Liao general Yelü Xiezhen heard of Yang's arrival and set up an ambush. Yang engaged the Liao force in a bloody battle and fought from noon to dusk until he indeed retreated to the end of Chenjiagu, but no Song soldier was there, as Pan and Wang had already left. As the enemy closed in, Yang Ye's son Yang Yanyu (楊延玉) was killed, as was a 72-year-old subordinate Wang Gui (王貴) who continued fighting with his fists after exhausting all arrows. Seeing only around a hundred soldiers around him, Yang Ye told them, "You all have fathers, mothers, wives and children, no point in dying together with me. Return home and serve the emperor later." His men all cried, but nobody left.