This was truly a heavy snowstorm, pushing the frigid northern winter into a new phase. It was exactly as the poem said: "The general's horn bow could no longer be drawn; the protector-general's iron armor was too cold to put on."
But the more than one hundred thousand troops under Wang Yan's command did not merely find the protector-general's iron armor too cold to wear—they all found their iron armor impossible to put on. Strictly speaking, the Protector-General was Wang Yan himself. A regional magnate holding military, financial, and taxation authority over an entire circuit would have been called a military governor in the Tang dynasty.
The progress of the times, advances in technology, and the plundering of resources had driven down the price of armor. Naturally, precious suits of exceptional armor still existed, but ordinary soldiers no longer lacked armor.
After the heavy snow fell, it melted and the temperature dropped further. Although the armor had been treated, lined with fur, and worn over thick cotton garments, it still could not withstand marching outdoors all day. Moreover, the snow had sealed off the mountains and buried the roads, severely hindering the army's advance.
From this perspective, Little Pillar had been right: the heavy snow had saved the Khitan.
For although the Khitan had reacted and were now resisting desperately, turning the war on the western front from its previous steady advance into a deadlock, Wang Yan's army still held the offensive overall, while the Khitan steadily contracted their defensive lines. This snowstorm, along with the suddenly much colder and harsher weather, had indeed slowed the advance of Wang Yan's hundred-thousand-strong army, buying the Khitan more time to respond.
But from another perspective, beginning a war after the autumn harvest and fighting until spring of the following year was perfectly