Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1030 Let Him Catch Up
-

It was dawn and an eagle spread its wings and flew across the sky.

Lu Bu sat on the back of Red Hare, with the blood-stained Zuowuwei cavalrymen beside him. The exposed soil on the ground gave off a strong smell of rust, and dead bodies were carried aside by the exhausted soldiers and thrown onto the flat ground.

When a soldier in armor walked across the ground, a shallow puddle of blood would be created wherever he stepped.

From far and near, wolf riders, cavalry, infantry, and soldiers from the Protectorate came in groups to escort batches of prisoners back from afar.

"Don't take any prisoners." Lu Bu turned his horse and gave the order while looking at the cavalry running in the distance: "Have the wolf riders who were chasing us returned?"

"Your Majesty, he has not returned yet."

"Let's explore again!"

In the back, Wang Zheng, whose expression began to wilted as the day dawned, tried to keep his eyes open: "Your Majesty, they may chase to the two cities in the west."

Lu Bu frowned and said: "Don't chase after a desperate enemy. It would be bad if you chase him to the city."

He turned to look at Yu Cheng and said, "Order the wolf riders to assemble, order Niu Gao to take stock of the prisoners, and order Du Fu, E Quanzhong, Guan Sheng, Yelu Ma Wu and other generals to assemble the cavalry.

Gather the infantry from all armies, leave some behind to take care of the wounded, and the lightly wounded and the unwounded will advance westward in half an hour, set up camp fifteen miles east of Pibeihe City and await my orders. "

Almost all the soldiers fighting on the front line on Lu Bu's side were injured, and they were very tired after marching at night and fighting for a long time. However, when the order came down, many of them still stood up excitedly, jumped on their horses and began to assemble among the young officers.

"Your Majesty, it's a good idea to chase him now..." Wang Zheng stroked his chin and glanced to the side: "What about him? Will he stay or follow Your Majesty?"

"Huh? Who?" Lu Bu was a little slow to react. He blinked and looked back following Wang Zheng's gaze.

"Hmm... Ugh... Ugh... Ugh... Ugh--"

The bent figure straightened up, staggered a few steps to the side and sat on the ground, then lowered his head and kept gasping for breath. He stretched out his hand to take off the iron helmet on his head and put it aside. Zhao Liangsi wiped his mouth that was stained with filth and spat it out onto the ground in the distance.

He felt that he had never ridden a horse for as long as he had last night in his entire life. Even though he had won and was able to catch his breath, he could still hear the sound of galloping horses and the screams of dying people in his ears, and the bloodless faces and lifeless eyes of those who had died in the battle swayed before his eyes.

Even now, the bloody smell in the air kept drilling into his nose, making his stomach churn.

This is because he had just vomited a lot, and now he has nothing left to vomit. Otherwise, he would have to let these barbarians from Qi see more of his enthusiasm.

"Oh, when this guy caught up with me, I thought he was a courageous man, but I didn't expect that..." Lu Bu chuckled and turned to look at Wang Zheng: "He is not much bigger than a chicken egg."

Wang Zheng took off his helmet and scratched his hair: "Some of the young men of the Four Families of Yanyun imitated the style of the Song Dynasty scholars and officials, and believed that studying is what the upper-class people should do. I'm afraid this guy is like that."

"Heh." Lu Bu twitched the corner of his mouth without making any further comments. He held the Fang Tian Hua Ji in one hand and pulled the reins. Red Hare neighed softly and turned in a direction and walked slowly: "Let him follow. Since he chose to follow the army, whether he is sincere or to investigate military secrets, he must watch it from beginning to end for me."

"Here."

Wang Zheng bowed behind him, then turned around and smiled as he ordered the left guards: "Send a few people, 'Please --' that Mr. Zhao follow."

Several soldiers responded with a sly grin as the words were drawn out. Then they looked at Zhao Liangsi with ill intent, turned their horses' heads, and urged them to gallop over.

Zhao Liangsi no longer minding the dirt, he was sitting on the ground, breathing heavily with his head down, when he suddenly felt a shadow blocking the sun, and he couldn't help but look up.

In his sight, he could clearly see the horses' legs covered with bloody mud. As he raised his head, he could see the bodies of four war horses with knife wounds.

Looking around, he saw four Left Guards of Qi Army surrounding him. The black armor of the Left Guards soldiers on the saddles was stained with blood. Sticky blood was slowly flowing down from the gaps in the armor of the man in front of him, gathering into blood beads at the bottom of the armor.

"Emissary Zhao, His Majesty asks you to mount your horse and follow the army. Our army will continue to march westward, and the envoy can follow the army to watch the battle." The leading soldier of the Zuowu Guard had a blank expression on his face, but he smiled unscrupulously at the face of the knight opposite him, behind Zhao Liangsi.

"Ah... uh..." Zhao Liangsi groaned, feeling very unwilling in his heart. He hesitated for a moment and forced a flattering smile on his face: "I am not feeling well. In order not to hinder your army's campaign, it is better for me to stay here."

"This young man has no say." The leading soldier shook his head.

Zhao Liangsi stood up with all his strength, clasped his fists and bowed: "Since that's the case, please let me see His Majesty the Emperor of Qi below."

The left guard soldier in front looked down at him, his face calm and calm: "Your Majesty has ordered that the Song envoy follow the army."

Then he looked at his three comrades and said, "Brothers, don't be idle. Take Envoy Song to the horse."

wow——

The three soldiers immediately jumped off their horses, and their armor made a slight sound.

"Hey? Wait... not..." Zhao Liangsi's face suddenly showed some panic, and he stretched out his arms to stop the people on both sides: "Please let me see your country... Don't pull me... Hey hey hey... let go..."

"There's so much nonsense."

The soldiers of the Zuowu Guard from the back and left came up and grabbed his arms. The two of them pulled hard and Zhao Liangsi was immediately pulled backwards.

The third man came over and grabbed his legs and lifted them up: "Your Majesty asked you to follow the army, so you should follow the army. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

The Zuo Wuwei were all carefully selected soldiers, all of them strong and powerful. Two of them grabbed his arms with one hand and supported his back with the other. The one who grabbed his legs turned around and lifted him up. Zhao Liangsi screamed, "Ah!" and was lifted above his head in the shape of a "cross" and dragged towards his warhorse.

"No, we can discuss it. I say..."

Zhao Liangsi did not dare to struggle in mid-air. He just looked around. Many soldiers in black armor were laughing and pointing at him. He looked embarrassed and shouted to the left guards who were holding him up on both sides, "I will follow the army. I accept it. Let me down, let me down, I can walk by myself!"

The three fierce soldiers below knew that he couldn't see his expression, so they grinned and winked at their comrades who were looking at them, which led to even louder laughter.

Zhao Liangsi was listening from above and couldn't help but close his eyes tightly.

Today's incident was really a disgrace to me. Why did I follow the Qi army to this grassland? It would have been much better if I had returned to Bianliang with the delegation at that time, so that I wouldn't have suffered such a great crime.

As soon as the sound of moving footsteps stopped, Zhao Liangsi immediately knew that he had arrived next to his mount. As soon as he opened his eyes, the scenery in his sight suddenly changed rapidly. The horse's mane and slender neck came into view, and he felt a hard touch on his buttocks.

He was actually carried onto the horse.

"Emissary Zhao, please follow us."

The three soldiers of the Left Guard below had adjusted their facial expressions, clasped their fists expressionlessly, then turned around and got back on their horses. The four of them looked at him coldly from their horses.

Zhao Liangsi had no choice but to adjust his sitting position, step into the stirrup, shake the reins to control the horse and run over.

At that moment, four people surrounded him and gradually ran to the central army position. Zhao Liangsi did not look at Lu Bu's figure, but Wang Zheng turned around and smiled at him.

The Song Dynasty envoy who stayed in the north hurriedly smiled back. Before he could urge his horse to go over, he saw Wang Zheng turned his head. He was a little stunned, not understanding what the other party meant by turning back to look at him and smiling for no reason.

He didn't have much time to think before several fast horses came running from the west. Then the sound of horns signaling the troops to go out came from the air, and the cavalry moved. Zhao Liangsi kicked his horse and started running. The horses' hooves roared as they gradually moved westward.

……

When it was still dark.

Xiao Yixiu led the Khitan troops into the nearest Pibeihe City, and watched coldly as a group of tribal leaders ran past the city and ran towards the farther Talan main city, and then ordered the soldiers in the city to be more prepared.

Xiao Yixiu walked to the City Lord's Mansion in the city, took off his armor, sat on the bed and felt angry. After a while, he fell asleep in a daze. However, too many things happened that night, and he could not fall asleep soundly. In his hazy trance, he always heard the sound of horse hooves in his ears.

"Command the army, command the army."

The voice of calling rang in his ears for a few times before Xiao Yixue suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look at his personal guard: "What's the matter?"

"Scouts have sent word that 1,500 Qi cavalrymen are chasing the fleeing soldiers across this city and heading towards the main city of Talan." After a pause, he continued, "Should we pursue them?"

"No." Xiao Yixue waved his hand and lay down again: "Don't bother with even 150 people, let alone 150..."

After finishing his words, the Khitan general suddenly sat up again: "No..."

He got off the bed with his legs tilted, and took two steps with a puzzled look on his face: "Just now, Qi State had more than 5,000 people charging forward, how come only 1,500 of them are chasing us?"

The personal soldier was also a man who had experienced many battles. After hearing this, he thought for a moment and said, "Commander-in-chief, are you trying to lure us out?"

"Lure..." Xiao Yixue repeated, walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and suddenly stopped and said, "It's possible." He suddenly turned around and looked at him, "That means a large group of Qi troops may appear at any time."

He walked quickly to the table and grasped the sword in his hand: "Go and tell the soldiers in the army to assemble immediately, leave the city from the south gate, cross the river and go back to Zhenzhou on the south bank."

The guard agreed and hurried out. Xiao Yixue took two steps and turned back to look at the armor he had taken off, and shouted, "Come here, put away my armor and wear it."

Immediately, two personal soldiers rushed in from outside, tied up his armor and put it on.

Xiao Yixiu, dressed in brocade clothes and wrapped in a cloak, quickly walked out of the house, jumped onto his warhorse, and with a "Ha--" sound, urged the horse to go.

Soon, the south gate of Pibeihe City opened, and thousands of figures rushed out, splashing water and running into the distance where things could gradually be seen.

……

On the fleeing tribal chief's side, fleeing herdsmen and tribal soldiers joined in one after another, and the team gathered again to about 30,000 people. They looked at the camp where the fire had not yet been completely extinguished, and they were a little at a loss.

The air was filled with the smell of fireworks and the stench of burnt meat and fur, which mixed together to be extremely unpleasant. The slightly swaying flames made the faces of people nearby look gloomy.

The sound of horse hooves was heard, and the scout who was detecting the pursuers in the rear came running over.

"The Qi army is chasing us, run quickly——"

"Where are you going? This place is all burned down."

"Let's go to the main city of Talan. Hurry up. It's the closest to Wugu Mountain and it's convenient for going back."

Noisy voices were heard among the leaders of each tribe, and then they reined in their horses and ran away, but no one suggested turning back to fight the pursuing wolf riders.

Various bone whistles and shouting sounds rang out among the cavalry. The surrounding herdsmen and tribal soldiers ran in the direction of the familiar sounds. Some herdsmen were so afraid that they simply ran to other places.

The sound of horse hooves continued in the darkness.

In this way, the Zhubu, Dadan and other troops in the front were running.

The wolf cavalry at the back, led by General Ya, pursued them at high speed. Generals from the southeast, such as Wang Yin and Shi Bao, who were participating in a cavalry battle for the first time, were filled with hatred in the army. It was a good opportunity to fight and make merit, but it turned out like this. Some of them even wanted to kill people and massacre the city.

After chasing and stopping for a while, the two sides were unable to shorten the distance. Looking at the dark city ahead, a large number of cavalry swarmed into the city at the gate. Torches were lit above the city walls, and grassland herdsmen holding bows and arrows stood densely on them.

"Damn..."

The general leading the army was an old man who had served in Liangshan since the uprising. He raised his spear and stabbed the ground fiercely: "Let them run in."

Wang Yin and Shi Bao exchanged a glance, then stepped forward and said, "The enemy entering the city is not necessarily a bad thing."

"Hmm?" Yajiang turned around and raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean?"

Wang Yin pointed at the distant city wall with his weapon in his hand and said: "These people outnumber us, but they just keep running away. It's obvious that they have lost their courage after tonight's battle and have no intention of fighting again. We might as well watch here. It's still dark today and the vision is unclear. We can pretend to be outnumbered to scare them, and send someone to notify His Majesty to lead the army over. When the army gathers, we will have the final say on whether to attack the city or besiege it."

"What if the other party leaves the city?"

"If we can win, we fight. If we can't, we run. His Majesty also said we should be more careful since we are outnumbered." Wang Yin spread his hands and then came up with a plan: "Besides, if the other side refuses to come out and wants to rest, we can also make some noise to make them sleep uneasy tonight."

The tooth general's eyes lit up: "That's right, let's do it this way."

He immediately called over a dozen cavalrymen and asked them to go back and inform the main army, while at the same time following Wang Yin's plan.

The war horse galloped away, then the man dismounted and led the horse back for a while, then mounted the horse and galloped for a while again.

The leaders of various tribes in the city stood on the top of the city wall, and they were relieved that the wolf riders did not come over. However, the situation outside the city was unclear, but they could always hear the sound of war horses coming from afar. They looked at each other, not knowing what was going on for a while.

"How about... sending out scouts to take a look?"

A leader just made a suggestion, and then someone shook his head and said, "The Qi army on the opposite side is fierce. Sending them out is no different from sending them to their deaths."

"We can't just stand there and watch."

"Wait till dawn."

Zubu Gudu looked in the dark direction and said, "We have a lot of people, so we just need to hold on. We'll see what the situation is at dawn, and then we can send troops to the rear to find Xiao Yixue. Anyway, the two cities are close to each other, so it's more certain to defend them together."

"But the Qi army seems to be good at attacking cities..."

Zubugudu glanced at the person who was speaking and shrugged: "Then you just need to fight your way out of the city now, and I'll follow behind and cheer for you."

The man immediately shut his mouth and said nothing more.

Zhubu Gudu rubbed his greasy face and turned away: "Go get some sleep first, or you won't have the energy to deal with the Qi army."

The people behind looked at each other, none of them had a definite idea, so they had no choice but to follow us down the city wall.

(End of this chapter)