Chapter 1330: The Entire Army Wiped Out?

The defensive preparations at Shanyang against the Liao army's southward advance seemed somewhat overreactive—after all, so far, the Liao army's movements remained uncertain, and it was still only Cao Bin's speculation.

But Emperor Liu had not a trace of hesitation in his heart, and resolved to dispatch troops and deploy generals to reinforce Shanyang. There was a very important reason: Shanyang was indeed hollow, a major gap in the current northern defense system.

When the Liao army was far off in Shangjing and the great desert, little threat was felt. But once the situation turned overnight, with the enemy advancing south in force and pressing close to the border passes, the sense of crisis immediately surged. And Emperor Liu had always been a man full of crisis awareness—persecution paranoia was practically his middle name.

And although the Liao army's massive southward advance had won them a bountiful victory over the Han army, they ultimately had not achieved complete success. Their troops now at the Han border clearly meant they wanted to do something big—to avenge the failures of the Second Han-Liao War. They also needed more victories and gains over Han to relieve their nearly collapsing domestic situation under the immense pressure of war, and to revive their gradually waning confidence.

Therefore, Emperor Liu could be certain that the Liao army absolutely would not let matters rest. Even their emperor had come in person, showing their resolve. If it were Emperor Liu himself, he too would have that resolve—he would have long cast aside all hesitation and staked everything on one bold gamble.

Emperor Liu did not concern himself with where the Liao army would next point its spear. He only needed to do what he ought to do: plug the gaps, reinforce the border, and strengthen defenses.

If the Liao army was stubborn, thinking one battle had completely crushed the central Han army, and wanted to push through Xuanhua to threaten Youzhou, then Emperor Liu welcomed it—Yehuling was waiting for them. Emperor Liu still held confidence and expectations for Liu Tinghan; with the spur of his previous defeat, he would surely learn shame and find courage, striking the Liao army a head-on blow.

After all, the current situation between Liao and Han was not comparable to the Mongol-Jin war of another time and place, and Yehuling would not be their opportunity.

Of course, judging by Liao's planning and execution against Liu Tinghan's army, the Liao court was not lacking in insight. They would most likely not choose to test the strong passes and perilous defiles of the Xuanhua region—the Yunzhong line was clearly the more reasonable choice.

With such calculations, the time left for the Han army to adjust its deployments was not much. Considering all this, a sense of urgency filled Emperor Liu's heart.

After a brief pause, Emperor Liu looked at Cao Bin, who was still waiting, and instructed: "Cao Qing, tonight I'll trouble you and your colleagues to work hard. Call Liu Xu, Li Ye, and Chu Zhaofu, and transmit the military orders at the fastest speed! Where Shanyang's situation goes from here depends on how quickly we respond!"

"Yes!" Feeling the weight of Emperor Liu's tone, even the steady Cao Bin felt immense pressure.

"Your Majesty, in Liu Tinghan's report, there was one more matter mentioned—hard to know if true, but of great importance..." Gazing at Emperor Liu, who sat expressionless, Cao Bin hesitated, his tone clearly cautious.

"What matter?" Emperor Liu picked up the military report on his desk that he had not yet read in detail, glancing at him: "Is there worse news than Liu Tinghan's great defeat and the border in peril?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty!" Cao Bin instinctively lowered his head, his voice dropping as he reported: "During the fierce battle at Tianling against the Liao army, Liu Tinghan learned from a captured Liao general a piece of information—he said, said..."

"Said what!" Emperor Liu turned his head, his gaze cold and piercing, staring straight at Cao Bin. Even when reporting Liu Tinghan's defeat and the Liao army's knock on the border, Cao Bin had not been so hesitant.

Feeling Emperor Liu's sharp gaze, Cao Bin replied in a low voice: "According to the captured general, a month ago, the two armies of Wang Yansheng and Yang Ye, on their long-range raid into Mobei, were ambushed at Wugu Mountain by the Liao Northern Commissioner of Military Affairs Yelu Xian, leading troops in an interception—the entire army was wiped out!"

At this sudden news, Emperor Liu's eyes instantly narrowed. In that moment, Cao Bin felt the very air freeze. Emperor Liu's hand, flipping through the military report, paused in mid-air for a while before continuing its stopped motion. His voice carried not a trace of emotion as he said faintly: "Is the information reliable?"

"Still awaiting verification!" Cao Bin dared not give a definitive answer, but neither did he offer an optimistic attitude, analyzing: "However, Your Majesty, I believe that if the Mobei troubles were not resolved, the Liao army would not dare so confidently advance south in force..."

The study fell into silence once more. After a long silence, Emperor Liu spoke again, his voice showing not a hint of weakness or wavering: "I understand! You need not concern yourself with this matter. Go attend to the Shanyang affairs first—that is the priority. Issue strict orders that there must be no delay. Any military or civil official who is slow or negligent will be severely punished without mercy!"

"Your servant takes his leave!" Receiving the order, Cao Bin dared not linger and hurried away.

After Cao Bin withdrew, Emperor Liu lowered his head and opened Liu Tinghan's report, finding the section concerning the soldiers of the Mobei expedition. The dim yellow lamplight fell upon Emperor Liu's face, and his skin trembled slightly, involuntarily...

"Someone, summon Li Chongju!" After a moment, Emperor Liu ordered coldly.

Still in this same study, although two rows of oil lamps burned diligently to cast their light, the surroundings remained somewhat dim, as if a layer of gloom stubbornly shrouded the air, hard to dispel.

Emperor Liu stood; Li Chongju knelt, his body bent very low, forehead nearly touching the ground, shattered porcelain shards scattered about. How many years had it been—this was the first time Emperor Liu had lost his temper at Li Chongju to such a degree. And of course, it was also the first time Li Chongju had been so terrified.

"The roads are long, communications cut off, enemy control, messages hard to deliver—do you think I don't know these difficulties?" Staring at Li Chongju, Emperor Liu no longer concealed his anger, practically interrogating him: "If intelligence were so easily obtained, what use would I have for your Wude Office? What value is there in those elite agents under your command?"

"It is your servant's incompetence. Please punish me, Your Majesty!" Li Chongju knocked his head heavily against the ground.

"Stop saying 'incompetent' all the time! That's not what I want to hear!" Emperor Liu interrupted him with slight irritability, saying coldly: "If you're used to making incompetence your excuse, then why would I need you as Commissioner of the Wude Office?"

"Your Majesty's rebuke is just. Your servant has disappointed you!" Some habits were likely ingrained to the bone—besides his terror, Li Chongju's posture of prostrating himself and begging punishment was hard to change.

Seeing this, Emperor Liu raised his hand, waved it, then lowered it again. Finally he said coldly: "I don't care what difficulties there are, nor what methods you use. I want you to find out the situation of the soldiers in Mobei at the fastest speed—whether they are alive or dead, I want a definitive answer!"

"Yes!" Li Chongju replied.

"Withdraw!"

Li Chongju had come in haste and left just as quickly. As for Emperor Liu, he began pacing the room again. Yan Tuo personally cleaned up the shattered porcelain cup beside him, equally cautious and careful, knowing that Emperor Liu at this moment was extremely dangerous.

After a long while, Emperor Liu let out a sigh. In truth, he also knew that this matter could not be entirely blamed on Li Chongju—the sluggishness of intelligence was sometimes truly beyond human power to remedy.

But his anger at Li Chongju was not only for this. It was also the accumulation of too many prior instances of unsatisfactory work that had built up too much dissatisfaction in Emperor Liu—this time it had simply erupted.

He had already given Li Chongju sufficient pressure. How Li Chongju would act next, how he would transfer this immense pressure onto his subordinate intelligence officers, was no longer Emperor Liu's concern. He only cared about results.

As for the safety of the soldiers on the Mobei expedition, although Emperor Liu still held a sliver of hope in his heart, his confidence was truly insufficient.

After all, they were fighting thousands of li away, in that distant, unfamiliar land surrounded by enemies on all sides—no rear base, no military supplies. Even if they had some captures, the strategy of living off the enemy's provisions was severely weakened on the vast desert.

On the other hand, for long-range raids like those of Wang Yansheng's and Yang Ye's armies, what was needed was a surprise strike, the effect of catching the enemy off guard.

In the early stage, they had indeed achieved good results, reaping abundant victories that set Liao's backyard on fire, threw the northwest into chaos, and shook Mobei, greatly diverting Liao's internal attention.

But that was, after all, enemy territory. Getting in was difficult enough; escaping was hardly easy. It was a thorny path filled with hardship and danger—almost a road of no return.

And once Liao reacted and became wary, achieving even greater results would not be so easy. Moreover, a large part of the reason for Liao's failures in the northwest of Mobei was that the Prince of Ping, Yelu Longxian, had been unprepared and mishandled the response.

When replaced by the far more troublesome opponent Yelu Xian, who commanded the combined Mobei tribal Liao forces against Wang and Yang's detached force, one could imagine how severe the difficulties and dangers facing Wang Yansheng and Yang Ye were.

It was precisely because of these considerations that Emperor Liu's mood kept sinking. Receiving this news that could be called a nightmare, he suddenly realized—he had been happy too early.

The entire army wiped out? Emperor Liu did not believe it. How could it be so easy—if you can't win, can't you run?

What he could hope for now was that Wang Yansheng and Yang Ye could rely on their rich battlefield experience and tenacious fighting will to successfully escape danger. Although it seemed very difficult—even greater than the crises and risks they had faced during the northern expedition.

The Mobei expeditionary force carried a great deal of Emperor Liu's emotional investment—not to mention the two generals Wang Yansheng and Yang Ye, there were also the two imperial princes Liu Fang and Liu Min.

This was also the point Emperor Liu cared about most, and was most tense about.

At this moment, he still cared more about his own sons. As for those soldiers, frankly speaking, even if they were truly all wiped out, Emperor Liu would not shed a single tear...

But what most frustrated and angered Emperor Liu was that he was powerless in this situation. Even as the supreme sovereign possessing all within the four seas, he could only wait for a result.

This feeling made Emperor Liu very uncomfortable. Stripped of the gilded robes of identity and power, he was just a man—a middle-aged, slightly greasy man about to turn forty.