Chapter 1760 - Gate Assault!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
At the Center Gate, the battle was intensifying, with Imperial Army soldiers and clan experts being slain at every moment. As the center of the Great Tang, the Imperial Palace had been through more than one rebellion.
The gates leading to Taiji Palace—the Qian Gate, Center Gate, and Kun Gate—had originally been set up with a rebellion in mind. These three gates were all very narrow, each one only wide enough to accommodate two-hundred-some people at a time, allowing a smaller force to hold out against a larger one.
But now that Wang Chong had set up the Origin Immortal Formation and turned the passage into a formation gate, he had minimized the effects of this restriction.
“Kill!”
The one thousand Wootz Steel cavalry made another charge, and Wang Chong’s forces slowly began to gain the upper hand. Behind the gate, Huang Tianzhao’s army was borrowing the power of its own formation to make its own charges against Wang Chong, but they were still losing ground.
Bang!
Suddenly, a massive explosion came from the palace, and then a gigantic halo swept over the palace gate like a tsunami.
Neigh!
The one thousand Wootz Steel cavalry were suddenly struck a heavy blow, several dozen of them being blown into the air.
This enormous force pushed out almost all the soldiers who had charged into the gate, and even Wang Chong’s Origin Immortal Formation was badly shaken. The formation began to noticeably slow down, even almost grind to a stop.
Even Wang Chong couldn’t help but be alarmed.
Bang!
Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Chong sent a stream of Subtle realm energy into the Energy Condensation Pearl that was the core of the formation. The addition of new energy allowed the formation to stabilize.
Hou Junji!
Wang Chong knew almost immediately who the culprit was. The energy just now had not come from a formation gate, but from the core of the formation, triggered by the primary operator.
“Hahaha, King of Foreign Lands, is that all you’ve got?” an elderly voice rumbled from the distance, ringing out over the Imperial Palace like a bell. “Using a formation to deal with a formation is truly a good idea, but you’re just a mantis trying to stop a carriage, an egg striking a stone. Your formation is far inferior to mine, so how do you think you can break it?”
“Is that so?”
Wang Chong merely chuckled upon hearing Hou Junji’s voice. Concentrating his voice, he unleashed his own ringing reply.
“He who laughs last, laughs best! Hou Junji, this battle is just getting started! Talking about victory now is just a little too early!”
“Heh, this old man is waiting!”
Hou Junji’s sneer came back out of the darkness.
Wang Chong said nothing. He could naturally hear from Hou Junji’s voice that Hou Junji didn’t believe Wang Chong had the ability to break through his formation.
“It’s about time! Xu Keyi, send the signal!” Wang Chong said without turning his head.
Hou Junji’s Hundred Thousand God-Devil Execution Formation was extremely powerful, and it was also backed by one hundred thousand soldiers. Eight thousand soldiers were clearly not enough to shake it. In truth, Wang Chong had never intended to use solely eight thousand soldiers to break this formation.
Creee!
A few moments later, a shrill whistle came from behind him.
Upon hearing Wang Chong’s order, Xu Keyi had immediately lit a firework, which had shot up several thousand meters into the air and exploded in a brilliant burst of light.
Almost half the capital was illuminated as brightly as day, the brightness even revealing the rock eagles and gyrfalcons battling in the sky. These birds shrieked in alarm at this sudden light and scattered.
Buzz!
The soaring light immediately caused Hou Junji, who was standing in front of a palace hall, to pale.
Elsewhere in the capital, a force of soldiers was standing in Xuanwu Street, not far from the palace gates.
Atop a muscular stallion, a white-tasseled general raised his head to look at the firework and softly muttered, “The time has come. His Highness has sent the signal!”
Suddenly, the general swung his sword. “Move out!”
The three thousand cavalry behind him began to charge forward like demons out of the underworld, the rumbling hooves shaking the earth.
Boom!
In another location, another several thousand warhorses began to charge with astonishing speed toward the Imperial Palace.
On their backs were the large and heavy Mo Sabers, each one taller than an adult man, making the cavalry seem like a moving forest.
“Everyone, advance at full speed!”
A bellow urged the Mo Saber soldiers forward, and they crossed several thousand feet in the blink of an eye and vanished into the darkness.
Wang Chong didn’t have to wait for long. Just when the advance at the Center Gate was being stymied, in a distant area…
“Kill!”
Amidst earth-rending shouts and shaking earth, a vast energy slammed into the Qian Gate.
A spy team member appeared in front of Wang Chong and reported, “General Guo Ziyi’s Wushang Cavalry had successfully arrived at the Qian Gate and have begun their assault!”
A moment later, there was a boom like a wave crashing onto shore, this time coming from far to Wang Chong’s right.
A few moments later, another scout appeared and kneeled in front of Wang Chong. “Your Highness, Li Siye’s army is attacking the Kun Gate!”
These two reports greatly invigorated the soldiers at the Center Gate.
The white-tasseled general, Guo Ziyi!
In the border incident, he had led a force of only seven hundred and routed a Western Turkic army of eight thousand, almost completely wiping them out. This incident had caused his reputation to soar.
As for Li Siye, he had already become renowned throughout the world after the Battle of Talas. Everyone now knew that Wang Chong called him the ‘Invincible Great General’.
Even though Li Siye was not included in the ranks of the Great Tang’s Great Generals, no one had any doubt that this giant of a man would one day become one of the pillars of the empire in the same vein as Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun.
The arrival of these two was unquestionably a major boost to the strength of Wang Chong’s side.
“It’s about ready!”
Wang Chong listened to the faint sounds of fighting in the distance and subtly nodded.
The attack on the Center Gate was merely a probe, but now was the time for the true assault. The Qian Gate, Center Gate, and Kun Gate were the three vital passages into the heart of the Imperial Palace. Only by attacking all three at once was there any hope of breaking the Hundred Thousand God-Devil Execution Formation.
“Reporting!”
Mounted scouts galloped into the depths of the palace.
“Milord, the Qian Gate is under fierce assault! It’s the Wushang Cavalry under the King of Foreign Lands. Their strength is incredibly formidable and our men can’t hold. Grand Marshal Lu Qiongji is already headed to the Qian Gate!”
“Reporting! The Kun Gate is under heavy assault, and we have suffered heavy losses. The enemy is unquestionably the Mo Saber Unit that appeared at the Battle of Talas. Their leader is Wang Chong’s Invincible Great General, Li Siye. Marshal Duan Zhuyan is vigorously attempting to hold the line!”
With these two reports, the pressure on the Eastern Palace instantly multiplied.
Even Hou Junji couldn’t help but crease his brow.
“How many soldiers do they have?” Hou Junji asked.
“Around three thousand at the Qian Gate and around four thousand at the Kun Gate. Added together with the forces at the Center Gate, we are currently being assaulted by a force of around fifteen thousand,” one of the horsemen reported. He paused before adding, “In addition, the King of Foreign Lands has yet to make his move!”
In truth, all of their plans circled around Wang Chong. While he had many soldiers, the true threat was that posed by the man himself.
As the saying went, shoot the horse to shoot the man and capture the king to capture the underlings. As long as they could kill Wang Chong, the rest of the soldiers weren’t even worth thinking about.
Alas, Wang Chong was simply too sharp. He had still yet to walk past the Center Gate, leaving their plan to surround and kill him useless.
“How is the offensive on Taiji Palace going?” Hou Junji asked.
The other scout bowed and replied, “Following Milord’s orders, more than half of our soldiers are being used to stop the King of Foreign Lands and any other potential reinforcements. The entirety of our elite forces have been used to attack Taiji Palace. However, the resistance from the Saint Martial Barracks is exceptionally fierce and the soldiers extremely strong. We still have yet to break through!”
“Understood! Have them continue the assault! No matter how strong the Saint Martial Barracks is, it can’t last thirty minutes. Now… only half that time remains!
“As for the King of Foreign Lands, leave him to me!”
Hou Junji’s eyes flashed with a chilling light.
He suddenly turned his head and asked, “Kim U-Seok, have you found the Fifth Prince?”
“There have been no reports as of yet. We already searched Jinyang Palace, but we found no sign of Li Heng, so we’ve begun searching other places. We suspect that the King of Foreign Lands warned him, allowing him to prepare for this!
“Given how much time has passed, he’s probably already left the Imperial Palace,” Kim U-Seok reported.
He was currently coordinating the operation, with all the information from the palace passing from his birds to him, and then to Hou Junji.
“Relax. He hasn’t left yet,” Hou Junji declared, leaving Kim U-Seok dumbstruck.
“But…”
Kim U-Seok truly couldn’t understand. Given the current state of the capital, why wouldn’t Fifth Prince Li Heng flee the capital as soon as possible if he wanted to save himself?
“If he ran away now, he would no longer be worthy of inheriting the throne of the Nine and Five. Moreover, all nine outer gates of the capital are under our control. Even if he runs, he won’t be able to escape. Our men outside the palace have yet to find him, not even your birds, which can only mean that he never left the Imperial Palace!” Hou Junji calmly concluded. Although this was speculation, from Hou Junji’s expression, it was clear that he believed that it was the absolute truth.
“But why has he remained in the palace instead of leaving?”
Kim U-Seok couldn’t help but frown. He couldn’t think of any reason for the Fifth Prince to remain.
“Heh, of course, it’s to save His Majesty.”
Hou Junji softly chuckled, a profound look in his eyes.
“It’s about time! Our Fifth Highness should be making his way here soon.”
As Hou Junji spoke, he suddenly shifted his body to the southeast and vanished.
