Tibet.

Chapter 1365: Late Autumn Operation (Part )

The Japanese have been good at calculating since ancient times. This is related to their living environment. The plains are narrow and resources are scarce, so they have to fight for everything and make repeated calculations.

When fighting, they did not pay attention to formation strategies like the Han and Tang armies. In addition, the Japanese army did not have many types of equipment, so they basically had two ways of fighting: one was ambush and sneak attack, and the other was large-group combat.

For example, in this battle, the advantage of the Japanese army was their large numbers. The calculating Japanese commander Fujiwara no Toyonari would of course make use of the advantage that his troops were twice as large as the Tang army's, so the Japanese army had to press forward on all fronts.

Twenty thousand cavalrymen were galloping in front, and behind them were warriors running like an overwhelming force.

"Crossbowmen prepare!"

Five thousand foot and cavalry crossbowmen of the Tang army raised their crossbows, with the cold arrow tips at a forty-five-degree angle, aimed at the cavalry that were rushing towards them.

"emission!"

A clapper sounded, and five thousand Tang soldiers pulled the trigger on their swords. Five thousand crossbow arrows were shot out at the same time, like a dark cloud rising into the sky. The arrows pounced on the cavalry like a rainstorm. The arrows were sharp, and the cavalry's rattan armor could not withstand the strong penetrating power of the crossbow arrows. The cavalry screamed and fell off their horses one after another.

More than a thousand people were shot and killed in the first round. Then the second round of crossbow arrows was fired, and the running cavalrymen kept falling off their horses.

The Japanese cavalry had already reached a hundred steps away.

"retreat!"

At the order, three thousand crossbow infantry retreated quickly. They were arranged behind the 20,000-man spear corps. They were like a bait. They seemed to have few troops, but they had deadly lethality. They would kill the enemy with explosive arrows and throwing grenades.

The two thousand crossbow cavalry were divided into three parts, with five hundred people on each side of the heavy armored infantry, and one thousand cavalry deployed behind them.

Two thousand heavily armored infantrymen were arranged in two rows. As they were small in number, they did not use skirmish formation but wall formation. The first row of heavily armored infantrymen half-crouched on the ground with the butt of their swords touching the ground and their Mo Daos pointing forward at a thirty-degree angle.

At this time, 17,000 Japanese cavalrymen had arrived before them. They suddenly saw the Tang army's heavily armored infantry, with their shining Mo Dao pointed at them. The cavalrymen in front of them screamed in despair.

The cavalry rushed into the Mo Dao formation like a whirlwind. The cavalry in front were pierced through with their horses, forming a flesh wall of men and horses in an instant.
Many cavalrymen behind jumped up, but were cut into two pieces by the thousand Modao soldiers in the back row. Two rows of heavily armored Modao soldiers began to advance forward, waving their Modaos. Countless cavalrymen shot arrows at the heavily armored infantry, but it was useless.

The Mo Daos were flying, heads were rolling, blood was flowing like a river, the cavalry fell to the ground one after another, the Japanese cavalry's flesh and blood were flying everywhere, and their internal organs were scattered all over the ground. The air was filled with a pungent stench.

The 40,000 warrior corps at the back automatically split into two groups, ran past the cavalry on both sides, and attacked the Tang army's spear phalanx at the rear.

The spear phalanx was completely dispersed, consisting of countless small dots, each of which was a combat team of three soldiers. Although the enemy had many troops, they fought independently. The Japanese warriors rushed into the Tang army's formation like a flood, and were greeted by spear stabbings from all directions.

This is the power of the collective, which greatly improves the combat efficiency. Twenty thousand people exerted the power of sixty thousand people. It was obvious that the number of Japanese troops was twice that of the Tang army, but when they broke into the formation, they felt that there were spears stabbing at them from all directions, and there was nowhere to hide. This is the power of the formation. The Japanese warriors swung eight swords, but perhaps only one was an effective chopped kill. The Tang army soldiers also stabbed eight times, but seven of them were effective stabbings.

At this time, Fujiwara no Toyonari discovered the loophole of the Tang army, that is, there were 3,000 archers a few hundred steps behind, and there was no other army to protect them.

Fujiwara no Toyonari was overjoyed and immediately led 5,000 cavalrymen to attack.

When they rushed to a hundred steps away, three thousand crossbowmen suddenly raised their crossbows and shot. Three thousand explosive arrows were shot out, and there was an explosion in the cavalry group. All the cavalry who were hit were blown to pieces.

More than a thousand people fell in an instant. Before the cavalry could react, the thousand crossbowmen in front threw away their crossbow arrows, ran more than twenty steps, and threw a thousand grenades into the cavalry group dozens of steps away.

Throwing grenades are arrow grenades, which are very powerful. A burst of fire will occur, and the cavalry will fall to the ground. Then two explosive arrows will whiz into the distance and explode in the cavalry group at the rear.

The main general Fujiwara no Toyonari was also shot in the chest by an explosive arrow and exploded into two pieces.

In a very short time, after two rounds of firearms firing, the five thousand cavalry were almost wiped out, and the remaining one hundred cavalry were so scared that they turned around and fled.

The appearance of explosive arrows and throwing grenades became the turning point of the entire battle. The first to move upon hearing the news were thousands of Japanese cavalry. They had been frightened and terrified by the killing of the Modao Army. Only more than 5,000 of the 20,000 cavalry were left. They collapsed and tried to escape several times, but were forced back by the 1,000 supervising teams behind them.

The huge explosion frightened the horses, who turned around and fled. The cavalry completely collapsed, and the supervisory team could not stop them and fled as well. The two thousand Tang cavalry immediately left the heavy infantry and quickly chased the fleeing enemy. The two thousand heavy infantry turned back from the sea of ​​corpses and blood and intercepted the Japanese warriors from behind.

The Japanese army, which had never seen firearms, was terrified. As defeat was already inevitable, more than 20,000 Japanese samurai turned around and fled, but they were stopped by the long wall of heavy armored infantry. The 2,000 infantry formed a row, several miles long, like a wall of death, blocking the Japanese army's retreat with bloody killings.

The Tang army's spearmen were chasing and killing the 20,000 Japanese warriors from behind. They had nowhere to go and knelt down to surrender, but they were still ruthlessly killed by the Tang army.

.........

In this great battle, although the Tang army suffered more than 2,000 spear infantry casualties, it wiped out 60,000 Japanese troops. Less than 1,000 people escaped, and it was almost a one-sided massacre.

At this time, the Tang army was so bloodthirsty that they didn't even clean up the battlefield and rushed towards Heijokyo-kyō, 20 miles away.

The gates of Heijokyo were wide open, and the people in the city were in panic. Thousands of royal relatives and nobles fled to the old capital in the south, Fujiwara-kyo.

Li Chengshi left 5,000 troops to occupy Heijokyo-kyō. He led 20,000 troops to continue southward. In the afternoon, the army surrounded the old capital Fujiwara-kyō, 30 miles away.

As night fell, tens of thousands of gunpowder arrows rose into the sky, burning with bright red light, and shot towards the Fujiwara capital.
Compared with the bloody battle in Heijokyo, Kyushu Island on the western front seemed very peaceful. 30,000 Tang troops landed in Hakata-tsu and occupied Fukuoka Castle. Then Ma Lin led 3,000 troops to occupy Dazaifu, 30 miles away.

Dazaifu was the main government office sent by the Japanese imperial court to govern Saikaido.

The chief deity of Dazaifu is the chief deity of Japan's Shinto religion, named Higashi-Azenmaro.

Higazenmaro was a former envoy to the Tang Dynasty who could speak fluent Chinese and was in charge of Japan's diplomacy. That's why he was stationed in Dazaifu, Chikuzen Province, to welcome distinguished guests from all sides.

He never dreamed that the Tang army would appear on Kyushu Island, and he immediately rushed over angrily to question them.

"Japan and the Tang Dynasty have always lived in peace. Why did the Tang army invade our border?"

Ma Lin said coldly: "The eunuch must know where the armies of the countries in Kyushu have gone, right?"

The armies of the eleven countries on Kyushu Island were the first batch of 20,000 naval forces that landed in Longyuan Prefecture. Xiyi Azenmaro certainly knew what was going on?

After a while, he said, "That is the feud between Japan and Bohai, and has nothing to do with the Tang Dynasty!"

Ma Lin shook his head. "The Japanese army was brutal. They killed more than 10,000 people in Longyuan Prefecture and slaughtered more than 100,000 people in Shangjing. Bohai was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. The people of Bohai were the subjects of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. We have already fought against 50,000 Japanese troops in Bohai, which means that both sides have entered a state of hostility."

Xiyi Azenmalu stared at Ma Lin's eyes, with a hint of fear in his eyes. He asked nervously, "What does the Tang Dynasty want?"

Ma Lin snorted and said calmly, "After the Battle of Baekgang, the Tang Dynasty was ready to cede Kyushu Island as compensation for the Japanese army's defeat, but the Tang Dynasty was magnanimous and let Japan go. However, Japan did not repent and invaded the Tang Dynasty's vassal state for the second time. The Tang Emperor could no longer tolerate it and decided to cede Kyushu Island and its affiliated islands as compensation for the Japanese army's two defeats."

Xiyi Azenmaru took a few steps back and said with gritted teeth: "Your emperor is indeed not the true Tang Dynasty. You don't have the magnanimity of the Tang Dynasty. If you want to occupy Xihai Road, you might as well kill me!"

"Killing you would dirty my hands. If you wish to serve the Emperor, I suggest you commit suicide."

"Why should I commit suicide?"

"You'll soon understand!"

Ma Lin ordered the soldiers to take Xi Yi'a Zengmalu away and lock him up.

Ma Lin also arranged for the surrendered officials to write eight letters in the voice of Xiyi Azenmaro to the eight daimyo of Kyushu Island except Chikuzen Kingdom, asking the eight daimyo to come to Dazaifu immediately to discuss the division of Bohai Kingdom's land.

Except for the Chikuzen Province Daimyo Kuroda family, which had been controlled by the Tang army in Fukuoka, the other eight daimyos immediately set out for Dazaifu. They had been waiting for a long time, and finally the news of the division of Bohai Kingdom came. How could they not come?
(End of this chapter)