Chương 319: Chapter 326. December 12 — Tianzuo Turns Back, and the Jin Gives Chase

It was the twelfth. The Jin army realized that Emperor Tianzuo had turned his troops around. Yelü Zhangnu's betrayal had struck directly at the emperor's throne. The Supreme Capital. The Temple of the Founder. The name of Yelü Chun, Prince of Wei. One after another, they rose in his mind. More frightening than defeat on the battlefield was the possibility that his place as emperor might be shaken. If he lost imperial authority, then the armies, the court, and the dynasty of Great Liao would no longer truly be his.

The great banners of the Liao army still stood across the plain facing Jin. Yet the imperial troops closest to the emperor were already slipping away along the road toward the Supreme Capital. From the outside, the encampment appeared unchanged. Inside, however, the emperor's own guard was being pulled away from the battlefield. Perhaps it was true that an empty place always looked larger once someone had left it. Hundreds of thousands of troops still covered the plain, but their movement had split in two.

One current faced the battlefield. The other flowed toward the Supreme Capital. They had divided. And division itself was an opportunity. What shook Tianzuo more deeply than the intervention of Goryeo or Song was Yelü Zhangnu's rebellion. That rebellion was not a battlefield problem. It was a problem of the throne. The moment the Supreme Capital, the Temple of the Founder, and the name of Yelü Chun became entangled, Tianzuo thought of his own position before he thought of Jin.

The anxiety he had kept buried deep inside surged up all at once. He did what a commander should never do. Aguda did not hesitate. He ordered the commanders to pursue. Wanyan Zonghan sent out the military orders, while Zongwang, having hurried back, pressed the vanguard to greater speed. Youngwoo sent the forward scouts ahead to find the route. They were ordered not to lose the road the emperor had taken and to follow it to the end. The essence of this pursuit was not weight, but speed.

The vast Liao army moved while spread across a broad front. The Jin pursued only its shaken center. The forward scouts went first. They were men accustomed to reading the traces left along a road. From the depth of hoofprints, the way wagon ruts pressed into the earth, and the freshness of cracks in the frozen soil, they estimated the size and speed of the force that had passed ahead. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

They rode ahead and left trail markers at forks in the road, on hilltops, and along the edges of woods. It was a method Youngwoo had learned from the Goryeo army and introduced here. A strip of red cloth was tied low to a branch. A short stake was driven diagonally into the soil. The cut end of a shrub was turned to indicate direction. If the route bent right, the tip of the branch was laid toward the east. If the road continued straight, the red cloth was torn into two strips and left fluttering in the wind.

Where the pursuers needed to ride especially fast, the fresh tracks were left uncovered so those behind could see how recently the riders had passed. The light cavalry following behind had only to see those signs to increase their speed without hesitation. The roads of Liaodong stood out clearly even beneath the winter light. Red loess roads wound through low hills and open plains. In places the ground had frozen hard, and hoofprints cut dark red hollows into the road.

On either side stretched thickets that still held a trace of green even in winter. Farther off, great forests rose many times higher than a man, blocking one side of the plain. Their branches grew dense, their leaves dark and tough enough to hold their color even under the cold wind. The red road and the green woodland stretched side by side. Between them, Jurchen cavalry swept forward like a black tide. Their horses were small and hardy.

Broad in the chest, short-legged, and strong, they never lost their rhythm on the frozen earth. The riders lowered themselves close to their horses' backs. Bows rested across their backs, quivers hung at their waists, and short spears were secured beside the saddles. The fierce wind lashed their cold-stiffened faces. White breath burst from the horses' nostrils like mist. Frost clung to their manes, while a thin sheen of sweat darkened their necks. Still, their speed did not fall.

Black horses streamed out between the green thickets, one line after another, while red dust rose low beneath their hooves. The dust did not climb high. It spread long and heavy through the cold winter air, brushing beneath the horses' bellies before flowing away behind them. The scouts returned with their reports.

"This is the road taken by the emperor's imperial guard."

"The wagon ruts are deep."

"There are signs that tents were struck in haste."

"Fodder is scattered along the roadside." The reports were brief. They were enough. Tianzuo was in a hurry. His imperial guard had pushed for speed. The larger force following behind had become disordered while trying to keep pace. The Jin army drove forward along the same road without hesitation. Thirty li was a long distance for a great army. When wagons, provisions, countless horses, and masses of men moved together, the road clogged itself.

But for twenty thousand Jin troops racing along the trail marked by the scouts, it was a distance they could close. The light cavalry at the front narrowed the gap first. The main body followed their momentum. Those farther behind kept close enough to prevent the column from breaking apart. No one tried to count the whole Liao army. They followed only the road taken by the emperor's banner. The places where the imperial guard's hoofprints sank deepest. The traces of tents struck in haste.

Everyone understood that once the shaken center gave way, the rest would shake with it. Along the road, orderly withdrawal and flight were mixed together. A torn fodder sack rolled in the dirt. Bundles of straw lay half-unbound across the red earth. Horse dung still gave off warmth. The ruts of wagons moved in haste remained sharply defined all the way to their outer rims. Someone had left behind a tent stake. Someone else had dragged a tent rope along the road after failing to cut it free.

Where the imperial guards had moved quickly, the hoofprints lay close together. The tracks of the troops following them stretched farther apart. From those traces alone, Youngwoo could tell that the emperor had yet to restore order to his formation. Another messenger came racing back. His cheeks were red and raw from the cold wind, and his horse's neck was wet with sweat. Gasping for breath, he shouted,"They are close."

"The rear of the imperial guard has opened up."

"The column is stretched out." Zonghan's eyes flashed. Zongwang shortened his reins. Youngwoo watched both the road ahead and the woods on either side. The Liao emperor was clearly withdrawing. And now the Jin army was on his trail. Aguda's orders spread once more.

"Do not slow down. Do not stop. Pursue them."

"The scouts will clear the road ahead. Light cavalry will close the distance."

"Do not lose the emperor's center." The orders were short and clear. The Jin army accelerated again. One trail marker led to the next. One red road ran into another. The Jurchen cavalry breaking through the green thickets looked like beasts that had known this land since ancient times. Old roads twisted in every direction. The hills rose and fell without end. The northern wind blew as though it meant to tear everything away. Yet none of it slowed the pursuit. This was more than a chase.

The battle had already begun. It had begun before sword ever struck sword or spear met spear. The scouts read the road the emperor had taken. The light cavalry devoured the distance. The main force surged in behind them. The Jin did not strike at the outer shell of the enormous Liao army. They drove straight after its shaken center. They made wide detours where necessary, avoiding contact with the hundreds of thousands of troops spread across the field.

That day, on the red loess roads of Liaodong, the battle opened with the thunder of pursuing hooves