Soon, the main force of the First Banner of the Suzaku Legion laid two lines of defense on the north and northwest sides of Jiulong Mountain. Their strength was between 30,000 and 40,000 people, and it was really unwise to rashly launch an offensive against Xie Bao's Xuanjia army. Therefore, the commander of the first banner decided to postpone the operation and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

Seeing this, Xie Bao in the distance knew that the Vermilion Bird Army had already developed a sense of cowardice in his heart, and he did not dare to act recklessly, so he turned to stick to the spot, waiting for the follow-up troops to arrive, and then attack again.

If it drags on like this, and the soldiers and horses dragged to the second banner of the Suzaku Army also arrive here, then the opponent's strength will climb to around 70,000, and it will become even more difficult to deal with.

Therefore, a stalemate will only be detrimental to the Xuanjia Army.

Although Xie Bao is arrogant and domineering, he is a battle-hardened general after all, and he has extremely rich combat experience, so he will never make such a mistake and obediently follow the rhythm of the Vermilion Bird Army.

On the contrary, he must seize the initiative on the battlefield.

Xie Bao's cousin Cui Junchen led 15,000 cavalry to attack the northwest defense line of the first banner of the Vermilion Bird Army, while Xie Bao personally commanded 20,000 elites to attack the northern defense line in front.

The sound of hooves roared and the tremors trembled.

The Xuanjia Army, whose combat strength was no less than that of the Turks, began to comprehensively attack the Suzaku Legion.

Although the Suzaku Army, which was dominated by light infantry, had high morale and good preparations, their system and equipment were still unable to effectively resist cavalry suppression. The unfavorable situation of the original battle of Tongguan was repeated again on the battlefield in the south of the Yangtze River.

In the face of the cavalry charging like a wave, the first few infantry phalanxes collapsed one after another, and a large number of defeated troops retreated backwards and retreated behind the second line of defense to continue to resist.

However, the second line of defense did not last long, and it was also difficult to escape the fate of being ruthlessly overwhelmed.

The battle lasted less than two hours, and the 35,000 soldiers and horses of the first banner lost more than a third of the battle, and the commander-in-chief did his best to maintain the state of the troops, and before the complete collapse, he gave the order to completely retreat.

Xie Bao was unforgiving, and immediately beckoned Cui Junchen to join forces with him, continued to pursue the first banner of the Vermilion Bird Legion, and used the mobility of the cavalry to kill a distance of more than 20 miles, and killed more than 4,000 people on the other side.

In the vicinity of Niulang Lake, the remnants of the first banner met the second banner that crossed the river, and finally breathed a sigh of relief and did not suffer the total annihilation of Xie Bao. However, after the two banners met, the situation did not get any better.

At this time, the sky was already dark, and the armies of the two sides set up a position on the shore of Niulang Lake, and countless lamp balls and torches spread out from a distance of one or two thousand steps.

Xie Bao wielded a double hammer and galloped back and forth in front of the formation, quite imposing. After facing the first banner of the battle in front, he had completely let go of his worries at this time, feeling that the Suzaku Legion was nothing but Erer, and he didn't have to worry about anything at all.

He shouted at his subordinates, constantly encouraging and boosting morale, and the cavalry of the Xuanjia Legion held spears and sabers, shouting in response, and the vigorous fighting spirit rose to the sky, and it seemed that they overpowered the Suzaku Army on the opposite side.

Although the number of pure cavalry is nearly half that of pure infantry, the real combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the other party.

This is also the origin of Xie Bao's confidence.

Cui Junchen rode his horse to the side and asked loudly, "Brother Leopard, do you want to fight?" The brethren were in a hurry. ”

Xie Bao laughed when he heard this: "Fight!" Hit hard! Beat those soft eggs to the ground so they know how good we are! Junchen, order all troops to form a fish scale formation, you are the vanguard, and start the assault! ”

"Yes!" Cui Junchen excitedly agreed, drew his sword, and galloped away while ordering the teams to assemble.

In a few moments, the Xuanjia rebels began to move in full force, and the soldiers and horses of each battalion were well-trained and skillfully coordinated, and almost in the blink of an eye, they formed a large formation of fish scales covering a wide area, and steadily advanced towards the Suzaku army on the opposite side.

As soon as they saw that the rebels were moving, the Suzaku Army couldn't help but get nervous again, and the soldiers of the first and second banners cooperated with each other to form twenty large phalanxes, which were deployed in three rows, alternating between front and back, and covering in echelons.

To be honest, their formation seems to be in order, and it is in line with the essence of the art of war, and basically there is nothing wrong or omission. However, everyone standing in the array knew very well in their hearts that a good formation did not mean that it was indestructible.

In the face of the onslaught of thousands of ironclad cavalry, only the hoplites like the Zhenjiang Army could resist it, and the light infantry had no luck at all except for dying in vain.

The shield of the Zhenjiang army is made of solid wood more than one person high, and the shield is wrapped in iron sheets, and after the pointed bottom is inserted into the ground, it looks like an iron wall that has taken root, and with the dense iron spear, it is almost indestructible.

On the other hand, the Suzaku Legion, the shield was just ordinary planks, thin and brittle, and the number of spears used to resist cavalry charges was also pitiful.

This is only the first layer of protection, and the armor, which is the core of protection, is not the same as the two sides. The Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Armies of Zhenjiang were heavily armed troops built by Li Jiangyao with blood, and the soldiers were layered with layers of iron armor, helmets and masks, and when they were huddled together, they were a bunch of iron lumps. At that time, the Turkic cavalry fought hard, but they could not destroy the phalanx of hoplites on the plains.

In contrast, the Suzaku Legion is almost defenseless. The vast majority of the soldiers wore iron vests or light leather armor, and there was no way to talk about protective equipment such as neck shawls, shoulder shawls, arm guards, and skirt guards, and even many troops wore bamboo helmets unique to the south and wore straw sandals or cloth shoes.

With such a level of defense, it is no problem to fight a dozen bandits and bandits, and it is okay to compete with ordinary rebel infantry, but against Xie Bao's Xuanjia Legion, there is only one way left to be beaten.

It's no wonder that the Xuanjia Legion was originally the best of the main forces of the Holy Tang Dynasty, at the peak of the year, they didn't even pay attention to the Qilin, Long Knife, Fierce Blade and other legions, although the soldiers rebelled over the years and lost a lot of elite strength, but the skeleton is still there, and the combat power is still there, how can they put the second-rate legion composed of ordinary soldiers in their eyes.

In the blink of an eye, more than 30,000 iron horsemen swept in, launching a group charge against the Vermilion Bird Legion in the vast night.

The fish scale array against the square array, the iron cavalry against the light infantry, the earth-shattering shouts of killing resounded on the shore of Niulang Lake, the torches were flying, the figures were crowded, the arrows pierced the night sky, and the swords and guns were as dense as a jungle.

The 70,000 soldiers of the Suzaku Legion sacrificed their lives and death, relying on their own flesh and blood, to resist the fierce attack of the Xuanjia rebels.

However, it is a pity that the thing of combat power cannot be fake, and fighting is the most objective and cruel game in the world. The light infantry of the Southern Army, which was absolutely inferior in terms of equipment system and training level, fell one after another like a rice field ravaged by a hurricane, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.

Soon, the rebel iron cavalry, under the command of Xie Bao and Cui Junchen, successfully penetrated the two lines of defense of the Vermilion Bird Legion, and was about to break out of the formation. Under the crisis, the Yugoslav army concentrated its forces and desperately resisted the last line of defense, blocking the rebels at the front of the position.

The Suzaku Army's lifeless style of play finally came into play.

Xie Bao and the others rushed three times in a row, but they never failed to defeat the four phalanxes placed in the back row of the second flag. More and more of the soldiers who had been scattered before regrouped and kept their positions dense and solid, until in the end, they were almost filling the void with their lives, making it difficult for the rebel cavalry to break through.

The physical strength of a soldier and the endurance of a war horse have a limit after all. After a long march and a fierce battle for a whole day, the Xuanjia Legion has reached the end of the crossbow at this time. If they continue to fight, they will also be at risk of becoming unsupportable and on the verge of collapse.

In desperation, Xie Bao had no choice but to give up the tempting idea of defeating the landing force of the Vermilion Bird Legion in one fell swoop, and calmly ceased the battle and retreated to a safe area to rest and recuperate while his side occupied the battlefield advantage.

In order to prevent the other side from relieving itself and rushing forward again, the commanders of the first and second banners unanimously decided to immediately lead their troops out of the battlefield and withdraw to the beachhead on the south bank of the river, relying on fortifications to compete with the enemy.

At dawn the next day, there was no trace of half of the Suzaku Legion on the shore of Niulang Lake, and the vigorous landing raid was completely repulsed by the elite soldiers and horses of the rebels overnight, and returned to the state that was almost the beginning.

Ma Hongjie, who was on the north bank, could not help but be shocked when he received the news of the battle situation ahead, especially after he heard that nearly half of the first flag had been damaged and the casualties of the second flag had exceeded 10,000 people, it was even more difficult to judge the situation of the rebels on the other side.

He even wondered for a moment that Ye Rongcheng's main force had arrived near Li County.

In this situation, Ma Hongjie and his staff immediately found themselves in a dilemma: what to do next? Is it to let the third and fourth flags also follow up to cross the river and join forces with the first two flags? Or hurry up and coordinate the Yiling Water Division and ask them to cover the withdrawal of the river-crossing troops to Jiangbei?

Two different opinions quarreled in the command of the Suzaku Legion.

Those who supported the main force to continue to fight across the river insisted that the main force of the rebels must have been firmly pinned down in the downstream area by the Zhenjiang army, and Ye Rongcheng could not and did not have the courage to move westward, leaving his nest in Hangzhou alone, and running to block the Suzaku army.

Those who suggested retreating were worried about whether Ye Rongcheng was deceitful, ostensibly hoarding heavy troops in the area of Huzhou, Changzhou, and Suzhou to guard against Li Jiangyao, but in fact, they sent elite troops here secretly to defeat the Suzaku Army in one step, remove the upstream threat, and then concentrate all their efforts to resist the attack of the Zhenjiang Army.

Ma Hongjie was so confused by these two gangs that he couldn't help but feel more and more irritable. He threw all his men out and sat alone in the tent and thought about it for a long time.

In the end, he was still worried about the huge losses of his legion, and decided to temporarily order the first and second flags to retreat in order to preserve their strength.