Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1022 Reinforcements Reinforcements
Below the city wall, Zubutata, who was commanding the tribal cavalry to harass and attack the city wall, suddenly turned his head on his horse. His pupils then shrank. He reined in his horse, and all the hair on his body stood up.

What was rushing over was a dense group of cavalry. The roar of their horses' hooves shook the entire plain, like waves rising from the sea, sweeping towards the largest battle formation here in the most ferocious manner.

"Jurchen warriors! Kill the Khitan dogs!"

Wanyan Loushi, holding a big knife, had bloodshot eyes and his cloak fluttered behind him. The followers beside him howled strangely, and the shouts of "Kill the Khitan dogs!" gradually merged into a huge wave of sound. The expressions of the knights on their horses gradually became excited.

Wanyan Zonghan, who was running in front, drew his longbow on horseback. When he looked around, he was suddenly stunned. Just a dozen feet away from him, Wanyan Zongbing also pulled the bow in his hand.

Wushu...

The older general narrowed his eyes, looking at the young man rushing to the front line with some confusion. After so many years, this was the first time he saw the fourth prince of the former Jin Dynasty so active.

He withdrew his gaze and loosened his fingers.

Boom——

Two sounds came from far and near almost at the same time, and two arrows whistled and flew towards Zubudata with a whistling sound.

Zubudata is the Grand Commander of Zubu Palace. Although the Zubu tribe has become less powerful than before due to rebellion in the tenth year of Qiantong, he is still the tribal leader in charge of 3,000 herdsmen. Now he is in charge of an army of 10,000 people and has been ordered to train a usable army capable of sieges and field battles.

After more than ten days of attack, this strong man, who used to only fight on horseback, accumulated some experience. He felt that with the manpower under his command, it would not be a problem to capture the city today, as long as he made a little more effort.

However, at this moment...

He turned the reins of his horse. On the vast plain, the Qi cavalry, clad in black, were galloping towards him from the northwest, like mercury pouring out on the ground.

The cavalry charged, arrows leading the way, followed by the sound of breaking wind in the air and rapid black shadows.

The personal knights beside him rode out on their horses. Wanyan Zonghan's arrow killed one man, but Wanyan Zongbing's arrow killed the warhorse. The overturned horse raised a lot of dust.

The Ministry of Defense uses foul language.

At this moment, the complacent general of the Zhubu Palace pulled the reins and advanced instead of retreating: "Follow me!"

The surrounding knights blew their horns. The brief and desolate sounds made the cavalry wandering under the city turn around. Except for the tribal warriors who climbed the city wall on their own legs, more than 4,000 people on horseback rushed towards the black wave one after another.

The sound of horse hooves hitting the ground and more than ten thousand war horses galloping was heard. Niu Gao, who was standing on the city wall, even felt that the bricks under his feet were shaking. In his sight, the figures walking towards him were approaching.

Wanyan Zongbing put down the bow in his hand, picked up the axe, and the white cloak on his body fluttered. What appeared in the eyes of the tribesmen from the Northwest Recruiting Office in front of him was a hideous face and the figures of dozens of followers beside him.

"Khitan dog!"

Wanyan Zongbing's eyeballs were bloodshot, and his white teeth were revealed between his rosy lips. The moment the axe was raised, the axe blade reflected a ray of sunlight, and with a fierce wind, it chopped forward diagonally.

Scarlet blood splattered on their faces. As they rushed into the cavalry formation at high speed, countless figures were chopped off their horses' backs by axes. The sound of flying limbs, horse heads, and broken bones splattered with blood. Along the way, the cavalrymen saw people and horses wailing and falling under Wanyan Zongbing's hands.

The one who responded to him was Wanyan Zonghan, a Jurchen general named Nianhan. He charged into the opposing cavalry with a long spear in hand. Protected by the cavalrymen around him, the spear shadows flew wildly, poking bloody holes in the bodies of men and horses. Enemy knights kept falling off their horses in the fan-shaped area in front.

The Jurchen cavalry used the two of them as the spearhead, while the 6,000 Jurchen cavalry in the rear rushed over like a tide, overwhelming and overwhelming.

Rumbling--

The ground was shaking in an instant, and soldiers in black armor pressed forward like a dark cloud, forcing the cavalry of the Northwest Recruiting Office, who had not yet reached their maximum speed, to grit their teeth, subconsciously squeeze their horses' bellies, and hold their spears tightly.

"Hold on—"

"Let them pass, let them pass, quickly go around--"

Amid the deafening roar, commanders of different tribes could be heard shouting from time to time. At the moment before the army collided, almost everyone became tense.

"kill--"

The Jurchens charged forward without any hesitation, their eyes bloodshot and their mouths wide open, they let out a ferocious roar, the warhorses under them seemed to sense the excitement of the riders on their backs, they kept neighing and spewing out streams of hot air.

"Ahhhh-"

Zubutata suddenly felt a little uneasy. The charge of such a large-scale armored cavalry, the oppression from the uniform color of armor, and the fear of being attacked from behind, he waved the long sword in his hand while shouting hysterically.

boom--

The black wave rushed over, and the cavalry charging at high speed broke through the loosely formed Liao cavalry formation. The war horses were fighting each other, and spears, iron guns, and maces made different sounds of tearing flesh and blood on people. Some horses could not dodge in time and collided with each other, their bones bursting and they fell to the ground with a sad cry.

The knight on his back flew into the air, fell into the flying dust, let out a short cry, and was then drowned out by the roar of horse hooves.

……

"kill--"

On the city wall, Niu Gao smashed down the soldiers who were coming up with his iron mace. Looking at the infantrymen who were beginning to retreat below, he raised his hand and roared, "Send a message to Wang Jun to review the defenses in the city and send 500 able-bodied soldiers to follow the governor out of the city."

Military commander Ma Tuozhao spat out a mouthful of blood-stained saliva: "Those with minor injuries should follow."

He then clenched the iron knife and, along with the soldiers with equally ferocious expressions, followed Niu Gao and ran towards the city like flying. The ones who were more seriously injured pulled the bows in their hands with all their strength and shot arrows in pursuit outside the city.

Below the city wall, the seriously wounded soldiers and the young and strong men who had been recruited all looked refreshed when they saw this, and their injuries inexplicably felt much better.

"General, help me kill two more. My brother died miserably!"

"My wife is dead too, help me avenge her!"

"Kill those bastards!"

Amid the noise of cheers, Niu Gao flew onto his warhorse, looked at the wounded young men who were looking at him and nodded fiercely, then pulled the reins and ran towards the city gate, and gave the order again in a powerful voice: "Open the city gate, attack—"

dong dong dong-

The sound of war drums rang out in the city. Niu Gao looked back, took a breath, raised the iron spear hanging on his horse, and waited for the soldiers behind him to catch up. The excited neighing of war horses could be heard from time to time in front of the city gate.

creak-

The tall city gate opened. The soldiers of the Recruiting Office, who had already retreated several feet outside the gate due to the cavalry attack, were stunned. Some of them ran faster when they saw the city gate opened a crack, while some ignorant people stood there with their shields raised at an angle, looking towards the city gate from the side and below the shield, wondering if they could take the opportunity to rush in.

whoosh-

A slender black shadow flashed out from the crack in the door and "puffed" into the face of the soldier closest to the door. The peeping figure screamed and fell to the ground.

"rush--"

The moment the voice reached his ears, a burly man in black armor and on a black horse rushed out from the open door, like a dark cloud covering the sky and rushing straight towards the retreating enemy army.

The city gate gradually opened completely. The infantrymen who were being harassed by arrows from the city wall were stunned. Before they could react, they were frightened by Niu Gao who rushed out. When they saw the cavalrymen shouting and rushing out of the city gate, their scalps suddenly tightened.

……

The Liao army's large banner fluttered in the wind.

In the center surrounded by countless cavalrymen, the leaders of various tribes wearing gorgeous armor sat upright on their horses and were talking loudly.

"The soldiers of the Qi army are also rare warriors. They can hold the city wall despite such a huge difference in numbers. If every city in the south is like this, our actions will be slow."

"Yes, in the past few years... Alas, there has been a white disaster every winter. We rely on the cattle and sheep to grow fat in other seasons, but this year the bugs on the grassland have eaten all the grass. Isn't it a life-threatening situation?"

"If that doesn't work, we can just go from Xijing Road to Zhongjing to plunder..."

"That also requires the court's approval."

Xiao Yixiu rode his warhorse with his eyes looking into the distance, pretending not to hear the words in his ears. These grassland tribes, whether they were the eight tribes of Wugudilie in the lost area, or the tribes of the Northwest Road Recruiting Office who followed him now, all had precedents of rebellion. If he asked them to pass through the Xijing Road, not to mention the emperor, he himself could not get through this hurdle.

As for whether these people can loot enough supplies to survive the winter, that is none of Xiao Yixue's business. If they succeed, it will weaken Qi's military and national strength. If not...

The worst that could happen is that I lose the entire Shangjing Road. Anyway, the situation is so bad that there is a chance of turning things around if I take a gamble.

Xiao Yixue blocked out the noise around him in his mind, but he still looked at the battlefield in front of him with some impatience.

Soon, the Khitan leader, who didn't want to bother with others, began to feel his vision blurry. He gradually became distracted and didn't know where he was looking at or what he was thinking about.

"What is that... cavalry?"

"What? Where did the cavalry come from?"

"Which of you has arranged a cavalry unit to come over?"

Some of the voices of the leaders around him stimulated Xiao Yixiu and brought him back to his senses from his absent-minded state. He looked in the direction where the warhorse was galloping and his face suddenly changed color.

"Qi's reinforcements! Prepare for battle!"

Xiao Yixue shouted, drew the iron knife from his waist, and looked around at the faces of the leaders who were listening to him: "Everyone, go forward bravely, we have more people, we can defeat these..."

"Report—there are enemies in the rear, there are enemies in the rear!"

The unfinished words were interrupted by a drawn-out voice, and all the figures riding on war horses in the center turned their heads at the same time to look at the figure galloping from behind.

He had a dishevelled face and blood-stained clothes. Although the warhorse under him was moving fast, there was an arrow stuck in the horse's buttocks, which was shaking slightly with the movement of its muscles.

Xiao Yixue urged his horse to take two steps forward, separating the knights who were blocking his view. From the rear, a cloud of dust rose up, and the knights attacked from three directions.

"Turn! Turn! Meet the enemy, quickly--"

Xiao Yixue's voice broke when he suddenly shouted. The flags in the smoke and dust behind him caught his eyes. The three flags of "Du", "Wang" and "Shi" made his eyes shrink slightly, and the expression on his face became more anxious.

woo-

The horn blew a long note, and a large group of knights pulled the reins to turn, and the horses began to gallop.

"Wait, there are troops under the city!" There was a hint of anxiety on Zubu Gudu's round face.

"That's too late!"

Xiao Yi and Xue Li ignored him, shook the reins, and raised the iron knife in his hand: "The Qi people are cunning and good at fighting, and must not be underestimated. However, they are outnumbered, so we still have the advantage. Charge forward and defeat them!"

Figures ran past him in front and on both sides. Some strong knights were pulled aside by their leaders, who protected them as they ran slowly at the back of the center army.

The sound of horses' hooves trampling the ground made a thunderous drumbeat. The next moment, countless cavalrymen rushed in. In everyone's sight, someone flew into the air exaggeratedly, then landed in the cavalry group and disappeared.

The tribal soldiers wearing leather armor and jackets fell off their horses one by one. The front line was filled with a rising blood mist and the sound of crushing things under the horses' hooves. The flesh and bones were stuck to the iron hooves of the war horses and then trampled heavily into the soil. This patch of land will surely produce fatter grass leaves next year.

The figures under his flag kept advancing, and blood splashed out with every swing of Du Fu's Zhangba Snake Spear. Large groups of cavalrymen from the northwest were swept to the ground, and then a bloody road was trampled out by their horses. More cavalrymen followed behind him to protect him and rushed over.

On the other two sides, Shi Wengong and Wang De were like two hot knives inserted into butter. No one could stop them wherever they passed. They stared at the big Liao flag fluttering in the air and rushed over quickly.

"Damn it..." Xiao Yixiu gritted his teeth and widened his eyes in anger. He was about to capture this damn Protectorate, but the situation was reversed by the Qi people in an instant.

Fall short.

"Walk--"

Xiao Yixiu pulled the reins and said, "Joke, this is not the first time to fight against the cavalry of Qi army. Back then, he led the regular troops of Wugudilie Military Command but failed to win. Although there are many cavalry around him today, there are even more herdsmen who have no fighting experience. They can fight advantageous battles and plunder, but they will not be able to win if they meet someone more ruthless than them."

If I don't run away now, will I have to stay and block the Qi army's attack for these leaders?
"Xiao..."

A leader watched him run and just as he shouted, a tribal chief nearby grabbed his shoulder and turned around: "Shut up and run."

"what?"

The leader was stunned for a moment, and then he came to his senses when he saw that none of the leaders around him came forward to stop him.

"Go the opposite direction."

"Come back, there's He Dongcheng behind us."

"Hurry up and make a decision. The Qi army is coming to attack us."

In the chaotic scene, cavalrymen in black armor kept charging through the formation of herdsmen in front, and figures who fell off their horses screamed.

The faces of the leaders of each tribe turned pale. If they delayed any longer, they would die on the spot.

"The one fleeing north is Xiao Yixue, the Liao general!"

In panic, someone shouted in Chinese with an accent. The anxious people were stunned, and then those who could speak Chinese shouted in unison: "The one going north is the Liao general Xiao Yixue!"

The voice was loud and could be faintly heard on the battlefield. The figure holding the Zhangba Snake Spear turned around first, followed by the two flags of "Wang" and "Shi" also changing positions.

"Son of a bitch!"

Xiao Yixue, who was running in the front, turned green in the face. He looked back and cursed fiercely, then shouted, "Take down the flag."

The Liao army's banner disappeared in the smoke and the sound of horse hooves.

(End of this chapter)