This page transitions from the successful Yan campaign against Zhangzi to the disastrous conflict between Later Yan and the rising Northern Wei. It details the psychological warfare employed by Tuoba Gui against the Yan Crown Prince, Murong Bao, during the lead-up to the Battle of Canhe Slope.

Treatise on Armament Technology, Volume 30: Military Strategy

...returned to Zhangzi The capital of Western Yan; this concludes the campaign described on the previous page.

Tuoba Gui, the King of Wei Founding emperor of the Northern Wei dynasty, r. 386–409 AD, advanced his army to the banks of the river. Murong Bao, the Crown Prince of Yan Later Yan, arrayed his troops and prepared to cross, but a sudden wind blew his boats until they moored on the south bank. The Wei forces captured over three hundred of his armored soldiers, but Gui released them all and sent them back.

When Bao's 。。。。。。。 army first set out from Zhongshan The capital of Later Yan, located in modern Hebei, the Yan ruler Murong Chui was already ill. Once the army reached Wuyuan A border commandery in modern Inner Mongolia, Tuoba Gui sent men to intercept the 。。。。。。。 road back to Zhongshan, capturing every messenger sent. For several months, Bao and his officers heard no news of Chui’s well-being.

Gui forced the captured messengers to stand by the river and shout to the Yan army: "Your father is already dead! Why do you not return home sooner?"

Bao and his generals were gripped by grief and terror, and the soldiers were shaken and panicked. Gui then ordered Tuoba Zun, the Duke of Luoyang, to lead seventy thousand cavalry to block the Yan army’s southern retreat. In the tenth month, the Yan army burned their boats and fled under the cover of night.

Upon hearing that the Wei army was approaching, the Yan Prince Bao held a council in the Eastern Hall. Fu Mo A Yan official and former Qin general said: "The Wei army is riding high on the momentum of victory..."