Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

Of course, compared to the formal armored cavalry, it is definitely lacking in many parts, mainly in terms of horse armor. Most of them only have a single layer of body armor, and only half of them have a breastplate and a neck guard. As for the face shield and parasites, they have none at all.

Theoretically speaking, this level of defense is sufficient against the weak and feeble-bowed Hu soldiers of Longshang. However, if facing the Uyghurs, Tibetans, or even elite rebel forces, it would be better to remove some of the embellishments and simply become ordinary cavalry.

Two hundred weakened armored cavalrymen filed out in three columns, paused briefly outside the city, and then continued on foot. Li Ji and the others led the infantry, jogging to catch up. They also spent some time forming ranks in front of the city. When they looked up again, the cavalry were already close to the enemy camp and began to spur their horses. Only then did the drums sound from the city walls. Li Ji looked up and, sure enough, it was Wei Lun personally beating the drums.

The bandit camp was loosely set up, almost chaotic, and there were not many defensive facilities on the outside, mostly just wooden fences and a few shallow and narrow ditches—if it were a well-fortified camp, Wu Chongfu would certainly not have dared to let the cavalry take the lead.

In fact, the other side reacted as soon as the city gates opened. Unfortunately, the lack of unified command caused the transmission of information, the issuance of orders, and the deployment of troops to be extremely slow. It was as if the brain of the ancient beast was only the size of a walnut and its nerves were extremely convoluted and long. By the time the Tang cavalry had approached and started to use their momentum to pry open the fences with their spears, the first wave of resistance had just arrived.

Arrows rained down, and almost every armored rider was pierced by more than a dozen feathered arrows. Unfortunately, most of them could not penetrate the armor and were merely wedged into the gaps, like decorations...

Li Ji, mounted on his horse, did not gallop—he needed to keep track of the speed of his infantry. There was actually a gap of about a hundred zhang (approximately 333 meters) wide between the Tang army's infantry and cavalry. If an enemy force were to exploit this gap, the Tang army would inevitably suffer defeat. Fortunately, few of the barbarian bandits were intelligent, and even fewer possessed both intelligence and the ability to act. If we also consider organizational ability, the possibility of the Tang army being attacked at this moment was virtually zero.

It wasn't until the armored cavalry had penetrated deep into the enemy lines and their speed began to slow down that the following infantry had reached the original location of the outer fence, where they encountered the first wave of flanking attacks.

As Wu Chongfu had predicted, the flanking attack mainly came from the south. As for the north, there were only a few scattered groups of barbarian cavalry, which had no impact on the well-organized Tang army's infantry formation.

First to appear were the Hu cavalry from the southern camp, who approached and prepared to shoot arrows. However, Li Ji preemptively fired, and when the enemy was still a hundred paces away, he nocked his bow on horseback and unleashed a powerful shot, striking the leading Hu cavalryman squarely in the chest. Immediately, the infantry archers also obeyed the order and fired a volley, leaving behind more than a dozen corpses on the spot as the Hu cavalrymen fled diagonally.

Because of the lack of unified command, the various Hu tribes often fought independently, and when they encountered formidable enemies, they all became fearful, always hoping that other tribes would take the lead first, so that they could follow behind and pick up the scraps empty-handed...

After another twenty paces, they had penetrated deep into the enemy camp, and the chaotic Hu infantry from the south finally came up.

Although these nomadic tribes still lived a pastoral life, due to the limitations of the terrain, they could only graze some cattle and sheep in the mountains. They could no longer raise large herds of horses like their ancestors on the grasslands, resulting in a limited number of warhorses and the degeneration of the breed. Therefore, the nomadic tribes gathered in Fengxiang Prefecture were mostly infantry, with only one or two tenths being cavalry. In contrast, the ratio of cavalry to infantry in Tibet was close to one to four, and the Uyghurs were almost entirely cavalry, with some even having several horses per person.

—Actually, the Tubo people didn't have many warhorses, but they occupied the former territories of the Dangxiang and Tuyuhun tribes, which is the Qinghai grassland of later generations. Otherwise, Tubo would not have been a threat to the Tang Dynasty.

The number of Hu infantrymen was too great; although their ranks were disordered, they swarmed forward, and a few volleys of projectiles would certainly not be enough to force them back. Li Ji immediately spurred his horse forward and roared, "I am Li Erlang of Jingzhao! Killing barbarian bandits is as easy as slaughtering chickens and dogs, let alone you rats!" Whether the enemy could understand him or not was of no concern.

This shout was mainly intended to stabilize and boost the morale of his own troops.

With a swift movement of his spear, he pierced the chest of a Hu general. Then, with a sweep of his spear shaft, he knocked Erhu to the ground. His soldiers, guarding Li Ji's left and right, advanced in orderly ranks, spearmen flanking swordsmen, working together to slaughter the Hu rebels, leaving heads rolling and corpses strewn across the ground.

The Hu camp was set up in a very disorderly manner, resulting in narrow and winding roads within the camp, making it difficult to deploy large numbers of troops. This allowed the Tang army, which was outnumbered, to win in various local battles by using its superior numbers and courage to overcome the enemy's fear, thus gaining a steady advantage.

However, Li Ji's fighting was far from satisfying. The reason lay with his infantry; he couldn't abandon his men to charge into the enemy lines alone, and the narrow, winding roads made it difficult for his horse to run fast. Ascending atop a tall, powerful horse from Longyou, with his superior position and soldiers protecting him, his safety was naturally high—he only needed to guard against stray arrows—and his thrusts with his spear were unstoppable. However, the constant thrusting and retracting of his spear made him relatively slow, and gradually, no one dared to approach his horse anymore. He dared not ride too far forward; while his horse was indeed swift as the wind, turning back would be quite troublesome…

So he simply jumped off his horse, threw aside his lance, took out his double maces from his back, shouted loudly, and charged into the enemy formation. He swung his maces in a wide arc, not caring whether the opponents were generals or soldiers, spearmen or swordsmen, infantry or cavalry, he just kept hitting them, naturally breaking swords, shattering spears, piercing armor, and cracking bones.

Being on foot, it was quite convenient to leap back and forth. As soon as there was space beside him, he could dash into the enemy ranks again; after scattering a group of barbarian soldiers, he would rush to the next battlefield—

Li Ji thought to himself, "I really made the right choice with these two maces!"

I'd never had the chance to use them freely before, so my understanding wasn't very deep. I only thought that carrying a pair of iron maces weighing about thirty pounds on my waist or shoulder was imposing and intimidating enough. Today, I've realized that in the midst of a chaotic battle, a mace is far more wieldable than a knife.

The main problem is that the weapons used in this era, whether they are horizontal swords, shield swords, or long swords, are all narrow-bodied swords, no more than an inch wide, and basically have no armor-piercing function. Although the enemy soldiers rarely wear armor, especially iron armor, they still have shields. And, to be honest, human bones are quite hard.

A blade cleaving through armor or hard bone will inevitably damage the blade, and might even break it—based on Li Ji's past experience, even the finest blade, wielded like his in a charge, capable of killing nearly a hundred enemies, would likely only last for one battle. What legendary, battle-tested blade? It doesn't exist. What legendary weapon? He's never even seen one.

In particular, blades can easily wed into armor or bone, making them difficult to remove; even if they penetrate too deeply into the flesh, it takes considerable effort to pull them back. Therefore, the use of a broadsword on the battlefield is primarily for thrusting or slashing a point to kill. If one were to actually aim for the neck with every strike, like the legendary demon-head broadsword, one would have long since exhausted their strength and been riddled with spears.

The mace, however, is different. It can destroy everything in its path, and its moves are rarely hesitant. When swung with both maces, it can both injure the enemy and protect oneself, leaving almost no opening for attack. Of course, only someone as strong and powerful as Li Ji can wield it and swing it effectively. If an ordinary soldier were to use a mace, it would weigh at most ten pounds, and given the forging technology of that era, it would be just as easy to break.

It is believed that someone like Li Siye, who was skilled in using the Mo Dao (陌刀) and even said that his blade could shatter men and horses with a single strike, did not use an ordinary Mo Dao. It must have been at least twice as heavy as the one used by ordinary soldiers.

Chapter 51, Employing People to Settle Villages

In this battle, Li Ji fought with great gusto. Although the Hu soldiers outnumbered the Tang soldiers, they were only able to gain the upper hand by taking advantage of the terrain, and the battle was a back-and-forth struggle. However, from Li Ji's perspective, it was a one-sided massacre.

Gradually, even the two hundred guards around him stopped seeking out enemies to fight. They simply stayed by Li Ji's side, protecting him from flying arrows and finishing off anyone Li Ji knocked down.

Unfortunately, the fierce battle did not last long. Before Li Ji could finish enjoying himself, shouts of battle suddenly rang out from the west, and he could vaguely hear—"Guo Yin's head has been taken!"

A quick glance to the side revealed, sure enough, in the distance, the Guo-branded banner had fallen with a crash.

The news spread like ripples, and the Hu soldiers were all terrified. They turned around and fled in panic.

They were called 100,000 chaotic barbarians—though in reality, they were at most half—but actually divided into dozens of tribes. Not only were they not necessarily harmonious with each other, but they were also full of conflicts. Even among members of the same tribe, there were not necessarily no unresolved issues. This time, they were only able to unite somewhat thanks to Guo Yin's efforts in making connections. Once Guo Yin is killed, where will their will to fight be?

Li Ji, still not satisfied with the killing, gave chase, but fortunately, he hadn't let his bloodlust cloud his judgment. After only a dozen paces, he regained his senses. He hurriedly ordered his men to bring him a warhorse, mounted it, and commanded his soldiers to charge westward to rejoin the main force.

On the way, he turned his head and looked towards Fengxiang Prefecture in the distance. He saw that small teams of Tang soldiers were rushing out one after another. They were rushing out to pick up the scraps as soon as they saw that the overall situation was settled.

The timing was perfect, which shows that Wellen is indeed a capable general. It's just a pity that he was leading a group of weak soldiers before, which led to his narrow defeat.

Li Ji charged into the core of the Hu camp, only to see thick smoke rising. Wu Chongfu was leading the Fuyan army in setting fires everywhere, burning enemy tents—this was to create greater chaos and prevent the fleeing soldiers from regrouping nearby. Li Ji shouted from afar, "The enemy has been defeated! Don't rush to kill them; hurry to rescue Li Sheng!"

Wu Chongfu then realized, "That's right." But then his lips curled down, "However, our cavalry is already exhausted and I'm afraid they are unable to travel any further..."

Li Ji said, "Find some stray Hu horses and quickly assemble a cavalry force to come with me to rescue Li Sheng." He then bowed to Wu Chongfu and said, "We will borrow Guo's banner for now."

He had just looked out from the city wall and estimated that the number of troops from the northern barbarian camp that had come to intercept Li Sheng was no less than 10,000 or 20,000. Now, most of the Tang army was exhausted, and he would be lucky to gather 200 cavalry. With just 200 cavalry, he could barely protect himself, let alone rescue Li Sheng.

If he rushed ahead too quickly and the news of the camp's collapse didn't reach the northern Hu army, who still had the will to fight, wouldn't that be tantamount to throwing his life away? That's why he asked Wu Chongfu to borrow Guo Yin's banner.

Actually, I wanted to borrow his head, but firstly, I was afraid Wu Chongfu would cherish it and be reluctant to give it up, and secondly—among a vast army, a flag is more conspicuous.

Not long after, Li Ji, holding Guo Yin's banner, led more than a hundred cavalrymen northward in haste, breaking through the Hu camp to find Li Sheng's luring troops.

If any barbarian infantrymen were to block the road, they would be shot with arrows or spears and sent to their deaths. However, if barbarian cavalry were to be encountered, as long as they did not go mad and charge at him head-on, they would be allowed to pass. Instead, a few arrows would be shot at the back of the horse to drive them into the ranks of those who were about to engage in battle.

Li Ji was quite anxious. Based on his earlier estimation of the direction and speed of both sides' advance from the city wall, he guessed that Li Sheng had most likely already engaged the Hu barbarians. Although the city's soldiers were supposedly selected as elite troops, it was really just a case of choosing the best from the worst, and their quality was questionable. Moreover, they had only been trained for three days; what could they possibly have learned? With the general level of knowledge in those days, at most they could only remember their commander's name and recognize Li Sheng's banner.

Honestly, even if it were Li Ji, leading such a force against an enemy army several times larger than himself, he wouldn't have much confidence—unless one of the generals or even the commander-in-chief of the enemy forces were oblivious to their own mortality and ran out to fight him one-on-one, only to be killed by him.

He only hoped that Li Sheng's troops would not be completely wiped out, and that some of them would escape; if that was not possible, then Li Sheng himself had to survive! Although this general had been immersed in the corrupting influence of the Imperial Guard for several years, it seemed that his ambition had not been completely worn away, and he was a useful talent. It would be a real pity if he were to perish here.

However, as it turned out, Li Ji had seriously underestimated Li Sheng.

Previously, Li Sheng spent a day selecting soldiers from the city's garrison. The main criteria were not fighting spirit or exceptional bravery, but rather archery skills. After three days of training, he secretly sent local soldiers familiar with the geography out of the city to pre-select a battlefield for the enemy—a farm more than twenty miles northwest of Fengxiang Prefecture.

The Wei River plain was developed early, crisscrossed by paths, with vast tracts of fertile land, naturally dotted with numerous villages and noble estates. When the barbarian bandits raided, burning, killing, and looting wherever they went, most villages and estates were left empty. The people were either abducted or fled to the city or distant places upon hearing the news. Deserted villages were everywhere, fields were mostly scorched earth, and houses were largely ruins…

However, the manors of nobles are ultimately different from ordinary farmhouses. The main buildings are relatively sturdy and surrounded by walls for protection against theft. They are not even made of pure rammed earth, but also mixed with bricks and stones. The barbarians did not have siege weapons and could not completely flatten these buildings and walls, which gave Li Sheng a sufficient means of defense.

After leaving the city, Li Sheng hurried northwest, entering a pre-selected estate. He ordered his soldiers to lie in ambush behind walls, inside houses, and on rooftops. The Hu barbarians launched a massive pursuit, and just as they approached the estate, a hail of arrows rained down…

—Wei Ren opened the armory wide, and Li Sheng neither picked out armor nor took a sword, but only took most of the powerful bows and crossbows, as well as a large number of arrows.

If they were on the open plains with no support, the Tang army would likely collapse after a single charge by the barbarians. However, using the farm as fortifications and relying solely on arrows caused the barbarians considerable trouble. Although the barbarian soldiers quickly broke through the first line of defense due to incomplete walls, Li Sheng, positioned on the roof of the main building of the farm, directed the troops inside the walls to retreat into the buildings in advance, minimizing casualties.

What followed was essentially street fighting. Because the roads were narrow, the numerical advantage of the random mobs couldn't be utilized, and they could only enter the village in small teams. Initially, they wanted to take the command center directly, but they encountered endless arrows from both flanks in the narrow passages, suffering heavy losses. They were then forced to search house by house, making progress extremely slow.

Of course, it also lies in the fact that Luanhu had neither the determination to fight to the death to seize the village nor the urgency to defeat the enemy as soon as possible. Most people thought that as long as they could hold this government army here and prevent them from raiding their own base, that would be enough. Why bother to charge and fight fiercely and increase casualties?

It wasn't until Li Ji arrived carrying Guo Yin's banner, and news of the main camp's collapse reached the area, that the chaotic barbarians were terrified and scattered almost immediately. Only then did Li Sheng lead his soldiers out of the village to join Li Ji.

According to the count, only a little over a hundred of the two thousand Tang soldiers were killed or wounded, while more than two hundred Hu people inside and outside the village were killed by arrows.

Li Ji couldn't help but exclaim, "Liang Qi truly possesses the talent of a great general! It's a pity he's relegated to the Imperial Guard..."

Unable to pursue the fleeing enemy, they could only first clear the battlefield, cut off the heads of the barbarian hordes, and collect the remains of their fallen comrades. Li Ji noticed that many Tang soldiers' corpses had five copper coins strung together, labeled with their names, which he presented to Li Sheng. He inquired about the reason for this. Li Sheng smiled and said, "To strengthen the morale of my soldiers, I divided the ten thousand coins awarded by Lord Cui into two thousand portions, five coins for each person..."

Five coins wasn't much. In Chang'an, Li Ji could buy a few white cakes—the kind without sesame seeds—from a street vendor for five coins. Even in other places, it would only be enough for one person's food expenses for less than two days. However, Li Sheng promised that this five coins was just an advance payment and a record. After the victory, he would ask Cui Gong and Wei Shufang for a reward, and then use these five coins to receive the reward. If he died in battle, he would repay his family a hundredfold.

After finishing speaking, Li Sheng leaned close to Li Ji and pleaded in a low voice, "I have already promised the reward, and after accounting for the losses, it is nearly 50,000. The reward for the survivors is at least another 50,000... I hope that Chief Secretary can inform Lord Cui on my behalf and help to get it back."

Li Ji nodded, but his mind was racing: Cui Guangyuan, why didn't you give Li Sheng more? If it were six coins per person…

----------

They won a decisive battle outside Fengxiang City, taking Guo Yin's head and killing more than a dozen other Hu chieftains and officials. But Guo Yun escaped, even though he was hit by an arrow from Li Sheng and was seriously injured. No one knows why he was so lucky.

As for the mutinous soldiers, they captured over 800 heads and more than 3,000 prisoners, much to the delight of Cui Guangyuan and Wei Lun. However, Li Ji said, "The mutinous barbarians are scattered far and wide, and they are unable to escape back to their strongholds. Most of them will likely continue to roam between Qin and Long, causing trouble for the people. We should go far out to hunt them down and eliminate them completely. Moreover, Guo Yun has most likely fled back to Wubao, and we should also wipe him out completely."

So the next morning, Wu Chongfu led half of the Fuyan army to take Wubao, while Li Ji, Li Sheng, and several generals under Wei Lun each led five hundred soldiers, and went out in multiple directions to pursue and kill the fleeing Hu.

On the first day, they didn't go far, but thoroughly searched the villages and fields near Fengxiang County. Sure enough, they found several groups of unruly barbarians, as well as a band of Tang bandits under Guo Yin's command. These guys were naturally still in shock and had no will to fight. The government troops only killed a few of them before they all knelt down and surrendered. In the end, Li Ji alone captured more than three hundred people, bound their hands, tied them together with ropes, and returned to the prefectural city.

As dusk fell, just outside the west gate, Li Ji saw several groups of Tang soldiers escorting hundreds of prisoners, digging a pit. Looking around, Li Ji couldn't help but wonder—the corpses on the battlefield had been cleaned up and buried before dark yesterday, so why were they still digging pits?

He ordered his soldiers to halt, then rode over to inquire, only to discover that the person commanding these Tang soldiers was an acquaintance—

This was none other than Ban Hong, the judge of the Fengxiang military governor.

Li Ji dismounted, bowed, and asked Ban Hong, "Brother, what are you doing here?"

Because they were practically from the same hometown and had a long-standing friendship, they were exceptionally close, and thus began to address each other as brothers.

Ban Hongyi tugged at Li Ji's sleeve, pulled him aside, and leaned closer to whisper, "Lord Cui has ordered that all the prisoners be buried alive."

Li Ji was startled upon hearing this. He then turned to look at the scrambling men, who were still oblivious and being forced by whips to dig their own graves. He felt somewhat saddened... Yes, these guys all deserved to die, but it wasn't on the battlefield. A massacre of hundreds or thousands of people was truly unbearable.

So he turned back and said to Ban Hong in a low voice, "Brother, killing prisoners is an ominous sign."

Ban Hong smiled bitterly, "I have also advised Lord Cui that this is not the way of a benevolent person. However, these barbarian bandits cannot be released, nor can they be kept; it would be a waste of money and provisions. It is also impossible to escort all several thousand of them to the capital. So the only option is..."

Li Ji thought for a moment, then cupped his hands and pleaded, "I hope you will postpone this matter, brother, and let me try to persuade Lord Cui again."

Li Ji simply handed over all the newly captured prisoners to Ban Hong after noting their numbers. He then led his troops back to the city and hurriedly went to visit Cui Guangyuan.

Upon meeting, the first question asked was, "How many bandits have you captured?"

Cui Guangyuan was in a good mood, stroking his beard and laughing, "We just counted, and there are already 3,408 people. If we search the surrounding villages for a few more days, there will probably be even more."

Li Ji then asked, "So, of the more than three thousand men, does Lord Cui intend to bury them all alive? Knowing that killing prisoners is an ominous sign..."

Cui Guangyuan waved his hand: "Only three thousand or so, and they are useless. Why not kill them? As for whether it is auspicious or not, let them decide for themselves. Even Heaven cannot blame me."

When Li Ji arrived, he had already prepared his words, and said, "Those people have their own ways of courting death, but killing thousands in a single day is ultimately inappropriate. This time, Guo Yin has gathered various Hu tribes, plundered Fengxiang, Qin, and Long, harmed countless people, and trampled countless fields. The newly pacified lands of the capital region have once again become desolate. The court may reduce or exempt this year's taxes and corvée labor, but I wonder what will happen next year. Does Lord Cui have a plan?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Guangyuan frowned slightly: "What advice does the Commander have?"

"Why not temporarily spare those prisoners of war from the death penalty and have them perform hard labor under the supervision of soldiers, to repair roads and canals in Shanzhou..."

"If this is the case this year, what about next year?"

“Next spring, we will take over the unclaimed land and make it government property, so that they can be used as people… to settle them in rural areas—so that they can cultivate and weave to atone for their sins. Wouldn’t that be better?”

"Human settlement?" Cui Guangyuan stroked his beard and pondered for a moment. "It is not a bad idea, but... most of them are barbarian bandits, and there are few Tang people. I'm afraid they only know how to herd livestock and don't know how to farm."

Cui Guangyuan quite agreed with the idea of ​​using those rebels as forced laborers to repair the fields, villages, roads, and irrigation works they had destroyed. Before the great chaos, many areas were densely populated with insufficient land for cultivation—the biggest factor being severe land consolidation—but after the series of disturbances that had seen the rebels reach as far as Qizhou (Fengxiang Prefecture), even the areas between Qin, Long, and Fengxiang had become more sparsely populated. Insufficient population meant low grain production, which in turn emptied the imperial treasury, making it difficult to support the war in Guandong.

Although Cui Guangyuan was not very knowledgeable about warfare and was old and timid, he was quite capable of governing local areas and coordinating civil affairs. When he first arrived in Fengxiang, he had thought about how to develop production and increase tax revenue in order to gain the praise of the court and the emperor; however, encouraging agriculture was too slow, and repairing roads and farmland irrigation facilities, or reclaiming wasteland, did not have enough manpower available.

Ultimately, the local area had already exceeded its quota for military service and corvée labor in order to support the war effort. If they wanted to recruit more people, they wouldn't be able to afford the expenses, and the people wouldn't agree either. If it really got to the point where the people resented it and entire villages and towns fled to avoid service, then his time as an official would be over.

So Li Ji reminded us today: "We've just captured several thousand people. Instead of killing them, why not use them? They're all barbarians and prisoners of war. We can use them as forced laborers, just enough to keep them alive, and then use them to the death."

Cui Guangyuan thought this was good, but it couldn't last. This year, if they used these guys to their fullest extent, they could repair the various facilities they had damaged, and even build some new ones, but it was impossible to have so much work to do every year. So what about next year? As a result, Li Ji suggested: Settle down in a village.

Chapter 52, Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain

"Ren Tun" is also known as "Min Tun". The people in the tun were like serfs. Although their labor productivity was not high, they were easier to control than the registered common people. Apart from the food for sustenance and the grain for planting, all the harvest could be taken by the government. Cui Guangyuan initially thought it was a good idea, but after thinking about it again, he realized it wouldn't work. Most of the prisoners were barbarians who only knew how to herd sheep. How could they know how to farm?