Chapter 826 Five Years Later (XV) Sun Hu (Li Dalang)
War, from ancient times to the present, has always been related to blood and life. There is no war without death; it just depends on which side loses more people.
Li Dalang's face was covered in dark green medicinal powder, he wore a hat woven from tree branches, and he was dressed in a short green-brown outfit that matched the color scheme of the mountains and forests. Only the long sword he carried on his back gleamed with a cold light.
Calculating the time in his mind, Li Dalang gestured to Wang Dadan, who was also hiding in the tree. The two of them nimbly jumped down from the tree, drawing their long swords from their backs and taking them into their hands.
A massacre is about to begin.
The small village hidden deep in the mountains that Li Dalang and his team of special forces were watching was the place where the youngest son of the former Champa king's eldest son, who was also a grandson of the former Champa king, had fled.
Since the King of Annam used the gunpowder and warships of the Tang Dynasty to destroy Champa, and with the death of the former King of Champa, the former Champa regime has been in a state of chaos and fragmentation.
This grandson of the former Champa king, named Sanabvarman, possessed more leadership qualities than his father, who had the first right of succession. Moreover, at just over twenty years old, the young Sanabvarman was extremely vengeful.
Sanabhadra once deliberately sent a small group of his Champa soldiers to surrender. After being captured by the Tang soldiers, they would seize the opportunity to kill people, and their methods of killing were extremely cruel.
This is what General Wang meant when he said that the Champa people were vicious, that they would kill people, drink their blood and eat their flesh, and that they treated people like animals!
So, after approaching the Champa soldiers who were dozing off at the entrance of Yuzhai, Li Dalang slid forward and cleanly snapped the man's neck.
At the same time, Li Dalang's teammate Wang Dadan also snapped the neck of another Champa soldier who was guarding the city.
The two carefully laid the body aside, and then Li Dalang gestured in the direction they had come from, and suddenly more than a dozen people appeared.
Li Dalang led the way into the village, followed closely by a dozen or so teammates who swiftly drew their knives and entered as well.
Entering the village was just the beginning. Li Dalang and his team of special forces were tasked with finding Sanabamo and capturing him and his child alive if possible.
War is always ruthless, especially when it is a war of annihilation.
If Sanabhadra were the first in line to succeed the leader of a large tribe like the Eastern Turks, he would most likely not die if he surrendered, and the Tang Dynasty might even have taken good care of him.
Who knows, Emperor Wu might even grant him a minor princeship, just like the eldest son of the defeated Eastern Turkic Khan.
Conquering Champa, the toughest and fiercest of the small countries in the Indochina Peninsula, would also make Annam and Zhenla, which had already submitted, feel a sense of crisis. As long as they listened to the Tang Dynasty, they would be the Tang Dynasty's good little brothers.
If you refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, you'll go from being a good brother to an enemy who betrays the Tang Dynasty!
However, the situation in Champa was special. Those in power in the Champa dynasty were unwilling to surrender, not even pretending to be unwilling. They were even proud of their help in transporting opium to the Tang Dynasty.
The former King of Champa said this when he was alive: "The Tang people should thank me. I helped those white people send precious medicine (opium) to the Tang Dynasty."
Therefore, the former King of Champa died, assassinated by the Bad People.
As for Sanabhadra?
The problem was that Sanavarman was the most vehemently opposed leader in the entire Champa dynasty, and he and his descendants were doomed.
However, he couldn't decide when he would die.
He can only die when the Tang Dynasty needs him to die. Therefore, Li Dalang now needs to find Sanabharama and keep him alive.
Meanwhile, Sanabhara was fast asleep, and the woman beside him was also sleeping peacefully.
Because the village was so well hidden, Li Dalang and his group had only explored the outer perimeter. This was their first time entering the village, so it took them quite a while to find the exact location of Sanabhamo.
When Li Dalang stood at the door of the house where Sanabharamo was, he happened to see the red smoke rising in the sky.
After lighting the sleeping incense and waiting for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Li Dalang stepped over the lifeless guard and entered Sanavarman's house without any trouble.
Upon reaching the bedside, Li Dalang confirmed that the person had indeed been drugged and unconscious. He quickly took out a rope and tied up Sanabhamo's hands and feet, then carried him out of the house. Before they even left the room, Wang Dadan stopped them.
"Boss, what about the woman?"
Li Dalang glanced back at the unconscious woman on the bed, then turned to Wang Dadan and said, "It's alright, the effects of the medicine will wear off on their own in half an hour."
Once outside, Wang Dadan protected Li Dalang and ran outside. Li Dalang also keenly heard the sounds of clashing swords coming from other directions.
Once the two left the area, they found that the small village had become quite noisy.
"It must be the Imperial Guards following the marks we left. Be bold, blow the whistle and tell the brothers not to interfere, but to hurry to the place we agreed upon."
Our task is with Sanabhadra and his child; everyone else is not our concern!
Wang Dadan found a wooden whistle from somewhere, and a loud whistle rang out. Even though there were shouts of fighting all around, the whistle sounded far and wide.
Upon hearing the specially made whistle with a unique rhythm, the special forces soldiers who had followed Li Dalang into the village quickly finished what they were doing and turned to leave.
Only one special forces soldier, codenamed "Old Seven," ran out carrying a child of about five or six years old under his arm; the others were empty-handed.
Just as Li Dalang and his men were carrying people and about to run out of the village, they ran into General Wang, who was carrying a torch.
The two sides did not fight, of course, since the special forces took the people in advance and the Imperial Guards then raided the village, which was a pre-arranged division of labor.
Besides, the appearance and attire of the Tang people are easily recognizable at a glance, and the difference between them and the Champa people is huge. Even at night, it would be impossible not to tell them apart.
"General Wang!"
"Hey, Lieutenant Li, is that the grandson of the King of Champa you're carrying?"
"Yes, General Wang, this man is indeed Sanabhadra!"
Two hours later, as dawn broke, a wisp of green smoke appeared in the sky, which was not yet fully bright.
Stepping out of the wooden house, Lü Yunting stretched his arms and legs outside and looked at the green figure. A smile appeared on his lips. He knew in his heart that he had succeeded with General Wang!
Holding his folding fan, Lü Yunting could hardly contain his excitement; this was a war to annihilate a nation!
Before Lü Yunting's excitement could subside, two more wisps of green smoke lit up in the sky!
"General!"
Turning around, he saw Du Qinghui. Lu Yunting stared at Du Qinghui with wide eyes and said excitedly, "General, we have won! Champa has been destroyed!"
General Wang is currently directing the Tang soldiers to deal with the aftermath of the battle.
Those who needed to move the corpses did so, those who needed to be tied up had their hands and feet bound, and some women, girls, and children were all driven together.
The first to leave were women and children under ten years old who had little fighting ability. Of course, Sanabharma's descendants would not go with these people.
Seeing that General Wang and his men were about to wrap things up, Li Dalang suggested that he take Sanabhadra and his children and leave first, which General Wang agreed to.
Next to leave were the still-living young men being driven down the mountain by Tang soldiers wielding knives.
Finally, General Wang looked at the rows of corpses on the ground and gave an order.
With swift strokes of the knife, the heads of the Zhan people were chopped off one by one, and the heads were collected in baskets from the village.
"Find a place to burn the bodies, but be careful not to start a wildfire."
Those heads should be transported back quickly. Find the strategist to get lime, and pickle them all. Afterward, set up a mound of heads. If we don't intimidate these locals, they probably won't know what fear is.
Dare to kill a Tang person?
Then you'll have to face retaliation!
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