Li Ye's troops were divided into three groups. In the north, Bai Xiaode was ambushing behind the woods five miles away. Wei Boyu, under his banner, led 20,000 troops to march slowly in the northeast to confuse the enemy. He happened to encounter someone who was trying to sneak attack Zitong County.
Five thousand enemy troops surrounded them.
The rear army's arrow rain only fired one round, and the Helong cavalry rushed to kill them. The five thousand archers turned around and retreated in panic, but the cavalry was faster, and the Helong army cavalry rushed into the group of archers like a violent storm.
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Xi Wanli roared loudly, wielded his machete and killed an enemy general who was blocking the road. The head flew ten feet away, and the horse dragged the headless corpse and fled in terror.
"Kill me!"
Xi Wanli led thousands of people into the group of archers. His broadsword flew left and right, dead bodies rolled on his blade, and the Helong Army cavalry launched a bloody massacre among the group of archers.
This was an unsymmetrical unilateral killing. Without the protection of infantry and cavalry, the archers were like sheep without the protection of shepherds and hounds. They could only let the wolves bite wantonly, and the cavalry surrounded and killed, regardless of the bows.
The soldiers howled and begged for mercy, but showed no mercy. The archers were so frightened that they fled in all directions, crying.
Seeing that the archers could not withdraw, General Ni Wenzhong, the leader of the rear army, ignored the carts and shouted anxiously, "Sword and shield soldiers will come up to take over!"
The 10,000 rear troops are also new recruits, the 5,000 archers have collapsed, and the 5,000 sword and shield troops are also in low morale. Although they have conducted night combat training, they have never trained with cavalry in actual combat. The horses of the Helong cavalry galloped so hard that
Their minds were dizzy, and their physical reaction speed and strength were unable to withstand the high-intensity confrontation.
Especially the brutal killing of the archers had already made them frightened, but under the urging of the generals, they were forced to fight bravely. What greeted them was the ruthless killing of nearly four thousand cavalry.
The fierce battle was especially fierce for the Chinese army, and Li Lin barely managed to gather the army.
Li Ye's main force of 50,000 men, who came from the south, has already come forward, and 20,000 cavalrymen, one on the left and one on the right, are attacking the enemy's flanks.
In the melee of the army, the fierce general Li Fei Yuanli wielded a big iron spear with incomparable bravery. His war horse was a divine horse, and his arms had the strength of a thousand catties. The big iron spear danced like an elusive figure. Those who stood in his way were killed, and those who blocked him were killed. He was invincible.
The enemy soldiers were killed and their bodies were everywhere, and the fields were dyed red with blood.
At this time, the horns of Li Lin's army sounded again, and 10,000 spear infantry came to attack from the side. The tens of thousands of troops Li Lin assembled were his elite main force. Although they were ambushed by the Helong army and were in chaos, they did not
They abandoned their armor and fled, but quickly gathered and formed an array as quickly as possible.
The reason why Li Lin dared to sneak attack the Helong Army at night was because his army had undergone long-term night fighting training and had rich experience.
To the north, Li Lin's two blocks of 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 spear infantry finally worked. The cavalry and 10,000 spear infantry resisted desperately. They bought Li Lin's infantry valuable time and relieved Li Lin's army.
Encountered tremendous pressure from enemies from both sides.
To the south, the 40,000 main force of the Helong Army was divided into four armies, the front army was 10,000 people led by Duan Xiushi, the middle army was 10,000 people led by Li Ye himself, there were 10,000 cavalry on the right wing led by Li Fei Yuanli, and 10,000 cavalry on the left wing.
Led by Yu Changyang.
Comparing the number of troops, the two armies are evenly matched, with both having more than 70,000 troops.
But comparing the strength of the army, Li Ye's army was far superior. He had 50,000 cavalry, while the opponent only had 5,000 cavalry, and the rest were all infantry.
But the Helong Army also had a big weakness, that is, the main force that Li Ye brought this time was not the elite. The main force stayed at Longyou to prevent the imperial court from taking the opportunity to attack Longyou.
Most of the troops he brought were recruits recruited last year. They were basically participating in actual combat for the first time. Their combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of the Helong veterans. This is an undeniable fact.
If Li Ye had brought an elite army, Li Lin's army would have been wiped out long ago.
Fortunately, the coach Li Ye deployed well. The Helong Army was waiting for work and was fully prepared. However, Li Lin's army responded hastily, with chaotic formation deployment and unable to exert its best combat effectiveness. Although Li Lin's main force responded tenaciously, it was always in a passive situation.
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Li Ye himself did not participate in the battle. He was the commander-in-chief. He had to command the overall situation. If he participated in the battle, the entire Helong Army would lose its soul and could only form separate formations without coordination. He was guarded by 3,000 cavalry in the east.
Command the army to fight face to face.
At this time, Li Ye received a report from the peripheral scouts and found that the enemy commander's escort troops on the northeast side were very weak. This was a loophole in Li Lin's army's back.
Li Ye immediately ordered: "Order Yu Changyang's left-wing cavalry to attack the enemy commander from the northeast!"
The order was conveyed to Yu Changyang. Under the moonlight, Yu Changyang led 5,000 cavalry to bypass the obstruction of the enemy infantry and attack the northeast side of Li Lin's personal guard. There should be 5,000 troops guarding here, but Li was not Yuan Li's right wing.
The cavalry and Duan Xiushi's front army attacked too hard, and Li Lin's army all pressed forward, leaving a huge defensive hole in the back.
The sudden attack of the Helong Army's cavalry caused Li Lin's personal guards to be in chaos. They could not withstand the fierce attack of the Helong Army's cavalry. The general's guard shouted anxiously: "Your Majesty, retreat to the west!"
Li Lin wailed in his heart. He knew that as long as he retreated, his soldiers would collapse, but it was impossible not to retreat. The Helong Army cavalry had already reached seventy steps away, and arrows were shooting at them like dense rain.
At this time, his chief adviser Xue Yu screamed, and a stray arrow hit him in the left chest. Xue Yu fell off his horse and died tragically. Li Lin was so shocked that his eyes widened, and he shouted: "Protect the other military advisors.
"
The Helong Army cavalry had already reached fifty steps away. It was extremely critical. Li Taiqing shouted in horror: "Your Majesty, it's important to save your life, retreat quickly!"
Li Lin felt extremely painful in his heart. He looked at the eastern sky. It was turning white and the sky was getting dim. His army had held on until almost dawn, but in the end they were still no match for the Helong army.
Li Lin gritted his teeth and shouted, "Retreat!"
Li Lin's army quickly retreated to the southwest. After a fierce battle in the middle of the night, Li Ye's army finally won this decisive battle. He immediately ordered the army to pursue it.
The Helong army pursued and killed Li Lin's army all the way, killing Li Lin's army with corpses everywhere, and countless people knelt down and surrendered. Li Lin led thousands of remaining soldiers and fled back to Chengdu.
Li Ye did not immediately go south to pursue Li Lin, but instead sent a large number of scouts to monitor the movements of Li Lin's army. Li Lin's main force was wiped out, which actually declared Li Lin's demise. He was just lingering on.
In this battle, more than 57,000 prisoners of war were captured, more than 10,000 were killed, and the Helong army also lost more than 4,000 people.
On the third day, Li Ye received the news that Li Lin and his remaining army abandoned Chengdu and sailed south along the Minjiang River in 300 large ships.
Li Ye immediately ordered Bai Xiaode to lead 20,000 cavalry to continue chasing along the way. He left the surrendered troops to Wei Boyu, while he led an army of 50,000 to advance towards Chengdu. Three days later, Li Ye led an army to Chengdu.
Cui Yuan, the governor of Yizhou, led dozens of officials to welcome Li Ye outside the city.
Cui Yuan did not think of his surrender. He was the governor of Yizhou appointed by the Supreme Emperor. He himself was a member of the Supreme Emperor and did not belong to Li Lin's Jiannan Jiedu Mansion.
Moreover, the emperor's imperial edict only found Li Lin guilty, not others. More importantly, the Bashu states have always been the territory of the Tang Dynasty and have never been independent, just like Helong also belongs to the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
However, Cui Yuan and officials from all over Bashu faced a severe choice: to be loyal to Qi King Li Ye or to be loyal to the imperial court?
This is related to whether they can continue to stay in office or whether they will be directly dismissed by Li Ye. After all, they are facing Li Ye's army, not the imperial army.