Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1000: The Battle Situation Takes a Rapid Turn for the Worse

In the dead of night, spots of fire illuminated the darkness, and the sound of the city gate creaking open seemed to pinch the hearts of all the rebels.

The defenders whose commander had died were shouting in chaos, "Close the gate quickly!" "Ring the alarm!" "Drive the Song thieves away!" These orders made the soldiers at a loss. While they were dizzy, countless fires lit up outside the city and the sound of horse hooves were rushing towards this side.

The bloody smell filled the air above the city walls. The bonfires illuminated the figures of the fight. The screams spread from the top of the city walls to the city gates. Wang Yuan dodged the incoming blade and chopped the man to the ground with a wave of his hand. With a turn of his wrist, the tip of the knife suddenly pointed downward. Miserable screams came from under him. Then he stood up without even looking and walked towards the city.

Limbs and dead bodies were everywhere on the ground, and the footsteps that stepped into the pool of blood raised and fell, leaving a series of marks extending to the city gate.

Boom boom boom——

The war horses appeared in the firelight, and the rebel soldiers rushed into the city at lightning speed, shouting desperately, "Close the door quickly!" They swung their swords to chop off the heads of those who were entangled with their comrades, and rushed into the city, crashing into the battle group fighting on the side.

"General Wang." The knight who entered later was in iron armor. He was none other than the Western Army's fierce general Yao Pingzhong. He reined in his horse as he saw Wang Yuan approaching with a knife in hand. "It seems that no one but you can take the credit tonight."

"Stop being sour." Wang Yuan waved his hand and pointed the knife at the city wall: "I will need your help to attack and stop the thieves later."

"It's my own money."

Yao Pingzhong nodded on his horse. While he was speaking, soldiers in uniform outside the city marched into the city in big strides. Amid the shouts of generals at all levels, they divided into several teams and advanced into the city. They ran into a patrol team in the city who noticed something was wrong. Then the sounds of fighting and shouting rang out, and sharp warning signals resounded through the night sky.

In the dark night, the entire Shangyu City suddenly became boiling. Countless figures, dressed or not, ran out of the houses and tents, and under the leadership of their own generals, they rushed to reinforce the chaotic areas in the city.

However, it was already a little late. Except for the wing troops who could only do physical work, all the Song troops who could be dispatched in the Yuezhou battlefield had already rushed into the city and encountered the reinforcements of the rebel army, and a shocking fight broke out.

The rebel army was shocked and angry in their hasty response to the battle. Many soldiers were frustrated that someone broke into the city at night. Then some people appeared on the battlefield in disheveled clothes and armor, and blood was spilled in the city in the first encounter, which was even more depressing.

During the fight, someone set the first building on fire, and then more fires were started with deliberate indulgence. It was a dry summer day, and a sea of ​​fire formed in an instant, illuminating every hideous face nearby.

In the center of the city, the awakened senior generals Fang Qifo, Qiu Daoren, Wang Yin and others were helped by their personal soldiers to put on their armor, carrying their swords and spears, and rode into the city on their horses, only to see that half of the city in the distance had already been engulfed in flames.

Blood suddenly surged onto Fang Qifo's face. The knife in his hand was hanging upside down in the air, and he shouted loudly: "Follow me, and kill the Song thief!"

"Wait a minute, Marshal!" Taoist Qiu was quick to grab the bridle of his warhorse and said, "There are so many Song soldiers in the city right now, and it's pitch dark. Wouldn't it be dangerous to go there now?"

Fang Qifo turned around and roared, "Are we just going to watch the Song thieves invade and seize the city?!"

Taoist Qiu turned a deaf ear to him and said: "First, deploy defenses in the back. The Song bandits have many infantry and are slow to advance. The most important thing is to find out whether there are bandit troops ambushing outside!"

On the warhorse, Fang Qifo gritted his teeth and looked at the Taoist Qiu who was holding his hand. The Taoist in armor also stared at him without showing any weakness. The two looked at each other for a long while. Finally, Fang Qifo shook his hand heavily and snorted: "As you say."

On the evening of Gengxu day in the first lunar month, the Song army fought with the remnants of Fang La for several days. Relying on the tunnels dug by the wing army, they sneaked into the city and launched a massive attack. The guards were caught off guard and retreated one after another.

Fang Qifo and Qiu Daoren were still on the other side of the city to reorganize the defense line. Unfortunately, the soldiers who were fleeing all over the city had lost their morale, and they could no longer organize enough people to stop the crazy attack of the Song soldiers. They could only sigh helplessly, and with Wang Yin as the vanguard, they withdrew from the city, gathered the remnants and retreated eastward.

On the same day, Shi Bao escaped from Tiantai City in darkness. Relying on his superb martial arts, he ran high and low all the way, avoiding the Song army's secret sentries and visible guards. He killed seven stakes hiding in the dark and five patrolling soldiers. He then seized a horse and headed north.

On the 23rd day of the 15th month of the first lunar month, Wang Bing, after a day's rest, left 500 soldiers in the city, then assembled his troops and chased after Fang Qifo's troops who had retreated to Yuyao.

Fang Qifo was unwilling to give up after withdrawing from the city, so he ambushed Wang Bing's troops halfway. However, he had just been defeated, and the morale of his men was low, while the Song army was in high spirits after a great victory and seized the rebel army's baggage and property in Shangyu. Many of them wanted to fight them for another 300 rounds.

In the conflict between the two sides, Zhang Jinren and Du Wei were successively injured by Wang Huan and Yao Pingzhong, and more than half of the 5,000 soldiers who had just been gathered were killed, and it was not known whether they died in the battle or fled in the chaos. Fang Qifo was helpless and had to give up and retreat to Yuyao honestly.

On the Bingchen day of the mid-autumn day, Wang Bing, who had chased to Yuyao, challenged Fang Qifo again. Fang Qifo stayed in the city and refused to come out, but urged the army from Mingzhou to send reinforcements as soon as possible.

In the south, Lu Shinang and Chen Koutong tried to attack Xin Xingzong's camp, but they were out of their depth and returned empty-handed after being attacked by arrows and crossbows. This gave the Western Army soldiers, who had suffered losses before, confidence again.

On Ding Si, upon learning that Fang Qifo was defeated, Shi Bao cursed to the sky and had no choice but to run back, praying to God, but he didn't know what to ask God for.

On Wuwu, the siege equipment that was dragged behind was transported to Yuyao. Wang Bing immediately ordered his generals to attack the city fiercely. Fang Qifo was afraid that the incident in Shangyu would happen again, so he quickly arranged people at the four gates to eavesdrop underground.

The Song army launched a fierce attack for several days in a row, bombarding the city walls with all kinds of stone bullets, poison and smoke balls. The rebels defending the city did not dare to show their heads, but only fought back with crossbows and arrows. For a while, the two sides were in a stalemate.

In early mid-autumn, Zu Shiyuan of Mingzhou, with Zhuo Wanli and Shen Yan as generals, led 20,000 troops into Yuezhou to support Fang Qifo. However, Wang Bing discovered their route and ambushed them halfway, killing the two generals in one battle.

Among the rebels, Xiaoqu commander Jin Jie surrendered on the spot upon seeing this, and asked the Song army to put on the rebels' clothes and armor. Then Jin Jie helped Wang Bing trick the Yuyao city gate into opening. Zhang Jinren who was guarding the gate was killed in the battle. Bai Yanshou was hit on the forehead by Yao Pingzhong and fainted on the spot. Du Wei and Xu Ding fought desperately to rescue him, but Wang Yuan happened to arrive, so Du Wei let Xu Ding take Bai Yanshou away first, and he himself was killed as the last one to leave.

In the melee, Qiu Daoren rushed out of the city and fled to the south. Wang Yin took advantage of his fast horse and went ahead. After a while, he ran straight to the Mingzhou government.

Only Fang Qifo was unwilling to give up, so he retreated to Mingzhou to gather the remaining troops and asked Zu Shiyuan for 5,000 reinforcements. He then dug deep trenches in the area of ​​Juyu Mountain, relying on the terrain, in order to prevent Wang Bing from coming in so easily.

However, after the Song army captured Yuyao, they did not continue to advance to Mingzhou, but instead withdrew their troops and marched south.

at the same time.

Shi Bao rushed back to the rooftop at lightning speed and ran back to the city under the cover of night. Seeing that he had not lost the city as he had thought, he breathed a sigh of relief. He asked the people on the city wall to lower the rope, and he grabbed the rope and worked together with the soldiers above who were trying to pull him up. He climbed onto the city wall in just a moment.

He ran to the provincial government in the city and saw three pairs of expectant eyes. He couldn't help but twitch his lips: "General Fang was defeated. The entire Mingzhou, except Xinchang, has fallen into the hands of the Song people."

"Only Xinchang is left..." Lou Minzhong pinched his beard and stared at Shi Bao in amazement: "So, Yuezhou has been lost?"

Shi Bao blinked and nodded somewhat depressedly: "You can say that." "Hiss..." Lou Minzhong took a breath. He had never expected the situation to be so bad. He swayed his body and supported the table with his hands: "What's the news from the south?"

"There's no time to go south." Shi Bao smiled bitterly and looked at the three people: "If we go to Yuezhou in the north, the Song army can directly threaten both sides..."

"If it were me, I would definitely not go west at this time, I would definitely go south to attack Xinchang, and then march into Taizhou." Li Tianrun suddenly spoke up, attracting the attention of the three people: "Wait for Taizhou, Mingzhou is the weak daughter of the one-faced lecher, they can enter from the front or from the back as they please."

"This... this..." Pang Wanchun looked at his dull expression, paused and nodded with difficulty: "That's right, but Brother Li, can you use a different way of describing it next time?"

Li Tianrun rolled his eyes and said, "Why are you picking on this now?"

"Let's go, let's go now!" Lou Minzhong stood up immediately and walked back and forth: "General Li is right. Once the war in the north is over, Wang Bing will definitely lead his troops to attack. If there is no murderer of his son here, he will definitely vent his anger on all of us, not just one person."

"That being said... where are we going?" Li Tianrun looked around: "Now there is only one place in the north of the city that is passable, but the one over there by General Lu..."

He looked around at the faces of several people and asked, "Are we going to retreat directly to Mingzhou?"

"Send someone to take a detour to inform him that we will go directly back to Mingzhou." Lou Minzhong gritted his teeth and said, "Although I feel sorry for General Lu and General Chen Qu, in this situation, it would be great if we can get away from the Song army under the city. If we want to get rid of them and go to Xianju or Linhai for support..."

shook his head.

Shi Bao, Li Tianrun, and Pang Wanchun were silent for a moment, and looked at each other, all with a struggling expression. After a while, Li Tianrun said, "Let's give it a try. If we can break through the blockade of Zhe Kecun in the south, we can go south to Xianju and take the sea route. Maybe we and General Lu can get away."

The other two generals nodded repeatedly. Seeing this, Lou Minzhong had no choice but to speak: "Since the three generals have decided, let's do it this way. But we must be careful in doing things. If things are impossible, we should get out of here quickly."

The three generals naturally had no objection, and they gathered together to discuss the details of the military expedition. They also called the commanders of all the canal in the city and gave them instructions before they went to rest.

At three o'clock in the morning that day, the south gate of the city was opened, and more than 6,000 elite soldiers in the city went out of the city in the dark and launched an attack on the Song army camp in the distance like a tide.

The road stretched for several miles. Shi Bao, who had his horse bells wrapped in thick cloth, spurred his horse forward with a broadsword in his hand, "Follow me—"

The rebel soldiers who had been waiting for a long time spat out the wood in their mouths and followed Shi Bao to run towards the camp in sight. Several commanders on horseback rode forward, ready to remove the antlers of the barricades that were in the way for their brave generals.

dong dong dong-

When the footsteps sounded in unison, a war drum sounded in the Song army camp. The dark camp was suddenly lit up with countless flames. Rockets streaked across the sky and fell before the barricades. Under the faint light of the flames, the figures of the charging cavalry were exposed.

Shi Bao was so frightened that he instinctively reined in his horse. In his field of vision, he saw several small generals in front of him fall off their horses with their heads raised. The trembling arrows shot into their bodies, and the arrow shafts exposed outside were shaking slightly.

"Not good, the thief Song is prepared..."

Shi Bao felt a chill rising from his tailbone to the back of his head while riding the horse. He didn't know how Zhe Kecun would know the decision he made today. He hesitated for a moment, then there was a loud shout from the side and rear, countless torches were lit, and the flames spread densely towards this side.

"Go! Retreat!"

Li Tianrun was behind and knew something was wrong, so he urged them on, turning his horse around and heading back with Pang Wanchun.

The whistle of retreat echoed under the sky. Shi Bao made a prompt decision, pulled the reins and led his troops to run back. As his horse was shaken, he looked back and saw that the Song army camp, which had been tightly closed, was now open. The soldiers who ran out moved the deer horns away, and then together with the soldiers who were ambushing outside, surrounded the rebel army that was leaving the city.

In the dark night, the surrounded rebel army was lost and helpless. Li Tianrun, Pang Wanchun and Shi Bao each shouted and fought fiercely while leading their troops to retreat. However, it was not so easy for the blocked army to escape. After a fierce battle, the three generals only led hundreds of people to flee in panic.

That night, Tiantai City put on the long-lost Song flag.

……

The long wind blows on people's faces with a hot temperature.

The smell of blood filled the dense forest. From time to time, people groaned in pain. The soldiers sitting casually on the ground looked at their injured companions with sadness in their eyes. There was no medicine here, and if they were injured, they could only wait to die.

Occasionally, the sound of footsteps could be heard. The soldier who was holding the hilt of his sword subconsciously was about to stand up, but was stopped by General Xiaoqu beside him who said, "It's the Left Prime Minister." Only then did he sit down.

Wailing came into his ears from all around. Lou Minzhong, who was covered in dust, walked up to Li Tianrun and the other two generals. He looked at the silent figure sitting on the bluestone and sighed, "Victory and defeat are common in the military. The three generals should not blame theirselves."

"..."

Seeing that no one was talking, the scholar sat down and said, "How many generals and soldiers have been defeated in history? You three have only suffered a minor setback. It is not worth it. The army still needs you three to prepare and continue north..."

Seeing that they were still hanging their heads, Lou Minzhong shook his head, knowing that the three of them would not be able to get out of this shadow in a short time, so he had to say: "Since the three generals have no intention of reorganizing the army, then I will give the order."

"…Thank you, Prime Minister Zuo."

Li Tianrun raised his hand slightly and said something, agreeing with what he said.

Lou Minzhong had no choice but to cheer himself up. He let those who were still alive and those with minor injuries rest and continue on their journey, while those with serious injuries that were difficult to treat were left in the forest to fend for themselves.

Thus, in the middle and late autumn, this group of less than a thousand people finally entered the territory of Mingzhou.

(End of this chapter)