Chapter 308

…

Because preparations had been made with great thoroughness, and because Yelu Aoluwān replacing Yelu Yanxi as emperor of Liao best served Liao's interests, with Zhao Yu's help, Yelu Aoluwān ascended the Liao throne smoothly, and Liao's resistance against Jin finally gained unified command.

But the matter was far from simple.

Leaving aside Liao's continuous defeats on the front lines and its urgent need for reinforcements.

Just say Zhao Yu went to such great lengths to aid Liao—not because he was kind-hearted and beautiful, but because he sought to recover the Wuzhou of Yan, the Sanzhou of Pingluanying, Juyong Pass, and other passes—that is, to reclaim the Yan-Ping region and complete great unification.

This was the core interest of the Zhao Song dynasty; only if Liao satisfied Zhao Song's core interest would Zhao Song genuinely assist Liao's restoration—otherwise, even without Jin acting against Liao, Zhao Song would destroy Liao first.

Thus, immediately after Yelu Aoluwān's ascension, Xiao PuXianNü and Seeing Xiao Sese convened court ministers to discuss strategies against Jin's invasion and the cession of the Yan-Ping region to Zhao Song.

On the matter of resisting Jin's invasion, Liao's leadership was unanimous: they believed they must now stabilize Liao's defensive lines, or else the war against Jin would become unwinnable.

Specifically, they would deploy an "active recovery of lost territory" defense across southern Mongolian Plateau, western Liao steppe, and the Xilamulun River basin—abandoning the mindset of "fortifying and holding static positions," instead leveraging terrain such as steppes, mountains, and rivers, combining Liao's remaining cavalry advantages with control over nomadic tribes, to construct a dynamic defense system centered on mobility, reliant on tribal alliances, and oriented toward counteroffensives.

Its core logic: no fixed defensive lines, but pillars of "forward bases + cavalry clusters + tribal alliances," actively advancing to the edges of Jin-controlled zones, using harassment, diversion, and concentrated assaults to gradually compress Jin's living space, waiting for opportunities to reclaim Zhongjing and lands north of it.

Not all Liao people were useless; Yelu Chun, Xiao Gan, Yelu Dashi, and others were among the greatest generals of their age, intimately familiar with Liao's terrain, so their strategies were highly targeted.

Yet Liao's army was severely depleted, especially in Jingcheng, where actual forces numbered only around fifty thousand; even including troops from the Sanzhou of Pingluanying, they fell short of eighty thousand.

If Liao defended the Yan-Ping region, it could not spare many troops to reinforce the front lines.

And if it could not effectively reinforce the front lines, the likelihood of their collapse would greatly increase—something Liao could not afford.

Of course, this problem had a simple solution: follow Zhao Song's proposal and cede the entire Yan-Ping region to Zhao Song, while Yelu Chun and others led the Liao garrisons stationed in Yan-Ping to reinforce the front.

In truth, Liao's front lines were not devoid of troops—in fact, dozens of thousands of Liao soldiers still remained there—but due to lack of unified command, they fought independently; coupled with the emperor's disappearance and absence of a reliable leader, and the traitor Yelu Yu aiding Jin by recruiting Liao troops to defect, this caused Liao's continuous defeats.

Now that Liao's emperor had changed from Yelu Yanxi to Yelu Aoluwān—whom all Liao people desired—and Zhao Song was willing to ally with Liao against Jin, with some reinforcements and proper organization, the front lines should be able to hold.

Yet one issue remained: some people, greedy as snakes swallowing elephants, were reluctant to hand over the Yan-Ping region to Zhao Song.

To be honest, such thoughts among these Liao people were understandable.

After Jin captured Zhongjing, Jingcheng became the political heart of Liao's remaining forces—it was not only the operational center of Liao's bureaucratic system, but also, by maintaining the form of court, transmitted the signal that Liao had not perished to all regions (especially those not yet occupied by Jin), preserving Liao's legitimacy.

Moreover, Jingcheng lay at the southern foot of the Yanshan Mountains, bordered by Jun Du Mountain to the north and Mount Taixing to the west, forming a natural barrier against Jin's southward advance into the Central Plains. Liao stationed the Jingcheng Command in this region, commanding elite Han and Xi troops, and constructed defenses relying on Juyong Pass and Gubeikou. For Liao at this moment, Jingcheng's defensive function directly determined the survival of its remaining forces—if Jingcheng fell, Jin could march straight into the North China Plain, severing all ties between Liao and the Central Plains.

The Jingcheng region was also one of Liao's most agriculturally developed areas, relying on the alluvial plains of the Yongdinghe and Chaobaihe rivers, rich in grain, mulberry, and hemp, with dense population. Simultaneously, as Liao's central market town for trade with Zhao Song, Jingcheng's commercial taxes and handicraft revenues (textiles, iron smelting) accounted for nearly thirty percent of Liao's state finances. After Zhongjing's fall, Jin destroyed pastoralism in the steppe regions; Jingcheng's agricultural and commercial revenues became Liao's core financial source for sustaining its army and bureaucracy.

The Sanzhou of Pingluanying lay east of Jingcheng, along the western shore of the Bohaiwan, serving as the critical link between Jingcheng and Liaodong:

Pingzhou was the core of the three states, historically the eastern gateway of Youyan, bordered by Yanshan to the north and the sea to the east, with formidable terrain. Liao established the Pingzhou Military Governor Office here, stationing tens of thousands of troops as Jingcheng's eastern shield—if Jin advanced from Liaodong westward, the Sanzhou of Pingluanying could use the Luanhe and Qinglonghe river systems to delay enemy forces and prevent Jingcheng from being attacked from two sides.

Historically, when Jin attacked Pingzhou, the defender Zhang Jue had fiercely resisted using the terrain of the three states, buying Jingcheng several months of preparation time.

The Sanzhou of Pingluanying also controlled two critical routes: one land route, the "Yuguan Road" (from Pingzhou through Shanhaiguan to Liaodong), and one sea route (from Yingzhou Port to the Liaodong Peninsula). After Zhongjing's fall, Liao's remaining forces in Liaodong relied entirely on these two routes to maintain contact with Jingcheng. The existence of the three states allowed Jingcheng to receive limited reinforcements and horses from Liaodong, while also transporting strategic materials such as salt and iron via sea from Liaodong, sustaining its war potential.

The Sanzhou of Pingluanying were also the "land of fish and salt" along the Bohaiwan: Pingzhou's salt industry, Luanzhou's iron mines, and Yingzhou's fisheries were all highly developed, their output supplementing Jingcheng's resource shortages.

Moreover, since the late Tang, the Sanzhou of Pingluanying had been a Han-populated region, with a population of about two hundred thousand—serving as both agricultural laborers and a vital source for recruiting Liao soldiers (especially Han troops), crucial for offsetting population losses after Zhongjing's fall.

The Wuzhou of Yan and the Sanzhou of Pingluanying were not isolated but formed a dual-core coordinated defense system: Jingcheng as the "main fortress," bearing political and core defensive functions; the Sanzhou of Pingluanying as the "flank barrier," securing eastern safety and resource channels.

This synergistic relationship allowed Liao to sustain resistance for nearly two years after Zhongjing's fall, until Jingcheng was captured by Jin and the Sanzhou of Pingluanying surrendered—only then did Liao's remaining forces lose their foothold entirely and ultimately perish.

In short, for Liao at this moment, Jingcheng was the "soul of survival," the Sanzhou of Pingluanying were the "sinews of survival," and together they constituted its final "territory of survival."

This explains why many Liao people were reluctant to hand over the Yan-Ping region to Zhao Song—without it, they would be like floating weeds without roots.

Xiao PuXianNü had long anticipated that some Liao people would renege, so immediately after Yelu Aoluwān's ascension, she cited urgent front-line warfare and ordered Yelu Dashi and Xiao Gan each to lead twenty thousand troops to reinforce the front immediately.

Seeing Xiao Sese knew Xiao PuXianNü was executing the "Divert the Tiger from the Mountain" stratagem.

Well, in truth, everyone knew Xiao PuXianNü was executing the "Divert the Tiger from the Mountain" stratagem.

But Jin's forces continued charging southward, nearing the collapse of Liao's defensive lines.

This news threw Liao's court ministers into panic—they also realized they must send troops to reinforce the front.

Thus, Xiao PuXianNü entrusted all Liao troops in the Jingcheng region—roughly two hundred thousand—to Xiao Gan, ordering him to lead them north immediately.

Simultaneously, Xiao PuXianNü opened Jingcheng's imperial treasury, recruited another twenty thousand troops, and ordered Yelu Dashi to lead them north.

Xiao Gan and Yelu Dashi knew full well that by taking Jingcheng's entire army away, they were clearing the ground for Song troops—when they returned, Jingcheng would have changed hands.

Yet Xiao Gan and Yelu Dashi, who had served as Zhao Yu's close advisors for nearly a decade, understood perfectly that Zhao Yu was determined to seize the Yan-Ping region, especially as Jin grew stronger and Liao weaker.