Before Hsu Fengnian met with Wei Jingtang, the General of Horizontal Water City, Yu Luandao's Youzhou Cavalry had already engaged the 20,000 Mang Cavalry. The Mang Cavalry was a light cavalry that was temporarily transferred from Gu Jiantang's eastern front. Their original intention was to launch a swift assault and 'devour' both Horizontal Water City and Gu Jiantang's Silver Harrier Cities, which were isolated outside the Great Wall. With that, they would be able to squeeze the 10,000 Youzhou Cavalry into Ji Bei. At that time, the Youzhou Cavalry would run out of food and fodder, and the left wing of Beimang would naturally return empty-handed. However, because of the existence of Wei Jingtang and Horizontal Water City, the Youzhou Cavalry did not dare to recklessly march south. When their scouts found out that Silver Harrier, which was further west, was different from Hengshui City, they had already retreated as promised. The two Generals, who were originally flying into a rage, calmed down and had a discussion. They came to the conclusion that they could abandon Hengshui City and occupy Silver Harrier, which would still be able to intimidate the Youzhou Cavalry to a certain extent. However, the opportunity on the battlefield was fleeting. After they stopped at the north of Horizontal Water City for a day, when their exhausted army of 20,000 charged towards Silver Harrier, they were ambushed by 5,000 Youzhou Cavalry from the side about a hundred miles away from the border city. The two Generals and Yu Luandao both knew that both armies were exhausted, and the key was to see who would snap first.
When the Youzhou Cavalry learned that Silver Harrier had been abandoned, their Deputy General suggested a quick return. It was at this moment that Yu Luandao's stubbornness was fully displayed. He insisted on fighting a fierce battle before Beimang obtained the two border cities, even at the cost of damaging the horses' stamina and causing a large number of cavalrymen to fall behind. Although the two Deputy Generals, who had a steady personality, disagreed with him, but the instinct of Beiliang's soldiers to strictly abide by their orders made the two Generals unable to disobey Yu Luandao's bold decision. In the end, after the Youzhou Cavalry had marched for five hundred miles in three days, they were gradually divided into three groups of cavalry. Yu Luandao, who had better horses and stronger cavalry, personally led the vanguard of five thousand cavalrymen and finally arrived at the battlefield in time. Like a sharp arrow, they pierced right into the ribs of Beimang's army without any warning, completing their strategic goal of fighting a battle outside of Ji City.
With the sudden intrusion of the Youzhou Cavalry, the Beimang Cavalry was caught unprepared and brutally penetrated their formation. After that, the Youzhou Cavalry even broke the formation of the Mang Cavalry, causing them to lose contact with each other. As the two flustered and exasperated Generals were sent to Ji Province, they must be the brave and valiant generals who were good at fighting on the eastern border of Beimang. Although the situation was not favorable for them, they were not going to just sit there and wait for death. In a battle where a large number of cavalrymen were involved, the death of several thousand men was not a small number. However, once the battle was turned into a pursuit by one side, the death of over ten thousand men would be considered a small number. As a result, the two Generals who each led over ten thousand men decided to surround the five thousand Youzhou Cavalry like dumplings. Although they were destined to win, the result would still be miserable. However, compared to the result of the Youzhou Cavalry killing over ten thousand men, it was definitely much better. However, the penetrative power and destructive power of Youzhou's five thousand cavalry left all of the Northern Mang Cavalry's thousand men commanders trembling in fear. In the three 'clashes', even though it could be said that Youzhou's cavalry relied on surprise attacks to seize the advantage in numbers, more than two thousand Northern Mang cavalry died on the spot, this still left the Northern Mang Cavalry speechless. The elite cavalry armies on the Li Yang Two Expanses border that had experienced many battles only had this type of ability at most.
Yu Luandao did not lead the five thousand Youzhou Cavalry into a fierce battle. Instead, after a few successful assaults, he intentionally or unintentionally moved the battlefield further west. Both Generals weighed the stamina of their own cavalry, and found that the gap between the two armies had a slight deviation in tactics. The cavalry at the back of the Beimang Cavalry wanted to change their horses and fight again, while the cavalry closer to the Silver Harrier Cavalry would chase after them. Actually, this deviation was based on the difference in the number of soldiers that both sides had sent into the battlefield. In fact, it was not a fatal mistake for the Beimang Cavalry. Although the Beimang Cavalry had suffered heavy casualties, there were still over eight thousand Youzhou Cavalry in front of them. With their decisive pursuit, not only could they catch up with the Youzhou Cavalry, they could also join forces with the cavalry at the back and fill up the gap, forming an absolute advantage in terms of numbers. However, when the second cavalry of over three thousand Youzhou Cavalry arrived on the battlefield, it had messed up the Mang Cavalry's plan. All the Youzhou Cavalry were light cavalry, but obviously, this cavalry had sacrificed time in exchange for better equipment. The eight thousand Beimang Cavalry who were chasing after Yu Luandao's cavalry at the same level as the frontline of Ji North were smashed by this Youzhou Cavalry. Like a fierce horse charging into a field of wheat, they reaped the lives of over one thousand Mang Cavalry in just a blink of an eye. On top of that, Yu Luandao's main cavalry had launched their assault at the same time. The seven thousand Youzhou Cavalry, whose morale was high, were now facing the seven thousand Mang Cavalry who were covered in wounds and frightened by the mere twang of a bow. How could the latter fight back? On the other hand, the ten thousand Mang Cavalry at the back were fierce and tough as well. They quickly turned their horses around, wanting to return the favor and cut the Youzhou Cavalry in half.
But right at this moment, two more fresh forces appeared on both sides of the battlefield. Although their numbers were not large, the blow they brought to the Beimang Cavalry's morale was immeasurable. One of them was the two thousand Youzhou Cavalry who raised a banner with the character "Xu" on it, while the other was the banner of Horizontal Water City. They were fewer in number, only six hundred cavalrymen led by Wei Jingtang of Horizontal Water City. However, that Northern Mang great commander at the back of the battlefield was already terrified to the extreme, naturally feeling the urge to retreat. Didn't this great one say that if this great one didn't lose a single soldier, he would be rewarded with great contributions? Now, he didn't even touch the walls of two cities, yet he was already beaten up so miserably. It wasn't that he couldn't save those several thousand cavalry, but after saving them, this great one could only return to being some damn thousand-man commander. Therefore, the Generals Hui Lilu, who was still fighting desperately on the battlefield, felt his heart turn cold. The Generals who were drinking and chatting with him in his tent yesterday had run away just like that! Fortunately, Hui Lilu and his six hundred personal cavalry charged north and tore open a hole. Afterwards, the Mang Cavalry continued to flee north. On purpose, Yu Luandao did not even look at Hui Lilu and the three thousand Mang Cavalry behind him. Instead, he gazed into the distance, staring at the other Beimang Generals, Lang Sien, who was slowly retreating. He purposely left that hole. If Lang Sien and his ten thousand cavalrymen were determined to fight to the death, Yu Luandao's Youzhou Cavalry would only have two to three thousand left. This was not because Yu Luandao feared a battle to the death. Otherwise, he would not have come to the north of Silver Sparrow Crossing Water to fight this battle. Instead, he used his Youzhou Cavalry to fight to the death against the twenty thousand men that Gu Jiantang should have taken care of. This was completely meaningless to Beiliang. However, while it was meaningless to exchange one life for two or three lives, it did not mean that it was meaningless to exchange one life for ten lives. That was why Yu Luandao purposely had Hui Lilu bring his three thousand crippled cavalry that were in complete disarray to bring disaster to Lang Sien's ten thousand cavalrymen.
Yu Luandao, who was known as the 'pride of West Chu' after Cao Changqing, risked universal condemnation and rushed to the dynasty's northwest alone. After entering Beiliang, he deeply understood what a 'border iron cavalry' was, and he also had a comprehensive understanding of the Beimang cavalry. He knew that it was extremely difficult to beat the Beimang elites into complete defeat and then wantonly chase them down. However, if he could 'bring disaster to the north', then there would be a chance! In fact, Yu Luandao did not even need to make any specific arrangements. When he and his eight hundred cavalrymen took the lead in chasing after Hui Lilu's three thousand cavalrymen, another two thousand cavalrymen who were temporarily unkillable caught up with them. Together with the six hundred cavalrymen from Horizontal Water City and the two thousand Youzhou cavalrymen who were the last to enter the battlefield, they all began to charge northward.
After Hui Lilu brought his remaining cavalrymen and fled northward, Lang Sien, whose face was livid with rage, had the urge to slaughter all of them when he saw those bastards charging at him recklessly. However, when he saw those Youzhou cavalrymen who took out their light crossbows and 'leisurely' shot at Hui Lilu's cavalrymen, or when he sped up, he did not even need to exert any force with his saber. He only needed to borrow the momentum of his warhorse to lift up his saber and cut a large wound on the neck of the Beimang cavalrymen. It was an easy and effortless move, but it was definitely enough to kill them all. Lang Sien roared and ordered his men to speed up their retreat.
The twenty thousand cavalrymen from Beimang had rushed to the battlefield of Ji Bei in a hurry. Although they were also riding two horses each like the Youzhou cavalrymen, even though Lang Sien knew the consequences of being hunted down by an army of cavalrymen, he could only wish that his warhorse had eight legs right now.
When Hui Lilu and his personal cavalrymen caught up with the rear of Lang Sien's army, more than two thousand of the remaining three thousand cavalrymen who were 'lucky' to break through the encirclement had been killed silently. In the six hours of long pursuit and escape, more than two thousand of Lang Sien's cavalrymen were killed by the tireless Youzhou cavalrymen. Like a cat catching a mouse, men from Beimang cavalrymen were dying all the time, and small groups of cavalrymen were breaking away from the main army and fleeing in all directions. Finally, before night fell, the chief general of Youzhou cavalrymen who had a handsome face finally stopped his pursuit after personally killing Hui Lilu.
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