Chapter 887: The Emperor Has Not Yet Arrived, but the Slaughter Is Already Fierce

When they reached Qinghe County, the imperial camp halted and docked by the shore for rest, with soldiers taking turns disembarking to eat hot food and attend to personal needs, while the ships were cleaned of filth and supplies replenished. The Prefect of Beizhou, leading the local elders and common folk, brought food and drink in baskets and vessels to reward the royal army.

Of course, this was more of a formality to boost morale. Since hostilities had already begun in Youyan, Liu Chengyou was eager to hurry north to observe the military situation, so along the march he tried to avoid unnecessary complications, and had no intention of stopping unless it was essential.

However, at Qinghe County, an unexpected person appeared—his father-in-law, Guo Wei. On the canal bank, Guo Wei stood solemnly, gazing over the imposing armor and weapons on the river, his weathered face full of emotion.

Dressed in plain, elegant brocade robes, his beard and hair now streaked with gray, his complexion was still ruddy, and his overall bearing was calm and generous. Behind him were several riders as guards, and in his hand he held his young son, Guo Yi.

Upon learning that Guo Wei had arrived, Liu Chengyou specifically sent men on a light boat to bring him aboard the dragon boat, and summoned Consort Guo Ning, waiting in person.

"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty!" Stepping onto the dragon boat and seeing Liu Chengyou, Guo Wei immediately bowed respectfully.

"No need for ceremony! We are all family—no need to be bound by such formalities!" Liu Chengyou personally helped Guo Wei up. This time there was no feigned enthusiasm, but his gentle expression revealed a genuine, unadorned warmth.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Liu Chengyou's assistance was not forceful, so Guo Wei still completed the full ritual bow.

"Three years since we last met! Your elegance remains unchanged, your bearing undiminished!" Looking at Guo Wei, Liu Chengyou said with a light laugh.

"Thank you for Your Majesty's concern!" Guo Wei replied: "Your subject dwells in the countryside, finding pleasure in fishing and hunting, following nature's course, nurturing my years in contentment—simply enjoying myself!"

"Living so freely like a carefree cloud and crane, even I am envious!" Liu Chengyou joked, then looked down at Guo Yi, who was staring boldly back at him with innocent eyes. He couldn't help reaching out to pinch the boy's wind-chapped, slightly reddened cheek, saying: "Little Guo Yi has grown quite a bit, hasn't he?"

"Hurry and kowtow to His Majesty!" Guo Wei shot a glare at his youngest son.

Guo Yi hastily kowtowed, and Liu Chengyou noticed that at his waist hung a jade pendant—a gift Liu Chengyou had given when Guo Yi was still in swaddling clothes. He still remembered it clearly.

"How did you come to be at Qinghe?" Turning his gaze back to Guo Wei, Liu Chengyou asked with slight curiosity, walking into the cabin with him as he spoke.

A look of deep emotion crossed Guo Wei's aged face: "Your Majesty raises arms to campaign against the Khitan in the north, and the men of Yan and Zhao all rise up with fervor, eagerly joining the fight. Your subject has long been away from the battlefield and cannot wield a blade against the enemy, but upon hearing that Your Majesty campaigns in person, I rode posthaste to come and witness the brave soldiers of the Great Han, to pray they strike the barbarian hordes hard, and to bow my head in reverence, hoping for the royal army's triumphant return!"

Guo Wei's words were rousing, and Liu Chengyou was greatly pleased, laughing heartily several times. Back when Guo Wei had retired to his hometown, Liu Chengyou had visited him at his "sickbed," and Guo Wei had said then that if the royal army campaigned against the Liao, he would surely pray and offer blessings for it. Now, he was fulfilling that promise, and from this one could also see that Guo Wei indeed had sound insight into matters of state and military strategy.

Inside the cabin, the decoration was very simple, even crude, but fortunately the space was fairly large. The father-in-law and son-in-law sat facing each other, while Consort Guo Ning personally served hot tea, a smile on her youthful, jade-like face, her beautiful eyes brightened, their autumn ripples alluring.

"For this northern campaign, all the various armies combined have nearly three hundred thousand fighting men alone—one could say the entire nation has been committed without reserve. Do you think I can succeed?" Liu Chengyou asked.

"Your Majesty will surely succeed, and the Great Han will surely triumph!" Guo Wei answered without hesitation, the words flowing readily, his tone exceptionally certain—he seemed even more confident than Liu Chengyou himself.

While the imperial camp was heading north, in the Youzhou region, the fierce fighting between Han and Liao had already been underway for some time. Although Liu Chengyou had formally issued the edict on the twentieth day of the eighth month, the fighting between the two sides had begun a full month earlier and had been steadily escalating.

At first, several thousand Liao cavalry, divided into three columns, raided the Youji region. Following the scheme of Yelu Talie, Great King of the Southern Division of the Liao, these Liao horsemen sought not plunder but only killing, hoping that through devastation of the Youyan lands they could disrupt the Great Han's rhythm of war preparations.

However, Zhao Kuangzan, Prince of Yan, who had long since received the Son of Heaven's personal reply and knew the northern campaign was imminent, showed not the slightest fear. He concentrated the five thousand Yan cavalry he had painstakingly accumulated over the years and treasured like jewels, sending them to hunt down and destroy the invading Liao forces.

The Yan military and civilians, facing the Liao invasion, resisted with all their might from top to bottom—soldiers eagerly slew the enemy, and common folk fought with fierce anger, showing not a trace of fear. Afterwards, as more Liao cavalry joined the fight, their strength quickly grew to over ten thousand men. The Yan cavalry, being fewer in number, eventually could not hold out and suffered considerable losses. At this point, An Shenqi decisively dispatched five thousand border cavalry from the northern army northward to coordinate with the Yan forces, and only then did they regain the upper hand.

Subsequently, Yelu Talie, whom the Northern Liao emperor had entrusted with southern military affairs, dispatched another ten thousand cavalry to invade through Juyong Pass. Upon hearing this, An Shenqi ordered Ma Quanyi, Army Commander of Yongqing, to lead his troops north to support the defense of Youyan.

Although the Liao cavalry possessed great mobility, the people of Youyan were no sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Those fortified villages and cities were so many hard bones to crack. The Liao army had tried to break them by force—they had succeeded in breaching and massacring several fortified villages—but they would soon face pursuit and encirclement by the various Yan and Han cavalry units.

Amidst the desperate resistance of the Great Han's military and civilians, Yelu Talie's "scorched earth" policy suffered a major setback. Crossing north of Yan, the lands of You and Ji should have been theirs to gallop across at will, but as the fighting developed, problems quickly emerged.

The cities, waterways, and fortresses of the Yan lands, like nails of various sizes, worked in concert with the attacking Han cavalry to compress their space for maneuver. With the northward advance of the Hebei border troops, they also found themselves at a numerical disadvantage. True, the Liao side was mobilizing troops to join the fight, but the efficiency was low, and with the need to also maintain defenses at the various passes, the forces they could directly commit to Youyan could only increase gradually.

As for the Han army advancing north, they had also taken the initiative to attack, but facing the Great Han's battle formations, they had absolutely no appetite to bite. They wanted to delay and exhaust the Han army, but the Han forces coordinated infantry and cavalry and had not entirely lost their mobility and initiative. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the Han army successfully entered the various Yan cities and strengthened their defenses.

The Liao army also attempted to push south into the heart of Hebei, only to run headfirst into a wall—especially in the Yongqing region, where during that period one could see Han troops being transferred north from the south almost every day.

Even though the Liao army encountered tremendous difficulties in their strategy of killing and plundering Han lands, Yelu Talie not only refused to ease off the invasion but continued to send more cavalry. Just as he had told the Liao emperor, one's will must be firm and one's methods ruthless. In truth, no matter how resolute the resistance of the Yan military and civilians, in such a seesaw struggle on their own soil, facing the Liao army's targeted attacks, how could their losses be small?

By early August, the Liao forces Yelu Talie had dispatched to fight in Yan numbered fifty thousand infantry and cavalry—the cavalry came from beyond the northern frontier, while the infantry came from the Zunhua and Luanping garrison regions to the east, composed mainly of Han with Balhae as auxiliaries, fighting in coordination.

However, the Han army was not at a disadvantage either, especially after Gao Huaide and Guo Chongwei led the Longjie Army and over twenty thousand Han cavalry from the northwest "mercenaries" northward, gradually seizing the upper hand.

In the span of one month, the two sides fought over a hundred engagements of various sizes, with nine major assaults involving three thousand or more cavalry each—and of those, the Han army won six. Thus, by mid-August, the Liao army was already busy merely fending off Han attacks, with no time at all for plundering and killing Han people or striking at Han supply lines.

The area of combat had expanded from the initial Youji region to all of southern Yan. The Liao army shifted from offense to defense, while the Han army shifted from defense to offense. Ma Quanyi even led his troops in a probing attack toward Zunhua.

In a short period, the two sides' forces were locked in a tangled, interlocking state, with the troops involved reaching one hundred thousand men. It was a brutal clash, and both sides suffered heavy losses—the Liao army sustained over fifteen thousand casualties in total, while the direct battle deaths of the Han and Yan armies exceeded five thousand. As for the deaths and injuries among the Yan common people and the destruction of production, those losses were incalculable for the time being.

Only when the Han emperor's northern campaign edict reached the northern field headquarters did the main Han forces, which had long since gathered in the Yongqing region and received some rest and training, formally march north under An Shenqi's command.

The moment the army of over one hundred thousand began to move, the remnants of the Liao forces still entangled with the Han army in the Yan lands heard of it and decisively pulled back.