Chapter 123: The Affair of Youyan Concluded

Because of the upheaval in Youyan, communications were poor, and though the spread of news was somewhat delayed, it ultimately reached Liu Chengyou's ears with clarity. Although the reaction of the Liao army on the southern front showed that Zhao Yanshou must have achieved a major breakthrough at Youzhou, striking the Liao army where it hurt, the result still startled Liu Chengyou and his staff.

Youzhou city really was taken by Zhao Yanshou, just like that? How useless was that Yelu Jieli?

The news was somewhat distorted in transmission—roughly, Zhao Yanshou descended like divine troops upon Youzhou city, launched a fierce assault, swept all before him, the defenders could not hold, and he took the city in one stroke, gaining the support of the Han populace of the entire city. Heroes of Youyan, hearing the news, stirred and vied to flock to him. Zhao Yanshou now held Youzhou with a host of tens of thousands.

Setting aside the useless information, one thing was certain: in this northern expedition, the most important and most difficult objective—Youzhou city—had been taken.

Then, a question was placed before Liu Chengyou: what should he and the Longqi Army do now?

A host of officers remaining at Zhending once again unanimously requested to fight. Looking at those faces full of eager, impatient longing, Liu Chengyou felt he needed to think this over carefully. Most of the Longqi Army had basically been scattered out; the officers were mainly from the Third Army, mostly mid- and low-ranking officers.

The news from Youyan spread quickly. Had it been beforehand, asking them to march four or five hundred li to attack Youzhou, probably no one would have had confidence. But now Zhao Yanshou, leading a bunch of surrendered troops and rebels, had seized it even while the Liao army was prepared. So Youzhou wasn't that hard to take after all—and the officers and men at Zhending could no longer sit still. They wanted to earn merit too.

Liu Chengyou naturally would not view things as simply as the ordinary soldiers, thinking Youzhou was really that easy to take. What surprised him was that Guo Rong and Xiang Xun were also getting restless, their appetites growing, losing their usual composure, urging Liu Chengyou to go north in full force to support Zhao Yanshou and bring the lands of Youyan back under the rule of the dynasty.

But this time, Liu Chengyou was, as usual, exceptionally calm. For a single instant, he was truly tempted, but he forcibly suppressed that impulse. Achievements that look within reach often deserve repeated deliberation and weighing.

"Your Highness, since Youzhou has fallen, we now have a foothold in Youyan. Relying on the strong city, we can contend with the Liao army and drive them out completely." Xiang Xun could hardly contain his excitement; even though he sensed Liu Chengyou's lack of enthusiasm, he still could not help urging.

"With our current strength and troops, are we enough to contend with the Liao army? Remember, even this campaign to coordinate was done with all our might, at the cost of sacrificing the defensive strength of Chengde and Zhenzhou!" Glancing at Xiang Xun, Liu Chengyou asked coolly in return.

Guo Rong spoke up on his own: "We could send Commander Zhang to lead the First and Second Armies north."

Earlier, Zhang Yanwei had been ordered to lead six thousand infantry and cavalry east to intercept the returning Xiao Han's army. At the junction of De and Cang prefectures, downstream of the Yellow River's eastward flow, he intercepted the last Liao army. Xiao Han's force numbered over twenty thousand, but whether from low morale or timidity, they fought conservatively and cravenly. Zhang Yanwei and Ma Quanyi, with the cooperation of local warlords and righteous militias, fought them bitterly for over twenty days before finally seeing results.

Xiao Han finally woke up at the last moment—perhaps realizing support from Youyan would not come—and led the remaining four thousand-plus cavalry, abandoning all "baggage," and fled for his life. Murong Yanzhao, fighting at Mozhou this time, had been on constant alert against Xiao Han's army. Zhang Yanwei's spoils were abundant; after all, Xiao Han's earlier stubbornness was because he could not bear to part with the wealth and beauties he had painstakingly plundered.

Zhang Yanwei's return march was not fast, loaded with carts large and small, still within Jizhou territory.

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou said directly: "The First and Second Armies fought bitterly for nearly a month before returning; the troops are weary and the horses spent. This is precisely the time to show consideration for the soldiers. Can they be sent north to fight again?"

"Your Highness could summon the troops of the various garrisons and prefectures of Hebei north, and also recruit brave men of Yan and Zhao." Xiang Xun's voice grew quieter.

Liu Chengyou looked at him without speaking, but his eyes were full of words—as if wondering whether this suggestion was truly put forward by Xiang Xun. Recruiting soldiers might be useful, but after so many wars, how many able-bodied men remained? Even if one or twenty thousand were recruited, would that be enough? If they were to continue investing in Youzhou, what was needed was immediate combat power. As for the various garrisons of Hebei—these local warlords had only recently submitted; it would already be burning high incense if they did not rebel and cause chaos.

Thinking of these things, Liu Chengyou's reasoning grew ever clearer. He gently shook his head and raised a hand to stop Guo Rong, who also wanted to say something more: "With our current strength, controlling the prefectures of Chengde to defend the northern border is already a stretch. Previously I strongly advocated sending the Yan troops north on campaign, and you all expressed opposition. Why are your opinions so different today? All because of Youzhou city. The proposal for the northern expedition was originally based on the principle that when the enemy is strong, attack advantageously despite disadvantage—I dared to take this risk because the succession struggle within the Khitan state had intensified, and Youzhou was left empty. That was the opportunity the Khitan gave us!"

"The Prince of Yan taking Youzhou is certainly gratifying, but the more easily it was taken, the more violent the Liao army's counterattack will be."

"A campaign of several hundred li—how many troops, how much armor and equipment, how much grain and fodder does it require? How is the supply line to be guaranteed? And still we want to achieve merit. The difficulties in between—you two cannot be unaware of them. This time we mobilized troops; though the duration was not long, we have already reached our army's limit. The granaries from the summer harvest are already more than half consumed. Next, we must both support the army and feed the people, and still prepare for unforeseen needs. If we invest even more strength into Youyan, I fear we will sink deep into it. Before Youzhou reaches any resolution, we ourselves will collapse..."

In fact, with the intelligence of Guo Rong and Xiang Xun, how could they fail to recognize what Liu Chengyou was saying? It was just that the enormous temptation before their eyes was too hard to bear.

And the reason Liu Chengyou could restrain himself was simply that his expectations had never been that high. Using Zhao Yanshou to throw Youyan into chaos—that was his true purpose. And suddenly discovering that there seemed to be a chance to retake Youyan, Liu Chengyou's wariness only rose higher.

Since Liu Chengyou had stated his position with such gravity, the two men also calmed down. They exchanged a glance, and Guo Rong said: "Your Highness, as you say, with Youzhou lost, the Liao army will certainly counterattack with full force. Without our support, Zhao Yanshou will likely find it very hard to hold out."

At this moment, Wei Renpu, who had remained silent all along, spoke up: "Youzhou's city walls are strong; one only needs to gather the Han populace to defend it. If it is merely the remnant troops within Youyan at this time, it will be difficult for the enemy to retake it in the short term. However, if the main force of the Liao army that went out beyond the ridges turns south again, then it is hard to say."

"We can only hope that the Khitan's internal strife lasts a while longer, buying Zhao Yanshou more time!" Liu Chengyou said.

With this discussion concluded, the tone was set. Still, Xiang Xun felt some reluctance and sighed: "What a fine opportunity—what a pity!"

Liu Chengyou kept a straight face and said: "Having gained Long, do we now covet Shu?"

"The Liao army is concentrating its forces in Youyan—are we to do nothing at all?" Xiang Xun asked.

Stroking his chin and thinking briefly, Liu Chengyou reached out and swept his hand across the map on the table, saying: "Grant the two routes of troops the authority to act on their own—but one point: the Longqi Army does not cross the Yishui River!"

From beginning to end, Liu Chengyou appeared very composed.

His mood, naturally, was good. In fact, as long as Zhao Yanshou had taken Youzhou, no matter how the situation developed from here, his purpose of throwing Yan into chaos had been achieved. In his view, with Youzhou in hand, even if he did nothing on his side, the Liao army could not possibly retake it from Zhao Yanshou without paying a certain price.

According to Liu Chengyou's script, the best outcome next would be for Zhao Yanshou to hold the strong city, gather the strength of Youyan, and fight the Khitan in confrontation, attrition, and bitter warfare—day after day, year after year.

Of course, judging from Zhao Yanshou's past record, having him fight the Khitan to the death was probably impossible. The man perhaps harbored thoughts of swaying between north and south, playing both sides. But when it came to a true life-or-death crisis, if he could not bear the pressure, surrendering to the Khitan again would not be a difficult matter—even though Liu Chengyou had already employed no small number of measures to prevent that possibility.

But Zhao Yanshou would have to get that chance first.

As the subject of discussion between Liu Chengyou and his subordinates, Zhao Yanshou himself was actively pressing forward. Having taken Youzhou, the heart that had been suspended dropped by more than half, and his confidence swelled.

The Hu troops in the city were all ordered by him to be driven out and killed. When the Yan troops entered the city, the situation reversed—the Han populace who had been oppressed and watched over were able to turn things around, and instead the Hu were placed under control. Zhao Yanshou quickly mobilized over ten thousand able-bodied men from within the city, while sending people to proclaim to the prefectures and counties of Tan, Ji, Zhuo, and Yi, calling on the Han populace to resist the Khitan together.

Zhao Yanshou truly did have some prestige in the lands of Youyan, and many of his former subordinates held posts in the prefectures and counties. Indeed, quite a few responded. The Khitan's system of Southern and Northern Divisions, ruling Han through Han, though it had positive effects on their development, exposed its aftereffects when the Han rebelled.

Of course, besides his hard-to-quantify prestige, the decline of Khitan strength after the Battle of Luancheng and the contradictions between Hu and Han also spurred the Han resistance in Youyan.

Entering Youzhou, taking inventory of the treasuries, gathering heroes, arming soldiers, reassuring the people—Zhao Yanshou could be said to be exhausting his every effort.

In comparison, Yelu Jieli, who had taken the initiative to march south, found himself in an awkward position. Arriving at Gu'an, he saw only a county town besieged by the pursuing Liao army from the north, tottering on the verge of collapse. There was nothing to rejoice about—and then news came that the Yan army had taken the water route and arrived before Youzhou city.

Rage and hatred rose from his heart. In his shame and fury, he still had the mood to order Gu'an breached, killing all the several hundred Yan troops in the city, leaving behind another debt of blood, before finally leading his army back north.

Youzhou—Yelu Jieli was determined to retake it. Otherwise, losing face was the lesser matter; the greater was being unable to account to Yelu Ruan. Never mind that by seniority and blood he counted as Yelu Ruan's paternal uncle—if he truly lost Youzhou, even though Yelu Ruan was praised for being "magnanimous and generous," he would not let him off.

He urgently ordered the Liao troops at Ding and Mo not to tangle with the Longqi Army, to abandon the prefectures and counties and head north. This resulted in both routes retreating in defeat, and Yelu An, the Military Governor of Dingzhou, even had his head chopped off by Li Yun. Yelu Jieli then concentrated the Liao troops of the Yishui defense line and its surroundings, scraping together over ten thousand men to return north to Youzhou.

However, upon arriving before the city walls, he discovered he no longer held a numerical advantage. For Yelu Jieli, the strength of the city walls was not what was frightening—what was frightening was that there were still enough troops to garrison it. Do not think they were a ragtag mob; in this kind of world, the heroes of Youyan who took up arms could teach a man a lesson.

With his blood boiling, Yelu Jieli rashly ordered an attack—and smashed his head against a wall, losing several hundred men. Cooling down, Yelu Jieli simply set up camp before the city, preparing to await reinforcements.

But if he wanted to regroup, the Yan troops in the city would not allow it. Zhao Yanshou, seeing his opportunity, sent Yan cavalry out of the city to harass, making the Liao army endlessly annoyed. Fighting nomadic peoples, cavalry was indispensable; as long as you had it, you would not fall completely into passivity.

Under these circumstances, the morale of the Liao troops in Youyan sank to the lowest point—they had even stopped obeying orders. Among the Liao troops remaining in Youyan, the number of warriors from the Khitan's own tribes was not large; the majority were miscellaneous troops of Xi, Shiwei, and Bohai. And Yelu Jieli, who had never been popular to begin with, was also headstrong and self-opinionated; his repeated misjudgments had led the situation in Youyan to rot.

In this situation, Yelu Jieli directly lost control of his army, nearly collapsing in rout right before the city walls. Even Zhao Yanshou noticed something was wrong—until Xiao Han arrived with the remnants of his troops fleeing north from the Eastern Capital. The two were truly brothers in misfortune. Coming together, Xiao Han directly seized command. Whether in office, status, or seniority, Xiao Han was superior to Yelu Jieli. Though Yelu Jieli appeared furious on the surface, inwardly he actually breathed a sigh of relief—he was not entirely stupid.

After some discussion, they felt that with only the troops before the city, they were insufficient to counterattack Youzhou, and lingering too long would easily give the enemy an opening. Thus, they all voted to withdraw north to rest and regroup, then make new plans.

Before withdrawing, a group of the Hu got ideas, planning to dispose of the remaining Yan generals in the army—such as Yang An, who had previously defended Mozhou. But Yang An was not one to be pushed around. Learning of the news in advance, he decisively rebelled with his men, charged out of the Liao camp, surrendered to Zhao Yanshou, and reported the Liao army's true strength and weakness. At this, Xiao Han and Yelu Jieli very decisively pulled their men and withdrew, running extremely fast, finally not giving Zhao Yanshou the chance to catch them.

Though the treasuries of Youzhou were not well-stocked, there was still a fair amount of surplus—especially grain. The Liao army's withdrawal eased the tense atmosphere in the city and gave Zhao Yanshou more ample time to prepare.

Drawing his blade, he stabbed it through a sack of grain; a good amount of freshly harvested summer grain flowed out. Grabbing a handful and holding it in his palm, a trace of a smile bloomed at the corners of Zhao Yanshou's mouth.

But soon, his smile froze. From within Youzhou city, a sudden burst of killing cries erupted, spreading with extreme speed. His face changed drastically—the city had been under martial law by his order all along; why were killing cries suddenly breaking out?

"What's going on? What happened?" he shouted angrily. Leading his guard, he left the treasury.

Soon, a subordinate general came hurrying to report: "Prince of Yan, the soldiers in the city are killing the Hu..."

"What!" Zhao Yanshou's face turned green this time: "Nonsense! Who told them to do this?"

"The soldiers are shouting for revenge." Seeing Zhao Yanshou's anger, the Yan general explained: "Prince of Yan, there are nearly a hundred thousand Hu in the city. Keeping these people is also a hidden danger, unfavorable to the city's defense. Moreover, spending grain on them is too wasteful. Especially those Khitan—many of their households have surplus wealth. If we could take it for military use..."

After hearing the Yan general's argument, how could it sound so reasonable? Still, Zhao Yanshou felt something was off and rebuked: "Why did you act on your own? Transmit my order: all units cease immediately; officers are to restrain their men."

But Zhao Yanshou's order had little effect at this point. The city had already fallen into complete chaos—not just the Yan army, but the Han populace of the city had also joined in, killing their people, seizing their houses, plundering their grain... Seeing that the situation could not be stopped, Zhao Yanshou simply led his personal troops to defend the northern wall, prepared for any eventuality.

By the time Youzhou city settled once again, blood stained the city walls, as if answering the tragedy of Xiangzhou.

Zhao Yanshou, exhausted in both body and mind, arranged the aftermath—clearing and burning the corpses, tallying the spoils. No matter how displeased he felt, one thing was certain: the wealth of the Hu barbarians in the city, gathered together, would be enough to defend Youzhou for over half a year...

When everything was settled, Zhao Yanshou coldly investigated the matter and found that it had been led by several Yan generals, acting in concert.

As for the reason why, Zhao Yanshou could not help but cast his gaze southward, sighing inwardly: "How ruthless!"

With such an incident having occurred, he, Zhao Yanshou, essentially had no second choice...