The seventh infantry platoon, the ninth infantry platoon, the tenth infantry platoon … These were the most elite infantrymen trained by Umar. They were also Umar's personal guards. On the battlefield, they also had another function, which was to undertake the task of attacking the enemy. The Arabs dominated the world through cavalry, but they had also researched ways to restrain cavalry.
Because the Arabs were far from the only ones who had cavalry and trained them!
The Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Infantry Platoons were the elites that Umar had picked out. On the battlefield, they had killed countless elite forces of enemy nations, including cavalry and infantry.
The army was being mobilized, and the soldiers were being rapidly rotated. An invisible net of death was closing in on the five thousand Wushang Cavalry from all sides. But this was not the end of it. As a famous general, Umar's forte was not as simple as defense.
"The thirtieth cavalry formation, the thirty-third cavalry formation, the fortieth cavalry formation, the fiftieth cavalry formation, the eightieth cavalry formation … Attack with all your might! Crush their left and right wings! Crush them completely!"
Umar's eyes were cold and merciless as he quickly locked onto the left and right flanks of the Qixi reinforcements.
"Avoiding the enemy's strength and striking the weak" was not a principle that only the Tang people of the Central Plains understood. The Arabs might not have been skilled in the art of war, but Umar had long ago understood this simple principle that he had fumbled through countless bloody battles. This cavalry of the Tang people was indeed very powerful, but not all of the Tang people's armies were like that.
As long as they avoided the Tang dynasty cavalry and defeated the main force in the rear, no matter how powerful the Tang people were, the final victor would still be the Arabs.
Not only that, even though the Tang people on the other side were overwhelming and there were many of them, Umar only needed to buy time in terms of strategy. More than three hundred thousand Tang elites had gathered on the battlefield of Talas. No matter how many soldiers the Tang Dynasty had, in the end, once the three hundred thousand soldiers had gained enough time to turn around, the one hundred thousand-some Tang Dynasty soldiers would still be dead.
"Boom!"
The earth rumbled and shuddered. Umar had barely spoken when the fifteen thousand Arab cavalry in the rear of the Arab camp split into two groups, one on the left and one on the right, charging out from behind the shield wall like two black storms. Black halos vibrated beneath their feet as the fifteen thousand Arab cavalry moved with godlike speed. In just a few moments, they had reached their maximum speed.
Three thousand zhang passed in a flash!
This time, the fifteen thousand cavalry perfectly circled around the Wushang Cavalry, Sun Zhiming, and Chen Burang, charging straight for the Qixi army in the rear.
Infantry!
In front of the charging cavalry, they were just lambs waiting to be slaughtered. In the history of cavalry versus infantry, infantrymen were rarely able to win. A fully-armored cavalry could crush an infantry force five, six, or even more than ten times its size. The Arabs were the fiercest of cavalry, and they had destroyed countless infantry opponents.
"Kill them!"
"Destroy their formation and tear them to shreds!"
"For Arabia! Kill these infidels! "
… …
Hooves thundered as the fifteen thousand Arab cavalry galloped toward the rear of the Great Tang army, their black halos rumbling like thunder. One hundred and fifty zhang, one hundred and fifty zhang, one hundred and fifty zhang … they were getting closer and closer, and they could even see the soldiers on the transport carriages hurriedly coming to a stop and taking up formation.
But it was too late. This sort of reaction was useless against the lightning-fast Arab cavalry, who had experienced countless battles.
"Kill them all! "
Savage bellows resounded through the heavens as the fifteen thousand Arab cavalry began their final charge.
"Ready! Ready! "
At almost the same time, a loud shout resounded over the earth as silver-white carriages were pushed out from the Tang camp, each carriage flanked by at least five Tang infantry. And in front of these infantry, Chen Bin had unsheathed his Wootz Steel sword and raised it high, pointing it forward.
His eyes were cold and his body straight, his hand gripping his sword as if it had been frozen in place.
Forty zhang!
Thirty zhang!
"Fire!"
At the last moment, Chen Bin swung down his sword. With Chen Bin's order, the hundreds of small carriages in the army began to move. Boom! Boom! Boom! In that instant, the heavens and the earth fell silent. Everyone could hear thunderous booms in their ears. Those were the notes of death.
In the next moment, under the gazes of countless people, crossbow bolts more than three meters long and covered in inscriptions suddenly shot out from the small cars like a waterfall.
"Careful!"
"It's ballista bolts!"
At the sight of these ballista bolts, the eyes of the Arab horsemen at the very front widened and they almost stopped breathing. An intense fear engulfed them, and they began to pull on their reins to stop, but it was too late.
Boom! A thick ballista bolt pierced through the first Arab warhorse, and then the second, the third … These famed Arab warhorses were all covered in thick armor that ordinary arrows could not pierce through, but in the face of the most formidable ballista bolts of the Tang dynasty, they were as useless as paper.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hundreds of ballista bolts shot through the air, each one piercing through four or five Arab horsemen. Some of the more powerful bolts even pierced through seven or eight horsemen in a straight line. Neighing filled the air as the Arabs lost at least five or six thousand men in a single clash.
Despite being hit by the bolts, the inertia of the Arab horsemen allowed them to continue forward, gliding over the ground for a long distance, even reaching the ballista at the very front. But by then, they were already dead.
"Release!"
Chen Bin's eyes were fixed on the Arab horsemen, and he swung down his WuZi Steel sword once more. Boomboomboom! A second volley of ballista bolts exploded into a cloud of dust.
"Release!"
A third volley of ballista bolts followed, each one like the scythe of the grim reaper, each aimed at an Arab horseman. After three volleys of ballista bolts, the fates of the fifteen thousand Arab horsemen were sealed. The vast battlefield was littered with the corpses of warhorses and Arab cavalry.
After the three volleys of ballista bolts, the rumbling of hooves and the thunderous roars of fighting had vanished without a trace. Blood flowed everywhere on the ground, and the gurgling sound could be heard clearly.
Silence!
For a moment, the entire battlefield was eerily still, as if even the sounds of fighting had been silenced. In the distance, the Arab soldiers stared at the corpses strewn across the ground, their eyes wide with fear. These fifteen thousand valiant and famed Arab cavalry had defeated countless opponents many times their size and subdued many powerful foes. At their maximum speed, each one of them could deal with four or five infantry at the very least.
Before setting off, all of them believed that they could kill several times their number of Tang people and completely break through their formation. But none of them had expected that after three volleys of ballista bolts, they would completely vanish.
Never in the history of the Arabs had they encountered such a thing. At that moment, all of them felt a suffocating pressure.
Even Umar's face had turned pale.
"Advance!"
Chen Bin's eyes were unperturbed by the sight of fifteen thousand Arab cavalry falling to his ballistae. With a wave of his sword, three thousand silver carts pushed three thousand ballistae over the corpses of the Arab cavalry and began to advance.
On their left and right, the other Qixi reinforcements were also stepping over the corpses of the Arab cavalry and surging forward.
"Kill!"
"Ready!"
At the same time, Umar unsheathed his sword. Even though he had lost two groups of cavalry and nearly thirty thousand soldiers, Umar had not given up. He was still trying to buy time for the more than three hundred thousand Arab soldiers. Battle was not just about tactics, but also strategy. No matter how powerful the Tang people's army was, as long as the three hundred thousand Arab soldiers could turn around, the only thing awaiting the Tang people would be death.
Rumble! The army was getting faster and faster, the distance between the two sides shrinking.
This time, without the Arab cavalry, there were no more obstacles between the Qixi reinforcements and the vast Arab army. Finally …
"Boom!"
There was a heaven-shaking boom as the earth quaked. If one looked down from the sky, they would see the two armies colliding like a tide. At that moment, the entire battlefield of Talas shuddered, and even the earth seemed to be on the verge of being torn apart.
Fist against fist, flesh against flesh, warhorse against warhorse, saber against sword … all of them fiercely clashed on the battlefield. There were no tricks or tricks in this battle. Everyone was putting all their strength into it. This was the largest and most intense battle between the East and the West.
"Hold!"
"For the empire!"
"Stop these infidels!"
At the very front of the eastern battlefield, the Arab shieldmen were putting their lives on the line to stop the Tang army. Their teeth were clenched, their powerful shoulders pushing up against the seven-foot-tall shields. Bangbangbang! A storm of attacks came from the other side. The seven-foot-tall giants fiercely trembled, but they were able to firmly block the attacks.
They were already very experienced in dealing with this sort of attack. A single giant shield could block the attacks of four or five opponents of the same level, and it was an important tool for the Arabs to use against the cavalry and infantry of other factions.
In actual combat, even the cavalry of the Arabs would find it very difficult to break through this barrier.
"Hold! General has already given the order. As long as we can hold on for a little longer, once the army has finished adjusting, we can completely annihilate them! "
The Arab shieldmen roared, their bodies leaning forward, their feet digging deep into the earth as if they were one with it.
But at this moment …
"Boom!"
The earth quaked as invisible ripples of wind swept out from the rear of the Tang people's army, instantly engulfing the entire Arab army. Before the Arab soldiers on the eastern side of the battlefield could react, clangclangclang! The halos beneath their feet began to shudder, and their energy began to drop three levels as if shackles had been placed on them.
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