Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 196 Mongol
Bashan and Jindao both set off from the city.

Clad in three layers of armor and wearing a helmet with feathered shoulder caps, Han Qiong stood at the head of the entire capital. He laughed loudly at Li Jiyong, the Golden Saber Commander, who was not far away:

"Old Li, let's have a competition today and see who kills the most generals and captures the most flags, and who gets the most merit."

Li Jiyong was dressed similarly. He carried a long-handled sword, waved to Han Qiong over there, then put down his helmet and earrings, and then put down his iron mask, leaving only his eyes, which were cold and indifferent.

Ever since the magistrate rescued him from the pile of corpses, and ever since the magistrate avenged the old general's blood feud, Li Jiyong swore that he would follow the magistrate's army wherever it went!

The oppressive pressure of his iron helmet intensified his breathing. Suddenly, rapid drumbeats sounded from behind. Without turning around, he raised his longsword with one arm, pointing towards the approaching rebel army. A deep, resonant sound followed:
"Strike the thief!"

After saying that, he shouldered his Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) and walked to the very front of the group.

……

Han Qiong saw Li Jiyong waving at him, laughed heartily, and said to the guards behind him carrying various long-handled weapons:

"Look at him, even Old Li knows he can't compare to us, so he's starting to feel guilty, isn't he? Hahaha! As expected, I, 'Iron Beast' Han Qiong, am the real hero of the army!"

The guards behind him remained completely indifferent, having grown quite accustomed to their commander's shamelessness.

Just then, the urgent sound of drums came from behind, and Han Qiong instructed his two guards on either side:

"Liu Er, Zhao Si, you two better be quick. When you see a flag that's been cut down or a bandit general, cut off their head and hang it on your waist. Don't make me shout it again, I don't have time for that, understand?"

The two massive armored warriors nodded in agreement.

Then Han Qiong shouted to a man behind him who was carrying a large banner that read "Han Qiong, the Iron Beast of the Five Tiger Generals":
"Old Qian, you'd better hold up the flag and follow behind us. Hold it high, make sure those bandits know who's beheading their dogs!"

Old Qian nodded vigorously, hoisted the company flag onto his shoulder, and stood guard beside him, equally armed and clad in armor.

After giving these instructions, Han Qiong suddenly waved his hand and shouted to the three hundred armored soldiers waiting behind him:
"war!"

Then he put down his helmet and iron mask one by one, and then, step by step, he walked across the yellow earth outside Yuanju City to the other side.

……

Across from the enemy's main camp, the sounds of drums and horns filled the air, making the camp increasingly chaotic.

Inside a military tent, after Ge Congzhou finished bandaging Zhang Guiba's wounds, he prepared to go out and fight.

But at this moment, Zhang Guiba grabbed Ge Congzhou's sleeve and pleaded:

“Brother, we can’t win this battle. Cao Shixiong is just a mediocre man, yet he is jealous of virtuous men. How many heroes in the army are truly willing to risk their lives? At this moment, our camp has not even been established, yet Cao Shixiong is already urging us to attack. If our many old soldiers, women, and children are attacked, our entire army will collapse immediately. Under such circumstances, why should you risk your life for Cao Shixiong?”

Ge Congzhou, still smiling, helped Zhang Guiba up, tucked his hands under the covers, and then slowly made up the bedding before saying to Zhang Guiba:
“Second brother, I know what you’re saying, I understand. But I never thought of risking my life for Cao Shixiong. I’m doing this for the General. He led the brothers in an uprising, and we supported him as the commander-in-chief, so I have to risk my life for him.”

Zhang Guiba panicked:
"Brother, you've entrusted the wrong person. That Wang Xianzhi is at best just like Zhai Rang of the previous Wagang Village; he has no ambition, how can he accomplish anything great? Perhaps..."

Ge Congzhou stopped Zhang Guiba from saying the next sentence, and for the first time spoke seriously:

"Second brother, don't say such things. If you do, we can't be brothers anymore. Regardless of whether Wang Xianzhi is Zhai Rang or not, as long as he is our commander, he is our leader. The commander has not betrayed us brothers, so why should we betray him? Such a person is worse than a pig or a dog. Alright, second brother, you rest in the camp and wait for me to come back soon."

After saying this, Ge Congzhou smiled, then lifted the curtain and left, leaving Zhang Guiba alone there sighing.
"Brother, you're so foolish!"

……

When Ge Congzhou came out of the tent, he saw that his iron spear was already held by the reins and the helmet was waiting for him. He nodded and took the helmet from an old brother.

Just as he was about to mount his horse, Ge Congzhou dismounted again, walked straight to the back of the crowd, pulled out a child whose armor couldn't even withstand the weight of iron, and flung the child's helmet aside. He exclaimed in surprise:
"Is this you, kid? Didn't I tell you to stay in the old camp? Who sent you to Iron Spear Capital? Can you even ride a horse? You just showed up like this? Are you kidding me?"

It turned out that the child soldier was Xie Yanzhang, the child that Ge Congzhou had rescued earlier.

At this moment, Xie Yanzhang's face flushed red, he straightened his chest, and responded loudly:
"I can ride a horse. I asked Old Zhao, and he said that if you can ride a horse, you can become a cavalryman! So I came."

Upon hearing this, Ge Congzhou burst into a tirade of curses:

"That's utter bullshit! Why doesn't he just say, 'Anyone with hands can do it'?"

Then, without saying a word, Ge Congzhou dragged Xie Yanzhang out of the line, pointed at his nose, and said seriously:

"Kid, you go back to the old camp right now and learn martial arts properly. You'll have plenty of opportunities to go to the battlefield in the future. But now? Damn it, is it time for my Grass Army to make kids fight to the death? It's all because of those bastards!"

Xie Yanzhang was still unconvinced, but then Ge Congzhou slapped him so hard he was stunned. He then heard Ge Congzhou stare coldly at him and utter a single word:

"roll!"

Xie Yanzhang's tears burst forth instantly. He took off his armor, covered his swollen face, and ran out. But halfway there, he turned back and cried:
"Uncle, you need to take care of yourself!"

After saying this, Xie Yanzhang knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Ge Congzhou, then ran away without looking back.

Ge Congzhou stared at the young man for a long while, then composed himself and said in a low voice to the hundred iron-spear cavalrymen behind him:

"Mount up, kill the dog-like imperial court, and avenge them!"

Then Ge Congzhou, clad in iron armor, leaped onto his warhorse, took the large iron spear from one of his attendants, and galloped toward the southwest of the battlefield.

Behind him, a hundred elite cavalrymen from the Iron Spear Capital shouted "Revenge!" before mounting their horses, spears in hand, and hot on Ge Congzhou, raising clouds of dust along the way.

……

When Cao Shixiong, under the banner of "Mending the Sky and Balancing the Earth," saw the Yuanju City opposite open wide and hundreds of armored soldiers pouring out and lining up below the city, he laughed heartily.

He pointed to the distant Yuanju City, his face radiating confidence, and casually remarked:

"That Zhao Da has a great reputation, but he's nothing special. I only provoked him a little, and he lost his mind, actually abandoning the fortified city to fight our army in battle. How many men does he have? They can't even fill the base of the city wall, yet he wants to fight us in the open field? This man is truly stupid!"

Cao Shixiong laughed at Zhao Dachun, calling him a mere warrior, but Zhang Yanshou, a junior officer in the cavalry, curled his lip in disapproval.

If they hadn't just seen Cao Shixiong's disheveled state, they would have really thought he was some kind of remarkable strategist.

Huang Chao was a hero, and Wang Xianzhi was also incredibly righteous, but what kind of person is Cao Shixiong?

When he ran back, he saw the murderous intent in Cao Shixiong's eyes. If he hadn't been quick-witted and shouted behind him, that bastard might have really dared to kill him.

So at this moment, Zhang Yanshou just watched Cao Shixiong's performance without making any attempt to offer any advice.

While Zhang Yanshou remained silent, other junior commanders in the army also raised questions.

A burly man with a yellow headband and wearing two layers of armor swallowed hard as he gazed at the gleaming armor of the Baoyi Army below the city walls and asked:

"General, although the enemy's numbers are small, they are all armored warriors! With just a few hundred armored soldiers advancing in formation, we will have no choice but to send out our own armored soldiers as well. But these soldiers are all core members of our respective families; how can we possibly hold them here all at once?"

Several other handsome young men, like him, nodded in agreement, clearly unwilling to unleash their most valuable assets to directly confront Tang Jun.

Seeing that someone was contradicting him, Cao Shixiong's face darkened. He drew his knife, pointed it at the young men, and cursed:
"What time is it? Stop talking about 'yours' and 'mine' here. We're rebelling! We're not here to make a quick buck and run away. If we win, all the grain in the city is ours, and everyone can expand their army. But if we lose, there's no food. What good are our core brothers? We'll still starve to death!"

"What? Was this city fought for me, Cao Shixiong? Am I the only one going hungry? Just now, my sworn brother lost his life beneath the city walls, and we couldn't even bring his body back. What? My brother can die, but your brothers can't?"

Cao Shixiong's words were righteous and awe-inspiring, and all the young generals lowered their heads, not daring to refute him.

Seeing that he had overwhelmed the opposition, Cao Shixiong then began to explain his tactics.

He pointed to the Baoyi Army soldiers moving below the city walls and said in a serious tone:
"The infantry is indeed formidable, but it has a fatal weakness: it cannot withstand prolonged battles. I will divide the army into ten squads. Each of you will send out a hundred of your old brothers, along with two hundred able-bodied men, to take turns attacking the enemy's formation and luring them deeper into the enemy territory."

"Once the enemy is far from the city walls, I will send our armored troops to confront them. At that time, we only need to send a cavalry force to flank them from the rear, and the enemy will surely collapse!"

Cao Shixiong's suggestion was quite practical. The young soldiers present all had some experience in battle and knew that if they fought according to Cao Shixiong's advice, those armored Tang soldiers would indeed be no match for them.

As a result, everyone regained their confidence and nodded in agreement.

Ultimately, Cao Shixiong was right about one thing: without capturing Caozhou and seizing its grain, their strength would be greatly diminished. Therefore, it was better to use their men as cannon fodder than to let them starve to death.

Since we've already rebelled, what's there to be reluctant about?
Thus, with Cao Shixiong's order, twenty young commanders formed the first wave of attack, each bringing their own resources to strike the Baoyi Army that had left the city.

……

The drums on the city wall never stopped beating. This was the second time the drummers had changed, but the strongmen beating the drums still showed no signs of fatigue.

The marching speed of Bashan and Jindao was very slow. They would stop every ten steps or so to regroup and make sure to advance like a wall.

Both formed two dense square formations and advanced side by side. However, each square formation was actually divided into six smaller formations, and they moved out in teams.

Each squad of fifty men consisted of twenty spearmen on the outermost side, carrying huge spears, followed by ten horsemen carrying long-handled swords on the inner side, and then thirty swordsmen and shieldmen. However, these men all had their shields and shields hanging behind them, their swords and heavy weapons hanging at their waists, and their hands holding longbows.

Han Qiong led his formation further and further away, until they could see the enemy's lines. At that moment, he slammed his long-handled axe on the ground, and the standard-bearer beside him began to wave a red triangular flag.

Upon seeing this, the captains of each squad shouted loudly to their respective squads:
"Halt! Form ranks!"

Then, amidst the clash of armor plates, the previously somewhat chaotic formation, which had been disorganized after walking for some time, was once again in perfect order.

The young men in the infantry, all within the formation, were now staring ahead, keeping a close eye on the flags there, and then fell silent.

Just like the Mountain-Pulling Team here, the Golden Knife Team next door also stopped, but they spent more time regrouping.

After all, the Golden Saber Army was only established after Zhao Huai'an arrived in Guang Prefecture. One-third of its warriors were former soldiers from Xuzhou who had served in Guang Prefecture. These men were indeed brave, but they lacked discipline and could not compare with the seasoned warriors of Bashandu who had been tested in national wars for a long time.

Therefore, the strength of the two capitals was exposed at this moment.

……

At this moment, Ge Congzhou, who had already arrived at the battlefield, also noticed this. After thinking for a moment, he still spurred his horse to the middle of the battlefield.

Along the way, he was shot a few times by several panicked archers from his own side, but he managed to dodge them all.

It was only Ge Congzhou who could do it; otherwise, anyone else trying to move through the center of the battlefield would be risking their life.

Having finally reached the main camp, Ge Congzhou went straight to Cao Shixiong and was about to clasp his hands in greeting.

But a sharp-tongued, monkey-faced henchman next to Cao Shixiong pointed at Ge Congzhou and cursed him:
"Hey Ge, who told you to ride your horse right up to the commander? Don't you know the rules?"

Ge Congzhou choked, seeing Cao Shixiong's expressionless face, sighed inwardly, then dismounted, knelt on one knee, and shouted:

“Commander, I’ve noticed that the enemy’s two armies are of different strengths. The western army, known as ‘Mountain Pullers,’ is the most disciplined, while the eastern army, known as ‘Golden Knife,’ has a slightly disorganized formation. This makes them the perfect direction for our main attack.”

As he spoke, Ge Congzhou, worried that Cao Shixiong might not understand, further explained:
"Our army will first attack the enemy's 'Golden Knife' formation, concentrate heavy troops to defeat this force, and then drive the defeated troops to charge the enemy's 'Mountain-Pulling' formation. The enemy's formation will be in chaos, and at that time, we only need to send out cavalry to roll up the curtain and completely annihilate both armies outside the city."

Cao Shixiong nodded and hummed a few words:
"got it."

Ge Congzhou was dumbfounded and looked up at Cao Shixiong.

Got it? What does that mean? Does it mean to accept or reject it? What kind of riddle is this?!

But Cao Shixiong showed no intention of explaining to Ge Congzhou. Looking at him, he repeated himself:

"I said I understand."

Helpless, Ge Congzhou could only clasp his hands in a fist salute and prepare to return to his own lines. Then he heard Cao Shixiong say, word by word:
“Old Ge, you are someone the General values, but don’t forget that you are the Iron Spear Cavalry General. Your duty is to lead the Iron Spear Cavalry in charge of the charge. You only need to look at my main camp’s flags and follow orders. As for anything else, that’s not your business.”

With his back to Cao Shixiong, Ge Congzhou remained expressionless, then turned and bowed.

"Here."

Then, ignoring Cao Shixiong, he mounted his horse and rode towards his main camp on the west side.

Watching Ge Congzhou walk away, Cao Shixiong sneered inwardly:

"A kudzu vine? That sounds like a dog."

Over there, Cao Shixiong's sharp-tongued, monkey-faced henchman whispered to Cao Shixiong after Ge Congzhou obediently left:

"Commander, what Ge said makes some sense. Why don't we attack the enemy's 'golden knife' first?"

Cao Shixiong nodded and said to his trusted confidant:
"This Ge Congzhou does have some ability, and he's trusted by the General. But the more so, the more we need to keep him in check, otherwise, who will the army listen to in the future? In large-scale battles, the army can only listen to one person, and that is me, Cao Shixiong!"

The man with the pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks immediately began to flatter him:
"The vote-getter is so awesome! Shall we attack the 'Golden Knife'?"

Cao Shixiong didn't reply to his confidant, but instead called out Zhang Yanshou, who was hidden in the crowd, and greeted him warmly as if nothing had happened, asking Zhang Yanshou with a smile:

"Old Zhang, why does the name of this Golden Knife Army sound so much like the Silver Knife Army of Xuzhou? Is there a connection?"

Zhang Yanshou looked at the composed Cao Shixiong and thought to himself, "You can't judge a book by its cover." He thought this man was a good-for-nothing, but it turns out he can change his face so quickly and is quite shameless.

He didn't want to offend this person, so he clasped his hands in a respectful gesture and replied:
"I've heard of the Golden Knife Army of Guang Prefecture. It was formed by recruiting some of the scattered brothers from the Silver Knife Army by the governor of Guang Prefecture at the time, and it was called the Golden Knife Army of Guang Prefecture. Although the name of this army is similar to that of the Silver Knife Army, and its core members are also from the Silver Knife Army, its combat strength cannot be compared with that of the Silver Knife Army."

Cao Shixiong nodded, then asked:

"Can we call them over to work for us? Let's build a great enterprise together, and then everyone will become a duke or marquis. Isn't that better than being a servant?"

Zhang Yanshou looked at Cao Shixiong's shameless face and cursed inwardly:
"You won't spend a single penny, yet you make empty promises of official positions and titles, hoping to coax the other side to surrender? These soldiers, who risk their lives on the battlefield, earn twenty or thirty strings of cash a year. Do you think you can coax them to come?"

"This guy is a real coward. He's good at getting by in the lower classes, but he doesn't understand us regional military commanders at all? Trying to coax or deceive us? Don't even mention you, Cao Shixiong, those military governors, weren't they all skinned alive?"

At that moment, Zhang Yanshou finally understood.

People like Cao Shixiong, who have climbed up from the bottom, must be cunning. But what good is cunning alone? For a hundred years, the real elite troops and local power have been concentrated in the hands of the various warlords.

These people don't even understand how the regional military governors operate, so how can we win them over in future struggles?

At first, Zhang Yanshou saw that these bandits were all shouting against the imperial court, and he thought they had some kind of superb political wisdom, knowing that as long as they directed the struggle towards Chang'an, the other vassal states would not fight with all their might.

Only by dividing and conquering one faction can a rebellion have any hope of success.

But now it seems that these people don't understand these things at all. The fact that someone like Cao Shixiong could become a core leader of the rebel army shows that their understanding of the world is limited to a few states in the Central Plains, and they completely lack a global perspective.

How can such a core entity ever achieve success?
So, Zhang Yanshou replied listlessly:
"The fact that those people were able to don their armor and leave the city to fight for their lives at this time shows that they are loyal to Zhao Da. It is almost impossible to win them over based on so-called past friendships."

Zhang Yanshou thought he had made himself clear enough, but he never expected Cao Shixiong to add:
"Oh? Almost impossible, then it's possible? Here's what we'll do, Lao Zhang, you go run to the front lines, shout it out, and give it a try. It's just a trip, it won't tire you out."

What could Zhang Yanshou say? He could only clasp his hands in obedience and then lead his men on horseback towards Jin Dao Du.

As soon as Zhang Yanshou left, Cao Shixiong gave instructions to his trusted confidants:

"When Zhang Yanshou shouts at the front of the battle, you all tell the commanders to charge forward and don't worry about whether he lives or dies."

The trusted followers clasped their hands in obeisance, then suddenly heard the weasel-faced confidant point at the front of the formation and ask in confusion:
Have we sent troops to attack?

Everyone, including Cao Shixiong, looked over and saw a group of about a thousand men suddenly take off running, kicking up dust as they charged toward the Jin Daodu formation.

Cao Shixiong was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter:

"Good! Fight bravely and relentlessly, even to the death! This is the spirit of rebellion! Come on, beat the drums to cheer us on! No, I'll do it myself!"

After saying that, he jumped off his warhorse, snatched the wooden hammer from the strongman behind him, and began to pound the cowhide drum heavily.

The dull, oppressive sound of drums echoed across the wilderness from here.

A great battle has begun!
　There will be a second chapter in the morning. I'll go to bed early tonight to adjust my sleep schedule. I'll still post two chapters at 6 AM later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)