Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 385 Purgatory on Earth
It was not a fierce battle and lasted for three hours.

Chen Qingsi looked at the Japanese soldiers who had retreated several times, and a hint of emotion flashed in his eyes.

Li Hongqing, who had never seen the cruelty of a battlefield, turned pale as he looked at the retreating Japanese soldiers outside and the messy battlefield with a hint of unbearableness in his eyes.

Chen Qingsi said softly: "Would you like to go down and rest?"

Li Hongqing gritted his teeth and said, "No need! I'm just not used to it."

Chen Qingsi looked at Japan, which seemed to be planning to launch a new round of attack, with a sneer on his lips.

The Japanese people are more crazy than he imagined...

Chen Qingsi and Liu Rengui agreed on the Japanese's national strength and won the final victory without fighting.

The high-level officials of Japan must have been aware of this. After being rejected for two consecutive days of provocation and invitation to fight, they began a crazy attack.

When he decided not to attack, Chen Qingsi had already ordered the construction of a camp at the Nagato Kingdom Fortress.

The land of the Japanese country was long and narrow, mountainous and forested, and the Tang army could easily resist the Japanese attack as long as it held the ground.

Based on the genes of the Chinese people who are crazy about infrastructure, setting up a stronghold along the mountain can be completed in ten days, and the defense is no less than that of ordinary towns.

The Japanese did not have powerful siege equipment or powerful long-range weapons. Their backward equipment faced the Tang Army's camps and the Tang Army's sharp arrows and crossbows. It was almost impossible to capture the dangerous areas where the Tang Army was stationed. of.

Facts have also proved this. The Japanese have attacked one after another. So far, there have been more than twenty waves, but none of them has truly threatened the Tang army's walled city. Each attack will leave a large number of corpses and retreat in embarrassment.

However, the Japanese country has extraordinary resilience. They are obviously a group of peasants and soldiers, but they are extremely brave. They know that there is death but no life, but they still push forward like ants, just like brainwashed animals, without fear of life or death.

Chen Qingsi didn't find it strange that this kind of situation happened to the well-trained regular army. However, it is indeed a bit strange for this situation to appear among a group of backward peasant soldiers.

No wonder he can dominate Baekje and Silla...

Although the Japanese nation lagged behind Baekje and Silla in terms of culture, national strength, and economy, relying on this group of peasant soldiers who were not afraid of death, they could indeed overtake Baekje and Silla.

Chen Qingsi then showed a sarcastic expression, "Now you are facing the Chinese Tang Dynasty. You have offended the wrong person."

The clouds are getting thicker and thicker, the weather is getting hotter, and the air is filled with the smell of burnt corpses.

The prince, the eldest brother, stood on the high slope of the formation and looked at the place where the fire was soaring into the sky, with a hint of anxiety in his eyes.

The Tang army's bows, arrows and crossbows were far ahead of them. If they wanted to capture the city, they could only attack by force regardless of casualties.

The eldest brother, the prince, has no psychological burden on this point. In his opinion, there is not much logic in fighting. It means that if you can kill all the enemies, you will win if you still have something left. If you can make yourself die less and let the enemy die more, it is a great victory. Killing more people than the enemy means a tragic victory.

Now is the moment of life and death for Japan. Even if it is a tragic victory, it is worth it.

It's just that the prince, the eldest brother, never expected that his human wave tactics would be completely ineffective. The Tang army's walled city was like a fortress, unmoving.

"Continue the attack!"

The Prince of Zhongda Brother said: "Tell the soldiers that the Tang people want to seize their land and drive them out of their homes. Only by driving them out of our homes can we enjoy peace!"

The eldest brother, the prince, said inspiring words.

The Prince of Dahairen couldn't bear it and said, "Brother, why don't you stop and think of a solution?"

Prince Zhong, the eldest brother, said without looking back: "If there is a way, we won't appear here anymore. Don't worry, I know what's going on."

He said with a ferocious smile: "We have enough people, but I don't know if they have enough arrows! As long as they don't have arrows, they are like toothless tigers, not worth fearing."

The prince of Dahairen understood clearly that this was a human life in exchange for the arrows of the Tang army.

But as a result, the casualties are immeasurable.

"Will the casualties be too great?"

The Prince of the Sea People's throat was tight, and the words were squeezed out of his throat.

A trace of madness flashed in the eyes of the prince, the eldest brother: "We have 70,000 people. It's okay to fight for 20,000 to 30,000."

He added two more words in his mind: "We don't have much food now, and dying more can reduce the pressure. Killing more people now will also be good for the future."

The food problem is well known.

The last sentence is about the political level. The politics of Japan is that the monarch and nobles are responsible for holding power, and the lords of various places assist.

However, in recent years, due to the internal fighting between the monarch and the nobles, the strength of both sides has been greatly reduced. On the contrary, the feudal lords in all directions have become stronger and stronger due to peaceful development.

This gathering of 100,000 soldiers made the prince, the eldest brother, aware of the potential threat.

It's better to consume and consume their strength.

The eldest brother, the prince, was thinking a little crazily...

"Grand Governor, our arrows have been consumed too much!"

As the war continued, Lu Zhaolin was the first to discover the problem.

Lu Zhaolin is the military secretary and is responsible for the distribution and coordination of various materials.

Although he had no military strategy, he was as patient and careful as a woman, and he clearly recorded the wear and tear of weapons, armor, and arrows.

Lu Zhaolin was the first to discover this problem when he compared the consumption of arrows.

Chen Qingsi thought of the Japanese country's desperate attacks in the past few days and understood the other party's intentions.

"Are you trying to consume our arrows? That's really cruel!"

Chen Qingsi said in a low voice.

Lu Zhaolin asked: "Should we let the soldiers use them sparingly?"

"No need!"

Chen Qingsi said: "Let the soldiers use it as much as they like, they don't care about casualties. Hey, there is no need for us to feel bad. Pass the order and let Hei Te Changzhi, Sha Tuo Xiangru, Cheng Wuting, Gu Lan and other generals find an opportunity every day Rush for a while."

As he spoke, he glanced at Cheng Boxian, who was a little eager to try, and said: "No one in the army can do anything to me, not to mention the Li family's wife following me. You can follow several generals to join the battle and learn their methods of commanding troops. ”

Cheng Boxian had competed with Li Hongqing and knew the opponent's swordsmanship. After hearing what he said, he could no longer hold back and took the order loudly.

On this day, the Tang army's arrows and crossbows poured out even more desperately.

The Japanese country still adopted the same strategy, using the lives of slaves and farmers who were as cheap as animals to fight the arrows and crossbows of the Tang army.

Faced with this arrow cover regardless of loss, more than 500 Japanese soldiers fell to the ground just on the way to charge.

In the face of arrows, they can still use wooden shields to block them, but in the face of crossbow arrows, the wooden shields in their hands are different.

The Japanese soldiers swarmed up like ants...

Until the fire under the camp gradually extinguished, only a few scattered flames were dancing weakly, like will-o'-the-wisps, illuminating the desperate and dead faces and stumps of the nearby Japanese soldiers one by one. Broken arm...

It was Shoujun Oishi who directed the attack. This fierce Japanese general, his heart was bleeding. He rubbed his eyes full of red veins and gritted his teeth to prepare for the next attack.

He was already aware of the above plan, and also knew that if the Tang army did not exhaust their arrows and crossbow bolts, they would not be able to capture the city in front of them, and he acquiesced to this tactic.

But when will such a day come?
The Tang army's arrows and crossbows seemed to be inexhaustible. There were more arrows and crossbows today than in the previous days, and the casualties were particularly terrible.

He was considering whether to call it a day or continue the attack, but looking at the numb eyes of the soldiers beside him, he still felt compassion and ordered the troops to retreat. The Japanese soldiers were all relieved after receiving the order.

But at this moment, an amazing change happened.

The door of the Tang Army's stronghold that had been closed suddenly opened wide, and a group of Tang Army cavalry rushed out like flying!
The leader was dark-skinned and tall, and he was the first person to invade Asakura Palace.

No one among the Japanese soldiers was mentally prepared for the enemy's sudden appearance, and they couldn't help but burst into an uproar.

"Send the order! Stop retreating, maintain formation, and ask for reinforcements."

In this critical situation, Shoujun Dashi calmed down and issued orders quickly after judging the situation.

But how can a group of defeated dogs that retreated after failing to attack the city under the scorching sun resist the powerful cavalry of the Tang Dynasty?
Hei Te Changzhi cherishes every opportunity to perform, and this time is no exception.

Wearing the bright silver Mingguang Armor rewarded by Li Zhi, he cut into the surviving Japanese soldiers who were retreating like a god of war.

After just one face-to-face encounter, this group of already exhausted Japanese soldiers was completely defeated.

Black Teeth Changzhi completely ignored the soldiers behind him and advanced deeply in order to expand the results of the battle.

Cheng Boxian danced his axe, following Hei Te Changzhi's flank like he was chopping melons and vegetables.

Seeing that the army was about to collapse, Shoujun Oishi ignored the scattered soldiers, but completely gave up on the siege Japanese soldiers and ran to the unaffected Chinese army.

He shouted to the soldiers to stabilize their positions and prepare to form a second line of defense.

Tang Jun's speed exceeded his expectations. Before the second line of defense was formed, a black shadow appeared in front of him.

The Japanese nation lacked resources, and their soldiers were mostly equipped with leather armor. Only Lord Shou Oishi wore iron armor.

His effectiveness among Japanese soldiers was no less than that of Tang generals wearing Mingguang armor.

Black Teeth Changzhi locked onto him from a distance, united his men and horses, and stabbed him fiercely with the spear in his hand...

He raised his spear halfway and suddenly cursed: "Damn dwarf!"

He spurred his horse directly into the Shoujun boulder...

It turns out that the height of the black tooth is more than seven feet, and the minimum is two meters.

His army horse is also a Liangzhou horse, with a back of 1.6 meters, and the Shoujun Dashi is 1.45 meters, which is not as tall as Hei Te Changzhi's horse.

As he rushed closer, Shoujun Dashi seemed to be playing a blind trick, and the whole person disappeared from Hei Te Changzhi's sight.

As a result, Hei Te Changzhi's gun had no target.

But the collision of Hei Te Changzhi caught Shou Jun Dashi by surprise. He was like a short winter melon, hitting a gourd on the ground, and then forced a bloody path.

Shou Jun Dashi died directly at the feet of the rebel army...

The Tang army made a surprise attack this time.

The eldest brother, the prince, was unexpected, but his eyes were filled with excitement, and Tang Jun finally couldn't bear it anymore.

He was not afraid that the Tang army would come to fight, but he was afraid that the Tang army would not fight.

Whether it is life or death, it is so vigorous and vigorous that if you really run out of food and die, that will be frustrating.

With an excited look on his face, he hurriedly mobilized his troops and horses, with spears in the front and archers in the middle, waiting for the Tang army to attack.

Until the sun set, except for restraining his defeated army, no trace of the Tang army was seen.

It turned out that after the Tang army defeated the defender Dashi, they did not attack immediately. Instead, they stationed their troops and waited for the soldiers behind them to retrieve arrows and crossbow bolts from the battlefield, and then retreated.

The Tang army went into battle just to recover arrows that could be reused.

The usable ones will continue to be used, and the unusable ones will be shipped back to Baekje. The efficiency of shipping back after repair is much better than re-casting.

Prince Dazhong was so angry that he almost vomited blood.

Next, the Tang army adopted the same tactics, and the Japanese had nothing to do about it.

They lacked the means to effectively restrict the Tang Army's cavalry...

All the methods they came up with were easily defeated by the luxurious lineup of Chen Qingsi, Liu Rengui, Hei Te Changzhi, and Cheng Wuting.

Just like this, summer passes and autumn comes, and it’s harvest time.

Just as Chen Qingsi and Liu Rengui expected.

The Japanese soldiers who were not afraid of death were shaken, and they began to miss the one-third of an acre of land at home.

Faced with such a situation, Prince Dazhong resorted to deception, saying frankly that they had sufficient food, and that he would be solely responsible for the food losses caused by various places. He also promised that as long as he could defeat the enemy in front of him, all the spoils captured would be shared equally with them.

The fighting spirit of the Japanese nation was instantly full. In these days of battles, they were coveting the swords and armor of the soldiers of the Tang army.

The Prince of the Sea People frowned and watched all this, but didn't say a word.

Maybe his imperial brother's methods were indeed excessive, but if he really had a way to deal with it, why would he choose such a method?

Brother Dazhong and the prince had nothing to do with the Tang army, and the Tang army had no intention of attacking.

They were at a stalemate with each other...

Chen Qingsi originally thought that the battle would last until winter, but he did not expect that one day in early autumn, the navy of the Tang Army captured a monk.

He said he was captured, but actually he was delivered to his door.

From the direction of the Four Kingdoms, the opponent sent the ship directly to the water stronghold of the Tang Army, and was captured by the patrolling soldiers.

The other party spoke fluent Chinese and said that he wanted to see Chen Qingsi and report an emergency.

Navy commander Du Shuang did not dare to neglect and sent the people to the military camp.

"See, let someone take him to the military tent."

Chen Qingsi had a hunch that this monk would bring great news.

After all, he was a monk from the Japanese country, and he studied their Chinese Buddhism.

"Grand Governor!"

As soon as he saw Chen Qingsi, the monk knelt on the ground and kowtowed with tears in his eyes: "Please save the people of my country, the governor. I, the country of Japan, are deeply grateful for the kindness of the heaven."

Chen Qingsi's heart skipped a beat and asked, "Why did this master say this?"

The monk wiped away his tears and said: "There was a riot in Asuka. The rebels killed everyone on sight. They burned Asuka to the ground and made it a living hell..."

Chen Qingsi said in a deep voice: "Why is this so?"

The monk explained the situation in Asukajing.

It turned out that all the cause and effect lay in the selfishness of Prince Dazhong. He was afraid that his brother's prestige would exceed his own, so he did not dare to leave Prince Dahairen to sit in Asuka and let him command the remaining 30,000 troops. Instead, he handed over everything in the rear area. He gave it to his useless son, Prince Otomo.

The problem lies with Prince Otomo...

(End of this chapter)