The Human Emperor

Chapter 2163: The Frightening Defenses of the Shield Carts!

Edited by: Michyrr

“Bastard!”

An Lushan’s body shivered at Gao Shang’s words.

“Divine Works Elder, what did the Venerable Genesis Supreme say? When will he arrive at the battlefield?”

An Lushan suddenly turned to the Divine Works Elder.

Genesis Supreme had given him a black flute, but he could only passively receive and could not use it to get in touch with Genesis Supreme. If he wanted to get in touch with the man, he would have to rely on the Divine Works Elder.

After all, the two of them belonged to the same organization, and the Divine Works Elder had come on Genesis Supreme’s recommendation.

It had been Genesis Supreme’s idea to start the war early, but he himself had not appeared. However, if Genesis Supreme did intervene, the war would be much easier.

“Sir, don’t be impatient. Venerable Genesis Supreme promised you that he would make it in time and personally take action, so he will. Sir merely needs to quietly wait,” the Divine Works Elder breezily replied.

An Lushan’s face darkened.

Make it in time?

He had said the same thing three days ago, when he had last asked the question, but there was still no exact time!

If he weren’t so apprehensive about Genesis Supreme and the men in black, he would have truly slain this man already.

An Lushan suppressed his rage and turned to Tian Qianzhen.

“Tian Qianzhen, how long until the Great Tang’s primary force arrives?”

Tian Qianzhen lowered his head and respectfully said, “Master, the Tang army is marching at full speed. I estimate that they should arrive in one day.”

Even though the alliance army was cut off from Cang Province and Ying Province by the steel fortress and were unable to enter the Central Plains, it still had many spies in the Tang interior that were able to provide Youzhou with a constant stream of useful information.

“Very good!”

An Lushan gave a slight nod.

He would have been able to delay another day to wait for Genesis Supreme, but out of consideration for the fact that Zhangchou Jianqiong, the Wushang Cavalry, and the other elite armies of the Great Tang had yet to arrive, An Lushan decided to start the war early.

“We’ll just have to see if we can take this steel fortress within a day!”

An Lushan quickly turned his attention to the other side.

The alliance army, bolstered by numerous halos, approached the steel fortress with astonishing speed.

The distance was shrinking!

The air within the fortress had long ago become saturated with tension.

“Your Highness!”

Su Hanshan looked gravely at Wang Chong.

“Decide on your own. I leave this matter to you!” Wang Chong confidently said.

The current situation looked extremely grim for the Great Tang, with the ballista army completely suppressed. Even so, Wang Chong trusted Su Hanshan.

Su Hanshan was one of the most dazzling general stars of the apocalyptic era, and Wang Chong believed in his ability to handle this situation.

“Mm.”

Su Hanshan firmly nodded and quickly turned to command the ballista army.

“Get ready!”

“Yes!”

With a metallic boom, tens of thousands of ballista bolts were fired from the walls.

Boomboomboom!

In a terrific din, the ballista bolts collided into the front row of shield carts, but the same thing happened. The normally unstoppable ballistae had been rendered completely ineffective.

“The Great Tang’s ballistae have been crippled!”

“They can’t do anything to us!”

The Youzhou soldiers behind the shield carts excitedly yelled at this development.

“Brothers, charge!”

“Today is the day we make a name for ourselves! Today is the day we all become nobles!”

“Master has decreed that the first to mount the walls will be awarded one hundred thousand taels of gold and be made a hereditary marquis!”

The alliance army was also stimulated and accelerated.

“Ballista army, hear my orders! Three-team volley fire!

“Adjust tactics! Five ballistae to a team! Focus fire on one shield cart!”

Su Hanshan’s sharp eyes surveyed the battlefield, watching the approaching shield carts.

Following Su Hanshan’s order, the ballistae began to change tactics.

Kaclack!

Numerous sharp ballista bolts aimed in a single direction.

Boomboomboom!

With a deafening roar, the third wave of ballista bolts hurtled toward the shield carts.

Five ballista bolts slammed into a single shield cart in swift succession, finally producing a different effect.

Clang! The tough steel plate suddenly caved in, but the ballista bolts still failed to break through the link formation.

Su Hanshan and his officers felt their hearts sink. The toughness of these Youzhou shield carts had far surpassed their expectations. Su Hanshan had never imagined that even five ballista bolts would fail to break through them.

The foe this time was much harder to deal with than before!

But Su Hanshan quickly came to his senses.

“All soldiers, change targets! Aim at the wheels and hubs of the shield carts!”

The gears groaned once more as the ballistae changed targets.

Bang!

Crack! There was a splintering sound as one of the shield carts at the front was struck. Wooden shards sprayed everywhere as the cart wheel flew more than one hundred feet into the air.

Cries of alarm came from behind the shield cart.

Although the front of the shield carts had been reinforced with many inscriptions and formations, these reinforcements did not extend to the wheels. And not even the strongest link formation could withstand such a targeted attack against the wheels.

Boomboomboom!

In a series of explosions, the wheels of the shield carts were blasted into the air, and without their wheels, the shield carts were paralyzed. In short order, thousands of shield carts were turned into immobile piles of steel.

Moreover, the link formations consisted of twelve shield carts each. If even one cart was crippled, the entire formation would lose effect.

An Lushan’s smile quickly faded.

“Who is the opposing commander?” An Lushan sternly said.

“Su Hanshan! A newly promoted young officer of the Great Tang and the leader of the ballista army!” Gao Shang said, his expression grave.

Wang Chong no longer just had his personal strength and intellect. He was surrounded by formidable officers, and Su Hanshan was one of them.

It wasn’t hard to find the flaw in the shield carts. After all, they were not perfect. But what was most frightening was that only five minutes had passed since the first volley, and Su Hanshan had already found a way to deal with the shield carts. This sort of reaction speed was possessed by only the finest of generals.

There were few generals of this caliber in the world!

Putting aside the reaction from the rear, as the shield carts were crippled, the ballista soldiers quickly noticed this flaw and changed targets. Soon, with deafening booms, more and more shield carts were crippled, all of them still more than a thousand feet from the walls.

But even so, the battle did not stop.

“Get some more people! Lift up the shield carts and advance!”

“The formation has been disrupted! Bring out more shield carts from the rear and continue!”

“Stay on your guard! Don’t let them hit the wheels!”

Orders were bellowed across the battlefield.

The clash was imminent, and the soldiers behind the shield carts could already see the rows of Tang soldiers.

Even now, those soldiers simply stood in place like statues.

At this distance, their killing intent was already stimulated. With success right before them, how could they just give up?

A shift took place with the shield carts. The circular shield cart formations reconsolidated into new formations to continue their advance, leaving the crippled shield carts abandoned where they were.

The formations and inscriptions on the shield carts were essentially identical, so they could stand in for each other. This was done precisely because it had been understood that the shield carts would suffer losses in the battle.

This method would minimize the impact that the loss of shield carts would have on the overall plan.

“Mortals are still mortals, thinking of everything so simply. If link formations were that easy to break, why would they even be used?”

The Divine Works Elder couldn’t help but coldly chuckle as he watched the shield carts reform and continue their advance.

As the elder in the organization that excelled in construction, the Divine Works Elder was not some peerless expert like the twelve Supremes or even the Divine Lords, but he nevertheless had an irreplaceable and transcendent status in the organization.

The reason was very simple. The craftsmen he led were primarily meant to target secular powers and secular wars. This was an immense force that could cause a shift in dynasties. Most importantly, Heaven’s Purification plan required elite craftsmen like him.

As servants of the ‘gods’, they had a power that mortals could not match.

But while the Divine Works Elder was still smugly smiling, there was yet another development on the front lines.