Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1098 Secret Alliance
In Changping, the Xi army is experiencing war.

The beacon fire spread to the top of the city wall, and flaming arrows and crossbow arrows kept flying up. The embarrassed figure quickly went down the city wall under the protection of the personal guards holding shields, and ran towards the provincial government in the city.

"Uncle." Bajin from Room B pushed the door open and walked in. It was a cold winter and the burning brazier in the house could not raise the temperature to that of summer. However, Xiao Gan was sweating profusely as he looked at the sand table piled on the wooden table.

"How did you get hurt?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Gan looked up and saw that his nephew was covered in blood, his left arm was wrapped in white cloth, and there was a cut on his face.

"The enemy army attacked fiercely." Yishi Bajin walked over with a wry smile and took a look at the wound on his arm: "I was scratched by a brat with two swords, it's nothing serious."

Then he walked over quickly, his eyes swept across the sand table, and then looked at Xiao Gan in a bitter voice: "Du Fu's attack was fierce, and Aliqi, that bastard, led the surrendered Xijing Road soldiers and horses to climb the city without caring about his life. The city..." His lips trembled twice: "It's almost impossible to hold it."

"I can't hold it anymore." Xiao Gan frowned, then quickly relaxed his brows: "I can't hold it anymore, it's so fast..."

"I am incompetent." Yishi Bajin lowered his head, then complained: "There are too many new recruits in the army, and they can't withstand such a brutal attack. Besides, our soldiers were defeated not long ago and haven't recovered their morale yet."

"I'm not blaming you. This was expected. I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly." Xiao Gan patted his shoulder and stood up: "Gather our troops and prepare to break out of the city."

"Yes."

Yishi Bajin responded loudly and turned to walk out. Many of their men had died while defending Changping. Now they were drifting in the wind and rain, and they couldn't lose all their men. It was time to withdraw.

Xiao Gan stood in the room, watching his nephew walk out. After a long while, he walked to the front door. The cold wind blew, and the sweaty man shivered. Then he said, "Come here, put on armor for me."

Several personal soldiers entered, and soon Xiao Gan, covered in iron armor and with a long sword hanging from his waist, hurried out.

The sounds of fighting and shouting continued to echo on the north and west sides of the city. The city gate on the south side suddenly opened, and cavalrymen wearing armor and riding tall horses swarmed out, dispersed the Qi soldiers cruising in front, and fled desperately.

Du Fu, who received the news, weighed the matter and did not send troops to pursue. He quickly occupied Changping and sent a messenger to the southeast to convey the message to Lu Bu.

……

In the east city of Xijin Prefecture, smoke and dust filled the sky, and the roar of galloping war horses sounded like thunder in the distance. The soldiers standing on the city walls looked ahead nervously. Yelu Dashi, Yelu Dezhong, and Li Chuwen, all wearing iron armor, stood in front of the city wall, watching the yellow sand changing color on their faces.

Around, several generals were also dressed neatly, their hands holding weapons were a little pale. Young and strong men in the back quickly came up carrying battering rams and rolling stones and placed them neatly on the top of the city wall. In the back, earthenware jars as tall as a person were steaming from the fire, and the smell of boiling water and hot oil drifted into the mouths and noses of the soldiers, making people feel even more nervous.

"...The thief Lu is here, but there is no reinforcement this time." Yelu Zongyun took a breath as if he had a toothache.

"What kind of reinforcements are these? They are just Qi bandits' cavalry." Yelu Zonglin curled his lips and said, "If they are considered reinforcements, we have too many of them."

Snapped--

Yelu Zonglei beside him slapped him, and the gauntlet and helmet made a metallic sound: "Silang, if you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb."

"Why did you hit me, third brother?" Yelu Zonglin covered his helmet and shook his head. His third brother hit him too hard, which made him feel uncomfortable. "I am not unreasonable. Tell me, who was the so-called reinforcement last time if not the Qi bandits? It can't be that the Song people are crazy and sent cavalry to attack their own army."

"What are you talking about, you idiot? If you have nothing to do, just go down and move things." Yelu Dezhong was annoyed by what he heard in front of him. He turned around and scolded him, then turned his head to look at the smoke and dust in front of him: "Everyone, prepare to defend to the death."

"...There is no room for maneuver between us and the Qi bandits." Yelu Dashi said silently: "This time, either the Qi bandits will drive us back, or we will be buried here with the Liao Dynasty."

His eyes moved, and he turned his head to look in the opposite direction, and slowly exhaled: "There are still cavalry troops patrolling outside the city from the last time the Qi bandits came. Even if we want to escape...", the corners of his mouth twitched, and his eyes drooped slightly: "I'm afraid they won't let us get out so easily."

The three of them were silent for a while, each with a very serious expression. Li Chuwen stroked his beard and took a breath, "Lin Ya, Imperial Uncle, I will leave the city walls to you two to defend. I will go back to the city and do my best to dispatch supplies and food to the city walls."

"I'll leave everything to Prime Minister Li." Yelu Dashi and Yelu Dezhong bowed.

Li Chuwen returned the salute, turned around and hurried towards the city. Soon he returned to the government office, but he could not read the official documents sent to him in the room. He also knew that the defensive equipment on the city wall would not be lowered too quickly when the war broke out. He threw the documents in his hand, stood up, sat down, and stood up again, fidgeting. Then he paced back and forth in the house, and he didn't know how many times he turned around.

Dangdangdang——

The sound of the golden bell rang from the top of the city wall. Li Chuwen, who was sweating a little, suddenly stopped and turned his head to look out the window. His expression changed and he murmured, "Here it comes."

bang——

"Big brother."

The shouting made Li Chuwen turn his head. His brother Li Chuneng ran in and said, "The Qi army has begun to attack the city."

"I heard it." Li Chuwen looked at his brother with an unpleasant expression: "You came to see me because you are in danger now, right?"

"No." Li Chu Neng shook his head quickly, took a step forward, then remembered something, turned around and closed the wide-open door, walked in and whispered: "The Qi army must have come to destroy the country this time. Do we, the Li family, really want to be loyal to the Khitans?"

Li Chuwen glanced at him and leaned over to whisper, "Why, can you still contact the Qi thief?"

"No." Li Chu Neng shook his head: "But there are people who can. Brother, you forgot that there are Zuo Qigong, Yu Zhongwen and others in the city. They are not trusted by the court because of their friendship with the Lu and Han families, but isn't this the hope for our family's survival?"

Li Chuwen narrowed his eyes, stroked his beard, and slowly walked to the table and sat down. His eyes moved left and right, looking at his brother who followed him and stood beside him: "Are you sure they can contact the Qi army outside the city?"

"We have to try." Li Chu Neng did not dare to take any responsibility, but just said: "It is better than fighting until the city is broken. Who knows what will happen after the Qi army enters the city."

The sound of war drums and horns came from afar. The noisy roar made Li Chuwen pause while stroking his beard. Then he heard a few "booms" and knew that the catapults outside the city were starting to work. "You have a point." Li Chuwen put down his hand and tapped the table. "Don't go there. Let Xi'er go find them. He has the responsibility of organizing and supervising the young and strong in the city. If he runs into those women soldiers, he will have something to say."

"Got it." Li Chuneng immediately smiled and nodded to his brother: "Then I will go find my nephew now."

"Wait a minute." Li Chuwen called him, wrote a document, and stamped it with his seal: "Take this order and go find him, and ask him to organize young men to transport stones to the city."

"it is good."

Li Chu Neng reached out to take the document from his brother, then ran out quickly, leaving the Prime Minister of the Southern Palace behind him with his eyes squinted, not knowing what he was thinking. After a while, he closed his eyes and relaxed.

The atmosphere in the city became tense. The shouts of fighting were heard again from the city walls soon after. The city was surrounded and attacked by the Qi army on the east and south sides. The sound of war drums continued to ring. Soldiers holding flags and wearing black armor were climbing up the city walls. Cavalrymen galloped past the city from the north, and waves of arrows fell from time to time, shooting down many figures who were unable to dodge.

From time to time, stone bullets flew in from the top of the city wall, and a house was collapsed with a "boom". New recruits in armor kept running in the city, and wounded soldiers were carried down from the top of the city wall. The sounds of screams and groans continued from the city gate to the street and into the camp for wounded soldiers.

Li Shi walked on the street, and from time to time he met soldiers carrying stretchers who shouted "Get out of the way!" and female soldiers from the Women's Army who passed by in armor and holding knives. Occasionally, he would meet one and show the military order he got from his uncle and then be allowed to pass.

Looking at the familiar alley, the young man from the Li family looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, so he slipped in. He quickly ran to a mansion and knocked on the door. A doorman opened the door and explained his purpose. He looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, so he walked in as the doorman bowed his hand and invited him in.

……

The sky dimmed, and a dim light shone on the city wall from the west. The cold wind made the flames flicker a few times, and black smoke rose into the sky. Even the birds did not dare to approach this side, and disappeared into the mountains and forests far away.

On the top of the city wall of Xijin Prefecture, a tattered flag with the word "Liao" fluttered in the air. The troops under the flag with the word "Qi" retreated like a tide, and a day's siege came to an end at this moment.

The remaining flames on the wood were extinguished with a bucket of cold water, corpses were carried down from the city wall, arrows on the ground and on the corpses were picked up and collected, ready to be saved as supplies for next use, and busy soldiers and young and strong men were cleaning the battlefield.

When the soldiers in black armor disappeared from sight, the city gate opened a crack, and soldiers walked out in the dim light, carrying the battering rams and boulders under the city back into the city. They kept looking up into the distance, fearing that the Qi army would attack them.

On the city wall, Yelu Dashi was panting heavily, leaning against the wall and looking into the distance. His white cloak was stained red with blood, and even had a few cracks on it, which were caused by the attacking Qi army.

After a day of hard fighting, although the Qi army failed to capture the city, it also caused serious losses to the soldiers in the city. If the city was not now full of soldiers, even the houses in the city were dismantled and transported to the city walls to be used as weapons. Who knows what the situation would be now.

It was also in today's battle that the soldiers on the city wall realized that the Qi army was much stronger than the Song army in the previous two days. The momentum of them rushing to the top of the city wall with red eyes made many people feel weak in the knees when they think about it now.

"The Qi army retreated without success, which is a victory for us. If it snows heavily in the next few days, the Qi army will have a harder time. As long as we delay until then, the Qi bandits will be unable to hold on and will have to retreat."

With his hands on the parapet, Yelu Dashi tried to make his voice sound lighter, but everyone knew that whether it would snow or not was entirely up to God. In addition, there were many new soldiers in the city, so it was still unclear who would collapse first.

The generals behind him looked at each other, and no one responded immediately. Yelu Fuding said in a low voice: "Lin Ya, many defenders today were frightened by the fearless appearance of the Qi bandits. We should patrol more at night."

"That's right." Yelu Dashi looked at him helplessly and gave up the idea of ​​boosting morale: "Then send more soldiers to patrol at night, and also leave people on the top of the city to guard at night. The Qi bandits have many tactics, and they may attack at night."

Many Khitan generals around him nodded. In the past few years, they had fought with Qi State in field battles, naval battles, and city defense battles. The other side had also launched many night attacks, and they especially liked to attack with fierce generals. If not enough troops were left on the city wall, no one would be able to sleep well.

"That's it for now." Seeing the heavy expressions on the faces of the generals, Yelu Dashi no longer had the desire to continue talking. He turned around and raised the iron knife in his hand: "Have a good rest tonight. I'm afraid tomorrow will be another difficult day."

Yelu Fuding and others clasped their fists and bowed, then walked down.

It was getting dark, and the figures carrying wood outside the city gradually walked into the city. The light of the bonfire shone on the top of the city. Teams of patrolling soldiers passed by with torches in their hands. Fires were slanting down from the outside of the city wall, illuminating the wall. The mottled wall looked extremely desolate in the firelight.

Under the city, a dark shadow moved in the darkness. The human-shaped shadow looked back and then ran away quickly.

……

Under the same night.

The fighting stopped, and in the Qi army camp, bonfires were burning fiercely and snoring sounds could be heard from within the camp.

Lu Bu sat behind the table wearing winter clothes. Charcoal was burning in several bronze tripods inside the tent, making the tent as warm as spring.

He was mentally prepared for not being able to win the battle today, but this did not affect the overall situation. With fifteen thousand casualties in one day, this was because the other side had the advantage of defending the city. But from another perspective, it was also a manifestation of the incompetence of the Liao army soldiers.

Once we take over Xijin Prefecture and connect it to the north, we can then recuperate for a few years and then see when the time comes, or we may have a chance to take back the old land of the Han Dynasty.

He gently patted the armrest with his palm. After a moment, footsteps were heard from outside. Lu Bu looked up and saw Yu Cheng opening the door curtain and coming in: "Your Majesty, a Liao soldier was captured outside the camp. They said he was a member of the city who came to surrender to our Qi State."

Lu Bu frowned, pondered for a moment, and waved his hand: "Let him in."

Not long after, a man dressed in Liao soldier's uniform came in and bowed with great ceremony: "Zuo Yuan, son of the Duke of Yan of Liao, pays respect to Your Majesty."

"Duke Yan?"

Lü Bu frowned, and the man lowered his head and said, "Yes, my father's name is Qigong. He is honored to be the Minister of the Liao Dynasty and the Duke of Yan."

"I see." Lu Bu suddenly realized: "Tell me, what are you doing here?"

(End of this chapter)