Only the Arabs themselves knew just how great of a price they had paid in order to get a better understanding of the Arabs. Eleven members of the eagle team had died to the east of Talas, twenty to thirty eagles had died in battle, and even Xiao Sha had been heavily injured. But Zhang Que had also succeeded in grasping some of the Arab patterns.
The Arabs had a unique style of combat. The eagles in the air would often be very far away from the scouts on the ground, and the hunting falcons could scout for several dozen li. Whenever these Arabian hunting falcons encountered an enemy bird, one of them would immediately return to inform the scouts in the rear.
In order to avoid being discovered by the Arabs, the scouts could only return to the ground. At this time, if they couldn't see any enemy in the air, the Arabian hunting falcons would continue forward, circling in the air to gather more information on the enemy before leaving.
If they wanted to avoid being discovered by the Arabs and make preparations, they had to exterminate all of these enormous Arabian hunting falcons that were skilled in aerial combat. If they let even one escape, all their efforts would have been for naught. More than one hundred thousand Qixi reinforcements had traveled a great distance, and concealing their auras would be meaningless.
"One circle, only one circle. No matter what, we have to succeed!"
Zhang Que looked nervously at the sky.
The Arab army was currently spread out in all directions, and the west was only a part of it. This was the best chance for them. The entire eagle team had been mobilized. This battle would determine the success or failure of the entire army, including the armies of Qixi and Anxi!
As these thoughts flew through Zhang Que's mind, the dense ranks of the Tang Dynasty eagles clashed with the Arabian hunting falcons.
Creee! "Screech!"
A shrill cry resounded through the sky. Without any contact or probing, the eagles of both sides plunged into the fray and began a bitter slaughter. Feathers danced in the air and blood splattered everywhere. It wasn't just scattered blood, but blood that filled the sky from the very beginning.
Bang!
In a flash, an Arabian hunting falcon plummeted from the sky like a boulder, smashing into the hard ground of sand and smashing into a bloody mess of flesh and bones. Behind it, two or three Great Tang eagles crashed into the ground like raindrops.
Five, six, seven, eight …
The battle was far more intense than they had imagined. The Arabian hunting falcons were far more vicious than they had imagined. Their beaks were like steel chisels, their claws like iron hooks, and every time they swooped down, they would tear away chunks of flesh and feathers. Each of the Arabian hunting falcons could fend off two, three, or even four. Zhang Que's Eagle King Xiao Sha had been injured by these ferocious attacks.
But this time, Zhang Que and the eagle team had adopted a completely different tactic. Whoosh! Like a pack of wolves, thirty to forty eagles lunged at an Arabian hunting falcon, pecking and clawing. In a single exchange, the enormous and vicious Arabian hunting falcon was surrounded and killed, its corpse plummeting from the sky.
During this process, the entire eagle team was completely focused, completely ignoring the attacks of the other hunting falcons. No matter how they attacked, none of the eagles looked back, and none of them tried to escape. They endured the pain of surrounding a hunting falcon and then immediately moved on to the next.
In these circumstances, the eagle team suffered particularly heavy losses. The eagles were covered in wounds so deep that their bones were visible, and they continued to drop to the ground like rain. Seeing this scene, the eyes of all the members of the eagle team turned red.
They had spent a great deal of time training each eagle, and this was not just some simple training. It had also been built up with deep emotions. Each time an eagle fell, it felt like their hearts were being torn apart, but they could only bury this feeling deep in their hearts.
One, two, three … Zhang Que's tactic was proving effective. In just a few seconds, a large number of Arabian hunting falcons were dropping from the sky. Not even the fiercest hunting falcon could stop the attacks of so many eagles, but Zhang Que's heart was still tense.
"We can't let them escape, we can't let them escape …"
Zhang Que clenched his fists as he stared at the sky. No matter how many Arabian hunting falcons they killed, it was meaningless. The most important thing was to exterminate all the Arabian hunting falcons. If even one managed to escape, the operation would be a complete failure. In the sky, the number of Arabian hunting falcons continued to dwindle. In the face of the suicidal attacks of the eagles, the hunting falcons were finally afraid, some of them even screaming as they tried to turn and flee.
Everyone's hearts leapt into their throats at this sight, and Zhang Que's face paled.
At this moment, a rock eagle lunged forward like a bolt of lightning, tearing apart the back of an Arabian hunting falcon with a single swipe of its claw and tossing it out of the sky. A second, a third, and a final Arabian hunting falcon tried to turn and attack, but it was swiftly killed by the other eagles.
Bang!
When the last Arabian hunting falcon crashed to the ground, the entire eagle team let out a cheer for the day.
"Little Sha!"
"Little Sha!"
"Little Sha!"
… …
The rock eagle that had killed the last three Arabian hunting falcons was Zhang Que's Eagle King, Little Sha.
"Success!"
Zhang Que mentally breathed a sigh of relief. The Arabs wouldn't be completely unaware, but killing these Arabian hunting falcons would at least buy Marquis and his army some time to speed up the operation.
"The rest is up to Huang Botian and the others!"
If they wanted to get close to the Arabs without being discovered, there were at least two obstacles. The first was the hunting falcons that the Arabs had scattered around the perimeter of the army, and then there were the scouts on the ground. Each hunting falcon corresponded to a scout on the ground. Although they had won this aerial battle, they could not let their guard down.
The scouts on the ground would come to investigate if they noticed that the hunting falcons had disappeared, but this was not within the scope of Zhang Que's abilities.
"Ready!"
A loud shout came from up ahead. Zhang Que turned his head and saw that Huang Botian was riding a large reddish-brown horse, calling out to the elite scouts in preparation to move out.
As they got closer and closer to Talas, the army began to move faster and faster. All of them knew that they didn't have much time left, and all of them were on edge.
Thirty li later, all the Arab scouts on the perimeter had been eliminated, giving Wang Chong and his more than one hundred thousand soldiers some time to march.
Twenty li!
Fifteen li!
Thirteen li!
… …
The army could be discovered at any moment. Everyone was racing against time. Everyone understood that for every meter the army advanced, their chances of victory would increase by one point. All of them were silent, their expressions solemn. The only sounds were the uniform footsteps and the rumbling of wheels.
"Only the last step is left!"
In the rear of the army, Wang Chong rode his White-hoofed Shadow, surrounded by many experts and generals. His sharp eyes were constantly peering into the distance. Whether it was Zhang Que's eagle team or Huang Botian's scout team, everything was under his control.
It was impossible for an army of one hundred thousand to remain undiscovered by the Arabs, but they could push the army to the closest point and gain the greatest advantage.
Wang Chong had once used a model to study the terrain around Talas. Although the City of Talas was surrounded by a vast expanse of plains, to the northeast was a series of low hills. If they could reach those hills before the Arabs discovered them, they would be able to catch them off guard.
A small ship could easily turn around, and a group of ten-some soldiers could easily change their strategy. But when hundreds of thousands of Arab soldiers were attacking the City of Talas, changing the direction of their assault was not so easy. This was also the opportunity for Wang Chong and his Qixi reinforcements.
"Rumble!"
At this moment, the earth quaked and the sky swayed as the thundering of hooves came from the opposite side of the army. At the same time, the galloping of hooves could be heard.
"Reporting!"
"An Arab army of seven to eight thousand has suddenly appeared in front of us and is heading toward us! Lord Protector-General, how should we deal with them? "
The scout dismounted and kneeled on the ground, his expression extremely nervous.
Wang Chong faintly smiled as he looked to the front. Behind the rolling hills, a cloud of dust soared into the sky, and within this cloud of dust, seven to eight thousand Arabs formed into a black flood of steel that had suddenly appeared on the summit.
"In the end, we still found them!"
Wang Chong grinned, unconcerned. In the end, the Arabs were no weaklings. Although he had done his utmost to conceal himself and had used the sounds of battle to drown out the noise, the Arabs had still sensed something strange and sent an army to sweep the area.
"But just seven to eight thousand soldiers is far from enough!"
The strategy from before was effective. Wang Chong had covered the horses and livestock with nets and cloth, causing the entire army to fall silent and mute. Only the sound of carriages could not be masked, but the road that Wang Chong was traveling along was the busy Silk Road, with all sorts of merchants coming and going. This sort of noise was far too normal, and the fact that his scouts had not reported back made it very difficult to arouse suspicion.
Wang Chong had thought this through meticulously. And the final result was already before his eyes.
Although the Arabs had heard the noise, they had clearly believed that not many people had come, so they had only sent seven to eight thousand cavalry to investigate.
Clang!
With a clear cry, Wang Chong unsheathed his sword, a four-foot-long WuZi Steel sword that seemed to block out even the sunlight, its sharp edge gleaming with a cold light.
"All soldiers, hear my order! Advance at full speed! "
As he spoke, Wang Chong raised his sword and pointed it toward the distant hills.
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