Chapter 295 Contraction
As Duan Yihong, under the protection of Duan Wuda and a group of personal guards, abandoned the big banner and fled from the battlefield, the entire central army began to disintegrate.

Li San, Luo Shixiang, Wang Bi and Di King Yang Nandang all led their troops to charge, trying to capture Duan Yihong, the commander of the Eastern Army.

Duan Yihong was promoted to the rank of general during the reign of the previous emperor Murong Ying. He had extraordinary qualifications, distinguished military exploits, and noble birth. He was the only king of a different surname in the Great Yan Dynasty.

If he can be captured alive, it will be a huge blow to the Eastern Yan court.

Li Er and Li Si each led their elite troops to pursue the defeated Eastern Army soldiers, and they pursued them relentlessly all the way, not giving the Eastern Army any chance to regroup and counterattack.

On several other battlefields, Yuwen Jue led his troops to successfully resist the reinforcements of Pu Gusu and Duan Wuchen, and intercepted them outside, and a chaotic battle broke out between the two sides.

However, it was unfortunate for Yuwen Xiao to lead his army to resist the reinforcements of Lou Jushi. Yuwen Xiao led 5,000 cavalry, while Lou Jushi's reinforcements had more than 10,000 cavalry.

Therefore, Yuwen Xiao suffered a lot in the blocking battle, but relying on his bravery, he led the troops and fought hard with all his strength, and finally succeeded in delaying the reinforcements of Lou Jushi.

In the end, Mr. Lou withdrew his troops because his central army had collapsed and he knew that it would be meaningless to continue fighting like this even if he completely wiped out the cavalry.

Zhu Deyu, Murong Sanzang and Zhang Gonglie led the infantry but did not join the pursuit. Instead, when they were about to reach the battlefield, they received the military order left by Li Yuanhui in advance to assist the infantry led by Li Huaizhen, Chai Rong, Yuwen She and others to capture Xiangcheng and wait for an opportunity to destroy the left army of the Eastern Army, which was Zheng Guo's army.

The 30,000 men under Zheng Guo's command were mostly newly recruited soldiers, so their combat effectiveness was very average. Fortunately, after his training, they were able to barely support the Western Army in the battle and did not suffer a rout. After all, as a veteran, he had impeccable skills in commanding and managing troops and was also very experienced.

After the brothers Zhang Jian and Zhang Zhen'e led their troops to the battlefield first, Zheng Guo's troops were immediately attacked from both sides.

The Zhang brothers were extremely brave. Although they led infantry, they were both masters of cavalry warfare. They led the battle line with spears in hand. Each of them had a cavalry team of more than a hundred people under their command, all of whom were trusted generals who had followed them for many years, and they bravely charged into battle behind the brothers.

Then the majority of the infantry followed behind and attacked.

Li Huaizhen, who was still fighting hard after crossing the Ru River, shouted loudly when he saw the reinforcements arriving, and ordered his soldiers to attack with all their strength. Under the pincer attack, the Eastern Army east of Xiangcheng was defeated. Zheng Guo himself fled in a panic and escaped back to Xiangcheng, but he did not forget to order the more than 10,000 infantry west of Xiangcheng to retreat.

But it was too late. The more than 10,000 Eastern Army troops responsible for blocking Chai Rong's troops west of Xiangcheng were successfully blocked by the Wagang Army led by Murong Sanzang and the Jianghuai Army led by Zhu Deyu, and failed to withdraw to Xiangcheng.

The only army that retreated intact was the 20,000-plus infantry and cavalry led by General Lou Jushi.

The battle lasted until dark, when the Western Army ended its pursuit and returned to the camp with captured supplies and prisoners.

Duan Yihong fled all the way to Yangdi, the capital of Yingchuan County. Lou Jushi's army successfully retreated to the north of Yingshui River. Xiangcheng was besieged and Jia County was captured by the Western Army.

After the battle, the various units of the Western Army returned to their camps. When it was completely dark, a group of generals entered the central army tent one after another.

Li Si was the last to come back. At this time, all the generals in the big tent were happily talking about their achievements of the day, such as capturing several generals of the Eastern Army and making several consecutive attacks. Li Er, who was at the top, sat on a chair and watched the argument with a smile on his face, and occasionally gave some words of comfort. Li San seemed to be annoyed that he could not capture Duan Yihong today, and sat aside as if he was resting with his eyes closed.

However, as Li Si entered the big tent, everyone stopped talking and bowed to Li Si. Li Si walked forward and everyone nodded repeatedly, then sat down next to Li Er.

Li Si looked at the generals and said, "Generals, you have fought with my brothers today and have won a great victory, but now is not the time to celebrate. Tomorrow, our army will cross the Yingshui River and take the initiative to attack. When we return, I will trouble you to report today's gains and merits to the generals and comfort the soldiers. We will discuss the matter again tomorrow morning." Li Er also nodded and said, "Mr. Liang is talking about serious matters. Let's all go."

Then everyone bowed to the three brothers and then dispersed.

"It's a pity that we failed to capture King Lingzhi today, otherwise this war should be over. When I chased him to Jia County, Mr. Lou sent someone to pick up Duan and his son. That man was called Yuchi Gong, and he was very brave."

There was indeed some regret in Li San's tone.

Li Er consoled him, "Sanlang, don't worry about it. Even though we failed to capture King Duan, we have already won the battle."

Li Si also said: "That's right, Third Brother. In today's battle, our army won a great victory and gained a lot. General Duan was defeated by us. The Eastern Capital will not be around for long."

Li Erdao: "Now the situation is completely under the control of our army. Zheng Guo's troops are less than 10,000 people and are trapped in Xiangcheng. I believe that after besieging him for a few days and writing a letter, it will be enough. Today, our army has beheaded more than 20,000 people and captured tens of thousands of enemies. The main force of the Eastern Army of more than 100,000 troops has been lost. Among the remaining troops, only Lou Jushi has more than 10,000 elite troops who can fight. Now it is difficult to support the army alone. Compared with the day of their defeat, we don't want our army to cross the Yingshui River tomorrow and divide our troops to advance to Yangdi, Yingyin and Linying. Now the main force of the Eastern Army has been defeated and its morale must be at its lowest. We must use troops at this time and don't give them a chance to breathe."

Li San said: "Then let's follow Second Brother's advice. Our army's morale is high anyway, so let's take Yingchuan in one fell swoop and march to Luoyang. What do you think, Silang?"

Li Yuanhui said: "Just do as you two brothers wish. I have no objection. However, in the current Yingchuan battle, our army has defeated the main force of the Eastern Army, and more than half of the Eastern Army's troops have been lost. It is only a matter of time before the remaining cities of Yingchuan are captured. However, we must be careful of Cao Xuan of Jingzhou and Cao Yuanjing of Jiangdong at this time, and do not let them take advantage of the opportunity."

Li Er nodded repeatedly and said, "Fourth brother, what you said makes sense. Now that Yingchuan is about to win, we must be on guard against these two people who are playing tricks behind the scenes."

Li San said: "There are 3,000 soldiers left behind in Xinye, and the city defenses have been strengthened. It will be difficult to break through in a short period of time. If Jingzhou sends troops, as long as there are thousands of cavalry to help, they can defeat the enemy at the gates of the city. There is no need to worry about this."

Li Yuanhui also said: "Before I left, I also inspected the defense along the river. There shouldn't be any problems. Besides, now is the autumn harvest season. After the flood season, it's not easy for Jiangdong to mobilize troops. So let's go all out and take Yingchuan."

The next day, early in the morning.

Li Er led 30,000 infantry and cavalry to march towards Yangdi, the capital of Yingchuan County. Li Si led his troops to attack Linying. Li San led all the troops to attack Yingyang.

Among them, the troops of Li San and Li Si wanted to cross the Yingshui River. Lou Jushi wanted to lead his people to stop them and attack them halfway across the river. However, after the great victory, the Western Army was in high spirits and successfully crossed the river. They built a new pontoon bridge and crossed the river to fight with Lou Jushi.

The Eastern Army suffered a defeat and abandoned Linying and Yingyang and retreated to Yingyin, burning the floating bridge and ferry on the Lushui River.

But at this point, everything is in vain.

After receiving the battle report in Luoyang hundreds of miles away, the emperor and his ministers, after the initial panic, finally reached a consensus with great difficulty.

The last of the troops must be transferred back to Luoyang, otherwise there will be no one to defend the city.

(End of this chapter)