Chapter 416 Battle of Wei River
Xiao Shizhi led 8,000 soldiers to advance step by step, without any concern for whether the defenders could hold out during this period of time. Finally, they advanced to the vicinity of Huai County within three days.

His arrival greatly shocked the morale of the thousands of defenders in Huai County. Seeing this, Wei Xiaoju, the commander of the Yan army, had to give up the original plan to attack Huai County and instead sent thousands of cavalry led by Zhao Xiang to guard against the Tang army in Huai County and to prevent the rapid support of the Tang cavalry. At the same time, he concentrated his infantry forces to prepare to eat up the reinforcements of the 8,000 or so Weiweifu soldiers led by Xiao Shizhi.

After all, the Tang army reinforcements led by Xiao Shizhi had neither the time nor the opportunity to build city defense fortifications on the spot. If they did not launch the attack when he was not firmly established and gave him time to consolidate his camp, the battle would be difficult to fight.

Wei Xiaoju personally commanded 30,000 troops and led the central army himself. He ordered the governor Fu Hongzhi to command the left army and the governor Han Gui to command the right army. They were divided into three groups to besiege Xiao Shizhi's main camp.

Faced with a troop strength ratio of nearly four to one, the Tang army did not dare to be careless. They relied on the Wei River and fought in formation.

Wei Xiaoju did not use cavalry to harass the Tang army's formation, but directly used infantry to fight infantry. The only thing that can resist the dense formation of long weapons is the same long weapons. It takes time for cavalry to break the infantry formation, and time is particularly precious for the Yan army at the moment.

The Yan army infantry, who were also armed with spears, immediately joined the battle line and launched an attack against the Tang army infantry.

In the area where the attackers and defenders were crowded, the spears on both sides collided with each other, making a crisp sound. Someone simply used the spear as a stick, swinging it left and right, trying to clear space so that his companions behind him could hit the target accurately. However, this space was soon captured by the opponent's archers, and the arrows fell, shooting the man to death.

The officers of both sides shouted loudly in front of the battle line: "Everyone stand still! Don't move! Anyone who moves will be killed!"

The front and back rows of the Tang army thrust their spears forward. The densely packed iron spear tips shone coldly in the sun, like some giant beast covered in sharp blades, which made people shudder.

Archers continued to shoot with bows and arrows, and soldiers threw prepared stones into the enemy's formation. But when the infantrymen in the rear continued to surge forward, the soldiers in the front row were pushed and had to face the spears directly.

The front-line generals in charge of the spearmen on both sides shouted orders almost at the same time when a critical point came. "Charge!" His spearmen shouted loudly: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

With a roar, the spearmen took a step forward and stabbed wildly with their spears.

The infantry of both sides collided like two walls. In the first contact alone, hundreds of people were pierced through by the opponent's spears.

Even heavy armor lacks effective defense against spear attacks.

The Yan army attacked from three sides with great momentum, like waves after waves, hitting the reefs of the Tang army of only 8,000 people. But they were unable to shake the enemy's army formation.

Wei Xiaoju couldn't help but murmur in his heart when he saw this situation. Didn't Li Yuanhui transfer his elite Jianghuai veterans? Why is this Tang army of about 10,000 infantry still so difficult to deal with? They can actually fight back and forth with the elite central army of the Yan army? This part of the Tang army soldiers is obviously an elite team that has undergone rigorous training and even participated in many battles. He can see these things at a glance, this spirit and the orderliness of the team, the coordination between the arms. All these show that the Tang army in front of them is not a weak brigade that they can defeat at will.

In fact, Xiao Shizhi led more than 10,000 infantrymen across the river to support Huai County. They were affiliated with the Left and Right Weiwei and had a total of ten Zhechoufu.

The Left and Right Wuwei under Li Yuanhui were formed based on the old Jianghuai army. The Left Weiwei was composed of the old Jianghuai army from Xuzhou and the Xuzhou volunteer army that followed Liu Xuanqing in the uprising, and the Right Weiwei was the predecessor of the Wagang Army.

However, the ten Zhechongfu led by Xiao Shizhi were subordinate to the left and right Weiwei in terms of organization, with five each. However, they were always under the command of General Xiao Shizhi of the Left Wuwei, and they were all elite troops from the central army of Dayan before.

In other words, these 10,000 people were actually the Yan Central Army led by Duan Yihong and Lou Jushi. Many of them were experienced soldiers who were later incorporated into the Tang Army after the Battle of Luoyang. They were elite soldiers, and with Xiao Shizhi's excellent military management and command ability, even if two Zhechongfu were left to guard the northern part of the river bridge, there were only 8,000 soldiers left.

But it was these 8,000 men who faced the 30,000 Northern Yan troops head-on and did not lose the upper hand in a short period of time.

Fighting on the battlefield is not simply a matter of comparing the number of people. Everyone needs to line up and form dense groups to fight against each other.

The Tang army was lined up along the Wei River, so they could only face the enemy on three sides at most. And because of the number of troops, it was impossible for the Yan army to line up all of their troops in a straight line in the direction of attack. This was a way to death. The enemy could break through your formation with just one charge, and once the formation collapsed, it would be a one-sided massacre.

Therefore, the battle between the two sides is actually a competition of the thickness of the lineup to a certain extent.

This means that many soldiers have to wait in the back and cannot go into the battlefield. This is how infantry combat is, with soldiers dying in front and advancing like a wall.

Once the formation was scattered and the other side had an opportunity to take advantage, it would basically be a way to death. The bloody battle between the two sides on the banks of the Wei River lasted from morning to afternoon.

Although the Tang army was under siege, they remained tenacious and inflicted considerable casualties on the enemy, though they also suffered many losses of their own.

As for the Yan army, when the sun was still halfway up the mountain in the afternoon, they suddenly stopped the attack and withdrew their troops.

This was certainly not the Yan army's intention to stop fighting and negotiate peace, but the second batch of reinforcements from the Tang army had arrived.

The commander of the Tang army, Li Yuanhui, led more than 10,000 elite soldiers, which was all the troops that the Tang Dynasty could currently withdraw from the Luoyang direction, to rush to the Huai County battlefield.

Among the 10,000 elite soldiers, there were 5,000 guards of the Qi Palace, 3,000 cavalry, 2,000 crossbowmen, and 3,000 Beiwei troops, which were heavy cavalry.

The 3,600 personal troops under his command included 2,800 infantry and 800 cavalry.

But because these 10,000 people were elite troops directly under Li Yuanhui, all of them, even the crossbowmen and infantrymen, were mounted infantry.

The marching speed is exactly the same as that of cavalry.

The 800 cavalrymen under his command, led by Governor Dou Fengjie, charged straight into the Huai County battlefield at a very fast speed.

Along the way, they also fought with the Yan army's cavalry scouts. The Yan army's commander-in-chief Zhao Xiang sent hundreds of cavalry to intercept them, which allowed the army to withdraw calmly.

The following Beiwei Army, led by Luo Shixiang and Zhang Zhen'e, also arrived at the edge of the battlefield.

In order for the heavy cavalry to go from marching to attacking, they needed to change from walking horses to war horses and re-armor the war horses, which gave the Yan army a chance to catch their breath.

However, when the heavy cavalry remounted and charged the Yan army, which had not yet completely withdrawn from the battlefield, the only choice the Yan army had was to let the alert cavalry hold on and cover the retreat of the infantry.

Three hundred Beiwei army heavy cavalry launched the first wave of charge. The right commander Luo Shixiang, wearing two layers of heavy armor and holding a large spear, rushed into the enemy formation first.

He stabbed a cavalry general of the Yan army to death with one lance, and then he was unstoppable. He took advantage of the momentum of his horse's charge and killed the soldiers of the Yan army one after another with the lance in his hand.

Following closely behind was Zhonglang Jiang Duan Wuda, who also led 300 heavy cavalrymen to charge after Luo Shixiang, forming the second wave. Duan Wuda was a strong man, riding a big horse, wearing heavy armor, holding a long-handled bone whip in each hand, and every time he swung, the Yan army soldiers would break their bones or have their skulls smashed. And while he was waving the bone whip, he kept whistling.

Just like a tiger or a bear, they wantonly vent the beast nature hidden in their bodies on the battlefield, which makes people afraid and dare not face them directly.

At this time, the Yan Army Cavalry Battalion did not want to come to support, but was intercepted by the 3,000 Qi Wang Palace Guard Cavalry led by Li Yuanhui himself.

Li Yuanhui, wearing well-made armor, personally led the charge in the face of arrows and stones. On his left and right were two guards, Xue Wanche and Han Quan. As for Yuchi Jingde, he took the lead with a long spear in his hand, clearing the way for the King of Qi behind him.

Li Yuanhui rode his horse and drew his bow, never missing his target. He himself didn't know why, as soon as he got on the battlefield, his archery skills seemed to be enhanced and he never missed his target. He even felt that his archery speed was a few points faster than usual and his reaction was more sensitive.

He knew that this might be due to the improved state brought about by the surge of adrenaline.

But he felt more that it was some blood in his body burning.

(End of this chapter)