Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The morning dew turned into ice particles and condensed on the eaves and window edges.

It was only the fifth watch at this time, but the court was as busy as a market after noon. When the news from the battlefield reached here, everyone was in a panic.

Logically speaking, their respective defense zones had already been demarcated, and they only needed to issue a military order to dispatch the troops. However, the two generals, Xiao Gan and Guo Yaoshi, who had returned, had different opinions.

"I blame the fact that my army is short of soldiers and generals. How can I stop the Qi army from coming? You let me lead the army in the front. Do you want me to die in the front first?"

In the hall, Pharmacist Guo looked at the court officials with a gloomy face and said in a deep voice: "Huairou City is small. Even if our resentful army is stationed there, even if we summon all the young and strong men in the city, it will not be able to defeat the enemy's small army."

An angry look swept across the faces: "You all want me to send my resentful army to death, but I cannot obey your order."

All the court officials looked at each other in bewilderment. The number of people in the court in Nanjing had shrunk a lot. Yelu Yanhui fled, taking with him many loyal civil and military officials. Later, the "slave pardon order" issued by Yelu Dashi and others for conscription offended a group of nobles. Many of these people hated Yelu Dezhong and Yelu Dashi and were eager to see them laugh at them, completely ignoring the current critical situation.

In the right-hand column of military officers, Yelu Dezhong looked at Guo Yaoshi and before he could say anything, a general came out and said, "A letter requesting help came from Changping two days ago. Du Fu of Xijing Road has assembled 15,000 soldiers and is attacking very urgently. Your Majesty, please make a decision."

Yelu Dashi glanced at him and said: "There are not many soldiers in the city now. The bandits from the east are pressing forward like a mountain. We are still worried about how to resist them. The bandits from Xijing Road can only let Changping resist a few on its own."

"Changping doesn't have many soldiers and horses, it would be strange if they could hold off. We should still provide support." Xiao Gan frowned. The military situation was urgent now, and he couldn't care less about the pretentiousness between him and Yelu Dashi.

"Where are the troops going to be?" Yelu Dezhong stood at the foot of the imperial steps, frowning, "The monks, slaves, young men, and all those who can be sent to the battlefield have already been recruited. How can we provide support?"

"Then I'll go!" Xiao Gan narrowed his eyes and looked at Yelu Dashi: "I still have 40,000 men under my command, which is more than enough to support Changping."

"You left, where are the thieves from the Southern Dynasty?"

"Compared to the Southern Song thieves, the Qi thieves are more dangerous. Can't you tell the priorities?"

"you!"

"All right!"

A weak voice came over, and the voices below stopped talking. Then his eyes fell on the figure on the dragon throne over there. Yelu Chun covered his mouth and coughed for a while, took a deep breath, and put down his hand: "The military situation is urgent. There is no time for you to quarrel here."

He looked at Xiao Gan and said, "Changping is behind Xijin Prefecture, and the Qi bandits are strong in both men and horses. General Xiao is willing to take the initiative to lead the army to meet them, so the troops in the north will be left to you to deal with."

After a pause, he turned his gaze to Yelu Dashi and Yelu Dezhong and said, "Lin Ya, Uncle Huang, the defense line in the east still depends on you two."

Seeing the two men bowing and accepting the order, he looked at Pharmacist Guo and said, "General Guo, since you said that you can't resist the Qi army in the east, then the Song army in the south can always fight back, right?"

Pharmacist Guo's expression remained unchanged. He lowered his head as if thinking, then stepped forward and said, "In compliance with your majesty's orders, we will certainly stop the Song bandits' troops outside of Xijin Prefecture."

Yelu Chun nodded: "Okay, I believe in the ability of General Guo."

Then he looked up at the ministers in the palace and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Li Chuwen looked at the other civil officials and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, there are still civilians in the suburbs..."

In the court, the sound of talking continued. Yelu Chun said a few words and coughed a few times, and finally ended the court meeting after more than half an hour.

Looking at the civil and military officials bowing their heads and clasping their fists to see him off, the emperor who had ascended the throne in a hurry stood up tremblingly. A eunuch hurried forward to support his arm, and the sound of "cough cough cough" gradually faded away.

The civil and military officials who received the new decree looked at each other and left the hall expressionlessly.

The sunlight cast shadows of people slanting on the ground. Yelu Chun walked into the harem supported by eunuchs on both sides. A palace maid was watching and called out quickly. Soon, a woman in elegant and luxurious clothes ran out of the house and asked someone to help Yelu Chun to sit in the warm room.

"Your Majesty, are you feeling well today?" Xiao Puxian asked nervously, "So were those ministers. They knew you were still ill but they still kept you in the court and talked for so long."

"Fortunately, I'm still... cough cough cough——"

A violent cough interrupted his words, and then Yelu Chun took two deep breaths before speaking: "The military situation is urgent. There are the evil Song in the south, and the Qi bandits in the east and north. If possible, I don't want to stay in the palace. What a pity..."

"Your Majesty..." The woman looked at him with some distress: "You can also take a break during this period and then discuss it. Why force yourself like this?"

Yelu Chun looked up at the animal heads carved on the beams in the house and whispered, "...I always feel like I don't have much time these days."

"Your Majesty!" Xiao Puxian stood up suddenly and said, "Please stop saying such unlucky words."

Yelu Chun looked at her and smiled: "Okay, I won't say it..."

The queen sat down again and hesitated for a moment: "I have thought a lot these past two days..."

Seeing her husband's gaze, she was silent for a moment: "Since the founding of the Liao Dynasty, many concubines have ridden horses to accompany the army to go to war.

When the country was founded, Empress Shulü led the army to suppress the rebellion of the Eight Tribes, and designed to lure and kill the chieftains of the Seven Tribes, clearing the way for Taizu to move forward. Empress Dowager Chengtian personally led the expedition against the Song Dynasty, and the "Chanyuan Alliance" was formed. Later, there were also outstanding women such as Princess Chen and Concubine Wen, so I decided..."

He took a breath and said, "Recruit the female nobles who practice martial arts to form a female army. Leave the patrolling of the city to us, and the rest of the men will focus on defending the city. If the situation becomes urgent, these women can go up to the city wall together and sacrifice everything for the continuation of the Liao Dynasty."

Yelu Chun was stunned for a moment, then his expression softened. He covered his mouth and coughed a few times, "It is a blessing for the Liao Dynasty that the Queen has this realization. I agree."

Xiao Puxian smiled and stood up lightly: "Then I will contact the daughters of various noble families. I believe that in this time of national crisis, there are also many people willing to join the army."

The two of them talked in the warm room for a while. Yelu Chun was in poor health and gradually felt tired, so he was helped to the back to sleep. However, Xiao Puxian's daughter began to write letters to various noble families.

Within three days, 800 women were gathered to form an army. The whole city of Xijin Prefecture called them the "Women's Army". Li Chuwen and other civil officials also issued corvée labor, conscripting women of all ages to transport food for the front-line troops. However, these people walked slowly, only 30 miles a day, and became the object of complaints in the army. ...

The news of the Liao army's replacement of defense had just been announced, and before Yuan Jun and Xiao Gan could set out, military intelligence was immediately sent to the Song and Qi armies.

Liu Yanqing looked at the intelligence sent to him, his eyes sparkling, and he laughed loudly and called the messenger: "Order the army to move forward quickly. If you encounter the troops under the banner of the Northern Dynasty's resentful army, don't rush to attack. Send a letter to me and I will contact them."

The messenger immediately responded and ran out.

The crimson flags fluttered in the air, stretching far away. Ten miles away from the central army, the sounds of marching soldiers and horses rang in the ears, and majestic figures were advancing forward.

After taking down several cities in a row, the Song army was in high spirits. Even Song Jiang at the vanguard put on a smile again. He felt that he was free from all constraints. With the help of his troops, he could earn a title for his wife and children in this northern border area. Therefore, he smiled at everyone he met in the past two days.

The cavalrymen in the rear galloped, and the cavalrymen who came to deliver the message stopped at his side and rear and bowed: "Song the vanguard, the commander-in-chief has ordered that if there are resentful soldiers and horses in front, they must not attack at will, and inform the central army in time, and the commander-in-chief will handle it."

Song Jiang stopped smiling and said, "Reporting to the commander, Song Jiang knows."

The rider nodded, then turned his horse's head and galloped back at the speed of light. Song Jiang thought for a moment, then ordered the generals of each army to come over. Soon, more than ten commanders gathered together and looked at their own vanguard in surprise.

"Everyone, the commander just sent someone to tell us not to attack the Liao Dynasty's resentful army first."

A chilly wind blew past, and the large flag with the word "Song" on it fluttered in the wind. The faces of more than a dozen generals changed color.

Wu Song was irritated, his brows knitted into a frown: "Another order like this, not to kill this one, not to bury that one. Could it be like last time, that we are not allowed to fight back even when the Liao soldiers put the knife to our necks?"

"That's right!" Li Kui wiped his beard which was covered with liquid and exhaled a breath of alcohol. "Brother Wu Song is right. If it's like last time, some of our lives will be ruined by these officials. I think we should throw away this womanly red dress and return..."

"Iron Ox!" Song Jiang frowned and just shouted, a voice came from behind: "You bastard, do you think this is your game of becoming a bandit? Just based on what you said, you damned bandits should be dragged to Caishikou to be stabbed."

The crowd fell silent, and unfriendly eyes were cast at the person who was talking behind Song Jiang. Wang Wenbin glanced around and looked at everyone with his nose raised: "Why, what I said is wrong?"

Song Jiang suddenly showed a kind smile, turned around and said, "General Wang, what are you talking about? We are all loyal to our country, where are the bandits? Li Kui just drank some wine and talked nonsense."

Wang Wenbin opened his mouth to speak, but Song Jiang suddenly raised his voice: "Left and right!" Then he glared at Li Kui and said: "Take this black man who violated military discipline away and give him ten military sticks."

Dai Zong immediately led his men forward and took Li Kui away.

Before Wang Wenbin could speak, Wu Song, Mu Hong and Shi Jin put their hands on the weapons at their waists, which made him feel a chill in his heart. He looked at the expressions on the others' faces, then he shut up, snorted and turned to look back.

Song Jiang heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that he hadn't spoken. He looked at Wu Yong, and the wise man said, "Brothers, please be patient. I was also present when the order was just delivered. From what I heard, it seems that he will not let people be killed like last time."

The soldiers and horses were marching around, and amid the roar of footsteps, someone said, "Who knows what's going on with the man surnamed Liu..."

Song Jiang turned around and saw that Sun Li, Zhang Yue'e, Xu Ning and other generals were all frowning. He suppressed the urge to scold them and spoke patiently: "Don't worry, brothers. The commander has said that there will be no restrictions on this campaign, so there is no need to worry too much. If it is like last time, Song Jiang will not let you stand still and let the Liao people attack without resistance."

Seeing that everyone's expressions were about to ease, Song Jiang pinched his nose and said, "Everyone, just know about this matter. Return to the army first and we will talk about it when we encounter the resentful army."

At that moment, all the generals looked at each other, saluted him and turned to leave. Behind him, Wang Wenbin snorted, "Commander Song, I hope you will remember the words of the commander. I don't want to be accused of violating military orders."

"That's natural."

Song Jiang smiled and turned around to respond. Wang Wenbin saw that his smile was so sincere that he couldn't get angry. He could only look at him with his nose not nose and eyes not eyes for a few seconds, then snorted and rode away.

After the man in front of him disappeared, Song Jiang sighed, turned around and looked at Dai Zong, and smiled bitterly: "How is Tie Niu?"

"He has thick skin and tough flesh. Just hit him ten times with a stick. Not even a hair will fall off." Dai Zong chuckled, then looked at the "Wang" flag in front of him and narrowed his eyes: "Vanguard, the one with the surname Wang..."

"We are all working for the country. We should not address each other as comrades in arms like this." Song Jiang followed his gaze and looked forward with a kind smile on his face: "The Northern Expedition is dangerous, and the Liao people are not easy to deal with. When the time comes..."

The sound of footsteps trampling the ground could be heard clearly from miles away, drowning out the words that followed.

……

The red glow was like a receding tide, and the blood-red color swept towards the red round sun hanging in the sky.

Slow footsteps stepped on the crimson ground, liquid squeezed out from the soil, and amid the sounds of taking off armor and searching corpses, more than a dozen crows flew over, landed on the bare branches, tilted their heads to look at the busy figures below, and made a few crows from time to time.

Gah——

A few crows flapped their wings and flew away, and the figures passing by below didn't even bother to raise their heads.

On the battlefield where the fighting stopped, the black warhorse exhaled a breath of white air in the cold wind, shook its body and swung its tail, and blood beads fell to the ground from the wounds on its body.

Yelu Yudu had a cold face and his hawk-like eyes swept over the busy figures on the battlefield. The soldiers under his command were throwing the stripped corpses into a big pit. Some wounded soldiers were supported by their companions and were carried to the rear groaning.

"General, you are here." The ugly monk rode a warhorse, with a thin white mist rising from the horse and the man, and stopped in front of him: "Oh, I thought they had lost their fighting spirit, but I didn't expect to encounter thousands of them."

On the way westward, although many cities were determined to surrender, it was impossible for everyone in the vast Nanjing Road to think so. There were still many civil and military officials who claimed to be loyal and rose up to resist. This army was the defender of Xianghe, and was destroyed by Yelu Yudu in one battle.

"There are still some benefits to Yelu Chun's ascension..." Yelu Yudu looked at the gathered captives coldly and gestured to take them to the back: "Send a message to His Majesty, saying that the guards of Xianghe are empty, and the army can send a small division to capture it."

He lifted the reins and said, "Let's go. Rest for a night and then continue on our journey." (End of this chapter)