Chapter 354 The power of the saint
Li Erfeng shot an arrow at the leg of Liu Xuanji's horse, causing the horse to stumble and Liu Xuanji to fall in front of the horse.

Liu Xuanji's arrow hit Li Erfeng's shoulder blade. Although he was protected by armor, the arrow still penetrated the flesh. The bow in Li Erfeng's hand slipped directly, and if it were not for the stirrup, he would have almost fallen off his horse.

When Yang Xianguo saw Liu Xuanji fall off his horse, he immediately rode forward and was about to kill Liu Xuanji with a spear.

The two were actually old acquaintances. They had committed murder and arson together in Chang'an in their early years. But in this situation, Yang Xianguo did not hesitate at all. He stabbed Liu Xuanji, who was lying on the ground and was probably stunned, with the spear in his hand.

But at the critical moment, his cavalry rushed forward to resist Yang Xianguo, helped the stunned Liu Xuanji back on the horse and took him away. Han Wang Sima Liu Taotang was Liu Xuanji's cousin, and he was extremely brave. He rushed forward to fight with Yang Xianguo and successfully covered Liu Xuanji who was escorted away by his personal guards.

One of the two coaches was shot by an arrow and the other fell off his horse. Although neither of them was seriously injured, the impact on the battle situation was still great.

The two armies immediately engaged in a chaotic battle. Both sides lost unified command, and their troops were in chaos in the battle. Even though the Tang army had an advantage in manpower, Wang Sizheng and Li Yuanzhong later mobilized part of the troops from the siege army to join the battle, which prevented the battlefield situation from being overwhelmed by the Tang army.

The battle lasted until dark, when both sides gradually retreated from the battlefield.

In this battle, the Tang army suffered heavy losses. Li Erfeng's Black Armor Army suffered more than a thousand casualties, and together with the casualties of other units, the total number was over ten thousand.

Similarly, the Yan army suffered greater losses because the Daibei cavalry of the left army was defeated, and almost half of them were killed under Chang Yanheng's relentless pursuit. So in terms of total casualties, the Yan army suffered more than 13,000 casualties, and more than 1,000 were captured.

Li Yuanhui led the last guards and personal troops under his command, the last group of Tang troops to evacuate the battlefield in an organized manner, covering the retreat of groups of Tang soldiers that had been dispersed.

There were also a large number of soldiers and generals who lost contact with the team due to the chaos and returned to the team one after another.

Xue Wanche, the guard of the Prince of Qi's palace, was chased by the Yan army and his way back was cut off. In desperation, he took a team of cavalry and fled to Dou Cong's troops on the west bank of the Fen River.

Zhai Rang's son, Weijun Duke Zhai Sixun, was separated from his team and surrounded by hundreds of Yan soldiers. Some people advised him to surrender, but he shouted them off and rushed forward with all his might, killing dozens of people in a row. He successfully broke through the siege and returned to the Tang camp.

Duan Xiong, the general of the Right Guard, went deep into the enemy's camp alone, but his horse stumbled and he was captured by the enemy. Two enemy cavalrymen were holding him, but he suddenly jumped into the air, knocked the two men off their horses, snatched the horses and galloped back. Hundreds of enemy cavalrymen followed him, but they were afraid of his bravery and dared not move forward.

The commander-in-chief, the brothers Qin Bogui and Qin Zhongyu, chased hundreds of enemy troops and even saw the Yan army camp before they turned back.

Of course, there were also many brave generals in the Yan army.

General Dongfang Di charged and turned back in the Tang army, going in and out six times, and no one could stop him. Han Gui shot out three bags of arrows, and there were countless other examples like this.

After Li Yuanhui returned to the central army tent, he saw the doctor bandaging Li Er. Because of the excellent armor, Liu Xuanji's arrow wound was not too deep and could only be considered a superficial wound.

Many of the other generals were also injured, and many were killed or captured.

Wang Tong, the governor who accompanied Li Yuanhui to Jianghuai, was killed in battle. This was the most painful loss for him in today's battle.

Wang Tong had been under his command for six or seven years. Although he was not the most powerful general, he had been with him for a long time, had many military achievements, and was very diligent. However, he did not expect that he would die in this war.

Li Yuanhui stepped forward to check on his second brother's injuries. Li Er looked a little pale, but his mental state was still normal. He smiled and said, "It's just a minor injury. It's nothing serious. You can shoot arrows as usual in a few days."

After saying that, Li Er took a sip of wine while the doctor carefully sutured the wound.

The arrowhead used by Liu Xuanji was relatively heavy and the wound was relatively large so it still needed to be sutured.

Thanks to the presence of our predecessors, medical technologies such as using high-proof liquor to sterilize and using thread to suture wounds were applied early on.

However, anesthetics had not yet been developed. Even though some traditional Chinese medicines could produce similar effects, they also had various side effects. So Li Er just drank some wine and let the doctor suture his wound.

Human skin is very tough. When the doctor was suturing, Li Er bit a piece of cloth and broke into a cold sweat. After the suturing was completed, he cleaned the wound with strong liquor and finally wrapped the wound with white gauze.

Li Er gasped for breath, then picked up the wine bowl and took a sip.

"Everyone, the enemy has been frightened by today's battle and will retreat in the next few days. Tomorrow, all units will rest and prepare for pursuit."

Li Er's words were indeed a bit confusing to the generals. After the battle that day, the two sides were basically evenly matched. Except for Chang Yanheng's left army, which fought more strongly, the other troops were more anxious.

But Li Er was not a man who liked to brag, so after hearing the order, all the generals withdrew to rest.

"Second brother, you are the commander-in-chief. You should try not to charge into battle in the future. As the saying goes, if you walk by the river often, you will get your feet wet."

Li Si's advice was sincere.

After hearing this, Li Er smiled palely and said, "Silang is thoughtful. I will remember it and will be more careful in the future."

Li Si was speechless after hearing this. If he was to be more careful, wouldn't that mean he would still want to spend money recklessly? What else could he say?

Second brother is such a strong man who likes to lead the charge and to be the last one to attack, how lucky must he be to live to a ripe old age?
The last person who was so powerful at this age was Huo Qubing, who lived to be twenty-four.

At least in Li Si's opinion, the Tang Dynasty cannot do without the second brother, because no one can defeat Liu Xuanji, such a powerful man.

Both sides have sent out their best troops on the battlefield and have been fighting for two days. Now the Tang army commander, King Qin, is injured. If the battle continues, the outcome is really unpredictable.

Fortunately, in the Battle of Jinyang, the Turks stabbed Liu Xuanji in the back, and all he had to do next was wait for the Yan army to retreat.

The Tang army generals, who did not know the reason, almost believed what Li Er said, "The Yan army has been frightened" after the Yan army did not go into battle on the second day.

All units of the Tang army were repairing and restoring their organizations, while the Yan army was rapidly shrinking. First, it abandoned several cities on the shore, and then began to move continuously towards Daibei and Jingxing. Its intention to retreat was obvious.

The Tang army only did one thing, which was to attack Leping fiercely and successively captured Leping, Shangai and Zhanxian. The intention was very clear, if they wanted to retreat, they could go north to Dai.

Want to take a shortcut back to Hebei from Jingxing? No way.

As for the Yan army, they retreated one after another. Liu Xuanji ordered Dongfang Di, Han Gui, Lou Daiwen, Xue Guyan, Hulu Mingyue, and Tuoba Tianmu to lead 2,000 cavalry each to rush to the rescue of Daibei.

He personally led the elite troops to cover the retreat.

All the generals of the Tang army requested to pursue the enemy. Li Er followed their request and ordered the generals who were most eager to fight to pursue. As a result, their army was killed and defeated by Liu Xuanji, who was responsible for covering the retreat.

Afterwards, no one dared to pursue.

At this time, Li Yuan also rushed to the Jinyang front from Luoyang. He had planned it well. This time was probably the time for Liu Xuanji to withdraw his troops.

However, those in the army who did not understand the reason began to spread a saying.

"Liu Xuanji must have been afraid that the Saint would personally lead the army, so he withdrew his troops."

(End of this chapter)