On Liu Chengyou's side, when he heard the news that Yelu Ruan was proclaimed emperor, his reaction was very real and he was overjoyed.
As for the marauding Hu cavalry, they looked menacing on the surface, but in fact they did not pose much of a threat at all, as if they were telling Liu Chengyou that something was wrong with the Liao army. It was clearly felt that it was an invading army. If that was the case, it would not be a cause for concern.
With the assistance of Wei Renpu and Xiang Xun, Liu Chengyou made a very clear judgment on the situation. Following his advice, he stayed put and waited for the situation to develop. On the contrary, the generals under his command were somewhat unable to sit still. A group of Liao cavalry from Taizhou (now Baoding, Hebei Province) crossed Dingzhou and came south, burning and killing all the way, and turned back thirty miles away from Zhending.
"What do you want to do? How unbecoming are you making noises!" In the Yamen, Liu Chengyou scolded with a straight face.
In the hall, several middle and lower-level generals from Longqi gathered together and asked Liu Chengyou for orders to attack. Han Tong, Luo Yanxuan, including the newly surrendered Li Jun, and even Sun Li, who had not yet been injured easily.
Sun Li was seriously injured and was about to die. Although he received all-out treatment, he still lingered in front of the gate of hell for several days due to his current medical condition. After all, his life was tough and he survived. After nearly a month of nursing, he slowly recovered. With his merit, Liu Chengyou resumed his post as commander of the Second Army and took charge of the defense envoy of Bozhou from afar. The injury here has not yet healed, and when they heard that the Liao army was committing crimes in the south, they also started to make a fuss.
Seeing Liu Chengyou's cold face, the others didn't dare to be presumptuous and simply shut their mouths. It was Sun Li who was still senior. He said with his hoarse voice: "Your Highness, the barbarians did not learn a lesson and came here arrogantly. As long as you give the order, the soldiers will behead the enemy and present their heads."
It was natural that Sun Li's voice was filled with hatred. Liu Chengyou looked at him calmly: "Do you know who the enemy general is? How many Fanqi are there in the south?"
Two questions stopped him. He really didn't know. He just heard that there were thieves from the south, so he got together and invited him to fight.
"I don't know."
"The enemy's situation is not clear yet, and the enemy's intention is unclear, so they want to fight. Is fighting such a child's play?" Liu Chengyou scolded gently.
At this time, everyone basically felt Liu Chengyou's attitude, and the remaining people didn't dare to speak up. Han Tong, on the other hand, opened his mouth, but held it back.
"Everyone, please step aside and continue to train the soldiers and sharpen your swords!" Liu Chengyou confessed.
The generals who rushed over excitedly were repelled by Liu Chengyou with a few words. Next to him, seeing a group of arrogant and powerful generals, listening honestly to Liu Chengyou's scolding, Liu Chengxun once again showed a hint of surprise in his eyes. His eyes were a little wandering. This scene was somewhat similar to his impression of Liu Zhiyuan commanding the generals in Hedong.
"Erlang, the Longqi Army has been trained very well by you! Hedong's strong army, the Longqi First Army! Look at these generals, they are like wolves and tigers, and they are ready to come out. The morale of the army is so high, why be afraid? Khitan?" Liu Chengxun sighed.
Liu Chengyou could faintly detect a hint of envy in his complimentary tone. It seemed that his elder brother was very touched.
Liu Chengyou shook his head: "You can't do that. Soldiers don't have brains, they're just a bunch of reckless men. In comparison, I'm worried that they are too arrogant and impetuous, which is not a good thing!"
It is obvious that the generals under the Longqi Army are a little distracted. The battle in Luancheng has made them feel more confident and arrogant. They no longer take the Khitan army seriously and claim to be the strongest army in the world. Although Liu Chengyou likes his impetuousness, he has recently made a conscious effort to suppress that impetuosity.
Liu Chengxun just thought he was being humble and said, "It's Erlang, but your demands are too high. The Liao cavalry are attacking, and the generals are very motivated to fight, so why not allow it?"
"What the eldest brother wants to ask is, why did King Yongkang of Khitan proclaim himself emperor and go south with great fanfare instead of trying to stabilize the country?" Liu Chengyou looked at Liu Chengxun.
Liu Chengxun nodded his head simply, with doubts in his eyes: "You said before that if Yelv Ruan becomes emperor, there will be a civil strife within the Khitan. However, now Yelv Ruan wants to go south for revenge, isn't it the opposite?"
"Brother, I'm afraid I don't know. According to the investigation, the Hu cavalry going south are all miscellaneous Hu and Fan cavalry. They are just putting up a formation to go south. The elite Khitan gathered by Yelu Ruan are still in Youzhou. I have no intention of moving!" Liu Chengyou explained.
Obviously, Liu Chengxun was not very sensitive to these and did not clarify his doubts: "Then what is the purpose of the Liao army?"
"It's all true and false, secretive. Maybe the battle in Luancheng left them with a psychological shadow..." Liu Chengyou murmured lightly.
"Huh?" The eldest brother was a little confused. He glanced at Liu Chengyou twice in succession. His handsome eyebrows were slightly furrowed and he asked again: "Can You Yan's proposal still come true?"
"The Liao army won't move, our army won't move!" Liu Chengyou replied simply.
Liu Chengxun looked confused and nervous, but he couldn't explain it clearly in a few words. Liu Chengyou added: "Brother, wait for two more days, and the situation will be clear!"
Liu Chengyou looked confident, so Liu Chengxun stopped talking and started thinking on his own.
...
Just as Liu Chengyou and his subordinates had guessed, the subsequent development of the situation proved that the Liao army's actions were just a bluff. After having some involvement with the Longqi Army at the Zhen and Shenzhen front lines, I saw that Liu Chengyou always followed his heart and was conservative and confrontational. He couldn't please others, so he was not in a hurry, so he retreated.
In Youzhou, Yelu Ruan stayed for one more day and finally heard something. He led him to gather 100,000 Khitan and Hu soldiers and horses, escorting Yelu Deguang's coffin, leaving Yanshan in the north and marching towards Linhuang Mansion in Beijing.
This army was gathered by Yelu Ruan after the Khitan withdrew from China. He worked hard to restore morale slightly. This is also the most powerful army in the Khitan country. With a hundred thousand troops in hand, for a few moments, Yelu Ruan really had the urge to lead his troops south and fight again.
However, he was forced to calm down and restrained himself. Not to mention the situation in our own country, even if we could march straight into Hebei, what results would we be able to achieve? The situation at this time is already extreme. Moreover, Hebei in the Central Plains has been drained of all its oil and water after the previous "national disaster" . No matter how you look at it, the gains outweigh the losses.
Yelu Ruan went north and just left the Yan territory. News came from the north that he was going to Beijing. When the Empress Dowager Shulu learned that Yelu Ruan had arbitrarily claimed to be an emperor and established herself as an emperor, she was furious and reacted very strongly. She appointed the emperor's brother Yelu Lihu as the general marshal of the world's troops. He led the soldiers who went to Beijing, gathered members from various tribes, and went south to attack.
A Khitan civil war is inevitable.
Before going north, Yelu Ruan made proper arrangements for Youzhou and was obviously very afraid of Liu Chengyou. Yelu Jieli stayed in Nanjing and led his troops to garrison. He also sent several groups of Hu soldiers to establish a line of defense on the Tai and Mo lines to defend Nanjing.
Yelu Ruan thought that the arrangements were well made and he had quite a few troops left behind. However, Youzhou was indeed empty! After hearing the news, Liu Chengyou sighed, the opportunity has come!
