Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 39 Before the Battle
Zhao Huaian and others hurried out of the tent and saw this scene.

I saw more than ten long poles erected on the open space of the original camp, and then strings of heads were hung under the bamboo poles. Not far away, more than ten corpses were separated from their heads and bodies, dyeing the yellow mud ground red.

At the bottom of the long pole, Ren Conghai, who had just been drinking with Zhao Huaian, looked down at the local villagers below with a sinister look on his face.

On either side of him were dozens of armored soldiers chanting military code:

"...Anyone who leaks military secrets will be executed!...Anyone whose flags are not straight, whose weapons and armor are not shining, will be executed!...Anyone who loses the military flag, drums, talismans, or axes will be executed!...Anyone who loses the commander in battle will be executed!"

As soon as Zhao Huaian came out, he heard more than twenty orders to behead, either the soldiers who made mistakes or the entire group.

Especially when there are heads hanging on the poles, these military laws are made to appear cold and cruel.

But when Zhao Huaian heard one of them, he laughed sarcastically.

It turns out that the military law they were singing was:
"If a unit is surrounded by the enemy and the situation is critical, and the neighboring troops in front, behind, left, and right do not provide assistance, resulting in the unit being captured by the enemy, the entire unit shall be executed."

Zhao Huaian immediately thought of the Sichuan East General Yan Shihui. This man had previously betrayed his allies and evacuated alone. In this case, shouldn't he be executed according to military law?
But what about the reality? Master Yan will still lead the army and be a general. These military laws are meaningless to him.

What an irony.

At this time, Fatty Dou from next door also ran over. Although it was winter, his forehead was covered in sweat.

When he saw Zhao Huaian coming out, he ran over immediately.

Those cross-eyed eyes were filled with panic and fear. He shivered and said to Zhao Huaian:

"Zhao Da, those who were beheaded were all the heads of several groups. They were gambling in the tent and got caught. Old Li even called me to go, but I didn't go because I had diarrhea. I didn't expect to lose my head now."

Zhao Huaian frowned and asked Chen Fahai beside him:
"Is gambling in the military punishable by death according to military law?"

Chen Fahai was the highest-ranking officer in the regular army. He had previously been the commander of a team of fifty men and had a very clear understanding of military law.

Chen Fahai told Zhao Huaian:
"Gambling is prohibited in the military, but it's not a serious crime. All gambling proceeds will be confiscated, not the death penalty."

Zhao Huaian got angry and cursed:
"What the hell, what is Ren Conghai doing? Killing people indiscriminately? Huh?"

But I didn’t expect Chen Fahai to say this:
"General, this is a military custom. Whenever a battle is about to begin, a few soldiers must be killed to maintain morale."

Zhao Huaian was stunned.

Over there, Fatty Dou also nodded like a chicken pecking at rice:

"Yes, yes. Just now, after that officer killed Lao Li and the others, he ordered everyone to prepare for a big battle the day after tomorrow. Then he started chanting military law."

"Hey, I was drinking with Lao Li this afternoon, and when I went to the toilet, Lao Li was beheaded. What's going on?"

Zhao Huaian sighed. He knew Old Li. He had brought them a jar of pickles this morning, saying it was a gift in return for the braised pork last night.

Although he is not a straightforward man, he is not a bad person.

But he was killed just like that!
Zhao Huaian knew that Old Li did not die because of gambling, but because he was weak and had no background.

The real guilty one is Yan Shihui, but he is alive and well.

So when he heard Fatty Dou's sigh, he cursed directly:

"What's going on? This is the way the world is! Humph!"

At this moment, Zhao Huaian deeply realized the darkness and cruelty in the army.

He glanced at Doupan, who was sweating, and patted him:
"Fatty Dou, go back and lead the team properly. Stop drinking everywhere. Then feed your livestock and check the wheels of the carts. Replace them if necessary."

Fatty Dou was stunned for a moment, and was about to say something when he heard Zhao Huaian shaking his head:
"I didn't say anything. You figured it all out on your own. But I'm reminding you: on the battlefield tomorrow, make sure to look at my flag and follow me closely!"

After saying that, Zhao Huaian returned to the tent. He couldn't stand the bunch of shrewd people outside.

Behind him, Fatty Dou was about to cry, and he bowed deeply to Zhao Huaian's back.

Then he rushed back to the camp.

……

The deterrent effect of killing is always very effective.

The Tuantuan Battalion silently accepted the death of their comrades, but was unable to collect their bodies because their heads were still hanging on long poles.

After the military law was issued, the changes in the Native Corps camp were very obvious. The original camp had no fences, but now there were wooden fences with volleys of guns.

These wooden fences were held together by wooden spears and surrounded the camp, with a layer of earthen trenches dug around them.

This kind of wooden fence is definitely simple and cannot be compared with the trenches and deer horn military camps set up by the Tang army, but it is also a form of defense.

In addition to these, the sanitation of the camp has also improved a lot. Before, except for Zhao Huaian who dug a cesspool, other camps were full of feces and urine, and the whole camp was smelly.

But now, these people also started digging manure pits according to the military system of the Tang army. Obviously, these people also understood the military system before.

This change also made Zhao Huaian sigh. The harshness of military law also has its effect. But if military law can only be applied to a certain group of people, then this so-called effect is nothing more than a kind of brutality.

The changes in the camp are not just superficial, but more about the change in atmosphere.

Originally, there was singing and laughter in the camp, and the relationship between the various local groups was very loose, but now everyone is in danger. Perhaps it is because of the death of their companions, or perhaps it is because they are afraid of the war that will soon come. In short, the atmosphere in the camp is very tense.

It was in this atmosphere that Zhao Huaian and his team began their emergency pre-war training.

Zhao Huaian, who has fought through countless exams, has a profound understanding that it is better to sharpen your sword before the battle, even if it is not quick.

Maybe just these two days of training can save a life.

Therefore, Zhao Huaian personally took charge of the training. Not only did he take the lead in training, he also selected a batch of supplies specifically for rewarding those who performed well in training.

There were nine guys in total, standing in a formation of four on the left and right sides and one in the middle.

Then the middle group will blow the first horn, and the left and right groups need to complete the battle stance; when the second horn is blown, each group needs to raise their guns, roll up the flags, string their bows, and draw their swords at the same time; when the third horn is blown, each team raises their guns at the same time, and when the fourth horn is blown, each team puts down their guns at the same time, either kneeling or sitting down.

In this way, the defensive formation is completed.

Then they heard the war drums. When the middle group's khaki flag pressed forward and the drums sounded, everyone had to shout in unison and move forward to the center line together, shouting "Kill" at the same time.

Then, at the second drumbeat, both sides charged forward to engage the enemy. If the enemy retreated, they could pursue him thirty steps.

At this time, wait for the signal from the middle group. If you hear the sound of a gong, stop shouting and retreat, return to your original position, and spread out your formation. If the middle group does not sound the gong, the cavalry group next to the middle group will pursue first, and the other groups will follow in turn.

Zhao Huaian has been training these two tactics these past two days, one is defensive formation and the other is active attack. At the same time, he made sure that everyone understands the meaning of the golden drum, what does the first drum mean and what does the second drum mean.

Zhao Huaian trained everyone on these things over and over again.

In addition, everyone was asked to recognize the flags. Everyone had to recognize two flags: one was Zhao Huaian's khaki flag, and the other was the flag of their team.

Once you're on the battlefield, you follow these two flags. If they advance, you advance; if they retreat, you retreat.

Once the formation collapsed, they would look for these two flags, and as soon as they were raised, they would run back to the team.

There are many aspects to an army's training. Not only do soldiers need to be familiar with weapons, armor, formations, and command systems, but they also need to train their courage, organization, and discipline. At the same time, they need to adapt to this kind of collective life with dense populations and harsh conditions.

But Zhao Huaian didn't have enough time, so he could only use this quick method to train.

The effect was quite good, because there were more than 30 veteran soldiers in the city, nearly half of the total combat personnel. So with the veterans leading the new, the team quickly mastered the formation and attack signals.

At the same time, through this training, Zhao Huaian also got to know the names, personalities, and dispositions of all nine groups of people.

They are the foundation of Zhao Huaian's entrepreneurship and the most important resource. Zhao Huaian must have some understanding of their nature.

At the same time, training is also a way to discover talents. During these two days of training, Zhao Huaian discovered two good talents.

One of them was called Xu Kaidao, who was on Zhang Dai's side. He looked like a former mountain bandit. He was good at using two swords and was a good fighter on foot.

There is also a man named Ding Huaiyi, who was from the group of captured Tang troops. He had worked as a scout for a period of time. He was the best rider besides Guo Congyun, and now he was affiliated with Guo Congyun's cavalry.

The two days of group training not only allowed Zhao Huaian to get familiar with them, but also allowed these people from different backgrounds to get familiar with Zhao Huaian.

In the past, they thought Zhao Huaian was generous, brave, and a good cook.

But now, in their eyes, Zhao Huaian has become a leader. If anyone excels during training, Zhao Huaian will reward them immediately. If anyone lags behind, Zhao Huaian will train with them again, over and over again.

At this moment, everyone in Baoyi City was united in their determination to achieve great success in the subsequent wars.

But Zhao Huaian wanted to think more. He asked Lao Liu to lead the baggage and logistics personnel to make more wheels, sell the belongings that could be sold, and put the unsellable ones on the baggage carts. Then the more than 20 animals in the city must also be fed with food.

Zhao Huaian, who is familiar with the inside story, must keep some tricks for himself.

When Zhao Huaian and his battalion were training vigorously, it also affected other militia groups in the camp. They also began to get rid of their lax attitude and started training.

There are also many veteran soldiers among them, so their training methods are modeled after the Tang army. So judging from the outside, they still have quite a bit of martial ethics. However, their equipment is too poor and their armor rate is too low.

These people have come to Zhao Huaian before, hoping to buy some armor from him.

Zhao Huaian did not meet them. Although they were comrades-in-arms now, armor and other things were life-saving items for Zhao Huaian and his brothers, and they would not be sold no matter how much money they were offered.

But Zhao Huaian showed them a way, which was to go to the camp and ask.

Zhao Huaian was very sure that the soldiers in the camp would definitely dare to sell military equipment privately, but as to whether these local militiamen dared to buy them, that was not something Zhao Huaian could decide.

After all, people still have to rely on themselves.

In this way, the tension before the war filled the entire camp, until December 12th, when the Qiongzhou camp, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly sounded the horns.

Then throughout the morning, the main force of the Tang army, totaling 20,000 people and consisting of nine armies, marched out from the camp and spread across the entire north bank of the Baizhu River.

The war is about to start.

(End of this chapter)