August 26, overcast.
Ling Zhiyuan led 350,000 Xiliang Army troops into a decisive battle against 580,000 Yuanjing Army troops south of Shangqiu.
In this battle, the Yuanjing Army not only held the numerical advantage, but also had the mighty city of Guang'an at their backs, giving them the advantage of terrain.
Most importantly, the Yuanjing Army had a powerful reinforcement force.
That was 50,000 Qingzhou Iron Cavalry from Great Qi!
Great Qi's Qingzhou Iron Cavalry was renowned throughout the realm. Valiant and battle-hardened, they claimed never to have suffered defeat. For centuries, they had repeatedly harassed Great Yan and Great Liang, slaughtering countless soldiers of both nations.
Emperor Yuanjing had also paid an enormous price to reach an agreement with Great Qi and borrow this peerless elite cavalry.
The battle between the two sides first unfolded across the vast plains.
The Xiliang Divine Machine Army unsurprisingly became the protagonist of this campaign. From the very beginning, they deployed hundreds of field cannons and 100,000 muskets, forcibly blasting open the Yuanjing Army's formations.
In truth, the Yuanjing Army also possessed large numbers of artillery pieces and countless imitation muskets. They had even modeled themselves after the Xiliang Army and formed their own Divine Machine Battalion.
Yet when fake Li Gui encountered the real Li Kui, the result was that the superbly equipped and rigorously trained Xiliang Divine Machine Army swept aside their opponents like withered branches before a gale, then struck directly at the Yuanjing Army's central camp.
Left with no choice, the Yuanjing Army could only deploy their cavalry ahead of time, attempting to break through the Divine Machine Army from the flank.
But under the bombardment of explosive shells and grapeshot, they collapsed into utter disarray. They lost tens of thousands of men and horses without achieving their aim.