Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 54: Thief's Edge (Thanks to Alliance Leader elzhltvyn)

The reinforcements of the Nanzhao army arrived quickly, and the next day, dawn broke.

A team of thousands of people appeared outside Jinma Village and launched an attack on Jinma Village without stopping.

Looking upstairs, Zhao Huaian climbed up and looked far away.

The first thing that caught the eye was not the neatly-organized Nanzhao army, but the hundreds of bamboo poles standing in front of the formation, with heads hanging on them, swaying in the strong wind.

Zhao Huaian thought they were the hundreds of prisoners who had been released last night, and he was shocked:

"These Nanzhao people are really cruel to their own people. Cutting off a thumb means that the person can no longer lift a knife, but he is not completely disabled. They just cut it off as they say."

Then he observed the team.

Needless to say, with hundreds of heads on the battlefield, this Nanzhao army was filled with murderous intent. The entire army was divided into three groups, lined up on the left, center, and right, with infantry, cavalry, and chariots all ready, and flags fluttering.

There were a large number of miscellaneous troops in front, and Zhao Huaian saw that their clothes were all Tang people, all of whom were looted by the Nanzhao army.

These captured villagers, holding shields and earth-covered carts, were rushing towards Jinma Village in large numbers under the order of the Nanzhao military supervisor.

These people were forced by swords and guns from behind, and could only push carts and carry sandbags to rush forward, shouting in various local accents, trying to arouse the sympathy of the Tang army in Jinmazhai.

Unfortunately, the composition of Baoyi City is so complicated that even the founder Zhao Huaian has to spend a lot of time to sort it out. There are defeated soldiers, fierce bandits, mountain huts, brave men, and everything else, but there is no one who is from nearby.

Therefore, the villagers near Shuangliu were like throwing their eyes at a blind man. Following the orders of the team leaders, countless crossbow arrows were shot from the wall of the village.

When Zhao Huaian left Shuangliu, he brought with him countless carts of arrows. Yesterday, he also robbed a batch from the Nanzhao military camp, so the crossbowmen in the army shot without restraint.

Because the wall of the military camp was only long enough for a hundred people to stand, there were about a hundred arrows each time, but they could not withstand the continuous attack.

Zhao Huaian deployed 300 people on the south side of the camp, which was the main attack front of the Nanzhao army. The first 100 were crossbowmen, and the last 200 were all able-bodied men in the camp. On average, one crossbowman was equipped with two crossbowmen.

After the person in front has finished shooting the crossbow, he will pass it to the person behind to string it, and then take the best one and continue shooting.

In this way, a curtain of death was formed in a short distance of one hundred and fifty to two hundred steps, and villagers were constantly shot to death in this passage.

The decisiveness of Baoyi's army and the death of their companions completely frightened the villagers in the rear.

They did not dare to move forward, but began to dawdle at the 200-step position, completely ignoring the shouting of the Nanzhao army behind them.

This is what human beings are like. They can think and be afraid. Since they will die if they go forward, why should they run to die?
The Nanzhao army behind them were not surprised by this. They did not expect these people to fill up the Huzhai River. To put it bluntly, they just wanted these one-cent men to waste arrows.

As the enemy's flags fluttered and a burst of dense drumbeats sounded, a troop of about two to three hundred people emerged from the left phalanx.

Like the villagers just now, they also carried shields and pushed carts, then rushed up to fill the ditch with quick and efficient movements.

At this time, Zhang Dai, who was in charge of guarding the wall of Jinma Village, shouted excitedly:
"Brothers, the Nanzhao dog slaves are coming, let's kill them well."

After saying this, Zhang Dai shot an arrow himself, but when he saw that he missed, he cursed angrily. Then he grabbed a crossbow from the side and shot an arrow right into the target, only then did he stop happily.

Arrows rained down from the Jinma Village, while the Nanzhao army had a hard time moving forward. Although there were shield carts in front, some soldiers were still shot and fell to the ground.

The Nanzhao army was obviously more institutionalized. Whenever a soldier fell to the ground, there would be Nanzhao soldiers holding shields and dragging the wounded back.

This scene was all seen by Zhao Huaian on the watchtower. He thought for a moment and called He Wenqin over:

"Da Lang, go ahead and tell Zhang Dai to put the enemy troops near the trench before shooting."

He Wenqin climbed down the tower holding the iron plate, then shouted while holding the iron plate all the way:

"Military orders are urgent, quickly evade."

The soldiers who were resting in the open space of the camp made way for He Wenqin to rush to the south wall of the camp.

When He Wenqin climbed up, Zhang Dai on the wooden board was excitedly shooting arrows. Suddenly, he saw the disciples around him and asked hurriedly:

"What's the matter?"

He Wenqin first showed the iron plate to Zhang Dai, and then dictated:

"General's order, put the enemy troops at the edge of the trench before shooting."

Zhang Dai was confused by this order. He took the iron plate, felt it once, frowned, and asked:
"You won't tell me the reason?"

This time He Wenqin frowned instead. Perhaps it was because like attracts like, but He Wenqin, who came from a mountain shed family, couldn't stand Zhang Dai, the old bandit. He snorted:

"Just follow orders, no need to talk so much."

After hearing this, Zhang Dai grinned, glanced at He Wenqin, threw the iron plate back, and said contemptuously:
"understood."

Then he turned around and ignored He Wenqin, and ordered the guards around him:
"Go run around the camp wall and have everyone push the enemy troops to the edge of the ravine before fighting them."

The wooden wall was not long. The guard who came out with Zhang Dai heard the order and went straight to the wall, running and passing the message.

Seeing the confused look on the team's face, Zhang Dai glanced at He Wenqin beside him:
"What? I'll give you a crossbow, want to shoot it?"

He Wenqin had a cold face and clasped his fists as he walked away.

As soon as He Wenqin left, Zhang Dai's face darkened:

"You bastard, you'll be in trouble." After saying that, he shouted:
"Brothers, let's get the thief closer and fight him."

……

Zhao Huaian continued to observe from the watchtower. Seeing that the Nanzhao army had pushed the earth-covering cart within 150 steps, he nodded secretly. Then he saw He Wenqin coming up with an unhappy look on his face.

Zhao Huaian ignored all this and continued to observe outside the village, waiting for Zhang Dai's counterattack.

But when He Wenqin came up, he complained directly:

"All of them, after Zhang Dai heard it, he said something very strange and resentful."

Zhao Huaian didn't say anything, just looked outside the camp.

There, the enemy saw that the rain of arrows had subsided, and they began to rush forward, and soon there was a gap between them and the troops behind them.

When they reached the edge of the trench, the Nanzhao soldiers began to throw sandbags from their carts into the trench, but as soon as they did so, they were shot to the ground by arrows.

The Nanzhao army behind wanted to continue to rescue with shields and drag the wounded back, but this section of the road was within the range of bows and crossbows, so not only did they fail to rescue the people, they were also shot by dense arrows within a hundred and fifty steps.

In this way, the wailing continued on this section of the road. The Nanzhao army on the other side of the army formation did not dare to step forward to rescue, and could only leave these wounded soldiers bleeding and wailing on the battlefield.

The wailing behind them stimulated the Nanzhao warriors at the trench in front. Several of them immediately tried to swim over the trench. The trench was so narrow, so they could easily swim over it in two swims.
But who knew that as soon as these people crossed the Huzhai River, their feet were pierced by the deer antlers and wooden thorns in the river, and then they were drowned in the trench because they could not move their bodies.

For a moment, there were wailings from all directions, and the morale of the Nanzhao army was no longer as high as before.

……

After reading all this, Zhao Huaian turned to look at He Wenqin and frowned:
"Are you saying that Zhang Dai has strange things to say? And is he still complaining?"

He Wenqin felt a little guilty, but still nodded and said:
"I passed on the order to the general, but that Zhang Dai seemed to disagree."

Zhao Huaian nodded and suddenly asked:
"Oh? Then what did he say?"

He Wenqin did not dare to lie about this and told the truth:
"You won't tell me the reason?"

Zhao Huaian listened to this, nodded, and then his face fell:
"So you said all the following?"

He Wenqin suddenly became anxious and quickly explained:
"General, that Zhang Dai didn't follow your order and instead asked a question? Doesn't that mean he doesn't agree with you, General?"

But Zhao Huaian said calmly:

"I don't want you to think so, I want my own opinion. I think Zhang Dai is right, but you're the one gossiping."

After saying that, Zhao Huaian threw the sword to He Wenqin.

He Wenqin was so frightened that he froze, thinking that his master wanted him to commit suicide.

But Zhao Huaian's next sentence was:
"After staying in the back for so long, I've developed a good mouth. Go, take my knife and go straight to the vanguard. You'll lead the charge later."

He Wenqin finally breathed a sigh of relief and dared not argue anymore. He raised Zhao Huaian's sword and kowtowed.

Going over there, Zhao Huaian shook his head and continued to look at the battlefield outside the village.

……

He Wenqin went down in a hurry, not looking discouraged at all. The servants from Hejiazhai who stayed with him saw this and were full of doubts.

When He Da arrived at a place with fewer people, the man finally couldn't help asking:

"Sir, you're being scolded like this, aren't you a bit panicked?"

He Wenqin was putting Zhao Huaian's sword on his waist, and then asked:

"After scolding me, will you still give me a sword?"

The man was stunned for a moment and thought, aren't they asking you to be a striker in the Vanguard Team?
He Wenqin patted his companion's shoulder without saying anything, then went to the south camp where a group of armored warriors were sitting on mats. They were the vanguard team selected for this battle.

……

Although Zhao Huaian was still observing the enemy's movements, he was still feeling annoyed.

He was sincere in his reprimand for He Wenqin, but was He Wenqin's words unreasonable? Of course they were.

To a certain extent, Zhang Dai did not obey his orders unconditionally. Although it was right that he needed to know the reasons, if every order needed to be explained, then where was Zhao Da's authority?

Zhao Huaian had no illusions. In this cruel era, in a military that values ​​power, he had to establish his authority, otherwise he would be betrayed by his subordinates at any time.

However, Zhao Huaian would not punish Zhang Dai for this. He could see Zhang Dai's potential. This incident would only make Zhao Huaian more sober, that is, his current prestige was not enough!
Just as he was thinking about it, outside the Jinma Village, the Nanzhao army suddenly made a loud sound of military campaign, and the Nanzhao army that had been attacking suddenly withdrew.

Just when Zhao Huaian was puzzled, a general suddenly rushed out from the enemy camp, followed by five or six people, and threw a handful of military flags on the ground.

Then he heard the general shouting towards Zhao Huaian:
"Listen up, enemy general! Shuangliu has been broken, and you still want to resist stubbornly? Don't you know what the heavenly soldiers are?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the warriors behind them waved the flags in their hands. These were the flags of the foreign vassal armies that remained in Shuangliu.

For a moment, there was complete silence in Jinma Village.

(End of this chapter)