Chapter 931: A Great Army at the Gates, the Returning Force Cannot Be Stopped

On the second day of the second month in the twelfth year of Qianyou—a day full of "twos"—after two days of marching, Wei Prince Fu Yanqing led an army of over eighty thousand and finally arrived before the walls of Yunzhong.

The Liao troops in Yunzhong at this time, under the command of Yelu Talie, had long since sharpened their weapons and repaired their armor, prepared and waiting. Outside the city of Yunzhong, however, was a stretch of bare ground—the densely packed Liao camps that had once stood there were almost entirely burned away, with smoke and scorch marks everywhere, remnants of fierce fighting and the hoofprints of iron cavalry still visible.

After Yang Ye led his troops north with Shi Yanchao and made contact with Fu Yanqing in the rear, Kang Yanze received orders to lead the remaining five thousand Dingxiang troops to continue advancing toward Yunzhong as the vanguard of the main army.

However, as soon as they arrived at the city, Yelu Talie sent ten thousand riders out of the gates, seeking to launch a surprise attack while the Han army had yet to establish its footing. To be fair, Yelu Talie and the Dingxiang army were old adversaries—as the absolute main force of the Hedong army on the northern campaign, the Dingxiang army had a great reputation, and so the schemes that had failed against Shi Yanchao were all brought to bear against them instead.

When it came to dealing with enemy cavalry attacks, the Dingxiang army—officers and men alike—had ample experience. Though the Liao army came with ten thousand riders, they did not panic. Under Kang Yanze's effective command, they formed ranks to resist and inflicted casualties upon the Liao forces.

What they had not anticipated, however, was the resolve behind this Liao surprise attack. The Liao troops remaining in Yunzhong, under Yelu Talie's leadership, carried a certain death-defying spirit, and when manifested on the battlefield, the energy they unleashed was considerable. From the very start, Yelu Talie had given a death order—they came at once in a reckless three-sided encirclement.

When their cavalry momentum was checked, they dismounted to fight on foot, advancing without retreat. Facing the Liao army's frenzied assault, while the Dingxiang troops inflicted heavy casualties, their own losses inevitably mounted as well, and there was a sense of being caught off guard.

The Liao army wanted to trade life for life, but Kang Yanze had no desire to fight them head-on. He chose instead to fight while withdrawing, moving toward the camps the Liao army had left outside the city, hoping to use the camp palisades to curb the mobility of the Liao cavalry.

Yet this choice played right into the Liao army's scheme. Inside those camps, dry grass was piled everywhere and oil had been sprinkled about, while Yelu Talie had secretly hidden death-squads within. Once the Han army retreated inside, the fires were lit at once—flames erupted and rapidly consumed the camps, immediately throwing the Han army into an awkward predicament.

Kang Yanze was a decisive Han general. Though vexed by his own oversight, he remained calm in the chaos, swiftly organizing two battalions of elite troops and turning back to launch a counter-charge at the Liao army.

The fire that surrounded the Han army also intimidated the Liao cavalry, who dared not approach too closely to fight and could only shoot arrows. Seizing this opportunity, Kang Yanze personally led his men to break out and clear an open space, with the Han troops behind following closely in their wake.

Of course, this process cost the Dingxiang army dearly in casualties. Thereafter, under Kang Yanze's leadership, the Dingxiang army, with their backs to the blazing fire, formed ranks once more to resist the attacks of a Liao force twice their number. The Dingxiang troops trained by Yang and Kang displayed tremendous resilience, holding their ground stubbornly with crossbows, hard shields, long spears, and great sabers.

Both sides fought fiercely for over two hours, each paying heavy casualties. The Han army, having been ensnared by the Liao's design, remained on the defensive throughout, even though Kang Yanze had forcibly carved out some breathing room. The Liao army, though well-prepared and driven by strict orders, found their tactics of outflanking, envelopment, and division all useless against the turtle-formation resistance of the Han troops.

Eventually, they were gradually drawn into a war of attrition in positional fighting. When word finally came that Fu Yanqing's main force was approaching and reinforcements were on the way, Yelu Talie decisively chose to abandon the attack and ordered a retreat back into the city.

Yelu Talie was cunning and far-sighted, able to unite his troops and well-versed in military strategy. His purpose in designing all this was not to inflict heavy casualties on the Han army, but to strike at their morale while bolstering the confidence of his own officers and men.

When he realized both sides had entered a state of mutual attrition, he decisively gave it up—the true moment for trading lives had not yet arrived. Though the Liao army was not skilled at siege warfare, that was only relative to field combat; with solid city defenses as support and strict command, how much could their fighting ability really be diminished?

The Liao army's voluntary abandonment of the attack also allowed Kang Yanze to breathe a sigh of relief. He quickly led the remaining troops southward to rendezvous with the Han forces sent to receive them, and camped on the spot to await the Wei Prince's main army.

Thus, when Fu Yanqing arrived with his great army and looked upon the smoke-shrouded, fire-scorched scene ahead, he could not help but frown. Though he knew the bulk of the Liao forces had withdrawn, out of a desire for caution and compounded by the fatigue of marching, Fu Yanqing did not approach the walls of Yunzhong. Instead, he chose to set up camp by the water around a stretch of high ground seven li away.

No sooner had the commander's tent been raised than Kang Yanze came to seek an audience. Upon seeing Fu Yanqing, he knelt on one knee with a face full of shame: "Your subordinate fought poorly in battle—please punish me, Wei Prince!"

Fu Yanqing was already somewhat aware of the battle situation. He had a high regard for the principal and deputy Army Commanders of Yanmen Pass. He swept his gaze over Kang Yanze twice, pausing briefly on the bandaged spots on his body, and asked directly: "How many men did you lose?"

"Nearly a thousand casualties!" Kang Yanze's tone was heavy, and he blamed himself endlessly: "Had it not been for my negligence and improper handling of the enemy, it would never have come to this!"

Fu Yanqing let out a sigh as well. A thousand casualties was indeed nothing on a battlefield where losses were routinely counted in the hundreds of thousands. Yet for the Dingxiang army, it was no small wound—one had to know that since the northern campaign began, through all the fierce fighting in the Yun-Shuo region and several bitter battles, the total casualties the Dingxiang army had suffered before and after amounted to only about a thousand men.

"There's no need to blame yourself. I know the course of the battle—had I been in your place, I might well have made the same choice. The Liao commander is cunning indeed, and he made no small preparations to deal with our army. To have been schemed against so thoroughly, yet remain calm in the crisis, respond boldly, save your men from peril, and avoid even greater losses—that is no small achievement!" Fu Yanqing spoke slowly, with the understanding of a veteran of many campaigns.

Hearing this, Kang Yanze was deeply moved and bowed once more. Then he said: "Though the bulk of the Liao army has withdrawn, they have left a considerable force in Yunzhong. I cannot determine their exact numbers, but I estimate at least twenty thousand. Moreover, they have evacuated all the townspeople from the city. I made inquiries—the able-bodied men of Yunzhong were all forcibly relocated northward, while some twenty thousand elderly, weak, women, and children were abandoned in the former Liao camps, where many were killed or injured in the great fire..."

Speaking of casualties, it was those elderly, weak, women, and children who suffered most—on the cruel battlefield, they were like duckweed, either scattered by the wind or crushed underfoot.

Hearing this, Fu Yanqing's brows immediately knit together. From the series of Liao actions around Yunzhong, he felt a strange premonition. Shaking himself back to the present, he asked again: "What of Shi Yanchao and Yang Ye? Any word from them?"

At this, Kang Yanze shook his head, his expression grave: "No military dispatches have come in yet!"

Fu Yanqing immediately straightened his face and spoke sternly: "Send scouts north—I must know their situation clearly!"

"That Shi Yanchao—who told him to pursue alone!" Fu Yanqing took a deep breath, somewhat furious: "The Liao army fled with obvious thorough preparation—how could they give him an easy chance to chase and destroy them! Is he risking the elite cavalry of the Great Han to build his own glory?"

Seeing Fu Yanqing's anger, the several Han generals present dared not speak. It was Fu Yanqing himself who quickly calmed down and gave orders: "Send out all the cavalry—I want Shi and Yang's forces brought back, every last man!"

"Yes!"

"Also, keep a close watch on Yunzhong city and probe deep into enemy movements!"

"Yes!"

While Fu Yanqing fretted over Shi Yanchao's pursuing force and dispatched reinforcements, the aggressively pursuing Shi Yanchao, unsurprisingly, found himself in trouble.

At first, taking advantage of the early morning light, he drove his troops forward rapidly, following the traces left by the Liao army's main column and snapping at their heels. The path was nearly unobstructed, and by evening he had chased them to the Jiaoshan region south of the Great Wall.

There, he finally caught up with a portion of the Liao forces—besides the rearguard cavalry, there were some Hu and Han able-bodied men and civilians who moved too slowly. Without a moment's hesitation, Shi Yanchao launched an attack and scattered them.

As darkness was falling, Shi Yanchao had originally intended not to continue northward and to rest where he was. However, from the mouths of prisoners, he learned that not far ahead lay the Liao emperor's own carriage—the Liao emperor was with the rearguard force, and his numbers were not great.

Upon receiving this news, Shi Yanchao was nearly beside himself with excitement and immediately ordered the pursuit to continue. Shi Yanchao was, of course, not entirely thoughtless—he had considered things.

He had reasoned it out: the retreating Liao army carried much baggage and many auxiliary troops, heavily burdened—this in itself was an opportunity for pursuit. Moreover, the Jiaoshan and Great Wall region was hilly and mountainous terrain, which further restricted the Liao army's marching speed as they passed through. The Liao rearguard might be substantial, but in such terrain they could hardly deploy their forces, and with their hearts set on returning north, they would not be hard to chase down. Most importantly, the Liao emperor's carriage was at the rear—that was far too great a lure.

And so, disregarding Kang Zaiyu's objections, Shi Yanchao forced his men through Jiaoshan, and under cover of night broke through the Liao blockade at the Great Wall pass, pressing the pursuit deep. Along the way, he reaped no small number of kills.

However, his force's relentless pursuit naturally reached the Liao emperor's ears early on. After some deliberation, his intentions were quickly discerned. Yelu Wuzhi personally arranged an ambush in a valley section north of the Great Wall pass—and it succeeded completely.

Though Shi Yanchao had used some thought, he had overlooked too many things. The Liao rearguard was elite, no weak fighters—though they longed to return home, if you tried to block them, they would naturally see you as a mortal enemy. Moreover, the Liao court had long been prepared for Han pursuit, and the smooth, easy process of chasing and killing along the way had further dulled Shi Yanchao's wariness.

Thus, when the Liao ambush burst forth, even the elite Han soldiers could not help but fall into chaos. Even though Shi Yanchao and Kang Zaiyu reacted swiftly and gathered their troops to resist, they could not avoid being caught in a pincer, surrounded on all sides in a dire predicament.

What was even more dangerous was that the Han army had been cut in two, the head and tail completely unable to support each other, creating a situation of being sliced apart and encircled on the battlefield. Poor Han soldiers—having marched northward over seventy li, through mountain terrain and across the Great Wall, their spirits and strength utterly exhausted—in such circumstances, facing the deliberate strikes of a Liao force several times their number, needless casualties were produced in great numbers from the very first moment...