Chapter 903: The Great Battle of Nankou 3

Yelu Wuzhi led his army to the scene but did not launch a direct assault. He observed the fierce battle from nearby for a while, and only after making contact with Yelu Cong did he take action. He left twenty thousand cavalry to coordinate with the ten thousand Liao troops on the eastern side in attacking the Han army's right camp, then led the remaining fifty thousand cavalry in a direct strike on the rear camp (the southern camp), smashing through the covered passageway and assuming an encirclement posture.

Originally, the thirteen thousand Liao troops under Yelu Cong's command had already inflicted considerable losses on the Han army through their sudden assault and fierce attack. Of course, despite the immense pressure, under the command of their generals, they rose to meet the challenge and held their ground firmly. Moreover, because holding the defensive position played to the Han army's strengths, their morale and fighting spirit gradually stabilized amid the fierce combat.

Although the front camp was fighting hard, the soldiers of the other camps seized the time to rest and resupplied continuously. If it were only Yelu Cong's army trying to devour the Han forces at Nankou, even with all those advantages seized, it would have been very difficult. In fact, seeing that the Liao army had been unable to take the position for so long and had suffered heavy casualties, An Shenqi was secretly shifting his forces, concentrating his elite troops, and preparing to launch a counterattack to smash this Liao army head-on.

However, the sudden arrival of these seventy thousand Liao troops from Deshengkou dealt a tremendous blow to the Han army—especially to morale. Setting everything else aside, their sheer numbers alone represented a formidable force, outnumbering even the regular troops within the Han camps.

As flames of battle rose at both the right camp and the rear camp, while the front camp remained locked in fierce combat, outside the left camp, over ten thousand Liao cavalry were still hunting down that Hebei border cavalry force. In an instant, the Han army at Nankou faced enemies on all sides, their morale wavering and their fighting spirit plummeting.

Logically speaking, given the Han army's basic quality and their fortified camps, even facing a dire situation, they should not have become so panicked or fearful of battle. But the problem was that, for this battle, from top to bottom, their psychological preparation had been insufficient. They had not imagined that the Liao army would strike out so boldly, with such a huge appetite, wanting to swallow them in one gulp—and directly committing two hundred thousand troops to a full-scale, well-layered assault.

It must be said that for this battle, the Liao army was better prepared, while the Han army was forced into a reactive defense. Compared to previous engagements between Han and Liao, this was a complete reversal of circumstances—offense and defense had swapped places.

Now, the Liao army had revealed its trump card and directly committed to the attack with the force of thunder, intending to completely annihilate the Han army at Nankou. Under these circumstances, the counterattack An Shenqi had been secretly brewing died in the womb. At the same time, An Shenqi knew that the moment when they truly needed to fight for their lives had arrived.

To respond to the Liao army's new round of larger-scale, more ferocious attacks, An Shenqi first issued an order to the commanders of each camp: rally the officers and men, do not let them flee in panic, rely on the terrain and natural features, resist with all their strength, and ensure that officers at every level led from the front to maintain the army's will to fight.

At the same time, he had messengers announce to the entire army, high and low, that envoys seeking reinforcements had long since been dispatched, and that as long as they held out until evening, reinforcements would surely arrive. He also encouraged officers and soldiers at every level to fight the enemy valiantly, saying that this was the Liao army giving them an opportunity to render meritorious service—if they could hold out until reinforcements arrived and decisively defeat the Liao army, the Son of Heaven would surely reward them handsomely.

An Shenqi deeply understood that under such a dire situation, maintaining the army's morale and fighting spirit outweighed everything else. Holding the fort and resisting stubbornly still offered a chance at survival, even a chance to turn defeat into victory. But if morale and fighting spirit collapsed, then they would truly be doomed beyond redemption.

In any case, setting aside the casualties from half a day of bloody combat, the remaining Han forces at Nankou who could still fight numbered nearly sixty thousand soldiers and civilians. As long as they maintained their will to fight, it would by no means be easy for the Liao army to swallow them up.

An Shenqi's measures to steady the troops achieved considerable results. Because of the heightened alert, morale had dipped somewhat, but it did not descend into chaos. Under the leadership of officers at all levels, the wavering morale even gradually stabilized.

Ordinary soldiers might not have had that awareness, but the senior generals and battle-hardened veterans all understood clearly: if they resisted as an organized formation, they might still have a chance to hold out until reinforcements arrived; but once they routed, they would very likely be left to the mercy of the Liao cavalry's pursuit. They were mostly infantry—there was no way they could outrun four-legged mounts—and many officers used exactly this to spur on the troops' morale.

To boost morale, An Shenqi ordered his command banner raised high and personally rolled up his sleeves to beat the war drum, demonstrating his determination to resist to the end.

Of course, the words An Shenqi had spread were all true—the messengers seeking reinforcements had indeed been dispatched long ago. In fact, when the Liao army had first launched its massive offensive, An Shenqi had already sent out two mounted messengers, one to Niulan Mountain and one to Youzhou.

However, his original intention had not been to seek rescue, but to request troops to annihilate this Liao army. Thirteen elite Liao troops coming out in full force was a heaven-sent opportunity—if the Han forces could converge and annihilate them, the blow to Liao would be even greater than the Battle of Luancheng years ago. At that point, it could basically be declared that this northern expedition had achieved a complete victory, and the various prefectures of Yanyun could be recovered at leisure, like flipping pancakes.

But during the fierce resistance and fighting at the front camp, An Shenqi sensed something was amiss and once again dispatched riders at full gallop—this time, it was truly to seek reinforcements.

As for the two routes of reinforcements: at Niulan Mountain, there was the main force of the Great Han cavalry led by Gao Huaide, combining the Iron Cavalry, Dragon Elite, Yan Cavalry, and Barbarian Cavalry, totaling over twenty-three thousand men and horses. The reason they were stationed at Niulan Mountain was to provide central support to the two Han forces that had sortied out, and Niulan Mountain was only about eighty li from Nankou.

As for Youzhou, the remaining forces still numbered seventy thousand, and although over twenty thousand were newly conscripted Yan people, they could still dispatch roughly fifty thousand mobile troops.

Because they had fallen into the dire predicament of being surrounded, An Shenqi was unable to send out a third wave of messengers seeking reinforcements—but someone did it for him. It was Han Hui, stationed in Changping city, responsible for military supplies and logistics.

When fighting broke out to the north, the entire county town went on alert. Han Hui personally donned his armor and girded his sword, and dispatched men to the main camp to request instructions from An Shenqi. An Shenqi's reply was for him to hold the city firmly, protect the military supplies within, and not let the Liao army take advantage.

Inside Changping city, there were over fifteen thousand people. Aside from three thousand auxiliary troops and Hebei prefectural soldiers, the rest were all civilian laborers, whose combat capability could not be rated highly.

However, Han Hui was a man of considerable insight, and he harbored concerns about the Liao army's massive mobilization. When he learned that Yelu Wuzhi had led a large army from Deshengkou to encircle Nankou, he knew that Nankou was in danger.

Without any hesitation, he immediately dispatched mounted messengers to two destinations to report the critical situation. At the same time, Han Hui did not stop inside Changping city—he took some proactive measures.

On one hand, he sent brave men to scout the battle situation at Nankou; on the other, he gathered together the civilian laborers in Changping city, issued weapons to each of them, and organized them into camp formations. Although their combat effectiveness could not be guaranteed, these men had undergone some training every year back in their hometowns. Fifteen thousand people—at a critical moment, they might just play a significant role.

Setting aside the progress of the reinforcements, after Yelu Wuzhi led his army into the attack, even though the generals and soldiers held firm in their resistance without wavering, they still inevitably fell into a perilous situation.

From the moment the clash began, the Liao army had given the Han army little chance to catch their breath. After fighting fiercely until past noon, the Han army was utterly exhausted. The first to give way was the cavalry battle outside the left camp. The Hebei border cavalry could not be called anything but valiant—they resisted tenaciously, desperately tying down over ten thousand Liao cavalry—but in the end, they were outnumbered and were eventually scattered and cut down, leaving only a thousand or so riders. Some withdrew back to the Han camps, while others were driven toward Changping.

After smashing the troublesome Han cavalry, Yelu Cong once again shifted his forces, adding twenty thousand men to the left camp and launching a direct assault on it. In fact, Yelu Cong and Yelu Wuzhi had originally planned to attack three sides and leave one open—the western left camp was meant to be the "escape" gap left for the Han army.

However, the Han army showed no sign of retreating. Sensing their resolute will to resist, Yelu Cong held nothing back and simply launched a siege from all four sides to crush the Han army. At this point, the Liao troops directly participating in the siege of the Han camps, counting all four sides, had reached one hundred thirty thousand—twice the number of the Han army.

That's right—the Liao army had also kept a considerable reserve force, especially the most elite Pishi Army, for no other purpose than to guard against Han reinforcements. For this encirclement-and-annihilation battle, the Liao army's preparations on every front had indeed been thorough.

Soon, the great battle at Nankou progressed to its most intense and brutal stage. The autumn wind howled, killing intent boiled over, and the war cries of Han and Liao soldiers shook the forests and mountains, startling birds and scattering beasts. Even the thin clouds overhead were nearly shaken apart.

The Liao army's offensive adhered to a single principle: no regard for casualties. The Han army's fortifications no longer seemed to inspire any fear in them. The Liao attacked with madness, and the Han defended with tenacity. In the life-and-death struggle, emotions like reason and fear were cast aside, leaving only the instinct to kill.

The first to give way was the southern camp, which was breached under Yelu Wuzhi's personal supervision. The Han troops in the southern camp were mainly Yan soldiers and some auxiliary troops, and most of the camp's civilian laborers had also been stationed there.

Under the assault of the Liao elite forces, they finally could not hold on. For the Han army, the fall of the southern camp was even more dangerous than that of the front camp. The Liao troops poured in like a flood, and the Han soldiers scattered in panic.

An Shenqi had been prepared for this. When the front camp was in crisis, Liu Tinghan and Wang Yin had stepped forward to turn the tide. The fall of the southern camp was even more perilous, and the one who stepped forward was Luo Yangui.

The moment the Liao army breached the camp, he led the Shun'an Army to meet them head-on, charging into battle with righteous abandon, fighting as if death were certain. An Shenqi also followed his earlier example, personally leading men to gather the routed soldiers from the southern camp, reform their ranks, and set up defenses. And the bloody stand of the Shun'an Army also stirred the fighting spirit of a portion of the Yan troops.

The fall of the southern camp was also related to the Yan army's lack of firm resolve in battle. The one who stepped forward was the Yan general Gao Yanhui, who completely abandoned any thought of preserving strength for the Prince of Yan. In such circumstances, when life and death were shared, and the Han army had already fought to such an extent—how could the gallant and tragic warriors of Yan and Zhao fail to be moved?

Gao Yanhui took the initiative to gather the routed soldiers and civilian laborers, and led his men back into battle, relieving Luo Yangui, who was barely holding on at the front to buy time. To stop the advance of the Liao troops from the southern camp, An Shenqi set another fire—a great blaze. The southern camp was stocked with much fodder and timber, and large quantities of grain transported from Changping were also stored there.

As such, this fire burned fiercely, and many on both the Han and Liao sides were burned to death. However, it did indeed serve to cut off the Liao troops.

Seeing the front camp in danger and the southern camp breached, while the left and right camps were still holding but Shi Shouxin and Dong Zunhui were locked in bitter struggle, An Shenqi once again issued orders: abandon the outer camps, have the entire army converge toward the central camp, and contract their forces for defense.

This was also a move born of necessity. Under the Liao army's assault, they had no strength to maintain the defense of such a vast camp complex—contracting was the only choice. At the same time, the result was that the close-quarters fighting between attacker and defender became even more intense.

The remaining Han troops were gradually compressed into a small area of about three to four li in circumference surrounding the central camp.

The Han army at Nankou was truly in dire peril!