Chapter 289 Can’t wait

Of the 12,000 cavalrymen of the Eastern Army, only 5,000 managed to escape to Xiangcheng. The rest were held tightly by the Western Army, and some died or surrendered during the pursuit.

According to statistics from the Western Army after the war, 3,400 people were beheaded and more than 3,000 surrendered.

The eight thousand infantry were trapped less than twenty miles away from Xiangcheng.

However, the road from where this infantry was trapped to Xiangcheng was very smooth and most suitable for cavalry combat, so the Western Army only left behind a few thousand cavalry to keep the Eastern Army's infantry from moving.

Because the Eastern Army must always maintain a complete formation, set up long spears and large shields, and form a good battle formation. If they move rashly in a marching formation, they will become a sitting duck for the Western Army's cavalry in the plains.

The Western Army's cavalry kept passing in front of the Eastern Army's formation, raising clouds of dust, but they did not take the initiative to charge. They moved back and forth so rapidly that the Eastern Army had no idea how many Western Army cavalry were out on the periphery.

Afterwards, Li Yuanhui ordered Zhang Jian and Zhang Zhen'e to lead their troops across the Ru River, move forward to set up camp, monitor Chen Leng's Eastern Army troops nearby, and move the battle line forward.

After the first day of the official war, the Western Army killed and captured more than 6,000 people and trapped 8,000 Eastern Army infantrymen between Ru and Ying. The heaviest casualties were caused by Li Yuanhui leading three elite infantry units in a fierce battle with the Eastern Army on the pontoon bridge, but overall, a phased victory was achieved.

The morale of the Eastern Army was greatly hit.

Li Yuanhui also withdrew the soldiers guarding the pontoon bridge, and rejected his subordinates' suggestion to set fire to the bridge.

"If we burn down the floating bridge here, the Eastern Army can naturally build one somewhere else. If we keep the floating bridge here, the Eastern Army in Linying will definitely send troops here again if they want to."

Afterwards, he ordered the Huainan Right Camp led by Xu Qiande, the Ba County's magical soldiers Bandun Man, and Li Sanlang's personal army Wuqian Flying Army to set up camp together to resist the Eastern Army.

Li Yuanhui led the Wuwei Army back to the camp. At this time, it was getting dark, and Li Er and Li San also led their troops back to the camp one after another.

Because of the victory in the first battle, Li Yuanhui specially ordered the army to have extra meals to celebrate the victory, but did not give wine, because the war was still going on and drinking could easily cause trouble, so there would be no large-scale military banquets before the end of the war. We must always be vigilant against the occurrence of things like opening champagne at halftime.

At the same time, as one of the main commanders, he also has to summarize the losses of various military equipment, order the staff in charge of logistics to check and deploy replenishment in a timely manner, send out teams to clean up the battlefield, and of course the most important thing is to commend the soldiers under his command.

The same was true for Li Er and Li San. After the battle, a very important thing was to commend the generals and soldiers who had fought under them.

Because this is related to future promotions and rewards.

In the military, merits must be rewarded and faults must be punished. This is very important.

Military regulations and discipline are the norms that soldiers follow during marching, training, combat and life.

But if you just keep making demands without any rewards, the soldiers will become resentful.

Therefore, the reward and punishment mechanism is very important for the military, but it is not easy to clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments.

Only when generals and soldiers who fight bravely and achieve military merits are given the rewards they deserve can the majority of people be convinced.

The three brothers roughly reported their assessments of their subordinates today to the record room for recording, and then they went on to express their condolences and encourage the meritorious officers and soldiers.

After everyone finished their work, it was already night, and the three of them met again in the big tent to discuss the next military strategy.

After achieving a phased victory, the three brothers all agreed that they should shift from a strategic defensive stance to an active offensive stance.

But tactically, they had to take a defensive stance and attract the Eastern Army to rescue Chen Leng's besieged troops.

"Today, our army is attacking by surprise and taking the Eastern Army by surprise. This part of the Eastern Army's infantry has been trapped here by us. The Eastern Army will send Xiangcheng and Jiaxian, as well as the troops north of Yingshui River to rescue Chen Leng who is trapped by us. Tomorrow, why don't we surround the point and attack the reinforcements?" "Tomorrow, I will lead the Eastern Army to eliminate the trapped troops, and my second and third brothers will attack the reinforcements. In addition, my brother-in-law and brother Huaizhen can also lead the army to cross the Yingshui River and attack Xiangcheng when the troops from Xiangcheng come out to rescue."

Li Si stood in front of the picture and talked eloquently. After he finished, he asked, "Do you think my arrangement is appropriate?"

Li Er and Li San smiled at the same time. Li Er said, "Silang is very cautious in his use of troops. He is very thorough. Let's do this. Tomorrow, Sanlang and I will go to fight for reinforcements, and Silang will be responsible for dealing with Chen Leng's 8,000 infantry. As for Xiangcheng, let my brother-in-law and his men wait for an opportunity in Dingling and Ye County. Tomorrow's battle is crucial, and we brothers need to work together."

"It's natural."

This strategy became the consensus of the three people, and then they dispersed to rest. Li Si also patrolled the camp before going to bed to make sure that the scouts in various places were not slacking off.

At this moment, 8,000 soldiers of the Eastern Army were still trapped between Ru and Ying. The Western Army lit a pile of bonfires outside the encirclement, forming a large circle to prevent the besieged soldiers of the Eastern Army from breaking out and escaping at night.

Chen Leng successively sent out two elite troops of several hundred men to break out, but they were all intercepted by the Western Army's cavalry.

The only way was to let his troops abandon their formation and flee, but in that case, these 8,000 people would be completely disorganized. It was dark in the wilderness, and fleeing would be tantamount to suicide. As long as the Western Army cavalry chased and killed them later, the Eastern Army infantry would trample on each other and be completely defeated.

Therefore, Chen Leng could only shout loudly and boost morale in the dark.

"Tomorrow the reinforcements will come to rescue us. Brothers, you must hold on and not let the Western bandits underestimate you."

Fortunately, the soldiers all had dry food with them. There were well-developed water veins between Ru and Ying, and there were many farmland canals in the middle, so there was no shortage of drinking water.

Chen Leng, who came from a poor family, was prudent in military management. He had made many military achievements since he joined the army and distributed all the rewards he received to the soldiers. Therefore, he had a high prestige in the army. In this time of crisis, Chen Leng's reputation accumulated in the past finally came in handy.

Although the soldiers of the Eastern Army were surrounded, thanks to Chen Leng's reasonable arrangement of rotations, each unit got enough rest, there was no large-scale panic, and they maintained basic qualities and morale.

As for the Eastern Army, Generals Lou Jushi and Duan Yihong, in addition to lamenting the unfavorable war situation, were also discussing with their subordinates how to rescue Chen Leng's troops who were besieged.

Mr. Lou advocated that the main force of the cavalry be dispatched to Yingyang to cross the river, join forces with the troops of Xiangcheng and Jiaxian, gather heavy troops to attack, directly advance with superior forces, rescue Chen Leng's troops, and inflict heavy damage on the Western Army.

That is to replicate the tactics of the Western Army today and attack the center.

Duan Yihong was a little hesitant when he heard this, because mobilizing an army on such a scale would undoubtedly be equivalent to launching a decisive battle.

Although these two generals had long wanted to fight the Western Army to the death, the Eastern Capital Luoyang was also urging them to do so.

But when the decisive battle really came, Duan Yihong seemed very uneasy and frightened.

Because the Western Army's combat effectiveness is stronger than they imagined, and the Li brothers are more difficult to deal with than the other.

In a decisive battle with such a Western Army, judging from the defeat of 12,000 elite cavalry today, the chances of winning are really hard to estimate.

It is difficult to win, and there is a high chance of losing.

But now he could not delay or hesitate. The 8,000 besieged soldiers could not wait, and neither could the emperor in Luoyang.

Even the general trend of the world cannot wait.

So in the end, Duan Yihong had to nod and agree with Mr. Lou's plan to send troops, concentrating his main forces to fight a decisive battle with the Western Army.

(End of this chapter)