Chapter 40: River Battle

In the first year of Qianfu, on the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, along the northern bank of the Baishu River.

The central army beat the war drums three hundred times, and battle horns echoed across the sky. Tens of thousands of Tang soldiers formed battle lines along the Baishu River, the surging heat of their numbers having long since driven away the biting winter cold. Everyone watched the opposite bank with intense nervousness, where the Nanzhao army was stationed, currently forming its own battle lines as well.

In the northeast corner of the battlefield, Zhao Huai'an's militia unit had been positioned.

Having connections in the military indeed made things easier. Although still assigned to the militia, Zhao Huai'an's detachment was placed in the rear line, sparing them from serving as the initial wave of cannon fodder.

Surveying the majestic army whose banners dotted the fields, Zhao Huai'an's thoughts drifted back to the previous night. Xianyu Yue had entered his tent after nightfall and instructed Zhao Huai'an to exercise utmost caution in tomorrow's battle.

In particular, he was told to keep an eye on the banners of the Eastern Sichuan army. The moment they showed any signs of unusual movement, he should not hesitate and immediately retreat northward.

In truth, despite the training over the past few days, Zhao Huai'an secretly harbored a desire to fight a real battle. After all, he had set out to make a name for himself by winning victories, not by turning into a fleeing straggler just to save his own skin.

However, Xianyu Yue told Zhao Huai'an not to be naive.

The military commissioner Niu Cong was in command of this campaign, a man completely ignorant of military affairs who had previously lived in terror of the Nanzhao people.

The reason he later executed the Nanzhao envoys was simply because that Nanzhao envoy had stated in Chengdu that they merely wished to request passage through Tang territory in order to travel to Chang'an and express their grievances accumulated over the years.

To the ears of the army supervisor Zhou Congyu, who was present at the time, this remark implied that these Nanzhao troops were no longer content with merely plundering western Sichuan; rather, they intended to lead an armed force all the way to Chang'an.

The authority wielded by Zhou Congyu and his faction was an extension of the Emperor's own power. Therefore, once the Nanzhao people revealed such an intention, he was forced to launch a counterattack, otherwise his political rivals in Chang'an would surely drive him to his death.

Niu Cong’s choice mirrored that of Zhou Congyu. Once those Nanzhao people displayed the intent to attack Chang'an and subvert the Great Tang, he could no longer afford to turn a blind eye.

Thus, this proactive offensive came to be.

Xianyu Yue told Zhao Huai'an that Niu Cong and his associates were staging this fight for the benefit of Chang'an, but this battle was fundamentally unwinnable. The generals in the army, especially the soldiers from the outer vassal states, held zero respect for the two commanders, nor would they blindly risk their lives for the Emperor in Chang'an.

Ever since the Tang dynasty fell into turmoil, following a century of regional warlords, genuine loyal and patriotic warriors had become exceedingly rare. They had come to western Sichuan purely for money. Even if they didn't fight, they would still collect their standard pay—why risk their lives?

Not to mention, there was also Yan Shihui, a treacherous general from Eastern Sichuan hiding within the army, a man utterly unworthy of trust.

Having said all this, Xianyu Yue left behind the parting phrase, "Only by staying alive is there a future," and departed. After all, he also commanded five hundred elite cavalrymen under his tent and needed to make preparations of his own.

It was precisely Xianyu Yue's words that completely extinguished any remaining illusions Zhao Huai'an had.

At this moment, plunged amidst tens of thousands of troops, Zhao Huai'an felt both a surge of excitement and deep unease. Seated atop his warhorse, he strained to peer ahead at the situation in the front, but could see nothing except countless banners and military uniforms of various colors.

Time ticked away second by second. By noon, the central army still remained completely inactive.

Zhao Huai'an noticed that Fat Dou from the neighboring unit had grown so hot he had stripped off his armor, pacing back and forth while chewing on his fingernails. He also saw the great banner bearing the character "Tang" at the center flutter in the wind.

Suddenly, a violent roll of drums erupted from the central army, filling the entire realm.

At that moment, only a single thought echoed in Zhao Huai'an's mind:

"The great battle has begun."

...

As more than a dozen colorful military flags on the central army's watchtower pressed forward, the front rank of the formation began to advance.

They were the Baoyi and Muyi battalions, numbering over two thousand men in total, pressing forward from the eastern flank of the battle line.

The Baishu River, lying between the Tang and Nanzhao armies, had a very low water volume due to the winter dry season.

Treading across the riverbed, the Baoyi and Muyi battalions entered the freezing water. The Nanzhao army on the opposite side began their counterattack, unleashing countless arrows like a torrential rainstorm crashing into the ranks of the two battalions.

However, although the equipment of the Baoyi and Muyi battalions was far from top-tier, they carried a sufficient number of shields, preventing the arrows from halting their advance.

Braving the hail of Nanzhao arrows, they pressed forward.

Seated on his warhorse, Zhao Huai'an's limited field of vision only allowed him to see the Tang forces charging down into the riverbed, while the outcome remained entirely unknown to him.

Amidst this tense atmosphere, Old Liu suddenly piped up from beside him:

"Commander Zhao, I have a hunch today's battle will be the one that turns your luck around."

Old Liu was also wearing bright-shining armor today, and surprisingly, he carried a faint aura of an ancient Qin warrior.

Thinking Old Liu might have some profound insight, Zhao Huai'an quickly asked:

"Old Liu, let's hear it."

Yet Old Liu replied with utmost seriousness:

"Commander Zhao, I had a dream last night of a flock of crows circling above the camp gates. That's a sign of great fortune."

Zhao Huai'an desperately wanted to point out that this sounded entirely like an ill omen, but figuring he didn't know enough about the local omens of the Great Tang, he decided to keep quiet.

Nevertheless, chatting with Zhao Liu for a moment helped ease Zhao Huai'an's tension.

The root of his anxiety lay in his own powerlessness and the helplessness of his hundred men on this vast battlefield.

A glance ahead revealed over twenty thousand Tang soldiers crammed into this narrow river beach, a chaotic sea of men and banners where Zhao Huai'an was completely blind to whatever was unfolding on the battlefield.

Thus, he had no choice but to follow Xianyu Yue's advice: keep his eyes locked firmly on the banner of the central army, for that was their sole lifeline.

As he pondered this, a deafening roar of cheers suddenly erupted from the left flank. They were shouting something at the top of their lungs, but the human voices were so chaotic that Zhao Huai'an couldn't make out a single word.

At that exact moment, Zhao Huai'an suddenly saw the Nanzhao army ahead of his own sector go into motion.

Unlike the Nanzhao troops he had previously ambushed, the Nanzhao force currently crossing the river seemed rather poorly equipped. Waving numerous banners bearing the totem of a "fiery ox," they sprinted rapidly across the shallow waters of the Baishu River.

Moving with incredible speed, several militia units arrayed along the riverbank hurriedly loosed arrows, continuously striking down the charging Nanzhao soldiers onto the riverbed.

Yet soon enough, wave after wave of Nanzhao troops trampled over the bodies of their fallen comrades, scrambled up the riverbed, and leaped onto the northern bank of the Baishu River.

Although they were quickly skewered and killed on the riverbank by militia troops wielding long pikes, the Nanzhao vanguard managed to reach the opposite shore even faster than the Tang forces.

It was only then that Zhao Huai'an caught sight of the banner carried by that Nanzhao unit. Three characters were written upon it in Chinese script: "Wang Huai Yu."

Unaware of its meaning, Zhao Huai'an noticed that once this banner was unfurled opposite them, the previously stable militia front line began to waver.

Suddenly, a dozen or so militia conscripts in the rear caught sight of this banner, broke down in panic, dropped their pikes, and fled toward the rear while screaming at the top of their lungs.

From a distance, Zhao Huai'an could hear those men shouting words like "Wang Zhuozi."

Before Zhao Huai'an could listen any further, a dozen horsemen suddenly burst out from a nearby military array. Wielding eighteen-foot long lances, they methodically skewered every single deserter right there on the battle line.

That military array belonged to the position of the Yanhai Army, where Commander Tian Chongyin had deployed five hundred Yanhai troops.

After cutting down the fleeing soldiers, those elite cavalrymen did not return to their formation. Instead, led by a cavalry officer in a red military cloak, they burst through the narrow gap between two militia positions and plunged straight into the Nanzhao troops on the river beach.

Zhao Huai'an couldn't help but look up, watching as the dozen-odd elite horsemen cut through the Nanzhao formation like a blazing ball of fire. The Nanzhao soldiers crawling up from the riverbed possessed no formation whatsoever, and running straight into a charging cavalry detachment of this caliber yielded a predictable outcome.

The scattered Nanzhao infantry were shredded to pieces by these dozen horsemen, their lines easily pierced right through.

Zhao Huai'an spotted the cavalry detachment on the right side of the battlefield. They had already fought their way out of the Nanzhao formation. At this point, it was impossible to tell which one was the red-cloaked cavalry leader, for every single man was soaked and stained crimson with blood.

At a single glance, Zhao Huai'an noticed that the cavalry troop was one man short.

Just as Zhao Huai'an sighed over the fall of a brave warrior, he suddenly saw someone in the cavalry unit abruptly jerk his horse's head around, charging right back into the very path they had just carved through.

Without the slightest hesitation, the riders behind him raised their gleaming lances and followed closely in pursuit.

Instantly, cries of despair rose once more from the Nanzhao lines. The Nanzhao troops, who had just managed to secure a foothold on the riverbank, panicked and leaped back down into the riverbed, fleeing toward the rear in utter rout.

Immediately afterward, Zhao Huai'an saw the front-line militias break into a forward charge amidst roaring battle cries. With countless thunderous shouts, the militia completely annihilated the remaining Nanzhao forces still stranded on the riverbank.

The Nanzhao banner bearing the three characters "Wang Huai Yu" also fell into the hands of that red-cloaked cavalry officer. Leading his cavalry out of the river beach, he had a fellow rider strapped to the back of his saddle—precisely the man who had unseated earlier.

As it turned out, that cavalry troop had charged back simply to rescue a fallen comrade. How astonishingly bold, and how utterly they looked down upon the Nanzhao forces!

Watching that cavalry unit charge formations, seize banners, and return intact to the Yanhai Army's phalanx, Zhao Huai'an was utterly dazzled and couldn't help blurting out:

"Whose subordinate is this general, to be so fiercely brave?"

At that moment, a sudden thought flashed through his mind:

"If the regional vassal armies are all this formidable, no wonder the imperial court failed to pacify the warlords for a century, and no wonder the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era endured for a hundred years."

...

The preceding battle had been nothing more than an appetizer for both the Tang and Nanzhao forces.

Every single Nanzhao soldier who fled to the opposite bank was decapitated along the riverbank, and their bodies kicked into the Baishu River. As battle horns sounded once more from the enemy side, the Nanzhao army charged forward again.

While Zhao Huai'an was still closely observing, Lu Zhongyuan, a soldier from his squad, caught sight of a banner on the opposite side, whipped his head around, and shouted to him:

"Commander, the Wang Zhuozi are charging up!"

Lu Zhongyuan, formerly an elite soldier of the Dingbian Army, possessed the deepest understanding of the various Nanzhao tribal factions. He quickly explained to Zhao Huai'an that the Wang Zhuozi were the elite among the Wang barbarian tribes, skilled in archery and long spears, and had always served as the vanguard for Nanzhao military campaigns.

Even as Zhao Huai'an listened, a volley of arrows suddenly whistled up from beneath the riverbed, followed by a chorus of wails from the militia along the riverbank.

While sprinting across the riverbed, those Wang Zhuozi soldiers had managed to loose arrows simultaneously.

Before the front-line militia could react, the Wang Zhuozi had already scrambled up from the riverbed.

Clad in rhinoceros-hide armor, wielding short spears as tall as a man, carrying bows slung across their backs, and holding round shields in their hands, they deflected the militia's incoming arrows with their shields. Amidst rapid movement and shifting positions, they thrust their spears in unison, proving completely unstoppable.

The militia troops, who had just won their previous skirmish, suffered an immediate, crushing blow. Had it not been for the precedent of deserters being executed on the spot earlier, their lines would have collapsed right then and there.

Even so, the militia's defensive line kept retreating, leaving an increasingly wide stretch of the river beach exposed.

Right at this moment, Zhao Huai'an saw that same Yanhai Army cavalry officer set out once more.

Stimulated by the earlier spectacle, the moment they emerged, nearby military arrays and militia units burst into roaring cheers, shouting in unison:

"The Dash-Fate Lord, Third Master Shi!"