Chapter 450 Direct Attack
The battle in Luoyang was in full swing, and Li Er, who had taken over the power of the court from his father Li Yuan, was not idle either.

The defeat of the Tang Dynasty made the Turks begin to stir again.

The northern part of Guanzhong was plundered by the Turks again. Li Er ordered Zhaojun Wang Li Huaizhen and Qiaoguo Gong Chai Rong to lead more than 10,000 people to defend the important passes, but Guanzhong was still plundered on a large scale.

Even on the city walls of Chang'an, one could see the dust raised by the Turkic cavalry. A Turkic cavalry unit even rushed into the Forbidden Garden, but was expelled by Li Er himself.

But this situation still made him feel extremely humiliated, and he vowed to avenge himself.

Yewang is located not far from Chenguan, where more than 20,000 Tang troops are stationed.

Li Sanlang, the King of Jin of the Tang Dynasty, brought more than 10,000 of his own troops and the elite guards of 15 Zhechoufu, and rushed from Hedong through the passage between Zhongtiao Mountain and Wangwu Mountain.

There are only a few dozen miles between Wen County and Yewang County, so both armies are on high alert.

Liu Xuanji did not want to fight Li Sanlang in Hanoi, because the composition of the army under his command was complex and he was far from being able to control it as he pleased.

But Li Sanlang had more than 20,000 elite Tang troops under his command. They had not experienced the Battle of Baigou, and their organization and command system were quite complete.

The Tang army was not very clear about the strength of the Yan army, so a stalemate and maintaining the status quo was acceptable to both armies.

Therefore, the situation in Hanoi was that both sides were keeping their troops on hold, resulting in a strategic stalemate.

In the Luoyang area on the south bank of the Yellow River, southeast of Mang Mountain, Li Yuanhui personally led 40,000 Tang infantry and cavalry to fight against 60,000 Yan troops.

On the Tang side, Li Yuanhui led 8,000 cavalry and infantry from Jinyong City, together with Murong Sanzang's troops and Zhao Da's old troops.

A total of more than 20,000 people served as the left-wing army.

Chen Zhen was in charge of the right wing army, and Liu Yuanqing led 5,000 men in his own army as the vanguard, marching along the bank of the Yellow River. The two armies advanced in parallel, forming a horn-shaped formation.

After the Yan army received the news that the Tang army was dispatched, Dongfang Di and Yang Kan quickly reached an agreement. Fu Hongzhi, one of the twelve army commanders, led more than 10,000 soldiers to stay in the camp and defend the fortress. Dongfang Di led 45,000 soldiers to fight against the Tang army in the direction of Jin Yong. Yang Kan led 3,000 cavalry to ambush behind the army as a reserve force in case of emergency and as a surprise force, waiting for an opportunity to act.

The two sides deployed their battle arrays south of Mangshan Mountain. Li Yuanhui and his personal guards stopped on a high point and looked at the battlefield. Seeing the endless array of troops on the opposite side, he could not help but sigh, "The troops of Hebei are well-arranged. They are truly a rare elite force."

At this time, an attendant said, "Although the Hebei troops look well-organized, the gaps between the ranks are very large. It is obvious that there are many new recruits among them who are not familiar with the military formation. So I think that although the Yan army is large in number, it is definitely no match for the Tang army under your command."

Li Yuanhui was surprised when he heard this, because he had also discovered this problem and could even guess the reason behind it.

It was probably because of the rapid expansion of the Yan army after the great victory that the overall combat effectiveness actually decreased instead of increased.

But even so, there are enough veterans among them to lead the new recruits.

But it is not easy for a sixteen-year-old boy who has never been to the battlefield to see this.

The attendant who was speaking was named Duan Shao, with the courtesy name Xiaoxian. He was a Xianbei and a descendant of the Lingzhi Duan clan. His grandfather was Duan Yihong and his father was Duan Wuchen, both of whom died at the hands of Murong Yang.

Because of the relationship between Madam Duan and Duan Wuda, he was chosen as the personal guard of the King of Qi. This was his first time to go to the battlefield.

But just from what he said, Li Yuanhui concluded that this boy was a talented general.

But Duan Xiaoxian's fourth uncle Duan Wuda hurriedly scolded him: "How dare you, kid, talk about military affairs in front of the king?"

Li Yuanhui laughed and said, "Hahaha, why are you angry, Wu Da? This is your Duan family's talented young man. In the future, the only one who can inherit the achievements of King Lingzhi is this kid."

Duan Wuda was a little surprised to hear this. His father was a pillar of the country in the previous dynasty and was in charge of the military affairs of the country. The Duan family was also a first-class prestigious family in the Former Yan Dynasty, second only to the royal family.

Although they are still valued in the Tang Dynasty, and the Duan brothers are entrusted with important tasks, they are just trying to maintain their family's reputation, but they never thought that they could revive their family's reputation. But now Li Yuanhui praises his nephew Duan Xiaoxian so much, which may mean that he really thinks highly of his potential. After all, he has known Li Yuanhui for at least ten years, and what he said is always accurate.

While Duan Wuda was fantasizing, Li Yuanhui's first military order had already been issued.

General Murong Sanzang of the Right Guard led 6,000 men of his own army as the vanguard and began to advance.

The team under Murong Sanzang's command was the old roots of Wagang, and their earlier predecessor was the rebels of Qi County in Dayan. They were also elite troops that had fought for many years.

Last year, he followed Qingzhou Governor Li Yaoshi into Hebei and played a number of key roles.

Among the 6,000-man team, 2,000 were cavalry and 4,000 were infantry.

The cavalry was commanded by Murong Sanzang's uncle, Li Yuanhui's old acquaintance Chen Dengyun, and former Wagang warrior Qi Biao. The infantry was commanded by Murong Sanzang himself.

Four thousand infantrymen advanced like a wall, arranged in neat formation. Chen Dengyun and Qi Biao each led a thousand cavalrymen and slowly advanced on both sides of the infantry.

As for the Yan army, the leader was Han Gui, one of the twelve army commanders. He led 10,000 infantry and cavalry as the front. Looking at the Tang army of Murong Sanzang in front of him, he said to his left and right, "This elite Tang army is marching in an orderly manner and the team is neat. The commander must be a good commander. Our team has a large number of new recruits and cannot fight for a long time. Once the battle is delayed too long, the team will definitely have problems. So we must quickly defeat the current Tang army. Send a message to the whole army to defeat the enemy at all costs!"

Under the cover of archers, the Yan army took the lead in launching an attack. Although there were a large number of new recruits, they were no different from the old soldiers at this moment. They all walked forward with their spears held high. The archers behind them strung the bows and waited for military orders with their arrows in hand.

The Tang army's infantry did much the same, marching in formation.

The distance between the two sides continued to close, and when it reached 120 steps, archers from both sides began to shoot at the same time.

Arrows fell like rain, but could not cause any harm to the soldiers wearing heavy armor. Most of the arrows could only make a small dent in the iron helmets of the heavily armored infantrymen and then bounced off.

As the distance between the two sides got closer, by the time of the last round of volleys, some arrows were able to penetrate armor.

But then, the spears of both sides were able to touch each other. As the military order began, the soldiers of both sides formed a tight formation and began to stab each other. The infantry formation was like two walls hitting everything.
The armor of the heavy infantry had very little protection against spear piercing. There was no space to dodge in the queue, so the front-line soldiers had almost no chance of survival. The spears penetrated the armor and no matter where they pierced, the abdomen, thighs, or chest, blood gushed out like a spring, flowing on the ground and gathering into streams. The dead on both sides piled up like a mountain.

The intensity of this battle reached its maximum from the very beginning.

The cavalry on both wings also got entangled and fought together.

However, the commanders of both sides did not take the next step when the front armies were engaged in a fierce battle.

They are all waiting for the other side to make the first move.

Han Gui's more than 10,000 men and Murong Sanzang's 6,000 men actually fought to a draw.

Dongfang Di felt that this situation was not good, because when the number of people did not have an advantage, it meant that there might be a small gap in the combat effectiveness of the two sides. If they continued to persist, their side might not be able to hold on first.

So Dongfang Di, who lost his patience first, sent a message to Hulu Mingyue of the left army, ordering him to lead the cavalry to encircle and attack the front and rear of the Tang army.

After receiving the military order, Hulu Mingyue did not dare to delay and immediately led his more than 6,000 cavalry to move forward.

When Li Yuanhui saw the Yan army taking action, he looked at the dust raised by the Yan cavalry in front of him on the right. Based on its height and thickness, he knew that the cavalry of the left army was coming out in full force.

He then ordered the Shenwu Army, the Xiaoguo Army, and the Guard Army, a total of 4,000 cavalry, to advance and intercept the enemy.

He led the remaining 4,000 cavalrymen and attacked the main camp of the Yan army.

To defeat a large force with a small force, one must be brave and courageous.

(End of this chapter)