Chapter 1098: Reward for the Enemy Leader

In the face of absolute strength, any tricks will become useless.

As the Qi army launched another attack, the situation on the battlefield verified this point very well. As the Qi army's thousands of divisions and brigades carried soil and firewood and advanced forward, the Tongdi River, which could have slightly blocked the enemy's momentum, was quickly filled up, allowing the Qi army to smoothly advance northward.

At this time, the Wei army was in high spirits because of the first victory on the right road. When they saw the enemy army coming again in large numbers, they were quite nervous, but not too frightened.

Li Taifang, who was in the central army tent, learned some enemy information from the captured enemy general Qi Lianmeng, and was told that the enemy army was coming again in large numbers. He climbed up from the plateau and looked down, and saw that the enemy army did not take the approach of a large number of elite cavalry charging straight ahead as before, but a steady advancement of infantry and cavalry. Although the military momentum lacked a bit of the momentum of taking the lead, it seemed more stable and solid.

Li Tai knew that it would be difficult to force the enemy to retreat this time, and he still needed to rely on conventional tactics to stop the enemy's advance. So he ordered Tian Hong, the central army, to lead 5,000 infantry and cavalry to attack first to prevent the enemy from setting up a stable stronghold on the north bank, while he led the rest of the army to set out from behind, while continuing to reinforce the front line and personally watching the battle.

The river dam built by the Qi army was several feet wide, and the main force followed this. Since the newly laid dam was not yet solid, the cavalry troops were not the starting lineup. The infantry formations first advanced northward, and after arriving at the north bank, they relied on the dam to advance outward layer by layer.

As the rear troops continued to pour in, these Qi army soldiers quickly formed an elliptical battle formation at the north end of the dam, and this battle formation continued to expand outward, and soon reached a radius of several miles.

Tian Hongxian led the light cavalry to charge at the enemy formation. The knights formed a more conventional arrow-shaped battle formation. Several elite soldiers at the front rushed in with horse lances in their hands, as if a sharp blade was stabbing straight into the enemy formation.

Although the soldiers in the infantry formation of the Qi army also tried their best to resist the enemy with swords and shields, the natural gap in combat effectiveness between the infantry and cavalry made it difficult for them to resist the huge momentum of the combined forces of the enemy. Soon, several people were stabbed on the spot, causing a tiny crack in the formation. The knights of the Wei army rushed into the formation along this crack and waved their swords and lances to try to tear the gap open.

However, the elliptical battle formation became thicker and thicker as it went deeper into the inside. After breaking through several layers of the outer layer, the inside was almost crowded with people. Such a dense crowd was certainly not conducive to the counterattack of the Qi army, but it also caused great obstruction to the charge of the Wei army. The surging crowd in front directly formed a tough and unbreakable flesh and blood barrier, making it difficult for the Wei army knights who rushed in here to get close.

Once the light cavalry soldiers lost their mobility, especially in this dense enemy battle formation, the consequences would undoubtedly be devastating. So soon, the enemy soldiers on the side swung their swords and chopped them. The Wei army knights were trapped in the siege. Although they tried their best to resist a few swords, they could not avoid the end of the man and the horse being killed under the chaotic swords.

The forward momentum was blocked, not only was it difficult to break through the enemy formation, but more than a dozen brave vanguards were directly lost. Tian Hong also felt that this enemy formation was difficult to shake, so he immediately led his troops to retreat temporarily, and then formed a column on the side, cutting and sweeping along the outer perimeter of the enemy formation, rushing back and forth.

Although this would inevitably be blocked by the enemy's arrows, it also effectively curbed the expansion of the enemy's formation. The Qi army soldiers on the periphery saw the enemy's butcher knife repeatedly passing in front of them, and their comrades around them were constantly killed on the spot. They were terrified and hesitated to move forward. They even couldn't help but retreat into the formation, making the formation quite chaotic.

However, the number of cavalry of the Wei army was relatively small after all. The right division brigade alone sent more than 5,000 cavalry, and the number of cavalry in the central army was only 5,000 to 6,000.

At present, the cavalry soldiers led by Tian Hong in the battle were less than 3,000. Before the enemy's formation was fully opened, the reciprocating roaming and killing could still be slightly blocked, but it could not be completely encircled. The enemy formation previously expanded outward in layers with a rhythm, but now it is extending outward while the Wei cavalry cannot block it in time. The formation formed is no longer the previous elliptical formation, but has become an irregular shape protruding everywhere.

With the advantage of military strength, the range of the Qi army's formation is still slowly expanding. As the military force expands outward, the internal chaos is alleviated. Under the cover of the outer soldiers, the elite soldiers in the formation began to wear heavy armor, and then they lined up the soldiers in front and advanced forward fully armed until they reached the front of the battle formation.

At this time, another team of elite cavalry of the Wei army rushed from the side, but these heavily armored infantrymen were not afraid at all. Seeing the enemy cavalry galloping, they swung their swords and shouted angrily: "Kill!"

The spears of the Wei army knights rubbed against the heavy armor of the Qi army armored soldiers, but did not cause any damage to the enemy. Instead, they were cut and split open because they had no time to dodge the enemy's swords, and their flesh and blood were scattered all over the ground!

Speaking of sophisticated armor and weapons, it has never been exclusive to the Western Wei army. On the contrary, the armed level of the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi has always been better than that of the Western Wei. The reason why Li Tai was able to develop rapidly and become powerful in the military was because he looted the Jinyang Palace of the Eastern Wei in his early years and captured many skilled craftsmen.

This war has already penetrated deep into the heartland of Northern Qi. Naturally, there will be no hiding when it comes to this decisive battle. The best armed forces will be deployed. As these heavily armored infantrymen joined the battle, the situation on the battlefield changed again.

When the cavalrymen of the Wei army fought with these heavily armored infantrymen, they were like waves hitting the reefs. They were crushed to pieces by the collision, but they could not shake these elite soldiers who were fully armed with heavy armor.

With these heavily armored elites as the vanguard, the Qi army advanced more smoothly, and the formation expanded rapidly again. Soon, tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry were assembled on the north bank of Tongdi River.

Li Tai saw that the troops in front of him were unsuccessful in blocking the enemy, and several attacks only increased casualties, so he ordered the troops in front to withdraw to the main formation, and then used small artillery carts and catapults to bombard and counterattack the dense battle formations protected by heavy armor.

Since the enemy's formation was still very dense, the counterattack was quite effective. Each cannonball could hit the target directly, and it would cause casualties in the process of bouncing, so that each stone attack could cause chaos in the enemy's formation.

The most effective way to avoid stone bullets is to disperse the personnel and make the dense formation loose. But once this is done, many soldiers will be out of the protection of the heavy armored infantry and exposed to the enemy's cavalry blades again.

"The heavy armored soldiers will be arranged in front, and the remaining soldiers will be divided into two wings. The cavalry will quickly gather and attack!"

After suffering several waves of artillery fire, Xue Guyan noticed that the enemy's stone cannon range was not too far, so he immediately stopped the formation that was still advancing, chose to temporarily avoid the enemy's edge, and formed a formation along the Tongdi River. At the same time, he sent out more mobile cavalry to attack and destroy the enemy's artillery vehicles.

The Qi army's offensive in the north was slightly adjusted, and the pressure on the Wei army was no longer as great as before. Li Tai also hurriedly dispatched another 5,000 troops to the front, and combined with the troops led by Tian Hong in the front, relying on those artillery vehicles to form a formation and advance forward.

These catapults on the battlefield were not the Heyang Cannons that Li Tai relied on to attack and capture the city. They were just ordinary-style equipment that was temporarily built when he was stationed in the south of Wusu City. Therefore, the range and power were relatively limited. It could only attack the enemy at a close distance, so Li Tai did not put them into use immediately.

The Heyang Cannon has high requirements for the strength and precision of the materials and the location of its placement. It takes too much energy, but the effect is relatively limited in positional warfare. If it can be transported and placed more flexibly, then he would try to launch an attack on the opposite bank first, seize the southern river beach, and then set up a cannon to bombard Gao Yang's central army camp, so that this guy would run away with his head in his hands.

As the Qi army's cavalry rushed forward, the battle became fierce again. This time, the purpose of the Qi army's cavalry entering the battle formation was very clear, that is, to destroy the catapults in the Wei army's battle formation.

Because the turbid Zhang River cuts down vertically on the east side of the pond where the Wei army's central army is located, and the west side gradually rises and connects to the mountains, the front is slightly narrow.

If the Qi army attacks head-on, it will be unfavorable for the deployment of the army. Now that they know that the enemy has catapults that can effectively attack dense battle formations, they must be destroyed before launching a general attack, so as to ensure the smooth progress of the battle in the future. So the Qi army now sent thousands of elite cavalry, led by its general Xue Guyan, to continuously attack the Wei army's battle formation.

Li Tai was observing the battle between the enemy and us around the catapult on the hillside, when suddenly a group of soldiers from the side army rushed to the front of the big flag, and kowtowed to Li Tai with an excited expression and a sad tone, saying: "I beg the Lord to send me and others to fight the enemy, kill the enemy general Xue Guyan in battle, and avenge General Guo Yan!"

Hearing this, Li Tai recognized that these people were the soldiers who had transported supplies to Duanliang City with Guo Yan before. Among them were Guo Yan's followers and subordinates. But no matter how close the relationship was, it was because Guo Yan risked his life to fight and cover the rear that they were able to successfully withdraw.

When they saw that Xue Guyan, the enemy general who killed Guo Yan, was still leading the army and fighting on the front line, they were extremely indignant and couldn't help but ask for battle in the hope of avenging Guo Yan.

"When two armies fight, life and death are common. How can you mess up our battle formation because of personal grudges! You all should return to your positions quickly, conserve your energy, and there will be a time to kill the enemy!"

After listening to these people's requests for battle, Li Tai frowned and said after a moment's hesitation.

After hearing this, everyone's faces suddenly darkened. Just as they were about to agree and leave, they heard Tang Gong's order: "Inform all the troops that although the bandit general Xue Guyan is not a big boss among the bandits, it is very hateful that he killed our general. No one will be left alive in this battle. Anyone who can kill him in battle will be granted the title of county lord and rewarded with 10,000 pieces of silk!"

"I obey your order! Thank you, Lord, for your reward. Kill the bandit general Xue Guyan!"

Since the start of this war, this is the first time that Li Tai has set a reward for a certain enemy general in battle, and it is so generous. Therefore, as this reward was announced, the soldiers in front of the battle became more excited, loudly responded to the order, and competed for merit.