Chapter 293 The outcome is decided
Duan Yihong, a famous general with decades of military experience, knew very well that if he allowed the defeated soldiers to rush over, then the 30,000 infantry and cavalry in his camp would also be dispersed by their own defeated soldiers. The young men of the Western Army would never miss this opportunity and would definitely lead their troops to attack and drive the defeated soldiers as the vanguard. By then, the main camp would be scattered and unable to recover. Once the central army was defeated, the left and right armies would certainly not be able to deal with the Western Army, and the momentum would then develop in the direction of a total defeat.

So he made a prompt decision and ordered the archers to release their arrows and move forward to allow his own soldiers to change their route.

"The front troops should give way. Anyone who dares to charge will be killed!"

The officers and soldiers at all levels in the front also began to shout, and the defeated soldiers saw their own battle formation and really shot arrows. They also fled to the deserted places on the two wings.

Dozens of cavalrymen led by Li Er also died in the battle. After joining forces with Li San who was charging into the battle line, he led the black-armored cavalry in pursuit of the remnants of the Eastern Army to prevent the defeated soldiers from gathering to resist, and chased the defeated Eastern Army all the way to the central army formation where Duan Yihong was.

With almost no hesitation, Li Er led the Xuanjia Army to continue charging forward.

Facing the flying arrows like locusts, they attacked the Eastern Army's formation.

Although most of the defeated soldiers fled from both sides, there were still nearly a thousand Eastern Army cavalrymen whose roads were blocked by their own side and were surrounded and driven away by the Western Army, forcing them to rush towards their own army.

The defeated soldiers were driven into their own camp. Duan Yihong hurriedly gave orders, asking the infantry to hold their ground and not retreat, and to kill anyone who moved.

He also ordered the cavalry on both sides to intercept the Western Army's cavalry.

However, the impact of the black-armored cavalry that had already charged forward was no longer something that the light cavalry that temporarily rushed up from both sides could withstand.

Zhai Sixun, Yang Xianguo, Qin Bogui, Qin Zhongyu, Cheng Zhijie and other old members of Wagang had just arrived to seek a place in the Western Army camp, and they all rushed forward with all their might.

Liu Zongxun, Dou Cong, Zhang Jin, Qiu Xinggong, Zhai Changsun and other brave generals also followed Li Er and fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. How could they be willing to fall behind at this time?

The generals attacked wherever there were more people. Li Er was also in the mood for killing. He drew his two swords and slashed left and right, his body covered in blood.

However, after charging for a while, Li San stopped to observe the situation on the battlefield. He then sent orders to the units in the rear that had not yet caught up, asking them to move in the direction of the order and to take on tasks such as coordination, support, encirclement, and blocking.

At this time, on the bank of Yingshui River, Mr. Lou had received a report from the scouts, and learned that the vanguard of the central army had been defeated, and that the main force of the Western Army's cavalry was now concentrating to attack the main camp of the central army.

In addition, the infantry on both sides of the Western Army were also advancing slowly. Mr. Lou was a little hesitant at this time. He led an army of about 25,000 infantry and cavalry, which was about ten miles away from the central battlefield. The cavalry could rush over to provide support.

But the infantry certainly can't do that.

If the infantry were left alone, they would easily be defeated by the Western Army.

If the infantry and cavalry advance together, there is a high probability that they can break the Western Army's infantry formation in front of them.

So he now needs to make a choice, should he continue to advance according to the original plan, fight with infantry and cavalry together, and defeat the infantry formation in front, or lead the cavalry to support the central army?
If the central army's main camp is breached, the battle may be declared lost.

Because the Western Army was stationed in Yancheng and Dingling south of the Ru River, as well as Ye County in Wuyang, they could easily cross the Ru River and launch an attack on Zheng Guo's troops in the direction of Xiangcheng, thus preventing the Xiangcheng troops from supporting the central army's main camp.

In the end, Master Lou felt that it was more important to rescue the central army, so he ordered his son Lou Jun and nephew Lou Cheng to lead the infantry to set up defenses on the spot. Then he personally led a large group of more than 10,000 cavalry and rushed to the battlefield where the central army was stationed.

As predicted by Mr. Lou, Chai Rong and Li Huaizhen on the south bank of the Ru River each led more than 10,000 infantrymen and crossed the river simultaneously from two locations, one in front and one behind, from the direction of the Xiangcheng army.

Zheng Guo hurriedly divided his troops to resist, and the more than 5,000 cavalrymen in his left army, namely Duan Wuchen and Pu Gusu, were also sent to support because the battle in the central army was not going well. Most of his subordinates were also infantry, and the two sides fought in two battlefields along the Ru River, one in front and one behind.

At this time, the situation on the battlefield was that both sides started the final battle almost without reservation.

After Li Yuanhui dealt with Chen Ling's 8,000 infantrymen, he immediately led the cavalry to the main battlefield in the west.

Of the 40,000 infantrymen under his command, except for those who were killed and those left behind to guard the prisoners and clean up the battlefield, the remaining 32,000 men, under the command of the two generals Zhu Di and Zhang Gonglie, marched towards the battlefield on foot.

Li Yuanhui was at the front of the cavalry, galloping all the way. He was a little worried, afraid that he would not arrive in time and delay the war. As the commander-in-chief and one of the decision-makers, he knew the importance of this war, and he fully believed that his second and third brothers were capable of dealing with any crisis.

But whether considering the present or the future, he must now go all out without reservation to win this battle for the country's destiny.

Following Li Yuanhui were the cavalry generals Li Xuandao and Chang Yanheng, as well as the two deputy generals of the Wuwei Army, Luo Shixiang and Han Quan. Even Wang Fobao had learned to ride a horse and galloped along with the group.

At this time, three reinforcements were on the way, and Li Er himself was still leading his troops to attack Duan Yihong's central army, while the Eastern Army was defeated but not collapsed.

Because there were already nearly 30,000 cavalrymen on both sides, although the Eastern Army cavalry was at a disadvantage in the battle group, they could still manage to hold on.

Once the cavalry was defeated, the Eastern Army's infantry formation would have to face the impact of the Western Army's cavalry, and the result would be no better than that of Chen Leng's troops.

Li San still had more than 10,000 cavalrymen who had not been sent to the battlefield, and the other cavalrymen were on the march. The reason for keeping so many reserve troops was to prevent the left and right armies of the Eastern Army from sending cavalry to support and attack the two wings of the Western Army. After all, the distance was more than ten miles, and the cavalry could reach the destination in half an hour.

At this time, he did not know that Li Yuanhui had already dealt with Chen Ling's troops, but scouts came to report that cavalry from both sides were rushing to the central battlefield to provide support.

There is no need to think about it, this must be the Eastern Army.

Because all the cavalry of the Western Army, except for the more than 10,000 people under Li Yuanhui, have been gathered here.

So Li Sanlang ordered Yuwen Jue and Yuwen Xiao to lead 5,000 cavalry each to block the reinforcements on both wings of the Eastern Army.

All he had left were several thousand cavalrymen who were still arriving at the battlefield as his final reserve.

Under the full-scale attack of the Western Army, the Eastern Army gradually couldn't hold on any longer.

After all, the Western Army's Iron Cavalry's configuration of powerful generals is so luxurious that it can be called an all-star lineup.

Even though some of these people are not well-known now, it is foreseeable that in the near future they will be famous in history just based on their performance in this battle.

Seeing that the cavalry was gradually losing strength, Duan Yihong revealed all his cards. The 2,000 Youzhou Cavalry Battalion led by Xue Wanjun, Luo Yi and others, this famous armored cavalry, was thrown out as the last bargaining chip.

This led to a large-scale cavalry battle involving more than 30,000 people from both sides, which was completely ignited on the land of Yuzhou.

Xue Wanjun and Luo Yi were both experienced generals. After they led their troops to join the battlefield, they immediately reduced the pressure on the Eastern Army. The two sides returned to the initial balance, and the fighting on the battlefield became more intense.

Thousands of horses neighed and cavalry collided.

At this time, Li San still had about 500 armored cavalry and about 4,000 Di light cavalry.

But even when he saw Duan Yihong sending the last heavy cavalry into the battlefield, he did not make any move and continued to carefully observe the situation on the battlefield.

Until the sound of thousands of horses galloping and tens of thousands of iron hooves stomping on the ground like thunder came from the land above.

Li Sancai laughed out loud: "Hahahaha, come on, come on, follow me to capture King Duan alive."

He didn't need to look back, because he knew that the only large cavalry force that could come to support in this direction and at this time was the 10,000-cavalry brigade under his fourth brother that participated in the encirclement and suppression of Chen Leng's troops.

But the fourth brother arrived at the battlefield first, and the outcome of the battle was already determined.

The Eastern Army had no backup plan to change the situation on the field, and the outcome of this battle was already decided.

(End of this chapter)