Chapter 392: Li Yiyin's Predicament

"Hiss—!" Yelu Deguang drew a sharp breath, and the chieftains, army commanders, and ministers in the tent were all aghast.

Governing several million people, with more than fifty thousand men under arms, and heavy-armored Bear-Tiger warriors besides — this sounded very much like their own Great Khitan state!

Since when had such a power arisen in Hexi?

"Could it be that Guiyi Army that destroyed the Ganzhou Uyghurs the year before last?"

Yelu Deguang suddenly remembered that the previous year, on the birthday of his mother, the Yingtian Empress Dowager Shulu Ping, Uyghur envoys from Xizhou had come to offer birthday congratulations, saying that the Guiyi Army had annexed the Ganzhou Uyghurs and harbored ambitions of unifying the Western Regions.

At the time, the Xizhou Uyghurs had spoken with great exaggeration, and had even hinted that they wanted the Great Khitan to back them.

But Yelu Deguang had been wholly focused on the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun, so he had dismissed those Uyghur envoys with a few perfunctory words.

Now it seemed he had to pay attention to Hexi. Yelu Deguang's instinct told him that this Guiyi Army of Hexi was faintly revealing a strong half-nomadic, half-settled character — and it clashed somewhat with his Great Khitan state!

"Your Majesty! The boy is ignorant and may not know the full story.

In my humble view, although Hexi and Longyou are vast, they are sparsely populated, with the Wenmo, Tangut, the the Shatuo, Uyghur, and other peoples standing side by side.

That Great King Zhang has only been founding his state for two or three years; he may not be able to unify them, and the fifty thousand men under arms may be mere boasting."

Zhao Yanshou stepped forward, bowed with clasped hands, and spoke. Of course he, Zhao Yanshou, knew who Zhang Zhao was.

Because over these years, the correspondence between his wife, the Eldest Princess of Yan, and the Princess Yongle in Hexi had never ceased.

Zhao Yanshou, like Murong Xinzhang, had married a daughter of the former Tang Emperor Mingzong; the two men were brothers-in-law through Shi Jingtang.

Zhao Yanshou's coming forward to speak thus at this moment was precisely the Zhao family's way of surviving.

Zhao Kuangzan had exaggerated Zhang Zhao's military strength to frighten the Khitan ruler and his ministers into not daring to retaliate immediately, selling a favor to Zhang Zhao.

And he, Zhao Yanshou, came forward to reveal that he knew the true state of Hexi — on the one hand patching up Zhao Kuangzan's exaggerations, and on the other making Yelu Deguang trust him all the more as a capable man who knew the real situation of the southern court.

Sure enough, seeing that the Zhao father and son knew the true state of Hexi, Yelu Deguang felt at once that he had not misjudged them.

"The Prince of Yan is indeed a man of talent. I ask that you carefully gather intelligence on the true state of Hexi."

"If what the Prince of Yan says is correct, Your Majesty, in the past few months the tribes near the Tiande Army reported that Hexi troops had clashed with the Tangut Li family of the Dingnan Army of the southern court.

Could Hexi troops have taken Xiazhou City so quickly and swallowed up the Dingnan Army?

If their forces are truly so strong that, even while annexing the Dingnan Army, they could still use several thousand armored soldiers to ambush us, then their power is certainly not small!

If such a mighty enemy is not destroyed, I fear the western frontier will know no peace. Better to abandon Yunzhou for now, withdraw to Guihua Prefecture, and wait until next year to concentrate a great army before making further plans."

Hearing that the Guiyi Army of Hexi was not weak, Yelu Pode — who had long felt that Yelu Deguang's siege of Yunzhou was one blunder after another, dragging on into winter — once again brought up the old refrain of withdrawing first.

And the Khitan tribal chieftains and army commanders, impatient with the bitter cold of winter encampment, all spoke up in agreement.

"Your Majesty, you must not!"

A loud cry rang out. Everyone turned to look — it was Han Kuangye, Military Governor of Tiancheng Army and Minister over the Masses.

If Zhao Yanshou could still be called a Han man, then the Han family to which Han Kuangye belonged were Khitan among the Han.

Han Kuangye's father, Han Zhigu, had been captured years ago by the elder brother of the Yingtian Empress Dowager Shulu Ping.

When Shulu Ping married Yelu Abaoji, Han Zhigu followed her into Yelu Abaoji's household as part of her dowry, and thereafter gradually rose to a position of importance.

The Zhangwu Army, the most important infantry force among the Khitan at this time, had been trained for the Khitan by Han Zhigu.

All eleven of Han Zhigu's sons held high office in the Khitan state. The third son, Han Kuangsi, in particular, was young and handsome, and was whispered to be the lover of the Yingtian Empress Dowager Shulu Ping.

And historically, Han Kuangye had a son named Han Derang — now that was a truly heavyweight figure.

This Han Derang, while Emperor Jingzong of Liao was still alive, had already tumbled into bed with Empress Xiao Chuo. After Emperor Jingzong died, he openly came and went with Xiao Chuo as a couple.

Xiao Chuo made her son, Emperor Shengzong of Liao, call him "younger uncle," and even after Xiao Chuo died, Emperor Shengzong still served Han Derang as a father.

When Han Derang fell ill, Emperor Shengzong and his empress personally tended him with medicines like a son and daughter-in-law.

Truly absurd beyond belief!

At this moment.

Yelu Deguang had never wanted to withdraw in the first place. Hearing this, he immediately asked, "What insight does Minister Han have?"

Han Kuangye knelt prostrate on the ground and cried out, "Your Majesty has come to Yunzhou in person with the dignity of a ruler of ten thousand chariots. If you leave without taking Yunzhou City, would that not greatly damage Your Majesty's divine might and martial sagacity?

Moreover, as the Prince of Yan said, the various peoples of Hexi stand side by side, the situation is complex, and the land is vast and sparsely populated. Whether in money, grain, troops, or horses, I cannot imagine how Hexi troops could have just fought a great battle with the Dingnan Army and still send a large force to threaten our court.

Even with the valor of our Great Khitan heavenly troops, could Your Majesty pacify the four prefectures of Yin, Xia, You, and Sui within a few months and still dispatch a large army to Yunzhou?"

Yelu Deguang calculated for a moment, then nodded hesitantly. "If I levied a great army from all the tribes, it would not be hard to break the Dingnan Army with fifty thousand men.

But pacifying the four prefectures of Yin, Xia, You, and Sui would not be easy. As for sending out another four thousand armored soldiers, that would require raising the troops of the entire nation — a hundred thousand men at least."

"Exactly as Your Majesty says. Even our Great Khitan state, governing five million people and possessing the strength of over a hundred thousand heavenly troops, could only perhaps achieve it. This Hexi has barely over two million people and has only been a state for a few years — how could they manage it?

In my humble view, Zhang Zhao of Hexi seized the four prefectures of Yin, Xia, You, and Sui only because the Jin ruler was busy putting down rebellions and had no time to look west.

And Your Majesty, as father to the Jin ruler of the southern court, has might that awes the four directions. If the Jin ruler came pleading to Your Majesty, begging you to root out such rebels, Your Majesty would surely consent.

Therefore, I believe this Zhang Zhao of Hexi fears Your Majesty's heavenly might, and so has struck first to block our westward advance.

Of those four thousand armored soldiers, perhaps only one or two thousand are elite troops; the rest may be troops of the Zhe family of Fuzhou, merely putting on a show of strength."

Yelu Deguang was overjoyed. "Well said! The Minister's words are excellent. If I withdraw today, I will have fallen for the Hexi men's trick. To be frightened into retreat with the dignity of a ruler of ten thousand chariots — where would my face be?

I intend to draw ten thousand troops from the various tribes and station them from the Jingbian Army to the Wuzhou City area, to guard against the Hexi troops.

The Right Pishi Army will keep watch between Yunzhou and Wuzhou City. Once Yunzhou City is taken, I will surely meet this Zhang Zhao of Hexi for a joint hunt in the four prefectures of Yin, Xia, You, and Sui!"

Han Kuangye's words were in fact full of holes. He said Zhang Zhao was putting on a show of strength — but if he could smash three thousand Pishi Army troops, was that still a show of strength?

And this was merely Han Kuangye's own speculation. Though he had guessed some things correctly, it could not serve as evidence.

But Yelu Deguang had never wanted to withdraw in the first place. Hearing Han Kuangye's words, he immediately used them to silence everyone.

These tribal chieftains and army commanders had been hoping he would withdraw. They were happy to see Yelu Deguang's prestige damaged — they would rather not see his authority grow day by day, lest he curtail their power.

A few tribal chieftains wanted to remonstrate further, but seeing Yelu Deguang's icy expression, they hesitated and did not dare speak again.

In Shengzhou, once the snow had lightened somewhat, Zhe Deyi, Murong Xinzhang, and two others led several thousand troops and headed back toward Fuzhou without looking back.

What else could they do but not look back? Go to the walls of Yunzhou and ram head-on into Yelu Deguang's fifty thousand troops?

Don't joke around. Even leaving aside the fact that supply lines can't hold up in heavy snow, with just these four thousand men, if the enemy sends out ten thousand of the Pishi Army, they'd be finished.

Perhaps it wouldn't even take ten thousand Pishi troops. The reason they were able to smash three thousand of the Left Pishi Fengsheng Army this time was that they caught the unprepared with a prepared plan.

The Khitan mistook them for steppe tribes with weak fighting strength and responded wrongly, which is why they suffered a crushing defeat.

In ordinary times, even if three thousand Pishi troops couldn't beat their four thousand iron cavalry, defending themselves would hardly have been a problem.

Moreover, when Zhang Zhao sent them out, crossing swords with the Khitan was not the most important task. The important thing was to stop the Khitan from easily taking Yunzhou.

So while leading the army back to Fuzhou, Zhe Deyi sent his younger brother Zhe Deyuan as an envoy to Yunzhou.

Zhe Deyuan's mission had two parts. First, the Zhe family had long lived in Yunzhou and held great prestige in the city, with countless relatives and friends there.

If Zhe Deyuan could enter Yunzhou city, it would show that someone from the west was leading troops in a standoff with the Khitan, which would greatly boost the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city and keep them from surrendering the city too easily.

The second task was to go and pay a formal visit to Yelu Deguang. They had captured several hundred Pishi Army soldiers by the Hun River.

If they used the release of these Khitan troops as a pretext, and brought the captives out beneath the walls of Yunzhou for a single appearance, it would immediately confirm the fact that they had thrashed the Khitan.

The fame and the image of loyal subjects and righteous warriors that Great King Zhang demanded would be established in an instant.

As for provoking the Khitan so badly that they abandoned Yunzhou to come fight Zhang Zhao, they needn't worry about that for now, because if the Khitan came, they would most likely head to Fuzhou first.

They would not ignore the thorn of Fuzhou and cross the Mu Us Desert to reach Xiazhou.

If Yelu Deguang truly dared to do that, then Zhang Zhao wouldn't mind turning into Li Jiqian and sparring with this Khitan "Northern Song" for a round or two. Who knows, Yelu Deguang might end up taking a hard fall.

At Xiazhou, Zhang Zhao had been besieging the city for nearly three months. Three months ago, Li Yiyin had been grinning as he waited for the Guiyi Army soldiers to freeze to death in droves and then be forced to withdraw.

But now, whether the Guiyi Army had frozen to death or not, he didn't know. What he did know was that the people inside his city of Xiazhou were about to freeze to death.

The reason was utterly bizarre — so bizarre that Li Yiyin had never once considered the problem before.

The firewood for cooking and heating might very well run out. He had stockpiled enough grain to eat for half a year, but now he was on the verge of being unable to cook it.

Ten days ago, people in Xiazhou had begun tearing down furniture to burn. Five days ago, some households were already burning their door planks, and cooking had turned into dozens of families cooking together to save firewood.

After today, many people had burned through all their door planks. To eat cooked food, apart from paying a high price to join households that still had firewood and cook together, they were even splitting open the wood in their saddles to burn.

Many people were already staring at the gates, beams, pillars, and such of his Dingnan Army Military Governor's office, their eyes gleaming.

Even Li Yiyin's own household now cooked ten days' worth of food at one time, then ate cold meals without lighting a fire.

When the winter wind blew cold, they piled on extra bedding for warmth, wives and concubines huddling together to sleep.

Grain was plentiful, but the rice couldn't be cooked. What the hell kind of life was this?

All chapters have been cached for you. Download the APP to view.