荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

Wang Chong had originally been planning to engage in a short and fierce battle while the full Arab army had yet to arrive. He hadn’t expected Abu Muslim to be so cautious.

After the defeat at Talas, Abu Muslim should have been anxious to take revenge and redeem himself, but the result was completely the opposite.

“Show me!”

Wang Chong quickly rode forward, mounting the high northern walls of the City of Steel. On the horizon, he spotted that black crescent moon banner snapping in the wind and that massive fortress soaring into the sky.

……

On the other side, as Wang Chong appeared on the northern wall of the City of Steel, around six hundred li east of Suiye, a massive new city had been erected.

At the center of it was a massive, domed fortress, three thousand meters in diameter and several hundred meters tall. It was ringed by multiple walls and guarded by Arab cavalry who were vigilant and ready to fight at any moment.

Around these walls were countless Arab craftsmen busy at work, strengthening the current walls and continuing to expand them. Black Arabian banners had been planted along the walls, granting them a grim and heavily guarded appearance.

At this time, a powerful figure wreathed in energy stood atop the domed fortress, his eyes sharp and his aura like that of a demon god.

“He’s here…”

Abu Muslim looked to the southeast, a dark cloud of worry flitting across his face.

From his perspective, a giant storm of bright and blazing energy had appeared in the direction of the City of Steel. For an expert like Abu Muslim, it was like an additional sun had appeared, difficult to look at directly.

The thought of that young Tang commander instinctively made Abu Muslim’s heart surge with hatred and killing intent.

Abu Muslim wanted to go forward and attack, but he did not dare. Even though he had one million elites under his command, an overwhelming advantage in numbers, even though Hierophant Khatabah had given him authority over the army and he could seemingly destroy the City of Steel with a single order, Abu Muslim did not dare.

Although his hatred and desire to kill were intense, his fear was deeper and even stronger.

He could never forget how that demon god of a youth had been constantly reaping the souls of the Arab soldiers as his army advanced. All those soldiers and all those top-class generals, no matter how strong, might as well have been weeds in front of that youth.

Abu Muslim had no confidence in his victory!

“How long until the Hierophant arrives?” Abu Muslim suddenly asked.

“Milord, it will be around ten days,” an Arab general behind him said with a bow.

Khatabah’s army was not moving very quickly, advancing every day exactly according to schedule. Even so, the force of the Arabian Empire’s advance was truly stunning to behold. Moreover, the one million soldiers already at the front line were perfectly safe, so long as they did not engage in any reckless offensives and only defended.

“Mm!”

Abu Muslim sternly nodded.

“Pass on my order! Continue to strengthen the fortifications until the Hierophant arrives. Within ten days, I want the fortifications doubled in size, and all of them must be made using steel. If this is not done, all the craftsmen and their families will be executed!” Abu Muslim declared, a callous tone in his voice.

This eastern expedition was unprecedented, and the fate of Arabia was on the line. Defeat was not an option. Thus, those craftsmen who had followed the army had also been forced to bring along their families.

If the mission were not completed, everyone would be executed. This was a tradition of Arabia, and while it was cruel and callous, it was quite effective.

“Yes!”

Several Arab generals bowed and went to deliver the orders.

Boom!

Following this order, the labor on the Arab base became even more frenzied. The craftsmen threw themselves into their work, toiling night and day. Many Arab soldiers were also put to work in building the fortifications.

The hammering of steel resounded through the heavens, and dark plumes of smoke soared into the air. The formidable forging ability of the Arabian Empire was on full display in this war. Though it might have not been as impressive as the Great Tang’s, it was not far behind.

This was something Abu Muslim had learned from Wang Chong after his defeat, a result of a memorial he had submitted to the Caliph and the Hierophant.

Time slowly passed, and the number of soldiers in the Western Regions continued to rise. Five days later, the Arab army had reached one and a half million, and this was not counting the several hundred thousand logistics soldiers.

The immense force gathered in the Western Regions placed unprecedented pressure on the surrounding countries.

At the same time, in the City of Steel to the southeast…

Clang!

A massive hammer that weighed seventy to eighty jin slammed down on the base of a steel module, firmly rooting it into the rock.

“Solder team!”

A bare-chested man, his body rippling with muscle, quickly took several steps back while waving his hand at a team of craftsmen in the back.

Hiss! Crack!

With a loud hiss, a bucket of molten steel was poured into the cracks between the module and the pit dug into the ground.

Smoke surged into the air, and this molten steel quickly solidified, fusing the heavy steel wall with the earth so firmly that they seemed to have always been one. After this strengthening, even the full strength of an Arab cavalry charge would find it hard to topple these walls.

“Hurry! Faster!”

“Where’s the smelting team? Have they finished melting down the ingots?”

“Installation team, hurry up! There’s too few people working here! Get some soldiers and have experienced craftsmen teach them! I need another one thousand teams!”

“Survey team, faster! Mark the locations of the steel walls according to the diagram! Speed is paramount! Remember, we’re not just building walls and forging weapons! We’re setting up a defense line for the entire Great Tang!”

“Faster, faster…”

The City of Steel was seething with smoke and flames. Everyone had sweat drenching their backs as they hammered away.

The finest craftsmen of the Great Tang and Arabia were fully displaying their abilities in this small region. This was a rare clash of craftsmen. There was no clear victory or defeat, and no judge, but a mistake could lead to the death of hundreds of thousands of men, if not millions.

It was difficult to say which side’s craftsmen were more skilled, only that the Great Tang had divided their craftsmen into many teams that worked together like a person’s hands and feet. Though they had different duties, they all worked toward the same goal.

While both sides were engaged in the same kind of project, the Great Tang made far more efficient use of its time.

This was the result of the rational distribution of labor Wang Chong had learned from that other world and had applied to his current situation.

While Wang Chong led the army in setting up fortifications at the front line, the interior of the empire was also at work. Vast quantities of weapons and supplies continued to travel swiftly along the cement roads.

Along with them were tens of thousands of soldiers, all of them in disciplined ranks.

We’re almost there! Gao Xianzhi quietly said to himself as he looked at the brightly lit City of Steel.

Geshu Han was dead, and Fumeng Lingcha, after falsifying military reports and then taking part in the Rebellion of the Three Princes, had once more been jailed. Meanwhile, the Anxi Protectorate army had first been weakened by the Confucian Sect and then been wiped out by the Arabs. Thus, the Sage Emperor had simply given command of Longxi’s tens of thousands of soldiers to Gao Xianzhi.

Wang Chong, it seems that we’re going to fight alongside each other once more!

The dark clouds of war covered the region, exerting a stifling atmosphere. Gao Xianzhi’s eyes coldly flashed as he spurred his horse into a gallop, leading Feng Changqing, Cheng Qianli, Xi Yuanqing, and his other veteran officers into the City of Steel.

When Gao Xianzhi had been called back by the First Prince into the interior to receive his ‘promotion’, Cheng Qianli, Xi Yuanqing, and his other officers had been transferred with him. But this had allowed them to escape the fate of being slain in the Arab ambush.

As time continued to pass, more and more soldiers gathered in the City of Steel. After Gao Xianzhi, the second column of soldiers arrived, this one led by Tongluo Great General Abusi.

Neigh!

Ten thousand Tongluo Cavalry, wearing their bronze armor, galloped over with a thunderous momentum that made ten thousand seem even more intimidating than one hundred thousand.

Rumble!

Three days later, the third Great General arrived. Zhangchou Jianqiong had retired from the border some time ago, but this time, he had once more taken command, bringing with him his several dozen old subordinates from the southwest and Xianyu Zhongtong’s Annan Protectorate army.

It had been nearly two years since he had personally led an army, but for the Tiger of the Empire, two short years was practically nothing compared to a lifetime spent on the campaign trail. Battle was in his blood.

And after Zhangchou Jianqiong was Beiting Protector-General An Sishun!

Before the Rebellion of the Three Princes, the First Prince had framed him in the Setting Sun Villa incident to strip him of his military authority. However, a significant number of soldiers in the Beiting Protectorate army had taken part in the rebellion. This was a fact, and so An Sishun was in the most complicated situation.

An Sishun first needed to remove those rebellious traitors in his army before setting off.

This had significantly delayed An Sishun. In addition, Zhang Zheng had only brought a part of the Beiting Protectorate army with him, and he had left a significant portion back in the region of the Yin Mountains. As a result, even though An Sishun had started off in the capital, he had arrived at the City of Steel later than both Gao Xianzhi and Abusi.

Amongst the generals, An Sishun had the most complicated relationship with Wang Chong. They had been both enemies and collaborators. An Sishun’s younger brother An Wenzhen had even been killed by Wang Chong. Even though An Wenzhen had always been a good-for-nothing disappointment to An Sishun, he had still been An Sishun’s younger brother. This alone presented an unresolveable grievance between An Sishun and Wang Chong.

However, this was a private grudge, and the rules by which Great Generals operated were not the same as those of normal people. When Wang Chong was reconsolidating the Qixi Protectorate and removed many disobedient Hu, he had sent many of them to An Sishun, who had accepted them without hesitation, ignoring his grudge with Wang Chong.

The reason was simple: it had benefited him!

In this empire, there was only one man who possessed supreme authority and status, and that was the Sage Emperor residing in Taiji Palace. Whether Great General or Protector-General, Wang Chong or An Sishun, or even the Princes, none of them could put personal good over public welfare. If they did, then let alone dealing with Wang Chong, An Sishun would have been the first to find his position in peril.

Thus, during the border incident, as it had taken place in the region overseen by the Beiting Protectorate, An Sishun had been forced to intervene.

And with the Arabs, the same reasoning applied.