Chapter 1289: The City Wall Collapsed

The defeat at the Yaozhou campaign had a greater impact on the Kaibao northern expedition than Emperor Liu and his ministers had anticipated—not only did it give the Liao army in Liaodong a chance to catch its breath and greatly relieve the pressure it bore, it also shattered the aura of invincibility that the Great Han had previously cultivated.

On the Han army's side, the command system was being adjusted, and Gao Huaide's move east to take over required a period of adjustment. The losses in troops and supplies needed to be transported to the eastern front, strength restored, and a new offensive launched—all of this took time, and no small amount of it.

At the same time, pulling one hair moves the whole body—the prolonged failure to take Jinzhou added even more pressure. It also dealt a blow to the morale of the entire eastern Han army.

And as one side waned, the other waxed—the Liao army's morale was bound to rise and their confidence to grow. The Han army, though mighty, was not invincible. With the support of Shangjing and the command of the Great King Yelu, their will to resist would surely become firmer.

For the Liao army, once the eastern front was temporarily secure, they gained a full breathing period to reorganize their troops, and the large quantities of military supplies captured also somewhat eased their logistical pressure.

Moreover, they could free up their hands to confidently support the western front. The Liao army's proactive sortie this time had been undertaken at great risk—Yelu Xiezhen was gambling as well, having simply judged the timing and seized it.

And while Yelu Xiezhen was planning the Yaozhou counterattack, support for Jinzhou naturally slackened. Unlike the Han army, it was not so simple for the Liao army to attend to both fronts perfectly. But this time, luck stood on the Liao side—Yelu Xiezhen's gamble paid off.

From late May to early June, the effects of the Yaozhou battle gradually settled under the respective adjustments of both Han and Liao, and the war situation stabilized once more.

After a period of urgent preparation and dispatch, the court continued to send troops and grain to the Liaodong Peninsula, and during this time, more pressure shifted to the Jinzhou front. In any case, the eastern land and naval forces were nominally under the command of the western field headquarters—though they had great autonomy, when the eastern front encountered setbacks, the western front could hardly remain entirely at ease.

Especially for Zhao Kuangyin, the de facto supreme commander of the army—he had naturally heard something of the disturbances at court before, and even with Emperor Liu's protection, there was always some pressure in his heart. Now, that pressure had been magnified.

As the war had developed to this point, all focus ultimately settled on Jinzhou—the outcome of the Han and Liao struggle there would decide the direction of the entire campaign.

No matter what pleasant surprises came from the Western Regions or Mobei, whether Liu Tinghan's army achieved anything, or what setbacks were suffered at Yaozhou—none of it was decisive.

Fortunately, when pressures swept in from all sides and the entire weight of victory or defeat in the northern expedition pressed down on his shoulders, Zhao Kuangyin did not panic. However anxious his mind, however complicated his emotions, his face remained composed, and he grew ever calmer.

Zhao Kuangyin had also summarized the reasons for the Yaozhou defeat: first, underestimating the Liao army; second, the Han army's rash advance. With the previous lesson as a warning, how could Zhao Kuangyin fail to be vigilant and repeat the mistake? After all, he was a man of talent destined for the crown—he could bear what ordinary men could not.

Throughout May, the main Han army group on the western front had not been without gains. First, after the young general Hou Yanguang's mopping-up operations, the Liao troops harassing the supply lines like flies were basically suppressed. In particular, Hou Yanguang devised a plan—through an ambush battle he essentially eliminated the main force of the harassing Liao troops, once again securing the Liaoxi Corridor. Though scattered remnants remained stubborn, they were only small bands that could accomplish little.

The assault on Jinzhou city also grew increasingly fierce. Under Zhao Kuangyin's overall coordination, wave after wave of attacks were launched against the city, and even the Longqi Army, the main force of the imperial army, was sent up to lead the assault for a period.

Even with Jinzhou's solid fortifications, the damage was severe. The Han army certainly suffered heavy losses, but the defenders' casualties were equally great. After prolonged bitter fighting, the defenders' strength was greatly diminished—in both manpower and matériel.

However, toward the end, the Han army gradually slowed its offensive—first, due to the impact of the Yaozhou battle; second, because the troops were weary from prolonged fighting and needed adjustment; third, because midsummer had arrived and the weather was growing hot. Under these circumstances, Yelu Xiezhen sent another twenty thousand troops and large quantities of weapons to reinforce Jinzhou. Holding the city had also cost a tremendous price, and Yelu Xiuge needed to rest and reorganize.

But behind the brief respite lurked an even deadlier intent—the Han army was clearly brewing an even more ferocious assault. Jinzhou had been under attack for a full two months, from early summer to late summer. The state of Jinzhou's defenses, the true strength of friend and foe—Zhao Kuangyin saw it all as clearly as fire.

Frustrated before a strong city, unable to take it after prolonged siege—though the situation looked unfavorable for the Han army, it was precisely under this heavy pressure, while the stalemate persisted, that Zhao Kuangyin made up his mind and devised a plan to break it.

On the eighth day of the sixth month, the Crown Prince once again convened the commanders in the central army headquarters, summoning the upper and middle-ranking officers of the army. This meeting did not last long, nor did it dwell excessively on the gains and losses of previous attacks and defenses. Zhao Kuangyin directly ordered: regardless of casualties, attack the city with full force—the Jinzhou campaign must not be dragged past summer.

Thus, starting from the ninth, after a silence of about half a month, the Han army once again launched its assault on Jinzhou city—and this time, it was even more ferocious than before. From the commander-in-chief on down, all silently resolved themselves. With such unity of purpose, no one dared hold things back; any who slackened or feared battle would be dealt with by military law. The Great Han's military law had always remained strictly enforced.

As for the defenders in the city, though they had received a batch of reinforcements from the rear, the pressure they bore had not changed—on the contrary, it had multiplied. When the Han army surged forward, resisting those wave after wave of unending attacks naturally became even harder.

Of course, Zhao Kuangyin was not willing to rely solely on brute force, sacrificing his soldiers in hard pounding. But after probing the city's defenses repeatedly, there was no other way. Just as when he had led troops into Shu years ago, facing those towering mountains and perilous passes, Zhao Kuangyin had fought with great flexibility.

Only, the opponent he faced now was different, and the opponent's responses were different. When the time came to pay a price, there was nothing to begrudge. As a veteran general who had long weathered the battlefield, how could he be soft-hearted or frightened by casualties? To put it in plain terms: war always costs lives.

And to break Jinzhou, Zhao Kuangyin racked his brains and exhausted his ingenuity. Besides maintaining the Han army's customary siege tactics, he also employed unconventional methods.

However, given Jinzhou's terrain and fortifications, a water attack was not feasible. Fire oil and fire arrows inflicted heavy casualties on the Liao army, but were not fatal.

Piling earthen mounds—with insufficient space, it would create difficulties for one's own side. And Yelu Xiuge was not simply passively defending; he would occasionally send men out on desperate sorties.

Using gunpowder to blast the city walls had also been attempted—large numbers of soldiers and laborers, braving the defenders' attacks from the walls, hauled gunpowder barrels to the base of the city, only to be stopped by Yelu Xiuge's death squads, who even risked their own lives to detonate the barrels prematurely—in short, they never allowed enough to be accumulated.

As for tunneling attacks, the digging was extremely difficult—cave-ins occurred repeatedly, and a heavy rain even flooded two of the tunnels. The city was also prepared for this: the Han army dug outside the walls, the Liao army dug inside, and when the tunnels met, they used smoke and fire, suffocating and burning to death many of the laborers at work...

But no matter how tightly Yelu Xiuge defended, there were always oversights—and the repeated setbacks and obstructions ultimately became a smokescreen, drawing the defenders' attention away.

Among all the tunnels that had been dug, one had been carefully and cautiously excavated by the Han army all the way to the southwest corner of Jinzhou city—a spot that had never received the defenders' "attention"—and then, with even more careful movements, more than two hundred barrels of gunpowder were piled beneath the city's foundation.

And so, on the morning of the twelfth day of the sixth month, as the Han and Liao armies clashed in desperate combat above and below the walls, with a thunderous explosion, the long-tested outer wall of Jinzhou collapsed...