Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 224 Self-Inflicted Suffering

Four squads lined up in neat rows, holding shields and armor, and slowly advanced. Arrows occasionally pelted the formation, but were either deflected by helmets or struck the shields. The formation was unstoppable and continued its advance.

"drink"

"what"

The platoons shouted as they marched fifty paces. Liu Kangyi's scattered troops jumped down from the barren field ridges, clearing the path, and then the front platoon general roared:

"preparation!"

Then the archers in the second rank raised their bows and drew their strings, and the officers gave the order again:

"rapid fire!"

Then, the forty archers from the four teams released their bows, and without hesitation drew their second arrows and released them, and then their third arrows.

Although these Shouzhou soldiers numbered only five hundred, each of them was a warrior with at least ten years of training in battle formations and martial arts. It could be said that after Zhao Huai'an wiped out this Shouzhou army, he essentially brought all of Shouzhou's high-end military force under his control.

The warriors of Shouzhou, who have been immersed in archery for many years, spend a lot of time training on weekdays, so even on the high-pressure battlefield, they can exert 80% of their training strength.

Such rapid fire is a burst of fire in a short period of time. These archers in the Shouzhou Guard can fire twenty arrows in one minute.

Because it was a dense barrage, the soldiers didn't need to pursue accuracy. So most of them held a handful of arrows in their hands to reduce the time spent retrieving them, all in order to create the densest possible area of ​​attack in a short time.

This is archery in actual combat; you raise the bow and shoot.

Aim? No need to aim! Just empty the quiver.

These soldiers also used Tang-style composite bows made of sinew and horn, which represent the pinnacle of craftsmanship in this world.

A good bow requires high-quality, elastic mulberry wood for the bow body, buffalo horn or yellow buffalo horn for the bow tip, forged ox sinew for the bowstring, fish glue to bond these materials together, silk thread to wrap the outside, and then varnished to make it waterproof. Only in this way can a qualified horn bow be made.

Such craftsmanship was already considered superb, but there was no technological blockade in this era. What truly made the Tang horn bow unique in the world was the national strength it revealed.

Over the years of exchanges, neighboring countries sent a large number of envoys to Tang China, including Japan, Nanzhao, the Turks, and Tibet, all of which learned the technique of horn bow.

Although the horn bow was standard equipment for Tang Dynasty warriors, it was something that other countries could not replicate.

For example, Japan's envoys to Tang China learned the technique of using horn bows very early on. However, after migrating to the Japanese mainland, they encountered an insurmountable obstacle: the lack of large water buffaloes in Japan.

Their native Wagyu horns are short and have weak compressive strength, so even with the same technology, the Japanese bow's bow strength is still half that of the Tang horn bow.

Therefore, to compensate, the Japanese bow increased its length by half, thus achieving a range similar to that of the Tang Dynasty horn bow.

Even so, the armor-piercing ability of the horn bow is still much weaker, but it is sufficient for the local environment.

For example, the Nanzhao Kingdom captured Tang Dynasty horn bow makers during the Tianbao War.

However, Nanzhao was hot and humid, and the local buffalo horns were too fragile to be easily split. Therefore, Nanzhao had to use bamboo frames and thin buffalo horn slices to make bows, which reduced the range of the bows by 30% compared to the Tang Dynasty horn bows.

The same thing happened to the Turks, Uyghurs, and Tibetans.

These places are not lacking in high-quality buffalo horns, and sometimes even in large quantities of bison horns, but they lack fish glue and high-quality hardwood.

Therefore, horn bows from these regions often use mulberry or birch wood, and animal glue is also commonly used, making these horn bows significantly weaker in strength and water resistance than Tang dynasty bows.

And what about the Tang Dynasty? With its vast territory and abundant resources, it could be said to have everything. The ox horns of the north, the fish glue of the East Sea, and the mulberry wood of the south were all the best in the world. With such materials and the superb craftsmanship of the artisans, this horn bow was created.

This is the difference in national strength; the more a nation can develop standardized military equipment, the more it tests its national strength.

The surrounding countries, lacking key materials, could not afford to import them and had to use domestic materials instead, which ultimately led to the performance gap.

However, such a horn bow was very expensive, and only the imperial court and powerful vassal states could afford to equip it.

For example, the Red Heart Capital, composed of soldiers from Shouzhou, consists of 500 men, each equipped with a horn bow. Not to mention the time spent on labor, the raw cost alone is a thousand ox horns.

A cow has only two horns, which means that it would take five hundred cows to produce five hundred horn bows, and many of those horns would not be suitable.

In addition, the other equipment of Chixindu at this moment, including the Mo Dao, Heng Dao, iron armor, chainmail, hemp clothing, silk padding for the armor, fur covering the armor, arrows, mules, etc., all these add up to about sixty guan just for the equipment on a Chixindu warrior.

It can be said that the soldiers marching in formation at this time were all moving Tang Dynasty coins, each one made of money.

And what about the enemy army on the other side? Sorry, it's cruel, most of them aren't even worth the price of an arrow.

The price of an arrow is ten coins, which can buy a peck of rice in the south or five flatbreads in the north.

In the disaster-stricken areas of Central China, a flatbread could buy a life!
Therefore, when the army of Chixindu fired a thousand arrows in one minute, they were not shooting arrows, but a thousand lives from the disaster-stricken areas of the Central Plains.

And what they harvest are the disaster victims who are not worth a penny, even though they now have a rebellious name, Grass Army.

But no one cares about such things, and no one laments the passing of spring or the coming of autumn. Anyone who stands in their way will die!
The magistrate has given the order: to seize the drawbridge in the north of the city and hold it until the main force arrives.

And so, arrows rained down like locusts, and these professional warriors indifferently emptied their entire quiver, a full thirty arrows, in just over a minute.

As a dense barrage of arrows felled a swathe of grass soldiers, the area in front of the army formation was almost completely empty, with grass soldiers lying on the ground groaning and screaming in agony.

In the end, there were no more enemies ahead, because the remaining soldiers scattered and collapsed after seeing the men in front of them fall like wheat.

But the enemy fled, and the fallen soldiers filled the dirt road.

Because of this, the infantrymen of the Red Heart Capital in the front row had to stop and begin to stab the grass soldiers on the ground one by one, and then throw their bodies into the ditches on both sides of the dirt road.

This is ironic; the living rebels couldn't stop Chi Xin for even a moment, but their corpses did stop him for a moment.

A moment later, they finally cleared the road completely, opening a passage for the troops to march behind.

Then, to the sound of the suona horns, these loyal followers returned to their mules and continued their advance.

At this time, half an hour had passed since the grass army launched its attack from the north city.

This half-hour period directly changed the established battle situation.

……

The bow is drawn as smoothly as a ring, and the arrow is released as swiftly as lightning.

Among the countless ranks of the rebel army, Zhang Guihou shot down a Xuanwu Army knight wearing iron armor and a cloak with a single arrow.

He then pulled the black monkey next to him to the front, and an arrow "thud" stuck into the shield on the black monkey's chest.

Hiding behind the black monkey, Zhang Guihou drew the last arrow from his quiver, glanced at it, locked onto his opponent, and then shot it back with a sideways movement.

So a Xuanwu archer on the rampart covered his eyes, cried out in pain, and collapsed inside the camp.

Below, countless rebel soldiers were already engaged in fierce battle with the Xuanwu army.

There were 5,000 core old brothers in Caozhou City. Half of them came from Cao Shixiong's command. After Cao Shixiong died in battle, in the face of the northward advance of Xuanwu Army, the old brothers of the Cao Army in Puzhou abandoned their counties and went south to Caozhou.

Therefore, these people had clashed with the Xuanwu Army before, and now they encountered each other again north of Caozhou City, and the battle became even more intense.

These remnants of the Puyang army hated the Xuanwu army immensely, simply because the Xuanwu army was utterly inhuman.

In order to extract an extra thirty or fifty coins from the already devastated Puyang, these Xuanwu soldiers almost plundered most of the villagers and relatives of the local guerrillas.

These Xuanwu soldiers were very clever. They knew that after the Puzhou bandits looted, they would definitely return some of the loot to their fellow villagers and relatives. So when they arrived at the place, they first looked for the village heads in various villages and towns, and specifically those who could still stay in the local area.

The logic is simple: others are fleeing famine, but you're not. And you still say you don't understand the ways of the grass army?
This principle is domineering, but quite useful.

Because that's indeed the case in Puyang.

After the great disaster, everyone joined the bandit army, but the ones who really got rich were the old brothers of the bandit army. After they captured Puzhou City, they plundered a large amount of grain and wealth.

Unlike the Tang army, the commoner army did not follow the principle of allocating three-thirds to the superiors, three-thirds to the subordinates, and the remainder to themselves. Since they had all rebelled, who would bother to share with others?
Therefore, whenever the rebel army captured a city or village, the order in which they entered the city was determined according to the size of their contribution to the siege.

Those who made great contributions were the first to enter, while those who didn't were the last. This system had a terrible problem: the last vestige of the city's neighborhoods and households couldn't be defended.

The logic is simple: when the first batch of rebels went in to plunder, the first thing they could take was the obvious, readily available wealth, and then they left.

Did those cowards know that those people still had money? Of course they did. After all, who would hand over their entire fortune on the first try? Not to mention that the wealthy families at this time all had the habit of hiding money.

But for the first group of bandits who looted, continuing to plunder was not worthwhile, because they had many more homes to flee to.

The slower they run, the more bandits will enter the city behind them, and who will have the time to torture you?

But after the first wave of people left, the logic changed when the second and third waves entered the city.

Because they know that the easy targets have already been taken by those who came before them, they often choose a few mansions to begin to plunder them thoroughly.

At this point, all your hidden gold and cloth will be meticulously searched out, and you might even be given a rough estimate to collect. If you manage to collect it, they won't kill you.

In order to survive, those wealthy people who were being held captive had no choice but to hand themselves over in exchange for the lives of their families.

In most cases, these bandits would leave after receiving the money.

But you think that's all? There are still more people coming into the city; they're all looking to make a fortune.

As time went on, it became increasingly difficult to obtain money, leading to a greater need to kill people to force them to pay.

But what if those big spenders really run out of money in the end?
It means they kidnapped people.

In short, no one can withstand these rounds of torture, and whether they survive in the end depends on the army's mercy.

This method of torture and plunder was originally a common tactic used by salt smugglers in Puzhou when they kidnapped and robbed people. By doing this, they could easily drain a family dry.

Now that these salt smugglers are using their methods for torture and extortion, they are even more effective.

The Puzhou bandits, who had conquered several areas in just over a year, have been completely wiped out by them.

And now? They've encountered the Xuanwu Army, which uses the same ruthless methods.

These Xuanwu soldiers weren't particularly skilled at fighting, but their methods of making money were top-notch.

If the Shence Army made money through privileges, then the Xuanwu Army made money purely through its professional skills.

They simply took a short trip to the southwest of Puyang and identified the hometowns of the old comrades in the Grass Army. Then, the same methods were used on these people.

They keep escalating the demands, asking you for money again and again, until finally they start killing you and keep asking for more money. After squeezing out every last drop of your marrow, they'll use the head of one of your fellow villagers for their own purposes.

In this respect, the Xuanwu Army was much more ruthless than the Grass Army.

After all, most of the bandit troops were recruited into the army and used as cannon fodder, unlike the Xuanwu Army which was completely eradicated.

So the Puyang bandits were filled with hatred. They risked their lives to rob local tyrants and government officials, only to have their entire army wiped out by the Xuanwu army, who even killed their fellow villagers and relatives. It was a fight to the death!
Why did the Cao army attack the Xuanwu army in the north this time?
Isn't it because this is the will of the people?
This is a point that even the so-called commander-in-chief Huang Qin could not disobey.

Then the Xuanwu Army suffered a terrible misfortune.

They didn't set up camp very deep to begin with, after all, they hadn't fought a war for many years. When have you ever seen the Xuanwu Army go out of their territory to fight?
These people lived a life of easy money, making a fortune just by guarding the Bian River waterway. They would sit back and rake in the money, and then occasionally cause trouble with the unreasonable military governor to ask for some extra cash.

Moreover, their logic is very self-consistent. With mountains of gold and silver piled up inside Bianzhou City, if you ask them to stay outside, who wouldn't engage in insider trading? Who wouldn't be envious? If you don't, you're not worthy of your position, and people will call you a fool!
But now? Our Xuanwu Army brothers don't do any of that nonsense, they just ask you directly, isn't that straightforward enough?

Compared to the Zhongwu Army next door, who spend all day running back and forth across half of the Tang Dynasty, earning three times the amount of grain they need for crossing the border, these are the real masters, they are the ones who truly live a good life.

But in this world, every gift comes with a price tag. An army that excels in other areas but slacks off when it comes to actual warfare will eventually have to give back everything it has gained, and may even lose its own life in the process.

When they were ordered to garrison north of the city, they knew that the rebel army inside would only stay in the city, so the camp was completely lax and unprepared, with wooden guns tied to ropes as a kind of wooden fence.

Then, Yang Fuguang summoned the Baoyi, Xuanwu, and Zhongwu armies and said that he wanted to lure the enemy out of the city, and then told each army to make preparations as soon as possible.

At that time, the Xuanwu Army representatives attending the meeting were General Liu Xingxian, General Yang Yanhong, and Junior Officer Kou Yi. The three of them knew the importance of the matter, so as soon as they returned, they ordered their subordinates to reinforce the camp.

But the people below didn't understand. They were impatient with this and just put up some fences without burying the soil deep enough. It was all just a superficial project.

Then, when the rebel army inside the city swarmed in like a tide, these camp gates collapsed with a single push. In addition, because they deeply hated the Xuanwu army, the old brothers of the Puzhou rebel army charged directly to the front.

Elsewhere, cannon fodder are sent first, but this time they went first themselves, which shows just how much these people hate the Xuanwu Army.

And what's even more pitiful?

After the Xuanwu Army's main camp was breached, Xuanwu General Yang Yanhong immediately ordered his men to break through the siege and seek reinforcements from the Zhongwu Army in the east. Yang Fuguang was already there.

He is the military supervisor of Xuanwu Army, and he will definitely help his brothers.

……

At this time, five li east of the Xuanwu Army camp, northeast of Caozhou City, was the Zhongwu Army camp.

Although it only had 5,000 soldiers and had experienced a period of turmoil, the Zhongwu Army's camp remained heavily fortified and impregnable.

Yang Fuguang, who had just finished observing from the watchtower, urgently summoned the military generals of Chen, Xu, and Cai prefectures into the main tent.

At this moment, the generals of the three prefectures remained silent, keeping their eyes down and their minds at ease.

The deafening battle cries coming from the west could reach the ears of the soldiers present even from five miles away, but they all remained silent, as if they were deaf.

Even Zhang Guan, the loyal and valiant general who had seized half of Caizhou's troops, looked blank, as if he didn't even know where he was, and was pretending to be stupid.

Why?

Since entering, Yang Fuguang's eyes had never left him, which meant he was waiting for Zhang Guan to go and rescue the Xuanwu Army next to him.

But on what grounds?

When you killed Qin Zongquan, their general of Caizhou, why didn't you think of him? When you seized half of their Caizhou troops, why didn't you think of him?

Oh, now that we're going to rescue the Xuanwu Army, you remember Zhang Guan? Bah! Despicable!

Besides, wasn't this plan devised by you, the military supervisor? What? You've caused trouble, and now you want us brothers to go up and carry sand to fill the ditches?
They call themselves the Loyal Army, but they're not stupid! Are you kidding me?
So let's not talk about powerful eunuchs today. If you want to kill me, then kill me. I won't send a single soldier.

Zhang Guan was acting like a tough nut to crack, while Yang Fuguang was cursing inwardly:

"You Xuanwu Army soldiers are utterly useless! Standing in the camp, there are over ten thousand soldiers, all equipped with iron armor and weapons, and they're all top-notch. And now, less than a quarter of an hour later, you come asking me for reinforcements! I'm really fed up!"

But no matter what he felt in his heart, Yang Fuguang was determined to save the Xuanwu Army.

The logic is simple: he can command these Xuanwu troops, and if they suffer a major defeat here, his influence will be weakened.

Originally, he wanted Zhang Guan to lead the troops to the rescue while he stayed at the camp to continue holding the line. But now, judging from Zhang Guan's appearance, he was clearly incredibly audacious. If he asked again, the man would definitely quit.

If things get out of hand, it will be really hard to handle.

After looking around again, seeing these loyal and brave generals who hesitated to fight, Yang Fuguang once again praised Zhao Da.

In terms of loyalty and dedication, Zhao Da and the Baoyi Army are the best.

It's no wonder that someone as difficult as Gao Pian preferred to employ Zhao Da; such loyalty and bravery are truly rare in the world.

Thinking it over, Yang Fuguang gritted his teeth, stood up, and shouted:
“Since none of you will fight, then let me, Yang Fuguang, go to the rescue. I, Yang Fuguang, am the Emperor’s servant. It is only right that I should die for the country.”

As he spoke, Yang Fuguang was about to step forward with his precious sword, but his men had to stop him.

For a long time, none of the generals from the three prefectures got up; they were still looking down at their boots.

At that moment, Yang Fuguang was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat on his back.

(End of this chapter)