Tibet

When a Tang army patrol boat approached the dock, huge rocks on the defense towers and fortresses came down in a torrential manner. Although they did not hit the patrol boat, the waves almost overturned the patrol boat.

The patrol boat immediately turned back to report. Ma Lin was furious and ordered: "Warships, move forward and destroy the enemy's fortifications!"

Thirty tower ships lined up and moved forward, about 500 steps away from the Japanese fortifications. As the flag was waved, thousands of arrows were fired from the tower ships, and thousands of arrows and lasers were fired at the Japanese defense towers and fortresses.

In hundreds of towers and fortresses, 500 soldiers and 1,000 temporary auxiliary civilians were waiting for the Tang army warships to move forward. The range of the Japanese catapults was only about 100 steps, and the Tang army warships were still 500 steps away.

Unexpectedly, the arrows of the Tang army had already been shot in advance. What was even more deadly was that these were not ordinary arrows, but arrow mines. The fortifications on the shore suddenly exploded. The Japanese soldiers and civilians were blown up and cried for their parents, covered in blood. Dozens of towers collapsed in the explosion.

Soon, the second round of 1,500 arrow mines were shot again, and the remaining dozens of towers were all blown up. The Japanese soldiers and civilians suffered heavy casualties, and the remaining soldiers and civilians fled in panic.

The Tang army warships landed, and teams of soldiers disembarked and quickly assembled on the shore. After the first batch of 3,000 soldiers assembled, they immediately marched towards the Fancheng.

The gates of the Fancheng were wide open, and Zong Wumao, with his brothers, nephews, and hundreds of clansmen, knelt at the gates to beg for surrender.

The handwritten letter written by Emperor Li Ye to Ma Lin clearly stated, "Kill their heads, surrender their people, cede land and station troops, and rule the people with the army." ’

Ma Lin was merciless and ordered the killing of the entire Zong family, young and old, and the capture and killing of more than 200 garrison soldiers who were hiding in various places.

He also ordered the navy lieutenant general Wang Zhigong to station 500 soldiers and 30 warships on Tsushima Island. There was no need for any government office. The military office was the government office. If there were conflicts and disputes among the Japanese people, they could ask the garrison to mediate. If the locals committed crimes, the Tang army would kill them all.

All they needed was for the thousands of people on the island to honestly farm and fish and live a peaceful life. As long as the time was right, they would be registered as civilians of the Tang Dynasty and become citizens of the upper country.

Then the Tang army captured Iki State, killed the entire family of its leader and more than 50 guards, and relocated more than 700 islanders to Tsushima Island. They only used the castle of the local leader as an observation post, stationed 20 soldiers, and five patrol speedboats, under the command of Tsushima Island.

After destroying the two countries, the Tang warships continued to sail towards the land of Kyushu Island.

Li Chengshi's 30,000 naval forces landed in Songyuan City, Echizen Province.

The 500 defenders in Songyuan City found that it was the Tang navy that landed, and they fled without fighting.

Although Songyuan City was occupied without bloodshed, Li Chengshi was still a little worried. There must be soldiers who fled back to the capital to report the news. If the Japanese emperor and the emperor gathered troops to fight him, he was not afraid, but he was afraid that the Japanese rulers would escape from the capital.

Li Chengshi did not stay, leaving 3,000 troops to guard the warships. He led 27,000 troops and quickly killed Heijokyo.

Heijokyo is Nara. Li Ye's strategy for Japan is very clear, that is, to destroy the central court of Japan and promote the fragmentation and warring of various countries in Japan.

Japan is mountainous. From Echizen Province to Heijokyo, there are mountains and hills in the middle, covered with lush forests, but there are gullies between hills, and there are roads where there are gullies.

More importantly, there is a huge lake between the two places, Lake Biwa, which is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. The two banks are densely populated and the roads are crisscrossed. Under the leadership of Yang Chengqing, the army marched quickly along the west bank of Lake Biwa.

At night, when they were still thirty miles away from Heijokyo, a large number of ambushes suddenly emerged from the woods on both sides, and arrows rained down. The front army of the Tang army was caught off guard and shot one after another.

Then, countless men in black rushed out at a very fast speed.

Yao Zhen, the commander of the front army, shouted: "The enemy is attacking by surprise, line up to protect the injured brothers!"

The Tang army was well-trained and did not panic when they encountered a sneak attack. The remaining 5,000 soldiers quickly stood shoulder to shoulder and back to back, raised their spears, and formed a spear formation. Thousands of men in black were all swordsmen and could not break into the spear formation. Only bursts of strange drums were heard, and thousands of men in black retreated quickly like a group of monkeys.

Soon, the main force of the Tang army came up from behind. Li Chengshi ordered the whole army to stop marching and asked the military doctors to treat the injured soldiers.

The bamboo and wooden bows of the Japanese army were all single bows, which could shoot rabbits, roe deer, sheep and deer, but compared with the composite bows and crossbows of the Tang army, the lethality was far worse. Even if they could barely shoot through the solid leather armor of the Tang army, it was only a flesh wound and could not hurt the vital parts.

However, more than 30 Tang soldiers were shot to death by arrows, and the dead soldiers were shot in the neck and face.

Li Chengshi ordered the bodies to be cremated and the bones to be put into jars and brought back to the Tang Dynasty.

He also ordered the soldiers to rest in place and march again after dawn.

The Japanese army's sneak attack was actually to stop the Tang army from advancing and buy time for the Japanese court.

Coincidentally, at the same time that the Tang army sent troops to Japan, the Japanese court was also gathering troops on a large scale to support the Bohai Kingdom.

Due to poor communication and delayed news, the Japanese people did not know that the Japanese army of Bohai had been completely destroyed. They still thought that the Japanese army had occupied a large area of ​​Bohai.

As a result, all the powerful families in Japan wanted to have a share of the spoils, including the Fujiwara clan, the Soga clan, the Abe clan, the Kose clan, the Otomo clan and other powerful families, all sent troops to gather in Heijo-kyō, preparing to share Bohai.

Troops gathered in Heijo-kyō from all directions, and the Japanese court's army quickly increased from 20,000 to more than 60,000.

Just at this time, the Japanese court received news that a Tang army landed in Songyuan City in the north, which shocked the Japanese court, but they all knew that something must have happened in Bohai.

At this time, the court received accurate intelligence that the number of Tang troops was about 25,000. Under the strong insistence of the powerful minister Daojing Fawang, the Japanese court quickly reached a consensus that the enemy must be kept outside the imperial city.

The 60,000 troops led by the general of the Eight Guards Fujiwara Toyonari went north to give the Tang army a head-on blow.

The Tang army passed through the hilly area and entered the flat Nara Basin. The Tang army scouts had discovered the main force of the Japanese army 20 miles ahead and immediately reported to Li Chengshi.

Li Chengshi was a little surprised. The main force of the Japanese court went to Bohai, so how could 60,000 troops suddenly appear?

Yang Chengqing saw it clearly and said to Li Chengshi: "It should be the private army of the powerful families. Japan seized the Bohai Kingdom, and these powerful families also wanted to get a piece of the pie and seize a piece of land. So they sent troops to gather in the capital, not to defend us. We only landed the day before yesterday afternoon, and they didn't have time."

Li Chengshi agreed with Yang Chengqing's analysis. He smiled and said: "If they come to the door together, wouldn't it save me from going to each family to clear them out?"

Although Li Chengshi looked down on the Japanese army from the bottom of his heart, he did not underestimate the enemy and immediately made deployments.

Two thousand heavy armored infantry were deployed in the front, followed by five thousand crossbow troops, and then the twenty thousand spear corps.

Among the five thousand crossbows, there were two thousand crossbow cavalry, which were also spear cavalry. In addition to shooting crossbows, they also had a great role, which was to protect the sides and back of the heavy armored infantry.

In addition, when the enemy army was defeated, the two thousand cavalry would rush to the front to intercept the enemy.

This time, Li Chengshi did not arrange arrow mines or explosive arrows. He knew very well that as soon as the arrow mines were launched, the Japanese army would definitely flee in all directions, thus losing the opportunity to annihilate the enemy army completely.

Only by using cold weapons to fight the Japanese army can the enemy's living forces be annihilated to the maximum extent and the enemy army be destroyed physically.

60,000 Japanese troops also appeared ten miles away, consisting of 20,000 cavalry and 40,000 samurai groups.

Exactly the same as the Japanese army of Bohai, each of them was short, like a nine-year-old child, but unlike the Japanese army of Bohai, this Japanese army had a long weapon, the naginata.

The naginata should have been imitated by the monks among the Tang envoys after being inspired by the long-handled swords of the Tang army and returning to Japan. A long sword was mounted on a wooden pole, which looked like a pheasant's tail feathers, so it was called a naginata.

But this kind of sword could not enter the Japanese army. On the one hand, it has not been around for long, only a dozen years, and only monks use it. The Japanese army is mainly composed of samurai, and the samurai who like to carry swords do not accept this long weapon. They think that the naginata is similar to farm tools and is a low-level weapon used by the lower class.

But there is another more important aspect. It is not practical and it is easy to be cut off by a knife. This is fundamentally different from the long weapon pole of the Tang army.

The standard long weapon pole of the Tang army is not an ordinary wooden pole. It is made of beech or ash wood with excellent toughness. It is tightly wrapped with a layer of cloth, repeatedly soaked in oil and dried. It takes three years to complete. Finally, it is equipped with a spear head or a knife head. Ordinary knives can't cut it, and it will remain immortal for decades.

At this time, the two sides are getting closer and closer, only two miles apart.

Fujiwara Toyonari squinted and calculated the number of Tang troops, which was only about 25,000. His own troops were twice as many as the opponent. This battle must be won. He drew out the sword, pointed at the Tang army and shouted: "Attack!"