Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5336 "Divine Lord" Out of Control

Between the Truong Son Mountains and the Mekong River lies a plain, and Thachhu City occupies the narrowest point of this plain. Whether by water or land, all north-south traffic must pass through Thachhu City. This unique geographical advantage has made this city prosperous and thriving since ancient times.

South of the city, the terrain slopes gently and flat from east to west. Between the mountains and the river, a funnel-shaped area is formed. Jayavarman led his elephant cavalry in formation here to maximize the elephants' offensive advantage.

The Tang army, in three columns, bypassed Shawan Naji City and rushed towards them, but did not launch a fierce attack and fight to the death as Jayavarman had expected.

Liu Renyuan led his army to catch up with the enemy, stopping ten miles away and confronting them.

Jayavarman hesitated, unsure whether to launch a preemptive attack while the enemy was still establishing their position, or to maintain a steady and defensive posture and wait for the enemy to attack...

At the same time, Yang Zhou led his navy upstream, lining up his warships from south to north in the river. More than a hundred warships not only threatened the enemy's flanks, but also had their cannons aimed directly at Qucheng.

Xi Junmai then proceeded without stopping, heading straight north along the narrow strip of land on the west side of the river, crossing over to the north of Taqu City via a temporary pontoon bridge built by warships on the river.

In just half a day, while Jayavarman hesitated, the three Tang armies swiftly completed the encirclement of Qucheng.

Jayavarman knew he could not hesitate any longer, otherwise the army's morale would plummet and the battle would be lost.

He then ordered a fierce attack on Liu Renyuan's troops on the front.

The elephant cavalry was urged to charge, and more than 10,000 elite soldiers attacked from the rear. As long as the elephant cavalry could break through the Tang army's frontal defense, the subsequent soldiers could tear open a gap and break through the enemy formation.

Liu Renyuan's expression was solemn. He knew how terrifying these elephant soldiers were, so he quickly ordered Yang Zhou to bombard the river, while he himself fired with bows and crossbows and muskets. At the same time, the entire army was dispersed into several units to avoid the enemy's sharp edge and lure them deep into the river, so as not to confront the elephant soldiers head-on.

Jayavarman merely urged the elephant cavalry to charge forward, and seeing that the Tang army's formation was loose and they dared not engage in direct combat, he was overjoyed.

However, ideals are always lofty, but reality is too cruel. Although these "divine beings" are deaf and blind and will not be disturbed by the Tang army's firearms, they are still not sensitive enough to be controlled by ropes. The elephants themselves have extremely dull sense of touch. As they run, they veer off course and collide with their companions. The soldiers on their backs have to keep changing the control commands, such as turning left or right, or speeding up or slowing down.

This resulted in a chaotic charging formation, with some war elephants even falling and trampling each other. Instead of unleashing the full force of "ten thousand elephants galloping," they were thrown into disarray before even reaching the Tang army's lines.

Just then, the cannons of the warships in the river began to roar, and oil bombs rained down, engulfing the elephant herd.

Elephants may not see the flames or hear the explosions, but they can feel the intense heat of the petrol bombs landing on their bodies and feet. Because they cannot see or hear, their agitation and panic are amplified, ultimately leading to them going completely mad.

Both the soldiers of Zhenla and the soldiers of the Tang army suffered on the battlefield.

The two sides engaged in close combat, with crossbows and muskets firing in rapid succession, shields clashing and blades flashing. On one hand, they had to concentrate all their efforts on attacking the enemy, and on the other hand, they had to keep their eyes and ears open to guard against the raging elephants. A slight mistake could result in either killing the enemy or being trampled by the elephants.

A thousand elephants ran rampant across the battlefield, their massive hooves trampling indiscriminately, friend or foe. Their powerful bodies were impervious to swords and spears; anyone who came near them was wounded, and anyone who touched them was killed. If you were unlucky enough to be trampled by an elephant's hoof, you would be turned into a pile of minced meat.

Jayavarman sat on the back of his war elephant, bobbing up and down like a small boat on a raging sea. His spear was not only unable to attack the Tang army, but he was also almost thrown to the ground several times. In fright, he quickly dropped the spear and gripped the reins tightly with both hands, unable to command his troops in battle.

The Tang army was in no better shape.

Bows and crossbows, or firearms, could not inflict much damage on the thick-skinned war elephants. The pain only made the war elephants more frenzied. Although the fine armor could withstand swords and arrows, it could not offset the powerful impact of the war elephants. In order to kill the enemy soldiers while avoiding the collision of the war elephants, it was impossible to maintain the integrity of the formation.

The entire battlefield instantly descended into chaos.

The war elephants charged wildly, throwing the Zhenla army into chaos, and the Tang army into disarray...

Yang Zhou on the river was also helpless. His own forces were mixed with the enemy and war elephants, and his cannons and crossbows were useless. In the end, he could only let the battlefield on the bank do as it pleased, and then concentrate his firepower to bombard the north gate of Qucheng with oil bombs to help Xi Junmai's troops quickly complete the encirclement.

Liu Renyuan was sweating profusely and extremely anxious. He had not anticipated such a chaotic situation. The war elephants, charging wildly, had inflicted too much casualties on the Tang army, and for the time being, he was helpless. He could only fight the enemy while dodging the war elephants and waiting for them to run out of energy...

Suddenly, a soldier came to report that the enemy commander was suspected to be Jayavarman, the king of Zhenla. Liu Renyuan was overjoyed but also startled. If Jayavarman could be captured alive, it would almost mean victory in the war ahead of schedule. However, if Jayavarman was killed on the battlefield, it would add a lot of variables.

He immediately ordered that no one should be shot with bows, crossbows, or firearms, and sent his personal guards to capture them alive!

The guards were in high spirits and full of enthusiasm. This was a feat of capturing the enemy chieftain alive, something that wouldn't happen for several lifetimes!
Upon rushing into the battlefield, they indeed found Jayavarman, whose attire was quite different. Even his war elephant was covered with all sorts of ornate decorations, making him very easy to identify!

However, these exceptionally powerful war elephants went berserk, charging left and right, and Jayavarman dropped his weapon, gripping the reins tightly with both hands, not daring to loosen his grip even for a moment lest he be thrown off. Whether he was trampled to death by the war elephants or killed and captured by the Tang army, neither was acceptable to Jayavarman.

At first, he not only had to hold on tightly to the reins to avoid being thrown off, but later he also had to guard against arrows shot from all directions and muskets fired at close range. He was wounded in many places and was under great tension, but gradually he found that the arrows and muskets were becoming fewer and fewer, while the enemy troops surrounding him were increasing...

Jayavarman was horrified, realizing that his identity had been exposed by the Tang army. The imperial guards who were protecting him had been scattered in various places due to the chaos of the battlefield, and the few who remained by his side were also killed one by one by the Tang army.

Panic gripped him as he struggled to control the war elephant, trying to escape back to the city. But each time the elephant was struck by arrows, muskets, or blades, it roared and charged wildly, completely out of control...

The Tang army was very cunning. Instead of trying to stop the war elephants, they surrounded them and attacked them with their weapons. The war elephants were getting more and more wounds and bleeding more and more. Although they were not fatal, their strength was rapidly being lost with the blood.

Finally, after letting out an angry roar, the war elephant's hooves buckled and its massive body crashed to the ground.

The moment the war elephant fell, the Tang army quickly surrounded Jayavarman, pinned him down, and bound his hands and feet with ropes to prevent him from committing suicide. Then, several men lifted him up, while the others guarded him from all sides, and they ran wildly toward the rear towards the banner of their commander.

"The king has been captured!"

"Something terrible has happened! Run!"

"The 'Divine Lord' has gone mad; we can't win!"

"The king has died in battle!"

"Run!"

The news of Jayavarman's capture spread across the battlefield like a hurricane. The already struggling and heavily wounded Zhenla army instantly collapsed in morale, and countless soldiers threw down their weapons and fled.

The army was defeated like a mountain.

The Tang army pursued relentlessly, launching a surprise attack on Qucheng.

The river was filled with the booming of cannons and billowing smoke as bullets rained down on the city. Although the houses were damp from the continuous rain and no large-scale fires broke out, the long-range attack caused panic and chaos in the city.

Although the ministers organized soldiers to climb the city walls and block the first wave of Tang army attacks, the Tang navy was deployed on the river and the north gate of the city was surrounded. In particular, the king Jayavarman's fate and whereabouts were unknown, and the morale of the whole country was low and fearful.

That evening, Liu Renyuan escorted the bound Jayavarman to the city wall and ordered the guards to open the gates and surrender.

The ministers in the city hesitated.

In Chenla, Jayavarman held unparalleled prestige, leaving the city's civil and military officials at a loss for what to do.

Moreover, there are serious disagreements.

Some advocated breaking out eastward and fleeing into the Changshan Mountains, contacting the northern tribes to gather troops and launch a counterattack; others advocated surrendering the city and rescuing King Jayavarman; some even suggested abandoning Jayavarman, placing all the blame for the destruction of Funan on him, and then negotiating with the Tang army to choose a new ruler and acknowledge Funan as a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty...