Chapter 930: Reckless Pursuit

The chill of the clear night, wrapped in bone-piercing cold wind, enveloped Shi Yanchao and his hundred riders. From several li away, they climbed a dirt mound and gazed into the distance at the walls of Yunzhong city. He was deeply moved—though somewhat blurry, the Yunzhong city in his memory was not this tall, not this wide, and even the moat at its foot seemed deeper.

"This Yunzhong and the Liao army—everything about them is truly strange!" Before long, Shi Yanchao spotted the problem.

"I find it strange too!" the officer beside him chimed in.

Hearing this, Shi Yanchao couldn't help but turn his head to look at him: "You little brat, what have you noticed? Let's hear it!"

The officer said directly: "Night has already fallen, yet on this vast city of Yunzhong, there are hardly any lights! Earlier reconnaissance reported that inside and outside Yunzhong, from morning to night, chaos never ceased and disturbances never stopped. Now that the king's army marches north, there is utter silence. And the Liao camp—so vast, yet with only scattered lights, as if no one is there..."

"Well said!" In the darkness, Shi Yanchao's hawk-like gaze was sharp and bright. He lightly kicked his horse's flank and said coldly: "Come, follow me to the Liao camp for a look!"

"General, the Liao scouts have already detected us. It would be better not to continue taking such risks!" the officer urged.

"What, are you going to imitate that Kang Zaiyu, prattling on like an old woman, or are you afraid?" Shi Yanchao said in a joking tone, but with words that were deeply insulting.

Sure enough, the officer said: "A mere Liao camp—what is there to fear? Following the general, even through a mountain of blades or a sea of fire, I would go. If the general is not afraid, how could I fear danger?"

Clearly, a general's troops mirror the general himself. The soldiers under Shi Yanchao's command, especially these personal attendants, all carried a kind of arrogant fearlessness. Seeing this, Shi Yanchao revealed a satisfied smile, lightly whipped him once, and scolded: "You've got quite the big mouth—we're facing over a hundred thousand Liao troops!"

That was what he said, but his movements showed not a moment's hesitation. He took the lead, and the Han riders behind followed closely, charging down the mound and then heading straight for the Liao camp.

The closer they got, the more astonished they became, because from the target camp came only the sounds of "women weeping and children crying." Moreover, there was almost no defense—not even cheval de frise or abatis. They charged straight in, and the ease of trampling the camp far exceeded their expectations.

"General, inside this Liao camp are nothing but the old, the weak, women, and children!" Amid the commotion, the personal officer said to Shi Yanchao.

"Come, let's check the other camps!" Shi Yanchao's expression had turned unusually grave, his brows tightly furrowed. Without a second thought, he led the men away, paying no attention to those old and weak.

Then, passing through Liao camps one after another, they trampled through four stockades and found them all empty. At this point, if he still couldn't understand what had happened, Shi Yanchao would be unworthy of the title of great general.

"The Liao army has actually withdrawn!" Shi Yanchao exclaimed in shock.

Before he could think it through, a burst of battle cries came from Yunzhong city to the west, with torches flickering and considerable commotion—clearly aimed at Shi Yanchao. After all, his hundred riders had been far too audacious.

Without the slightest hesitation, Shi Yanchao turned his men around and left, having no intention of fighting the Liao army. Having a rough sense of the enemy's situation, he was not arrogant enough to truly rely on these hundred riders to oppose the Liao forces. However, before retreating, he detoured back to that "civilian camp," seized two old men—both to create a disturbance to shake off the Liao pursuit, and to learn some more concrete information from these people.

By the time Shi Yanchao shook off the Liao pursuit and returned to the vanguard cavalry, it was already close to midnight. Of the hundred riders who had sallied out, more than thirty were dead or wounded, but that did not dampen Shi Yanchao's good mood.

Kang Zaiyu had chosen a wooded mound as the camp site, with a tributary of the Sanggan River beside it—advance and retreat both had support. They did not pitch a camp, but slept by campfires in units of a hundred men.

Facing Shi Yanchao's return, Kang Zaiyu wore an expression of relief and entertained the returning soldiers with roasted horse meat. Sitting by the campfire, cutting horse meat with a sharp dagger and sending it into his mouth, Shi Yanchao asked: "How are things in the army?"

Kang Zaiyu was also a straightforward man and said directly: "In total, two hundred and twelve men have fallen in battle. We captured three hundred and fifty-four war horses. The Liao army's casualties should be around a thousand..."

"After all that effort, to only achieve such results—isn't it a pity?" Shi Yanchao said.

Hearing this, Kang Zaiyu thought Shi Yanchao was still frustrated over being dissuaded from pursuing, and immediately said: "General Yang of the Dingxiang Army sent word—he is leading ten thousand infantry and cavalry behind us, camped more than ten li away. In addition, the Prince of Wei has also led the main army north!"

Upon learning this military intelligence, Shi Yanchao's spirits rose high, and his confidence was clearly bolstered. Noticing his expression, Kang Zaiyu hurriedly asked: "We haven't yet heard—what did you find when you scouted Yunzhong?"

"Great gains!" A look of excitement shone in Shi Yanchao's eyes: "The bulk of the Liao army has already withdrawn. Almost all the camps outside Yunzhong are empty. A portion remains in the city, likely to pin down our pursuit. Clearly, this time the Liao army feared the might of our great forces, knew they could not win, and so retreated. All their earlier strange movements were to deceive our army and buy time for their withdrawal. The old folk of Yunzhong also corroborate this!"

Hearing this, Kang Zaiyu was greatly startled. If it was truly as Shi Yanchao said, then this intelligence was extremely important. He immediately said: "We should quickly report this to our allied forces and inform the Prince of Wei!"

"That goes without saying!" Shi Yanchao said: "However, since the Khitan army has withdrawn, though it's hard to know how long or how far they've fled, we are the elite vanguard—we should not just sit by and watch!"

Hearing this, Kang Zaiyu's heart tightened. Seeing Shi Yanchao like this, he was about to stir up trouble again, and asked: "What does the general intend to do?"

"What do I intend?" Shi Yanchao's mouth curled at the corner as he chewed horse meat and replied: "Naturally, to bypass Yunzhong and pursue the Liao army!"

"Isn't that... too risky?" Kang Zaiyu said with furrowed brows.

"If we don't take risks, are we supposed to let over a hundred thousand Liao troops retreat at their leisure?" Shi Yanchao shot him a glance and said seriously: "What war has no risk? If we truly let the Liao army escape intact, wouldn't our army be too incompetent? Since the northern expedition began, there have been several great battles on the Youyan front with glorious achievements. Now that we finally have this opportunity, how could we miss the chance to pursue and annihilate them? If word gets out, wouldn't we be a laughingstock!"

"You needn't try to dissuade me. My mind is made up—I will lead the army around Yunzhong and pursue north, and I will not let them slip away easily!" Shi Yanchao stared at Kang Zaiyu: "If General Kang has other intentions, you may remain here, wait for Yang Ye and the Prince of Wei's main army, and report my intentions on my behalf!"

With Shi Yanchao saying this, what else could Kang Zaiyu do? Pushed to this point, he had no other path to choose, and said: "If the general insists on advancing, I am willing to follow the army!"

If he truly stayed here as Shi Yanchao said, waiting for the main army, then no matter the actual circumstances, a reputation for cowardice and fear of battle would be inescapable.

Having reached a consensus, each side rested. Before dawn, at the temporary camp, urged on by Shi Yanchao, the Han riders who had rested for the night stirred, gathered their armor and weapons, readied their horses, and then, under the light of the spring dawn, marched north.

When they reached Yunzhong, they did not pause but quickly bypassed it and continued north. The movements of Shi Yanchao's army naturally caught the eyes of the Yunzhong garrison, who swiftly reported to Yelu Talie. Upon hearing this, Yelu Talie remained very composed, saying only that there was no need to pay it any mind—a mere few thousand riders, charging off alone in pursuit, had plenty of courage but lacked wisdom, not worth mentioning. He only ordered continued surveillance of the main Han army to the south.

The Dingxiang Army in the rear, upon receiving Shi Yanchao's report, also became alert. After dawn, they also led their troops north, closing in on Yunzhong city. When they arrived at Shi Yanchao's former camp, it was already empty of men and horses, leaving only a mess of campfire remains. From the wounded soldiers, they learned of Shi Yanchao leading his troops in pursuit of the Liao army.

Hearing this, Yang Ye's face changed drastically. Last night, Shi Yanchao had made the decision to pursue and had reported this intelligence to Yang Ye. At the time, Yang Ye had urgently dispatched soldiers north to dissuade him, telling him to calm down and not advance recklessly.

But clearly, it had no effect at all. In fact, what Yang Ye hadn't expected was that his dissuasion had the opposite effect, spurring him on to advance. In Shi Yanchao's view, you—Yang Ye—are a junior, even if favored by the Emperor, you have no qualification to dictate to him, Shi Yanchao.

As for Yang Ye, he could understand Shi Yanchao's eagerness to achieve merit through pursuit, but he could not agree with his rash approach. Judging from the Liao army's movements over the past few days, they had clearly made thorough preparations for retreat. The enemy was numerous and their true situation remained unclear—under such circumstances, recklessly giving chase was by no means a wise choice.

Therefore, upon learning the direction of Shi Yanchao's army, Yang Ye immediately took the five thousand cavalry in his army and prepared to also march north. He left only Deputy Commissioner Kang Yanze to lead the troops, monitor the situation at Yunzhong city, and await Fu Yanqing's main army.

Of the five thousand cavalry Yang Ye led, aside from the three thousand Hedong tribal cavalry allocated by Fu Yanqing, the remaining two thousand were Dingxiang Army cavalry. Among the frontier armies, only the Dingxiang Army had two thousand cavalry—a testament to the Son of Heaven's favor.

And Yang Ye led his troops north not to pursue the Liao army, but to support and rescue. He did not think Shi Yanchao could achieve any battle results, but rather might fall into danger. After all, coordinating with Shi Yanchao was also Fu Yanqing's military order.