Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 120 Breakthrough
March 28th, the second year of Qianfu (746 AD), at the Yakoupo position.

At dawn, not long after Zhao Huai'an led the main force south to Yinban Mountain, two cavalrymen rushed from Yang Qingfu's main camp at Fojin Mountain to inform Bao Yidu that the Yellow Head Army had already set out.

After Zhao Huai'an left, what remained at the Yakoupo position were two hundred cavalrymen from four teams led by Guo Congyun, Ding Huaiyi, Liu Zhijun, and Liu Xin, as well as eight hundred Meizhou soldiers led by Shan Xingzhang and Xu Geng, and eight hundred Maozhou Qiang soldiers led by Zhang Zao. They were all positioned on both sides of the Yakoupo.

When the messenger arrived to report the situation, Guo Congyun and the others already knew about it.

Because right before their eyes, a well-organized cavalry unit, wearing yellow brocade hats and holding tall spears, with hunting riders constantly galloping on both sides of the formation, drove away some of the Nanzhao nomads who were wandering the battlefield.

Just by looking at the uniforms of these soldiers, Guo Congyun knew that it was the elite Yellow-Headed Army from western Sichuan that had set out.

The Yellow-Headed Army was not originally from the Western Sichuan Domain. It was originally established by the Huaixi Domain. During the Yuanhe era, the army earned a great reputation. Later, after the court pacified Huaixi, many generals absorbed the original Yellow-Headed Army warriors and expanded their personal guard.

The most famous instance was sixteen years ago, in the twelfth year of the Dazhong era. The imperial court appointed Li Chengxun, the military governor of Jingyuan, as the military governor of Lingnan, and ordered him to lead troops to quell the rebellion in Lingnan. He pacified Lingnan with a hundred men of the Huangtou Army, and from then on, the Huangtou Army became famous.

Later, the Zhongwu Army frequently entered Sichuan to resist the Nanzhao Kingdom. As the Zhongwu Army that inherited the mantle of Huaixi, they had the most authentic Yellow Head Army. Many of them were recruited by the Western Sichuan government after entering Sichuan, and thus, Western Sichuan also established its own Yellow Head Army.

Now, although the Yellow-Headed Army that has gone out to fight only has a thousand men, they are protected by several units of Xichuan soldiers on both sides. They are lined up in a row in Hanyuan Valley and are pressing towards Hanyuan City, which is not far away.

At this moment, the cavalry generals on the mountain pass cheered with excitement at the sight of the magnificent army. These relatively simple-minded warriors could still be happy for the bravery of their comrades.

Riding a white horse, Liu Zhijun braved the mountain wind and excitedly shouted to Guo Congyun beside him:
"Commander, when shall we launch our attack?"

At this time, the two hundred Baoyi Du Tuqi, like other units, had completed their organizational upgrade. Zhao Huai'an promoted Guo Congyun to the position of Tuqi Battalion Commander, leading four units of two hundred Tuqi.

At the same time, because Zhao Huai'an was particularly impressed by the might of his cavalry, he was given fifty bolts of purple cloth to be used as back flags for these elite cavalrymen.

Besides displaying their unit number, these back flags also allowed you to write your name on them. This was a chance to show off and signify that you were now a renowned samurai, not just some lowly soldier.

Therefore, the two hundred elite cavalrymen standing on the mountain pass at this moment all carried small purple flags and wore iron armor and helmets, and looked like fierce and brave warriors.

Guo Congyun glanced at the white horse Liu Zhijun was riding. He wondered if the kid had also heard the story of Zhao Zilong and was also dressed in white horse, white armor, and white cloak, which was quite eye-catching.

This made Guo Congyun uncomfortable. Didn't he know that he was known as "Guo Zilong"? He hadn't even dared to ride a white horse, but this kid was really going all out.

Hearing Liu Zhijun still calling, Guo Congyun replied calmly:
"When to strike in the future is not something you or I can decide!"

People with low emotional intelligence are often unaware of their low emotional intelligence; instead, they think they are very good at interpersonal relationships. Our Liu Zhijun is such a person.

He didn't detect Guo Congyun's discomfort at all; instead, he laughed and shouted loudly:

"We should wait until the time is right before launching an attack, but we can go to the battlefield first and get a clear understanding of the situation in the valley!"

But Liu Xin, who always competed with Liu Zhijun, laughed immediately upon hearing this and exposed him:
"Liu Kaidao, are you kidding me? Everyone knows you just want to show off in front of the enemy. But have you forgotten? Before he left, he repeatedly told us to wait until he returned before discussing anything. Do you want to disobey his orders?"

Liu Zhijun glared at Liu Xin. This old guy looked stupid, but he didn't expect him to be so clever. He simply ignored him and continued to persuade Guo Congyun.

But Guo Congyun didn't even give him a chance to speak, he gestured with his chin and looked down into the valley below:
"Look closely, the Nanzhao army's cavalry has charged out of Hanyuan City!"

So Liu Zhijun and the others stopped talking and quickly looked towards the valley.

Meanwhile, countless eyes were also peering over from the surrounding hillsides, where the first clash in the valley was taking place.

……

On the valley floor, thousands of Western Sichuan soldiers, clad in armor and wielding spears, advanced, billowing dust and countless colorful flags fluttering in the wind.

Suddenly, more than ten riders galloped up from the front, heading straight for the yellow banner at the back of the column, where the banner of Li Ting, the commander of the Yellow-Headed Army, was located.

The soldiers with yellow hair in their uniforms were all seasoned veterans, and they immediately realized that the enemy had launched an attack.

Sure enough, soon a series of bugle calls came from behind, and then special flag officers began to wave various colored flags. At this time, the flag bearers who were constantly craning their necks to look back saw this and issued the central command order to their respective commanders.

The military order issued by Li Ting this time was as follows:

"Array up!"

As a result, the Yellow-Headed Army, which was advancing in a square formation, immediately stopped and then began various tactical maneuvers.

First, the servants accompanying the army pushed the handcarts outside the formation, forming a wall of carts. Then, the servants unloaded the armor and heavy weapons from the carts and carried them to their respective warriors.

At the outermost edge of the formation, squads of Yellow-Headed Soldiers, each wielding a long spear, faced all four directions. They braced their spears against the ground and placed them on the deer carts at the front, leaving a large space in the middle.

At this moment, hundreds of heavy infantrymen, with the help of their servants and auxiliary soldiers, donned their armor. Some of them wielded massive long-handled swords, their blades gleaming coldly, exuding a murderous aura.

The others each carried shields, long axes, maces, and halberds, their helmets covering their shoulders, revealing only pairs of chilling eyes.

Even so, they still seemed to be going to unnecessary trouble by wearing their yellow brocade hats, because it was their honor!

Shortly after the Yellow-Headed Army completed its formation, the other vassal armies on both sides also completed their square formations. The six large square formations were arranged in three positions on the left, center, and right in the valley open field.

These formations were almost all composed of 500 men per formation. The Yellow Head Army was divided into two formations. On the left wing, General Yang Xingqian of Lutou Fortress and General Mo Kuangshi of Baima Fortress each formed a formation. On the right wing, General Hou Ju of Songling Pass and General Yang Ru of the Yamen Army each formed a formation.

These six formations alone were almost entirely composed of the garrison troops of the Western Sichuan Army, demonstrating Yang Qingfu's determination to capture Hanyuan City!

The first battle must be a resounding success!
Li Ting, who was in the midst of the army, knew this decisiveness well. He and Yang Qingfu were like father and son, and his position was equivalent to Zhang Lin's to Gao Pian, serving as the brave warrior of the army.

Since our adoptive father has such ambition and aspirations, we, as his son and subordinate, will follow him to the death, upholding both loyalty and filial piety.

At this moment, Li Ting sat upright on a stool, listening to the various intelligence reports from You Yi on the outskirts of the battlefield. He made arrangements for each report, which earned him the respect of the generals on both sides.

This military commander, Li, though only thirty years old, has been on the battlefield for a long time and has the demeanor of a great general.

Previously, he led his Yellow-Headed Army to be stationed in Wei and Mao, pacifying and suppressing the various barbarian tribes. He won dozens of battles, large and small, and the barbarians feared him and called Li Ting "Li Taibao".

Clad in iron armor, Li Ting sat upright on a stool, as straight as a pine tree. He looked towards the southwest side of the battlefield, where plumes of black smoke were rising—a warning signal from the elite cavalry patrolling the perimeter of the battlefield.

At this moment, one of the guards beside him said in a deep voice:

"General, those Nanzhao soldiers are very eager to fight, they actually came out of the city to challenge us! I wonder which unit they are."

No sooner had this general finished speaking than a burly, wiry soldier, whose severely bowlegged legs were clearly visible even while seated on a stool, began spitting out words:

"All of you, let our old Deng lead the attack. I'll just take my own cavalry and we'll make these Nanzhao dogs howl and bark in despair."

Seeing his colleague turn away, the man assumed he didn't believe him and, blushing, patted his chest, saying:
"You don't believe what your old Deng says? Let me put it this way, I'll be sent into battle, and we'll see if those Nanzhao lackeys will still call me 'Old Deng!'"

And for some reason, this person suddenly said:
“We can’t back down! Just thinking about that damned Hu Baoyi, who hasn’t even achieved any military merits, yet he’s standing above our Yellow-Headed Army, makes me, Old Deng, unable to tolerate it.”

This sentence struck a chord with the officers present.

Old Deng was absolutely right! If it weren't for us Yellow-Headed Soldiers clearing out the tribes in the mountains, would that Zhao Huai'an have been able to get away with it?

What's even more unbearable is that Zhao Huai'an isn't even from our western Sichuan region. Letting a man from Shouzhou stand above us and sing his name is like slapping the face of the warriors of western Sichuan.

Therefore, they were determined to suppress Bao Yidu and thoroughly curb the arrogance of these newcomers.

Juniors, show some respect to your seniors in the military!
However, the military officer who spoke first surprisingly said something:
“Zhao Da is also a good man. There’s no need to be so particular. He’s a brother to us, to serve our Sichuan and to the military commander.”

But he was the only one with this idea. Old Deng was already furious, and upon hearing this, he exploded, standing up and shouting: "What brothers? I, Old Deng, don't have any brothers from Shouzhou. And look at Zhao Da, what kind of people are under his command? Mountain bandits, defeated soldiers, soldiers from eastern Sichuan, soldiers from Nanzhao. How many of them are from western Sichuan? And they're even listed in our western Sichuan army? And they're even fighting alongside us?"

"If you ask me, those righteous men should just hide in the back and mingle with those spoiled brats from the outer provinces under the High Minister. This is a battle fought by men with guts, not by cowards trying to gain military merit."

Old Deng grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, and suddenly kicked over his stool, preparing to lead his cavalry in a fierce battle to vent his anger.

Before he could even take a step, Li Ting started cursing:
"Don't cause any trouble, sit down!"

So, Old Deng could only sit down angrily, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

Li Ting was equally unhappy after scolding Lao Deng.

Not only were the Huangtou Army generals resentful of Zhao Huai'an, but even Li Ting, who had remained silent all along, felt the same way.

During this trip south, he clearly sensed that his adoptive father had a special appreciation for Zhao Huai'an. He wasn't really jealous, but he just felt uncomfortable.

Although Deng's words were somewhat inflammatory, they could not change his mind.

Because he only believed half of what Lao Deng said. The part he believed was that Lao Deng's Qin Hu cavalry was indeed formidable in combat, but unfortunately, they only numbered a few dozen. This number of cavalry was enough to sweep through the Tibetan camps in the past, but what use was it on such a large battlefield?
After waiting a while, Li Ting noticed that the scouts ahead hadn't come to report the latest intelligence yet, and couldn't help but ask the general who had just spoken:
"Old Gong, how many enemy troops do you think have left the city?"

This general, named Gong Xian, had always partnered with Li Ting and they had developed a tacit understanding. Upon hearing Li Ting's words, he quickly smiled and said:
"Are they all planning to let them in to fight? What a formidable force to annihilate Nanzhao?"

Li Ting nodded, then solemnly said in a deep voice:
"Indeed, our army took the lead in this battle, setting an example for all the other armies. We must win this battle decisively, but we cannot launch a fierce attack at the beginning, otherwise we will scare the enemy back and the rest of the battle will turn into a mess."

Several officers nodded in agreement.

Just then, the scouts that Li Ting had been waiting for finally arrived, though fewer in number than before. They were all panting heavily, clearly having just gone through a fierce battle.

After they fell from their horses, they rushed over, knelt down, and shouted:

"Suddenly, four hundred Nanzhao cavalrymen emerged from the city, including thirty armored cavalrymen, and headed straight for our army."

This statement immediately caused an uproar among the generals under his command. They never expected that the enemy would send out more than 400 cavalry, including more than 30 armored cavalry, a type of troop that had been almost phased out.

Suddenly, the hairs on the soldiers' heads stood on end.

Old Deng, who had been so arrogant just moments before, was now silent. He was brave, but not stupid. In such an open valley, a fight between dozens of riders and dozens of times their number was a certain death sentence.

Even Li Ting, who had been sitting calmly and composed the whole time, was now a little thirsty, clearly something he hadn't expected.

These Nanzhao soldiers secretly deployed such a large cavalry force inside the city. Sure enough, they, like us, also wanted to win the first victory to boost the morale of the entire army.

The wind and sand blew against Li Ting's face, but in an instant, he stood up, handed the military baton in his hand to Gong Xian beside him, and said:
"Old Gong, you stay here and command the entire army for me. I'll be right back."

Then, full of pride, he looked at Old Deng sitting over there and laughed:
"Old Deng, let's go, let's go meet those Nanzhao cavalry and see what they're made of. You just said that the battlefield is a place where the husband comes with eggs, but the battlefield only believes in swords and spears, not our words!"

"Whether we can overwhelm the other armies depends on the heads taken in this battle!"

Over there, Old Deng blushed and stood up to acknowledge the greeting.

……

Hanyuan Valley is a long and narrow valley, which is 15 li long from north to south, but only 5 or 6 li wide from east to west.

Therefore, the four hundred Nanzhao cavalrymen who had just rushed out of Hanyuan City arrived at the outer line of the Huangtou Army's square formation in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, thanks to the numerical advantage of their cavalry, the Nanzhao army had completely compressed the Huangtou Army scouts on the outer perimeter into a square formation within five hundred paces.

The Nanzhao knights, who had complete control of the battlefield, roared and swaggered in front of the Tang army's formation. Some of the more daring ones even tried to squeeze through the gaps in the Tang army's formation.

Some of the yellow-headed soldiers on the periphery were horrified, because they discovered that many of the so-called Nanzhao knights on the other side were actually Tibetans.

The Tibetans could smell the yak butter on their bodies from ten miles away.

Their Yellow-Headed Army had been stationed in the Wei and Mao regions, which were bordered by the Tubo (Tibetan) Empire. Tubo squads would frequently come down to sweep through the area, and the two sides had fought countless times.

But now, no matter how determined these Yellow-Headed Soldiers are to kill the bandits, their group of infantry can only sigh helplessly.

Some frontline officers, angered by this, directly ordered their archers to fire at the Tibetan and Nanzhao knights.

But these knights were all seasoned veterans. They were well aware of the range of the Tang army's infantry and archers. Although they seemed to be galloping arrogantly, they were actually staying outside the range.

Only a few people with poor eyesight rushed in and were shot into a pile of quills.

By this time, almost an hour had passed, and neither side had made any further moves.

The knights of Nanzhao and Tubo had no intention of charging the fortified lines, and the Huangtou Army and other government troops also lacked enough cavalry to drive away the enemy, so they could only hide in their formation and wait.

What are we waiting for? We're waiting for the military governor on the high ground behind to see us and dispatch the cavalry from Xichuan. Or perhaps, we're waiting for the envoy further behind to see us and then send troops from Hedong, Zhaoyi, and Luodiao to provide support.

But clearly, at least for now, neither of the two commanders has any intention of sending troops.

As the sun grew stronger overhead, the formations of the several square formations visibly loosened.

Humans are not machines; their endurance is limited. Normally, just standing under the sun for a short while will make your legs ache, let alone on this tense battlefield where everyone's mind is highly focused, and physical strength and patience are depleted even faster than usual.

All these changes by the Tang army were observed by the Nanzhao cavalry on the periphery, and this was exactly the effect they wanted.

As a result, the Nanzhao cavalry began to harass them more frequently and boldly.

The morale of the Tang army was declining at a visible rate.

Everyone was wondering why the main force hadn't sent out cavalry yet. No matter how elite they were, they could only react passively on such a battlefield.

At that moment, the Nanzhao knights, who had been cautiously probing, suddenly dispersed, and a cavalry unit with lances charged out from the rear, immediately launching a charge towards the main force of the Yellow-Headed Army.

Whether it was human nature or not, the soldiers from the three towns outside the yamen on both flanks and a part of the yamen's inner army all subconsciously exhaled when they saw that the Nanzhao knights were not charging towards them.

Only then did they belatedly order their archers on both sides to fire upon the Nanzhao cavalry charging into battle.

But it was too late at that point!

In less than five or six hundred paces, the Nanzhao cavalry, having already accelerated, flew like the wind and arrived at the front of the Huangtou army's formation in an instant.

At this moment, the Yellow-Headed Army infantrymen at the front were already shouting in fear, pressing half of their bodies onto their spears, preparing to resist the charge of the cavalry.

Just as everyone's fear reached its peak, another group of the Yellow-Headed Army suddenly withdrew from one corner.

Then, a troop of elite cavalry, led by a group of armored cavalry, charged out from the ranks and fought bravely.

This armored cavalryman was none other than Li Ting, who had been holding back his attack. He led more than fifty armored and spear-wielding barbarian cavalrymen out of the formation.

Their target was the flank of the Nanzhao cavalry that were charging into battle.

(End of this chapter)