Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Late twelfth lunar month.

The night gradually enveloped the sky and the earth. Lights were lit up in Zunhua City. Wind-killing lanterns were hung on wooden poles in the streets. Patrolling soldiers holding lanterns walked through the streets. An atmosphere of tension and panic spread in the city.

In preparation for the upcoming war, the streets in the city have been cleared, patrols on the city walls have been stepped up, and soldiers on duty occasionally whisper to each other, their expressions hidden in the dark and unable to be seen clearly.

Some acquaintances would gather together before curfew, close the door and drink opposite each other.

"...You're still alive." "...You're not dead either?"

Under the dim light, Chu Mingyu and Cao Mingji spoke at the same time, looked at each other, and laughed dryly at the same time: "That's not what I meant..." x2
Chu Mingyu: “…”

Cao Mingji: “…”

The two generals, who used to be generals in the same dynasty and were now living under the protection of others, stared at each other for a while, then closed their mouths at the same time and twisted their toes in their leather boots.

The wine vessel placed on the charcoal fire made a gurgling sound, and the aroma of wine wafted out. The two people who were at a loss for words suddenly had a topic to talk about. Cao Mingji reached out and picked up the wooden handle, and brought the wine pot to the mouth of the bowl opposite. The muscles on his face twitched: "...This is Sanliang wine brewed by the Xi people in the city. It is said to taste good. Brother Chu, try it."

"Sanliang wine is good, hahaha, um..." Chu Mingyu stretched out his palms and rubbed them on his legs, nodded: "Sanliang wine is good... It's really good."

"I think so too..."

Cao Mingji had a wooden face. He poured the other person's cup and filled it up for himself. He raised his cup and moved his lips a few times before squeezing out a sentence: "...Drink one."

Chu Mingyu quickly picked up the glass and clinked it with the other party, then drank it all in one gulp. Cao Mingji on the opposite side then picked up the glass and filled it up for him. The two of them didn't eat anything, so they just drank five bowls of wine, then each of them sighed.

"Xiao Gan was defeated. Although I was saved from that deadly place by him, I ended up in a dead city again." Cao Mingji reached out and tore off the chicken leg on the table, took two bites, and stared at the silent acquaintance: "Brother Chu, why did you run back to this city again?"

"...It's not that I wanted to come back. I ran into the remnants of Xiao Gan on the way and was brought back." Chu Mingyu said in a muffled voice. He felt depressed. He tore a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth while pouring wine. "Damn it, I want to run but I have two less legs than them. I can't even walk."

He drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp, threw it on the table, and watched the bowl spinning: "Brother Cao, let me tell you something from the bottom of my heart. We can't defend the city with the troops in the city. Do you have any idea?"

"...Ideas, what ideas?" Cao Mingji lowered his head slightly, staring at the wine bowl that was gradually stagnating. "I killed the governor of Danzhou who surrendered, but I want to rebel back..."

He opened his mouth and bit the chicken leg into two pieces, chewed the chicken bones hard, and spat on the table: "Will Qi State accept me?" He slammed his head against the back of the wooden chair, staring at the beams with lifeless eyes: "I'm dead, and you're almost dead, brother Chu. Zhang Jue rebelled, Qi State will not let him go, and you're probably on Qi State's list too."

Chu Mingyu silently poured wine for the two of them. Cao Mingji didn't even look at her. He touched the table twice, grabbed the bowl and poured it into his mouth.

"There is a way to survive." Chu Mingyu held the wine and looked at the somewhat decadent figure opposite him. He gradually moved closer to his mouth, touched it, and covered his eyes with the tilted bowl.

"...What do you mean?" Cao Mingji sat slumped and looked across.

"It doesn't necessarily mean death."

Chu Mingyu wiped the wine stains off his lips, put down the wine bowl, and smiled: "This time, I changed into a soldier's clothes and escaped. Brother Cao can do the same. Can the Qi army see who you are one by one?"

Cao Mingji lay there with his eyes rolling around, then suddenly sat up and slapped his thigh, "Come on, I'm not a god, how can everyone in the world know me? I'll change my clothes and hide among the soldiers, and then surrender with the remaining troops. No one will know who I am. I'll just have to think of a way to escape when I'm in a safe place!"

Then he looked at Chu Mingyu with shining eyes: "Brother Chu, how many soldiers are there in Pingzhou this time?"

Chu Mingyu thought for a moment and said, "It should be enough to defend one wall. Even if Xiao Gan doesn't give one wall to the Pingzhou soldiers, there will still be a section."

The man immediately stood up and bowed to the ground: "I will try to get closer to my brother. I will leave everything to you, Brother Chu."

Chu Mingyu nodded slowly: "It should be."

The figure sat down and the sound of toasting to toast was heard.

……

Time passed in the tense waiting, and in just one night, a large number of dark figures appeared at the junction of heaven and earth.

Dangdangdang——

The sound of the golden bell sounded, and Xiao Gan suddenly pushed open the door of the room: "What's going on? Is the Qi army attacking?"

The guards looked at each other and shook their heads in confusion. Xiao Gan looked uneasy: "Quick, put on my armor first."

Several guards hurried in after receiving the order. Just as they put on their capes, they heard footsteps outside: "Your Majesty, the Qi army is attacking."

The person in the room slowed down his hand for a moment, then hurriedly quickened his pace. A moment later, Xiao Gan was fully armed, holding an iron knife and ran out quickly. He mounted his warhorse and ran to the city wall.

The black torrent spread towards Zunhua City, and the wall bricks underfoot seemed to tremble slightly.

The wind blew through the flags on the city wall, making a sound of cloth fluttering. Under the winter sky, cavalrymen galloped over at lightning speed, and the black and red flag of Qi State came into view.

"Order each camp to defend the city walls according to what was agreed upon before the battle."

Xiao Gan, standing behind the parapet, had a blank expression on his face. "Tell Xiao Dili to bring more stones and battering rams to the top of the city walls. From now on, we must prioritize defeating the Qi army."

Figures on the city wall were running back and forth, and soldiers entered their defensive positions with expressionless faces. The generals shouted, and the archers, carrying their quivers, ran to the rear, regardless of the bouncing white-feathered arrows in them.

The war drums beat out a warning beat, which echoed with the horns sounding outside and spread throughout the city.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to lead the troops to charge once." Bai Yanjing stepped forward and spoke in a deep voice, pressing the hilt of his sword. Several rough-looking Xi generals behind him bowed and asked at the same time: "I am also willing to go out of the city and fight."

"No." Xiao Gan refused without thinking: "The number of our troops has been greatly reduced. It is too dangerous to go out of the city for a field battle. There are many Han soldiers in the city from Pingzhou. They are good at defending the city. It is better for us to hold on in the city at this time."

Bai Yanjing stepped forward, clasped his fists, and tried to persuade him: "Your Majesty, but our soldiers are used to fighting outside. If we are trapped in the city, we can only exert 40% of our strength, even if the immortal heaven opens its eyes."

The other generals also tried to persuade him, but Xiao Gan just shook his head and refused. He waved his hand impatiently and said, "Okay, I will make the decision on this matter. You don't need to say anything more."

The Xi generals looked at each other and accepted the order dejectedly: "Yes, we'll take our leave." Xiao Gan swept his eyes over them and then looked outside the city. On the field, yellow soil raised by the galloping war horses fell down. Siege equipment was moving between the square formations. Vehicles carrying war drums were lined up in a row. Powerful drum beats were sounded, and the sound of horns was blown in the army. The formation slowly changed.

Dust splashed under his feet, and the cold and hard ground made a roaring sound when it came into contact with his leather boots. A moment later, behind a large blood-red flag, the flags of "Lin" and "Tang" fluttered, and a figure wearing heavy armor walked forward.

"The Qi army is trapped in the camp..."

Xiao Gan took a breath and watched the flag representing the Right Guard move. He then drew the long sword from his waist and raised it high: "My fellow soldiers, this is a matter of life and death for the Xi people. I declare that anyone who kills one enemy will be rewarded with ten taels of silver, and anyone who kills a general will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver, and will be awarded the title of Jiedushi! Kill—"

"kill--"

……

The cold wind blew through the battlefield. Lü Bu sat on his Red Hare and vaguely heard the roars from the top of the city. He exhaled a breath of white air and said, "You are still quite energetic." He stared at the city wall and said, "Pass the order. All troops, move forward and destroy this beast."

Dong dong, dong dong——

The sound of the drums changed, and the passionate sound made the generals in the front turn their heads and draw their swords: "Attack--"

boom--

The soldiers in the army all slammed their weapons on the ground, causing dust to float on the surface. Then they walked forward silently, and the reflections of the weapons from below were reflected in the eyes of the figures on the city wall.

Stone bullets, crossbows, bows and arrows, and rockets were thrown towards the top of the city one after another. Arrows and crossbows were also fired back from above. Blood and screams gradually became the main theme between heaven and earth.

Lu Bu watched coldly as the soldiers of his own army climbed up the city wall. The shouts of fighting rang out. People kept falling from great heights, hitting the ground in a bloody mess. There were also black figures slashing desperately on the top of the city wall. A bloody face suddenly fell on the parapet, with a scar extending from the top of the head to the chin, and even the iron helmet on his head had a gap.

More footsteps stepped over the pool of blood and climbed up the ladders. A figure in heavy armor, led by two figures holding spears, walked into the siege tower, climbed up the creaking wooden ladders, and jumped onto the top of the city wall on hard wooden boards.

"Boring." White hot air floated from his lips, and Lu Bu lowered his eyes to look at the top of the city wall: "Send a message to Wang De, appoint him as the main general, and Yelu Ma Wu and Wanyan Huo Nu as deputy generals, and lead the troops to guard the retreat route of Zunhua City for me."

A messenger rushed away.

Lu Bu glanced at the top of the city wall again. The climbing figures had rarely fallen down. The surging black gradually covered the city wall, and everything was plunged into bloodshed.

Xu Wen shook his arm holding the knife. There were several spears on the ground that he had cut off. There were figures fighting all around him. Blood was spilled with the dancing of weapons. A few feet ahead of him, the Pingzhou soldiers were retreating.

Not long ago, Bai Yanjing, the defending general under Xiao Gan, was resisting the offensive here with his personal soldiers, but was attacked by the soldiers of Zuo Wuwei led by Xiao Gan. After several rounds of fighting, the enemy could not resist and retreated first. However, although the troops of Zunhua were in a slump, they had not yet been defeated.

"Go ahead and kill the guards over there. They are just converted Liao soldiers, and they are all cowards who are greedy for life and afraid of death."

Xu Wen shook off the blood on his knife, gathered the soldiers around him and shouted loudly. At the same time, Chu Mingyu also saw him, kicked away a Qi soldier who was approaching him, and retreated with his bodyguards.

Along the way, someone lifted a battering ram onto the parapet, but he didn't even look at it. He ran straight past it, turned his head to see Xu Wen fighting with the soldiers on the top of the city wall, took a breath, and quickly ran to another section of the city.

The black-armored crowd was colliding fiercely with the array on the top of the city wall. The cold light of the sword pierced into people's bodies. Shouts, screams, body parts and dead bodies were all concentrated on this section of the city wall.

Cao Mingji swung the weapon in his hand fiercely, knocking the approaching enemy away. He turned his burly body and scanned the surroundings. Seeing Chu Mingyu running over, his eyes lit up. He quickly swung his sword to chop away the approaching figure and rushed over in a few steps: "Brother Chu, hurry up, find a place for me to change clothes."

"Okay." Chu Mingyu nodded without saying anything more, and swung the knife in his hand to the right: "That's where the city wall goes down, let's go over there."

Cao Mingji was anxious, so he quickly turned around and started to run. "Bang!" he bumped into Chu Mingyu's personal soldiers. He staggered backward without checking and raised his hand, "Hey? Don't you have eyes?" he shouted.

A fierce wind blew from the right, and Cao Mingji's eyes were still on the guard. "Puff--" his head flew up at an angle, and the gushing hot blood splashed on the face of the guard who was blocking the way.

thump—

The head with the iron helmet rolled on the ground a few times and then stopped.

Chu Mingyu lowered the iron knife in his hand, and drops of blood fell on the ground and splashed. He walked to stand in front of Cao Mingji, bent down and grabbed his head in his hands. Looking at the stunned expression on his face, he murmured, "There is a way to survive. The hope lies in you, Brother Cao."

The fighting on the city wall did not stop because of the death of one person. Xu Wen swept the sword in his hand across the man's face. In a flash of light, the part above the mouth of the Pingzhou soldier flew into the air, and he fell down spurting blood.

When Chu Mingyu turned around, the bloody Right Guard soldiers were only four or five feet away from him.

"Hiss—" He took a deep breath, and quickly raised Cao Mingji's head high, facing the fierce generals who were charging over: "We surrender. This is the head of Cao Mingji, the traitorous general of Qi. I hope the general will understand!"

"We surrender, this is..."

The personal soldiers beside him shouted together, and the sound shook the city walls. Countless eyes looked over, and then the shouting and killing sounded again. The Pingzhou and Xi soldiers who had been stunned just now fell to the ground one after another.

Xu Wen pulled out the long knife that had stabbed into the enemy's abdomen, letting the blood splatter on the armor on his legs. He walked over and looked into Chu Mingyu's eyes, then glanced at the head in his hand, pointed at him with his knife and said, "You'd better not lie to me, or I'll put your head next to his."

Chu Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her head quickly: "I dare not."

The sun shone down from the horizon and turned to the west. It was already past noon and Lu Bu no longer stared at the city wall. He originally thought that the attack and defense would last at least a day, but the outcome would be decided in just one or two hours. He overestimated the morale and military spirit of the soldiers in the city.

Yu Cheng, Wei He and others beside him also guarded him and did not leave: "Your Majesty, it seems that this city will be captured soon. Perhaps we can end this war in the spring of next year."

"I wish so. The war has lasted for a long time this year."

Lu Bu smiled and was about to continue speaking when a fast horse with three small red flags on it came from the west. It was led over here by the soldiers of the Zuowu Guard and handed over the information in his hands: the two-pronged attack of the Song army on Liangxiang had been defeated, and the Zhaowu Captain Chen Yun was killed in the battle.

"Chen Yun..." Lu Bu clenched his hands tightly, and the paper in his hand made a slight sound.

"Your Majesty?" Yu Cheng and Wei He looked at each other, both with a bad premonition in their eyes: "What happened to General Chen Yun?"

"...dead." Lu Bu closed his eyes, then opened them again, glancing at Zunhua City with a slightly angry look: "Send a message to the generals attacking the city, I want Xiao Gan alive." (End of this chapter)