The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

Chapter 255
At noon the next day, Gong Duan's army withdrew to Luzhou and set up camp outside Luzhou city.

In the afternoon, Wang Qing re-arranged his defenses and set up a joint battalion of [-] troops outside the city, enclosing the northern city of Luzhou.

Wang Qing dismissed Gong Duan as Marshal of Bing Ma and Du Po as Deputy Marshal, appointed Duan Er as Marshal and Fang Han as Deputy Marshal, and led dozens of generals to resist the enemy outside the city.

At dusk, Tan Ma went back to the city to report that he found traces of the Song Army thirty miles north of Luzhou City.

Wang Qing was shocked when he heard the words, and hurriedly ordered someone to investigate again.

Half an hour later, a Song army took advantage of the darkness and went straight to the northern coalition camp in Luzhou City, shot a round of arrows, then turned around and left.

Duan Er was afraid that there would be an ambush by the Song army ahead, so he didn't dare to pursue him, so he ordered his troops to stand still.

When the court meeting was held again in the evening, Wang Qing was speaking from above with a livid face. Duan Er outside the city suddenly sent someone to send news that the Song Army had set up camp a dozen miles outside Luzhou City and built various fortifications.

Wang Qing sneered and said: "This is coming to the door of the house. Don't you aiqing have a clever plan to resist the enemy?"

Fan Quan came out of the squad at this moment and said: "Your Majesty, although the Song army has reached the outside of the city, it's just that the soldiers came to block it, and the water came to cover it. I watched the battle report. Although our army was damaged before, it has now gathered five thousand troops from Huangzhou, Guangzhou. , and the defeated Shouzhou army still has [-] people, which is only a lot more than the Song army."

Another Qiu Xiang came out of the squad and said: "What Fan Dianshuai said is true. The Song army originally only had more than 7 soldiers. After several battles in Shouzhou, there were many injuries. It is far less than our army. There are fewer troops than the opponent, but they can win a big victory. Now that Song has few soldiers, even if they come to the city of Luzhou, they will not be afraid."

Wang Qing said angrily: "Since there are more soldiers than the opponent, why have you suffered repeated defeats?"

Seeing that he was angry, all the ministers kept silent and did not say a word, even Li Zhu, who was at the head of the class, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Seeing that no one spoke, Wang Qing was so angry that he got up and left. After a few steps, he turned around and said: "The prime minister will stay to preside over the important affairs. I'm a little tired. Let's go back to the palace first."

He flicked his sleeves and turned to the rear of the palace.

Seeing Wang Qing leave, everyone raised their heads to look at Li Zhu. After a long while, Li Zhu slowly opened his eyes and said, "Everyone, go back first and have a good night's rest. The military affairs will be discussed tomorrow."

Seeing this, everyone knew that Li Zhu didn't have any plans in mind, so they resigned together.

Eighteen miles to the north of Luzhou City, a big camp has already been built, with fences, deer forks, horse repelling, trenches, and everything is fortified.

In the camp, flags were fluttering, and on the bright red handsome flag about three feet high, there was a large Chinese character "Qi" embroidered on it.

Under the banner, in the big tent of the Chinese army, the lights are brightly lit at this time, and people are crowded, discussing matters.

Zong Ze sat on the handsome seat, flanked by Liu Kai, Zhe Kecun, Wang Ti, Lu Junyi, Huang Gu and others.

Zong Ze put down the secret letter in his hand at this moment, looked at Huang Gu and said, "General Huang, I have seen the plan that the prince made. The prince said that this plan is only tentative, and everything changes according to circumstances, but I am a little puzzled. Have a chance to open it?"

Huang Gu originally only held a post in the Pro-Army Division, but it was too lowly for Zong Ze to be called, so he called him a general.

Huang Gu heard and said: "The guard of the Xiping gate in the west city of Luzhou is an old acquaintance of the prince. I didn't expect to meet him in the bandit army. If Wang Qing didn't transfer his position, he would be an insider of the Ximen in the future."

Zong Ze pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "So that's the case, the prince didn't say when the next contact will be?"

Huang Gu said: "My lord said, if you meet at the top of the city in front of the army, you can get in touch, just put on a semaphore."

Zong Ze said: "If there is something unresolved..."

Huang Gu smiled and said, "The Zongjian army can decide for themselves."

Zong Ze said: "If you want to cooperate with the inside and the outside, you must first break the camp in front of the city. According to the reports of the scouts, there are no less than 3 to [-] troops in front of the city of Luzhou. Although we don't know about the city, there should be [-] or [-] troops. This is different from what we got in Haozhou before. Battle reports are different."

Liu Kai said: "Supervisor, although there are more bandits than our army, after these few battles, it can be seen that the opponent's combat power is extremely ordinary, and it is not as good as our army in terms of military discipline. It is easy to break, but the city is difficult to break, if the prince really has internal arrangements in the city, then as long as the bandit army in front of the city is broken, Luzhou can be broken just around the corner."

Zong Ze looked at him and said, "General Liu has any tricks?"

Liu Kai said: "The subordinates think that the bandit army is greedy for merit, so it's better to lure the snake out of the hole and lay an ambush."

Zhe Kecuo heard from the side: "The bandit army has been ambushed several times before, but just sent troops to shoot a round of arrows in front of the city, and the bandit army did not go out to fight. It may be difficult to ambush again."

Wang Ting said at this time: "At present, the camp of the bandit army is only in front of the northern city. It can harass the other three sects and lure the bandit army to go to guard it. After several times in a row, the bandit army will be in chaos."

Liu Kai said: "This method is difficult. Let's not say that the three gates are only defending but not attacking. Let's say that there are many bandits in the north city. If they outflank the past, the bandits inside will come out again and attack from both sides. Our army will suffer heavy losses."

Wang said: "Our rear army can also meet the front army. It's hard to say who will attack who."

Liu Kai said: "That would be a chaotic battle, and the outcome is out of control."

Zong Ze said: "This time in the battle of Luzhou, we can only win but not lose. If we lose, we will have no face to return to court, and the prince is still in the bandit army. If there is another mistake, I will kill myself and apologize!"

Everyone was silent when they heard the words, and suddenly Zhekecun said: "I have a way to try here."

Zong Ze said: "You can speak up about General Zhe's plan."

Zhe Kecun said with a smile: "I also thought of this method after listening to General Wang and General Liu. General Wang said to harass the other three sects, and General Liu said to set up an ambush. I think it is better to combine the two, pretend to harass, and then ambush. Temptation, what does Zong Jianjun think?"

"Pretend to harass..." Zong Ze thought for a while after hearing this, and then nodded slightly.

Early in the morning of the second day, it was a sunny day, the sky was as clear as blue, without a trace of cloud.

In the second battalion outside Luzhou City, flags were flying, people were shouting, and swords and guns were flashing.

With the sound of three drums, the wide gate opened, and a sentry cavalry ran out of it. Each of these cavalry was led by a general in front of each post, as many as a dozen.

After the cavalry, there were infantry, and the infantry was divided into several types. There were pikemen, broadsword soldiers, and archers. They all followed the cavalry out of the camp.

Then these horse and infantry separated from the two sides like flowing water, and a handsome flag was displayed in the camp. Duan Er was wearing a golden armor, surrounded by a group of generals, and came out on horseback.

Zhao Tun was in the crowd at the rear at the moment. He was wearing a chain mail he picked from the armory in the west of the city, carrying an iron spear, and riding a yellow horse, with no expression on his face.

This time the camp was ordered by Li Zhu. It was not really to go to the front to fight the Song army and fight to the death, but to boost morale and test the Song army's reaction.

Zhao Tong could probably guess what Li Zhu was thinking. There are many soldiers in Luzhou, and the city is backed by it, so it is absolutely impossible to come up and defend directly.

Moreover, the terrain in front of the northern city of Luzhou is relatively flat, and it is difficult for the Song army to ambush along the way, so they ordered the whole army to go to the formation early this morning.

Luzhou has many soldiers and generals. If it is not for the plan and the ambush, the frontal charge will not frighten the Song army, but it has been defeated several times in a row, and the morale is relatively low. Li Zhu also wants to boost morale. Shout out, and the morale will be even higher.

This time, Duan 4 ordered a total of [-] horses, pushing forward all the way, and Tanma came back every half a mile to report the movement ahead.

In this way, it took more than half an hour to walk more than ten miles before seeing Song Ying in the distance.

On Zongze's side, he had long known that the bandit army outside Luzhou City was coming, but he did not send troops to fight. The entire Dazhai was heavily fortified and put on a defensive posture.

Duan Er saw it under the commander-in-chief, he couldn't help laughing and said: "The Song army didn't dare to send troops, is it because they are afraid that my army will fail?"

Fang Han said from the side: "Naturally, this place is no better than Shouzhou Road. There are many trees and dense trees, and it is easy to ambush. If there is a head-to-head fight on the battlefield, how can our army be defeated?"

Duan Er stroked his beard and said, "That's the truth. It's a pity that idiot Gong Duan didn't understand, and he fell for it again and again. Otherwise, our army would have defeated the Song army and captured Zhao Tun'er."

Fang Han said: "Marshal, since Song Jun refuses to fight now, look..."

Duan Er squinted his eyes and looked at the Song Army camp in the distance, thinking in his heart but didn't speak.

At this time, a general from behind said: "Marshal, I think it's better to rush over and take the Song army camp."

Fang Han glanced back and said with a sneer, "I didn't hear the report from Tan Ma Lai. The Song army built a lot of fortifications and traps. Even if they want to storm the camp, it's not such a way to rush!"

The general immediately shrank his neck and stopped talking.

Duan Er thought for a moment and said: "Who would like to be the vanguard and go forward to find out the truth of the Song army?"

At this time, a general Zhang Shou urged him to come forward immediately: "Marshal, the last general is willing to go!"

Duan Er nodded: "Okay, then I will give you 2000 people to investigate immediately, avoid the trap of the Song army, and don't rush to kill!"

Zhang Shou clasped his fists and said, "The last general will write it down!"

Zhang Shou has a dark face, wears iron armor, and holds a snowflake ax in his hand. He ordered 2000 men and horses to leave the army.

Although he asked to be the vanguard, he was not reckless, he just led the troops forward cautiously, but the more he walked, the more frightened he became.

It turned out that the trenches dug by the Song army were rather strange, unlike ordinary fortifications, which were level and progressive, but rather disorganized.

As soon as the people and horses passed around, the formation was immediately disrupted. If they went deeper, it would be difficult to merge.

But since he asked for his life, he couldn't retreat, so he walked awkwardly for a while, and suddenly there was a sound of clappers in the Song army camp ahead, and then he saw feathers and arrows flying together. Came inside.

And in the ditch closer to the camp, arrows were also shot out, obviously there were people hiding inside.

The team led by Zhang Shou had already entered the range of the feather arrows. Seeing this, he yelled "retreat", turned his horse's head and ran.

However, although it was early to see the opportunity, the trench was dug too tortuous and chaotic, and many soldiers still fell into it while avoiding the feather arrow.

The bottom of the ditch was sprinkled with bitter bamboo sticks, barbed wire and other things. The ordinary soldiers who fell did not have full body armor, and most of them were stabbed to the point of crying. Difficult, not to mention there are feather arrows flying behind.

Duan Er frowned while watching under Shuai's flag, and said, "The Song Army's defense seems a bit weird!"

A while later, when Zhang Shou came back, dozens of people were lost. Duan Er didn't blame him, but said, "Can you find any difference?"

Zhang Shou smiled wryly and said, "Marshal, this Song army doesn't know what kind of evil wind they have dug the ditches in front of the camp. Although we are not allowed to enter, it is not convenient for them to come out!"

Duan Er nodded: "The Song army is putting on a defensive posture, so it seems that it is difficult to steal the camp and rob the village."

Fang Han said: "It's not impossible to steal the camp. It's nothing more than those ditches to block the soldiers. As long as you bring boards and other things, it's not difficult."

Duan Er nodded, and said again: "The Song army chased Gong Duan all the way to Luzhou, why is he putting on such a defensive posture at this moment?"

The generals were silent, Song Jun won a complete victory on the Shouzhou Road, pressed Gong Duan over, but instead of fighting high, they set up camp and began to defend. No one could understand the reason.

At this moment, Du Po suddenly said: "Could it be... Song Jun is thinking about a sneak attack?"

Duan Er looked back at him: "Where is the sneak attack?"

Du Po said: "It's definitely not the big camp. The big camp is backed by the city, and it's useless to sneak attack."

Fang Han thought for a while and said, "Isn't the Song army trying to sneak attack the city gates in other directions?"

Du Po said: "I'm just thinking about this. There are no camps running across the gates on the other three sides. Will the Song Army attack those three sides?"

Fang Han said: "It's possible. Although our camp is longer in Beicheng, there is always a way to bypass it..."

Duan Erdao: "Although a camp of [-] soldiers can surround Luzhou City, the strength of each place is too weak. I am afraid that it will be opened as soon as it is charged, so it is impossible to build such a camp, but the Song Army wants Sneak attacking the other three sides is courting death, as long as my army from the north city outflanks it, and the troops in the city come out to charge again, then the Song army who is sneaking up will be unlucky."

Fang Han nodded and said: "That's true, but it seems that Song Jun doesn't want to confront our army head-on, and it always seems to be playing some tricks."

Duan Er laughed and said, "With your back against the city, are you afraid that he will plot something? Zhang Shou, take the archers and go to the Song army's camp, give them back a round of bows and arrows, and then withdraw the troops to prepare for attacking the camp."

Zhang Shou led the troops to go again, but this time he learned how to be good. He first shot at the trenches near the camp, and then slowly stepped forward and released a round of feather arrows back, but there was no damage.

Afterwards, Duan Er withdrew his troops, wrote today's event as a battle report and sent it to the city, and then began to cut trees around to make tools for building trenches.

A few more days passed like this, and when the tools were almost ready, this morning, suddenly there were shouts of killing from the east of Luzhou City.

The soldiers in the tent rushed to report: "Marshal, there is a cavalry sentry from the Song army in the east city. They don't know where to go, and they are shooting arrows at the top of the city."

Duan Er was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly and said, "To think of those city gates really, this little Zhao Tun is too daring... Come and prepare the horses, I want to personally lead the troops to kill the Song army !"

(End of this chapter)