Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Another day passed and there was no significant change in the weather.

The gates of Miyun City were tightly closed, and the people in the city and the soldiers on the city walls were still in a tense state. The devastation after the battle could still be seen on the fields.

The news of the arrival of the Qi army was no secret. The 60,000-strong army and several times more conscripted civilians could not be hidden from the scouts, but the officials in the city naturally would not spread the news everywhere.

The Danzhou Transport Commissioner and the provincial governor successively asked Ji Anbang and Wu Yanguang about the strategy to repel the enemy, but they all talked at cross purposes and did not get any useful information.

Compared to the anxiety of officials in the city, the army did not relax. Many soldiers became timid after several fierce battles, but they were in Nanjing Road and had no way to retreat.

There are troops from Xijing stationed outside. Even if we go out of the city, it would be hard to explain if we run into our own people in the wild.

The entire battle situation really made the soldiers, who were facing this kind of war of annihilation for the first time, feel at a loss as to what to do.

At this time, Ji Anbang had been living on the city wall. The situation outside the city made him unable to be optimistic. Two days ago, when the Qi army had reinforcements, they still dared to attack the city. He didn't believe that they would not dare to come when this large army arrived.

The war horses raised a few thin trails of dust outside. Ji Anbang, who had been blowing in the wind, strode forward and listened to the knights below and the soldiers on the city wall exchanging military orders. His brows furrowed even more.

Why did the scout come back so soon after dawn?
After standing there and thinking for a while, Ji Anbang turned and walked towards the city gate tower: "Let the scouts go into the tower to report."

A personal soldier responded, went to stop the scout who was coming up, and brought him to the city wall.

The tower of Miyun is divided into two rooms, the left one is where Ji Anbang rests, the middle hall is filled with feng shui maps and weapon racks, and the room on the right is where military orders are written and matters are discussed with others.

"The Qi army has 3,000 soldiers and horses leaving the camp and heading southeast." Ji Anbang stood in front of the hanging geomancy map and stared at the scout who came in to report: "Is anyone following?"

"Yes, I have arranged for people to follow them from a distance." The scout said, and then paused and said, "The scouts of General Wuyan are also following them."

"Southeast." Ji Anbang turned around and looked at the geomancy map with a frown on his face. "Jizhou, I heard that Yelu Dashi went there..."

While he was thinking, he heard footsteps outside. The scout who was also investigating outside came forward and clasped his fists: "Report to the commander-in-chief, another 3,000 cavalrymen from the Qi army camp have left the camp and are heading southeast."

Ji Anbang turned around suddenly, twirled his beard for a moment, and shouted to the guards outside: "Call General Zan and General Ru."

The personal soldiers outside responded and ran away quickly, and soon found the two generals.

Ji Anbang told the two of them what had happened before in the city gate tower. However, before the three of them could come to an understanding, the scouts outside came running again.

"This time it's six thousand, and it's over ten thousand."

Ru Tingqi muttered to himself and looked at the two of them: "Is Yelu Dashi really that brave? He forced the Qi army to send 10,000 cavalrymen southward?"

"I heard that he brought an army of 100,000, while the Qi army in the east has only 40,000 troops in two routes, which puts them at a disadvantage." Zan Tongmei frowned and said, "If it were me, I would also send troops to support him."

The two generals turned their heads to look at him after hearing these words. Ji Anbang scratched his beard and shook his head for a while: "I think there is something wrong..."

After a moment of silence, he reached out and grabbed the long sword on the table beside him, and "threw it to his other hand" and grabbed it with a sound: "You two stay here and guard it. I will go to find General Wu Yan."

A tall figure walked out of the city wall, and soon a team of cavalry rushed out of the city.

While the Liao army was moving around and discussing, dozens of miles away, a battle between scouts was fierce, and the soldiers in the barracks were already ready to go out and fight.

As the sky approached noon, Lu Bu mounted his horse, followed by Yu Cheng, Xu Wen and other generals.

"If Du Fu and his men set out, the Liao army will react no matter what, disrupting their plans." Wang Zheng rode over: "If they make a misjudgment because of this, it would be great."

"Don't let us defeat the Liao army before General Du and his men return." On horseback, Xu Wen grinned and laughed: "When the time comes, I will laugh at Han Shizhong in front of him."

"The situation of the army is ever-changing, and the shape of water is ever-changing. Don't be careless on the battlefield." Lu Bu looked ahead and shook the reins: "Follow me and break this stubborn city."

Red Rabbit neighed and started running: "Let's go——"

The earth trembles at the sound of the trumpet.

……

"The Qi cavalry has been moving away and has not shown any signs of turning back. This suggests that they are indeed reinforcements heading to Jizhou."

Ji Anbang, who walked into the city gate tower with the sound of the wind, took a sip of cold water and looked at Zan Tongmei and Ru Tingqi: "But General Wu Yan also said that he sent out a lot of scouts, and since the last group of Qi bandits' cavalry set out, no one has returned."

Ru Tingqi stood up suddenly, his face solemn: "It's the same on our side. Since Brother Ji left, no scouts have returned."

"I have already arranged to go out and investigate." Zan Tongmei stroked his beard and said, "If there is any problem, they will report it back immediately."

Ji Anbang wiped the water stains from his mouth, threw the bowl on the table, and issued an order while the bowl was spinning: "Order the soldiers in the city to be on alert. The Qi bandits are likely to attack in large numbers."

Zan Tongmei and Ru Tingqi accepted the order and confirmed with Ji Anbang that Wu Yanguang outside the city was also preparing for war, then turned around and left.

The golden bell on the top of the city wall rang rhythmically, and the soldiers defending the city put on their armor and began to assemble.

……

The light was moving, and the birds that were foraging outside chirped and flew out of the woods.

On the ground, the bowstrings could be heard vibrating one after another.

A figure fell from his horse, and the Liao army scout who was out for investigation got up and ran wildly in the woods full of thick trees. A short arrow flew behind him with a whoosh, pierced his shoulder, and threw him to the ground with it.

The moment he struggled to stand up, a shadow loomed over him and a sword stabbed down from above.

Chi-

The blade stabbed into the ground, and the figure that rolled out quickly stood up, not caring about the crossbow arrow stuck in his shoulder, and ran away.

For those who were chasing after the Qi bandits' cavalry, they never expected that after following for half a day, they would be attacked after passing through a dense forest. This situation was a bit abnormal, and they had to pass the message back.

However, these Qi army scouts who came to kill were very agile, and their comrades died in battle one after another. He was also injured, and it was feared that there was little hope of his survival.

Footsteps followed, and a figure in black military uniform, holding a knife in both hands, chopped at his head.

The Liao army scout hurriedly swung his sword to block, but he had an injured arm and could not withstand the opponent's force with only one hand. "Dang--" he blocked the sword, and the sword in his hand was deflected to the side by the opponent's strong force. He watched helplessly as the opponent changed from two hands to one hand and swung his arm to cut diagonally.

Chi-

The blade cut across my throat, and in the burning pain, I heard a hissing sound of air leaking in my ears, and a rain of blood poured down before my eyes.

That was his blood.

"Let's go and continue cleaning."

With the blade pointing upwards, he bent his arm and used the blade to wipe off the blood. The two comrades who were chasing him nodded, stepped forward to take away the valuables from the body, and continued to search for the figure chasing the cavalry.

……

It was already past noon and the temperature was not high, but Wu Yangguang in the military tent felt that the air was stuffy.

After the scouts lost contact, he sent out many more spies. However, the key point was not the dead scouts. Compared with the thousands of casualties in a battle, dozens or hundreds of people were nothing to him.

What he cared about was the implication of this. The Qi bandits must have sent troops, but he had not yet received accurate information, which was what he was most concerned about. Faintly, the sound of horse hooves could be heard outside, and Wu Yanguang suddenly stood up and walked out of the central army tent like a whirlwind.

At the gate of the military camp, scouts were running towards them quickly.

……

"Report to the commander-in-chief, the Qi army will send 50,000 soldiers to attack the commander-in-chief Wu Yan outside the city."

The scout with sweat on his forehead stood on the top of the city wall and bowed to Ji Anbang with his fists clasped.

The figure who was originally sitting stood up, and with the military order of "Pass the order to prepare for the expedition!", he strode out of the city gate tower with rapid strides.

He took the iron spear brought by the two guards and looked around at the parapet for a while. In the distance, there was indeed dust raised by the marching of soldiers and horses, and flocks of frightened birds flapped their wings and flew out of the woods beside the road in black masses.

"Scouts, go and investigate again. Make sure you find out the movements of the Qi bandits." Ji Anbang turned and walked towards the stairs leading down the city wall: "Order Ru Tingqi to lead the cavalry to attack!
Tell Zan Tongmei to guard the city and not to panic.

The tall figure walked briskly down the city wall, taking several steps at a time.

Soon, the city gates opened and soldiers poured out like a flood.

……

The sunlight moved westwards, the rumbling sound of footsteps treaded across the field, and teams of cavalry and infantry formed a mighty square formation that spread from the far end of the sight.

A large number of scouts appeared before the two armies came into contact with each other. Arrows were flying back and forth, and figures kept falling down and then turning back.

The eagle spread its wings and glided across the sky, letting out a long cry.

"Drum roll—"

A powerful and high-pitched voice came from in front of the military camp.

Boom!
Boom!
woo-

The war drums pushed out from the rear were beating vigorously in front of the army, and someone blew a low horn.

Accompanied by the sound of drums and trumpets, the soldiers of the Liao army stepped on the drums, struck the shields, and advanced towards the center of the plain with a loud roar.

The mighty footsteps shook the ground, and the yellow earth stirred up by their footsteps filled the field of vision. The flags raised by the 40,000-strong army seemed to cover the sky and the sun.

Wu Yanguang looked coldly at the military formation in the distance. He received the news of Qi army's dispatch a little late, so he could only fight this battle at his doorstep.

However, this is not without its advantages. With the military camp behind them, it is convenient for them to get supplies and they don't have to worry about the enemy attacking from behind.

He turned his eyes to the side again. Now it was up to Ji Anbang. He hoped that he would be smart and not have any bad ideas.

Groups of soldiers from Xijing Road advanced under the command of Aliqi and Wuyan Yanshou. They were equipped with the best armor and weapons, and should be no less sophisticated than the Qi army on the opposite side. Moreover, several battles in the past few days had failed to determine the winner, which made these brave generals and arrogant soldiers under their command very frustrated.

Now, if we can take advantage of this momentum and defeat the enemy's troops, it will be something worth boasting about.

However, the Qi army on the opposite side had a different mood.

"The troops ahead are Wu Yanguang's. His subordinates Aliqi and his son Wu Yanyanshou are also brave and good at fighting. Their bravery was demonstrated in our army during the previous battles."

Xi Sheng rode his warhorse behind Lü Bu and said, "Wu Yanguang is an experienced commander of the troops. Although I have not been defeated by him in battle formation, I cannot fight back. If we were to fight him in full force, I don't know what the result would be."

"There are also soldiers in Miyun City. Their commander is not a coward. Your Majesty should also be careful of him attacking from behind."

The flags overhead fluttered in the wind.

“I have read the history books and found that in every dynasty since ancient times, there have always been generals with troops that are different from those of their peers.

Qin had Zhang Han, Han had... Huangfu Song, and Sui had Zhang Xutuo. This Wu Yanguang might be similar to these people."

Lu Bu held the reins and looked to the side: "Just looking at their battle array, it is indeed different from the Liao army we encountered before."

"Your Majesty's lesson."

Xi Sheng nodded behind him, and several civil and military officials following him also echoed him.

"Order Lin Chong and Tang Bin to lead the troops forward, while Mi Xian will follow from behind and hold them in front. Sun An on the left wing and Bian Xiang on the right wing will lead the troops to advance slowly and be ready to engage the enemy at any time.

Send a message to Yang Zaixing, ordering his troops and the five schools of the Northern Army to stay behind, and if they see the Miyun troops, allow them to make their own decisions. "

He glanced at Xi Sheng and said, "Your troops have been tired these days, so you should guard the central army first."

Xi Sheng quickly bowed and said, "Yes."

"Beat the drums, cheer—"

The messengers rushed out, the flag-bearers held up colorful flags and made different gestures in the air, and the war drums lined up on both sides were vibrated by the beating of the drumsticks of the burly strong men.

The soldiers who received the order did not hesitate. Lin Chong and Tang Bin, wearing helmets and armor, led the infantry wearing full body armor and walked slowly forward. The iron armor made a metallic collision sound as they marched.

As Lu Bu's orders were given, more than 25,000 people followed the flags of their respective generals and moved in clear layers.

"Spears pass shields, and axemen come forward."

In the front line, Li Gun and Xiang Chong, who were wearing armor, shouted and looked behind them: "Prepare your spears!"

The garrison commanders and dubo who were in charge of the soldiers shouted loudly and restrained the soldiers. They were all elite soldiers who had fought in dozens of battles. They had long lost their excitement and fear and raised their weapons silently.

"Attention, the Liao army is coming!"

In front, some soldiers shouted loudly. Lin Chong and Tang Bin silently put on iron masks, held combat spears, walked forward, and stood in the formation.

The soldiers in the surrounding trap camp put down their weapons and shields and stood in bow stance.

boom--

Some deafening sounds were heard in the battle.

The front line of the battle had not yet been pushed forward. In the middle and on both sides of the two armies, scouts were constantly passing messages back and forth. Occasionally, conflicts occurred, but they quickly broke free and returned, and sporadic sounds of fighting could be heard.

The army with the "Wuyan" banner written in Khitan began to advance. The young general on horseback, wearing silver armor, raised his Fang Tian Hua Ji and said: "Cavalry, move forward, ride and shoot back and forth!
The infantry is pressing forward! "

“Hoo-hoo!”

"Whoa whoa--"

More than 2,500 cavalrymen, with 700 to 800 men in each unit, charged out in turns, and shot out the first rain of arrows amid the deafening sound of horse hooves.

Buzz——(End of this chapter)