Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 55 Attack
Just when everyone in Baoyi was hesitant, Zhao Huaian laughed loudly towards the sky:
"Hahaha, I laugh at this Nanzhao thief's short-sightedness and the commander's lack of strategy. How can you fool me with such a petty trick?"

As he spoke, Zhao Huaian shouted to the people in the camp below:

"Our army values ​​flags, and all officers and soldiers regard them as totems. Normally, the Nanzhao army would be lucky to capture even one, let alone more than ten."

"So fake! So fake!"

As he spoke, Zhao Huaian pinched his beard and laughed.

The surrounding officers and soldiers were all shouting:
"Too fake, too fake."

The earth-shaking roar spread outside the village and even reached the banner of the Nanzhao army.

At this time, a young general wearing luxurious armor was looking at the camp in front of him in surprise.

He didn't expect that the Tang army in the camp could still maintain high morale under such circumstances, and he couldn't help but feel a desire to attract talented people.

Nanzhao gradually grew from a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty to a dominant power in Southeast Asia by absorbing the civilization and talents of the Tang Dynasty.

Many ministers in the Nanzhao court today are descendants of the Sichuan and Shu Tang people who were captured during the Tianbao period. They are still loyal ministers of Nanzhao.

Therefore, the young general did not think there was anything wrong with recruiting the Tang people to surrender, as long as the person was capable.

In addition, the young general was also quite worried about the current situation in Nanzhao. Because of his identity, he knew that Nanzhao was not as glorious as it appeared. The country had been at war for years. Ten years ago, it invaded Annan and destroyed an army of 10,000. Four years ago, it attacked Chengdu and destroyed 20,000 people.

The country repeatedly raised armies and defeated its people, and its national strength was thus depleted.

Therefore, this person did not want to waste precious manpower to attack the stronghold in front of him, so he turned to a Tang scholar next to him and said:
"Jun Yan, who is the commander of this stronghold?"

This scholar surnamed Yan obviously knew the strengths and weaknesses of the Tang army very well, and he could even tell the truth about a rising star like Zhao Huaian:
"Replying to His Majesty, the commander of this stronghold is Zhao Huaian. He was a general of the Lizhou army who previously defended the Dadu River. He later became famous in the battle of Baishushui and is considered an outstanding general in Sichuan."

The heir apparent? Isn't that the crown prince?
Yes, the general in front of him was none other than the crown prince of Nanzhao, Meng Longshun.

After hearing what Yan said, Meng Longshun smiled:
"Then it seems that General Tang is difficult for me to use."

He knew about the Lizhou Army, which was annihilated by them at Dadu River. The Tang general was the remnant of this army, and the hatred was huge.

But the man surnamed Yan bowed and smiled:
"Your Majesty, as the symbol of the sun and the moon, who in the world would not follow? How could Zhao Huaian be an exception? Besides, why not send someone to give it a try?"

Meng Longshun did not take this person's words seriously. As a Nanzhao noble who had studied in Chang'an at a very young age, he had a deep understanding of Chinese studies and was very familiar with the culture of the Tang Dynasty.

He knew that the so-called "Heaven and Sun" was used to describe the Heavenly Khan of the Tang Dynasty. He, Meng Longshun, was just an ordinary man, so how could he be ranked with such a celestial being?

However, even though he knew it was flattery, he was still a little happy. After all, it showed that this person was still loyal to Nanzhao.

After saying that, Meng Longshun turned around and instructed a mounted warrior behind him to go and persuade them to surrender.

After thinking about it, Meng Longshun added another condition:
"If he agrees, I will grant him a position in a large government office."

The Nanzhao army imitated the Tang army's palace soldiers. A large palace soldier had about three to four thousand cavalry, which was considered to be a powerful military force.

The warrior on horseback took the order, spurred his horse and went to the front to persuade the enemy to surrender.

Meng Longshun was still making a bet with the man surnamed Yan:
"Sir Yan, if the general is willing to surrender, will you give me the Hu concubine? If not, you can choose any of my concubines."

As soon as he said this, the man surnamed Yan knew that no matter whether Zhao Huaian surrendered or not, he could not keep the Hu girl from Gaochang.

As the two were chatting, they suddenly heard a cry of surprise from the front, and then heard someone shouting:

"not good."

Then, a rider came running from outside, dismounted and shouted at Meng Longshun:
"Sire, the Tang army launched a shameless surprise attack, and He Luosheng was shot and fell off his horse and died."

When Meng Longshun heard this, his face turned black and he cursed:

"He Luosheng held the sword for me, but the Tang army actually killed him?"

At this moment, Meng Longshun was only thinking about venting his anger, and he shouted an order:

"Pass my order, destroy the camp and kill all the Tang troops, leaving no one alive."

The cavalry received the order and rode their horses to pass the message to each army.

After a moment, Meng Longshun managed to regain his composure and said gloomily to the somewhat stiff Yan Jiazi:
"Come to my tent later and take away whoever you like."

Yan Jiazi knew that Meng Longshun in front of him was extremely angry, and knew that if he refused, the anger might be directed at him.

So, he bowed and expressed his gratitude.

But at this moment, in this person's mind, Zhao Huaian was undoubtedly very bold.

……

Zhao Huaian once again boasted about Wang Jin's archery skills in front of all the soldiers. Just now, he shot an arrow and killed the enemy's envoy who was trying to persuade him to surrender.

But at this moment, he knew in his heart that the revenge of the Nanzhao people would come soon, so he sent half of the team to rest and prepare to take turns fighting.

But unexpectedly, the Nanzhao army on the opposite side gave up the attack again and even started digging trenches on the spot, preparing to set up camp.

Looking at these people, who are the same as the previous Nanzhao army, a sense of familiarity came over me?

Are these Nanzhao troops luring me into a night attack?
Zhao Huaian sneered. "Why do these Nanzhao people look down on me, Zhao Da? Do they think I'm so stupid?"
However, since the enemy can launch an ambush, can I also launch a counter-ambush?
Thinking of this, Zhao Huaian looked at the Nanzhao troops again and ordered Zhao Liu:
"Sixth Brother, you continue to watch here. If anything happens, notify me immediately."

Zhao Liu wondered:

"Zhao Da, where are you going?" Zhao Huaian replied without even turning his head:

"go to bed!"

Zhao Liu was dumbfounded? He secretly cursed Zhao Da for being so careless.

Yes, not only did Zhao Huaian sleep himself, but even the selected vanguard team had eaten and drunk their fill and began to rest in the tent.

That’s right, he still decided to attack the camp at night!
Who says you can't launch a night attack just because the enemy knows you're planning one? This is a case of you fight your battles and I fight mine.

……

Zhao Huaian was woken up by Zhao Liu in a daze, and the first words he heard were:

"Zhao Da, wake up! The Nanzhao troops have moved westward."

Zhao Huaian was in a trance for a moment, then woke up immediately:

"Westward? Are we retreating?"

After saying that, Zhao Huaian wrapped himself in a coat and rushed up to the watchtower without even putting on any armor.

As far as the eye could see, the Nanzhao army that had been building camp in the morning had indeed abandoned the camp and left in such a hurry that they didn't even take some of the baggage carts with them.

Looking at the Nanzhao army rushing westward, the teams on the wall raised their spears and shouted, calling for victory.

At this time, Wang Duo ran over from below, as well as several other generals in the army, all with big smiles on their faces.

Wang Duo first said:

"My lord, congratulations! The Nanzhao army fled without a fight, and our army escaped disaster. This must be a great fortune."

But Zhao Huaian's brows were furrowed, and he suddenly asked:
"Could it be that the enemy is trying to use this to get us out of the camp and pursue them?"

Zhao Huaian immediately thought of the story of Cao Cao fishing for Zhang Xiu in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but he immediately shook his head:

"That's not right. What's the point of the enemy doing this? Our army has completed its mission of blocking the enemy. What's the point of not pursuing them?"

Zhao Huaian then asked several captains present what they thought, and they all had different opinions.

Finally, Lawrence Lu shouted:
"Hey, never mind all that. Our army will just stay in the village and won't go anywhere else."

This may sound crude, but the logic is correct.

Zhao Huaian had no other choice but to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing circumstances.

Now that the enemy troops have withdrawn, the night attack is naturally aborted, so Zhao Huaian sat on the watchtower and ate rice with tea.

……

Time passed slowly and the sky grew darker, but Zhao Huaian saw that troops of the Nanzhao army were constantly retreating westward outside.

They didn't even leave a single troop to defend Baoyi City in the village, and just rushed westward.

At this time, anyone with a brain would realize that something was wrong.

Zhao Huaian knew more information than everyone else. He suddenly realized that maybe the envoy Gao Pian had arrived with reinforcements?
Although he was thinking about it, Zhao Huaian had no intention of leaving the village.

He still understood the principle of not stopping the retreating troops.

In this way, the Nanzhao army continued to retreat westward until dark. This was also because the Tang army in Jinma Village had been holding their ground and the cavalry that had been quietly on guard also took the initiative to withdraw.

Just as Zhao Liu was about to order the cooking, Zhao Huaian suddenly shouted from the watchtower:
"Pass my order, Beiwei, Xianzhen, and Tuqi are ready, follow me out of the camp."

Hearing Zhao Huaian's shout, Wang Jin, Gao Renhou and Guo Congyun dropped their bowls and chopsticks, shouted back the order, and then ran to their troops to assemble their formation, shaking their armor.

At this time, Zhao Huaian also climbed down from the watchtower and ordered Zhao Liu:

"Go and kill twenty sheep to reward the troops tonight."

As he spoke, Zhao Huaian took the helmet handed to him by his adopted son Zhao Wenzhong, pulled the face shield down, and then left the camp with the three teams that had joined him, heading straight for the Nanzhao troops that were retreating outside.

Seeing Zhao Dafeng's hurried look, Zhao Liu asked Niu Li to do the thing, and then quickly climbed up to the watchtower.

After coming up, he took a deep breath. With the last bit of weak light in the sky, Zhao Liu saw Zhao Da leading three teams of elite soldiers heading straight for the Nanzhao troops.

Those Nanzhao troops were already lagging behind. They had just completed their rearguard duty and only after discovering that there were no pursuers did they evacuate with peace of mind.

But no one expected that an armored army would suddenly rush out from the Tang army camp, which had been silent before. They were armed with Mo Dao, iron axes, and bone spears, and they immediately cut into the middle of the team.

Unable to resist at all, these Nanzhao soldiers had already taken off their armor and fled, unable to resist these armored troops at all.

After several well-known warriors in the army were killed in battle by the Tang army, the Nanzhao army lost their will to fight and fled westward.

But at this time, another group of cavalry rushed out from the west. The leading general held a lance and killed several Nanzhao soldiers one after another. The knights behind him also used the swords in their hands to kill these fleeing soldiers indiscriminately.

At this time, with enemy cavalry in front and infantry behind, the Nanzhao army, who had no will to fight anymore, knelt down and surrendered.

Zhao Huaian first kicked the furious He Wenqin to the ground, then shouted:
"Don't kill any of the prisoners! These are slaves."

After saying this, Zhao Huaian looked up to the sky and laughed as he looked at the Nanzhao soldiers kneeling on the ground, numbering at least three or four hundred.

Win this battle!
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(End of this chapter)