At this critical moment, a cannon suddenly sounded in the government army camp, and several camp gates opened wide. A leading general wearing a red robe and golden armor, led thousands of elite cavalry and suddenly rushed out of the camp. It was the commander-in-chief of the imperial army, former general Dai Luanxiang, who led the troops and personally led the troops to attack the enemy.
However, when the Youyan army changed its formation, there was an inevitable moment of chaos. The crossbowmen and infantry were mixed together, hindering each other and unable to put up an effective resistance.
Qiu Yizhi could see clearly from behind the battle formation that Dai Luanxiang had already anticipated that when he was in a field battle, the crossbowmen would be in the front and would not be in a good position to attack, so he would definitely change his formation. That was why when he was about to fail, he made a desperate move and personally led his troops to intercept and kill him.
It was not easy for the Han Dynasty to obtain military horses, and the imperial cavalry were the elite among the elite. With the commander-in-chief Dai Luanxiang leading the way personally, the morale was high. The timing of the assault was also extremely accurate, so they broke into the Youyan army's line in one fell swoop and slaughtered the crossbowmen and strong soldiers who were not protected by heavy armor.
Qiu Yizhi, who was commanding from his horse, was horrified when he saw this and hurriedly passed down orders, ordering the front-row crossbowmen and light-armored infantry to quickly disperse backwards. He ordered General Wei Hu, the general who was responsible for suppressing the rebellion, to lead the heavy infantry of the Dangshi Battalion in the back row to move forward immediately, and with their thick armor and sharp blades, they could contain the cavalry led by Dai Luanxiang. He ordered Zheng Sen to lead his cavalry to quickly attack from the right side of the army and outflank Dai Luanxiang's left wing.
Upon receiving the order, Wei Hu and Zheng Sen immediately led their soldiers and acted according to Qiu Yizi's instructions. In the blink of an eye, they surrounded Dai Luanxiang, who had advanced alone, in the center of the city.
Qiu Yizi felt relieved when he saw this scene, because he knew that it was a small matter to destroy 10,000 or 20,000 imperial guards here. If he could capture or kill the commander-in-chief Dai Luanxiang alive, then there would be no rival for his adoptive father in the whole Henan Province, or even in the whole Han Dynasty. This could be regarded as the first merit in suppressing the rebellion.
Just when Qiu Yizi was feeling secretly proud, another cannon shot was heard in the government army camp. Thousands of infantrymen rushed out of the camp gate howling and attacked the flanks and rear of the Youyan cavalry who were attacking the government army's flanks and rear.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Qiu Yizi personally gathered the lightly-armored soldiers who had just retreated slightly from the front line, turned around and re-entered the battle.
In a moment, the imperial guards and the Youyan army were fighting in a melee. At this moment, no matter how sophisticated the strategy and tactics were, they were no longer effective, and the war returned to its most primitive nature of killing. Every individual in this killing game, no matter how noble or humble, was just a tiny steel tooth on the gears of two huge meat grinders, fighting and hurting each other, just to see the red sun rising on the horizon tomorrow.
The two armies had been fighting for a whole morning and were extremely hungry. However, the soldiers in the battlefield thought that the battle had already entered a fierce stage and if they relaxed a little, they would be like wheat grains between two millstones, and would be turned into powder in an instant!
At this tense moment, Zheng Rong, the King of Youyan, who was holding the rear, came running quickly from behind the battlefield, protected by countless personal guards.
Zheng Rong did not charge into the battle formation. Surrounded by guards, he walked to a place only five or six steps away from the battlefield, cleared his throat, and shouted loudly: "Youyan army, listen to my command and stop immediately. Marshal Dai on the opposite side, will you listen to me?"
Zheng Rong spoke with full of energy, and he was born with an awe-inspiring majesty that could not be ignored, which stood out particularly in the monotonous shouting and killing. With this shout, not only did the Youyan army stop the simple action of waving their weapons, but even the imperial army stopped fighting and stood still, not daring to relax easily.
Dai Luanxiang, who was also fighting in the battle, heard Zheng Rong's shout and saw that the Youyan soldiers had indeed stopped fighting. He also ordered his guards to rest for a while and asked loudly, "Dai Luanxiang is here. I wonder if the prince has any advice for me?"
Zheng Rong just shouted, his voice a little hoarse, and after a few dry coughs, he replied: "Marshal Dai is a man who is well versed in the art of war. The war has reached a stalemate. If we continue to kill each other, it will only increase casualties and is meaningless. How about you and I withdraw our troops and return to the camp and fight another day?"
Dai Luanxiang also knew that even if he fought until dark, he would not gain any advantage. Even if he won, it would only be a tragic victory of killing one thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of his own. Therefore, he agreed without hesitation: "Your Majesty is kind-hearted! In this case, we will call it a day and ask for advice from Your Majesty another day!"
After hearing this, Zheng Rong nodded and said, "Okay, okay." He then ordered the soldier beside him who was responsible for delivering the message to sound the bronze arrows, instructing the Youyan soldiers to form a battle line and return to the camp.
At the same time, the sound of metal knocking was heard from the imperial guards camp opposite.
Upon hearing the order, the officers and soldiers of the two armies, under the organization of their respective officers, supported their wounded comrades, carried the bodies of the dead, left the battle line, formed a battle formation, and silently returned to the camp.
The empty wilderness returned to peace again, leaving only a pool of blood, telling the bloody story that happened in this wilderness not long ago.
King Youyan Zheng Rong and former general Dai Luanxiang personally covered the rear of their army. When they saw that their troops had retreated safely, they saluted to each other on their horses.
Dai Luanxiang said, "Your Majesty, please do not blame me for boasting. In today's battle, even if the Youyan army is as strong as this, there are probably no more than ten generals in the world who can beat me so badly. I see that Your Majesty is just watching the battle from behind the formation today, but I don't know which famous general under your command is this. Can you introduce him to me?"
After hearing this, Zheng Rong laughed loudly, then waved Qiu Yizhi over and introduced him to Dai Luanxiang: "The famous general that Marshal Dai mentioned is my son." He then said to Qiu Yizhi, "Quick! Why don't you come and meet Marshal Dai?"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi hurriedly rode forward, bowed and said, "I am Qiu Yizi, thank you for your guidance today!"
Dai Luanxiang looked up and saw that Qiu Yizi was only in his early twenties. He also thought that the one who directed today's thrilling fight was this young man in front of him, and he couldn't help but sighed: "Young people are formidable, young people are formidable!"
Then they said a few words to each other, bowed to each other on their horses, and then turned their horses back to the camp.
Qiu Yizhi followed Zheng Rong back to the camp and ordered his officers to count the casualties. Soon, the results of the count were reported - more than 1,300 soldiers were killed in today's battle, more than 800 were seriously injured and could not fight again, and the rest were slightly injured. There were also 2,000 to 3,000 people. The casualties on the government side were estimated to be around 5,000. Compared with the two, it was actually a draw.
After receiving the inventory results, Qiu Yizi hurried to meet Zheng Rong and handed him the report.
Zheng Rong took the battle report with a few short strings of numbers and hesitated for a long time before asking Qiu Yizi, "How is it? What do you think of today's battle?"
Qiu Yizhi let out a long sigh and said, "Dai Luanxiang is indeed worthy of his reputation. Yizhi used a sophisticated combat method that our army has practiced countless times. With just a little contact, he was able to discover the weakness of the crossbowmen who lack protection, and led the cavalry to attack at the right time, turning defeat into victory. It is really rare!"
Qiu Yizhi was still unsatisfied when he finished speaking, so he continued, "If it were an ordinary army, they would have lost their morale after being shot by a few volleys of crossbowmen. Even if they could survive, they would not be able to withstand the attack from both sides of our elite soldiers and cavalry. Two days ago, the government army was completely defeated by our surprise attack. Two days later, with only one more Dai Luanxiang, they were able to continue fighting with our army. It can be seen that Dai Luanxiang, in addition to his military prowess, also has a great reputation among the soldiers. Otherwise, how could he command a large army as effectively as controlling his own hands and feet?"
Zheng Rong listened, nodded with a smile, and said, "I didn't expect that Yizhi would gain so much from such a hasty battle. Don't be scared by Dai Luanxiang. Do you dare to fight him again?"
Qiu Yizhi shook his head and said, "Father, please forgive my rudeness. This is not a matter of daring or not. Dai Luanxiang is so strong that even if our army can defeat him, it will be a hard-fought victory. Although we can defeat Dai Luanxiang, we are unable to send troops to attack the Central Plains. But the imperial court has many soldiers and generals after all, and they can send a large army to encircle and suppress us in a blink of an eye. By then, we will be completely passive."
Qiu Yizhi's words made Zheng Rong silent. But Zhongli Kuang lifted the curtain with his left hand and waved his folding fan with his right hand, walked into the central army tent and said, "Yizhi's words are quite reasonable. I have to say something unpleasant. Although we have a righteous cause, we are still just a group of rebels in the eyes of the court. We can't afford to lose, and we can't afford to delay any longer!"
Zheng Rong sighed and said, "How could I not understand what Mr. Zhongli and Qiu Yizhi said? However, I can't get around Dai Luanxiang, and everything else is just empty talk."
Zhongli Kuang has always treated Zheng Rong as a literary friend. He did not stand stiffly to answer him like Qiu Yizhi did. Instead, he found a chair and sat down, saying slowly: "Your Highness, you used the word 'around' well! Dai Luanxiang is not the court, and not everyone in the court is Dai Luanxiang. The Art of War says: 'To win every battle is not the best of the best; to defeat the enemy without fighting is the best of the best.' To defeat Dai Luanxiang, there is no need to fight him on the battlefield!"
When Zheng Rong heard this, he knew that the resourceful Zhongli Kuang had a brilliant plan in mind, but was just playing it off, so he stood up and bowed, saying, "Sir, you must have a good plan. Please feel free to enlighten me!"
Zhongli Kuang hurriedly stood up and returned the greeting, saying, "I don't deserve it. I just want to ask how the prince saved Dai Luanxiang back then?"
Zheng Rong slowly sat in the chair, frowning in thought, while recalling: "That happened during the time of the late Emperor Shenzong. I remember it was the 14th year of Emperor Shenzong. That year, the Turks suffered a severe drought, so they went south from the Hetao Road through Shanxi and Shaanxi. I remember that the governor of Shanxi and Shaanxi at that time was Li Jun, who was the most incompetent and cowardly. When he heard that the Turks were attacking, he fled to Dasan Pass alone. The Shanxi and Shaanxi armies were leaderless and quickly retreated. Only Dai Luanxiang, who was only a captain at the time, led his troops to resist tenaciously, which bought three days. So that the late emperor could send me to reorganize the army and defeat the Turkish army at Dasan Pass to prevent the people of the capital from suffering." (To be continued)