Chapter 512: Who Is the Mantis, and Who Is the Sparrow?

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The Yinluo River takes its name from the Yin River and the Luo River, two rivers that rise southwest of Luoyang and flow northeast, converging at the city of Yanshi, where they merge into a single stream — this is the Yinluo River.

In other words, the city of Yanshi actually lies at the confluence of the Yin and Luo rivers, on the most typical kind of alluvial plain.

Thus the Khitan host, advancing upstream along the Yinluo River, had traveled the whole way through the narrow stretch of river valley between Mount Mang and Mount Song.

Only upon reaching the outskirts of Yanshi was there a broad, open basin suitable for a decisive battle between armies of over a hundred thousand.

Yelu Deguang wanted to come in, and Zhang Zhao certainly would not stop him — besides, the Khitans' far-ranging scout riders, the lanzi horse, were quite skilled.

Under their screening, the Yinluo waterway between Mount Song and Mount Mang simply could not be used for an ambush.

Zhang Zhao therefore followed his original plan and let the Khitans in.

In mid-seventh month, Yelu Deguang led seventy-five thousand troops, breaking through seven water fortifications that Zhang Zhao had set up along the Yinluo River, and the host advanced to the southeast of Yanshi.

The Yong-Liang army, which had already broken through the western part of Yanshi, had no choice but to begin withdrawing.

Yelu Deguang then led the main host into Yanshi, with the left and right Pishi troops as the core force, quartered within the city.

The right wing was mainly the Shushan army commanded by Yelu Pode, along with tribal cavalry, supplemented by three thousand Xi infantry.

The left wing was mainly surrendered Jin army officers, with Xiao Han and Li Shouzhen as chief and deputy commanders.

They made Yanshi their main camp, backed against Mount Mang, and set up camps along the foot of the mountain stretching more than three li, infantry and cavalry coordinated, their formation strict and imposing.

Zhang Zhao's Yong-Liang army withdrew to the vicinity of Jinyong Fortress, using the repaired Jinyong Fortress as their main camp, with the Hanshan Unit, the left and right Yulin Guard, and seven thousand men of the Hanhai Garrison as the central army.

Yan Jin was made left-wing formation commander, in charge of the Wuwei, Xiongwu, Yingyang, and Feng'an garrisons plus part of the Zhangwu army of Yanzhou, along with Guanzhong volunteer soldiers, sworn-follower light cavalry, and four thousand united-archery militiamen — twenty-one thousand in all.

Bai Congxin was made right-wing formation commander, in charge of the Lingwu, Dingyuan, and Yucheng garrisons plus a small number of volunteer soldiers, sworn followers, and united-archery militiamen, along with the surrendered Baoyi, Fengguo, and Ningguo armies — twenty thousand in all.

Of Zhang Zhao's forty-eight thousand troops, apart from Yin Yaozi and Liu Zaisheng left to hold the rear, and the Heyang army guarding Luoyang, the entire main force had arrived.

Inside Yanshi, once the whole army had safely set up camp, Yelu Deguang also convened a military council.

The Liao army had come from Gong County, and along the way had met with little resistance, which had considerably restored the morale of Yelu Deguang and his officers and men.

The main reason for this situation was that what they had encountered was only the sworn-follower light cavalry of the Yong-Liang army.

As non-main-force conscripts, the sworn-follower light cavalry, from warhorses to weapons, still lagged considerably behind the true Yong-Liang iron cavalry.

The Hexi folded-ear horses, already famed throughout the realm, were in fact not a very large breed population.

Because back then Zhang Zhao had scoured the entire upper reaches of the Sindhu River and obtained only a few thousand of them, and of those brought back to Liangzhou, there were only a little over two thousand.

Although after ten years of breeding, the folded-ear horse had become naturalized in Hexi, that did not mean every horse born could serve as a warhorse.

Even if every one could serve as a warhorse, in order to maintain the heredity and genetic stability of the horses in the military stud farms, not all of them could be used as warhorses.

At the very least, in the military stud farms at Shandan, Changsong, and other places, a minimum stock of three thousand or more had to be maintained.

Therefore the high-quality folded-ear warhorses in the Yong-Liang army numbered only a little over seven thousand — not even enough for the main force, so naturally among the sworn-follower light cavalry only a very few elite troops had folded-ear horses.

And in equipment, they were rarely issued horn-crossbows, let alone divine-arm bows, and since the sworn-follower light cavalry basically wore no armor, this gave Yelu Deguang and all the Khitans a certain impression.

Namely, that the Yong-Liang cavalry was indeed formidable — the only cavalry they had seen that could match the Great Liao in cavalry combat — but not by much; the two sides were evenly matched.

Now the Great Khitan had seventy-five thousand against forty-eight thousand, and their supply lines were even shorter — the advantage was theirs!

However, not everyone was blind to the truth. Yelu Wuzhi, who together with Gao Song was called one of the twin pillars of Liao commanders at the time, felt that Gao Song was a veteran and a bold general long tested on the battlefield, and would not have written Yelu Deguang a report of several thousand characters for no reason.

So, when everyone in the room was brimming with confidence and declaring they would immediately go out and capture Zhang Zhao alive, Yelu Wuzhi poured a basin of cold water over them, and then said to Yelu Deguang:

"If the Yong-Liang bandit Zhang were truly so easily crushed, Your Majesty would have killed him back at Datong in former years.

If the bandit Zhang were utterly unprepared, how would he dare send out all his elite troops and march east to contend with our Great Liao for the realm?"

"The Grand Xiangwen speaks reason!" Yelu Deguang nodded. He too felt that if Zhang Zhao were truly so useless, then all the caution he, Yelu Deguang, had shown before would have lowered his own 'prestige' as well.

So Yelu Deguang looked at Yelu Wuzhi and said with a smile: "Since the Grand Xiangwen understands this Zhang Zhao so well, surely he must have a plan to defeat the enemy. Why not share it with us?"

Yelu Wuzhi cupped his hands and said to Yelu Deguang: "Since the bandit Zhang entered Guanzhong, your servant has ordered men to collect information on this man's character and preferences.

Your servant has found that this bandit Zhang is indeed as cunning as a fox and as fierce as a jackal, but he is not without flaws. He has one fatal weakness — he likes to personally brave arrows and stones."

"Personally brave arrows and stones?" Yelu Deguang asked hesitantly, his expression turning somewhat uncomfortable. He wondered whether Yelu Wuzhi was making a veiled jab at him.

Wasn't Brother Guang himself someone who liked to personally brave arrows and stones, only to blunder his command at Baituanwei Village in Yangcheng and suffer a crushing defeat?

Yelu Wuzhi had not thought of any of that at all. He continued: "Your servant has found that whether it was the bandit Zhang defeating the Karakhanid Uyghur Satuq Khan, or the Dingnan army's Li Yiyin, or his conquest of the Gaochang Uyghurs, in every case he personally braved arrows and stones and charged at the front line.

He even once, in a great battle with the Dingnan army at the White Water Salt Pool, came close to being killed by the Dingnan army's linked cavalry."

Yelu Deguang's eyes lit up as he listened. Now he no longer cared whether Yelu Wuzhi was making a veiled jab at him, because Brother Guang too remembered that Zhang Zhao did indeed like to personally brave arrows and stones.

So this Khitan Emperor simply walked over to Yelu Wuzhi's side and asked loudly: "What is your plan?"

Uh... Why does everyone know about this?

Naturally, Great King Zhang had brought it on himself. In order to improve his image in the hearts of the people of the Central Plains, Great King Zhang had made no small effort to have traveling merchants spread tales of his heroic deeds.

Among these, the shining moments of personally braving arrows and stones and fighting alongside his officers and men naturally had to be publicized as much as possible.

So, through the merchants' big-mouthed propaganda, Yelu Wuzhi was able to easily sort out a thread from these deeds and discover Great King Zhang's weakness.

Yelu Wuzhi pondered for a moment, then pointed on the map toward the Yellow River.

"Your Majesty, please look. The key point of this battle actually lies in whether our main force can link up with Gao Song.

If we fully control the Heyang Bridge, we can ensure free passage between the north and south of the great river, and can even turn around and envelop the bandit Zhang's water fortifications along the great river.

Luoyang is ruined, and the bandit Zhang's supplies also rely on the great river, shipped from Shanzhou, Hezhong, and even Guanzhong.

Conversely, if our army cannot open a connection with Gao Song, Zhongtan Fortress certainly cannot hold for long. Then the bandit Zhang will gain the advantage of the great river, and we may well die south of the Yellow River.

The bandit Zhang of course knows where the key lies, and so here, at the junction of Mount Mang and the great river, he has placed several thousand elite troops, and has his foremost fierce general Yan Jin garrisoned there.

If our army can attack this place together with Gao Song, while secretly preparing twenty thousand elite troops, then once Yan Jin is in dire straits, the bandit Zhang will very likely personally lead troops to the rescue.

He thinks his elite cavalry comes and goes like the wind and none can stop them, but he does not realize that I have long been prepared. As long as we block the bandit Zhang and kill him before his main army arrives, the great matter is settled!

Even if it fails, I can withdraw to Mount Mang and wait for another opportunity."

"Hahahaha!" Brother Guang clapped Yelu Wuzhi on the shoulder and laughed up at the sky.

"The bandit Zhang's days are numbered! All matters are in the hands of the Grand Xiangwen. Whatever troops need to be drawn from wherever, there is no need to report to me — simply select the finest."

At the end of the seventh month, Yelu Deguang first raised the tricolor banner on Mount Mang and, by the prearranged signal, summoned Gao Song's division to come.

Then he dispatched Yelu Wuzhi with ten thousand elite cavalry, but sent only five thousand into action, advancing northwest along Mount Mang and feigning an attempt to open a link with Gao Song's force at Zhongtan City.

In secret, he drew off twenty thousand picked troops and held them in readiness within Mount Mang.

Yan Jin, defending the left army, learned that Yelu Wuzhi had come west out of Mount Mang, and at once led three thousand men from the Wuwei and Xiongwu garrisons, together with one thousand sworn-follower cavalry and two thousand militia archers, to block him at the northwestern end of Mount Mang.

Gao Song at Zhongtan City likewise organized several dozen vessels, large and small, and landed two thousand archers from the Yellow River to launch an attack.

The two sides fought fiercely for two days. Yan Jin's force was surrounded so tightly that not a drop could get through. Zhang Zhao several times sent the Right Yulin Guard to break through, but none could lift the siege of Yan Jin's force.

Seeing the situation growing critical, and just as Yelu Wuzhi had anticipated, Zhang Zhao decided to go in person, leading Li Cunhui, Zhe Deyuan, and others, with fifteen hundred elite cavalry of the Right Yulin Guard and one thousand heavy infantry of the Hanshan Battalion, to the rescue. He then ordered Erzhu Jing and Murong Yanzhao to organize six thousand troops as the rear support.

Zhang Zhao of course did not know this was a trap, nor that the Khitan had erected several dozen tall towers atop Mount Mang, and that a great number of scouts were hidden along the Yin River, ceaselessly observing the situation at Jinyong City.

Seeing Zhang Zhao's great banner move, and that he was truly leading troops to the rescue, Yelu Deguang immediately ordered Li Shouzhen to draw off five thousand elite Jin infantry, and Yelu Pode personally led fifteen thousand iron cavalry of the Shushan Army to move and block them.

At the same time, the Khitan left army under Xiao Han also launched a diversionary attack on Bai Congxin's division of the Yongliang right army.

The Heyang Bridge on the south bank of the Yellow River was about twenty li from Jinyong City.

By the time Zhang Zhao arrived with his troops, Yan Jin had already personally taken command of six thousand men and wedged them between the Heyang bridgehead and Mount Mang. The situation was not as critical as it had seemed.

Zhang Zhao at once sensed something was wrong, because in order to defend against Gao Song's force at Zhongtan City coming ashore, he had set up three warning stockades along the Yellow River bank, and the first stockade even had three trebuchets.

If he were Gao Song, the first objective would certainly be to burn those three trebuchets, not to use all the transport capacity to deliver picked troops to Yan Jin's position at the last stockade.

"My lord, something is indeed wrong!" Li Cunhui also came over and said.

"Commander Yan has six thousand men there, and a stockade to hold. The two thousand iron-armored troops of the Wuwei garrison are the elite of our army.

Gao Song's force from the Yellow River numbers no more than three thousand, and even with Yelu Wuzhi's five thousand elite cavalry that is only eight thousand. They could never surround Commander Yan's six thousand so tightly."

"Duojin, what do you think?" Zhang Zhao turned and asked Qiongre Duojin beside him.

Qiongre Duojin raised his head and looked around. He saw that the Khitan cavalry, blocked by Yan Jin at the foot of Mount Mang, though they raised shout after shout, had made little actual contact, and the fighting was not fierce.

"Great King, this must be a Khitan ruse to lure the enemy. I beg to cover the rear. Great King, lead the army away at speed and return to Jinyong City."

Zhang Zhao's heart tightened as well. To say he was not at all alarmed would be impossible.

But he certainly could not show fear before his commanders, so he resolutely shook his head.

"The enemy has not yet arrived, and I retreat first? Would I not be laughed at by all under heaven?

Cunhui, send a messenger back to Jinyong City at once. Order Erzhu Jing and Murong Yanzhao to move out immediately.

Then have Ma Shacai bring another three thousand cavalry. I want to see just how capable these Khitan are."

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