally been fighting against each other swiftly changed formation. In a few moments, they had completed the shift in formation and charged at the Wushang Cavalry.
Fifteen minutes, thirty minutes…
Though they were no match for the Wushang Cavalry, they still put up a dogged resistance, and not even the terrifying offensive power of the Wushang Cavalry was able to completely penetrate through them.
After a long while, the final horseman was brought down, and the battle ended. On the observation platform, Bahram, Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi, and Ü-Tsang Imperial Minister Dalon Trinling sighed in relief, even their expressions relaxing.
Bahram was the first to speak. “It’s good enough. The training of all the recruits ends here. That they can last for so long against the Wushang Cavalry is proof that they can stand up against any foe.”
Several days ago, his Aswaran Cataphracts had entered the battlefield, and while they had defeated numerous opponents, the recruits had used a joint formation to ultimately bring them down.
Today, it had been the Wushang Cavalry’s turn.
Wang Chong’s renowned force of cavalry was acknowledged as the strongest fighting force on the continent, No one believed that any of these forces on the battlefield could beat the veteran Wushang Cavalry, but their performance was almost perfect if they could last this long.
It had to be understood that the soldiers of these forces were ordinary soldiers selected from the various camps. There were millions of soldiers like these. That they could last this long against the Wushang Cavalry’s charge was proof of just how high the average level of the soldiers was.
Three years ago, this would have been unimaginable.
Wang Zhongsi also nodded, acknowledging the strength of these soldiers.
“Mm, at this level, we’ve basically reached the goal that was set three years ago. They can be deployed in the coming war!”
He had the harshest judgement and strictest demands, but even he could see no problems.
“What does Imperial Minister think?” Wang Zhongsi suddenly said.
Everyone immediately turned to Ü-Tsang Imperial Minister Dalon Trinling.
Three years ago, while Wang Chong had been the one to develop the plan of separating the soldiers into regions, Dalon Trinling had been the one to execute it.
There were over four million, seven hundred thousand soldiers in total, from several hundred thousand barracks, all different types of soldiers hailing from different countries. All of this was planned out by Dalon Trinling to a high degree of efficiency.
Normally, this sort of result would require five years or more of training, but Dalon Trinling’s efforts had finished things early. Even Wang Zhongsi couldn’t help but quietly rejoice over the fact that Wang Chong had spared Dalon Trinling’s life three years ago.