Chapter 1265: Early Summer

In the eighth year of Kaibao of the Han, summer, the fourth month.

A full month had already passed since Emperor Liu formally issued the edict for the northern expedition. During this month, the entire north was seething with turmoil—the war clouds that had densely gathered had begun to rain, a rain of blood and gore.

The Great Han's near-declaration-of-war action had thoroughly dragged the north and south of China back into a magnificent age of warfare. The Han-Liao border, silent for over a decade, had also begun to stir restlessly.

A single peace agreement was far too fragile for both the Han and Liao sides—either party had the ability to tear it up at will. Beneath the veneer of peace and stability, more than a decade of accumulated contradictions and grudges erupted all at once.

Facing the Great Han's another massive northern expedition, Liao was also making proactive responses, not retreating. Of course, they had no room to retreat either—only to resist.

The newly enthroned Liao emperor Yelu Xian, with a powerful enemy pressing on his borders, had no choice but to set aside his plans for reforming and rectifying the Great Liao. He had to concentrate his energy and unite everyone for a war of national defense.

"Five hundred thousand infantry and cavalry"—that was enormous enough, intimidating enough. This was nearly one-eighth of the able-bodied men and women under Liao's rule. Just thinking about it was enough to make one's scalp tingle and spine chill.

However, Yelu Xian was no ordinary man after all. After the initial tension and panic, he quickly calmed down. That the Han army was mighty in numbers, elite in soldiers, and sharp in weapons was indeed a fact—it could frighten people, but it could not cow them.

Yelu Xian had the bearing of an enlightened ruler, and more importantly, he had a cadre of capable ministers who worked shoulder to shoulder with him through hard times. At present, Liao's interior could be said to be teeming with talent—in both military and civil affairs, there was a batch of Han and Khitan ministers capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities.

After consultations with several key ministers, facing the menacing Han army, Liao quickly formulated its response strategy. There was no other choice—just one word: fight!

Through analysis with Han Derang and others, Yelu Xian dispelled the worries in his heart. This was a life-or-death struggle—there could be no cowardice, and certainly no holding back.

In the eyes of Liao's ruler and ministers, the Han army was certainly powerful, but the so-called five hundred thousand infantry and cavalry was somewhat exaggerated. If sixty percent of it was actually fit for battle, that would already be generous—and moreover, it was attacking on multiple routes, which dispersed its strength.

It had to be said that the Liao ruler and ministers' judgment was fairly accurate. Of the northern expedition army, fewer than three hundred thousand could be called professional soldiers, and only half of those could be called elite. But even that number was formidable enough—the Liao ruler and ministers did not dare truly underestimate it. They just had to hold their ground on the surface and not show weakness.

After a tense round of deliberations, the Great Liao court under Yelu Xian's leadership displayed an efficiency utterly different from the era of Yelu Jing, quickly making targeted preparations and deployments.

The Han army's strategy of making the eastern route the main attack, with its sword pointed at Liaodong, was not hard to guess, and the Liao court made corresponding arrangements. The Great King of the Southern Division, Yelu Xiezhen, quickly returned to Liaoyang Prefecture in the Eastern Capital to take charge of Liaodong's defense. Yelu Xian even handed him the entire military and civil authority of the Liao Eastern Capital Circuit, along with the power to execute first and report afterward.

As for the Great Han's movements in other directions, Liao decisively adopted a posture of contraction and defense, unafraid of the Han army penetrating deep into the grasslands—this was their home turf.

Of course, Liao's response actually suited the Han army's intentions perfectly. Fighting a great battle, a decisive battle, in Liaodong was exactly what the Great Han needed.

The key lay in this: in Liaodong, the Han army must take it, and the Liao army must defend it. This was an unavoidable problem—only a head-on clash of offense and defense remained.

On Yelu Xiezhen's side, the slogans used to boost morale, besides defending home and country, were to make Liaodong the graveyard of the Han army, to make the Han army follow in the footsteps of the Sui army, to make Emperor Liu the second Emperor Yang of Sui...

Clearly, there were no shortage of people on the Liao side who understood Chinese history, easily making the connection—using the past to admonish the present!

While reinforcing the Eastern Capital Circuit with troops from the Supreme Capital, Yelu Xian also issued sweeping edicts, conscripting soldiers from tribes, prefectures, counties, and vassal tribes throughout the realm to counter the southern dynasty's invasion. His attitude was extremely tough, his orders brooked no doubt—this was truly going all out.

Given Liao's current population, describing it as having a million archers was not an exaggeration. However, actually conscripting that many troops all at once was simply unrealistic.

There were too many problems. First, Liao's territory was too vast. Although border military circuits, prefectures, and counties had been established in Monan and Mobei, a great many tribes were still scattered nomadically across the land. Gathering them was no easy task and required time.

Second, if a million troops were truly mobilized, feeding them alone would be a fatal problem. One could imagine the enormous logistical supply pressure of a million troops—it was absolutely not something Liao could sustain, especially at this time when the old crop was exhausted and the new not yet ripe.

Therefore, from the great desert grasslands, Yelu Xian ultimately conscripted only about two hundred thousand tribal soldiers—this was nearly exhausting all efforts. And while Yelu Xian was mobilizing troops domestically to meet the war, the collision between Han and Liao had already formally begun.

On the Shanyang Circuit side, it could be said to have launched the attack first. The Han general Tian Zhongjin led five thousand cavalry north out of the pass, bringing the basin pasturelands that had been under dispute between Han and Liao completely under the Great Han's control.

The Liao tribal people who roamed there, though sensing the danger and fleeing north swiftly upon receiving the warning, could not move quickly—the Khitan, dragging along their families, possessions, and livestock, were not fast. Facing Tian Zhongjin's attack, many were captured.

Tian Zhongjin was aggressive and enterprising. Not content after his gains, he continued leading his troops north, penetrating over a hundred li into Liao territory before encountering a large force of Liao troops.

These were the border troops Liao had stationed at the southeastern foot of the Yin Mountains. After the war began, facing Tian Zhongjin's relentless advance, they gathered the able-bodied men from surrounding tribes, totaling over seven thousand riders, to come out and intercept, covering the retreat of the tribal people.

This was the first battle of any scale between the Han and Liao armies after the northern expedition. Compared to hundreds of thousands clashing in great battles, it was not large, but it was a head-on confrontation, extremely fierce.

The Han army was well-equipped and well-trained, but they were few in number and had ridden a long distance. The Liao army had more men and no low morale. In the end, after clashing for over two hours with mutual losses, both sides withdrew from the battle.

The Liao army's purpose was to cover the tribes' northward retreat, to prevent the Han army from continuing its wanton killing and plundering. Their objective achieved, they did not linger. Tian Zhongjin, aware that he was deep in enemy territory alone, that the Liao resistance was resolute, and with the court's strategic guidance in mind, did not dare stay long.

Of course, it was also because Tian Zhongjin withdrew quickly. After ascertaining the numbers, Liao's Southwest Pacification Commissioner Han Kuangmei had already led reinforcements. If he had withdrawn any slower, his five thousand riders might not have escaped intact.

In one battle, both sides suffered three thousand casualties, formally raising the curtain on this bloody and cruel war between Han and Liao. A thick killing intent hung over the north and south of the great desert, and only blood could wash it away...

Five days after the sortie from the mountain pass, Yang Ye of the Yulin Circuit also made his move. He and Wang Shenqi each led ten thousand riders, splitting into two routes, striking directly at Liao's southwestern border.

Yang Ye led his army to attack Liao's Tiande Army, seizing their stockade and killing or capturing over a thousand Liao soldiers. Thereafter he went north out of the Black Mountains and joined forces with Wang Shenqi at the northern foot of the Yin Mountains, ranging over five hundred li.

The area of operations was large enough, and they had ridden far enough, but they had only achieved a basic objective—uprooting the dozen or so garrison towns Liao had placed at the front of the Yin Mountains.

The small numbers of Dada, Zhugushi, and other tribes active in this region had been quick to read the situation and withdrew early, so in terms of actual kills and captures, Yang Ye and Wang Shenqi's gains were not great.

To achieve greater results, they would need to continue north, deep into the great desert, straight into the heartland. For this, Yang Ye and Wang Shenqi did not yet dare to advance rashly.

The central and western route armies, though without many accomplishments, had still made a thunderous show, displaying their might beyond the northern frontier. In comparison, the eastern route army, the main attacking force, had instead fallen somewhat silent.

On the sixteenth day of the third month, the Crown Prince, along with Zhao Kuangyin and Gao Huaide, had already led their troops to Youzhou, and the troops from various regions and armies assigned to the eastern route had basically finished assembling.

However, even by early summer, there was still no major movement—not even any indication of advancing toward Liaodong.