Chapter 1278: Bloody Battle at Jinzhou

"How is the situation at the Supreme Capital?" Yelu Xiezhen asked about the fighting in the north. No matter what, Liao was a dynasty of the grasslands; the Liaodong region was certainly important, but the vast desert north and south remained its foundation, and it could not afford any major misstep there.

Upon hearing the question, Xiao Siwen's expression relaxed somewhat, and he reported: "After establishing the strategy of contraction, most of the tribal people in Monan have already migrated north to avoid the edge of the Han army. Although there were considerable losses during the retreat northward, most of our strength was preserved. Now, the defenses and passes along the Yin Mountains have all been abandoned, and Han Kuangmei is leading troops to tangle with the Han army in Monan.

However, as long as the Han army does not launch a major sortie beyond the frontier, it will be difficult for them to harm the foundations of the Great Liao. Han Derang believes that the western route forces of the Han army are merely a secondary force, a feint to tie down Liao's troops—not a threat to our heartland, and nothing to fear.

He has devised a plan for Your Majesty: if they dare to advance deep northward, we should concentrate our forces and seek to annihilate them. Beyond the northern frontier is ultimately the pastureland of our Great Liao—the Han army must not be allowed to run rampant there!"

Xiao Siwen spoke with conviction, and Yelu Xiezhen nodded in affirmation: "Han Derang's plan is feasible! If it succeeds and we annihilate one of their armies, that would be cutting off one of their fingers, and it would also help alleviate the difficulties we face on the overall front!"

"His Majesty instructed me to tell the Great King that he does not wish to send additional troops to Liaodong in the short term. For now, this side can only rely on the Great King and the soldiers. Once there is progress at the Supreme Capital, he can confidently come east to support us!" Xiao Siwen said.

Yelu Xiezhen had somewhat anticipated this. The forces in Liaodong were indeed insufficient—he had not requested reinforcements, yet the Supreme Capital had taken the initiative to send troops.

Falling into contemplation, Yelu Xiezhen's high brows knitted tightly, a flicker of hesitation passing across his expression. After a long while, he raised his head, as if having made up his mind, and said to Xiao Siwen: "Our army excels at offense, not defense; we are strong in open-field battles and weak in siege warfare. Now, with numerical inferiority, fresh defeats, and flagging morale, stubbornly defending—even with the fortifications of Jinzhou and Chen and Yao as shields—will be hard to hold. To break the deadlock and reverse the crisis, we must take the initiative and adopt a strategy!"

"Does the Great King have a plan to defeat the enemy?" Xiao Siwen's spirits lifted as he asked.

Standing upright before the map, Yelu Xiezhen's eyes stared fixedly at southern Liaodong, his gaze almost locked onto Chen and Yao prefectures, two hundred li away.

"Is Yelu Hai still kneeling outside?" Yelu Xiezhen suddenly asked.

"Yes!"

"Have him come in!" Yelu Xiezhen said coldly.

Soon, Yelu Hai entered dejectedly. Seeing Yelu Xiezhen seated in the hall, he knelt down again. Having knelt outside for so long, his legs trembled uncontrollably as he bent his knees.

"I beg the Great King to punish me!"

Yelu Xiezhen stared at him expressionlessly for a while, then sighed: "The defeat at Suzhou and the loss of southern Liaodong were also due to my improper arrangements and incomplete strategy. Rise!"

"Great King, this is all because this general fought poorly!" Seeing Yelu Xiezhen take the blame upon himself, Yelu Hai was both moved and admiring, and spoke with agitation.

Looking at him, Yelu Xiezhen said directly: "Though Suzhou was lost, your decision to abandon Ningzhou and Fuzhou was good—it preserved some strength and bought more preparation time for Chen and Yao!"

Yelu Hai was about to speak when Yelu Xiezhen cut him off, looking at him and saying in a deep voice: "I will give you one more chance. If I entrust the defense of Chen and Yao to you, do you still dare to accept the command and face the enemy?"

Upon hearing this, Yelu Hai did not hesitate in the slightest. He raised his head and puffed out his chest, and said resolutely: "Thank you, Great King! This general will surely fight to the death—as long as I am in the city, the city stands; if the city falls, I die!"

Nodding, Yelu Xiezhen said: "I will also send you five thousand additional infantry from Liaoyang, along with twenty trebuchets and thirty mounted crossbows! If the Han army comes to attack, hold Chenzhou for five days; once five days are up, abandon it!"

Yelu Hai immediately said: "Great King, I will live and die with Chenzhou!"

"No need!" Yelu Xiezhen waved his hand grandly and said sternly: "If you must die, die at Yaozhou, die at Yanyuan. If Yanyuan city falls, then you need not come back!"

"This general accepts the order!"

Chenzhou and Yaozhou, one to the south and one to the north, together stood at the gateway from the peninsula into the Liao River plain. Both were nestled against mountains and waters, except that Jian'an city in Chenzhou faced the sea, while Yanyuan was set further back and deeper inland, effectively avoiding direct strikes from the Han army's naval forces.

Yelu Hai departed with his orders, carrying a will to die. Everyone could feel his resolute bearing. Xiao Siwen could not help but sigh: "With the Great King employing men like this, how could Yelu Hai not fight to the death?"

Yelu Xiezhen's stern expression softened, and he said with emotion: "Yelu Hai is a fierce general, bold and generous. During the western campaign back then, he followed me through life-and-death situations and many bitter battles. The loss of southern Liaodong is not entirely his fault. I have given him a chance to redeem himself, and he will surely give his all!"

"Does the Great King intend to plan against the enemy to the south?" Xiao Siwen considered Yelu Xiezhen's arrangements and asked.

Yelu Xiezhen's expression was calm, but his gaze grew increasingly grave as he said: "That will depend on whether the Han army reveals a flaw!"

Turning his attention to Jinzhou in the northwestern part of the Liaodong Bay, after the summer rains, with only two days of rest, at the order of the field headquarters, wave after wave of Han troops launched a new round of attacks on Jinzhou city.

On Liao's side, they had clearly been thinking of preparedness in times of peace. Over the past decade or more, they had put great effort into Jinzhou's city defenses. The walls were of brick and stone construction, tall and sturdy, so much so that the Han army's scaling ladders could only barely reach the top of the walls.

At the same time, this also weakened the power of long-range striking weapons like the thunderclap cannons to a certain extent, and on Jinzhou's broad walls, a considerable number of trebuchets and giant crossbows and other heavy weapons were deployed.

Over all these years, the Liao army had learned lessons and made progress. They had naturally studied and employed these weapons of the Han army as well. On the basis of absorbing the techniques of Han artisans, they had also obtained much advanced technology from the Western Regions. In terms of weapons and equipment, there was no generational gap between the Liao army and the Han army.

The Han army's counterweight thunderclap cannons—Liao had also built many of them, and they had obtained large quantities of fierce-fire oil from the Western Regions. It had to be said that the Liao army's western campaign had brought significant improvements to Liao in every aspect.

Therefore, when attacking Jinzhou, the Han army's commanders discovered that it was very difficult to achieve the absolute advantage in siege warfare as they had during the first northern expedition—catching the enemy off guard and quickly breaching the city.

However, the absence of absolute advantage did not mean the absence of advantage altogether. After so many years of development, the Great Han army did not rely solely on equipment superiority to fight. In war, especially in cold-weapon combat, the final outcome still depended on men, on hard power.

And in terms of hard power, the Great Han always had abundant courage. It was just that, with the Liao army having countermeasures, storming the fortifications was more difficult and required a greater price. When it came to attrition, the Great Han had never feared anyone, and the commanders had that psychological preparation as well.

After recognizing the situation, Zhao Kuangyin changed his previous slow and steady pace to one of swift and decisive action, using strict military orders to drive the soldiers to launch wave after wave of fierce attacks on Jinzhou city.

The Han army used mature siege tactics from the past, relying on various siege engines to sustain the assault. From atop the walls, large quantities of fire oil, flying stones, and crossbow bolts rained down, inflicting casualties on the attacking soldiers below.

The moat outside the city had long been filled in. Five heavy, towering scaling ladders once again leaned against the walls of Jinzhou. Across the boarding planks, squad after squad of Han soldiers, shields raised, ran up toward the city walls.

A distance of barely two zhang wide, yet it was like a road of death—bows and crossbows at range, long spears up close; one misstep and one would fall to be crushed into pulp. There were even friendly-fire casualties from their own fire-oil bombs, stone projectiles, and gunpowder.

To cross this abyss of peril required the Han army to pay a tremendous price in casualties. Even after reaching the top of the walls, there were still the city-defense soldiers arranged by the Liao general Yelu Xiuge.

During these days, the Han army had inflicted heavy casualties on the defending Liao troops, but their own losses were equally severe—roughly double those of the defenders. The siege was fought with great difficulty, and the soldiers participating in the assault disappeared by entire formations.

In all these years, siege warfare had never been this difficult. Of course, no matter how hard or bitter it was, it did not shake Zhao Kuangyin's resolve to press the attack.

Taking Jinzhou would mean that the gate to Liaoyang was thrown open, and the entire war situation would be changed and a breakthrough achieved.

Above and below Jinzhou city, the cries of battle shook the heavens, arrows filled the air, and explosions sounded from time to time—the noise of the Han army employing gunpowder. The air was thick with the smell of blood; the blood of soldiers on both sides had dyed the city walls red. Smoke and fire billowed, blades flashed and swords gleamed, stimulating everyone's nerves. As the slaughter progressed, human life had long ceased to be precious, and death had become commonplace...

With a series of dull thuds, the heavy city gates of Jinzhou were thrown open, and a contingent of Liao cavalry suddenly charged out. The Han army was prepared for this. Ma Renyu, in command of the siege, immediately ordered an adjustment of the Han army's formation below the walls to protect the heavy siege equipment.

When it came to threats to the city, the scaling ladders that could deliver soldiers to the walls were the greatest. Yelu Xiuge understood this well. In previous battles, he had managed a successful surprise attack that burned several of them.

Once the Han army was prepared, it became difficult for the Liao army to achieve their objective again. This time, only about five hundred Liao cavalry rode out—clearly death-determined warriors. After they left the city, the gates were closed behind them.

Knowing they were doomed, these charging Liao cavalry were especially ferocious, recklessly slamming into the defensive formations of the Han army. Some of them even carried fire-oil jugs on their bodies, seeking to destroy the enemy along with themselves.

But this kind of desperate struggle appeared somewhat powerless before the Han army's formations, and it fulfilled their death wish—the Liao cavalry that rode out were all annihilated.

However, their deaths were not entirely without effect. While they were being cut down, the strikes from atop the walls cost the Han army considerable casualties, and also disrupted the assault troops climbing the ladders to the walls...

When the Liao army used such methods to slow the Han army's offensive, one could imagine that the pressure the Liao army bore atop the walls was by no means small. It should be noted that at the start of the siege, the Jinzhou defenders' daily casualties were only around three hundred.

The sun set in the west, and even the setting sun seemed dyed red by the blood of Jinzhou. The sound of the gong signaling retreat rang out. The Liao army had held the walls. The attacking Han troops withdrew, the scaling ladders slowly moved back, and the soldiers returned to camp in succession under the cover of shield walls. From atop the walls, sporadic arrows still rained down.

The evening sea breeze was somewhat cool for the soldiers who had fought all day, while the continuous sound of the retreat gong seemed all the more desolate...