Seeing that the Longmen Formation finally collapsed, the five Qin armies in the formation were relieved.
As Zhang Liao's pathfinder, the average casualties of the five Qin army cavalry that entered the formation were more than two-fifths, and the casualties of Ju Yi's troops reached even one-half.
Only nearly 6,000 of the 10,000 cavalry were left, and almost all of the generals were injured, even the gods of war Zhang Kui and Huang Tianxiang.
This was the result of a desperate battle between Taishi Ci and Zhang Kui. If five generals who were not strong enough were replaced, the number of casualties would have been doubled.
The five Qin armies exploring the formation bore the greatest pressure in this battle, attracted the most energy from the Tang army, and suffered the greatest casualties.
To put it bluntly, Zhang Liao was able to break the Longmen Formation, and the 10,000-strong army of Taishi Ci, Zhang Kui and others should take the lead.
Under such huge casualties, the Qin army's cavalry in the formation could no longer hold on. If the Longmen formation could hold on for half an hour, they would definitely collapse on their own, but fortunately they were able to hold on until the Longmen formation collapsed first.
After a brief moment of relief, the five Qin armies in the formation went crazy.
In the past, their mission was to assist and create opportunities for the four armies outside the formation. Therefore, when facing the Tang army, they avoided fighting whenever possible and mainly focused on rushing and killing. But now that the Longmen formation has collapsed, they finally deliberately and proactively fought back.
Under the leadership of Taishi Ci, Zhang Kui and other five generals, the remaining 6,000 cavalry fought desperately towards the formation, hoping to kill Li Shimin for the first time. However, the previous battle had consumed too much energy, so they were defeated by Arthur and
Five hundred heavily armored female riders arrived first.
After Arthur's 500 heavily armored female cavalry broke away from Zhang Liao's large army, they were like wild horses that were out of control. Relying on their fast horses, armor and sharp swords, they rampaged through the Longmen Formation, killing thousands of severely injured Tang troops.
count.
Before the Longmen Formation collapsed, Arthur led 500 heavy cavalry to attack the center of the formation. He was the first to rush to the command platform of the formation and captured "Li Shimin" alive before he committed suicide.
Seeing that he was prevented from committing suicide, the substitute quickly shouted: "I, Li Shimin, would rather die than be humiliated." After saying that, he was about to bite his tongue and commit suicide, but was still stopped by Arthur, who had sharp eyes and quick hands.
After knocking the substitute unconscious with a knife, Arthur said apologetically: "You are a hero. Death on the battlefield is the best destination for you, but the war is not over yet, so I can't help you."
After saying this, Arthur lifted up his stand-in for the unconscious Li Shimin and shouted to the Tang troops below who had gathered to rescue him: "Li Shimin has been captured by me. Those who surrender will not be killed."
The heavily armored female cavalry also shouted: "Those who surrender will not be killed."
The soldiers of the Tang Army who came around saw that their lord had been defeated, and they no longer had any fighting spirit in their hearts. Except for a few people who laid down their weapons and surrendered, most of them collapsed and shouted and wanted to escape, but they didn't know that this was actually helping Ya.
Se spread the news.
Soon the news that Li Shimin was captured alive spread throughout the battlefield.
Although the Longmen Formation was defeated by the Qin army, the Tang army was not completely defeated and still had the strength to fight again, but it was very powerless against the Qin army's cavalry.
Now the news that the lord was captured alive spread throughout the army, which dealt a fatal blow to the morale of the Tang army.
At this moment, the Qin army shouted the slogan "Those who surrender will not be killed."
Facing the wolf-like and tiger-like Qin army, the Tang army, whose morale had fallen to the bottom, still had the courage to continue to use its sword. When they heard that the Qin army did not kill them all, but allowed them to surrender, they naturally would not let go of this rare opportunity to surrender.
Nearly half of the Tang army threw away their weapons and chose to surrender to the Qin army, while the other half chose to resist stubbornly. Of course, these people were all killed.
"Go down with the order and those who refuse to surrender will be killed without mercy." Zhang Liao ordered with a cold face.
"promise."
A massacre also officially began.
Not long after the soldiers left, Arthur and Qin Ji escorted "Li Shimin" back to Zhang Liao.
Seeing that Zhang Liao's armor was half broken and he looked extremely embarrassed, both Arthur and Qin Ji were stunned. Then Qin Ji asked: "General, what are you doing?"
"nothing."
Zhang Liao said a little coldly, how could he say in front of so many people that he was unlucky and bumped into Mashanwei and was almost beaten to death.
Seeing that Zhang Liao didn't answer, Qin Ji didn't ask any more questions.
Arthur thought that Zhang Liao would be very happy if she captured Li Shimin alive, but he did not expect Zhang Liao's reaction to be extremely cold.
"Kill him." Zhang Liao said calmly.
"What?"
Both Arthur and Qin Ji exclaimed.
This was Li Shimin, the king of the Tang Dynasty. He killed such an important task so hastily?
After seeing the expressions of Arthur and Qin Ji, Zhang Liao immediately explained: "He is not Li Shimin, the real Li Shimin has escaped.
General Zhang He in the west discovered the traces of Li Shimin and others. The real Li Shimin and Li Tang's senior officials had escaped from the Longmen Formation under the protection of three great masters and a group of masters. The general had already photographed the two generals Xiao Yan and Huang Tianhua leading a group.
Wan Tieqi went to give chase."
Arthur's face looked a little ugly and said: "No wonder he would kill himself if he found him. Even if a famous general like Li Shimin died, he would not kill himself, but would die on the battlefield."
When Zhang Liao heard this, he quickly asked: "General Arthur, you said that when you found this substitute, he was about to commit suicide?"
"That's right."
"hiss……"
Zhang Liao suddenly took a breath of cold air and said with lingering fear: "Li Shimin is trying to use a substitute to commit suicide to inspire Tang Ju's desire to fight to the death. Tang Jun doesn't know whether this 'Li Shimin' is true or not, so he will not commit suicide when he sees him."
Will believe our army's words of persuasion to surrender.
General Arthur, fortunately you prevented this man from committing suicide, otherwise our army would have had a hard battle."
Arthur was stunned for a moment. He had no idea that his random actions would have such a big impact on the entire formation.
"By the way, General Arthur, the Longmen Formation has been broken, and you are no longer needed to participate in the battle here. You go west to support General Xiao Yan.
Li Shimin not only has three great masters, but also the powerful general Ma Shanwei. With just the two generals Xiao Yan and Huang Tianhua, even if they can catch up, they probably won't be able to kill Li Shimin.
I have sent General Zhang Kui to support, now you can come with us."
After hearing Zhang Liao's words, Arthur immediately said: "No."
After Arthur left, Zhang Liao personally commanded the army to further encircle and suppress the remnant Tang army. It took less than an hour to completely stabilize the situation, and only a few stragglers escaped.
Of the 50,000 Tang troops who deployed the Longmen Formation, 27,000 died in direct combat, 20,000 surrendered and were captured, and only about 3,000 escaped.
But as infantry deserters from the Tang Army, even if they escaped temporarily, how far could they escape? It was only a matter of time before they were captured.
Although Zhang Liao wiped out 50,000 Tang troops in this battle, he also paid a heavy price. In addition to the 10,000 cavalrymen who explored the formation and 4,000 died in battle, the 30,000 troops in the final attack also lost 3,000, totaling losses.
There were 7,000 soldiers, including 1,000 female soldiers of the Detachment of Women.
Looking at the casualty report, Zhang Liao clenched his fists and said sadly: "If it weren't for the Longmen Formation, our army's casualties would not have exceeded 3,000."
Just one formation caused the Qin army to pay twice as many casualties. This price was not small, but it was still nothing compared to the results achieved.
You must know that the 50,000 Tang troops who were completely wiped out by Zhang Liao were the most capable elite troops of the Tang army. They followed Li Shimin in his expeditions east and west and were rarely defeated. Their combat power was not as strong as the main force of the Qin army, otherwise Li Shimin would not have brought them here.
Luoyang was completely wiped out by Zhang Liao in one battle.
It is conceivable that the Tang army will be severely damaged in the future, and its offensive and defensive capabilities will be greatly reduced.