Chapter Eighty-Seven: Heavy Losses

  Junyu Li's two thousand cavalrymen, after passing through the sea of flames, avoiding the chaotic arrows and dodging the slaughter knives of their comrades, were left with only fifteen hundred men, whose formation was disordered and extremely chaotic, each one bewildered and at a loss.

  At this moment, Jiang Qin's thousand cavalry suddenly rushed out and cut off the Xianbei cavalry in the middle. Li Chong also hastily ordered his infantry to come forward and assist in the battle, striving to annihilate the enemy army that had been cut off by Jiang Qin. As soon as the two sides came into contact, Chunyu Li's cavalry was immediately killed with mournful cries, and countless fell from their horses.

  Tai Shi Zi's thousand cavalry also circled around from the north, preparing to join the battle.

  At this time, about 500 Xianbei cavalrymen were surrounded by Jiang Qin and Li Chong. The first to rush out was Chunyu Li, who would not watch his soldiers being slaughtered by Li Chong, immediately organized the soldiers to turn back and rescue them.

  Taishi Ci would not let Chunyu Li break through the encirclement of Li Chong, and after a brief turn, he rushed to kill Chunyu Li. When Li Chong saw Taishi Ci start to resist Chunyu Li's relief troops, he immediately put his mind at ease and focused on devouring the 500 Xianbei cavalry within the encirclement.

  However, Li Chong really underestimated these Xianbei cavalrymen. To be honest, except for Taishi Ci, Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai, only a few officers in Li Chong's army could contend with these Xianbei cavalrymen. In terms of individual combat effectiveness, the soldiers under Li Chong were absolutely no match for the Xianbei cavalrymen.

  Taishi Ci's 1,000 cavalry and Chunyu Li's 1,000 remaining soldiers clashed at one place, but were repeatedly defeated and killed, with countless fallen horses. If Taishi Ci hadn't been highly skilled in martial arts, personally beheading dozens of enemy soldiers to boost morale, these 1,000 troops would have had the possibility of collapsing.

  Li Chong's face was covered in sweat as he wanted to pull out some soldiers to go and assist, but he didn't dare, fearing that the 500 cavalry would break through the encirclement.

  The five hundred Xianbei cavalrymen who were surrounded also knew the consequences of not being able to break out of the encirclement, and one by one they charged forward like mad tigers, desperately attacking. The four thousand men in Li Chong's encirclement were unexpectedly on shaky ground.

  Seeing the incompetence of his soldiers, Li Ji was enraged and shouted loudly: "Taishi Ci, hold off the Xianbei reinforcements for a short while, otherwise, everyone will be executed."

  Turning around, Li Chong shouted at the 4,000 soldiers: "I'll give you an incense stick's time; either these Xianbei people die or you yourselves will die."

  It has to be said that the main reason why Li Chong's soldiers are not as good as the Xianbei cavalry is that they are not desperate enough. At this time, these soldiers were blocked by Li Chong and had only two choices: either fight desperately with the Xianbei people or fight desperately with Li Chong.

  It's okay, these soldiers thought of their families and didn't dare to fight Li Chong to the death, so they could only fight the Xianbei people to the death.

  In the blink of an eye, these soldiers' combat power soared, and some soldiers even jumped up on horseback, hugging enemy soldiers and throwing them to the ground. Immediately, two or three infantrymen rushed up and hacked at the Xianbei cavalry wildly. Both sides were fighting desperately, and Li's army, which had an absolute advantage in numbers, began to show a momentum of sweeping away the dry leaves.

  Junyu Li saw his men being slaughtered by the enemy, he was so anxious that his eyes were blazing with fire, his heart was burning with anxiety, and he kept shouting loudly. At this moment, his deputy shouted loudly, General, let's retreat! The soldiers inside can't be rescued, if we delay any longer, we will also be in danger.

  As they spoke, the five hundred cavalrymen who were surrounded had almost been annihilated. Xun Yu Li cast a gaze full of resentment at the chaotic battlefield and gritted his teeth: "Withdraw..."

  It's not easy to retreat, seeing Xun Yu Li running away, Li Chong immediately withdrew Jiang Qin's cavalry and pursued Xun Yu Li overnight. The three teams of cavalry disappeared into the night in an instant.

  Li Chong did not follow in pursuit of Xunyu Li. He had to stay behind to clean up the aftermath, put out the remaining fires, count the casualties, all troublesome matters.

  These Xianbei cavalrymen were very poor, they came with the purpose of plundering, what wealth could they bring, apart from the captured war horses, weapons and bows and arrows, only a few cowhide tents remained.

  At this time, Cheng Yu came to ask about the treatment of prisoners and wounded Xianbei cavalry. Li Zhongyi burst out laughing and said coldly: "Kill them all for me, where do I have food to feed these beasts?"

  For a poisonous soldier, Li Zhong's order was simply brilliant, and Cheng Yu immediately arranged to go down, adding that no matter whether the Xianbei cavalry was dead or not, they would be beheaded.

  The next morning, Taishi Ci and Jiang Qin led their soldiers back in a hurry, with many of them still covered in blood.

  Upon seeing Li Chong, Taishi Ci said with regret: "My lord, I, your subordinate, was incompetent and allowed Chunyu Jian to escape."

  Li Chong had mentally prepared for this outcome and wouldn't blame Ta Shici, but instead carefully inquired about the specific details of the battle.

  On the vast grassland, what is most important in chasing and killing enemies? It's not bravery, but rather horsemanship and the quality of warhorses. In terms of horsemanship, Li Chong's cavalry couldn't even compare to the Xianbei people who grew up on horseback since childhood. As for the quality of warhorses, both sides were evenly matched, so the outcome can be imagined.

  Taishi Ci and others were getting farther and farther away, so they could only rely on bows and arrows to kill the enemy. Relying on Taishi Ci and Jiang Qin's archery skills, they killed more than a dozen Xianbei cavalrymen. However, many of the soldiers under their command were useless, and the number of enemy troops killed by the dense arrow rain was pitiful. They could only barely match the achievements of Taishi Ci and Jiang Qin, and even with both teams combined, they didn't manage to kill enough enemy troops to reach a hundred.

  The calculation results were not wrong, and the cavalry under Junyu Li's command was not all brave, there must be some who were not skilled in riding, and those who fell off their horses naturally had no good ending.

  After the two armies merged, Li Chong looked at the casualty numbers and his face turned green. In this battle, Li Chong had set up an ambush and also used fire to attack, but he didn't gain any advantage. More than 800 Xianbei cavalrymen were killed in action, and the casualties on his own side were also around 800.

  Li Chong didn't dare imagine how many casualties he would suffer if he were to engage in a head-on battle with the Xianbei cavalry.

  Cheng Yu couldn't help but laugh, thinking that the deaths of a few people were nothing to be afraid of. After all, weren't there just over 800 casualties? And with proper medical treatment, at least 300 wounded soldiers could return to the battlefield. Not to mention anything else, just the captured warhorses alone, over 800 of them, were worth the cost. Even if another 500 people died, Cheng Yu thought it was still worth it.

  After resting in Nan Chi for a few days, he sent out many scouts to investigate the surrounding area within a hundred miles, but still couldn't find any trace of Chun Yu Li. Li Chong estimated that Chun Yu Li should have returned to his old haunt and also withdrew his troops back to Qiang Yin County.

  Generally speaking, Li Chong got the better of this battle after all. Only the winning side has the qualification to collect spoils of war, and Xun Yu's defeat belongs to a loss without gain.

  But strategically, Li Chong has suffered a great loss. Now it's the end of July, and Li Chong no longer has time to prepare for the Battle of Jinyang. According to Li Chong and Cheng Yu's calculations, at least 1,000 soldiers need to be infiltrated into Jinyang City in order to have a chance to capture the city gate. It is impossible to infiltrate these 1,000 people silently within twenty days.

  In addition, after a big war, Li Chong's consumption was not small, and he needed to replenish arrows, repair armor, store oil, sharpen blades, etc. In order to launch continuous wars, Li Chong's logistical power could not keep up with the supply at all. If he wanted to launch a war, it would have to be after the Spring Festival at least.