Chapter 895: A Suffocating Method of Siege

On the fifteenth day of the ninth month of the eleventh year of Qianyou, on the sixth day of the Emperor's visit to Youzhou, the war machine the Great Han had erected in Youyan stirred once more, baring its fangs as it launched an assault on the Liao army.

Following the Han army's consistent style of warfare, to organize this offensive, preparations had been made with extraordinary thoroughness in advance. On the Tanzhou front, a total of 130,000 soldiers and civilians were mobilized, with the Xiaodi, Husheng, thirty commands of Hebei, and twenty commands of the Yan army as the main assault forces, personally overseen by Murong Yanzhao.

On the Juyong Pass line, An Shenqi personally led 100,000 men, with the Fengguo and Xingjie as the main forces, coordinated with the Yan army plus auxiliary troops and local militia, advancing from Changping to press directly toward Juyong Pass—not to fight, but only to pressure and observe.

Just as Guo Rong and the others had planned, the basic objective of launching this offensive was only Tanzhou. Once this nail in the land south of Youzhou was pulled out, the initiative in the war would fall completely into the hands of the Han army, and as for those 40,000 Liao troops, the Han army intended to swallow them in one bite.

Facing the Han army's active aggression, the Liao army likewise chose not to cower and wait to be struck. More than 30,000 rested Liao cavalry sallied forth once more, intending to harass, delay the Han army, and strike at its supply lines.

But this time, the space for the Liao cavalry to maneuver was growing ever smaller—the Han side had long been on guard against this very move. Concentrating over 35,000 riders, even sending out the Tieqi Army of the imperial camp, under the command of Gao Huaide and Guo Chongwei, they intercepted the Liao cavalry, and the two sides erupted in a massive cavalry battle on the plains south of the Wenyu River.

The outcome was not an absolute victory for either side, because before the main body of the Han army could complete its encirclement, the Liao cavalry withdrew on its own initiative. The Han riders pressed the pursuit, reaping no small gains, while the conscripted northwestern barbarian cavalry, reckless and heedless, charged all the way to the foot of Juyong Pass, where they were ambushed by the Liao army and lost over a thousand riders. Had the veteran general Guo Chongwei not personally led men to their rescue, the losses would have been even greater.

The northwestern barbarian cavalry conscripted for this campaign was composed of Wenmo, Uyghur, Tibetan, Tangut, and Hexi remnant peoples—considerable in number. Hired by the court, they had been only hastily organized and drilled before following the Han army north on the expedition.

But these men fought with great enthusiasm, mainly owing to the court's rewards and favors. When they first arrived at the Eastern Capital, they were awed by its prosperity and the might of the Great Han. At the same time, the court allocated large sums of reward money for the troops and promised that those wounded or killed in the northern expedition would receive the same compensation as the Han army. And the barbarian cavalry that had recklessly charged in pursuit this time were men of the Zhebu clan, local magnates of Liangzhou.

The Battle of the Wenyu River was not fought to the finish between Han and Liao, ending with nearly ten thousand casualties on both sides. However, in terms of tactical objectives, it was again a Han success—they seized the initiative, the Liao army shrinking back behind the two passes dared not sally forth lightly, while the Han main force advanced northward with even greater ease to attack the Liao army.

Miyun in Tanzhou was where the Yan Mountains met the plains, ringed by mountains on three sides with a single river running through, leaving only one gap to the southwest—an important passage connecting the lands south and north of the frontier, and a vital gateway to Youzhou.

Even after the loss of Youzhou, in these years Liao had never relaxed its military presence at Miyun, steadily strengthening it. Especially during the years when Xiao Siwen, Commissioner of Military Affairs of the Southern Court, personally took command, its military defenses underwent extensive repair and renewal.

Xiao Siwen was a man of the Khitan's maternal clan, closely bound to the imperial family by marriage. It could not be said that he possessed any great governing talent, but he had always given the impression of being steady and cautious—as stable as an old dog.

In recent years, though Xiao Siwen held military authority and sat in command at Tanzhou, his days had not been particularly easy. On one hand, there was military pressure from the south; on the other, both of his sons-in-law had participated in plots of rebellion and usurpation, and holding his position, he genuinely feared being implicated. Fortunately, Yelu Jing had not extended the purge to him, instead keeping him in high office, in charge of both military and civil affairs.

This time, as the Han army launched its great northern expedition, Xiao Siwen's performance could be called proper and by the book. At the earliest opportunity, he submitted a memorial to Yelu Jing, stating that the Han army was coming with fierce momentum and designs far from small, and requesting that he personally lead the campaign. Indeed, Xiao Siwen was the first Liao minister to recommend that Yelu Jing take the field in person.

South of Miyun city, the Han army's camps stretched for over a dozen li, anchored against mountains and river, sealing off all key points and throttling the city of Miyun tightly. The Liao troops within the city, under Xiao Siwen's command, had long since stood in strict battle readiness.

Miyun city, forged under Xiao Siwen's hand, was extremely formidable—high walls, deep moats, ample grain, and abundant weapons. The city's stores were enough to sustain its soldiers and civilians in a siege for half a year. Against this strong city, with the Liao army having fully adopted a posture of death-defying defense, Murong Yanzhao's side showed not a moment's hesitation and chose no other tactic—just two words: frontal assault.

In the art of siegecraft, the Han army could be said to be richly experienced and fully versed in its methods. They built wheeled watchtowers, prepared siege engines, heaped earth to approach the walls, and first used several thousand sandbags of earth and stone to fill the moats, allowing Han soldiers and equipment to reach the very base of the walls.

Thereafter, all manner of formidable siege engines were brought to bear. Though the art of war holds that taking a state whole is best and destroying it second; taking an army whole is best and destroying it second, from Emperor Liu Chengyou on down, the Great Han possessed a certain understanding of the methods of war. Though taking cities and fortresses was best accomplished through strategy, there were always times when it could not be helped.

And in siegecraft, the Great Han had invested enormous effort in these years—beyond the training of soldiers, it was reflected in the various equipment. Thunderclap catapults, bed crossbows, cloud ladders, and flying ladders were standard issue. This time, for the assault on Miyun, a hundred and fifty Thunderclap catapults alone were prepared. Besides the three thousand fire-oil bombs prepared in advance, men were sent to quarry the mountains for stone, yielding over ten thousand stone projectiles.

Beneath the walls of Miyun, the Han army had also carried out extensive earthworks in advance, drastically reshaping the terrain—raising earthen ramparts, widely constructing approach mounds, and piling earth into high platforms to serve as elevated roadways. They also erected wooden frames and set up leather screens to ward off arrows and stones.

Every measure was aimed at minimizing the enemy's strikes from atop the walls, using these works to reduce the army's losses during the siege. In truth, these methods of the Han army were extremely labor-intensive; if every battle were fought this way, the attrition would be too severe. But beneath the walls of Miyun, the one thing the Han army did not lack was manpower—nearly eighty thousand auxiliary troops and laborers accompanied the army, and they were there precisely for such work.

Inside Miyun city, Xiao Siwen and the others, who had originally been waiting for the Han army to assault head-on so they could inflict casualties, now saw this approach and felt a threat visible to the naked eye. Setting everything else aside, those defensive-offensive siege engines, seen with one's own eyes, were like thick-skinned, sharp-clawed savage beasts. Though Miyun was strong, they had no confidence it could avoid being gnawed clean.

Facing the Han army's siege preparations, Xiao Siwen and Han Kuangmei reacted with no small speed, abandoning at the earliest moment the idea of purely passive defense. They had no choice but to send men out of the city to harass, hoping to destroy the Han army's siege engines.

However, the Han army was fully prepared for this. If you cower in the city, we will methodically besiege you; if you come out for open battle, that is precisely what Murong Yanzhao would welcome most.

The result was obvious. The Liao army sallied forth more than ten times in succession, each time beaten back by the Han army, losing over three thousand soldiers in total. The sorties did have some effect—they killed many laborers and destroyed some equipment—but to the Han army, such losses were not worth mentioning.

All of Miyun's Liao defenders' responses and struggles proved feeble, nothing but futile effort. By the twenty-third day of the ninth month, besides a series of targeted siege works, fully four wooden ramps and earthen mounds had been raised before Miyun city under the Liao army's helpless gaze. When the Han army climbed them, their bows and crossbows could strike directly at the defenders atop the walls.

With siege preparations carried to such a degree, the morale of the Liao troops inside Miyun was directly sapped by several tenths. Though the Han army had not yet formally attacked, the overwhelming, unmatched momentum it displayed had already cowed them. Even the most ordinary Liao garrison soldier felt a sense of powerlessness swirling in his heart—just plain powerlessness.

In truth, when the main body of the Han army advanced to the foot of Miyun's walls, the outcome of this city battle was already all but declared. In siege warfare, the Han army had ample confidence.

The autumn wind howled, war drums thundered, and with a single command from Murong Yanzhao, the Han army formally launched its assault on Miyun. Thunderclap catapults, bed crossbows, and bows and crossbows all loosed almost simultaneously—a sky-covering barrage of fire-oil bombs, stone projectiles, bolts, and arrows struck without distinction against the southern wall of Miyun.