Chapter 75: Holding Forces in Place

Back then, when Liu Zhiyuan first proclaimed himself emperor and the news reached the Eastern Capital, in order to guard against Hedong's troops, Yelu Deguang had arranged some countermeasures, deploying several columns of troops around the periphery of Hedong's sphere of influence.

Geng Chongmei led troops to Luzhou, where he was wiped out to the last man by the southward-advancing Liu Chengyou, getting his lunchbox early.

Cui Tingxun, Military Governor of Heyang, was on guard against Ze and Lu, but then his rear was suddenly stabbed by Wu Xingde, and he was badly defeated despite outnumbering the enemy. It was only because Yelu Deguang did not punish him that he was given a chance to regroup; to this day, he remains deadlocked with Wu Xingde at Heyang. He launched one counterattack and won a small victory, but was again harassed from behind by Li Wanchao, stationed in Zezhou. Caught between two fronts, with the Khitan main force having withdrawn from the Central Plains and no support behind him, his days grow ever harder—he probably cannot hold out much longer.

Then there is Zhao Kuangzan, son of the Yan King Zhao Yanshou, Military Governor of Hezhong. Hezhong is important territory—the ancient "Hedong," a strategic stronghold—but Zhao Kuangzan, apparently heeding his old father's advice, has kept a very low profile, holding fast in Puzhou and watching the situation unfold, showing not the slightest aggression.

The last one is Gao Tangying, who was not too eager, dragging his feet and never going to take up his post. Only after Yelu Deguang abandoned the Central Plains and headed north did he move along with him.

This time, ordered to retake Anyang, he dared not hesitate any longer. Accompanying him north were a contingent of Yan troops and several units of surrendered Jin soldiers, totaling over six thousand men. In addition, Yelu Balide personally led five thousand elite Khitan cavalry to hold the rear.

First there was Wu Xingde, then Luo Yangui. When news of Luo Yangui's defection reached Liyang, Yelu Deguang flew into a rage, summoned the general Yelu Jieli to his imperial tent, and gave him a severe dressing-down. Had his ministers not dissuaded him, he would have charged Yelu Jieli with the grave crime of "misjudging men"...

Faced with the unending stream of defecting surrendered soldiers, Yelu Deguang's wariness toward the Jin soldiers and Han generals had been raised to the highest level. Sending them to attack Anyang clearly also carried the intention of letting them wear each other down.

In fact, had he not been worried about provoking unnecessary upheaval, Yelu Deguang would have ordered every prefecture to slaughter all surrendered Jin soldiers. Fortunately, though the temper of Yelu Deguang on his northward retreat grew ever more volatile, his mind grew ever clearer.

If he were going to kill them, he should have done it back when he first marched south to Kaifeng, while they were still concentrated together, and settled it all at once. If he issued such an order now, it was almost certain that before the Khitan troops in various places could act, the prefectures and counties under Khitan rule would erupt in flames of rebellion everywhere.

By the time Gao Tangying and Yelu Balide arrived before the walls of Anyang, the city's four gates were already tightly shut, defenses fully prepared—clearly the righteous army in the city was on guard. After learning that the Liao army was heading north, Liang Hui had sensibly pulled all his forces back into Anyang, emptied the treasuries, armed his troops with all the armor and weapons available, used all the money to encourage the soldiers, and mobilized the entire city's soldiers and civilians to defend...

"Acting Military Governor, th-this... how many men does the Liao army have?" On the city wall, gazing down at the two enormous, clearly distinct military formations below, a senior officer under his command asked nervously.

"Should be... around ten thousand or so..." Liang Hui's legs also felt a bit weak, but he strove to steady his mind and spoke.

Swallowing hard, the senior officer's face turned somewhat pale, and he said grimly: "I hear the Khitan have three to four hundred thousand troops. If they all come, how can we possibly resist!"

"Idiot! Do you think all the Khitan cavalry would gather at Xiangzhou?" Liang Hui immediately cut off his subordinate's lament, scolding him. But the tension in his expression could not be concealed at all—the Khitan emperor returning north must have at least a hundred-some thousand men around him.

"They seem to be about to attack. What do we do?"

"What do we do? Pass my order—hold the line first!" Liang Hui said sternly with a harsh voice, using his loud tone to drive away the fear in his heart.

Two or three li from the city, after surveying the walls and ordering the siege equipment brought along to be set up, Gao Tangying personally spurred his horse to the front of Yelu Balide's formation to request instructions: "General Yelu, shall we attack now?"

"It's all in Governor Gao's hands!" Yelu Balide appeared somewhat arrogant, speaking with a sidelong glance: "This Anyang is your seat of governance, so you'd best get a move on. His Majesty is quite furious with these bandits—don't disappoint His Majesty..."

Though Yelu Balide's attitude was most irritating, Gao Tangying still had to force a smile, hurriedly returning to his formation and ordering the attack.

The course of events exceeded Liang Hui's imagination from the very start. He naturally had no intention of stopping the Khitan from returning north, but to Yelu Deguang, his occupation of Anyang made him a thorn in the Khitan's path home that had to be removed. Moreover, their act of seizing the city and killing officials had precisely enraged the increasingly hot-tempered Yelu Deguang...

However, the Yan troops and Jin soldiers under Gao Tangying were not of one heart, not of one spirit, and the arduous march had bred much resentment. Sending them to storm a fortified city—how could they give their all? If they could bring out three-tenths of their full fighting strength, that was already good. The probing attack ended in a hasty retreat.

After that, there was no further breakthrough progress—not even when Yelu Deguang's imperial presence arrived at Anyang.

West of Anyang, in the Huan River basin, reconnaissance from the Longqi Army's cavalry was growing increasingly frequent. Ever since those warhorses had been taken in, the Longqi Army's cavalry had achieved breakthrough development.

At the same time, as the bulk of the Khitan army slowly moved north, between the two cities of Linlu and Anyang—a hundred li of mountains and waterways—the clashes and entanglements between the two sides' scouts and outriders grew ever more brutal.

On the north bank of the Huan River, over a hundred riders under Han Tong's command rested briefly—soldiers eating, warhorses drinking. Han Tong's expression was very grave, looking unusually somber. Though he had been promoted, his mood had been poor lately, holding in a breath, wanting to earn merit to wash away his previous crime of "disobeying military orders," and to contend for the command of the newly established Longqi Cavalry Army.

Liu Chengyou had newly established a cavalry force, divided into left and right battalions. Han Tong was commander of the left battalion, while the army command was temporarily left vacant.

Before long, a squad of cavalry came galloping in from the northeast, with some Khitan roaming riders in pursuit behind them. Observing the situation and analyzing the circumstances, seeing that the enemy riders were not numerous, Han Tong immediately led his men to meet them. After a brief and fierce skirmish, the enemy riders withdrew.

"Commander, we rescued an officer who escaped from Anyang. He says he is a subordinate of the Acting Military Governor of Xiangzhou, seeking aid from His Highness!" Yang Ye sheathed his blood-stained sword and pointed at a wounded officer as he spoke to Han Tong.

Glancing at the man, Han Tong looked toward the east—rolling hills blocked the view, and his line of sight could not reach far. To guard against any mishap, Han Tong directly ordered: "Take him back to Linlu. Withdraw!"

Linlu. The entire Longqi Army of over six thousand men had been stationed here for several days already.

Upon receiving the plea for aid from Anyang, Liu Chengyou made no indication, merely summoning his generals to ask their opinions.

The result: unanimous opinion—cannot rescue, no way to rescue. In fact, ever since learning that Yelu Deguang's force of over a hundred thousand had reached Anyang, several officers had already suggested to Liu Chengyou that they withdraw back to Luzhou, or at the very least retreat into the Taihang Mountains.

It was not that they feared the enemy—merely avoiding the sharp edge for now, after all, the Longqi Army's strength was far too thin. If Liu Chengyou had sufficient troops—not even many, just fifty thousand men—that would be enough to wrestle with Yelu Deguang.

But Liu Chengyou still neither advanced nor retreated, staying put steadily in Linlu. It seemed the Khitan had no intention of coming west to deal with him for the time being.

"Liang Hui defending Anyang—how could he hold out this long! And how could that messenger have escaped from Anyang! Tell me, could this be a Khitan trick, trying to lure our army out?" Even having decided to hold his forces in place, Liu Chengyou still raised a conjecture with keen interest.