Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 184 Fierce Battle in the Camp

Dong Hou roared and pounced into the enemy camp like a tiger descending a mountain.

Thirty Ming Cult warriors followed closely behind.

Due to the need for a surprise attack over the mountains, they are now fighting on foot, and their weapons have been changed from spears to cleavers that are easier to use within the camp. The blades flash, blood and flesh fly, and their advances, retreats, and attacks are highly disciplined.

Armored soldiers are known as the kings of soldiers. Given their rigorous selection criteria, high training costs, and generous treatment, wouldn't it be a waste to use them only for armored cavalry charges?
Although some armored soldiers were not skilled in archery, they were proficient in both horsemanship and footwork, and skilled in all five weapons. They were capable of both heavy armor combat and lightly armed surprise attacks, which was a common requirement for armored soldiers in both the East and the West.

Training exercises such as jumping over trenches while wearing multiple layers of heavy armor were precisely to prepare for the needs of infantry warfare.

Dong Hou and his men charged forward with their swords drawn. Because they were only wearing light armor during the surprise attack, they felt as light as swallows, carrying dozens of pounds less weight than usual. They moved swiftly through the government troops' camp, charging forward with great courage.

A golden phantom suddenly appeared at the corner of a long line of tents.

Hua Wang Youdi wielded her soft sword, like a snake, and launched a fierce attack on Dong Hou.

Dong Hou drew his sword to meet the attack, his heroic spirit as vast as the sea. The swords clashed, the sharp whistling of blades cutting through the air filling the air.

With a whoosh, the soft sword swung towards the sky, and You Di's face fell as he was forced to retreat.

As a trusted confidant of the Ghost King Ming Shiyin, Dong Hou was indeed a rare and formidable general. It was precisely because of this that Zhu Wen chose Dong Hou and thirty Ming Cult warriors as the vanguard.

Flower King You Di and Ghost King Ming Shi Yin were ranked among the Four Kings of the Ming Cult. Although You Di was younger and his skills were inferior to Ming Shi Yin's, it was unexpected that he would show signs of defeat after only a few exchanges with Dong Hou.

The reasons are not complicated.

You Di's kung fu relies heavily on her agility. In the past, when Zhu Wen and Tian Jun were not very skilled at coordinating, even when they fought together in the wild, they were no match for her.

However, battlefield combat is quite different from martial arts duels. It demands strict discipline; the brave cannot advance alone, and the cowardly cannot retreat alone. The narrow terrain within the camp further restricts the Flower Queen You Di's movement, greatly diminishing the power of her swordsmanship.

You Di's strength lies in the martial arts world. However, on the battlefield, she is not an outstanding fighter.

"Women who play too many schemes have little backbone," Zhu Wen commented.

Tian Jun is far less intelligent than You Di, but if her camp were raided, she would definitely draw her spear, glare angrily, and fight the enemy to the death.

You Di ultimately didn't consider himself a military general, which is why he easily showed signs of defeat when facing the valiant Dong Hou.

Zhu Wen could imagine the instant You Di's face changed color upon learning of the attack.

As Dong Hou and his righteous soldiers charged forward, they chopped down the barbarians who were assisting Gao Yanjun in the battle within the camp, as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

Among these barbarian tribes are many warriors with outstanding combat skills. When barbarian villages kill each other, they usually adopt a fighting tactic with warriors as the core and ordinary able-bodied men as the assistants.

Unlike the poorly equipped barbarian tribesmen, the barbarian warriors possessed exquisite swords and their armor was often decorated with gold and jewels. They fought bravely and fiercely, like enraged wild boars.

With their agile and nimble mountain warfare tactics, these barbarians, who lacked rigorous training, often caused considerable trouble for the Han Chinese armies that came to attack them, even on their home turf. There were even instances where famous generals suffered unexpected defeats when they attacked the southern barbarians, losing their entire army despite being outnumbered.

However, overall, the tactic of fighting with a very small number of warriors in conjunction with a large number of village soldiers was relatively backward compared to the imposing formations of Han Chinese armies. Although these barbarian soldiers were not lacking in killing experience, they were quite undisciplined and not good at dealing with various emergencies.

The three brothers Zhang Guiba, Zhang Guihou, and Zhang Guibian mingled in the ranks, taking advantage of the chaos to snipe and kill the ornately armored barbarian warriors.

The three brothers had a body proportion resembling that of Turks, with a long upper body and short lower body, which was advantageous for rapid shooting while on horseback. However, their archery skills on foot were equally remarkable.

The triangular, armor-piercing heavy arrows, with shafts exceeding three feet in length, were equipped with barbs and blood grooves. Upon striking the armor surface perpendicularly, they swiftly pierced the armor plates and penetrated the body. Even if they missed vital organs, the intense pain and blood loss would severely damage the victim's physical strength.

A hard bow with a draw weight of one and a half stone, although difficult to draw and slow in rate of fire, can be used in conjunction with armor-piercing arrows to achieve a powerful armor-piercing effect.

The whooshing sound of arrows was drowned out by shouts of battle and the clash of weapons. After several barbarian warriors were killed by arrows, the barbarian ranks quickly descended into greater chaos, with some even fighting each other for passage.

"We must take Gao Yan's head this time!" Tian Jun's eyes blazed with fighting spirit as she swept down two or three barbarians blocking her way with a single spear stroke. "And that crazy woman You Di, if we catch her, we'll just kill her with one blow to avoid any unforeseen complications."

Zhu Wen knew that although the battle was going well, most of the people he had killed so far were barbarians. Gao Yan's Changwu Cavalry would not be so easy to deal with.

One by one, the tents were destroyed and the cooking stoves were leveled. While the raiding army was entangled with the barbarian soldiers on the outskirts, Gao Yan had already led his armored cavalry, armed with spears, to form several small square formations.

The Long-Warped Cavalry were lightly armed shock cavalry, not as elite as armored knights, but still very skilled. In foot combat, they often used spear formations and were not adept at using swords, shields, or bows and arrows.

The first to come into contact with them were the defeated barbarian soldiers. Driven by the grass army, they swept past several chilling square formations like a receding tide, and many of the panicked barbarian soldiers were instantly pierced by spears.

There were even long spears with two or three panicked barbarians skewered on them, like meat skewers.

The barbarians were terrified and dared not charge the formation again, only managing to retreat through the gaps between them. As a result, the congestion intensified, and many more were trampled to death.

"Commander, Gao Yan's formation is well-organized and his reactions are swift. He has the demeanor of a good general and doesn't seem to be inept at using infantry." A personal guard objected to Zhu Wen's previous assessment.

He naturally leaned closer and lowered his voice to avoid embarrassing Zhu Wen in public.

“No, you can recall the battle with Wang Jian.” Zhu Wen pointed to the motionless dismounted cavalry formation ahead.

"Prolonged defense is easily lost. Although infantry are good at forming ranks, they must not be passive and take the hit."

The guards recalled the Battle of Dingfengqiu in Songzhou, where Wang Jian, like a monk performing a ritual in a snail shell, launched an aggressive attack that nearly drove Zhu Wen into a corner.

He blinked, a look of realization dawning on his face.

Gao Yan's combat awareness and experience in commanding infantry were still quite inferior to those of renowned generals like Wang Jian.

Dong Hou and his men had been forced back by the infantry formation that Gao Yan had quickly assembled.

However, Gao Yan did not seize the opportunity and led his three hundred long-armored knights in a swift counter-charge on foot. Perhaps Gao Yan was worried that the long-armored knights, who had less experience in foot combat, would fall into disarray during the counter-charge.

Compared to Zhu Wen's 600-strong surprise attack force, 300 long-armed cavalrymen were not a small number.

However, the formation lacked sufficient crossbow firepower.

The Longhorn Knights were not skilled with bows and crossbows, and Gao Yan originally relied on barbarian archers with hunting experience to supplement their ranged strength. However, during the raid, the barbarian troops were all overwhelmed in one fell swoop.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Wen had no need to send his warriors, armed with swords and shields and clad in light armor, to confront Gao Yan's square formation head-on.

Led by the three Zhang brothers, skilled archers, the grass army unleashed a barrage of arrows from their bows and crossbows, which rained down on the enemy ranks like locusts.

When Zhu Wen set off, he decided that even if he only wore half-body armor, he would bring plenty of bows, crossbows and arrows.

This is where it came in handy.

The sudden attack and the rout of the barbarian soldiers had already shaken the morale of the Changwu warriors. Although they quickly put on their armor, their morale plummeted further under the relentless barrage of arrows.

Because in the exchange of fire, they were completely suppressed, both in terms of accuracy and the density of arrows.

Even someone like Tian Jun, whose archery skills are all speed and no accuracy, can still increase the psychological pressure on the enemy through his rapid-fire technique in group shooting.

When Zhu Wen stormed in, he had already captured some of Gao Yanjun's supplies. In addition to the arrows in their quivers, the soldiers received additional arrows.

Before long, Gao Yan's formation began to falter.

Those defeated barbarians should not be expected to regroup and return to provide support.

A commotion arose from the main gate of the camp.

The five or six wooden fortresses on the north slope were engulfed in flames, with thick smoke billowing into the sky, clearly having been captured by Zhu Zhen and Huo Cun.

The surprise attack came from the top of the hill, catching the barbarians completely off guard. They quickly abandoned their fortress and fled in disarray.

Gao Yan would not have overlooked the possibility of fire attack; these wooden fortresses were all equipped with fire prevention measures and were not easily ignited.

However, after capturing the fortress, they could leisurely set it ablaze, which would effectively demoralize Takahikomoto's army at the foot of the mountain.

Between the wooden fence with sharp knives tied to it and the scattered sharp stones at the camp gate, the retreating barbarians lay dead and wounded, while the rest were driven inward, about to charge the flank of Gao Yan's formation.

Among the defeated barbarian soldiers in the center were Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo, who had defected to the government forces during the Battle of Xuanzhou and Nanling.

Qin Yan was also once a friend of Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen couldn't help but feel a little emotional when he recalled that he had used Qin Yan's name several times.

Lei Shuai and Gao Pian did not annex Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo's troops, which was the premise for their willingness to surrender.

The two generals, who had come here with Gao Yan at breakneck speed, had clearly not brought their own troops with them.

Despite having unsuitable troops, Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo, once renowned young and fierce generals in the rebel army, were now being overwhelmed by Zhu Zhen and Huo Cun, running around like wolves and pigs, utterly powerless to fight back.

The new era is coming, and it will likely bring about earth-shattering changes. Not only will the Four Great Generals of the Tang Dynasty be surpassed by rising stars, but the generals below will also undergo increasingly fierce competition and elimination.

In truly chaotic times, the intensity and tactics of warfare will reach new heights. Those who cannot keep up with the times will either become mediocre or be swallowed up by the turbulent waves.

But for true warriors who grew stronger with each battle, that was the most glorious era.

(End of this chapter)