Tang Dynasty: The Holy Prince, the Dragon that Reigns Over the World

The Tang army and the Japanese army were stationed at the Seta River, and the two armies set up camps far from each other. On the second day, the Japanese army came out of the camp to challenge the Tang army. Xue Li and Li Dejian led the 15-man Taizifu Army out of the camp to fight. The two armies held their ground, and the Japanese army's chief general Soga Aka-oh rode out on horseback and shouted.

"Where is the commander of the Tang army on the other side? Please come out and answer me."

After Xue Li and Li Dejian's troops joined together, Xue Li tried his best to make Li Dejian the commander of the two troops, and he was willing to be the deputy commander, because Li Dejian was an old man in the Prince's Mansion, and he and Li Dejian were both deputy generals of the Prince's Mansion Corps, and he also held the title of county duke. Li Dejian was humble and generous, and he refused. In the end, he persuaded Xue Li with the words: Brother, you have been preparing for this battle for a long time, how can I bear to take it away. I have already made contributions to Goryeo, this great military achievement, please take it, I am willing to be the deputy commander.

"Listen carefully, Japanese general on the opposite side. I am Xue Li, deputy commander-in-chief of the Tang Dynasty's army that is trying to destroy the Japanese, deputy general of the Prince's Mansion Corps, and loyal and martial general of the Tang Dynasty. The one next to me is Li Dejian, deputy commander-in-chief of the Tang Dynasty's army that is trying to destroy the Japanese, deputy general of the Prince's Mansion Corps, grand marshal of the Prince's Mansion, and Duke of Gaochang County." When Li Dejian saw that Xue Li did not forget to introduce himself, his eyes showed admiration and gratitude.

"Xue Li? Never heard of him. Li Dejian is a household name. He is the son of Tang Dynasty's war god Li Jing and the new generation of Tang Dynasty's war god. I am Soga no Akane, the Right Minister of Great Japan and the commander of the Anti-Tang Army. I am honored." Soga no Akane said admiringly.

"Your Excellency the Right Minister, you are too kind. My Tang Dynasty has many capable and experienced generals. How dare I call myself a god of war? I am the deputy general of this army, and the commander is Brother Xue Li." Li Dejian said with a smile.

"The Duke of Gaochang County is not the commander-in-chief?" Soga Chixiong was surprised, and then he looked up and down at Xue Li curiously. Xue Li smiled and took two steps forward, saying with a smile.

"Japanese general, our Great Tang Heavenly Army is here. Why don't you lay down your weapons, tie yourselves up and surrender? If you resist stubbornly, we, the Great Tang, will destroy your country and exterminate your entire clan."

"General Tang, please stop lying and scaring us. Although our Great Japan is small in territory and small in population, our Great Japanese samurai are ready to die and will never give up easily. General Tang, please lead your troops to fight. Our Great Japanese Emperor is the son of Amaterasu, and Amaterasu will surely protect our Great Japan." Soga Akari said loudly.

"Well, since you Japanese are so determined to die, I will satisfy you. You can choose to fight with generals, soldiers, or formations." Xue Li said helplessly.

"Tang general, don't be so arrogant. I am Kato Sai, a general under Lord Soga no Emishi. Which Tang general dares to fight with me?" An armored samurai from the Japanese army walked out with a samurai sword in hand.

The Japanese were short in stature, and the horses they rode were also short and thin. In ancient times, when the Japanese army fought, the warriors would arrive at the battlefield on horseback, then dismount and fight on foot. In a sense, most of the ancient Japanese cavalry were mounted infantry.

"Oh, fighting on foot. I will meet you." Yuchi Baolin inserted the horse spear into the ground, turned over, got off the horse, and walked out holding the family iron whip on his shoulder.

"I am here to introduce myself. I am the son of Kato Yoshio, the family elder of Lord Soga no Emishi. My father once..."

Kato Sai began to follow the Japanese samurai duel tradition, introducing his father and himself. Yuchi Baolin saw that the Japanese general was talking endlessly. Yuchi Baolin frowned and hit the Japanese general with a whip impatiently. Before the Japanese general could react, his head was smashed by the whip. Yuchi Baolin shook the iron whip and said with disgust.

"What's wrong with you? If you want to fight, don't fight. Why are you talking so much? I don't understand what you are saying."

"Yuchi Chihuo, that's the tradition of duels between Japanese and Japanese. They were just introducing how brave their fathers were, and before it was your turn, you were beaten to death. This is called a sneak attack." Chai Lingwu laughed. Yuchi Baolin was stunned when he heard this, and then said in annoyance.

"Damn it, what a broken tradition. If you want to fight, just fight. Why introduce your father? What does what his father did have to do with him? He kept talking nonsense for a long time and I thought he was scolding me. I'm sorry, Japanese soldiers on the opposite side. I didn't know about your broken tradition. Why don't you send another one. This time, I promise to wait until you finish talking nonsense, and then I will whip you to death." The Tang army laughed when they heard this, while the Japanese soldiers on the opposite side were as pale as the bottom of a pot.

"Tang general, please stop being so presumptuous. I am Yebi Zazhong, the deputy general of the Tang army. Tang general, I will die." Yebi Zazhong shouted loudly with a 10-foot iron spear in his hand, and rode out on his horse. The Yebi brothers were fictional characters created out of thin air by the Creator to check and balance Li Chengqian, with martial arts similar to Li Chengqian.

"Bastard? Is that a person's name? If you were born by a stolen man, don't embarrass yourself in public." Yuchi Baolin said contemptuously.

Although his words were mocking, Yuchi Baolin saw that Yebi Zazhong was strong and powerful, and he quickly raised his guard. Yebi Zazhong threw a gun at Yuchi Baolin, and Yuchi Baolin used all his strength to swing his double whip to block. A huge force came. Yuchi Baolin retreated repeatedly, knelt on one knee, hit the ground with his double whips, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yuchi Baolin looked at the Japanese general in front of him in disbelief. You have to know that Yuchi Baolin inherited his father Yuchi Jingde's natural strength. Among the generals of the Prince's Mansion Army, in terms of strength, he is second only to Li Chengqian. There are only a handful of people in the entire Tang Dynasty who can surpass him in strength. Yuchi Jingde stood up, shook his shoulders, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"The Japanese general is so despicable that he relies on the advantage of his war horses to bully my brother who is fighting on foot. Baolin, what happened to you?" Li Zhen said angrily when he saw Yuchi Baolin vomiting blood.

"Don't worry, brother. Damn, it feels good. You bastard have some strength. Come on, Wuzhui." Yuchi Baolin laughed. With a neigh, Yuchi Baolin's horse galloped out of the Tang camp. Yuchi Baolin jumped on the horse, shook his whips, and shouted.

"Come on, bastard, fight your grandfather Yuchi for another three hundred rounds."

Nobi Zazhong was also shocked at this time. He knew how strong he was. He struck hard, but the opponent just spit out blood and was able to mount his horse and fight again. Are all Tang generals monsters? Nobi Zazhong saw Yuchi Baolin rushing over, and he quickly put away his mind and fought with Yuchi Jingde with all his strength.

Although Yebi Zazhong was extremely strong, his spear skills were sparse. Yuchi Baolin's family whip skills were exquisite. Although Yuchi Baolin was usually careless, he was actually very smart. Yuchi Baolin saw that he was far inferior to his opponent in strength, so he fought with his skills. Yebi Zazhong saw that Yuchi Jingde did not compete with him in strength, and each whip attack was very tricky, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

Moreover, Yebi Zazhong's weapon was long and heavy, while Yuchi Baolin's double whips were short and flexible. Although Yebi Zazhong was strong, he was exhausted by Yuchi Baolin's beating. Yebi Zazhong complained in his heart and was anxious. The two fought for more than a hundred rounds, and Yebi Zazhong became more and more irritated, and his left rib was exposed. Seeing this, Yuchi Baolin swung one whip and hit Yebi Zazhong's left rib with the other whip.

There was a loud bang, and Yebi Zazhong screamed, spurted out a mouthful of blood, and fell off his horse. Yuchi Baolin leaned over and whipped Yebi Zazhong again, smashing his head.

"Damn, it's really troublesome." Yuchi Baolin spat and said a little weakly.

"How dare you harm my brother's life, thief. Give me your life."

When the Japanese general Nobi Saki saw his brother being smashed to death by Yuchi Baolin, he roared with bloodshot eyes. Then he rushed towards Yuchi Baolin, waving the large naginata forged with iron in his hand. At this time, Yuchi Baolin had just fought a big battle and suffered internal injuries, so he was unable to fight again. But when Yuchi Baolin saw Nobi Saki rushing towards him, he became ferocious, opened his eyes wide and shouted.

"It is a blessing for a man to die on the battlefield. My Yuchi family is deeply favored by the emperor, and today we can only repay him with our death. Dalang, Yuanyu will fight to the death today to repay your kindness." Then he raised his two whips with all his strength to urge his horse to meet the enemy.

At this moment, three heavy arrows flew past Yuchi Baolin's ears as fast as meteors. Before the Japanese general Yebi Shabi could react, one arrow pierced his head and two arrows pierced his chest. The Japanese general Yebi Shabi screamed and fell off his horse and died. Yuchi Baolin turned around in shock. Xue Li calmly put down the Zhentian bow given by Li Chengqian and spoke calmly.

"Don't die heroically for no reason. If the lord knew, he would be heartbroken. Live well and clear all obstacles for the lord. This is the greatest reward for the lord."

"Three stars in a row! What great archery skills! People say that there are many hidden talents under the prince's command, but I didn't expect that there is someone with such great archery skills. Brother Rengui's archery skills are unrivaled in the world." Li Jingheng exclaimed in admiration.

"Haha, Jing Heng, you are too kind. My archery is just a small skill, far inferior to yours. Your archery is truly an amazing skill." Xue Li said modestly upon hearing this.

The Japanese army was horrified when they saw their extremely brave Nobi brothers being killed by the Tang army. For a time, the Japanese army's morale dropped sharply, and everyone was in danger. Seeing the low morale of the Japanese army, Xue Li hurriedly ordered the Feilong Army and the Turkic Wolf Cavalry Army to encircle the two wings, the Xuanwu Army and the Feidiao Army to line up and charge forward, and the Shenji Army's artillery battalion to bombard the Japanese army.

The Flying Dragon Army and the Turkic Wolf Cavalry Army began to move left and right on both sides, while the Black Tortoise Army and the Flying Marten Army raised their shields and slowly moved forward. When the Japanese general Soga Akagi saw the Tang army coming, he ordered them to meet the enemy, and the Japanese army roared and rushed towards the Tang army.

It was not until the Japanese Warring States Period that Japan had a systematic combat strategy and military formation, which was the "wind, forest, fire and mountain" technique learned from Sun Tzu's Art of War. At that time, the Japanese army fought by charging in a swarm, without any formation.

At this time, bursts of cannon roared, and 50 cannons fired at the Japanese army from the rear of the Tang army. The iron shells smashed into the Japanese army fiercely, plowing a bloody path in the Japanese army formation, and the Japanese soldiers who were hit were torn into pieces, with blood and flesh flying all over the sky.

The Japanese army was stunned by the Tang army's artillery, and while they were stunned, the second round of artillery fire began. The Japanese army was frightened by the Tang army's artillery, and the horses were frightened and ran around, and the Japanese army was immediately in chaos.

Xue Li ordered the bombardment to stop and ordered the whole army to charge. The Tang army shouted slogans and charged the Japanese army. The Japanese army was in a mess and could not organize an effective resistance. They were divided by the Tang army. Except for a few samurai who were equipped with armor, most of the foot soldiers did not even have armor, and only had a set of bamboo armor on their chests.

The Tang army wielded their butcher knives wantonly, killing the Japanese army and forcing them to retreat again and again. The Tang army's armor was strong and their weapons were sharp, and the Japanese army was killed without any chance to fight back. The Tang army's cavalry pierced back and forth in the Japanese army's formation, and the heads of the Japanese army flew into the sky one by one.

The Japanese general Soga no Akae saw that the Tang army could not win in a field battle, so he hurriedly ordered the entire army to retreat to Kyoto. The Japanese army fled in panic, and the Tang army took advantage of the situation to kill them, leaving the Japanese dead all over the ground. After chasing for 20 miles, the Tang army called off the battle. In this battle, the Tang army lost less than 10 people, but killed Japanese soldiers. The remaining Japanese soldiers fled back to Kyoto in a panic.

The Japanese king and his ministers were horrified when they saw the 10 Japanese soldiers fleeing back. The ministers tried to dissuade the emperor from moving to Shinano. Emperor Shumei refused with rare firmness.

"I am the ruler of a country. How can I flee in the face of a battle? Moreover, the only city in Japan that has a wall made of huge stones is Kyoto. How can the other cities stop the attack of the Tang army? I swear to live and die with Japan. You only need to do your best to defend against the attack of the Tang army. There is no need to persuade me to move my capital."

Seeing the emperor's firm attitude, the Japanese officials were greatly encouraged and organized the entire city and nearby people to reinforce the city to prevent the Tang army from attacking. What the Japanese officials did not know was that the emperor was so tough because the Jinyiwei who had been placed around him had advised the emperor to use this opportunity to get rid of Soga no Emishi and restore the emperor's authority.

After the Tang army rested for three days, Xue Li and Li Dejian led a large army to surround Fujiwara-kyo. The army surrounded but did not attack. Five days later, Li Xiaogong's army arrived. The 5 Japanese troops joined forces and surrounded Fujiwara-kyo.

When the Tang army was besieging Fujiwara-kyo, a Tibetan envoy arrived outside Chang'an. In a luxurious carriage, a man who had just turned twenty opened the window and looked at the majestic Chang'an city wall in front of him with envy.

"What a magnificent city wall! Along the way, the strength displayed by the Tang Dynasty has amazed me."

"Haha, Zanpu, the Han culture has been passed down for thousands of years, and the Tang Dynasty is located in the beautiful Central Plains. Its heritage is indeed incomparable to our Tubo. However, Zanpu does not need to be too envious. In recent years, Zanpu has vigorously carried out reforms and actively learned from the Central Plains. I believe that it will not be long before Tubo will be no worse than the Tang Dynasty."

An old Han man beside him stroked his beard and smiled. It turned out that the man was Songtsen Gampo, the leader of Tubo. He came here to ask for marriage because he wanted to see the strength of the Tang Dynasty with his own eyes.

"Teacher, you are right. I was able to ascend the throne smoothly thanks to your help. Since I ascended the throne, it is also thanks to your careful teaching and advice that Tubo was able to be unified and prosper today. I hope that you will continue to teach and assist me wholeheartedly in the future." Songtsen Gampo stood up with a serious expression and performed a pure Confucian salute to the old man.

The old man was a Chinese teacher invited by the previous king for Songtsen Gampo. Not only did he teach Songtsen Gampo Chinese culture carefully, he also assisted him in ascending the throne and gave him advice on how to unify and develop Tubo.

Under his advice, Songtsen Gampo not only unified Tubo, but also established a political and military system from the central to the local level, following the example of the central government and military system of the Central Plains. In order to meet the needs of economy and politics, Songtsen Gampo also adopted the calendar, stipulated unified weights and measures, created the Tibetan language based on the Yutian and Tianzhu scripts (which later developed into today's Tibetan language), and formulated cruel laws. Tubo's power grew greatly.

The old man looked at Songtsen Gampo who was bowing in front of him, with complex expressions of guilt and pity in his eyes, but he quickly recovered, stretched out his hand to help Songtsen Gampo up, and said with a smile.

"The old Zanpu does not need to be so polite. I am just an old minister of the previous dynasty. The old Zanpu did not regard me as old and ignorant, and ordered me to teach him. The Zanpu treated me with great courtesy and trusted me. There is a saying in the Central Plains that "a scholar will die for his confidant", and I dare not but sacrifice my life to repay the Zanpu's kindness."