Chapter 93: The Battle of Luancheng (End)

In summer, dawn came early. Just at the start of the mao hour, the sky was already growing light, and strands of morning sunlight scattered down, seeming to dispel violence and calm the mind.

The stimulation of blood and slaughter could cloud a man's mind for a time, but in the end it could not last long. With the Liao army—that "lighthouse" of a target—gone, after the frenzy, the chaos gradually subsided...

A man's energy was finite. After venting hysterically at the moment of greatest exhaustion, even the toughest man had to soften and enter sage mode.

Without the cover of night, the scene by the banks of the Xiao River revealed its true face: corpses stretched for over ten li, the shoals stained with blood, the river water dyed red. The clash of weapons had fallen silent, and the wind no longer blew so fiercely. In their place came bursts of desolate, mournful weeping.

The dead and wounded were too many. Especially the captured Jin officials, the families of the surrendered soldiers, and the forcibly conscripted laborers—these people's lives and safety were the least guaranteed...

Liu Chengyou, leading his troops, only breathed a sigh of relief at daybreak, but his spirits remained taut. He moved to a relatively clean camp northwest of the Liao encampment for a temporary rest.

After a night of burning the candle at both ends—marching, surprise attacks, and fighting—he was already exhausted in body and mind, fatigue surging up like a tide. But he dared not relax in the slightest. Forcibly suppressing his body's instinctive drowsiness, Liu Chengyou toured and comforted the soldiers, especially the wounded.

The Longqi Army soldiers truly assembled by Liu Chengyou numbered fewer than four thousand, drawn from all the armies, with the First and Fourth Armies as the core. The rest had all been lost amid the chaos of the routed troops.

At Liu Chengyou's side, only three Longqi Army generals above the rank of Commander remained: Zhang Yanwei, Ma Quanyi, and Murong Yanzhao. Zhang Yanwei was wounded, grimacing in pain, but a smile hung at the corner of his mouth. Ma Quanyi was the same—bearing several wounds, yet his expression remained calm. As for Murong Yanzhao, he had not been wounded, but he was in a sorry state all the same.

After daybreak, only Han Tong returned to the ranks with a portion of the cavalry that had pursued the Khitan. The Longqi Army had basically been scattered.

Beneath the tall banner stained with blood, Liu Chengyou sat casually on an earthen slope and asked: "How many people still haven't come back?"

"Over half of every army and every camp!" After a simple roll call, Murong Yanzhao reported to Liu Chengyou in a low voice: "The First and Fourth Armies each have two companies back; the Second and Third Armies only one company each. The Commanders of both armies have not returned. General Guo and Staff Officer Xiang have left no trace, and General Luo has no news either—they have likely all fallen amid the routed troops. As for casualties and losses, they still need to be checked and tallied; there is no exact number yet..."

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou fell silent, gazing toward the south where the stench of blood hung thick, his heart heavy. They all said a thousand troops were easy to come by but a single general hard to find. Two army Commanders, Guo Rong, Xiang Xun, Luo Yangui—not to mention the other mid- and low-ranking officers—if all these men had perished amid the routed troops, then his Longqi Army would be essentially crippled...

"Have Han Tong go to Luancheng to conscript some able-bodied men, cooks, and women—to draw water, chop firewood, set up stoves, and cook meals. Continue treating the wounded, let the soldiers rest a while, recover their strength as quickly as possible, and then search and rescue for me!" After pondering a moment, Liu Chengyou pointed south and gave the order sternly.

"Yes!"

In last night's great upheaval, the common folk of Luancheng city had also lain awake all night, anxious and fearful. When Han Tong took men to conscript labor, it was easy. As for grain, firewood, and even wine and meat, the Liao camp had plenty—though much had been burned, what remained was still a vast quantity.

His gaze still fixed to the south, watching that great expanse of blood-red interweaving with the morning glow, his eyes somewhat dazed and mournful, Liu Chengyou's eyes were shot through with bloodshot veins. At his ears, faintly, the shouts of "Kill the barbarians!" and "Kill the Khitan!" seemed to echo again.

Already exhausted to the extreme, the moment his spirit relaxed slightly, Liu Chengyou felt an impulse to lie down and sleep soundly. His upper and lower eyelids kept fighting each other, and his body felt somewhat floaty. Having strained both mind and body, he could hardly endure it. Pinching his thigh without holding back, using the pain to suppress the overwhelming drowsiness, Liu Chengyou stood up.

Noticing Liu Chengyou's condition, Li Chongju, still standing guard at his side, spoke up: "Your Highness, please sleep for a while."

He simply shook his head. He knew that in his current state, once he lay down, he would not rise again until he had slept his fill. Waving his hand, he walked on ahead and said: "No, it's not yet time to relax. Accompany me on another inspection round."

All around, large numbers of soldiers had already lain down, sleeping with their blades as pillows, snoring rising and falling one after another.

A full two hours later, the Longqi Army soldiers finally began to recover. Though still exhausted, they had regained a fair amount of energy. After drinking water and eating, they dispersed to clean up the battlefield. During this time, other scattered soldiers, led by officers of various ranks, gradually returned. All were veterans of a hundred battles, their robes stained with blood.

While the Longqi Army was reorganizing, the Yan troops, the Jin army soldiers, and the able-bodied men who had survived the slaughter also gathered together in their own groups, inevitably somewhat wary of one another. Of course, whenever they encountered any Khitan still alive, they would casually put an end to them.

As for the Yan troops, Liu Chengyou directly ordered the Yan officers he had won over at Luzhou to go make contact and summon them to surrender, and the results were fairly good. Those Yan men had betrayed the Khitan and were now adrift, with nowhere to turn. Facing Liu Chengyou's goodwill, they accepted very readily, pledging temporary submission.

The Longqi Army was, after all, a victorious force. Having broken more than a hundred thousand elite Khitan troops with a single army, as victors they had fully displayed their military might, making the Yan troops submit. To show his regard, Liu Chengyou even went in person to meet with those Yan generals. After a heart-to-heart discussion and promises, he won over their ranks. Soon, the remaining Yan troops also began cooperating with the Longqi Army in cleaning up the battlefield and aiding the wounded and distressed.

Among those Yan generals, one man behaved very cordially, directly expressing his desire to defect to Liu Chengyou. His name was Li Yun. Originally a Commander of the Konghe Guard in the Later Jin imperial army, after the Khitan entered Bian, Zhao Yanshou, hearing of his valor, had taken him into his command.

Liu Chengyou gladly accepted this man's submission. In the current situation, such an active supporter was helpful for harmony and stability. Chatting with him, he learned that Li Yun was also from Taiyuan, which made it understandable why his willingness to defect was so strong.

Because Li Yun had experience as an imperial army general, Liu Chengyou immediately decided to appoint him as Recruitment Commissioner of the field headquarters, responsible for going to recruit the scattered surrendered Jin soldiers. These surrendered soldiers were clearly much more receptive to the Longqi Army's recruitment—after all, they were their own people, and Liu Chengyou's side was still flying the banner of the "Jin army."

As for Luo Yangui, he had already taken the initiative to gather a portion of the surrendered soldiers and was moving toward Liu Chengyou's position.

To the south, Longqi Army soldiers had also been ordered to organize the surviving Jin officials, able-bodied men, and the old, weak, women, and children. For a time, Longqi Army soldiers were active everywhere amid the ruins of the Liao camp, and what had been a place of death gained a bit of vitality.

For Liu Chengyou, though the battle had been won, the aftermath was even more tangled and troublesome.

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PS: The battle of Luancheng is finally written. The scope seems to have gotten a bit large, because I cut out a lot of details I originally planned to write along the way. But even so, I still feel it's too padded and not concise enough. I'll make do with it.

Also, I checked Baidu, and it says Li Yun's original name was Li Rong, changed to avoid the taboo of Chai Rong's name. Going by the timeline, he should be called Li Rong at this point. But I checked the History of Song and the Dongdu Shilüe, and neither seems to mention this point, and I can't be bothered to find where the source is, so I'll still write "Li Yun"—this name should be more recognizable.