Chapter 117: Opportunity

On Liu Chengyou's side, upon learning the news that Yelu Ruan had proclaimed himself emperor, his reaction was quite genuine — great joy.

As for those rampaging barbarian horsemen, on the surface they seemed menacing, but in reality they posed no great threat, as if telling Liu Chengyou that the Liao army had something amiss. It was clearly discernible that these were harassing forces; if that was all they were, there was no cause for concern.

With the analytical assistance of Wei Renpu, Xiang Xun, and several others, Liu Chengyou's judgment of the situation was very clear. Following their advice, he held his troops in place, calmly awaiting developments. His subordinate generals, however, were growing restless. A Liao cavalry force that had set out from Taizhou (modern Baoding, Hebei) crossed south past Dingzhou, burning and killing along the way, and only turned back thirty li from Zhending.

"What do you all think you're doing? Bickering and clamoring — what sort of decorum is this?!" In the prefectural office, Liu Chengyou pulled a stern face and rebuked them.

In the hall, several mid- and lower-ranking Longqi officers had gathered together, coming in a body to petition Liu Chengyou for permission to sally forth. Han Tong, Luo Yangui, including the newly surrendered Li Yun, and even Sun Li, whose wounds had not yet fully healed.

That fellow Sun Li had previously been gravely wounded, near death. Despite all-out medical efforts, given the medical conditions of the time, he had lingered at death's door for several days. In the end, his life force proved tenacious, and he managed to pull through by sheer endurance. After nearly a month of recuperation, he had only just begun to recover. For his merits, Liu Chengyou restored him to the post of Commander of the Second Army, with the concurrent honorary title of Defense Commissioner of Bozhou. With his wounds not yet fully healed, upon hearing that the Liao army was invading south, he too joined in the clamor.

Seeing Liu Chengyou's face turn cold, the group dared not act presumptuously and shut their mouths readily enough. It was Sun Li, with his seniority, who spoke up in his somewhat hoarse voice: "Your Highness, the barbarian fiends never learn their lesson, coming in with such arrogance. With but a single command from you, the soldiers will surely cut off the enemy general's head and present it to you."

Sun Li's voice carried a note of hatred, which was only natural. Liu Chengyou looked at him calmly: "Do you know who the enemy general is? How many barbarian horsemen have come south?"

The two questions stumped him. He truly did not know — he had merely heard that bandits were invading from the south and had gathered with the others to request battle.

"I do not know."

"The enemy's situation is still unclear, their intentions still unknown, and you wish to go to battle. Is war such a trifling matter?" Liu Chengyou rebuked mildly.

At this point, everyone basically understood Liu Chengyou's stance. The rest dared not speak up further. As for Han Tong, he opened his mouth, but held himself back.

"All of you, withdraw. Continue drilling the soldiers and sharpening your blades!" Liu Chengyou dismissed them with a word.

The generals who had come in high spirits were driven off by Liu Chengyou's few words. Watching from the side as a pack of proud, fierce soldiers obediently listened to Liu Chengyou's reprimand, Liu Chengxun's eyes once again revealed a trace of surprise. His gaze drifted slightly — such a scene resembled, in his memory, the way Liu Zhiyuan had commanded the generals of Hedong.

"Second Brother, the Longqi Army truly has been drilled into excellent shape by you! The strongest troops of Hedong — the Longqi Army indeed! Look at these generals, fierce as wolves and tigers, like bears and beasts in cages, restless and eager to charge out. With military spirit and morale like this, what fear need we have of the Khitan?" Liu Chengxun remarked with emotion.

In the tone of praise, Liu Chengyou faintly detected a hint of envy. It seemed his elder brother had been quite moved.

Liu Chengyou shook his head: "Not worthy of such praise. Soldiers and generals who don't use their heads are nothing but a pack of brutes. By comparison, I worry that they are too arrogant and impetuous — that is not a good thing!"

It was plainly evident that the generals under the Longqi Army had grown a bit full of themselves. The battle at Luancheng had given them confidence and pride; they no longer held the Khitan army in any regard, styling themselves the mightiest army under heaven. Though Liu Chengyou was pleased with their spirit, he had recently been deliberately suppressing that restlessness.

Liu Chengxun took it as mere modesty and said: "Second Brother, your standards are simply too high. The Liao cavalry has come to invade, and the generals' fighting spirit is high — why not permit them?"

"What Elder Brother truly wishes to ask is: now that the Khitan's Yongkang Prince has proclaimed himself emperor, why, instead of stabilizing his own country, would he make such a grand show of marching south?" Liu Chengyou looked at Liu Chengxun.

Liu Chengxun nodded readily, a look of puzzlement in his eyes: "You said before that if Yelu Ruan proclaimed himself emperor, the Khitan would surely be plunged into internal strife. Yet now Yelu Ruan wishes to march south for revenge — is that not going in the opposite direction?"

"Elder Brother probably doesn't know this. According to our intelligence, the barbarian horsemen coming south are all miscellaneous tribal cavalry — merely putting on a show of a southern advance. The Khitan elite that Yelu Ruan has gathered remain in Youzhou, with not the slightest intention of moving!" Liu Chengyou explained.

Clearly, Liu Chengxun was not very sensitive to such matters and remained unconvinced: "Then what is the Liao army's purpose?"

"Feints within feints, concealment upon concealment. Perhaps the battle at Luancheng left them with a psychological shadow..." Liu Chengyou murmured faintly.

"Hm?" His elder brother looked bewildered, slanting his eyes at Liu Chengyou twice, his handsome brows slightly furrowed as he asked again: "Then can the Youyan plan still proceed?"

"If the Liao army does not move, our army does not move!" Liu Chengyou answered readily.

Liu Chengxun looked puzzled and tense, but a few words would not be enough to explain it all to him, so Liu Chengyou added: "Elder Brother, wait another two days, and the situation will become clear!"

Liu Chengyou's face showed confidence, and Liu Chengxun said no more, falling into his own thoughts.

Just as Liu Chengyou and his staff advisors had guessed, the subsequent developments proved that the Liao army's movements were merely a bluff. After skirmishing with the Longqi Army along the Zhen-Shen line, seeing that Liu Chengyou's side remained cautious and conservative in its resistance, they found no advantage to be gained, and without any urgency, pulled back.

Meanwhile in Youzhou, Yelu Ruan lingered one more day before finally making his move. Leading the hundred thousand Khitan and various barbarian troops he had gathered, escorting Yelu Deguang's coffin, he marched north through the Yan Mountains, advancing toward the Supreme Capital, Linhuang Prefecture.

This force was what Yelu Ruan had painstakingly assembled after the Khitan withdrew from China proper, laboring to restore the troops' morale somewhat — it was also the most powerful army within the Khitan state. With a hundred thousand troops in hand, there were indeed a few moments when Yelu Ruan truly felt the impulse to lead his army south and fight another campaign.

But he forced himself to calm down and suppressed the urge. Setting aside his own country's internal situation, even if he could drive deep into Hebei again, what would he actually achieve? Under the present circumstances, watering his horses at the Yellow River would already be the limit. Moreover, the Central Plains and Hebei, having gone through the previous "national calamity," had already been stripped clean of resources. However one looked at it, it would not be worth the cost.

As Yelu Ruan headed north, barely out of Yan territory, news arrived from the Supreme Capital. Empress Dowager Shulu, upon learning that Yelu Ruan had presumptuously proclaimed himself emperor, flew into a rage and reacted with great firmness. She appointed the Imperial Younger Brother (Heir), Yelu Lihu, as Grand Marshal of All Under Heaven, commanding the troops of the Supreme Capital and conscripting men from all the tribes to march south and punish him.

A Khitan civil war was clearly becoming inevitable.

Before heading north, Yelu Ruan made proper arrangements for Youzhou, clearly holding Liu Chengyou in considerable fear. He appointed Yelu Jieli as Defender of the Southern Capital, commanding troops to garrison it, and dispatched several columns of barbarian soldiers to establish a defensive line along the Tai-Mo front, shielding the Southern Capital.

Yelu Ruan considered his arrangements adequate, and the troops he left behind were not few — but Youzhou was truly and genuinely hollowed out! Upon learning the news, Liu Chengyou sighed directly: opportunity has come!