Yelu Chishu stared at the Tang army formation in front of him, his face was ugly. The generals of the cavalry around him looked at the Tang Army's military formation with a sad face at this time.

Just now, Yelu Chishu's attack on the Tang army was frustrated, and he was forced to withdraw from the battle, suffering heavy losses. When this strategy was first proposed, Yelu Chishu was supported by all the generals of the whole army, and several commanders thought that this plan was very good, and it was absolutely beyond the expectations of the Tang army, and it would definitely be able to inflict heavy damage on the Tang army and achieve victory.

Yelu Chishu didn't think that the Tang army scouts would detect the movements of the army, but under ordinary circumstances, even if the Tang army discovered his whereabouts, with the foot power of the cavalry, it only took a moment to pounce in front of the Tang army, and the Tang army had absolutely no time to take precautions, so it could only lead the neck to be killed, which was a dignified and upright conspiracy.

The reason why the previous charge failed was not that Yelu Chishu tactics were not used properly, but that the Tang army's reaction was unexpectedly fast, so fast that it was impossible. The formation was completed in an instant, and the movement of the formation was extremely appropriate, which was something that Yelu Chishu did not expect.

As the son of Yi Lijin of the southern courtyard of the Khitan State, Yelu Chishu has received strict military training since he was a child, is familiar with the art of war, has been fighting with the army for many years, and has won victories, and is the leader of the young generation of generals in the Khitan State, and his evaluation in the Khitan State is high, second only to Yelu Deguang and Yelu Bei. This time after receiving the news that Li Congjing led the army to attack Pingzhou, Yelu Chishu did not hesitate to lead the army to help, just because he clearly knew the importance of Pingzhou's strategic position, which was the bridgehead of the Khitan against Youyun, and the outpost of the grassland cavalry to step on the Central Plains, and he must not be lost.

But what Yelu Chishu didn't expect was that Lu Wenjin was defeated too quickly, so fast that before he entered Pingzhou, the entire territory of Pingzhou was captured by Li Congjing, and Lu Wenjin himself was killed in battle. In the battle of White Wolf Mountain, all gentlemen waited for work at ease, took advantage of the loopholes of information asymmetry, calculated with heart and without intention, and with the help of the "righteous army", they took advantage of the right time and place to win.

However, even so, Yelu Chishu only lost hundreds of people in the White Wolf Mountain. Because he didn't know the reality of the Tang army, Yelu Chishu chose to retreat strategically, so as to gain buffer time for him to arrange troops and understand the enemy's situation. After stabilizing the situation, Yelu Chishu judged the situation and led the army to decisively fight back, not only making full use of the advantages of the strong mobility of the Khitan cavalry, but also deriving the essence of its surprise.

This was originally a big battle that could achieve the statement of a famous general, but because the Tang army reacted too quickly and the military formation was arranged too timely, it became a mirror.

Yelu Chishu, who failed to charge the battle for the first time, is now in a dilemma.

"The Tang Army's formation is tightly arranged, the defense is very strict, and it is both offensive and defensive. Is it a battle, a withdrawal, or a block of the Tang army on the spot, waiting for the army to come to help? Behind Yelu Chishu, a commander asked.

Yelu Chishu pondered for a moment, and then said in a deep voice, "I didn't wait for the emperor's military order, so I took the initiative to send troops to rescue Pingzhou, and I even poured out of the nest, which was the idea of winning the first battle, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it was a battle against the water." Some short-sighted people in the imperial capital would have been dissatisfied with our unauthorized sending of troops, thinking that it was my Yelu Chishu who had made meritorious contributions and vainly trusted myself to lose the first battle before, and now I am not victorious in the second war, and now it can be said that I have given it a truth. At such a juncture, how can we retreat? ”

The commander was very worried and said, "General, the Tang army is strong, and I am afraid it will be difficult to break through for a while." The current plan is to retreat to Yingzhou, wait for the army to come to help, and then join forces to defeat the Tang army, which is the best policy! ”

These words were very disrespectful to Yelu Chishu, but he was not angry, and after a moment of silence, he said: "Once the war begins, it is too early to talk about victory or defeat until the last moment. At present, our main force is not damaged, and we still have the strength to fight, but if we retreat here, we will not only bear the name of defeat, but also the crime of sending troops without authorization, who can afford it? ”

The generals were silent, bowing their heads and saying nothing.

Yelu Chishu sighed, glanced around at the generals in front of him, and said slowly: "This battle, Yu Gong, is because Pingzhou is important, and there is a war in it. For private reasons, you all know that as a soldier, only war can have military merits, and how can there be a future without war? I took you out of the city to fight, because I wanted you to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions, and seal your wife and son, not to suffer defeat and make the people laugh! ”

The generals were moved, their eyes eager, and they were very grateful for Yelu Chishu's intentions.

Looking back at the Tang army's military formation, Yelu Chishu said: "Besides, since the battle has begun, if you don't fight until the last moment, there is no reason to give up halfway, that is not the way to fight." At present, although the Tang Army's military formation is tight, offensive and defensive, it is very tricky, but it is not indestructible, as long as we work together, there is still hope for victory. ”

"The general has a plan?" The generals lifted their spirits and looked at Yelu Chishu with hope.

Yelu Chishu nodded slightly, "Maybe you can give it a try." ”

In the Tang army's formation, Li Congjing stood on top of the corner tower and looked into the distance. When Yelu Chishu observed the Tang army's military formation and thought about countermeasures to break the formation, Li Congjing was also planning a strategy to break the enemy.

Although Yelu Chishu lost two battles, he did not lose his combat power, and because it was a local battle, Yelu Chishu had a lot of choice. Regardless of anything else, the army sent by Abaoji from the West Building is the reliance of Yelu Chishu, and no matter whether Yelu Chishu is fighting, withdrawing or delaying, he can do whatever he wants. But the Don Army is different. The Tang Army had little choice, and it could even be said that there was no choice.

Entering the territory of Yingzhou, Li Congjing's strategic intention was to capture Yingzhou City before the Khitan army entered Yingzhou. Only by occupying the city, the Tang army can have the strength to fight with the Khitan army, and can also plan in advance, if Yingzhou City can not be captured as expected, then the Tang army will be forced to fight with the Khitan army in the wilderness, which is a situation that Li Congjing is unwilling to face anyway, because there is no chance of victory.

Because of this, Yelu Chishu, who was lying in front of Yingzhou City, was the object that the Tang army had to defeat. If it is not defeated, the Tang army will not be able to continue northward, let alone capture the city of Yingzhou. Therefore, to fight, and to win, this is the only option for the Don army.

"We don't have many cavalry, and we are afraid that we will not be able to defeat Yelu Chishu's army if we take the initiative to attack, even if we can get away with it, if Yelu Chishu makes up his mind to flee north, we will not be able to catch up. If the situation is like this, we have completely fallen into passivity, what should we do, please make it clear to the eldest brother. "Li Shaocheng's words are right, if Yelu Chishu flees north, the Tang cavalry will not be able to pursue at all, this is not a question of whether they can catch up, because the infantry army is behind, and the cavalry cannot leave too far, otherwise once the Khitan horse army targets the infantry army, without the help of the cavalry, the situation will be very dangerous.

Li looked at the railing from Jingjing, and kept deducing the variables that might happen next in his mind, and finally, he said: "Although Yelu Chishu was defeated, but his gathered troops stood ten miles away and did not retreat, it can be seen that he still has the heart to fight again, and I speculate that the possibility of Yelu Chishu continuing to attack is eight points." In that case, I have to wait to be ready to defeat Yelu Chishu in one fell swoop in the next battle. ”

Li Shaocheng thought about it and agreed with Li Congjing's analysis, and then felt a little embarrassed, "Big brother, how to defeat Yelu Chishu in one fell swoop?" ”

Li Congjing smiled and didn't say it explicitly, but asked: "You often read military books, do you know that when Liu Yu was on the Northern Expedition, he defeated tens of thousands of Xianbei iron horsemen on the banks of the Yellow River?" ”

Li Shaocheng's eyes lit up, and he said energetically: "Big brother is saying, but the moon is arrayed? ”

"Yes!" Li Congjing smiled, pulled Li Shaocheng over, whispered for a while, and then asked Li Shaocheng to decorate.

After sunset, the Tang army slept peacefully in the formation, because Yelu Chishu was eyeing the front, and the Tang army could not set up camp. At the time, the Khitan army raided the military formation, and the Tang army officers and soldiers in the military formation got up one after another, and under the orders of Li Shaocheng and Meng Ping, they entered the battle state. Unexpectedly, the Khitan army only thundered loudly and rained little, and after a while of noise outside the formation, they retreated.

That day and night, the Khitan horse army attacked and harassed several times, disturbing the Tang army and soldiers exhausted. This tactic is not subtle, and it has long been used in ancient times, but when the Tang army cannot take the initiative to attack and cannot retreat, this tactic is undoubtedly very practical. Even if you know that the Khitan attack is only a few hundred people, the Tang army can't help but concentrate on defense, because you don't know when the thousands of Khitan troops will rush over.

Before dawn, Yelu Chishu saw the opportunity and let the more than 3,000 Khitan horse troops, who had been recuperating all night, launch a fierce attack on the Tang army's military formation.