Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 91 Rice Fields
Soon, the Beiwei men arrived with more than twenty squad leaders.

Seeing Zhou Dexing clinging to his warhorse's neck like a bear and bobbing towards him, Zhao Da immediately cursed:
"What did I say? I made sure all of you captains had to learn to ride horses. Look at you, you'll be slower than everyone else even when you're trying to escape."

Zhou Dexing dared not retort, realizing that Zhao Da was extremely short-tempered. He quickly dismounted and stood behind Chen Fahai, whom he knew well, trying to conceal himself and avoid becoming the target of Zhao Da's venting.

Unfortunately, with his eight-foot height, he was a head taller and a leg wider than Chen Fahai, so he couldn't hide at all.

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an circled around and shouted:

"Now that the vanguard has been attacked, the number of enemy troops and cavalry is unknown, but our brothers from Baoyidu are ahead. Even if the mountains collapse and the seas tsunami crash ahead, we will pull our brothers back."

Then Zhao changed the subject and shouted:

"This battle is a gift from heaven. Last night's heavy rain has made this place muddy and impassable, and the surrounding area is full of rice paddies, making it perfect for infantry to defeat cavalry. This is truly a great achievement bestowed upon us by heaven. Once our army breaks through the enemy cavalry here, wealth and glory will be nothing but trifles!"

"Therefore, I desire the entire army to exert its full strength and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. Which of my generals would not be willing to do so?"

The team members present did not hesitate and immediately clasped their hands in greeting:
"We obey your orders."

If Zhao Da hadn't spoken first, the generals present might have had other ideas, and many of them, if they were more cautious, would have chosen to set up camp on the spot instead of rashly committing all their forces without knowing the enemy's strength or weakness.

But now that they've all spoken, what are they going to say? They'll just do it.

This is also why Zhao Huai'an issued orders right away. At this moment, he was relying on his past prestige to forcefully implement military orders, and the generals only needed to obey.

However, if Zhao Da makes the wrong bet in this battle, it will not only result in the loss of troops, but his prestige will also plummet. These are the consequences of doing so.

There is never a perfect solution. As the leader of the team, Zhao Da is the person primarily responsible no matter what happens.

He can never avoid it, nor will he ever try to!

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an was very clear-headed, and he asked Chen Fahai directly:
"Old Chen, how should the team be deployed now?"

Zhao Huai'an's most important task is to set the tone. The specific military strategy for the battle requires collective wisdom and effort. To act on one's own at this time would be irresponsible towards the lives of the brothers.

As the most experienced general in the team, Chen Fahai first affirmed Zhao Huai'an's decision and expressed his opinion:

"This humble general also agrees with providing support. Our army is unaware of the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, and the enemy is also unaware of ours. It would be better to use the chaos to disrupt the enemy's formation now. On this muddy ground, our army has a great chance of winning. On the contrary, if we defend on the spot, it may seem stable, but we will lose the initiative. Once the enemy's infantry and cavalry annihilate the vanguard and advance, our cavalry will not be enough to cover our troops. Even if we form a battle formation, it will be a passive defense, and we will be defeated sooner or later."

When Chen Fahai said this, Guo Congyun of the cavalry, as well as the newly arrived Liu Xin and Liu Zhijun, remained silent, because they knew that Chen Fahai was right.

Let alone the bandit generals, if they were to surround the infantry with cavalry, and the infantry had no cavalry to block their movement, they would have more than ten tactics to defeat the infantry square formation.

Go straight in? That's the dumbest way.

At this moment, with Chen Fahai's explanation, the generals gradually came to their senses. If they had previously obeyed Zhao Da's authority, they now genuinely realized that only by taking the initiative could they have any chance of winning.

Therefore, they had no more doubts and were determined to fight to the death.

Zhao Da also learned something, silently memorizing the tactical essentials Chen Fahai had explained.

Therefore, Zhao Da spoke out directly:
"Okay, Lao Chen, you're my pillar of strength. I feel much more at ease with you saying that. Now tell me how to fight."

Chen Fahai did not hesitate and directly suggested:

"Since the number of enemy infantry and cavalry is unknown, I suggest that the three units of Beiwei and Bashan on the left and right be used as the general reserve, and the three units of Tuqi, Tabai, and Guide as the vanguard to immediately send troops to rescue the vanguard. Then, the eight units on the left flank will be the second force, and the six units on the right flank will be the third force. These fourteen units will all be armed with spearmen in front and archers and crossbowmen behind, and will be arranged in a row on the dirt road to advance. Finally, the heavy infantry of the Iron Beasts will be brought up at the rear, ready to flank from both sides at any time."

After saying that, Chen Fahai added with a menacing air:
"At the same time, the Iron Beast Team is the law enforcement team of the whole army. Whoever looks back will have their ear cut off, and whoever retreats will have their head beheaded! If the masses do not retreat, the enemy will surely be annihilated here."

After saying this, Zhao Huai'an clapped his hands excitedly and shouted:

"Very good, very good! Before the battle even begins, I've already won a general. Old Chen, keep up the good work, and your future success will begin at this very moment!"

Having said that, Zhao Huai'an raised the sword in his hand and addressed the generals:
"Today, there's no need for the enforcement team; I'll hold them off. I won't kill a single one of you. If you all want to live, you may flee north. I, Zhao Da, will die here!"

These words stunned all the team leaders. A strange emotion surged through them. They stared at Zhao Huai'an on the donkey cart, their eyes bloodshot, and roared in unison:
"Today, we will die here, but we will not retreat an inch!"

Looking at each face, countless emotions erupted within Zhao Huai'an. He raised his knife and roared:

"Then kill! If we don't die today, we'll make the enemy die! Let's slaughter them until their corpses litter the fields!"

The generals roared and then rushed to their respective teams to tidy up.

Squads of armored soldiers, aided by auxiliary troops and pack carriers, began to assemble their armored armor. The archers strung their bows and fastened two more quivers of arrows to their waists, while the infantrymen, under the command of their officers, began to line up in a row on the dirt road.

Then, the deafening sounds of suona horns and drums rose into the sky, and the guards, fully armed, were escorted towards the scene of the battle five miles away.

They wanted to tell their comrades there that they had arrived.

When the Nanzhao knights, their headscarves wrapped around their necks, rushed out of the mountain path, Lu Zhongyuan and the officials and soldiers under Dang Shousu were all stunned.

It wasn't until Lu Zhongyuan and Dang Shousu shouted at the top of their lungs that everyone realized what was happening.

Lu Zhongyuan was a seasoned veteran, not just a lackey of Zhao Da. In that split second, he made the right decision, and that decision saved everyone.

He looked at the rice paddy on his left and shouted:
"Get to the fields, everyone! Hurry, hurry!"

After saying that, he was the first to jump down from the dirt path. The heavy armor on his body pressed down on him and made him sink in, but he was even happier. He trudged through the muddy ground to the middle of the rice paddy.

Meanwhile, Dang Shousu also realized what was happening and led his team to jump into the rice paddy like dumplings.

As the Nanzhao cavalry charged over, the two men had already organized their troops and lined up in the paddy field.

On the outermost edge, more than sixty infantrymen were already in a half-bow stance, with one foot forward and one foot back.

Following the rules of the infantry cavalry, they stuck the end of their spears into the mud, held up the five-meter-long spears with their right hands, and drew their short swords with their left hands.

Comrades huddled together, and at that moment the group gave everyone a sense of security and strength.

The comrades around me are more important than anything else.

Behind the sixty-odd infantrymen were thirty heavily armored infantrymen, who now carried shields on their backs, tucked swords into their waistbands, and held crossbows aimed at the Nanzhao flag troops on the outer perimeter.

Then, surrounded by everyone were ten burly, heavily armored footmen, each holding a ten-foot-tall longsword, standing like mountains.

At this moment, Lu Zhongyuan stood to the side of the crossbowmen, while Dang Shousu held a Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) and stood with the Mo Dao team.

Everyone tried to suppress their rapid breathing as they watched the increasing number of Nanzhao cavalry on the dirt road.

And as time goes by, there are more and more of them.

Looking at the dark mass of Nanzhao cavalry that vaguely surrounded them, Lu Zhongyuan's forehead was covered in sweat, and at one point, his legs couldn't even support his body.

But the next moment, someone appeared behind him—it was the burly Dang Shousu, a Tangut from several generations ago, who grinned at Lu Zhongyuan:
"Fight them! The generals are right behind us, they'll definitely come to rescue us. Let's hold them off for a bit, and when they arrive, we'll wipe out these bastards all at once."

As he spoke, Dang Shousu, mimicking Zhao Da's favorite phrase, spat and cursed:
"You little bastard! I'll kill your father before he's even born!"

Lu Zhongyuan could only smile bitterly upon hearing Dang Shousu's words. This rough man was truly foolish; he was actually hoping that Zhao Da would come to their rescue.

To put it simply, if Zhao Da were a competent military leader, he wouldn't have come to rescue them; instead, he would have cut his losses and fled for his life.

If Zhao Da were an incompetent military leader with any sense of shame, he wouldn't have come to rescue them, because forming a defensive formation on the spot would have been the most appropriate option.

Therefore, regardless of whether Zhao Da was a qualified military leader or not, all one hundred of them were doomed.

Lu Zhongyuan didn't tell Dang Shousu any of this, as it would only dampen morale. He simply envied Dang Shousu's naivety, his ability to die with hope.

While Lu Zhongyuan was filled with countless complex thoughts, Dang Shousu beside him was already cursing at the Nanzhao cavalry on the dirt road, and the officers and soldiers of Baoyidu, in order to vent their inner panic, also joined in the cursing.

Although the Nanzhao knights on the opposite side couldn't understand, they knew exactly what these Tang people meant. So they also cursed at the Baoyidu officials and soldiers in the rice paddies from their horses.

Neither side could understand the other's language, yet at this moment they seemed to understand each other perfectly, exchanging insults back and forth.

Separated only by the rice paddies, neither side chose to make the first move.

The verbal battle was only temporary. As tensions between the two sides escalated, a Nanzhao general finally shouted, and some knights dismounted, preparing to fight Bao Yidu in the fields.

Lu Zhongyuan held his breath and quietly instructed the archers to hold back and not fire randomly.

Suddenly, the Nanzhao army on the dirt road shouted, and then arrows rained down, catching the Baoyi people in the rice fields completely off guard.

Lu Zhongyuan brushed aside the arrow stuck in Pi Tie's arm, his previous hushed tone vanishing, and roared at the Nanzhao army opposite him:

"Shoot, shoot those bastards to death."

Meanwhile, the Nanzhao warriors who had already gone to the fields roared and charged towards the infantrymen on the outskirts of Baoyidu.

Moments later, severed limbs, screams and curses, and blood staining the rice paddies red.

(End of this chapter)