Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

"The Song people have no regrets..."

"No good news came from those who were sent to question and reaffirm the covenant."

"Da Shilin Ya, this time you may really be isolated and helpless."

The information obtained from previous inquiries turned in Yelu Dashi's mind, causing the eyes of this Khitan hero who led the army to defeat the Song army at Baigou River to darken for a moment.

Since the beginning of spring, the situation has been chaotic but has become increasingly simple and clear. The State of Qi has the intention of annexing them, and the State of Song wants to seize the land of Yanyun and treat them as meat on its mouth.

In the west, Li Xia and Uighur, who were on good terms with the Liao Dynasty, were fighting fiercely with the grassland people and had no time to send troops to provide assistance.

And in the east, Goryeo...

Never mind, let’s skip this.

The imperial court now has no external aid to turn to, and it is indeed at the critical moment of life and death, but...

The sound of horse hooves, shouts, and armor plates colliding could be heard all around. Yelu Dashi glanced at the generals beside him and forced himself to smile confidently: "As long as the tactics are used properly this time, we may be able to turn the tide of the battle."

These people were the ones who had followed him in the sneak attack on Han Shizhong and defeated the Song army at Baigou River. They had already established trust in him, and they all smiled when they heard this.

"Send a message to Xiao Gan at the back, and ask him to lead the troops up."

Yelu Dashi gave an order to the person beside him: "The Southern Dynasty lost so many troops all at once. There is no need to worry about them going north again in the short term."

The imperial guard Xiao Bodi thought for a moment and said, "What if they..."

"No." Yelu Dashi interrupted him, turned his body slightly, and said calmly: "Seventy to eighty percent of the 100,000-man army has been destroyed. Even if a military god were alive, he would have to wait for some time before fighting again. With those cowards of the Song Dynasty, huh--"

He raised his voice and pointed the iron spear in his hand towards the sky: "What does it matter if a bunch of rabble doubles in number!"

The wind swept his loud voice away into the distance.

The soldiers in the distance listened to his voice. They didn't hear what he said before, but just heard his firm tone and heroic posture, and couldn't help but cheer "Victory!"

The shouts infected the rest of the people, and for a while there was a constant shouting of victory.

Yelu Dashi breathed a sigh of relief, pulled the reins, and the warhorse Xiluo roared, galloping forward, and waved the iron spear on the horse's back: "Speed ​​up."

In the rear, the sound of horse hooves rolled across the plain like thunder, and the Liao army, which had just won a victory, was chasing the general's flag in the front with great vigor and confidence.

……

The wind blew over the flags on the city wall. Yelu Yudu stood on the top of the city wall and looked at the quiet plain in the distance. He squinted his eyes. He heard footsteps from behind and turned his head.

He Zhongbao, a tall man in military uniform, approached and said, "Yelü Pingliao, your majesty's new military order."

The document in his hand shook and he handed it over: "Our Majesty ordered us to be ready to evacuate at any time, not to fight in the selected battlefield, and to take them to the back of Jizhou."

Yelu Yudu took it and scanned it several times before nodding: "Okay, I'll order my soldiers to prepare."

He Zhongbao narrowed his eyes and said, "Do we still need to notify the officials who surrendered in Sanhe?"

"Why bother with them?" Yelu Yudu shook his head. "They are all fence-sitters. As long as we defeat Yelu Dashi's main force, these people will naturally choose how to act."

He clutched the general's orders in his hand and said, "I want to see how Yelu Yanxi reacts when these troops are gone."

"…I should run."

He Chongbao looked in the distance, and his sight was filled with branches swaying in the wind.

……

The war horses raised fine clouds of dust and galloped back and forth across the plains like winding snakes.

In the fields from Xianghe to Jizhou, arrows flew through the air and stuck in tree trunks and the ground from time to time, and individual and small team scouts were constantly conducting explorations and pursuits.

The scouts of the Qi army were all soldiers who had fought on the battlefield. Compared with the Liao army, they had more experience in how to hunt down the enemy's scouts, and they were even familiar with how to fight at night.

Especially around sunset, the scouts wearing black armor would ambush in dimly lit areas and suddenly attack, often causing considerable losses to the Liao army's scouts.

During the day, Qi scouts who were familiar with coordinated operations often worked together in teams to lead the Liao army, which was eager to pursue them, into an ambush.

Yelu Dashi was riding on his war horse, his mood was like the dark clouds in the sky. The closer the army got to Jizhou, the more scouts they suffered. Fortunately, the Qi army also suffered some losses.

However, this also made the soldiers who had just defeated the Song army with weak forces wake up from their great achievement. They began to remember the fear that their opponents had brought to them over the years, and silence spread in the army.

Later, the news of the fall of Sanhe and Xincang came from the front, which made the central army where Yelu Dashi was located worried, but their troops had not yet entered the range of the city ahead.

The Qi army that was supposed to be stationed in the city to resist had already withdrawn and retreated all the way to the rear.

"Order the army to march at full speed." Yelu Dashi sighed and said, looking at the puzzled eyes of Yelu Fuding and Yelu Wuzhi beside him, he was silent for a while: "The whereabouts of the army have been leaked, and the enemy army retreated from the city without fighting. It is not cowardice, but all the agreements must have been made in advance."

He smiled unnaturally: "The enemy scouts are out in front of us and have discovered our whereabouts clearly. It seems that the agreement with Yuyang City to attack the Qi army together will not work."

He took a deep breath and said, "If that's the case, let's go and fight."

In late midsummer, a large group of Liao troops returned to Jizhou and joined forces with Xiao Worila's 40,000-plus troops in the city.

At that time, Yelu Dashi had nearly 40,000 troops under his command, led by Xiao Gan and Guo Yaoshi, who had defeated the Western Army. In addition, he had nearly 20,000 troops led by Xiao Telie, Yelu Fuding, and Yelu Wuzhi, who had come from Xijin Prefecture. In addition to the nearly 100,000 troops that were originally sent to defend Jizhou, his military strength was now almost twice that of the Qi Army.

But perhaps God didn't want to see the scene of both armies suffering heavy casualties, so heavy rain fell.

The armies on both sides stayed where they were in the rain.

I don’t know whether to wait for the weather to clear up.

……

It rained heavily for two days in a row.

The rain curtain hung between the sky and the earth, water vapor rose, and the rain blocked the view.

On the road in the distance, thousands of riders wearing straw raincoats were galloping past. The sound of horse hooves mixed with the sound of rain, and mud and water splashed under the horses' hooves.

After verifying their identities at the entrance of the military camp, they rode in on horseback and separated the two teams. Soon, a war horse stopped at the central army tent.

Under the watchful eyes of the soldiers nearby, the marching figure walked into the tent.

There were still many people in the camp on a rainy day. The generals leading the troops and several civil officials were sitting in a circle. When they saw the figure coming in, they simply greeted him.

"Wanyan Loushi pays respect to His Majesty."

The figure who walked in saluted, then looked at the three generals Yelu Yudu, He Zhongbao, and Bian Xiang who he had just seen and smiled: "It seems that I will be the last one."

"I haven't set a date for you to return, so it's just right for you to come back now."

Lu Bu waved his hand and asked him to sit down. He looked at the warm wine he was given and glanced at the people in the tent: "It has been raining for days..."

The crackling sound of rain added voice to his words.

Lu Bu looked up and smiled: "I wanted to let you all take a break in this weather, but I'm afraid the Liao army won't give you this much time to relax."

Qiao Lie stroked his inverted triangle beard and said, "Your Majesty is right. According to the spies, 5,000 Liao cavalrymen took advantage of the rain and ran away, heading north and disappeared." "These soldiers and horses definitely did not go out to relax in the rain." Lu Bu said in a relaxed tone. He glanced to the side. Yu Cheng hurriedly pushed the hanging geomancy map forward, and then looked at Li Ying: "Doctor Li."

"Your Majesty." Li Ying stood up and saluted, then looked at the others: "Our army has a food supply route in the north..."

After a pause, the faces of the generals below changed. Li Ying took a few steps forward and said, "Let's not worry about how the other party got the news."

He picked up a stick and pointed it at the map: "Here is up." The stick moved upwards: "This is where the grain transport team went. These few days are also the time when the grain transport team should come. At this time, there are cavalry heading north, which makes people think that the other party is going to intercept the grain route."

Li Ying immediately put down the stick and spoke to the crowd: "The one who is escorting the grain is General Jianzhong, Brother Xian, and he is escorting 3,000 soldiers."

Then he shut up and walked away.

"That's it."

Lu Bu stood up, his black robe spread out as he moved, and the silver cloud pattern flickered in the firelight. "Whoever leaked the news, Qiao Lie, Li Zhu, and Deng Fei will investigate."

There were three responses of "Yes." from the other side.

"Now that a war is imminent, we cannot afford to lose any food or fodder, Yuan Lang."

"The end will be here."

"You lead your cavalry back to provide support and ensure the safety of the food and fodder."

"Here."

Lu Bu glanced at the crowd and saw that many of them looked gloomy. He smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. A little loss of food and grass can't change the fate of the Liao army. Besides, intercepting the food supply route is also a normal measure."

He looked at the generals in the army and said: "When the rain stops, beat them hard and crush them to pieces."

Several figures stood up and responded like thunder.

Soon, a group of cavalry came galloping out in the rain.

……

clap clap clap-

Raindrops hit the tent. Mules and horses were swishing their tails under the straw shed, and occasionally lowering their heads to chew the hay in the trough.

Near the livestock shed, gray tents were set up all around. Messy voices could be heard in the rain. Occasionally, a figure would run out, wearing a straw raincoat, and walk to the corner to pour some urine.

These were the laborers recruited by Zhongjing Road. There were more herdsmen in Zhongjing and Shangjing Roads than farmers, so the young and strong men who were recruited did not have much resentment. Of course, many people were still worried.

"This rain...it's so heavy, don't delay our deadline."

"Don't worry, it won't be delayed even if it takes the next three or five days."

"Bah! Crow's mouth! Don't say such unlucky words."

After transporting grain and driving livestock for a long time, these people had already understood the rules of escorting grain and fodder. Moreover, with the Qi army soldiers shouting in their ears all day long, they knew even more what the word "missed the deadline" meant.

In the military tent where the grain was being transported, Brother Xian, the grain escort officer, was also worried, but what he was concerned about was whether the grain had been soaked by the rain and whether the livestock in the team would get sick as a result.

“I hope the rain will pass soon…”

A murmured sound came out of his mouth, and then he picked up the wine bowl on the table and took a sip.

It’s cold on rainy days, so drive away the chill.

……

The view moves south from the camp. The rolling woods make sounds in the rain. In this kind of weather, except for frogs and toads, all animals and birds have already returned to their nests and holes and hid in the dry environment.

On the slightly narrow forest path, war horses trampled on muddy puddles, splashing mud and water, adding a touch of color to the people around them, which then faded in the rain.

This group of cavalrymen did not have any flags in their hands, they just kept moving forward.

Wu Yanyanshou's young face was covered with rain. He stretched out his hand to block the front and side and tried to look in the direction. He hooked his hand and saw cavalry coming up from behind.

He wiped his face and shouted, "Are you sure you're going this way?"

The cavalryman looked around with his hands on his shoulders and said, "It should be correct. I have been here before. According to the direction given by the army, another thirty miles ahead is the Qi army's grain road."

"Damn it, if the information is wrong, I'll skin you alive!"

Wu Yanyanshou roared, but the cavalrymen behind him were in tears. The information about the grain route was not provided by him. He was just a guide. This young general must be in trouble!
……

The wind and rain hit the tent. The sound of the falling rain made Xian Ge, who had drunk some wine, a little sleepy. He stretched and cheered himself up. The Bohai general put on a straw raincoat and walked around the army with his soldiers. Apart from hearing the complaints of the civilians, he didn't find anything.

The general who returned breathed a sigh of relief, ordered his personal guards to call him if there was any situation, then took off his armor and lay on the camp bed to take a nap.

Perhaps it was because it was easier to fall asleep on rainy days, and soon this person began to breathe evenly.

……

"This way, this way!"

The man on the warhorse shouted loudly, pointing in one direction: "We can see a camp over there, it should be the Qi army's food supply team."

"Found it." Wu Yanyanshou pulled up the reins and said, "Kill them, burn the food and grass, and let's go back!"

He raised his Fang Tian Hua Ji and galloped away first.

The sound of rain mixed with the sound of horse hooves, covering up the sounds of a few whispers.

"How can we burn food when it rains..."

"Shut up and follow."

“…I’m curious.”

The war horses were galloping, their ferocious roars were suppressed by the wind and rain and were held back into their chests. The figures that appeared and fell were vaguely moving.

The sky had begun to gradually darken, and the "clattering" rain curtain had become much smaller at this moment.

A soldier took the raincoat handed over by his companion, muttered as he got out of the tent, looked up at the rain clouds still falling from the sky, and shivered.

Walking forward, the area surrounded by vehicles was dark blue, and suddenly a series of thunder rumbled. The man muttered and looked up, his eyes confused for a moment, then widened: "Cavalry, cavalry! There is an enemy sneak attack--"

The comrade beside him quickly picked up the golden gong and struck it.

Dangdangdang——

There were rapid sounds, and countless tents were opened.

Brother Xian was dreaming about something he didn't know what it was, when suddenly he heard a hurried sound and sat up from the bed. As he opened his eyes wide, the curtain was lifted and a personal soldier walked in quickly: "General..."

"Put on my armor, quickly—"

General Jianzhong went down to the ground with a panicked tone. (End of this chapter)