Chapter 694: Building a City in Nanyang

Li Fei Yuanli’s voice was fierce and cruel, scaring Lin You to the point of trembling. Only then did he realize he had caused a grave mistake. This army was not a force of elegance and courtesy but a brutal and ferocious one. Trembling, he conveyed Li Fei Yuanli’s threat to Prince Dando. Prince Dando stood there in silence for a long time before saying, “Please wait, General. I will go consult and give you an answer later!”
With a wave of his hand, he returned dejectedly with his entourage.
As the prince walked away, Li Fei Yuanli gently waved his hand. A few soldiers rushed seventy steps south, drove a wooden stake into the sand, and attached an Arab leather armor set and a shield to it. These were defensive gear purchased by a soldier from a shop inside the city and were also the standard equipment of the Funan army. Since Funan lacked the technology to forge armor, shrewd Arab merchants sold them this kind of leather armor—equipment left over from the Abbasid Empire. There were large stocks of such armor in the Abbasid warehouses; it was made of cowhide and fastened to the back with straps, representing the most primitive type of single-layer leather armor among the Arabs.
In contrast, the Abbasids fighting against the Anxi army had already switched to more advanced three-layer leather armor with iron plating on their shields—a technological advancement forced by the powerful crossbows of the Tang army. The obsolete equipment they discarded was bought by merchants and sold to armies in more backward regions.
Funan purchased 30,000 sets of this old-fashioned leather armor and wooden shields from Arab merchants.
The Tang army was very familiar with this old-fashioned armor and shields. During the Battle of Talas, the Abbasid army had used such armor and shields, and the Tang army had studied them thoroughly. They knew that the most advanced Arab leather armor could only protect against Tang crossbows up to seventy steps away. Within that range, the armor lost its protective effect. If combined with their iron-plated wooden shields, the effective protection distance was reduced to forty steps. This meant that the Tang army’s most powerful crossbowmen could continuously penetrate the Abbasids’ most advanced three-layer armor and shields from within forty steps.
Since what they faced today was old-fashioned armor and shields, the continuous penetration distance should be sixty steps.
Li Fei Yuanli intended to demonstrate this right in front of the soldiers. With the armor and shields already in place, two crossbowmen armed with divine-arm crossbows stepped back sixty steps, knelt on one knee, raised their crossbows, and aimed at the targets sixty steps away. The shield and armor were stacked together, meaning they had to pierce through both with a single arrow.

“Click! Click!” With two sounds from the crossbows, two powerful arrows flew past the Tang soldiers, hitting their targets one after another. Two muffled thuds were heard as the arrows pierced through wooden shields and leather armor before continuing to fly for over twenty steps before stopping.

Needless to say, all the soldiers saw it—its lethal range was not just sixty steps; it should be around seventy steps, as Tang crossbow arrows were already deadly at that distance.

Li Fei Yuanli waved his hand and shouted to his soldiers, “Everyone has seen it. I, Li Fei Yuanli, will never engage in a battle without confidence. In today’s fight, we will win with the fewest casualties in the history of the Anxi Army.”

“General Li Fei!”

Wei Qingping’s voice came from afar. Two of his subordinates were helping him run toward them. Li Fei Yuanli felt a headache. He wasn’t worried about anything else but that this civil official was far too cautious.

Wei Qingping rushed over. Seeing that the Tang soldiers were fully armed, seemingly ready for battle, he became anxious and quickly went up to Li Fei Yuanli, asking, “General, what are you planning to do?”

“I want to seek justice and give an explanation for my wounded comrades!” Li Fei Yuanli replied coldly.

Wei Qingping sighed. “General, why go to such lengths? The great Celestial Empire shouldn’t quarrel like a small island nation. Isn’t that beneath our dignity?”

“Dignity?” Li Fei Yuanli sneered. “I’m not the kind of person who cares about face. Whether it’s a tiny country or a mighty empire, if they harm me, I’ll avenge myself and repay kindnesses. I’m sorry, Mr. Wei, but your notion of high dignity doesn’t work on me.”

“You…” Wei Qingping pointed at him, too angry to speak. His face turned pale as he said, “If you dare to massacre civilians and kill innocents, I’ll impeach you to the supreme general!”

“Mr. Wei, you’re overthinking it. Did I say I’d massacre civilians? I just want to teach these clowns a lesson and show them what the might of the Celestial Empire is!”

As soon as he finished speaking, drumbeats echoed from Phali City, growing faster and faster. It was the sound of war drums—the army of Srivijaya was about to fight the Tang army. These drumbeats boosted the morale of the Tang soldiers, and Li Fei Yuanli laughed excitedly. He had been worried they wouldn’t come; now they had come to him.

Wei Qingping was also stunned. What was going on? Were they really going to fight the Tang army recklessly?

Li Fei Yuanli smiled. “Mr. Wei, please go back first. On the battlefield, swords and arrows have no eyes. Someone! Take Mr. Wei back to the ship!”

Two bodyguards escorted Wei Qingping back to the large ship. Worried, Wei Qingping wondered why they were heading to Sindh when war had broken out with the island nations in Nanyang.
Li Fei Yuanli turned around and shouted, “Brothers, do you hear that? These barbarians on the desert island are challenging our Tang Empire! Let them experience the might of the Tang Empire! Brothers, pick up your swords and arrows and uphold the glory of the Anxi Army!”
His brief yet powerful words ignited the soldiers’ enthusiasm. A sense of honor in fighting for the Tang Empire arose in their hearts, and their pride as soldiers of the Tang Empire made them wave their arms and shout, “Fight for the honor of the Tang Empire!”
“Fight for the glory of the Anxi Army!”
Li Fei Yuanli raised the horn and blew it vigorously. The deep sound of the horn drifted across the island with the sea breeze. Twenty more horn players joined in, filling the island with the sound of horns.
With a gesture of his hand, two hundred cavalry quickly hid in the coconut groves beside the beach.
At that moment, the gates of Funan City opened, and groups of soldiers from Funan, clad in Arab-style armor, emerged. Armed with spears and shields, they formed a dense crowd of tens of thousands. Funan had a total of 20,000 troops, 10,000 of whom were stationed in the capital under the leadership of their uncle, Sultan Li. The Tang Army’s strength gave the pro-war faction led by Sultan Li the upper hand, and they were eager to engage in battle.
By now, it was gradually getting dark, but a full moon illuminated the sea and land, casting light as bright as day. Before Buddhism was introduced, Funan also practiced primitive witchcraft. Their king claimed to be a dragon spirit and liked to absorb the essence of the moon on moonlit nights. This belief in the moon made them think it would grant them strength. Even after Buddhism was introduced, their deep-seated superstitions about the moon remained. Additionally, their army preferred to train at night to avoid the heat during the day, giving them a tradition of night battles, as they believed fighting at night allowed them to leverage their advantages.

In fact, the Javanesian army had only one advantage: their numbers. They were five times as many as the Tang army. In terms of armor, they didn’t have the Mingguang armor of the Tang army but only leather armor sold to them by Arabs. As for equipment, they had only ordinary spears and wooden shields; even their crude primitive bows were abandoned. They lacked the powerful composite bows of the Tang army, as well as crossbows, sabers, or cavalry. In terms of combat strength, they had fought against the Wa people when occupying Bunga Island and expanding northward. But their opponents today—these 2,000 troops under Li Fei Yuanli—were genuine Anxi troops, battle-hardened and experienced in countless fights. They were generally an head taller than the Javanesian army.

The Javanesian army only had numerical superiority and the sense of dominance they had enjoyed for years among the nations of Southeast Asia. When faced with the more powerful Tang dynasty, this sense gave rise to a complex mindset among the islanders—a mix of inferiority, jealousy, and hatred—that persisted for a thousand years, even among their descendants.

This complex mindset was especially evident in Sultan Li. When the Tang army slightly offended his concubine, he immediately ordered the execution of Tang soldiers. From that moment on, he resolved to teach the Tang army a lesson and annihilate this uninvited force.

The wide beach outside the city became the battlefield. Ten thousand Javanesian soldiers were already neatly arranged. They trained daily and formed a tightly packed rectangular formation on the beach—ten thousand men stretching like a long line, their spears dense as a forest. Even in the moonlight, they exuded a fierce aura.

This sight made the king watching from the city walls slightly relieved. Perhaps they could defeat this Tang army. He sighed, hoping this battle wouldn’t mark the beginning of Javaja’s misfortune.

“Father, I think something’s wrong!” Prince Dando was extremely anxious. He observed the Tang army and noticed something strange about their formation—it was crescent-shaped. The Tang army was already much smaller in number, and with this crescent formation, they seemed like a tiny group that could be easily surrounded and annihilated. It was precisely this that made him feel uneasy about the Tang army’s strangeness and mystery.

“What’s wrong?” King Subili was annoyed by his son’s overreaction. “I think our advantage is obvious. Our army is far larger than the Tang army’s. Can’t you see? As long as we surround them, our dense spear formation will allow us to wipe them out completely. Now you should think about how we’ll explain this to the Tang dynasty.”

Dando sighed. “Let’s wait until after the battle to discuss it.”

The stubborn arrogance of his father and uncle filled the young prince with despair. They were not facing local Tang troops but the Tang army’s battle-hardened forces. He had felt this way the first time he met Li Fei Yuanli.

On the wide beach, 1,800 Tang soldiers formed a crescent formation—a tactic that leveraged the strength of their crossbows. The dense central area allowed for three shots, the wings for two shots, and the flanks for single shots. With extensive combat experience, Li Fei Yuanli noticed that the enemy was indeed wearing Arab leather armor, so he immediately decided to use crossbows to destroy them as planned.

Not only that, but Li Fei Yuanli also hid 200 cavalry as ambush troops. He saw that the dense coconut groves to the south made an ideal spot for an ambush.

The battlefield was a beach one li wide and over ten li long. The two armies were separated by 400 steps. Under the moonlight, they took up their positions. The Tang soldiers remained motionless, waiting for the enemy’s morale to fade and for them to launch an attack out of desperation. This tactic was similar to the wolf pack strategy used by Li Baozhen at Yangan—essentially a battle of wills, to see who could hold out the longest.

But the forces of Funan clearly had no intention of engaging in such a battle of wills. They also had no archers ready to counter the Tang army’s charge. Their strategy was to use high morale and a numerical advantage to break through the enemy’s formation, surround them, and swiftly annihilate them.

This was the usual fighting style of the Southeast Asian island nations. Their endurance was not as great as that of soldiers from the cold northern regions, but they had strong explosive power. Thus, they were not accustomed to prolonged battles and preferred to end wars quickly by using force to overwhelm the enemy.

Today was no exception.

“Boom—boom! Boom—boom!” The sound of war drums rang out again. These were wooden drums, their rapid beats creating tension and excitement. Amidst the cries of battle, 10,000 soldiers rushed toward the Tang army’s camp at great speed, displaying remarkable explosive power. On the city walls, King Subhali could not help but admire the formidable strength displayed by his own soldiers.

They dominated the Southeast Asian islands thanks to their powerful military force. Their soldiers trained every day, and the strength they unleashed in an attack was enough to intimidate any opponent. He was very satisfied—today, they seemed even better than usual.

He sighed softly. “Greed knows no bounds. That’s why the Tang army fails. Why don’t they accept my sincerity?”

Prince Danli still looked extremely nervous. He had heard from the interpreter Lin You that the Tang army’s archers were very skilled, but just how skilled? No one knew. Clearly, the Tang army would use bows and arrows—could their leather armor and shields hold up?

At a distance of four hundred steps, or just over one li, the 10,000 troops of the Buddha Country surged forward like a tidal wave, their spears dense as a forest. They moved as if drawn by the moon’s gravity, rolling forward under the moonlight in a spectacular sight. Sultan Li was in the middle of the army, riding on horseback—the only one among the 10,000 troops to be on horseback. He raised his sword and shouted, “Charge!”

His white hair fluttered in the moonlight as he grew increasingly agitated. “Kill one Tang soldier, and reward ten taels of gold!”

Motivated by such generous rewards, the 10,000 troops became even more frenzied and instantly reached a distance of a hundred steps. Under the moonlight, their dark faces and fierce smiles could be clearly seen.

The Tang army’s formation remained as solid as Mount Tai. 1,800 crossbow arrows were aimed at the charging enemy. At seventy steps, they were within range to inflict damage, but without orders, no one dared to shoot. At sixty steps, the Tang soldiers remained motionless, their sharp eyes fixed on the enemy’s throats and chests. At fifty steps, they could clearly hear the sounds of running and shouting, yet Li Fei Yuanli still gave no orders.

Li Fei Yuanli took a gamble. He noticed that these soldiers, when holding shields, didn’t use them to protect their own bodies or instinctively shield their comrades, indicating they had no experience fighting against powerful bows and crossbows.

Soon, the shields became a burden to them. In battles between island nations, bows and arrows weren’t often used; their training and actual combat involved wielding spears with both hands. Now, they could only use one hand, severely reducing the effectiveness of their spear attacks and going against their combat habits.

At sixty steps, many soldiers threw away their shields and charged at the Tang army with spears in both hands.

This surprised Li Fei Yuanli. Did they really think their leather armor could protect them from the Tang army’s powerful crossbow arrows?

In fact, more and more soldiers threw away their shields and switched to wielding spears with both hands. At forty steps, nearly half of the soldiers had discarded their shields. At thirty steps, 80% of them had done so. The time had come. Li Fei Yuanli suddenly waved his hand.

“Fire!”

“Click!” A crisp sound of crossbows rang out as the first volley of a thousand arrows was shot forth. The distance was so short and the force so intense that in the blink of an eye, screams could be heard twenty or twenty-five steps away as hundreds of soldiers fell to the ground. Immediately afterward, another volley of eight hundred arrows was fired, causing yet more soldiers to fall. The distance between the two armies widened to thirty-five steps. By then, the soldiers in the first line had already loaded more arrows and began shooting without orders—loading arrows, drawing the strings, raising the crossbows, and firing—all in one smooth motion. Arrows flew like locusts and rained down like a downpour…

Within ten steps of running, the Tang army had fired two volleys of over three thousand five hundred arrows. Nearly two thousand enemies fell wounded by these arrows. The advancing tide of soldiers was like being buried under a toppled mountain. The distance between them and the Tang army had now grown to fifty steps, and their speed slowed down as the attacking force of the Funan army began to weaken significantly.

The soldiers at the front were terrified and stopped in their tracks, while those behind, unaware of the situation, continued to charge blindly. This collision from front to back disrupted their formation.

Yet the Tang army continued to shoot mercilessly. The sound of crossbows filled the air, and arrows flew everywhere, blocking out the moonlight. A pungent smell of blood filled the beach, with desperate groans of the wounded filling the surroundings.

“Bang! Bang!” Urgent orders to retreat were sounded, but the Funan army was too close, making retreat difficult. Arrows continued to kill many enemies, while the Tang army pursued them, shooting from behind. Arab warriors wore armor secured with straps at the back, leaving their backs exposed when they turned to flee.

The Tang army had now fired six volleys of nearly ten thousand arrows, killing or wounding over five thousand soldiers in the Funan army. This meant that almost everyone had someone around them who had been hit by an arrow.

The powerful arrows of the Tang army had shattered the morale of the Funan army, which had completely collapsed. Every soldier was terrified, abandoning their spears and screaming in panic as they fled back. The beach was filled with tiny black figures running rapidly, each one faster than the last.

On the city walls, Prince Dando crouched down, holding his head in pain. He had known this would happen—his soldiers couldn’t even defeat Arab merchants, how could they possibly fight against the Tang army? Wasn’t this self-destruction?

King Subhili was stunned, his mind blank. He felt his kingdom was on the verge of destruction.

At that moment, a group of cavalry suddenly rushed out of the coconut grove, waving their swords like a storm. They cut off the retreat of the Funan army, charging into the crowd and slaughtering indiscriminately, like tigers among sheep, creating a scene of bloodshed under the moonlight. Sultan Li, riding on his horse, stood out prominently and became the first target of the Tang cavalry. Over a hundred arrows were shot at him, turning him into a porcupine before his body fell from the horse.

The Tang cavalry moved swiftly, blocking the escapees. Any who tried to break through their blockade were killed without hesitation. The Tang cavalry shouted in the local language they had just learned, “Surrender! Surrender!”

With obstacles ahead and pursuers behind, the soldiers had no way out. Terrified, they knelt down and surrendered. Once they surrendered, the Tang army stopped killing. This example spread quickly—more and more soldiers knelt down and surrendered, until everyone finally surrendered. In total, over four thousand people were captured.

In this battle, Funan’s 10,000 troops were annihilated by the Tang army’s powerful crossbow formations, while the Anxi army achieved the remarkable feat of losing not a single man or suffering a single injury. Yet this battle was ultimately kept secret at Li Qing’an’s request, based on the simple principle that using strength to oppress the weak is not a just victory.

With the Tang army at the city gates, Subili and Prince Dando led nearly a hundred officials to kneel at the city entrance, all with their upper bodies bare. At that moment, they were like fish on a chopping board, ready to be slaughtered by the Tang army. Li Fei Yuanli rode up to Subili with five or six officers, coldly examining the obese king. Terrified, Subili raised the golden key to the treasury high and shouted in imperfect Chinese, “Let the Tang army take whatever they want from my country. I beg you to spare the lives of my people.”

Li Fei Yuanli turned to smile at his officers. He was no merciful army leader—how could he pass up such an easy opportunity? It was said that the region was rich in gold and gems, which he desired even more. Yet he knew most of the wealth he acquired would still have to be presented to the imperial court.

“Besides the wealth in the treasury, I want one more thing.”

Subili had spent a few years in Guangzhou during the Tang dynasty and knew a little Chinese. He understood what the Tang commander wanted and quickly said, “If it exists in my country, please take it!”

“Good! I want Funan to build supply cities at both ends of the Malacca Strait for the Tang dynasty. You must provide food throughout the year, and the area within a hundred miles of these cities shall be Tang territory.”

This condition was not conceived by Li Fei Yuanli himself but was instigated by the Sogdian merchants. Li Fei Yuanli had once served as the governor of Hezhong and had a very good relationship with the Sogdians. These Sogdian merchants were extremely shrewd. The route from the Tang Dynasty to Sindh was too long, and after passing through Lion Country (Sri Lanka), there were no more staging points. They often suffered from a lack of supplies, and pirates frequently appeared in the Strait of Malacca. If the Tang army could station troops in the Strait of Malacca, it would be a tremendous boon for them. So, after the Tang army defeated Funan, they immediately approached Li Fei Yuanli, urging him to propose this condition and filling his head with illusions such as expanding the Tang Dynasty’s territory and achieving everlasting glory. In reality, Li Fei Yuanli only wanted Funan’s treasury and the concubine of that king’s uncle, who was said to be Funan’s most beautiful woman. However, Li Fei Yuanli had also endured much hardship during the sea voyage. When the Sogdian merchants put forward this request and filled his head with more illusions, he readily agreed to build two supply military cities in the Strait of Malacca, each garrisoned with 250 soldiers. The merchants were overjoyed and eagerly drew up sketches for him, showing the most advantageous locations for the supply military cities. These merchants were very practical and shrewd. The two locations they chose are today’s two famous ports: one at the site of Port Klang on the west side of the strait, and the other at the site of Singapore Port on the east side. Li Fei Yuanli adopted the merchants’ suggestions and handed the map to Subili, saying, “These two marked locations are where I want to build the cities.” Subili took it cautiously and was stunned. The western location was his territory and basically unnecessary; it could be given to the Tang Dynasty to build a city there. But the other location was not his land but that of Langxiu Country. An idea struck him: why not take this opportunity to use the Tang Dynasty’s strength to weaken Langxiu Country? He immediately agreed, saying, “I will immediately organize manpower to build the cities for the Tang Dynasty without delay!” Li Fei Yuanli was fairly satisfied with his attitude and smiled, saying, “Additionally, I have one small request of my own.” … Five days later, the Tang army’s fleet left Funan Port and continued sailing westward. Li Fei Yuanli left General Zhou Pijiang and 500 soldiers to stay in Nanyang permanently. The Kingdom of Srivijaya organized 10,000 people to build cities for the Tang army at the eastern end of the Strait of Malacca. Five months later, the first military city in the Strait of Malacca, Qing’an City, was completed. A year later, the second military city, Nan’an City, located at the western end of the strait, was also built.

Later, as domestic immigration continued to increase, twenty years later, Qing’an City was officially upgraded to Qing’an County. To distinguish it from Qing’an County in Suiye, the people of the Tang Dynasty called it Nan Qing’an County. Another five years later, Nan’an City was also upgraded to a county and renamed Yuanli County.