Tibet.

Chapter 1343: Nanzhao War (Part )

The Nanzhao army did not receive any news from the Tubo army in the end, but the Nanzhao court could no longer bear the tremendous pressure brought to Yangzhumie City by hundreds of thousands of people. Under the chairmanship of Nanzhao King Geluofeng, the Nanzhao high-level officials held emergency consultations. Yi Mouxun proposed a plan to take the initiative, which was unanimously approved by the military and most senior officials.

Geluofeng had no choice but to appoint Wang Sun Yi Mouxun as the commander-in-chief and lead the entire country's army to attack Nongdong City, which was a hundred miles away.

Nanzhao had a total of 230,000 troops. Except for the 30,000 troops guarding the capital, the remaining 200,000 troops were handed over to Prince Yi Mouxun, and there were also 30,000 war elephants.

Why did Tubo confer the title of Zamp Zhong on Geluofeng? It meant Zamp brother. They regarded Nanzhao as a brother country of Tubo because Nanzhao was still very powerful. It not only dominated Yunnan, but also had influence in Myanmar to the south. It could be regarded as a medium-sized power.

The 200,000-strong army consisted not only of Nanzhao people, but also of 50,000 to 60,000 troops from various barbarian tribes. They were dressed in various styles, some wearing feathers and holding the most primitive bows and arrows. Most of the soldiers had no armor, and many tribal soldiers were shirtless.

Thirty thousand war elephants are also one of the characteristics of the Nanzhao army. Now that the climate is warm, Jiannan grows sugarcane and produces lychees. In the southern Yunnan County, elephants are everywhere. They live in groups all over Nanzhao. Elephants are very common. They have large appetites and diverse diets, which can balance the rapid growth of plants in Nanzhao due to the humidity and heat.

Nanzhao specially selected 30,000 strong elephants and trained them into a war elephant army, which included 20,000 elephant assault troops and 10,000 elephant cavalry troops.

The army marched for three days and was still thirty miles away from Nongdong City. The 200,000-strong army set up a large battle formation and sent people to challenge the Tang army.

At this time, Li Sheng had already received the news, and he certainly would not choose to defend the city. He led a large army south this time. One of the important purposes was to test the effectiveness of firearms for Li Ye, and see if a small number of troops carrying powerful firearms could destroy a medium-sized country.

If the Tang army was defeated in this battle, the army could quickly withdraw from Nanzhao and avoid repeating the complete annihilation of the first and second battles against Nanzhao.

The Tang army, which had rested for nearly a month, also marched out of the city. The 40,000-strong army included 20,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry. Among the 20,000 infantry, there were 10,000 spearmen and 10,000 firearmsmen.

The firearms army includes 5,000 thunder arrows, 3,000 explosive arrow crossbows, and 2,000 firearms and kerosene troops. The firearms and kerosene army is an old name, and is mainly responsible for operating catapults and kerosene.

The army was lined up in a wilderness, with two thousand large kerosene pots placed in front. Behind each kerosene pot stood a soldier, who stood on a small wooden platform. Once the enemy elephants approached, they would smash the pots and set them on fire.

Behind the kerosene tank were five thousand arrow-torpedo soldiers, arranged in two rows, two people in a group, responsible for operating a large yellow crossbow that could fire two thousand five hundred arrow-torpedoes in one round.

Behind the Arrow and Thunder Army are five large catapults, each of which is operated by thirty people and is responsible for the final launch of the iron fire mine.

Then there were three thousand archers and cavalrymen who shot explosive arrows and were specifically responsible for driving away elephants. The explosive arrows would explode if shot on the rough and thick skin of the elephants. At that time, the Han people told Li Sheng that elephants were most afraid of light and fire, as well as thunder.

And they are very sensitive. If one elephant is injured, the other elephants can feel it dozens of miles away.

Thirty thousand troops were lined up behind them, and once the war elephants turned against them, they would follow behind and kill them.

At this time, the Nanzhao army appeared in front, with 80,000 vanguard troops led by General Meng Chengjin.

Yi Mouxun personally led an army of 120,000 to hold the fort ten miles away. Yi Mouxun believed that his army of 80,000 plus 30,000 war elephants were enough to defeat the Tang army. Even if the Tang army retreated to Nongdong City, his 20,000 elephant assault troops were enough to destroy the dilapidated county town and trample it into powder.

Yi Mouxun never took the 40,000 Tang troops seriously from the bottom of his heart. If the other side had not occupied Nongdong City and controlled the largest grain-producing area of ​​Nanzhao, Yi Mouxun would not have led the army to fight in person.

The Nanzhao army had appeared five miles away. Meng Chengjin squinted at the Tang army in the distance. He couldn't understand the Tang army's deployment. It seemed that there were bows and crossbows, but were his war elephants afraid of bows and crossbows?

Meng Chengjin gave a cold order: "Order the war elephants to attack!"

"Woo——"

A low horn sounded, and the sound of "boom-boom-boom" of war drums also sounded.

"Ouch——"

The war elephants were urged by the drumbeats and began to run. Thirty thousand elephants were running on the vast land, the earth was shaking, stirring up billowing dust and making a tremendous sound.

The faces of the Tang soldiers in the distance all changed color. They had never seen elephants fighting. The momentum was too spectacular.

No wonder Xianyu Zhongtong’s Tang army of more than 100,000 was no match for the Nanzhao army. They were defeated by the impact of the war elephants!

Commander Li Sheng showed no emotion at all. He gave a cold order: "Get the catapult ready to launch!"

Five large trebuchets were ready, and the elephants were already running seven hundred steps away. "Fire!"

Five large catapults fired at the same time, and five iron fire bombs weighing 100 kilograms flew out and exploded with a "boom!" 200 steps away.

The huge explosion and fire made the elephant running in the front hesitate for a moment, and then the second round of five 100-jin iron fire bombs were fired and exploded closer to the elephants. The hundreds of elephants running in the front began to slow down, but they were still running.

"Shoot with arrows and torpedoes!" Five thousand Tang army heavy crossbowmen fired, and two thousand five hundred arrows and torpedoes were shot out, flying towards the elephants like a flock of birds in the sky, and exploded a hundred steps away from the elephants.

Another two thousand five hundred arrow bombs exploded, plus the huge explosion of the iron fire bomb, the speed of the elephant herd slowed down rapidly, and the elephants obviously began to get scared, they were afraid of fire and noise.

Li Sheng ordered: "Light the fire!"

"Woo——"

The ignition horn sounded, and a thousand soldiers immediately smashed the pottery jars and ignited the kerosene.

A sea of ​​fire appeared in front of the elephant herd, with thick smoke and raging fire, less than a hundred steps away from the herd.

Thousands of elephants in the front began to turn around. They shouted desperately to the sky, leading the elephants behind them to turn around.

The Tang army cheered immediately.

But this is far from enough. These elephants have been trained, and if they are not really scared, they will turn around and rush back.

Li Sheng gave the order: "Archers, attack! Send another 5,000 cavalry!"

Three thousand horse archers ran out, and five thousand cavalrymen behind them followed. They carried grenades and were able to drive away the elephants as well.

Three thousand horse archers were chasing the elephant from behind, continuously shooting explosive arrows at the elephant. The elephant's skin was as hard as stone. Under the strong impact, the explosive arrows exploded on the elephant's body. Although they could not kill the elephant, they could blow its skin and flesh to pieces, causing unbearable pain.

The elephants at the back kept screaming in pain and running desperately. The fear also spread to the front. More and more elephants fled in a hurry. At this time, a batch of 5,000 hand grenades exploded in the elephant herd. Hundreds of elephants were blown down. They let out earth-shaking screams, which was the fear of death.

All the elephants could feel this fear of death, and they heard the explosions following behind them.

They began to run madly, rushing towards the Nanzhao army two miles away.

At this time, Li Sheng gave an order, "All troops attack!"

Fifteen thousand Tang cavalrymen led the charge, followed by ten thousand spear infantrymen.

The Nanzhao soldiers beat the war drums desperately, but it was no use. The elephants went crazy with fear and rushed towards the Nanzhao soldiers regardless of everything.

Meng Chengjin shouted that something was wrong and turned around to flee. The 80,000-strong army also scrambled to escape, and the defeat was overwhelming.

But they were all infantry and could not outrun the mad elephants. The first to be trampled to death were thousands of elephant slaves. The elephant slaves were most afraid of elephants going mad, and once the elephants went mad, they were the first to be trampled to death.

Groups of Nanzhao soldiers were constantly knocked down and trampled to death by the pursuing elephants. For a time, there were countless casualties.

The Tang army had a clear division of labor in the back. Three thousand cavalry archers followed behind the elephants, using explosive arrows to drive the elephants to flee madly, not giving them a chance to calm down. The elephants were very sensitive, and the Tang army's explosive arrows made them completely crazy. It was unknown how many soldiers were trampled to death. They rushed towards the main force of the Nanzhao army ten miles away regardless of everything.

The more than 30,000 Tang cavalry and infantry behind them killed the Nanzhao army. They did not accept surrender and directly stabbed them to death with spears. Regardless of life or death, they continued to charge forward.

Ten miles away, Yi Mouxun's face turned pale as he saw thirty thousand war elephants charging towards him. Behind them, dust covered the sky and the sun. He didn't know how many Tang troops were charging towards him.

General Ruan Shaofeng said anxiously: "Let the army move to the sides and make way for the elephants!"

Yi Mouxun came to his senses and shouted, "Team, get out of the way!"

At this time, the herd of 30,000 elephants had already rushed to within a mile. The hundreds of thousands of Nanzhao soldiers were so scared that their legs went limp. They didn't care about the direction at all. They pushed each other and rushed forward. The twelve large square formations were in chaos.

The herd of elephants rushed into the crowd that had no time to escape, and countless soldiers were knocked to the ground.

At this moment, the 100,000 Nanzhao troops were suddenly met with a rain of grenades, and 10,000 grenades exploded in the crowd.

Violent explosions from all directions became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the Nanzhao soldiers. The Nanzhao soldiers, who had never seen firearms, were terrified. Nanzhao believed in the five gods of wind, thunder, water, fire and earth, and all the soldiers thought that it was the god of thunder who was helping the Tang army fight. The morale of the 100,000-strong Nanzhao army completely collapsed. There were screams, cries, and wails everywhere. The Nanzhao soldiers shouted in fear, and countless soldiers turned around and fled frantically.

On May 20th of the first year of Jiaxing, 40,000 Tang troops fought a decisive battle with 200,000 Nanzhao troops west of Yaocheng County. The 40,000 Tang troops defeated the enemy with their powerful firearms.

The 200,000-strong Nanzhao army was defeated.

(End of this chapter)