Yan and Zhao were both adept at cavalry warfare.
In some respects, Yan's cavalry was even more numerous.
This was because Yan was surrounded by various nomadic tribes, including the powerful Xiongnu.
These were peoples who grew up on horseback, and warfare against them often necessitated the use of cavalry.
Furthermore, victory over them often yielded captured warhorses.
Thus, Yan's army of one hundred thousand men was primarily composed of cavalry.
This arrangement also allowed the Yan army to reach Zhao quickly to provide support.
When Zhang Han and his men witnessed one hundred thousand cavalry approaching Yanmen, many were terrified.
"Hiss! That's too many people, and with so much cavalry, it will be even harder for us to resist!"
"We always heard that Zhao's cavalry was incredibly powerful, but it seems Yan's cavalry is not weak either!"
"More than not weak, they can deploy one hundred thousand cavalry at will. Zhao couldn't possibly do that!"
While everyone was still reeling from the shock of Yan's cavalry, Lin Tian was pleased by their arrival.
When Yan had mobilized their troops, he had already speculated that they might be sending cavalry.
If it were large numbers of infantry instead of cavalry, Lin Tian might have had to devise other strategies.
But with entirely cavalry, Lin Tian indeed had a ready-made solution.
This solution was one he had used before.
At that time, it was used to prevent Li Mu's army from attacking the city, but this time, it would be used against cavalry.
"How are our firebombs coming along?"
"Due to the short notice, we've only prepared one thousand firebombs!"
"One thousand is enough! With these one thousand, temporarily holding off the Yan army is not a problem!"
Lin Tian had no intention of relying on his two or three tens of thousands of troops to annihilate Yan's one hundred thousand-strong army.
After all, their fire ox formation was already known to the Yan, and they would undoubtedly be on guard against it.
Therefore, it was impossible to achieve victory through the fire ox formation.
Since that was the case, Lin Tian could only proceed step by step, gradually whittling down Yan's hundred thousand troops.
These thousand firebombs were merely preparations for the initial engagement.
If more were needed later, they could be produced.
The power of a thousand firebombs was no less than that of a thousand grenades in later eras.
More importantly, with current craftsmanship, firebombs were simpler to produce.
Possessing these was a significant weapon in Lin Tian's hands.
It was precisely because of the firebombs that Lin Tian had the confidence to resist the Yan army's attack.
At this moment, the Yan army was unaware that Lin Tian had prepared a thousand firebombs.
They arrived at Yanmen with high morale.
Especially when they saw that Lin Tian's army on the city walls truly numbered only twenty to thirty thousand, they became even more exhilarated.
"Hahaha! Qin's Lin Tian is truly overconfident! With only twenty thousand men, he actually dares to hold Yanmen!"
"It's indeed unexpected, but this is precisely our opportunity!"
"Victory and glory await us in this battle!"
If they won this battle, they would not only capture the city of Yanmen but also achieve widespread fame, letting the world know that their Yan army of one hundred thousand was even stronger than Zhao's.
They would have defeated the army of Qin's Lin Tian, whom even Zhao's Li Mu could not defeat.
With this thought, many of their gazes fell upon Crown Prince Dan.
"Your Highness, Yanmen is before us. Shall we attack the city?"
Ji Dan also considered this question carefully.
He observed the surrounding situation and combined it with the intelligence from his scouts, confirming that Yanmen was defended by only twenty to thirty thousand troops.
This put him at ease and solidified his resolve.
"Issue the order: Attack the city with full force!"
"At the same time, ensure the soldiers are cautious of their fire ox formation!"
"This time, we will proceed steadily and take Yanmen!"
"Yes!"
Although this battle was a sure victory for Yan, they did not neglect any necessary precautions.
Especially since they had one hundred thousand troops while Lin Tian only had twenty to thirty thousand, this made their approach to the siege more cautious and steady.
This steady advance, however, posed some trouble for Lin Tian.
The Yan army did not attack with their entire force, which meant that Lin Tian's army killed fewer enemies during their engagements.
This was not what everyone desired.
"These Yan troops are truly cunning. Despite vastly outnumbering us, they insist on a slow assault to deplete our firepower!"
"They want to wear us down and then capture our Yanmen!"
"Damn it, if only we had more troops, how could we tolerate them being so arrogant in front of us!"
The fighting strength of Lin Tian's soldiers was not weak; on the contrary, having experienced several battles, their strength far surpassed that of ordinary soldiers.
However, since the attack on Dai City, they had received no reinforcements.
This meant that in every major battle, they had to face an enemy that far outnumbered them.
This time, the Yan army outnumbered them more than threefold.
Such a fight left them feeling resentful and even a bit stifled.
Anger brewed within them, and they longed to deliver a severe lesson to the Yan army.
However, they knew the time was not yet right and could only wait.
The Yan army, unaware of this, paid a price of nearly ten thousand casualties, yet their army still managed to approach the city gates of Yanmen.
"Attack! Beware of Qin's fire ox formation!"
"Yes!"
As they prepared to attack the gates of Yanmen, the Yan soldiers became even more cautious.
The once dense formations now became sparse.
Apart from the soldiers at the forefront of the assault, no other soldiers approached the city gates at this time.
Soon, the city gates of Yanmen were breached by the Yan soldiers.
After the breach, the Yan soldiers saw something that appeared to be emerging from Yanmen, which made them extremely nervous.
"Someone's coming out! Someone's coming out!"
"Fall back! Everyone, retreat quickly! This must be Qin's fire ox formation!"
"Everyone spread out! The fire oxen are about to charge!"
Upon hearing these words, the Yan soldiers retreated rapidly before even clearly seeing what it was.
They all knew the power of the fire ox formation and did not wish to die.
However, once they had retreated far enough and calmed down to observe, they all felt as though they had been toyed with.
What appeared before them was not a fire ox formation at all.
Instead, it was Lin Tian's cavalry.
This infuriated the Yan army.
"Damn it, how dare these insignificant Qin cavalry toy with us!"
"They're asking for death! Annihilate them!!"
"They don't have a fire ox formation, brothers, charge!!"