Although the artificially ignited fire did not last long because of the barriers of the rivers in the west, south, and east directions, and the fire barrier urgently excavated by the Khitan soldiers on the south bank of the river, and was gradually extinguished by noon the next day, it was far more than the Bohai brothers who fell into a desperate situation because of the fire, not only their families, not only the hundreds of families who were coerced by the army, and not only the thousands of Khitan soldiers who were responsible for taking care of them. In fact, less than 2,000 of the 20,000 men camped in the southwest of the bend formed by this tributary of the Liao River escaped alive, and the rest were either burned to death by fire, choked to death by smoke, trampled to death by their comrades fighting for the road, or drowned in the river while trying to cross the river to escape. Moreover, because the logistics baggage troops were also camped on the north bank of the river, the nearly 10,000 stone of grain and grass they kept and transported were also burned because of this fire, and those Khitan soldiers who were lucky enough to escape this catastrophe will soon fall into a food shortage.

In addition, what was even more serious for the Khitan monarchs was that the fire was likely to reveal their whereabouts, thus making all their previous efforts to hide their tracks in vain - the churning flames and billowing smoke, the former could be clearly seen at night and the latter during the day, and it was impossible not to attract the attention of others. Previously, in order to keep secrets, the Khitan monarchs and ministers could arrest and guard all the people within five miles of the route and accompany the army, but they were unable to find all the local people within a radius of fifty miles, and gather all of them together to coerce them south. What's more, the fire site is Xianping City in Xianzhou fifty miles to the north and Yanjin City in Yinzhou fifty miles to the south, even if the Khitan monarchs and ministers are determined to kill all the people in the two cities, when they send troops to rush over, I am afraid that the news of the forest fire has already spread. In that case, the slaughter of the city would be pointless. Therefore, the Khitan monarchs who camped on the south bank of the river and narrowly escaped the catastrophe despite the heavy casualties and the loss of grain and grass, and seeing that the fire on the other side of the river was already uncontrollable, immediately ordered all the soldiers and horses on the south bank of the river to immediately set up camp, first to supplement some grain and grass to Yanjin City in Yinzhou, fifty miles away, and then rush south as fast as possible, in order to reach Liaoyang City before the possible pursuers of the Zhou army found their traces.

The reaction of the Khitan monarchs and ministers was not unpleasant, but they still overestimated the role of their previous "golden cicada shelling" strategy, and underestimated the speed of the Zhou army's pursuit and the ability to find out the news. In fact, the smoke and flames of this secret camp of the Khitan monarchs and ministers quickly attracted the attention of the agents of the "Dark Feather" branch in Yinzhou and Xianzhou. These two "Dark Feather" branches, which had been forwarded by the Changchun Prefecture Branch a few days ago and were ordered by Zeng Zhilin, the commander of the Northern Expedition Middle Route Army, not only paid close attention to the every move of the defenders and the government in the city, but also sent a lot of capable detectives to the surrounding areas of the state city to investigate, and never let go of any clues, let alone such a big fire. Therefore, not long after the fire burned, it was discovered by several "dark feather" agents from Xianzhou, and carefully approached to confirm whether the fire was a natural disaster or a man-made disaster. At this time, the Khitan soldiers in the secret camp were busy fighting fires and escaping, and no one noticed that there were spies peeking at them. In the evening, the "Dark Feather" detectives from Yinzhou also rushed to the area around the fire to investigate the situation. Therefore, when the Khitan monarch led more than 20,000 Khitan soldiers who had escaped by chance to enter Yanjin City in Yinzhou, preparing to rest here for a night, replenish some grain and grass before heading south, they were exhausted by the fire and a rapid march in the afternoon, not only did they not find the two groups of "Dark Feather" agents who followed them, but they did not expect that the news that they had arrived in Yanjin City in Yinzhou had been sent to Tongzhou about 100 miles north of Xianzhou by the messengers of the "Dark Feather" Yinzhou Branch and the Xianzhou Branch at the fastest speed—— According to the previous briefing, the pursuit group led by Cheng Fei, the deputy commander of the Central Route Army of the Northern Expedition, should have now advanced to the vicinity of Tongyuan City in Tongzhou.

However, the agents of the "Dark Feather" in Yinzhou and Xianzhou did not really run to Tongzhou, but met one of the three ways of Cheng Fei's department searching for people and horses less than 20 miles north of Xianzhou. After receiving the news that the Khitan monarchs were temporarily stationed in Yanjin City, Yinzhou, Yan Shiyong, the chief general of the search for men and horses and the commander of the 15th Cavalry Regiment of the "Security Army", did not dare to slack off. He asked the "Dark Feather" agent who came to report the news to return to Yanjin City in Yinzhou as soon as possible, continue to monitor the movements of the Khitans, and report to the army at any time. On the other hand, he immediately sent people to report the situation to the commander Cheng Fei and the other two search forces, and ordered the men and horses of the headquarters to stop resting and rush to Yinzhou overnight, trying to intercept the other party before they left the city.

Although the mental state of the rest of the Khitan army was very poor due to the rush of more than ten days of day and night, although the fire during the day also made the rest of the Khitan army exhausted, although the dim moonlight of the waning moon in the sky made the scout cavalry in charge of the perimeter guard only observe the situation at a very close range, although the early morning is usually the time when people sleep most soundly, although the Zhou army has tried to hide its tracks when it is close to Yanjin City in Yinzhou, no matter how careful it is, more than 2,000 horses want to bypass the heavily fortified city without knowing or noticing. It is also very difficult to get ahead of the opponent and set up a blocking position. Therefore, this search force dominated by the 15th Cavalry Regiment of the "Security Army" was discovered by the Khitan scouts five miles north of Yanjin City in Yinzhou. Although the scouts from the Zhou army pursued with all their might, in the end, two Khitan scouts escaped and ran back to Yanjin City in Yinzhou to report the news.

Hearing that the cavalry of the Zhou army had chased to the city of Yinzhou, Yelu Jingdeng, who was originally dissatisfied with the attendants waking him up from his sleep, and was about to order someone to drag him down and behead him. He didn't care about punishing the attendant who disturbed his good dreams, and while asking him to change his clothes, he ordered someone to notify the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs to come over quickly to discuss the matter.

Although the Zhou army caught up with him so quickly, the Khitan ministers of civil and military affairs were a little surprised. But now, no one cares about why Zhou Jun has been so fast, and what everyone is concerned about is how to deal with it.

Although the current Khitan army has not had a substantial fight with the Zhou army, but because of the prestige of the Zhou army's previous victories, coupled with the fact that half of the men and horses had just been burned by a fire the day before, and the vitality was greatly damaged, the Khitan civil and military ministers at this time have become frightened birds, and most people are thinking about how to leave the land of right and wrong as quickly as possible and get rid of the pursuit of the Zhou army, without considering how many men and horses this Zhou army is following and what its combat strength is. Therefore, as soon as the Imperial Council began, the voices of the ministers who advocated the immediate abandonment of the city far overshadowed the colleagues who advocated the battle, so that Yelu Jing was a little moved, wondering whether he should get out of danger quickly.

However, without waiting for Yelujing to open his mouth, Yeluwu, who had not expressed his opinion, had already taken the lead in raising objections. As Yelu Jing's right-hand man, Yelujing's opinion is still very weighty. Therefore, as soon as he spoke, the voices of the ministers who advocated abandoning the city and leaving immediately lowered their voices. Seeing that the minister who had fled was suppressed by himself, and the Son of Heaven was also looking at him very seriously, waiting to listen to his reasons, Yelu Wuzhi breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, and at the same time, he asked people to bring the two vigilant horsemen who reported the news to the hall and carefully ask them about the specific situation of the Zhou army.

Although it was dark at night, and he was in a nervous state of being chased and killed by the scouts of the Zhou army, he did not see the specific situation of the Zhou army very really, but after all, these two vigilant scouts had been in the army for many years and had rich combat experience.

When he heard the report from the two vigilant cavalry that the strength of the Zhou army was no more than 3,000 people, and they were basically cavalry, Yelu Wuzhen's original heart was completely let go. First, although nearly half of the men and horses were burned by yesterday's fire, plus the local defenders of Yinzhou, they still have at least a ten-to-one advantage over the pursuing troops of the Zhou army. Second, since the opponent is all cavalry, it means that it will not carry many artillery, even if the opponent still has the advantage of muskets, they can offset some of it by relying on the advantage of troops and the barrier of the city. In other words, at least for the Zhou army in front of them, their own side has the strength to fight. In fact, it was not only Yelu Wuqing, but when Yelu Jing figured out the comparison of the strength of the enemy and us, he quickly gave up the idea of abandoning the city and left, and decided to fight a tough battle with the Zhou army. After all, when the original evacuation of Changchun Prefecture, the enemy army was a powerful force with 40,000 troops and a large number of artillery and muskets, and there was no chance of winning with its own 70,000 horses. Now that they have an absolute superiority in strength, and the enemy army is all cavalry, it is likely that they lack effective siege means, and if they leave without a fight in this situation, the blow to the morale of the army will definitely be fatal. In that case, even if the soldiers and horses can retreat to Liaoyang City, I am afraid that they will no longer have the fighting spirit, and the previously planned "decisive battle of Liaoyang City" will become a meaningless empty word. Therefore, when Yelu Wuzhi proposed to fight against the city, Yelu Jing immediately played it, and deployed his troops according to the former's construction, and ordered the whole army to be divided into three parts.

With the young and promising, heroic and daring young general Yelu Hugo led 5,000 soldiers and horses as the front army, and went out of the north gate of Yanjin City in Yinzhou to meet the Zhou army; With the calm, experienced and determined right skin room and the steadfast Yelu Xianshi led 10,000 soldiers and horses as the central army, lined up outside the north gate of Yanjin City in Yinzhou, on the one hand, preparing to take the whole army when the front army had the upper hand, and give the Zhou army a fatal blow. On the other hand, it was also prepared to respond when the front army was defeated and block the siege of the Zhou army; And Yelu Jing himself, together with Yelu Wuzhi and other courtiers, led 10,000 soldiers and horses as the rear army, defending the city, protecting the rear road of the army, and providing necessary support for Yelu Xianshi's Chinese army outside the city. At the same time, when the former army and the Chinese army were unable to block the attack of the Zhou army, they were also responsible for protecting the Khitan monarchs and ministers to evacuate Yanjin City in Yinzhou and retreat to Shenzhou - of course, this last arrangement belonged to the tacit content between Yelu Jing and Yelu Wu and other important officials of the imperial court, and there was no need to explicitly say it in the imperial military meeting.

Compared with Yelu Wuzhen's combat plan of taking into account both offense and defense and leaving enough way to retreat, Yan Shiyong, the commander of the 15th Cavalry Regiment of the "Security Army" who led the search for troops and horses, had a much simpler and more straightforward combat plan, or in a sense, he had no substantive combat plan at all. In fact, even if the Khitan army at this time was defeated repeatedly and fled all the way, coupled with the fact that it had just experienced a tragic fire, whether it was the morale of the army or the fighting spirit, it could no longer be compared with the hundred battles of the heroic division that swept through the desert and grassland of Saibei back then. But first, the Khitan army that retreated to Yinzhou was the most elite leather room palace tent army in the Khitan court, and it was the Khitan Emperor's guard army, and its combat effectiveness was stronger than that of other Khitan armies; Second, this army has been used to defend the emperor, and has not had a face-to-face confrontation with the Zhou army before, far from other people who have had contact with the Zhou army, and knows that the Zhou army is powerful, and even other Khitan troops who have been frightened by the sharp firearms of the Zhou army have a heartfelt fear of the Zhou army. Although they had just experienced a fire that had caused them heavy losses, it was caused by natural and man-made disasters rather than battlefield fighting, and their morale was far stronger than that of those friendly troops who had been attacked by the Zhou army; Thirdly, the person who was responsible for leading the 5,000 soldiers and horses of the former army to face the Zhou army was the most courageous and energetic of the young Khitan generals, and he was also the most researched general of the Zhou army. Although he had never fought against the Zhou army, he was not sure of winning this battle, but at least he would hold out until the last moment, and would not be like some Khitan generals, who were frightened by the sound of the Zhou army's guns and cannons as soon as they encountered the enemy, so that they turned around and ran. Therefore, in terms of the comparison of the strength and combat effectiveness of the two sides, the Khitan army is all in the upper hand. In this way, with no calculation against calculation, and the wind against the upper hand, Yan Shiyong's battle is destined to be difficult and tragic.