Chapter 350 Mirror Duel
Dongfang Di was from Liaoxi, Youzhou. He was originally a general under Xue Shixiong and was extremely brave. After Xue Shixiong died of illness, he was impressed by Liu Xuanji's demeanor and bravery, and was also one of the main supporters of Liu Xuanji as the governor of Youzhou.

Later, he gained the trust of Liu Xuanji and was entrusted with important tasks many times.

Dongfang Di led 3,000 cavalrymen all the way south and saw that the Tang army had already formed up on a plain in the distance, with chariots connected end to end and long spears and large shields mounted. If the cavalrymen rashly charged in, it would be like an egg hitting a rock.

Later he also discovered that a large group of Tang cavalry was behind the infantry formation, and there were also large groups of Tang cavalry on the left and right wings. It seemed that they were guarding against the Yan army in the city to launch a surprise attack on their formation from both sides.

The current Tang army infantry formation has formed a semicircle. Not far behind them are the two cities that the Tang army has already captured. Scouts report that there are still a large number of Tang troops on standby on the south bank.

Although Dongfang Di was the vanguard, the task Liu Xuanji gave him was actually to attack quickly and retake the two cities while the Tang army was still unstable, but the current situation really surprised him.

The speed of the Tang army's siege and formation exceeded the Yan army's expectations.

This made the Yan army's plan to attack the other side before it had a firm foothold come to nothing. This meant that they had to wait for the main forces of both sides to collide.

Not long after, Liu Xuanji arrived with his troops. Looking at the well-organized Tang army, he said with a smile, "The King of Qin is truly a hero."

Then his expression suddenly became serious, and he gave the order: "The infantry will attack and defeat the enemy in front of them."

After receiving the military order, Tian Hongsi, the Yingchuan governor and right general who was in charge of commanding the infantry, led the elite Youzhou infantrymen in formation, holding their spears high and marching towards the Tang army's infantry formation.

Li Erfeng rode his horse and stopped on a high slope, watching the Yan army's infantry begin to march. He sent a message to Yuwen She, the general of the right guard who was in charge of the infantry in front, asking him to instruct the Yan army to launch a strong attack.

Afterwards, he ordered Zhai Sixun, Cheng Zhijie, Shan Xiongxin, and Xue Renmei to lead 500 cavalry each to set out from both wings to harass the flanks of the Yan army's infantry formation. If they encountered the Yan army's cavalry, they should not confront them head-on, but try their best to deal with them.

The infantry of both sides finally met head-on.

The infantry commanded by Yuwen She was composed of carefully selected infantrymen from the brave and capable army of Dayan and the border troops of Longyou and Liangzhou. They were the elite among the elite, well-trained, and fully armored. Naturally, their combat effectiveness was the best among the Tang army.

The infantry of the Youzhou Army was no less powerful than the Guanlong warriors of the Tang Army on the opposite side.

As the saying goes, the best soldiers in the world come from the two Longs and Liaodong.

Most of the Youzhou infantry were men from border areas such as Liaoxi and Liaodong, Shanggu, Yuyang and Zhuojun. They were already tough people due to years of resisting foreign attacks, and the bitter cold weather in the north naturally honed their strong character.

When these two elite infantry forces collide with each other, the impact is naturally as fierce as Mars hitting the Earth.

After being covered by three rounds of arrows, they immediately fell into close combat. The spearmen of both sides stabbed each other across the chariots, and some soldiers shot directly with powerful crossbows.

On the other side, the cavalry on both wings of the Tang and Yan armies also began to fight.

The brothers Tuoba Tianbao and Tuoba Tianmu led more than 10,000 Daibei cavalrymen against the 8,000 cavalrymen led by Chang Yanheng, Wang Bi, Wang Tong and others. The 8,000 Hu cavalrymen led by the father and son Hulu Rong and Hulu Mingyue faced Yuwen Xiao and Xue Renmei.

Fierce cavalry duels broke out on the left and right sides.

The most valiant one was Yuwen Xiao, who rushed into the Yan army's formation with a large spear in hand, slashing, stabbing, smashing and chopping, killing more than ten people in a row. He was then seen by the Yan army's brave general Hulu Rongtang, who attacked him from the flank and shot an arrow at the hind leg of Yuwen Xiao's horse.

The warhorse under his crotch fell down, throwing Yuwen Xiao out with him. The followers behind him immediately stepped forward to rescue him and moved his spare horse over.

Yuwen Xiao went to the battlefield again to kill the enemy, but he became more and more courageous. Hulu Rong went forward to fight him again. The two rode past each other, both wielding spears to attack each other. Although Hulu Rong was brave, he was no match for his opponent and was knocked off his horse. However, his son Hulu Mingyue was much braver than his father. He shot and killed two Tang knights who tried to kill Hulu Rong with two arrows in a row, then abandoned his bow and replaced it with a spear, and directly met Yuwen Xiao who was riding back.

When the two men clashed with their spears, they both knew that the other was extremely strong. Then they fought on horseback for more than ten rounds in a row, but there was no clear winner. Hulu Mingyue saw that her personal soldiers had rescued her father, so she stopped fighting with Yuwen Xiao. Yuwen Xiao also knew that the war was urgent, so he did not pursue them.

But overall, the confrontation between the Tang Army and the Yan Army on the left and right sides formed a balance, and neither side was able to break through the other's blockade and accomplish the task of attacking the other's infantry flank.

Coincidentally, after this miscalculation, the commanders of both sides gave similar orders to their generals, which was that the primary goal was to attack the flank of the enemy's infantry formation, the second was to prevent the enemy from attacking our flank, and the other point was not to engage in a stalemate with the enemy.

Therefore, after the cavalry of both sides failed in their attempts to raid each other's flanks, they turned their horses around and retreated without engaging with the other side.

On the front battlefield, the infantry of both sides were advancing one after another like a wall. Even the spearmen in the front row were almost exhausted, and their spears were basically broken. They all started close combat with secondary weapons.

The earth was covered with blood and then frozen into ice. However, the cold weather failed to extinguish the flames of war between the Yan army and the Tang Dynasty soldiers. Instead, the flames of war became more and more intense.

The two sides had equal forces, and their deployments almost copied the other side's arrangements, leaving no obvious loopholes for the other side to exploit.

The battle was extremely intense, with both sides suffering thousands of casualties in less than half a day.

At this time, the Yan army in Liancheng on the shore finally went out to fight, and Li Yuanhui led 20,000 elite troops behind, either watching the show or guarding against them coming out to cause trouble. As the Yan army went out of the city to prepare for a two-pronged attack, in addition to Li Yuanhui leading the elite Tang army that had already crossed the river, Jin Wang Li Xuanqing, who was still in charge of the overall situation on the south bank, also issued an attack order, commanding up to 50,000 Tang troops to cross the river and capture the city.

The situation on the battlefield became increasingly chaotic.

On the entire north bank of Guodongshui, a total of more than 100,000 people from both sides joined the battle, but the commanders of both sides, the King of Qin and the King of Han, two famous brave men in the world, were very calm.

Now both sides are waiting for the war situation to take a turn for the better, and both want to strike back.

However, the infantry on the front line was still fighting fiercely. In this situation, the most elite cavalry units in the hands of the two men might be the deciding factor in this war.

So the two of them did not act rashly, waiting for the other to lose patience.

Liu Xuanji already knew that in terms of the military strength of both sides, the Yan army would definitely not be able to match the Tang army, because there were still as many as 100,000 people besieging the city.

At least 20,000 men must be left in the area of ​​Daling west of the Fen River to resist the enemy's detachment, and at least 20,000 men must also be left along the banks of the Fen River to prevent the Tang army from making a detour and attacking from behind.

Therefore, they could only use the 50,000 to 60,000 men they had to fight against the main force of the Tang army.

But the key to the outcome of this battle is not here.

At this time, a Yan army set out from Yecheng, entered Bingzhou at Fukouxing, and marched northward for more than ten days, and had already arrived at the rear of the Tang army.

At the same time, a Tang army that bypassed Dongshui from Leping, under the command of Zhaojun Wang Li Huaizhen, also moved to the side and rear of the Yan army camp.

The two sides once again replicated their opponent's moves. When Li Yuanhui heard the messenger coming to report that the Yan army had attacked our camp, he frowned and cursed, "***A mirror match of the peak battle?"

(End of this chapter)