Li Guangbi ordered the Seventh Army to form a six-flower formation, the Chinese army was located in the center, and the six phalanxes were distributed on the left and right, no matter which direction the Hexi Army attacked, the Chinese army could support with the fastest speed, so it was the best formation with both offense and defense.

Li Siye ordered Tian Zhen and Bai Xiaode to raise troops to attack the Liuhua formation from the left and right directions, waiting for the opportunity to use the impact of the war horse to defeat the Tang army.

The front rows of the square formations on his left and right sides raised their shields and spears, and the back dozen rows each wielded their bows and arrows, and threw arrows at the left flank of the Flying Tiger Rider, who was rushing on a fast horse.

Tian Zhen led the cavalry to lie on horseback, dodging the flying arrows, when the war horse pounced on the cold light spear pierced from the shield array, he automatically slowed down, he grabbed the horse reins with one hand and quickly avoided, holding the horse lance in his right hand to kill one of the shield-wielding warriors, but soon someone substituted to set up the spear, without flinching.

The Flying Tiger Cavalry attacked like peeling potatoes, using the advantage of the horse lance and spear to kill the front row of the enemy, but the rear quickly came up, and the Tang Army's crossbow continued to consume the strength of the Flying Tiger Cavalry.

Li Siye saw that the attack of the two Flying Tiger Cavalry did not make progress, and decisively ordered the waving of the flag to order them to retreat, Tian Zhen was quite angry in his heart, and was about to lead the cavalry to charge again, Li Siye ordered someone to hit the cymbals again, and he had to collect the left flank cavalry team and return to the Flying Tiger Cavalry formation.

He came to Li Siye's horse fork hand bowed his head and said gloomily: "The lord wants me to retreat, the courage of these Tang troops is not iron, as long as you charge close to me twice, you will definitely be able to break through this six-flower array." ”

Li Siye shook his head with a horsewhip and said: "The Flying Tiger Ride is my hard work, it is expensive, one less horse and one less person is equivalent to losing a piece of meat, they should not be consumed in such a battle." Moreover, the Liuhua Array of the Shuo Fang Army was ready to fight, so naturally it could not be forced to fight. ”

He ordered the three armies: "We will lead the cavalry to retreat slowly, leaving two Tang cavalry teams to keep an eye on the nearest side, and whether the enemy is retreating or advancing, they must maintain their formation, just as a migrating flock must keep up with the ranks at all times." Once you are alone, you will become the prey of the tiger wolf. It's easy for a team to stabilize the formation, but it's even more difficult to keep it all the time, and it's always important to be careful not to show any flaws. ”

Not long after the Flying Tiger Cavalry retreated, Li Guangbi rode his horse out of the formation, stood on the top of the mountain not far away, and saw five or six small flexible and mobile cavalry scattered in front and behind the Liuhua Formation. His face instantly darkened.

The position where he led his army was still a hundred miles away from Michi in front and a hundred miles away from the county town in the rear, so he could not occupy a favorable terrain. During this journey, he would inevitably be constantly monitored by the enemy's cavalry, which was tantamount to a dilemma for him.

After thinking about it for a long time, Li Guangbi decided to move on, but he was not crazy or arrogant, but no matter how he moved forward or retreated, Li Siye's Flying Tiger Ride would be staring at him like a fly. Moreover, he still has a move, the 7,000 Hui soldiers led by Fugu Huai'en are carrying out a sneak attack on the heavy artillery battalion of the Hexi Army behind the enemy, once he succeeds in cutting off the enemy's food and grass, he is not without the possibility of victory.

Shuofang's army advanced steadily, and in order to prevent being attacked by enemy troops, he ordered each army to eat one meal a day, and then camp and rest after dark.

When he ordered the armies to set up camp, they also arranged them in strict accordance with the formation, digging trenches and laying down wooden platoons to prevent the enemy from stealing the camp.

……

After Yan Xiaosi received the military order from Li Siye in front, he immediately stopped marching and set up all the artillery battalions in Xin'an County. The Han navy and auxiliary troops set up camp here relying on the county seat, and they are integrated with the county seat.

Fugu Huaien led the Hui army to Xin'an, thinking that he saw the moving Hexi army artillery battalion and baggage, but he didn't expect the other party to shrink, which made it difficult for him to bite the hedgehog.

Huai En came with great ambition, how could he return in vain, and these Hui soldiers under his command were not his soldiers and horses, but the soldiers of his son-in-law Hui Prince, during this period of time, Weng and his son-in-law got along quite happily, but there was also embarrassment in the heart of the servant Huaien.

Since entering the Central Plains, Hui Hui has only assisted the Tang army in a few small battles, and has not achieved a key victory in key battles, Hui Hui's son-in-law wants to give his father-in-law a long face, and he took the initiative to fork his hands on the horse and said: "Father don't worry, my Hui cavalry is not only good at field battles, but also good at attacking enemy camps, I promise you, before sunset, take down this small Xin'an county, so that you can go back and make it convenient to communicate with Li Situ." ”

Huai En wanted to refuse, but in his mind imprinted Li Guangbi's arrogant and indifferent face, although the person will not put his inner thoughts on his face, but whether he respects people depends on the record, he didn't want to lose his face in the first battle, so he had to wave the horsewhip and said: "Then fight for a while." ”

The Hui army paid a great price for this sentence, they charged the wooden platoon camp of the Hexi Army three times in a row, and were repelled by the Han Navy guarding it with a strong crossbow, Yan Xiaosi's artillery battalion ammunition was already quite scarce, but it was also ignited when the Hui cavalry was approaching, and the iron fragments in the barrel flew out, overturning the enemy's approaching horses to the ground.

Duan Xiushi found an opportunity to attack with the Han Navy cavalry, pursuing the enemy for more than 30 miles, and Fugu Huaien retreated all the way around Michi to Sanmenxia.

During the defeat, Gu Huaien did not forget Li Guangbi, but his old face was really useless, so he just sent someone to report to Li Guangbi, who was in a dilemma, and said that after the defeat, he had led the Hui army to retreat to the county town.

Li Guangbi angrily threw the official paper in his hand on the ground and said loudly: "Can he abandon our army without a place for his old face?" He fled back to the county town alone with the Uighur cavalry in his hand, can you know that tens of thousands of brothers in our Shuofang army are in trouble because of his defeat? ”

The surrounding generals were silent, Feng Changqing glanced up at him, and chose not to speak.

Li Guangbi glanced at everyone, suppressed the anger in his heart, and said with a kind smile: "You don't have to worry, although our army has been constantly harassed by the Flying Tiger Cavalry recently, the overall strength is still strong. Now that the Tang Army's logistical baggage and artillery battalions have not suffered any losses, our offensive is meaningless, so it is what we should do now to retreat in time to prevent losses. ”

Feng Changqing stood below and nodded secretly, quietly breathing a sigh of relief.

He commanded another tooth soldier and said, "You quickly follow the Hui envoy sent by Fugu Huaien to the county town to find him, and tell him that our army is slowly retreating, and he needs to lead Lingbao's garrison and Hui army to meet him." ”

The soldier turned over and mounted his fast horse, and followed the Hui envoy to quickly run in the direction of the county seat.

Now Li Guangbi only has the main force of the Shuofang army by his side, and the cavalry under his command is pitiful. Now Li Siye's flying tiger is riding nearby, he can only retreat slowly and step by step, just like a traveler who suddenly breaks into the forest, in the face of the danger around him, he can only hold the weapon tense and slowly retreat, as long as he makes the slightest mistake, the surrounding jackals will pounce and bite his neck.

In war, the positions of hunters and prey are often replaced, and the initiative and passivity are often switched, and once the army falls into passivity, it is very difficult to gain the initiative.

Li Siye only used a small force of cavalry to harass Li Guangbi, and the rest of the troops led their horses to chase closely, usually only the approach of nearly 100 cavalry, it required tens of thousands of troops to line up for strict defense, and the energy and physical strength of the Shuofang army were seriously overdrawn, and Fugu Huaien was regarded by Li Guangbi as the last straw.

At noon on May 3 in the second year of the Qianyuan Dynasty, Li Siye decided not to play the game of cat and mouse, and took the initiative to lead the Flying Tiger Cavalry to attack the Tang Army, he and Tian Zhen and Bai Xiaode each led a team to attack the Liuhua Array from three directions.