Chapter 216: Fame in the Borderlands, Voice in the Central Plains

The 200,000-man army was not far from Pengyang County. As long as they captured this city, they could march all the way along the Jing River into Guanzhong.

Guanzhong was still very prosperous at that time, at least much richer than the two Longs and Liangzhou.

This time he mobilized an army of 200,000, and he didn't intend to just grab a handful and leave.

He had his eyes on Chang'an.

This city is second only to Luoyang in wealth and is nominally the first capital of Dayan.

There are so many wealth, treasures, beauties and fine wines in Chang'an. You don't have to think about how huge the number will be.

There is also the question of how much psychological impact the capture of Chang'an would have on the people of the Central Plains, and how to subsequently conquer the people and the land of the Central Plains through this deterrence.

These are all the questions that Shibi Khan was thinking about. This young and strong Turk was a true steppe hero.

Words like great talent, strategic planning and far-sightedness can all be used to describe him.

But what a pity.

He met a very fierce opponent.

Li Er led more than 10,000 cavalry troops along the Pu River Valley all the way to the southern foot of Yangjuan Mountain, and then detoured to Dayuan.

Frequent attacks on the Turkic rear army.

The Turks did not dare to pursue them easily, as they had too few people to defeat them. If they sent out a large group of troops, the enemy would just run into the ravine.

Are you going to chase her or not?
Chase, there are ambushes. They will directly counterattack you, or turn around and rain arrows on you.

If you don't chase them, they will turn around and continue to harass you.

Under such circumstances, the Turks had a hard time.

The rear troops in particular complained bitterly.

This series of operations can be said to have made the best use of cavalry and terrain.

Meanwhile, the army attacking Pengyang was still carrying out an intense siege.

Li Er only left 2,000 men to the defending general Hou Jun. Together with the 800 defenders and 2,000 strong men originally in the city, the Turks attacked for more than ten days in a row, suffering the casualties of more than 10,000 soldiers and generals.

The city is still there.

The war in the north made him even more angry.

I thought that by advancing to Longdong, I would be able to quickly take over Pengyang and drive straight to Guanzhong.

But not only did he fail to capture Pengyang, which he was personally supervising, but he was also attacked repeatedly from behind, and now a cavalry brigade of 10,000 people was annihilated by the Yan army.

Yes, it is annihilation.

Not a defeat.

This made him very angry.

The general Zhishisili led more than 10,000 people into a trap set by the Yan army. They were chased into a valley and attacked from both sides, leaving them with nowhere to escape.

Thousands were killed, and the rest were all captured, including his chief general, Zhishisili.

Zhishishili was one of his most trusted generals and the chief of the Zhishi tribe. His level of favor was second only to Shi Shuhu Xi, after the royal family.

Now he has been captured by the Yan army?

This situation made him furious, and he subsequently ordered the siege to be stopped.

Because the rear was repeatedly attacked and defeated, this time a cavalry unit of 10,000 people was completely wiped out. This situation has already made the morale of the siege troops on the front line uneasy.

Therefore, in this situation, it is unwise to attack Pengyang City at all costs.

We still have to deal with the enemy forces behind us first and wipe them out before we can move south with all our strength.

His trusted ministers Shi Shuhu Xi also advised him to take care of the rear first.

Therefore, he left behind a part of the troops, about 30,000 men, to continue monitoring Pengyang City, while Shi Bi personally led an army of 100,000 men to move northward, preparing to join the rear army and wipe out the Yan army in one fell swoop.

Coincidentally, after a great victory, Li Er immediately escorted nearly 6,000 prisoners back to Pengyang area.

After learning that Shi Bi was leading his army north, he immediately seized the opportunity and ordered Hou Jun to lead his army out of the city to provoke him as bait.

The 30,000 Turks outside Pengyang were overjoyed when they saw the defenders leave the city. The chief commander was Shibi Khan's younger brother Elifu, who immediately decided to attack and defeat the Yan army that had left the city to provoke.

In order to be on the safe side, Elifur also reserved 5,000 men to camp, and divided the 25,000 cavalry out of the attack into two groups to support each other.

He led 15,000 cavalry in the front and ordered Ashina Luobi to lead 10,000 cavalry in the rear, ready to support the front army at any time to prevent the Yan army from playing any tricks or faking defeat or ambush.

There is nothing wrong with the tactical design.

But his prediction had already been predicted by Li Er.

From the nameless valley, Mu Changling and Daxi Changru each led two thousand cavalry, one from the east and one from the west respectively attacking the left and right wings of Ashina Luobi, the rear army of the Turks.

He stabbed me in the back straight away.

Ashina Luobi's rear army was immediately disrupted.

Afterwards, Li Erlang personally led 7,000 cavalry to attack Elifuer's army head-on.

In this battle, Li Erlang personally braved the arrows and stones, charged into the enemy's formation, and fired dozens of arrows, all of which caused the strong enemy soldiers to fall down as soon as the arrows were fired. His arrows never missed their target.

The commander-in-chief is loyal to his orders, let alone the other generals.

Dou Cong, Zhang Jin, Liu Zongxun, Li Xiaojian and others followed him, rushing forward bravely, each like a mad tiger.

Xue Renmei, holding a large spear, charged into the Turkic formation like a tiger into a flock of sheep, raising waves of blood mist.

The cavalry of Liangzhou and Longyou were already the most powerful in the world. Seeing their commander repeatedly attacking the enemy lines, their morale was boosted and they burst out with powerful fighting power.

The Turks were defeated directly. In fact, there was nothing magical about the deployment of the Yan army, especially when Li Er led the main force to attack head-on.

However, Li Er showed top-level understanding in predicting the battlefield situation, deployment, and on-the-spot command.

If the battle of Liangzhou made Li Er famous in the border areas and his reputation shook Guanlong, then this battle made his name completely resound throughout the Central Plains.

Elifer was protected by his elite Wolf Guards as he fled northwards, even abandoning his main camp and running straight north.

Ashina Luobi was shot off his horse by Daxi Changru and was subsequently trampled to death by the horses of the defeated Turkic troops.

One of the two Ashina family commanders died and the other escaped, and the fate of the more than 20,000 Turkic troops was self-evident.

There were more than ten thousand people who died, fled, were injured, and surrendered.

After the war, Li Er, whose captives were more than his own troops, flatly refused the suggestion of killing the prisoners. He then ordered Mu Changling and Da Xi Changru to lead the army to drive the surrendered soldiers to the rear for resettlement.

And he only had 8,000 cavalry left.

Without informing anyone of the news of the Battle of Pengyang, Elifu ran all the way to the Turkic camp on the southern foot of Yangquan Mountain in the north to inform Shibi Khan, Ashina Tujishi.

In a rage, Shibi Khan drew his sword and almost killed Elif.

Fortunately, a group of Ashina nobles pleaded for mercy and allowed Elifu to escape with his life.

However, the current situation is somewhat difficult to handle.

Although the Turkic army was large, it was difficult to find any trace of the Yan army among the thousands of ravines and gullies.

This battle was fought while the main force turned back to look back, avoiding the strong and attacking the weak.

Shibi Khan couldn't help but start to reflect, wondering if he had underestimated the Yan army.
Everyone left the big tent, leaving only his trusted minister Shi Shuhu Xi behind.

"Hu Xi, the general of the Yan army opposite me is as cunning as a fox and as brave as a tiger. What should I do against such an opponent?"

Shi Shuhuxi said: "Khan, I think it is time for us to withdraw our troops."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shi Bi was stunned. He did not expect Shi Shuhu Xi to make such a suggestion.

"You are the smartest person on the grassland. Why did you make such a ridiculous suggestion this time?"

Shi Bi was not angry, but asked Shi Shuhu Xi in confusion.

"Khan, although the general of the Yan army has only more than 10,000 people, we have been using his ideas for nearly a month. Just as you said, he has the cunning of a fox and the bravery of a tiger and leopard. He has defeated our generals twice in a row and captured tens of thousands of Turkic soldiers. Now his soldiers will respect and love him like a god. When the next battle comes, even if the opponent has only a few thousand people, they will burst out with a powerful impact and follow the general they regard as a god to kill all the enemies in front of them. I can even imagine this scene."

"Although we have more than 100,000 soldiers, after the two previous defeats, their fear of the Yan army will make them recall the past scenes. In addition, the terrain here will make it difficult for our soldiers to find the Yan army. But they seem to be everywhere, and it seems that there are Yan troops at every valley entrance."

"Facing such an opponent, Khan still thinks we can win?"

　When writing about Li Er, it is inevitable to use more words and phrases, using up several chapters. There is no way around it, he is more like the protagonist than the main character.

　　I don't think this counts as water?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)