Chapter 394

On the walls of Yunzhou, Wu Luan, Administrative Assistant to the Military Governor of the Datong Army, stood atop the ramparts, silently watching the Khitan camp in the wind and snow far away.

There was wind and snow, but far too little — nowhere near enough to freeze the Khitans away.

If Yelu Deguang had come to besiege Yunzhou last year, those two blizzards alone would have cost the Khitans dearly and forced them to lift the siege and leave.

Now, although Yunzhou had ample provisions and still more than four thousand defenders, the people's hearts were restless.

He, Wu Luan, was only an Administrative Assistant to a Military Governor. Though he had been elected as leader, his prestige was ultimately insufficient, and there were many things he simply could not do, nor had the ability to do.

With a sigh, Wu Luan looked to the southwest. If the man in his position now were Zhe Congyuan, Military Governor of the Yong'an Army, things would be very different.

The Zhe family was a great house of Yunzhou, settled there since the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Whether by connections or prestige, Zhe Congyuan could win wholehearted obedience from high and low alike.

But he, Wu Luan, could not. The longer the siege dragged on, the less united people's hearts were than before.

After all, all men cherish their lives. The high officials and nobles hoped to keep their wealth and rank, and ordinary folk hoped for a somewhat normal life.

The people of Yunzhou had been frightened by the killing of several hundred Khitan soldiers and by Yelu Deguang's repeated reversals. They dared not trust the discipline of the Khitan army outside the walls, and so were forced to resist together.

If Yelu Deguang were to come out in person now and swear absolutely not to hold them accountable, Wu Luan believed Yunzhou would not hold out five days.

Wu Luan now had no idea which way to turn. He could only secretly resolve that at worst, he would die with this city of Yunzhou.

Just as he was sunk in sorrow, shouts, curses, and the rapid drumming of hoofbeats suddenly rose from outside the west gate.

Then came screams and the twang of bowstrings. It seemed someone had cut through the Khitan camp and was making for Yunzhou.

Yunzhou had been besieged for nearly two months now, and all contact with the outside world had been cut off. Any stir at all drew the attention of the entire city.

Very quickly, dozens of officers ran up together to the west gate tower to look.

In the distance, several indistinct figures appeared. They wore white cloaks, and their warhorses were uniformly white as well.

They seemed to merge with the whiteness of heaven and earth in the distance, utterly unlike the pursuing Khitans in leather robes behind them. Perhaps it was precisely that all-white garb that had let them break through layer after layer of blockade.

When they drew a little closer, the onlookers could finally make out that there were some dozen-odd riders heading for the west gate.

Their coordination was extremely practiced. A dozen-odd riders could form a spread crane-wing formation, and whether shooting while turning in the saddle or shooting from a halted horse, they always loosed their bows in a clear, ordered sequence.

The arrows from a dozen-odd bows came in an unbroken stream, shooting down the pursuing Khitans over a stretch of ground.

Two young officers in white robes were especially fierce. Each held a heavy yellow bow, and every time they drew the string, a Khitan cavalryman was sure to fall.

By the time they reached the foot of Yunzhou's walls, at least twenty or thirty Khitans had been shot dead. For the moment the Khitans did not dare close in, only massing and clamoring at a distance.

"Zhe Deyuan, second son of Lord Zhe, Military Governor of the Yong'an Army, is here! Let Administrative Assistant Wu of the Datong Army come out and answer!"

Below the wall, a white-robed rider pushed back his helmet, revealing a face still slightly youthful.

There were members of a branch of the Zhe family inside Yunzhou. One man looked carefully, then shouted excitedly: "That's right, it is our Zhe family's Second Young Lord, Brother Yuan!"

"I am Wu Luan. Why has the Second Young Lord of the Zhe family come? Have you been sent by Lord Zhe?" Wu Luan asked, full of hope.

Everyone knew the Son of Heaven in the Eastern Capital could not be relied on, and Grand Tutor Liu of Hedong would probably not offend the Khitans for their sake.

The only one they could place any real hope in was Zhe Congyuan, Military Governor of the Yong'an Army and Prefect of Fuzhou, whose ancestral home was Yunzhou and who likewise faced the Khitan threat.

"Indeed!" Zhe Deyi answered loudly. "Not only has the Zhe family come — I bear the command of the Grand Envoy of Hexi and Longyou, Commander of the Guiyi Army, His Highness the Prince of Han, and have broken through into Yunzhou to inform you all.

Great King Zhang has sent five thousand iron cavalry to join forces with our Zhe family. We have already badly defeated the Khitan Left Pishi Army by the Hun River and taken more than a thousand heads."

"Heaven has not abandoned us men of the Central States! His Highness the Prince of Han of Hexi is the hero who returned to the nation with eighteen prefectures. With him leading troops here, Yunzhou is saved." Beside Wu Luan, a scholar in a black formal robe laughed up at the sky.

Well now. My Great King Zhang is not even twenty-eight, and already he has become an "old man."

Although Zhang Zhao's fame for returning the eighteen prefectures to the nation was great, people far away in Yunzhou in the north did not know much about him.

Many still imagined Zhang Zhao as an old loyal minister of towering prestige, like Guo Ziyi or Zhang Yichao, never once considering that Great King Zhang had not yet reached thirty.

"Please have the Second Young Lord of the Zhe family follow my red banner to the west barbican!" Wu Luan was overjoyed. He immediately ordered a junior officer beside him to take a large red banner and guide the dozen-odd riders below through the barbican into the city.

The west barbican was the only gate of Yunzhou not tightly sealed. Guided by the red banner, Zhe Deyuan and his men entered through the west barbican. They had just passed through it when Yunzhou residents, hearing the news, surrounded them.

While sending men to clear a path, Wu Luan had others shout that the imperial army of the court had arrived, and that the Prince of Han was personally leading tens of thousands of elite Hexi troops, already across the Hun River.

At once, colored banners flew over snowbound Yunzhou, and the whole city rang with joy. The old, the weak, women and children sang and danced, and children ran wild with excitement.

They had just passed a silent New Year's Day, and now it seemed they meant to make up for all that festivity.

Yet compared with the jubilation outside, the atmosphere in the Datong Army headquarters in Yunzhou was far more oppressive.

After welcoming Zhe Deyuan and his men into the city, Wu Luan asked impatiently: "Did the Son of Heaven issue an edict ordering His Highness the Prince of Han to bring the Hexi troops east?"

There was reason for Wu Luan to ask this. In all the realm, the only way to lift the siege of Yunzhou was for the Son of Heaven in the Eastern Capital to issue an edict.

Only if Liu Zhiyuan, Military Governor of Hedong, and Zhang Zhao, Grand Envoy of Hexi and Longyou, advanced together from south and west would there be any possibility of forcing Yelu Deguang, who had come in person, to withdraw.

Zhe Deyuan fell silent. Looking at the earnest, hopeful gazes of Wu Luan and the officers and officials in the headquarters, the word "No" stuck in his throat and would not come out.

But though he could not say it, Li Xiaojie — eldest grandson of Li Zhongchao of Huizhou, who had come with him — could not feel that grief, because he was a Tangut, and in his eyes there was no one but Zhang Zhao.

Moreover, he did not feel aggrieved. Great King Zhang had unified Hexi and Longyou and rampaged everywhere. It had always been the Guiyi Army beating others, never others beating the Guiyi Army.

As an officer whom Great King Zhang was specially grooming, and a member of the adopted-son army, Li Xiaojie had never experienced, nor ever felt, such grievance. So he cupped his hands in salute.

"Let Administrative Assistant Wu and all of you know: Yunzhou was sold out by that Son of Heaven in the Eastern Capital. How would he send troops to save it?

The reason troops have come this time is the Prince of Han's benevolence. He could not bear to see the land of the Central States fall to the Khitans, so he scraped together everything he had to spare several thousand iron cavalry and fight their way east at the risk of their lives."

Though Wu Luan had long been prepared in his heart, his face still changed color, as if struck by lightning.

The people in the headquarters were likewise thrown into an uproar. Some fell silent, some wept quietly, and some even began to form other calculations in their minds.

"The court has no troops to send. Even if the Prince of Han sent out all the troops of Hexi, how could they withstand the Khitan ruler himself!"

Wu Luan's face showed despair. Hope had come quickly, and the blow came even more quickly.

Li Xiaojie cupped his hands and bowed to everyone in the headquarters. "To rely on our Guiyi Army and Hexi troops to drive off the Khitans is indeed impossible. And even if we drove them off today, they would return tomorrow — what then?

But you have already offended the Khitan ruler. The Khitans are wolves by nature, and Yunzhou has long had no way back. Once the city falls, your lives will be in peril.

Fortunately, our Great King's benevolence is unmatched. Though he cannot hold Yunzhou, he is willing to do everything in his power to rescue you all!"

Hearing this, hope surged again among the Yunzhou people. They pushed past Wu Luan, surrounded Li Xiaojie, and began asking questions all at once.

"If you all wish to be saved, it is actually not difficult! The Khitans have now seen what the soldiers and people of Yunzhou are capable of. Until spring warms the land and they have built proper siege engines, they certainly cannot break through Yunzhou's walls."

Moreover, with our lord encamped near the Hun River, how would the Khitans dare press their attack with full force?

The simplest course is simply to send an envoy to threaten the court and make the Son of Heaven issue an edict yielding Yunzhou.

Li Xiaojie said slowly, and the Yunzhou commanders all felt a glow of pride. With only three or four thousand men, caught unprepared, they had actually held off Yelu Deguang, who had come in person on campaign. At least for now, he could do nothing against them.

Seeing that he had stirred the emotions of the Yunzhou men, Li Xiaojie continued: "So we need only have all of you unite in purpose and hold this city of Yunzhou.

With our Hexi troops watching from the flank, Yelu Deguang will inevitably grow inclined to compromise. If we offer to yield the city on the condition that not one person in Yunzhou is harmed and no commoners are displaced, the Khitans should agree."

When Li Xiaojie finished, an officer cupped his hands toward him and said, "That being so, the people of Yunzhou may indeed be preserved.

But we have killed several hundred Khitan soldiers. Even if the Khitan ruler lets it pass today, once we hand over military authority, what is to stop him from coming back for revenge?"

Li Xiaojie grinned, showing two big white teeth. "General, do not worry. Our lord, Great King Zhang of Hexi, has just destroyed the Li family of the Dingnan Army. All of you are Han heroes who resisted the Khitan. If you are willing, the Great King invites you to settle in Xiazhou.

When the Great King departed, he gave this humble officer instructions: all who are willing to go to Xiazhou shall be promoted one rank, granted five hundred mu of land, and given several male and female servants from the Pingxia tribe.

All soldiers and commoners shall also receive rewards, in recognition of their great service in defending Yunzhou."

Wu Luan was utterly shocked. He stared at Li Xiaojie in disbelief. The Li family of the Dingnan Army and the Pingxia tribe, centuries old—just gone like that?

But most of the people in the government office turned their eyes to Zhe Deyuan. To these men, Great King Zhang of Hexi was a stranger; only the second young lord of the Zhe family was someone they truly trusted.

"That's right! Great King Zhang is a heaven-sent lord of rare brilliance. When we broke the Khitans by the Hun River, the Hexi troops had already been besieging Xiazhou for months, and the city's fall was only a matter of days.

And before that, at the battle of the White Salt Lake, the Dingnan Army's forty thousand troops were routed, and their armored cavalry and armored infantry had long since been wiped out."

Zhe Deyuan cupped his hands. Although he had not gone to Xiazhou, his elder brother Zhe Deyi had been there and had seen with his own eyes how the Guiyi Army had left Li Yiyin utterly helpless, able only to fall back and defend the inner western city.

Mentioning the Hexi troops alone gave the Yunzhou commanders no concrete point of reference, but the moment the Li family of the Dingnan Army was named, everyone understood.

So the Hexi Guiyi Army had already grown this powerful! It had destroyed the Dingnan Army, which had forty thousand troops and three or four thousand armored cavalry and armored infantry.

Li Xiaojie now cupped his hands toward Wu Luan. "When spring comes, the King of Han's envoy will arrive in Yunzhou. Administrative Assistant Wu may send someone to meet him.

When this humble officer set out, the Great King already said that Administrative Assistant Wu is a loyal minister and righteous man. If you are willing to come to Xiazhou, you shall be rewarded with the post of Marshal of the Prince of Han's household, with actual appointment as Prefect of Xiazhou!"

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