Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1110: Qi-Song Rebellion
In the cold winter months, the chilly wind and low temperatures treat everyone living in this world equally.

Lu Bu did not bring out all his troops. His current financial and food reserves could not support him to mobilize a large army like last time, so he only had 15,000 cavalry and infantry under his command.

But he also calculated that there were two 5,000 soldiers led by Wang De and Han Shizhong in the front, with a navy of the same amount of water. The food and fodder they brought should be enough for them to quell the rebellion.

The sound of marching troops made him turn his head and he sighed suddenly. In this life... no, even in the last life, it seemed that he had always been worried about food, fodder and money.

Is it possible that I am short of money?
He scratched his chin in discomfort, thinking to himself, I can understand what Dong Zhuo did back then. It seems that Cao Cao also dug up the tombs of princes and nobles for military expenses. Is this the tomb of the Khitan nobles in the north...

Lu Bu's eyes were a little vague. He thought in his mind and sighed. Things were different then and now. Some things could no longer be done recklessly. However... let Qiao Lie try it secretly?
He twitched the corners of his mouth and laughed at himself, thinking that he was too timid.

While he was thinking about his own things, the scenery along the road faded into the distance. The battle situation in Danzhou and Pingzhou was conveyed to him by fast horses. After Han Shizhong and Wang De lured the Miyun defenders out to intercept them with cavalry, the Xi people in the city learned their lesson and never came out again. They just guarded the gates every day, ignoring the two men's feint attacks and shouting outside.

In Pingzhou, Zhang Jue mobilized most of the troops and stationed them in Shicheng and Anxi cities. He also recruited young and strong men in the state and sent his generals to lead 20,000 troops to rescue Jingzhou, intending to build Pingzhou and Jingzhou into a line of defense to resist Bian Xiang who might attack from the north at any time.

While sending messages to the Song army for help, Liu Yanqing, Yang Keshi and others led the Western Army and the Hedong and Hebei Imperial Guards to speed up their march towards Pingzhou. Perhaps they knew they could not hide their whereabouts, so they did not hide during the day and travel at night, but marched openly in the wilderness in broad daylight.

"It's quite rampant."

Looking at the military intelligence in his hand, Lu Bu snorted coldly. Yu Cheng and Xu Wen beside him looked at the information in his hand with curiosity on their faces.

Seeing their curiosity, Lu Bu handed them the military information and said, "Take a look." He ignored their gazes and said, "Order the front troops to speed up. Since the Song people have stretched out their hands, chop them off!"

An army of 15,000 infantry and cavalry will march forward in a mighty force, destroy those traitors, and deal with those wimps. By then, Jizhou will be recovered.

……

The stars faded, the moon set and the sun rose, and the troops from Pingzhou slowly walked into Zunhua. Ever since Xiao Gan raised the royal flag to rebel against Qi, the Xi people from various tribes who were unwilling to be ordinary gathered together, killed those who were loyal to Qi in the city, and replaced them with their own people. Now that the situation has been calmed down, they have obtained 6,000 troops.

Together with the more than 10,000 elite Xi people brought back by Xiao Gan, these rebels felt at ease. Now, looking at the large banner with the word "Song" flying high, many Xi officers who came to greet them looked at each other, giving each other looks that they could understand.

"Haha, General Zhang is indeed a trustworthy man. Sending reinforcements at this time is like rain in a drought, which solves my problem."

A resounding voice sounded from the front row. Xiao Gan stepped forward. The figure riding a warhorse under the banner quickly jumped down. Zhang Qing stepped forward and said, "My lord asked me to apologize on his behalf. Pingzhou is not peaceful right now. We have to guard against the Qi bandits attacking from the north and west. I ask the king to bear with me. I will thank you very much after we defeat the bandits. As for this, if the king does not think my ability is shallow, I am willing to cooperate with you to the fullest."

"General Zhang, please don't underestimate yourself." Xiao Gan stepped forward and pulled him, shaking his hand: "If you were not Zhang Xuanfu's favorite general, I would definitely want you to serve under me."

The two men spoke politely as they walked side by side into the city. Soldiers and horses behind them were marching with flags in hand. Many generals on horseback were looking around at Zunhua City, which was now under the rule of the Xi people. Suddenly, one of them reined in his horse and looked with surprise at a figure with his head lowered in the crowd.

After a while, he simply jumped off the horse, threw the reins to his personal guard, and walked into the crowd: "Mr. Cao, why are you here?"

The figure was Cao Mingji. He had been following the army since he surrendered to Xiao Gan, and he had no soldiers under his command. He didn't know what the King of Xi's intentions were, but seeing that the King didn't care about him, it was not bad either. He felt less anxious and secretly thought that he would not lose his life in the near future, but it was hard to say about the future.

He glanced left and right at the soldiers standing with spears in their hands, and sighed in his heart.

The best way to survive is to find a deserted place to escape, but there are always people following him, so there is nowhere to run and he might as well just accept his fate.

Today, because the troops from Pingzhou came to provide assistance, Xiao Gan brought the generals and officers from the city with him. He thought that as a surrendered general, he could hide away in peace, but he did not expect to be pulled out as well.

But he didn't want to come here in the first place, and he felt that he didn't have any acquaintances in Pingzhou, so he kept his head down and frowned, thinking about his own things. Suddenly, he heard someone calling him, and the voice was familiar, so he quickly looked up.

“Chu Mingyu!” Cao Mingji’s eyes widened, and he looked at the face in front of him as if he had seen a ghost: “Why are you here!?”

The person who had gone to the battle with him gave a bitter smile and said, "You are unlucky..." He looked him up and down and said, "I heard that you..." He looked at the people around him and shut up again.

"…bad luck." Cao Mingji forced out a smile that was no better than crying, and returned the words of his acquaintance. After thinking for a while, he spoke again: "Yelü Yudu also surrendered before."

"Uh...ah." Chu Mingyu thought for a moment and nodded: "I heard about it in the army before."

Cao Mingji watched the figures around him turn back to the city, and he also changed direction and signaled to the people behind him. The two walked side by side: "When you and Yelu Yudu returned to the capital, I thought I would meet you there, but I didn't know you were here."

Chu Mingyu walked side by side with him and glanced at him, perhaps looking for someone to talk to, and whispered: "The previous dynasty wanted to find someone to be held responsible for the defeat. Unfortunately, I was the lowest-ranking official among those who went to the battle, and was accused of not fighting well. If Yelu Yudu hadn't pleaded for me at the time, I'm afraid I would have been buried for many years."

"Then how did you..."

"I was demoted to the bottom and then kicked to Pingzhou to guard the seaport." Chu Mingyu shrugged. "Later, Zhang Xuanfu was appointed as the governor of Liaoxing Army. He found me during his inspection and transferred me to his side. Otherwise, I would have died in the previous attack of Qi navy or surrendered to Qi."

Cao Mingji opened his mouth and looked at him with a complicated expression. He didn't know what to say for a moment. After a long while, he exhaled a breath of white air in this frosty sky: "Let's go eat and drink."

Chu Mingyu nodded.

The cold wind blew, and the two people's figures became slender under the skylight.

……

In the middle of December, the gates of Miyun City were closed, and the people, soldiers, and defenders in the city were still in a state of tension and caution. There were still traces of the enemy's retreat on the fields below the city.

Han Shizhong and Wang De led their troops to harass the city and then retreated in an orderly manner. The generals and generals in Miyun City had already adapted to the situation. Some people believed that if the Qi army had not had fewer troops under the city and it was winter now, the city would have been breached long ago. The fact that they were still able to defend the city was all thanks to Changshengtian.

Every day, people in and outside the city were praying to Changshengtian. Generals like Alu and Gao Liuge were more concerned about what to do next. Han Shizhong and Wang De's retreat from the city had become a normal thing. Not only were they used to it, but the people in the city were also used to it. However, they also knew that Miyun, as a bridgehead, could not escape the arrival of the enemy's troops, and defending it was not a long-term solution.

The road to Jingzhou was guarded by Wang De and his cavalry, and Han Shizhong provoked them every day outside the city. If one wanted to escape from the city, he would probably be devoured by these two people along the way.

The whole situation was really not optimistic, so they had no choice but to send people on fast horses to Jingzhou, hoping that their king could find a solution.

At this time, A'lu had been sitting in the city wall. The warmth of the brazier allowed him to take off the iron helmet on his head, revealing his bald forehead. He kept rubbing his hands together, holding the reply letter from Xiao Gan that he had just received.

Seeing that he was silent, Gao Liuge just kept touching his head, feeling a little anxious, and couldn't help but stand up: "General, what did the letter say?"

"What else can I write?" A'lu was annoyed and threw the letter paper in his hand towards Brother Gao Liu.

wow——

Brother Gao Liu quickly grabbed the paper in his hand, looking at the black handwriting, and heard A Lu's voice in his ears: "Let's continue to guard here, the king will mobilize troops soon."

Brother Gao Liu raised his head and said, "But the thief Lu is not far from here. How can the king…"

"Stop talking." A'lu stood up and walked a few steps impatiently, then stopped and gritted his teeth: "Let the young and strong go up to the city wall to help defend it. We can't hesitate any longer."

"...young and strong." Brother Gao Liu smiled bitterly: "If this continues, I'm afraid that people in the city will stab us in the back."

"I can't worry about it. Lu Bu's army is moving fast." A'lu shook his head: "We don't know when the king will arrive. Let them get used to it in advance. If the king arrives a few days later, we won't lose the city immediately."

"That's true..."

There was a hint of helplessness mixed in with the soft sigh, weighing heavily on the person.

At the same time, more than a hundred miles west of Pingzhou, the night wind was whistling through the woods, and the bare branches were shaking occasionally. Patrolling soldiers walked through the dead branches and leaves, holding torches and walking through the desolate forest.

In the distance, tents were erected in the dark night. A general named Yang Keshi was drinking hot wine and then he shuddered.

"The order from the Grand Tutor tells us to hurry to Pingzhou day and night. I don't know what Liu is thinking. He usually follows the Grand Tutor like a dog, but now he is dawdling like a fool who is afraid of seeing a woman."

In front of the brazier, Yang Kesheng, who looked somewhat similar to Yang Keshi, was also drinking and complaining to his brother. His brother had always been known for his bravery in the army, and this time he was supporting Pingzhou as a vanguard.

"...Liu Yanqing is just lucky. He was like this in the past. He was brave when he followed Chief Steward Yao. After that, he ran faster than others in every battle."

Yang Keshi took a sip from the wine jar and stuffed a piece of dried meat into his mouth and chewed it. "This guy is just good at talking and has the trust of the Grand Master. Otherwise, he would have been thrown to Qiongzhou to absorb the miasma long ago."

Yang Kesheng stretched his legs and snorted twice, "We are so unlucky that we have to run around with such a cowardly guy. If there is danger, he will probably run away first like what happened under the city of Xijin Prefecture."

"A higher rank can crush a lower rank, so let's just bear with it for now." Yang Keshi looked at his brother's indignation and was silent for a moment: "Go back and tell the men under your command to treat this as an isolated army, so as not to be hurt when there is no support from the central army."

Yang Kesheng nodded as if he had agreed, took a sip of wine, ate two bites of meat, and then paused: "By the way, brother, a few days ago before we went to war, I saw a general named Zhao Mi from Hebei who was quite brave. Why don't we let the troops from Hebei move forward? If anything happens, maybe we can support each other."

"Hmm..." Yang Keshi tilted his head and pondered for a moment, then looked at his brother: "But is it the one selected in the military selection by the court in the fourth year of Zhenghe?"

The younger brother was stunned: "Brother, do you know this person?"

"How would I know?" Yang Keshi curled his lips. "It's just that there are many people coming from Hebei and Hedong this time, and many of them have conflicts with us. I heard that this person once beat up Ganyong from Fuyan Road."

"Yes, that's him." Yang Kesheng chuckled, "So my brother has heard of him too."

"...Okay." Yang Keshi nodded after thinking, "But the Hebei soldiers are not very good at fighting. Don't put all your attention on them. If a war breaks out, we don't know who will save whom."

"know."

The two brothers talked quietly, drank their wine, and then went to bed, completely unaware that a fierce battle was taking place in the place of origin of the troops they were talking about.

Ever since Tian Hu, Gao Tuoshan and others rebelled, the Song army, under the command of Liang Fangping, began to encircle and suppress these two daring groups.

Compared with Tian Hu's attack on each city and region, the officials in Bianliang were more worried that Gao Tuoshan would flee to the capital and cause trouble. Therefore, the main purpose of the eunuchs' dispatch of troops was to catch those who fled from Hebei and Shandong or drive them out of Hebei.

As for Tian Hu, with the army of Daming Prefecture blocking the way in the south, it seemed that he would not be able to attack the vicinity of Bianliang City for the time being.

It was just as he expected. Liu Guangshi brought Song Jiang and others back quickly from the north. Except for sleeping, they were on the road every day, and finally shortened the time by half.

At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, Song Jiang led his troops into Cizhou. The Wu'an City in the northwest only lasted two days before it was captured by Lu Junyi. Song Jiang then surrendered Tian Hu's soldiers in the city and marched eastward to capture Handan where Tian Biao was located.

In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, defending generals Shen Ji, Dong Cheng and others surrendered to Song Jiang. Tian Biao knew that he could not defend the city, so he led his troops to Luozhou at the risk of his life. Liu Guangshi then ordered Song Jiang to attack Luozhou, while he himself marched towards the south of Cizhou.

It was at this time that Lu Bu's army arrived at the city of Miyun.

(End of this chapter)