Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 93 Iron Wall
When Wang Jin's iron cavalry crashed into the Nanzhao army's cavalry, screams of agony filled the air.

Those elite Nanzhao cavalry, who were firing arrows at each other just moments before, were suddenly met with a troop of iron cavalry charging towards them.

Without any obstruction, the outermost elite cavalrymen were directly knocked away by Wang Jin and his men's lances.

Especially Wang Jin, whose arms were incredibly strong, carrying a person on his lance while charging horizontally in a neutral stance.

Wang Jin only put down the lance after three corpses had been impaled on it, threw the corpses on the lance to the ground, and then dragged the corpses as he ran until the lance was pulled out again, the tip of the lance still gleaming coldly.

The damage from the lances was only one aspect. When the thirteen riders accelerated along the dirt road, they were like a swinging iron hammer that crashed directly into a wooden anvil.

The enormous impact knocked over squads of Nanzhao knights. At least twenty riders didn't even have time to react before they were thrown from their horses and trampled to death by the hooves of other horses.

It's too chaotic, too chaotic.

The Nanzhao cavalry general behind them roared, seemingly ordering the elite cavalry not to retreat, but it was to no avail.

Within this small space, speed is everything.

Even if these Nanzhao knights had armor, they would have been knocked off their horses. At this moment, Wang Jin's Iron Cavalry had directly secured the victory point.

In the end, Monropa still wanted to hold out and see if the battle could turn around.

After all, he still had a large number of cavalrymen under his command, who were currently stationed in the rice paddies and had not yet joined the battle.

Thinking of this, Monropa cursed again:
"How did those damned Tang soldiers suddenly appear here?"

In fact, Monropa and his cavalry were there to ambush the enemy. He had previously obtained intelligence from within the Tang army that a Tang troop was about to attack Jidong Pass.

Therefore, Monropa decided to take the initiative to attack. After all, the area in front of Jidong Pass was all mountain roads, which was not conducive to the deployment of cavalry, while the area around Mingshan was a plain. As long as the Tang army was intercepted at this position, they would be doomed.

But no one expected that a torrential rain would fall last night. Monropa was unwilling to march in the rain, after all, these warhorses were also very precious, and they would easily get sick if they got wet in the rain.

In addition, Monropa felt that the torrential rain would also slow down the Tang army's movements.

But why is everything different from what I expected?

The Tang army not only arrived at the mountain pass first and occupied the advantageous terrain, but also used the muddy fields caused by the previous night's torrential rain to restrain the charge of his cavalry.

Moreover, even the Tang army vanguard that was being pursued at the front, numbering no more than a hundred men, was fighting so fiercely and enduringly. They were clearly surrounded and had no hope, yet they still fought desperately.

But none of these things alarmed Monropa the most. What surprised him the most was the main force of the Tang army that had fallen behind.

Since Monropa went into battle sixteen years ago, he has fought the Tang army in at least eighty or a hundred battles. The Tang army has always been brave and willing to fight to the death, but they have a common problem: when their allies are in trouble, they never move an inch.

Today, the experience of the past sixteen years has been completely reversed. No one expected that, despite having an overwhelming numerical advantage, the Tang army behind them would not only not run away, but would instead form ranks and charge forward.

At this moment, Monropa looked ahead with a complicated expression, watching the Tang cavalry and infantry coordinate their attacks, shouting loudly as they slaughtered his elite troops.

Monropa's heart was bleeding.

For these royal generals, every single warrior under their command was the foundation of their power. These warriors were their confidants and the key to their authority.

But now these elite warriors are being wasted on this muddy ground without any objection, and are dying without any objection either.

Monropa waited a while longer, but still didn't see a miracle happen. Finally, he closed his eyes and uttered:

"Amitabha."

Buddhism flourished in the Nanzhao Kingdom, especially Esoteric Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism, which were popular among the upper classes.

These royal children were taught scriptures by strict Buddhist monks from a young age. They might not understand the Six Classics of the Han Dynasty, but they were certainly proficient in Buddhist scriptures. Moreover, the country did not select people based on the Six Classics, but rather on Buddhist scriptures.

Therefore, all the noble children in Nanzhao recited, studied, and worshipped Buddhism from a young age.

Take Monropa himself, for example. When he was a child, he learned martial arts according to the standards of a warrior. At the same time, he stayed by the side of the monks, always with his prayer beads in hand and reading Buddhist scriptures every day.

Even the "Amitabha" he now uses is a Buddhist term from the Pure Land school.

Upon hearing their commander sing this line, the guards on both sides knew the outcome. Sure enough, after finishing the verse, the commander gave a painful order to his guards, who were carrying battle flags, golden umbrellas, bronze drums, and weapons:
"Withdraw!"

After saying this, Monropa turned his horse around, preparing to lead the remaining cavalry back to Jidong Pass.

But when he turned his horse around to look behind him, his expression changed drastically, and he even swayed precariously on the horse.

This was because a Tang infantry force of several hundred men appeared behind him, blocking the dirt road.

Judging from the flags, they were four troop formations: "Iron Beast," "Guide," "Right Wing of Beiwei," and "Third Wing of the Left."

Thus, the Nanzhao cavalry was completely blocked on this muddy road.

……

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an stood on the donkey cart and saw the flags of Han Qiong, Duan Zhongjian, Zhao Hu, and Zhou Dexing appear behind the Nanzhao army. He laughed heartily.

He patted the carriage and shouted to his aides:
"It's done!"

After speaking, he opened his palm and grabbed a handful of the Nanzhao cavalry, his eyes filled with greed. Yes, he not only wanted to defeat these Nanzhao cavalry, but also to completely annihilate them; Zhao Da had his eye on these warhorses.

It's embarrassing to admit, but despite Zhao Da's smooth sailing in starting his business and building a thousand-strong force in just a few months, the cavalry force of Baoyidu was unfortunately very small.

In a typical military garrison, unless you're a local town garrison, the ratio of infantry to cavalry is generally around 7:3. For elite units like the Zhongwu Army and the Ganhua Army, the ratio is even higher, reaching 6:4.

And what about Baoyidu? A thousand infantrymen and a hundred cavalrymen, a ratio of ten to one, that's how meager they were.

But even these hundred or so riders were all gathered up by Zhao Da, one by one.

And the most important source was these Nanzhao troops.

Initially, Zhao Huai'an believed that the horses of Nanzhao were small and not good at running, and could only be used as pack horses, because of the stereotypes about Yunnan horses in later generations.

However, after fighting the Nanzhao army many times, Zhao Huai'an realized that he had made a big mistake.

At this time, Nanzhao was connected with Tubo. Although the local warhorses were small, most of the warhorses used in the army came from the Tubo Plateau.

These warhorses, trained in the lush, water-rich highlands, are robust and excellent at galloping, and have always been a major commodity in trade between Tibet and Nanzhao.

Therefore, the warhorses that Zhao Huai'an had previously captured, which were said to be Nanzhao horses, were actually Tibetan horses.

Now, the Nanzhao cavalry that Zhao Huai'an has surrounded looks to be several hundred riders, all of them riding tall, powerful horses. They are now trapped in this muddy area. If he lets them escape, he is not Zhao Da!
Therefore, after the ten infantry units at the front held the line, Zhao Huai'an divided up the remaining troops.

Ten teams were assigned as the main force to resist the enemy on the front line, four heavy infantry teams were assigned as the troops to intercept and block escape, and the remaining eight teams were assigned as reserves to deal with emergencies.

This troop allocation was carefully considered by Zhao Huai'an, and its effectiveness has been remarkable once it was put into practice.

With Han Qiong, Zhou Dexing, and the other three generals completely blocking the Nanzhao knights' return route.

The Nanzhao cavalry panicked at a visible speed. Large numbers of knights rushed into the rice paddies and fled in panic through the mud. In an instant, their flags were all lowered, their morale was shattered, and they lost all will to fight.

Seeing the enemy army flee in disarray, abandoning their armor and weapons, Zhao Huai'an was filled with pride.

He shouted orders to Yang Mao, Wang Li, Niu Li, He Wenqin, and other members of the Righteous Society who were gathered around the car:
"Go and relay my order: command Guo Congyun, Ding Huaiyi, Liu Xin, and Liu Zhijun's elite cavalry to immediately launch a surprise attack from behind, and prevent the enemy from returning to the pass with a single horse!"

Yang Mao and his men were overjoyed and loudly greeted the enemy before heading straight for their main force of cavalry.

Zhao Huai'an left two hundred men with him, and sent the rest out to pursue them.

At that moment, he looked with great confidence at the Nanzhao cavalry rushing around in panic opposite him.

This time, Zhao Da is going to become a big fish in one bite!

……

Zhao Huai'an saw the scene of Han Qiong's four teams surrounding the enemy, but what he couldn't see was that the four teams of officers and soldiers were frantically fighting against the last hurrah of the Nanzhao army.

At the forefront, Zhou Dexing, eight feet tall and imposing, led his troops of Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) soldiers, slashing at the oncoming Nanzhao army.

At this moment, Zhou Dexing disregarded the preciousness of his warhorse, forming a wall of swords with his Mo Dao team, shouting and slashing loudly, recreating the terrifying scene of men and horses being shattered.

Under the long, thick sword, the Nanzhao cavalry cried out in agony; even the most terrifying hell could not compare to this.

Fragments of limbs and torsos were piled up layer upon layer.

Blood streamed down from the blades, and Zhou Dexing's Mo Dao warriors could barely hold onto their sword hilts.

At this moment, Zhou Dexing was still shouting:
"Brothers, three more rounds of attacks, and the enemy will be on their last legs. What are we, the Mo Dao team?"

From the crowd, Fu San shouted at the top of his lungs:

"We are the Iron Wall of Defense!"

The warriors of the Mo Dao squad shouted in unison:
"We are the ironclad defense of justice; those who dare to charge us will be shattered, man and horse alike!"

Zhou Dexing laughed heartily. At this moment, he forgot the injustices he had suffered in the Yanzhou Navy and let go of his past resentments. What did wealth and honor matter when he fought alongside his brothers?
So he swung his longsword once more, cleaving a terrified Nanzhao general in two.

The overwhelming stench of blood and excrement directly assaulted the reason of the Nanzhao people present, and finally, the last thread of reason snapped.

Faced with the mountain of corpses, no one from Nanzhao dared to take another step forward. At that moment, someone dropped their weapon, and then more and more people dismounted and knelt in surrender.

At the same time, troops from Baoyidu rushed up from all sides, especially the more than one hundred Baoyidu cavalrymen in the rear, who were particularly brave and cut down the banners of Nanzhao generals in their path.

It was only at this moment that Meng Luopa, a member of the Nanzhao royal family, suddenly realized that the Great Tang Dynasty had returned!

But before he could express his feelings again, he felt a sharp pain in his neck and then fell into eternal darkness.

At this moment, Liu Zhijun, wearing a crimson cloak, and Liu Xin, wearing an earth-yellow cloak, each grabbed half of Meng Luopa's body and roared in unison:

"The enemy general has been slain by my men, Liu Zhijun and Liu Xin!"

At this point, the Nanzhao cavalry collapsed.

(End of this chapter)