Douluo Dalu

Once they saw the Hell White Tiger and Ma Hongjun’s pincer attack, there wasn’t time for the others on the walls to help Golden Crocodile Douluo even if they wanted. Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing’s Hell White Tiger and Ma Hongjun’s aerial attack was perfect, forcing Golden Crocodile Douluo to suffer attacks from both directions at once. Despite the numerous Spirit Empire spirit masters on the walls of Jialing Pass, at this moment Golden Crocodile Douluo felt alone and isolated. That absolutely wasn’t a nice feeling, and could even be called painful.

The first thing Golden Crocodile didn’t expect was the threat Ma Hongjun posed to him, the second was how the Heaven Dou Empire side’s powers could breach the defenses to mount the walls so soon, and the third was of course the Hell White Tiger’s fearsome strength. At this moment, he alone wasn’t enough to even deal with the Hell White Tiger, let alone with Phoenix Douluo Ma Hongjun on top.

Ma Hongjun’s attack alone wasn’t enough to trouble Golden Crocodile Douluo too much, but he didn’t need to finish Golden Crocodile Douluo, he just needed to block him from escaping into the air, forcing him to defend until he had to fight the Hell White Tiger.

In the critical moment, Golden Crocodile Douluo revealed the full power that made him the second high priest of the Spirit Empire behind Qian Daoliu. All his scales stood upright as he twisted violently, producing a layer of vague golden light with each shake, making Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun unable to completely target him. And at the same time, his enormous body abruptly turned, pulling his alligator tail up to his mouth and biting down on it, turning into a full circle with the most solid scales he had on the outside, and the vulnerable areas inside. Simultaneously, his whole body spun quickly like a pinwheel, and along with his spirit rings flashing, he shot from the top of the walls, charging straight towards Ma Hongjun, hitting the soft parts and avoiding the hard was the natural way to squish a persimmon.

Without a doubt, this was Golden Crocodile Douluo’s all out attack, and also the best method in a critical situation. A rank ninety eight Title Douluo’s full strength attack was terrifying. If Ma Hongjun dodged now, then without a doubt, with Golden Crocodile Douluo’sstrength he could immediately open up a good distance, and the other Spirit Empire powers would also get the time to assist. At least Golden Crocodile Douluo wouldn’t have to face Ma Hongjun and the Hell White Tiger’s pincer attack, making hurting him very difficult. If Ma Hongjun didn’t dodge and met him head on, Golden Crocodile Douluo could still rely on his unreasonable stremgth to force him away, taking advantage of the gap to escape. Of course, that way he would very likely be caught up to by the Hell White Tiger. He was betting, betting that Ma Hongjun didn’t dare take his full power attack. As long as he retreated an inch, Golden Crocodile Douluo would have a chance.

Would Ma Hongjun dodge? He used his actions to prove the power of the Shrek Seven Devils to all on the battlefield. Seeing Golden Crocodile Douluo about to hit him, Ma Hongjun gave a silent curse, and his seen heads spit flame. Not towards Golden Crocodile Douluo, but rather towards himself. Surging phoenix flame surged all over his body, and at the same time, the his phoenix wings closed up, with his heads stuck inside, curling up like a ball, going into the crash without hesitation or thoughts of dodging.

Boom——

The flaming meteor made from a Nine headed Fire Phoenix was blasted high in the air. In midair, Ma Hongjun couldn’t even maintain his Nine Headed Phoenix avatar, directly turning back into his human form and even vomiting blood, clearly seriously injured. The flames all over him scattered in all directions, his complexion pale as paper.

But, his injuries were worth it. At the same time Ma hongjun had displayed his greatest power with one strike. The wind fire wheel-like Golden Crocodile Douluo was stalled in midair for a second by his attack, and was even covered in scorching flames, dissipating all of his momentum. It was also at this moment that the Hell White Tiger arrived.

Bang—— A giant claw raked Golden Crocodile Douluo. Golden Crocodile Douluo’s Golden Crocodile avatar had to be described as large, but it paled in comparison to the thirty meter long Hell White Tiger. Absolutely don’t underestimate this tiger claw, it was an attack that Dai Mubai had charged up for a long time and using the strength of the Erect Gold Fly boost. With this one attack, Golden Crocodile was slapped straight off. Half his body was embedded in the wall.

“Daring to harm my little brother. This old man will end you.”

The Hell White Tiger spit out Dai Mubai’s voice, a giant white ball of light exploding out, bluntly smashing down on Golden Crocodile Douluo. free𝚠𝚎𝚋𝒏𝚘ѵ𝐞l.𝑐oｍ

Golden Crocodile was now putting his all into defense. The collision with Ma Hongjun had left him in pain, and he could only suffer Ma Hongjun’s attack. There was no way he could dodge that claw. With one strike, Golden Crocodile Douluo was already seeing stars, blood spraying from his mouth. What he could do now was to burst with all his rank ninety eight spirit power, combining it with his spirit abilities to protect himself.

With one white light suddenly exploding on top of the walls of Jialing Pass, a giant jag was blasted into the walls, countless stone chips shooting in all directions. Golden Crocodile Douluo’s muffled grunt was audible even to the Heaven Dou army that was still far from Jialing pass.

However, Dai Mubai only had time for one attack, without even the time to check on Golden Crocodile Douluo’s condition, before he sharply spun, facing the attacks of the other Spirit Empire powers. In order to attack Golden Crocodile Douluo twice, the Hell White Tiger would have to take at least ten attacks, and at least half of those were Title Douluo attacks.

The instant the Hell White Tiger formed, Ning Rongrong’s boosts towards it failed, because her Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda couldn’t boost god level powers, and the Erect Gold Fly’s ability could only last one strike. Because of this, after Dai Mubai launched one attack, it would be a bit difficult to bear all those strikes. The Hell White Tiger’s form was already starting to grow vague. The thirty meter shape could admittedly contain enormous energy, but it also had an extremely clear goal.

Poor Golden Crocodile Douluo, he had now also been blasted straight back to his human form. Even though Ma Hongjun was miserably hurt, he was still relatively fine, whereas this second priest might be worse off than he had ever been in his life. His whole body was embedded in the rock of the wall, and those shattered scales of his Golden Crocodile avatar were equivalent to his own flesh, every part of him torn and mangled, vomiting big mouthfuls of blood. His complexion was unsightly to the extreme. He could only gasp for breath. In fact, the Hell White Tiger’s god level strike had been completely focused on him! How could he get off easy? Golden Crocodile Douluo was in his hundreds, and even though an attack like this wasn’t enough to directly put him out of the fight, he’d still lost at least seventy percent of his unreasonable strength. Recovering would even more difficult than when Bibi Dong was injured. After all, age spared no man.

He had absolutely not expected that, as the battlefield commander, he’d be this seriously injured in one exchange. And it only cost the enemy the injuries of one Title Douluo. His depression was definitely more painful than his injuries, which was also one of the reasons Golden Crocodile Douluo madly vomited blood. Without a doubt, the Shrek Six Devils’ plan of beheading the enemy was extremely successful.

What made Golden Crocodile Douluo’s eyes even wider was that the fatty he’d clearly seriously injured so bad he turned back into human form had actually resumed his spirit avatar in the air, and by the looks of it, his strength wasn’t affected by his injuries. He was actually diving from the sky again. How was it possible?

Nothing was impossible, don’t forget that the Shrek Seven Devils had two supports. Besides the world’s number one support spirit master, they also had the world’s number one food type spirit master. Even though the crystal caterpillar sausage was hard to produce, each of the Shrek Six Devils carried one. Ma Hongjun was seriously injured, but this crystal caterpillar sausage really was potent, made while Oscar had eaten the Erect Gold Fly. It instantly healed the injuries. And Ma Hongjun hadn’t spent too much spirit power either, with his injuries restored, he naturally suffered no major hindrance.

However, the Shrek Six Devils didn’t scale the walls entirely smoothly. After all, the Spirit Empire had too many formidable spirit masters. Even though Oscar had Ning Rongrong’s support, he didn’t have as powerful abilities as the Hell White Tiger and was directly hit below the walls, suffering some injuries.

On Xiao Wu’s side, of her nine clones, four were destroyed, while the other five successfully stepped onto the walls, turning into five red shadows, each finding a Spirit Douluo.

They might not be able to set the result in one blow against Title Douluo, but against lower level Spirit Douluo, Xiao Wu’s spirit avatar displayed terrifying strength.

Five red lights erupted simultaneously, directly shooting into the sky, instantly completing five Burst Kill Eight Stage Drops. In front of the rank ninety six Xiao Wu, her Burst Kill Eight Stage Drop would have even Tang San worry about losing a layer of skin. As for Xiao Wu’s main body, she reached the top of the walls completely without incident. Definitely don’t forget about Xiao Wu’s two great defensive abilities, Teleportation and Invincible Golden Body.

Just one Invincible Golden Body made her the second to charge onto the walls after the Hell White Tiger. With a series of dazzling Teleportations, four Spirit Douluo over rank eighty had their necks twisted by Xiao Wu. It was still Soft Skill, but Xiao Wu’s Soft Skill was now completely different. She was surrounded by an illusory light, and when she attacked only this shadow that was similar to her main body moved, but could easily accomplish the Soft Skill. Title Douluo level Soft Skill.

Xiao Wu’s display immediately caught the attention of the Spirit Empire powers. The third priest blurred, already charging towards her. Naturally they couldn’t let Xiao Wu use her full strength, a rank ninety five power in a group of Spirit Douluo was no different from a tiger in a flock of sheep.

A faint smile appeared on Xiao Wu’s face. One Teleportation, a quick retreat, and at the same time, a red speck of light flew from her hand, landing right behind those Spirit Empire high level spirit masters.

“Look out!”

One Spirit Empire Title Douluo who once saw something similar practically roared.

The terrifying force that red speck carried really was too shocking. That time, several dozen Spirit Sage and higher powers had been instantly annihilated!

Indeed, what flew from XIao Wu’s hand was the second of the three Buddha Fury Tang Lotuses produced by divine craftsman Lou Gao.

But Xiao Wu’s actions didn’t end here. She threw out the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus with one hand, while her other wrist turned, an elaborate cylinder appearing in her grasp. The next moment, dazzling light in incredibly dazzling colors appeared out of nowhere above Jialing Pass. Whether the defending Spirit Empire troops inside or the assaulting Heaven Dou army outside, all saw a strange scene. A fan-shaped light appeared on top of Jialing Pass, as beautiful as a peacock’s tail.

Only one person didn’t feel it was beautiful. That was the third priest charging towards Xiao Wu. The magnificent peacock tail spreading out happened to envelop him.

After Xiao Wu used the Tang Sect’s most terrifying mechanical hidden weapon Buddha Fury Tang Lotus, she also used the equally terrifying single target attack hidden weapon, Peacock Plume.

What the Peacock Plume fired was all sorts of needle type hidden weapons. Back when they first saw the blueprints, both divine craftsmen Tai Tan and Lou Gao were gobsmacked. This was the first time it was revealed on the Douluo Continent, the first time its power was unleashed. The unlucky third priest also became its test target.

All manner of different sounds erupted simultaneously. Even with the third priest’s strength it was impossible to dodge the Peacock Plume. Even Xiao Wu who fired it couldn’t help gasping in surprise.

Terror made the third priest instantly use his strongest defensive ability. However, nearly all of the Peacock Plume’s special needle type hidden weapons possessed the ability to break through protective energy. Bone piercing needles, Thunderflame needles, Rending blade needles, Devil subduing needles, Armorbreaking needles, Overlord needles, Dark yin needles, Dragonsnapping needles…… All sorts of needle type hidden weapons were perfectly combined.

Pain and explosions constantly appeared on the third priest. It was lucky he’d smoothly already reached rank ninety six, and at the same time as his defensive spirit abilities dulled the attack power of these needle type hidden weapons, his durable flesh became his last shield, dissolving these attacks as far as possible. However, poison, explosions and all sorts of attacks were still made him suffer. His entire body was drenched in blood from the Peacock Plume’s attack.

And just then, the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus exploded in the group.

What was the strongest mechanical hidden weapon? That was, when you even knew how terrifying it was, you still had no chance to dodge when you met it.

The terrifying explosive force brought an ear piercing shrieking sound, golden lotus petals practically instantly stabbing more than thirty Spirit Empire Spirit Douluo. Title Douluo levels had defensive power far surpassing Spirit Sages, but how difficult was it to nurture thirty Spirit Douluo? Before the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus, their bodies were torn like cloth, great clouds of blood suddenly blossoming.

And at the same time, an illusory red silhouette had appeared behind the third priest, a tender looking hand already grabbing his waist. It was Xiao Wu.

Having endured the Peacock Plume’s attack, the third priest no longer had the strength to resist Xiao Wu’s attack, let alone when Xiao Wu with Ning Rongrong’s support already surpassed him.

Right knee on the third priest’s lower back, and the next moment, this lord priest was thrown away by Xiao Wu. The other Shrek Six Devils basically didn’t even need to look in the direction of this corner of the battle. At a similar level to Xiao Wu, her soft skill lock was something not even Tang San before he became god would have a chance of escaping. Let alone the third priest who was already heavily wounded from the Peacock Plume, he could only have one ending, and would only have one.

Tang Hao and the others were now definitely shocked. Of the Spirit Empire’s strongest six grand priests, the Shrek Seven Devils had directly gotten rid of two. This wasn’t just a perfect start, at the same time it influenced the entire battle!

Right now, with the Hell White Tiger doggedly meeting the attacks of two priests, and Ma Hongjun falling from the sky to tangle with one, only one of the six great priests remained. This also didn’t include Xiao Wu’s remaining five clones already tangling with one non-priest Title Douluo. The Shrek Six Devils were already doing as well as they could.

A giant Clear Sky Hammer found the last priest, the Clear Sky Hammer of Clear Sky School master Tang Xiao. With a single swing, that priest was forced back in swift retreat.

When Tang Xiao moved, how could Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao stand aside? The Great Sumeru Hammer swung in a circle, stubbornly encircling three enemy Title Douluo. Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong joined hands, also taking up four Title Douluo.

Of course, this still wasn’t all the strength of the Heaven Dou Empire. Oscar and the Golden Iron Triangle as the Golden Sacred Dragon were last to land. Their goal were thouse rank eighty something Spirit Douluo level powers. In an instant, the battle spread like wildfire. The Heaven Dou Empire side that should have been at a disadvantage, not only weren’t suppressed, but instead held an advantage.

And at this moment, the swarming Heaven Dou army had reached the moat. Even though Xue Beng didn’t clearly see the situation on the top of the walls, but that the powers on their side had already all climbed to the top of the walls was enough to infer that his side wasn’t losing. At least there wouldn’t be a problem for a while.

Raising the imperial sword, Xue Beng shouted,

“Soldiers of all armies, full assault!” 𝗳𝒓𝚎e𝚠𝒆𝐛𝐧𝐨v𝚎Ɩ.co𝓶

In close to a month of peace, the Heaven Dou army stationed in the camp hadn’t been idle. With the Tang Sect Speed Hall disciples frequent scouting, they had grasped the majority of the changes to Jialing Pass. Of course they knew the circumstances of the moat.

Consequently, as the great army just reached the mote, four cavalry legions immediately milled forward. On either side of each horseman’s saddle hung a sandbag filled with soil. One sandbag weighed thirty jin, two were sixty jin.

As the Spirit Empire’s most important stronghold, the moat in front of Jialing Pass was of course very deep. Sixty jin of sandbags thrown in naturally didn’t count for anything. But, as four cavalry legions, a full forty thousand men, took turns to throw sandbags into the moat, the effect appeared immediately. Even though it couldn’t pack the entire moat full, filling a few wide passages wasn’t a problem.

Commanded by marshal Ge Long’s signal flags, the Heaven Dou army split neatly. After the cavalry completed their task, they immediately retreated to both sides, and the heavy infantry began to cross the river.

Right now the majority of the people on top of the Jialing Pass walls were the Spirit Empire’s spirit master legions. Repelling those enemy powers notwithstanding, a pass guarded by spirit masters was admittedly secure as a vault, but it also had a weakness. Spirit master attack abilities all had fixed ranges. Even rank sixty and rank seventy spirit masters found it very difficult to project their attacks very far. Spirit abilities like Ma Hongjun’s Phoenix Meteor Shower were after all extremely rare. Even Dai Mubao’s White Tiger Meteor Shower only had a range of a hundred meters. Therefore, these spirit masters could only helplessly watch the moat being filled it. Right now they were less useful than common archer squads.

Sonorous metal noise resounded in the Heaven Dou army. The few legions furthest ahead slowly moved aside, leaving only six heavy infantry legions like a shield in front. Behind them, special warriors appeared one after another with stern faces and holding long black boxes. They had once created unprecedented glory on this battlefield, using the power of ordinary humans to annihilate practically an entire ten thousand man Spirit Empire spirit master legion. Indeed, they were the extension of Tang San’s Tang Sect, the Tang Army, the army equipped with the Godly Zhuge Crossbow that could make lower level spirit masters die trembling.

And together with the Tang Army also came the Heaven Dou Army’s one and only spirit master legion, and furthest in front were the Tang Sect four hall disciples.

Riding alongside Xue Beng’s tall mount, Marshal Ge Long sent down the orders, and soldiers next to him raised a yellow signal flag. Seeing this flag, two detachments on the front of the Heaven Dou spirit master legion moved. These two detachments only had three hundred men in total, but they were formed entirely from Tang Sect disciples. They were made each from one hundred fifty Defense Hall disciples as well as one hundred fifty Strength Hall disciples. Standing furthest ahead were the two hall masters, Tai Tan and Niu Gao.

Tai Tan and Niu Gao’s eyes were burning with excitement, not for battle, but rather for the sect master high in the sky that had finally returned at the critical juncture.

Not so long ago, their four single attribute clans had left the Clear Sky School like stray dogs, practically any sect in the spirit master world could humiliate them. Until the day Tang San appeared, founding the Tang Sect, gathering them together again. Even now, when Tai Tan, Niu Gao and the others recalled their former circumstances, they couldn’t help rejoicing. Back then Tang San had moved them with strength, but in fact, they had actually gambled on using Tang San as an opportunity to regather the four into one great sect. They had never expected the Tang Sect to one day reach such a position.

Ever since the first battle at Jialing Pass, the Tang Sect had established themselves as unique in the million man army. Even the Heaven Dou Empire spirit legion would be suppressed a bit by the Tang Army. As long as you mentioned the Tang Sect, mentioned the Tang Army, nobody wouldn’t give their approval.

Even if it was before the battle, the Tang Sect already counted as the number one great sect in Heaven Dou City. With imperial support, their position was even above the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. And all this was because of Tang San. King Lan Hao, Imperial Tutor, Tang Sect master. If there initially were some chancellors that objected to Tang Sect receiving so many distinctions, then after the start of this war, everyone were already relieved.

Tang San had returned, returned moments before today’s battle began, and he had already become a god. A god! As rank eighty something Spirit Douluo level powers, Tai Tan and the others of course knew the theory of rank one hundred becoming gods, but this theory to their minds was like a legend. Tang San had turned this legend to reality. Even back when the four single attribute clans followed the Clear Sky School, even if the Clear Sky School was recognized as the world’s number one sect, they still had no god level power. Now these Tang Sect elders and hall masters could raise their eyebrows and exhale. Tai Tan and Niu Gao’s excitement also stemmed from this.

Altogether three hundred disciples of the two halls, Defense Hall disciples in front, Strength Hall disciples in the back. Tai Tan and Niu Gao had the best relationship, to the point the Strength Hall and Defense Hall disciples also cooperated best. They didn’t just simply advance, even though they only had three hundred people, their appearance shook both armies.

One hundred fifty Defense Hall disciples, each had already expanded from releasing their spirits, the Plate Armored Giant Rhino’s defensive power was completely displayed. At the same time, each hand held a five meter tall and two meters wide, fully one meter thick giant tower shield. Even if these shields were all forged by the disciples of the Strength Hall using special alloys and weren’t all that heavy for their extraordinary defensive strength, it still weighed several thousand jin. When each person held two such tower shields, they were like a mobile rampart. The Defense Hall disciples were tall themselves, and with these things included, one hundred fifty people, three hundred tower shields, formed the most solid defensive line possible. In fact, each of these astoundingly heavy shields would need at least ten of the most elite heavy infantry to move.

Without a doubt, with these special tower shields from the Strength Hall, the Defense Hall disciples’ defensive power had reached an unprecedented level. Even for high level spirit masters, breaking their defense still definitely wouldn’t be easy. As for bow and arrow, heavy crossbows and such attacks, could basically be ignored.

Even more valiant were still those behind. Even though the Defense Hall disciples had great strength, they focused their strength on defense, the true force came after.

One hundred fifty Strength Hall disciples, divided into four units of more than forty men. They weren’t noticable before moving out of the army formation, but now that they did, with a simultaneous roar, each unit of more than forty men simultaneously used force, and giant battering rams appeared.

Under ordinary circumstances, siege hammers would be carried by special vehicles, but these were brought out entirely with human strength. Only, as long as these siege weapons were closely observed, it would be obvious why they had to be wielded by people, and moreover carried by more than forty Strength Hall disciples.

These battering rams were made from thousand year Ironwood, covered by a layer of iron plating, and the front third was completely made from iron essence. The entire battering ram was a hundred meters long, more than five meters in diameter. Was Tang San’s Seagod Trident heavy? Each of these battering rams weighed the equivalent of five Seagod Tridents, reaching a full five hundred thousand jin. Even in the spirit master world, maybe the Strength Clan was the only group that could use such terrifying battering rams by cultivating purely strength. What siege vehicle could carry such weight?

These four battering rams still weren’t fully completed when the Heaven Dou army first set out, and had only been brought half a month ago. It had to be carried onto the battlefield by the Strength Hall disciples themselves, otherwise, if it was left to ordinary soldiers, there was no telling how many men it would take to move these four big fellows.

As the four battering rams were shouldered by the Strength Hall disciples, formally appearing on the battlefield, the defending Spirit Empire spirit masters on top of the walls were stupefied. These things, were they movable with human strength?

The Strength Hall disciples used facts to prove that these really were true battering rams.

The Defense Hall disciples quickly spread out, separating to the sides of the Strength Hall disciples. Raising the tower shields above their heads, they sheltered the Strength Hall disciples completely within. As for the parts of the battering rams that stuck out, they basically needed no protection. If you have the skill, come break them! Even though these things weren’t made from the best materials, was that five hundred thousand jin weight so easy to destroy? In fact, ironwood itself not only didn’t weigh less than steel, it was even more solid. If not for the Heaven Dou Empire possessing a province that produced such ironwood, even with the full backing of the Heaven Dou Empire, the Tang Sect still wouldn’t have been able to create these things.

For these four battering rams, the Heaven Dou Empire had summoned ten thousand blacksmiths under the Strength Hall’s command. These things were to be heavy and strong, there was no need for details, ordinary blacksmiths were enough.

With the tower shields held high, these three hundred people immediately split into four units, stepping onto the sand filling the moat, swiftly charging towards Jialing Pass. Meanwhile, the Tang Army as well as the Heaven Dou spirit master legion also moved simultaneously, launching a tidal wave of attacks at the top of the walls. They were clearly screening the attack on the walls by those three hundred Tang Sect disciples.

Of course, the Heaven Dou army’s attack didn’t just consist of this. Among the infantry, a full six archery legions moved up to the moat under protection of the heavy infantry, drawing bows and nocking arrows. Besides the powers of both sides just now fighting fiercely on top of the walls, sixty thousand arrows began to indiscriminately blanket the top of Jialing Pass as well as the inside of the walls.

Even back when Tang San attacked Bibi Dong, the Heaven Dou Army still didn’t act so fiercely. Xue Beng didn’t know if Tang San could return for today’s battle, therefore, he had brought out all the trump cards of the Heaven Dou Empire. A million troops, how would they be so easily resisted? The Heaven Dou Empire had existed on the Douluo Continent for many years, and their resources were extremely deep, how could a recently founded nation like the Spirit Empire compare to this? In the past the Heaven Dou Empire had given all the kingdoms and duchies free rein mainly to give Spirit Hall face. That’s why they didn’t deal with them. Until this moment, when the colossal empire revealed their robust strength.

The battle was practically ignited at this moment, the entire battlefield fiery. Countless arrows fell from the sky. To spirit masters, one arrow of course wasn’t anything, but they couldn’t withstand the constant indiscriminate rain! Harming them was very difficult, but it was enough to disturb them. Moreover, even more arrows rained down inside the walls, and the unprepared Spirit Empire soldiers were immediately hit, large numbers of soldiers falling like scythed wheat. By the time they had tidied up their formations to deal with the rain of arrows, there were already several thousand casualties.