In the end, the Nanzhao army did not wait for the news of the Tubo army, but the huge pressure brought by hundreds of thousands of people to Yangjume City was finally unbearable by the Nanzhao court. Under the auspices of Nanzhao Wang Geluofeng, Nanzhao
The top management held emergency negotiations, and Yimouxun proposed a proactive plan, which was unanimously approved by the military and most senior officials.
Ge Luofeng had no choice but to appoint Wang Sun Yimouxun as the commander-in-chief and attack the Nongdong City a hundred miles away with an overwhelming army.
Nanzhao had a total of 230,000 troops. In addition to the 30,000 troops guarding the capital, the remaining 200,000 troops were handed over to Wang Sun Yimou Xun. There were also 30,000 war elephants.
Why did Tubo call Geluofeng Zanpu Zhong, which means Zanpu brothers, and regard Nanzhao as Tubo's brother country? This is because Nanzhao is still very powerful. It not only dominates Yunnan, but also Myanmar in the south.
Its sphere of influence can be regarded as a medium power.
The two hundred thousand troops were not only Nanzhao people, but also fifty or sixty thousand troops from various barbarian tribes. They were dressed in various costumes. Some wore feathers and held 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 Nanzhao's army. Now the climate is warm. Sugar cane is grown in Jiannan and lychees are produced. Elephants are everywhere in Yunnan County in the south. They form groups in various parts of Nanzhao. Elephants are very common.
They eat a lot and have a variety of food habits, which can balance the rapid growth of plants in Nanzhao due to the heat and humidity.
Nanzhao specially selected 30,000 strong elephants and trained them into a war elephant army, including 20,000 elephant tug troops and 10,000 elephant cavalry troops.
The army marched for three days and was still thirty miles away from Nongdong City. An army of 200,000 people set up a large formation and sent people to challenge the Tang army.
At this time, Li Sheng had already received the news. Of course he would not choose to defend the city. He led his army south this time. A very important purpose was to test the effectiveness of firearms for Li Ye. With a small number of troops carrying powerful firearms, could they destroy the medium-sized army?
country.
If the Tang army was defeated in this battle, the army could quickly evacuate Nanzhao, and the entire army would not be destroyed like the first and second battles of Nanzhao.
The Tang army, which had rested for nearly a month, also lined up and left the city. The 40,000-strong army included 20,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry. Among the 20,000 infantry, there were 10,000 spear corps and 10,000 firearms corps.
The firearms army includes five thousand arrows and thunder troops, three thousand explosive arrows and crossbows, and two thousand firearms and fire oil troops. The firearms and fire oil troops are the old name in the past, and are mainly responsible for operating trebuchets and fire oil.
The army was arrayed in a wilderness, with two thousand clay pots of fire oil placed in front. Behind each pot of fire oil stood a soldier. They stood on a small wooden platform. Once the enemy's war elephant approached, they would
Break the clay pot and light it on fire.
Behind the fire oil tank is an army of five thousand arrows and thunder, arranged in two lines, two people in groups, responsible for controlling a large yellow crossbow, which can fire two thousand five hundred arrows and thunder in one round.
Behind the arrow and thunder army are five large trebuchets. Each trebuchet is manned by thirty people and is responsible for the final projection of iron fire thunder.
Then there are three thousand cavalry archers. They shoot exploding arrows and are responsible for driving away elephants. The exploding arrows will explode if they are shot on the rough and thick skin of the elephant. At that time, the Han people told Li Sheng that elephants are most afraid of light and harmonious conditions.
Fire and fear of thunder.
And they are so sensitive that if one elephant is injured, other elephants can feel it dozens of miles away.
Thirty thousand troops lined up behind them, and once the war elephants turned against them, they would follow behind to cover them up.
At this time, the Nanzhao army appeared in front, with 80,000 front troops appearing first, led by the army general Meng Chengjin.
Yimouxun personally led an army of 120,000 troops to press the formation ten miles away. Yimouxun believed that his 80,000 troops plus 30,000 war elephants were enough to defeat the Tang army. Even if the Tang army huddled in Longdong City, his 20,000 elephants assault army could not defeat them.
It is enough to destroy the dilapidated county town and trample it into dust.
Yimouxun never paid attention to the 40,000 Tang troops from the bottom of his heart. If the other party had not occupied Nongdong City and controlled the largest grain-producing area in Nanzhao, Yimouxun would not have personally led the army to fight.
Nanzhao's army had already appeared five miles away. Meng Chengjin squinted at the Tang army in the distance. He couldn't understand the Tang army's deployment. There seemed to be crossbows, but were his war elephants afraid of crossbows?
Meng Chengjin coldly ordered: "Send the order to the war elephants to attack!"
"Woo——"
The low horn sounded, and "dong-dong-dong-" the war drums also sounded.
"Ouch——"
The war elephants were urged by the sound of drums and began to run. Thirty thousand elephants were running across the vast land. The earth was shaking, stirring up billowing dust, and the momentum was overwhelming.
The faces of the soldiers of the Tang Army in the distance all changed color. They had never seen elephants fighting before. This momentum was so spectacular.
No wonder Xianyu Zhongtong's hundreds of thousands Tang army could not defeat the Nanzhao army. They were defeated by the impact of the war elephants!
General Li Sheng showed no expression at all. He coldly ordered: "The trebuchet is ready to launch!"
Five large trebuchets were ready, and the elephant was already running 700 steps away, "Launch!"
Five large trebuchets were launched at the same time, and five iron fire thunders weighing 100 kilograms flew out and exploded with a 'boom!' two hundred steps away.
The huge explosion and fire made the elephant running at the front hesitate for a moment, and then the second round of five 100-pound iron fire lasers was shot out, exploding closer to the elephant, and hundreds of them were running in front.
The elephant began to slow down, but was still running.
"Arrow and Thunder Shot!"
Five thousand heavy crossbowmen of the Tang Army fired, and 2,500 arrows were shot out, shooting towards the elephants like a flock of birds in the sky, and exploded a hundred steps away from the elephants.
Another 2,500 arrows and thunder exploded, coupled with the huge explosion of iron fire thunder, the running speed of the elephants quickly slowed down, and the elephants became obviously afraid. 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 clay pots and ignited the kerosene.
A sea of fire appeared in front of the elephant herd, with thick smoke billowing and the fire raging into the sky. It was less than a hundred steps away from the elephant herd.
Thousands of elephants at the front began to turn around. They shouted to the sky at the top of their lungs, causing the elephants behind them to turn around.
Tang Jun suddenly cheered.
But this is not enough. These elephants have been trained. If they are not truly scared, they will turn around and charge back.
Li Sheng ordered: "Arch cavalry attack! Five thousand more cavalry!"
Three thousand horse archers ran out, followed by five thousand horsemen behind them. They carried throwing grenades, which could also drive away the elephants.
Three thousand horse archers chased the elephant from behind, constantly shooting exploding arrows at the elephant. The elephant's skin was as strong as stone. Under the strong impact, the exploding arrows exploded on the elephant. Although the explosion could not kill the elephant, it could kill it.
The skin and flesh were torn apart by the explosion, and the pain was unbearable.
The elephants behind kept screaming in pain and running desperately, and the fear spread to the front. More and more elephants were scrambling to escape. At this time, a batch of 5,000 throwing grenades exploded in the herd, hundreds of elephants
Being blown down, they let out earth-shattering screams, which was their fear of death.
All elephants feel this fear of death and hear the explosions that follow them.
They began to run wildly and rushed towards the Nanzhao army two miles away.
At this time, Li Sheng gave an order, "The whole army attacks!"
Fifteen thousand Tang army cavalry were the first to attack, followed by 10,000 spear infantry.
The Nanzhao soldiers beat the war drums desperately, but it was in vain. The elephant went crazy with fear and rushed towards the Nanzhao soldiers desperately.
Meng Chengjin yelled that something was not going well, and turned around and fled first. Eighty thousand troops also scrambled to escape, and they were defeated like a mountain.
But they are all foot soldiers and cannot outrun the mad elephants. The first to be trampled to death are thousands of elephant slaves. The elephant slaves are also most afraid of the elephant going mad. Once the elephant goes mad, they will bear the brunt of being trampled to death.
Groups of Nanzhao soldiers were repeatedly knocked down and trampled to death by the elephants that were chasing them. For a time, there were countless casualties.
Later, the Tang army had a clear division of labor. Three thousand horse archers followed the elephants and used exploding arrows to drive the elephants into a frenzy and run for their lives. They were not given a chance to calm down. The elephants were very sensitive. The Tang army's exploding arrows made them completely crazy and they were trampled to death.
How many soldiers did they rush towards the main force of the Nanzhao army ten miles away?
More than 30,000 Tang army cavalry and infantrymen were killing the Nanzhao army at the back. They refused to accept surrender and directly stabbed them with spears. Regardless of life or death, they continued to charge forward.
Ten miles away, Yimouxun's face turned pale. He saw 30,000 war elephants rushing toward him. The dust behind them covered the sky and the sun. He didn't know how many Tang troops were coming towards him.
The army general Ruan Shaofeng said anxiously: "Let the army move to both sides to make way for the elephants!"
Yimouxun woke up and shouted: "Get out of the way, team!"
At this time, the 30,000 elephant herds had already rushed a mile away, and the hundreds of thousands of Nanzhao soldiers were so frightened that their legs were weak. They did not care about the direction at all, pushed each other, and rushed to run first. Twelve large square formations became a mess.
The elephants rushed into the crowd who had no time to escape, and countless soldiers were knocked over and fell to the ground.
At this time, one hundred thousand Nanzhao troops were suddenly greeted by a rain of throwing grenades, and ten thousand throwing grenades exploded in the crowd.
Violent explosions in all directions became the last straw for Nanzhao soldiers. Nanzhao soldiers who had never seen firearms were frightened to death. Nanzhao believed in the five gods of wind, thunder, water, fire and earth. All the soldiers thought it was the god of thunder who was helping the Tang army fight. One hundred thousand
The Nanzhao army completely collapsed. There were screams, screams, and whines. The Nanzhao soldiers shouted in fear. Countless soldiers turned around and ran away frantically for their lives.
In the first year of Jiaxing, on May 20th, 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.
Two hundred thousand Nanzhao troops were defeated.
