The previous article introduced the Liao dynasty god of war, Yelü Hugo, and this article is going to introduce another liao general, this person is named Yelü sha. Like Brother Yelü, he also appears in the yang family story. However, in these literary and artistic works, the fate of Yelü Sha is much more tragic than that of Yelü Hugo, who can be called the unlucky egg in the novel, not only lost many times at the hands of the Yang family general, but also eventually died at the hands of Yang Qilang.
The figure of Yerushalayim is also real in history. Although the killing of Yang Qilang in literary works is fictional, in the real history mountain, Yelü Sha is indeed a very unlucky Liao general. The following is a brief introduction to this character based on the "Biography of Liao Shi Yelüsha" and related historical materials.
Yelü Sha, also spelled An Yin, was born into a noble family in the Liao Kingdom, and his ancestors served as prime ministers under the Yaoyuan clan and enjoyed a high reputation among the Khitan nobles. Yelü Sha's early life is unknown, but during the time of Emperor Muzong of Liao, he was already the chancellor of Nanfu, and when Emperor Yelü Xian of Liao jingzong became emperor, he was entrusted with the right to "lead the southern border affairs", and later he was added to the rank of Shou Tai Bao for his military achievements, which shows Yelü Sha's position in the political arena of the Liao state.
In the first year of Qianheng (979 AD), the first fierce battle between Song and Liao broke out, known in history as the Battle of the Sorghum River. At the beginning of the war, Yelüsha led his troops to the front line of Baima Ridge and prepared to launch an attack on the Song army, but unexpectedly encountered a large group of Song troops.
Yelü Sha originally wanted to wait for the rear army to arrive before engaging the Song army, but he was strongly opposed by Yelü Enemy Lie, Yelü Mo and other generals, so he had no choice but to launch a hasty attack, and as a result, he was ambushed by the Song army, and Yelü Enemy Lie and Yelü Sha's son Yelü Deli and five other generals were killed, and the whole army suffered heavy casualties. Fortunately, Brother Jericho arrived in time, which prevented the total annihilation of the army.
In the ensuing Battle of Taiyuan, Yelü Sha, knowing his shame and then courageous, defeated the Song army together with Yelü Hugo and other generals, and Emperor Taizong of Song changed into civilian clothes and fled, and the Song army suffered tens of thousands of casualties. Yerushalayim was also exempted from responsibility for the defeat of the White Horse Ridge soldiers because of his achievements in this battle.
However, in the Battle of Taiyuan shortly thereafter, Yelü Sha and Han Kuangsi were ambushed by the Song army and suffered heavy casualties. According to the Biography of Han Kuangsi of liaoshi, "Kuang si did not listen. The Russian and Song armies clamored for me, the crowd trampled on me, and the dust rose up in the sky. Kuang Si Cang pawned the generals, and did not deserve to be his front. When the crowd ran, when they encountered an ambush and a main road, Kuang Si abandoned the flag and fled, and his people took the Yizhou Mountain, and the duxiu brother collected the abandoned weapons, and the whole army returned. ”
The defeat of this battle caused the anger of Emperor Jingzong of Liao, who ordered Yelüsha to be killed, but fortunately the empress dissuaded him, and Yelüsha was able to save his life. Since then, Yelüsha has participated in several wars of southern invasion, defeating the Song generals Liu Tingrang and Li Jingyuan successively. In the sixth year of Reunification (988 AD), Jerosha died of illness.
Reference book: History of Liao