Chapter 888: The August War

Because of national strategic considerations, in the first decade of Qianyou, too many outstanding generals of the Great Han were "shelved" by Liu Chengyou in the north—Yang Ye, Ma Quanyi, Han Lingkun, Dong Zunhui, Li Hanqiong, Luo Yangui, Wang Shenqi, Bai Chongzan, Li Hanchao... this string of generals and army commanders were no worse in ability than the Han generals campaigning in the south, yet most of them garrisoned the border for years on end, and men like Yang Ye and Luo Yangui had been there for a decade by now.

For the stability of the Great Han's northern frontier, these generals had indeed sacrificed no small amount. In light of this, in this campaign, the several tens of thousands of border troops in Hebei were intended for major use, along with the opportunity to render distinguished service.

And these long-suppressed generals were like wild beasts freed from their reins, wanting to devour men. Even the lowliest garrison soldiers held some expectation of military merit. When officers and men alike yearn for achievement, that is favorable news for war.

Launching an external war on such a massive scale placed enormous pressure on the Emperor and the court; the worst fears were that the people would not support it, the generals would lack fighting spirit, and the soldiers would grow weary of war. Fortunately, in the early stages of the war, these situations were still relatively rare.

As for where the Han army's fighting desire came from, the most important factor lay in the court's generous treatment of the military over these years—whether in rewarding merit or providing compensation, there was never any stinginess. And in the various corruption cases investigated by the Great Han in recent years, only those involving military pay and military supplies received the harshest punishment, with no exemptions or reduced sentences ever granted.

As a result, some civil officials voiced complaints, feeling that the Emperor was too generous to those rough soldiers, which could easily breed arrogance and insubordination. Liu Chengyou also received some memorials of remonstrance that, while not saying it directly, carried a very clear implication—reminding Liu Chengyou that the chaos of the past three dynasties lay in military men wielding power, in pampered soldiers and fierce generals...

Liu Chengyou accepted all these suggestions, but simply did not act on them. Some people can only ever see one side of a matter, while deliberately ignoring the other. He certainly treated the military generously, but at the same time, the severity of the Great Han's military law had never been relaxed, and had been progressively tightened and perfected. What Liu Chengyou did was nothing more than the four words "grace and authority in tandem."

For Liu Chengyou, in these years of reforming the military, what pleased him most was not the measures to check the power of generals or the means of winning over the soldiers' loyalty, but rather the construction of a set of military management regulations that officers and men at all levels could accept.

Add to that the establishment of the pacification and consolation system—years of relentless indoctrination proved quite effective on the lower-ranking officers and soldiers who did not have much capacity for independent thought. It was the combined effect of all these factors that produced the brand-new appearance of the Great Han's soldiers today.

If one were to ask which among the many generals and marshals of the Great Han had the closest relationship with Liu Chengyou, the answer was Ma Quanyi. Tracing back the past, when Liu Chengyou was still the second son of the Prince of Beiping, Ma Quanyi had already been following him. It could be said that he was the first general Liu Chengyou discovered and won over. In the early years, this bond of feeling was not yet deep, but as time passed and the longer it went on, the more precious that friendship became.

And Ma Quanyi had never once disappointed Liu Chengyou. Guarding Yongqing for eight or nine years, he never acted arrogantly on the strength of being an old retainer of the Son of Heaven; faithfully discharging his duties was his best repayment to the Emperor. Therefore, when it came to Ma Quanyi, Liu Chengyou would think of him at every festival and new year, and had several times summoned him back to the capital to report on his work and receive an audience.

In the former matter, under An Shenqi's orders, Ma Quanyi led the Yongqing army north to fight, engaging in 11 battles large and small, achieving results of killing and wounding over 1,500 enemy troops. When the Liao cavalry rampaged on a large scale and the situation in Yan lands deteriorated, he had also stepped forward.

On the 12th day of the 8th month, hampered by cities that were hard to assault and fortresses that were hard to take, with the people and soldiers of Youzhou cooperating fully, the Liao army began to change its offensive approach, resorting to the tactic of besieging a point to strike at reinforcements.

At that time, following the suggestion of the Liao general Han Kuangmei, the Liao army gathered 5,000 troops to besiege Xin'an Fort south of Jizhou, drawing the Han and Yan armies to come to its relief, while secretly ambushing troops in the surrounding countryside. At that time, the main force of the Great Han's cavalry had not yet arrived; it was Ma Quanyi who took the initiative to lead his troops out of Yuyang to rescue Xin'an Fort, and sure enough, he fell into a heavy encirclement.

Facing the Liao army's surprise assault and encirclement, Ma Quanyi performed with great valor. Personally leading the 300 cavalry that accompanied his force, he fought desperately, charging left and right, repeatedly several times, buying time for the infantry to form their defensive formation.

Afterwards, he led from the front, directing the soldiers' defense on the front line, struck by several arrows while his expression showed no change. Several times the Liao army broke through the formation, and each time Ma Quanyi led his men to rush up, plugging the gaps, fighting desperately in blood, and re-establishing the defensive line.

In this way, the Yongqing army's 3,500-plus infantry and cavalry held out against an enemy more than three times their number for a full day. During this time, the Yan people of Xin'an Fort, seeing the relief force fighting bitterly, took the initiative to gather 300 men to sally forth, cutting down quite a few Liao soldiers. However, at that time, the Liao army had no mind to pay attention to that fortress, only sending a small detachment to defeat them.

The Yongqing army's bloody day of battle fully achieved the effect of serving as bait. The Han-Yan allied forces of You, Shun, and Ji prefectures successively rushed to reinforce—some were intercepted on the way, some fought the Liao army on the spot, and some broke through to the Xin'an area to join the fighting.

By the time the Han army's reinforcements arrived, the Liao army, which had also been fighting bitterly for a long time, was gradually showing signs of exhaustion. Upon learning of the battle situation, the Liao troops in the Luanping and Zunhua areas also came to reinforce.

Around Xin'an Fort, the two sides fought the largest battle since the war began. The Han-Yan allied forces totaled about 20,000 infantry and cavalry, while the Liao army that participated in succession numbered as many as 24,000.

Although it was a pitched battle, it more resembled a melee, a chaotic fray. Xin'an Fort was the main battlefield where fighting was most intense, but outside the main battlefield, the two sides' entanglement in reinforcing and intercepting reinforcements was equally fierce. There was not even unified command—from the Xiang River in the west to Khotan County in the east, the two armies' tangle extended over a hundred li. The Han army fought the Liao army by relying on mountains and ridges, while some cavalry units even launched proactive attacks on the Liao forces.

As for the final result, it ended with the Liao army at Xin'an voluntarily lifting the siege. As for the outcome of the Battle of Xin'an Fort, the Liao army ultimately suffered around 4,000 casualties, and the Han army was not much different—many of its losses came from being ambushed and slaughtered by Liao cavalry while en route to reinforce.

However, in terms of strategic significance, the Han army won completely. First, it thwarted the Liao army's scheme of "besieging a point to strike at reinforcements" and inflicted heavy casualties upon them; second, the Han army's act of braving great risk to rescue Xin'an Fort won over hearts and minds, drawing the people and soldiers of Yan lands closer to the Great Han, and also galvanizing the determination of the Youyan people and soldiers to resist the Liao army; finally, this was the starting point of the Han army's transition from defense to offense.

As for their own losses, to be honest, in a war involving several hundred thousand people, a mere 4,000 casualties truly counted for nothing. With the Great Han's human resources, they could be replenished quickly.

In this battle, Ma Quanyi played the most critical role—though of course, the contributions of the other Han and Yan generals could not be erased either.

After the battle, after resting for three days, Ma Quanyi led his troops out on the offensive, striking east toward Zunhua city. North of the Gu River, he defeated the Liao army again, beheading over 200, forcing the Zunhua garrison to cower within its walls.

After arriving before the city, Ma Quanyi chose to withdraw voluntarily. Although the Hebei border troops had come north and were fighting the Liao army with great relish, though they had many wagons and horses, they had not brought the true siege engines—this was not yet the time for a strong assault.

Looking at the terrain south of Yan, the Jundu and Yan Mountains lay to the north, with many passes between them; Zunhua was one of them. Rooting it out would cut off one of the Liao army's exits for advancing south.

In fact, even if the perilous Yan Mountains were entirely in enemy hands, with Youzhou as the linchpin, supplemented by Yuyang, Huairou, and Changping, it would be very difficult for the Liao army north of the mountains to cross over and advance south to fight deep in Han territory.

By comparison, it was the enemy from the east that posed a greater threat to Youzhou—through the plains and rivers, they could almost reach Youzhou directly. Therefore, in the fighting against Liao, the key target of the Han-Yan forces was the Liao army that entered the pass through Yu Pass to assist in the fighting.

Shicheng County, nearly three hundred li from Youzhou city, was established by Liao and belonged to Luan Prefecture. In the more than a month of seesaw slaughter between Han and Liao, 5 battles large and small had occurred here, over 2,000 people had bled on this land, and more than 1,000 corpses had become nourishment for the soil.

In this high autumn of the 8th month, the 6th battle was unfolding, between 3,000 Han infantry and cavalry and 5,000 Liao troops. The Han commanders were Ma Quanyi and Ma Renyu; the Liao commander was the veteran general Gao Mohan.

Gao Mohan was a great and veteran general of Liao. As a man of Balhae origin, he had been heavily employed by several generations of Liao sovereigns, from Yelu Abaoji to Yelu Jing—all the same. In every Khitan campaign against the Central Plains, his figure had been active. This time was no different: Gao Mohan, holding the position of chancellor of the Southern Administration, commanded the Liaodong forces and entered the pass to fight.

In fact, because of the barrier of mountains, difficult roads, and inconvenient communication, the various Liao armies, belonging to different commands and lacking tight organization, repeatedly made errors in coordinated operations. This was also one of the reasons why the Hu barbarians, though never lacking in bravery, were gradually suppressed by the Han army in prolonged battles.

After the main force of the Han army's northern expedition from Yongqing had moved north, the Liao troops mainly active in the Youzhou and Jizhou area quickly withdrew to Miyun and Juyong Pass. Because word did not reach him in time, Gao Mohan's reaction was somewhat slower, and as a result he got entangled by the Han army.

The troops Gao Mohan brought into the pass from Liaodong, plus the garrison of the Luanping camp, totaled more than 20,000 men, a mix of infantry and cavalry, with a small number of Khitan and Xi, supplemented by Han and Balhae. However, under the strikes of the Han-Yan soldiers and people, they had suffered losses of nearly 30 percent.

The battle at Shicheng County was also a meeting engagement in a pursuit. Gao Mohan indeed possessed considerable ability in commanding troops and also had courage and daring—he personally led men to cover the rear, fighting while retreating, constantly gathering up soldiers routed by the Han army behind him and feeding them back into the line at any moment.

Gao Mohan had a clear judgment of the battle situation, knowing that although he had more men, his equipment and training could not match the Han army's, and while the Han army had fewer men, behind them there was no telling how many more pursuers there were.

Gao Mohan had not considered concentrating his forces to swallow up the Han army before him, but he had no certainty of victory. The result of the Battle of Xin'an Fort had made the Liao army recognize a truth once again: a Han army in formation was unbreakable. Unless one was mentally prepared to pay twice the sacrifice and fight a prolonged battle, one should not easily attempt it.

Therefore, being driven east by 3,000 Han troops, no matter how aggrieved he felt inside, Gao Mohan could only endure, only bear it.

Fortunately, on this retreat he was less than ten li from the county seat—as long as he withdrew into the city, he could catch his breath. East of Shicheng was still territory controlled by Liao, and the Han army would not dare to continue pressing deeper.