Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 229 Broken City
North of Caozhou City, outside the stone bridge, in front of the Xuanwu camp, a scene of bloodshed unfolded.

The Red Heart Capital Commander Liu Kangyi led three teams, with 150 mules on foot, to block the grass army's exit from the camp.

The opposing army was fierce enough, and led its elite troops, also clad in armor, to charge in aggressively.

Liu Kangyi slashed down with his sword, and a spray of blood spurted out.

Another soldier wielding a short spear lunged at him from the side, but Liu Kangyi grabbed him and then slashed his neck with his sword, severing half of his neck.

At this moment, the two sides were completely locked in combat, people jostling and huddled together, their maces and short axes flying up and down, smashing and slamming. But the enemy's armor and weapons were in no way inferior to those of the Red Heart Capital.

Because the equipment of these peasant troops came from the previous Taiping Army or was just captured from the Xuanwu Army camp. They were also heavily armored and well-fed elite troops.

At that moment, if Liu Kangyi's troops hadn't been blocking the dirt road in front of the camp, they would have certainly suffered a loss.

However, as time went by, the tide of battle inevitably turned in favor of the rebel army.

Because there were only 150 men, Liu Kangyi organized the troops into three horizontal rows to increase the width of the front, which inevitably made the thickness of the army formation thinner.

At this moment, the two sides began to fight fiercely. Because of their thin armor, Chixindu's side was no match for the other side. Everyone was wearing armor, and there was no room for maneuver. The two sides were like wild beasts, pressing each other on the battlefield.

Soon, the middle section of Chixindu was forced to retreat step by step, and Chixindu on both sides launched an attack from the flanks, wielding short axes and iron maces and smashing them down with all their might. The whole battlefield was filled with screams and roars that never stopped.

Led by Liu Kangyi, a dozen or so men charged forward. After killing the man wielding a short spear, he didn't stop. He first smashed his broken-bladed sword into the man's face, then, while running, he drew the iron mace from his waist and smashed it down.

A mace smashed half his face, and then an axe appeared from behind, about to smash into his shoulder.

At the critical moment, Liu Kangyi took another fierce step forward and moved close to him.

With this lean, the axe lost its footing, and was instead supported by Liu Kangyi's shoulder and hand.

They were too close. Liu Kangyi raised his left fist and punched the soldier in the eye socket repeatedly.

Only after beating the man until he was covered in blood did Liu Kangyi release him.

At this moment, he took a moment to look at the battlefield, but the situation was getting worse.

They had just taken advantage of the opportunity when the Grass Army advanced into the middle section to quickly flank them from both sides. Although they annihilated dozens of Grass Army soldiers, this also narrowed the formation.

Meanwhile, the grass army, which had been blocked on both flanks, seized this opportunity to surge forward and now surrounded them from both sides.

A battle fought like this almost certainly means defeat.

Unable to contain himself, Liu Kangyi looked up at the sky, saw the sun obscured by dark clouds, closed his eyes, and suddenly raised his arms and roared:
"kill!"

Then, the various ranks of the Red Heart Capital, still locked in fierce battle, roared in unison:
"kill!"

Then, at that moment, a massive army slowly appeared on the edge of the battlefield in the southwest. The banners fluttering above the army bore the three large characters "Zhongwu Army".

……

At this moment, on the watchtower inside the Xuanwu military camp, Zhao Jue, Huang Yan, Yang Neng, and Huang Wenjing watched the Zhongwu Army appear with ice-cold hands and feet.

Because of their elevated position, they saw the Chungmuk Army arrive at the battlefield earlier than others.

On the east side of the battlefield, countless flags fluttered, and hundreds of cavalrymen at the forefront galloped across the open field like dragons, raising dust that almost obscured the sky.

At this moment, Zhao Jue sighed and said directly to the three of them:
How many people can we gather now?

The men shook their heads. Although they had called for the troops to withdraw earlier, it wasn't that easy.

The "grass army" was never a well-organized force; it was a loose alliance composed of numerous minor leaders, making it inherently difficult to manage.

Now they have crashed into the Xuanwu Army's camp, where supplies are piled up like mountains. How can the poor and desperate army possibly control them?

In reality, the thousands of troops that had advanced into the Xuanwu Army camp had long since broken up their formations and were now plundering the camp's supplies in small groups.

They even fought over some valuables.

After losing five camps, the Xuanwu Army finally regained its footing.

When they learned that the Baoyi Army's reinforcements were just outside the fortress, the Xuanwu Army in the rear was greatly relieved. Although many people were also cursing the Baoyi Army for not entering the camp, whether or not there were reinforcements made a difference in their hearts.

Meanwhile, the rebel army began to scatter and plunder again, and the Xuanwu army, now free from pressure, finally began to counterattack.

How could the 100,000 Xuanwu soldiers lack brave warriors? And how could the current 10,000-plus Xuanwu soldiers lack talent and courage?

At this moment, under the leadership of several fierce generals of Xuanwu Army, a thousand elite troops were assembled to launch a counterattack on the five fortifications in front. In particular, a young general named Kou Yanqing was especially brave and had already led more than two hundred people into the second battalion.

Under these circumstances, it would be even more difficult for the rebel army to withdraw.

When Zhao Jue learned of this situation, he sighed:

"Let's retreat! Caozhou City can't be defended! We'll retreat north to Puzhou."

These words left Yang Neng and the other two generals speechless. They understood the current situation clearly: their retreat was blocked, and a counterattack had begun in front of them. What else could they do but run?
But Huang Qin is still in the city. If they lose this eighth son of the Huang family, they will die even if they go to Puyang!
While they remained silent, Zhao Jue took the initiative to shoulder the blame, saying to the three of them:
"The elite troops we have are all old brothers from the old army. To put it bluntly, they are more important than Balang. What's important now is to take the troops out. As for the punishment of Dalang and Erlang, I'll say it again: I, Zhao Erlang, will take full responsibility."

Now Yang Neng and his two companions were truly impressed by Zhao Jue. This scholar-like bandit was nothing like a bandit leader; instead, he exuded a heroic spirit.

So the four of them discussed it and finally decided to withdraw their troops and break through the encirclement. Then a loud gong sounded, signaling the eight hundred armored soldiers outside to come back.

As for the other rebel troops who have already stormed into the front camp, their fate is up to luck.

The sound of the golden bell reached outside the camp, and the Cao army, which had completed its encirclement, was preparing to launch a final attack on Liu Kangyi's troops.

When the signal to retreat was heard, the commander-in-chief Hao Gui frowned. Although he did not know why, his trust in Erlang still led him to issue the retreat order.

This elite force, composed of soldiers from all four sides, had mostly undergone military training and knew that they wouldn't be called at this time unless it was extremely urgent. Therefore, they didn't linger in battle and slowly retreated to the side after separating from the Red Heart Team.

Subsequently, the soldiers escorted Hao Gui to the front of the camp, and then, together with Zhao Jue and others who rushed out, they broke through the gap to the northeast.

At this point, Liu Kangyi was powerless to launch a counterattack and could only watch as this fierce and elite herd of soldiers fled in disarray.

Liu Kangyi slumped to the ground, inhaling the battlefield air deeply.

I almost died here.

……

Not far from the watchtowers of the bandit generals, Zhang Guihou and Black Monkey were making a fortune.

The two of them cut open a tent and saw a pile of wooden crates inside. They randomly picked one, pried it open, and found it full of all sorts of valuables.

The black monkey quickly closed the wooden box, then stepped aside and smiled obsequiously at Zhang Guihou:
"Zhang Tou, I didn't see them. These are all yours."

Zhang Guihou looked at this overly clever little refugee, laughed heartily, and then pointed to the pile of boxes, saying:

“I don’t care about these filthy things. Besides, what’s the use of taking them? We’re all on the battlefield now, we don’t even know if we’ll live or die. Carrying them on us is just helping others.”

After speaking, Zhang Guihou knocked over several other wooden boxes, finally finding a box containing a horizontal sword sealed with grease. He pulled one out, nodded, and tossed it to Black Monkey. Then he selected a fine ox-horn bow and said to Black Monkey:
"Black Monkey, remember this: the future of the world depends on this!"

After saying that, he pulled the black monkey out.

Before he could even emerge, he bumped into two bandits. The moment they entered and saw the glittering treasure inside the tent, their eyes turned red. But in the next instant, Zhang Guihou used his broadsword to cut them both down, then handed the blood-stained blade to Black Monkey, ordering:

"Two more blows!"

Black Monkey paused for a moment, then took the knife and stabbed down hard, before nodding emphatically to Zhang Guihou.

At this moment, the sound of golden voices from the rear reached here, and Zhang Guihou was stunned for a moment. Then he realized that something must have happened on the outer battlefield.

Just then, he saw the rebel army in front of him hurriedly leaving the camp and retreating to the rear.

This was originally his best chance to escape, since the Baoyi Army was on the battlefield and he could simply stay here if he wanted to reunite with his brother.

But that won't work now. If he disappears, the bandit army in Puyang will definitely kill his brother.

Thinking of this, Zhang Guihou asked the black monkey:
"Can you ride a horse?"

Black Monkey shook his head, but then quickly nodded. Zhang Guihou ignored him, found a wandering warhorse, and helped Black Monkey onto the horse, then rode off to the northeast.

At this moment, the black monkey, terrified, clung tightly to the horse's neck and asked in confusion:

"Why don't we head south? Let's go back to the city!"

Zhang Guihou scoffed:
"Go back to what? Back to the road to the underworld?"

After saying that, they ignored the black monkey and spurred their horses to break through to the northeast. Sure enough, they soon saw the old grass army brothers riding mules and horses, and then they fled with the latter.

……

With the arrival of the Chungmu Army, the situation outside the city completely reversed.

Chixindu, who were fighting on the stone bridge, saw the Zhongwu Army flag fluttering behind them and shouted loudly.

Then, with a sudden burst of strength, they annihilated the last bandit army blocking the bridge.

After killing the stubborn old general, Chixindu finally occupied the stone bridge. At this moment, the moat under the bridge was already stained red. The remaining Chixindu began to throw the corpses of the grass army into the river and clear the bridge surface.

Then he rushed toward the suspension bridge.

By this time, the north gate tower was deserted. When the banner of the Loyal Army appeared on the battlefield, the soldiers on the city wall knew that there was no way to turn the tide.

So they carried Huang Balang out of the city tower and broke out of the encirclement from the east side of the city.

They did not set the city on fire because this would make the Tang army eager to seize the spoils of war after entering the city, rather than wanting their heads.

Due to the urgency of the situation, about three hundred core members of the Grass Army rode horses and broke out of the eastern city first, followed by more and more Grass Army soldiers and refugees.

The Chungmu Army, originally stationed in the northeast corner, has been moved entirely to the northern battlefield, creating a gap in the encirclement and defense line on the east side.

When Yao Xingzhong, Zhang Xiang, and other brave warriors who had stormed into the city to sabotage the winch came up to find the city gate empty, they stopped trying to destroy the winch and began to guard the city.

Amidst the chaos within the city, Chixindu were the first to storm in. However, instead of looting, they surged onto the city walls and occupied the north side of the city.

The magistrate's order is to take the northern city; no other action is required before that.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the battlefield, the newly arrived Zhongwu Army was pleasantly surprised to find that the city gates had been opened and the Cao Army was scattering in panic.

Instead of pursuing the bandits, they drove straight to the city gate and then poured into the granaries of Caozhou City amidst shouts.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, let's get rich!
……

At almost the same time, Zhao Huai'an arrived with his son Ma Busan. He did not enter the city, but instead drove into the Xuanwu Army camp.

After climbing to a watchtower, Zhao Huai'an first looked at the north side of the battlefield, where smoke and dust filled the air, and the core of the rebel army was fleeing northward.

He did not choose to pursue them, as preserving the strength of the Grass Army was in his best interest at this stage. What was more important for him now was to earn enough rescue money from the Xuanwu Army.

After all, you have to pay for putting out a fire, right?
Finally, he looked towards the north of the city and saw the banners of loyalty and righteousness planted on the city walls. Zhao Huai'an nodded with satisfaction.

At this point, even the most sincere heart can be used.

Only loyalty tested by blood and fire is worthy of trust.

As for why the Zhongwu Army would choose to come to the rescue, although part of the reason was their greed for the spoils of war in the city, it was still beyond Zhao Huai'an's expectations.

However, it was precisely their appearance that reversed the battlefield situation in a short period of time, and Chixindu's losses were reduced as a result.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an was still quite grateful to the Zhongwu Army.

Brothers like Lao Pang, Lao Wang, and Lao Han were definitely worth the investment; they're the kind of people who would stand up for you when needed.

As for the North Gate, which he had captured, but which was ultimately taken by the Zhongwu Army, Zhao Huai'an was not worried, because he knew that the Zhongwu Army was pragmatic.

Sure enough, at about the same time, a group of knights from the Zhongwu Army who had not entered the city rushed out after seeing the banner of the Baoyi Army and headed towards Zhao Huai'an.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Yang Fuguang, Uncle Thirteen, and a group of generals from Xuzhou and Chenzhou.

Zhao Huai'an then hurriedly descended from the watchtower and greeted Yang Fuguang and the others outside the cleared camp.

As soon as he emerged, Zhao Huai'an saw Yang Fuguang and the others dismount, and then greeted them with a smile, calling out:

"Congratulations, elder brother, on your great achievement once again! Haha!"

This time, Yang Fuguang did not smile smugly, but said seriously:
"Zhao Da, without your leadership to reinforce us, how could we have won this victory? Therefore, the greatest credit for this battle belongs to you alone."

Zhao Huai'an was surprised, but said nothing, and continued to speak to the loyal generals behind him:

"As the saying goes, 'When brothers are of one mind, their strength can break metal.' Today, my elder brother and I are not happy to have taken Caozhou City, but we are even happier that Baoyi and Zhongwu are united in purpose. This is a blessing for us and for the court!"

Yang Fuguang also realized what was happening and smiled as he said to Pang Cong, Han Jian, and the others:
"That's right. With our hearts and efforts united, we have nothing to fear from the enemy. This battle is the best proof of that. Today's spoils will be distributed among you all. Not only that, I will also report your achievements to you."

Everyone laughed heartily. As the generals of the Xuanwu Army hurriedly arrived, all the generals who participated in this battle gathered on the battlefield. Watching the officers and soldiers chasing the fleeing enemy, even the people of the Xuanwu Army felt a surge of pride.

Victory feels so exhilarating.

As for the fleeing rebels, everyone tacitly agreed not to discuss it. If this could earn them military merit and make them rich, then let the civil unrest be even more intense and last even longer.

The Xuanwu Army was eager to pursue, but seeing the high-spirited attitude of the Baoyi and Zhongwu Army generals, they had no choice but to give up. Then, looking at their own camp in ruins, their hearts ached even more.

This time, they're determined to get their revenge in Caozhou.

It was at this moment that the dark clouds finally drifted away from the sun, and the sky began to warm up.

(End of this chapter)