Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1209 New Year's Resolution, War Resumes

The sun was high in the sky when voices drifted in from outside the window.

Li Cheng struggled to open his eyes, lying on the bed staring blankly at the roof beam. After a while, he felt that it looked somewhat familiar, and then he remembered that he had been looking at this thing for two or three months, so it should be his room.

As he sat up slightly, a wave of dizziness washed over him, and he swayed. Li Cheng couldn't help but clutch his head and say, "Come...cough...someone come."

"Lang Jun."

The door opened, and a blast of cold air rushed in, making Li Cheng shiver. He looked up at the old servant who had come to Hejian with him: "...Water."

"Oh, oh." The old servant quickly found a rough porcelain bowl and poured him some water.

Ignoring the cold water, Li Cheng drank it down in one gulp and immediately shivered. He felt much better, but then a wave of hunger washed over him, and his limbs went weak: "Is there anything to eat?"

"Yes, it's been prepared for a long time."

The old servant ran out and soon brought in hot porridge. Li Cheng reached out and took it, slurping it down. He ate three bowls before feeling a bit stronger. He calmed himself down and asked, "Why am I so hungry? What happened yesterday?"

"You...don't remember?" The old servant opened his mouth and looked Li Cheng up and down.

Li Cheng frowned: "What do I remember?" He tried hard to recall, but the only image that came to mind was the laughing faces of Yao Gang and Lu Zhishen. He couldn't remember anything else. He steadied himself: "Was I drunk?"

"Yes." The old servant nodded.

Li Cheng opened his mouth, his eyes moved, and he looked at him again: "Were you brought back by someone?"

"Hmm." The old servant nodded blankly.

"Then why am I so hungry, as if I haven't eaten anything?" Li Cheng looked somewhat displeased. "Yesterday, at the year-end banquet, there were so many people, and His Majesty even held a feast... Oh, did I exhaust my strength by acting drunk?"

“Well… no.” The old servant shook his head slightly, and seeing Li Cheng frowning and deep in thought, he couldn’t help but say, “Well… young master, you were so drunk that you were unconscious before the banquet started yesterday, so you didn’t eat anything.”

"What?!"

Li Cheng suddenly stood up and pointed at himself: "I collapsed before the banquet even started? How is that possible? I used to be a regular at banquets in Daming Prefecture, and I always sat until the very end. How could I have collapsed so quickly?"

The old servant glanced at the excited figure, then lowered his head and said, "In the past, the soldiers would always give you some face, and you would only take a sip, and they wouldn't dare to force you. But yesterday was different..." He spread his hands and said, "If you didn't drink, they would force you to drink."

Li Cheng opened his mouth, muttered, "How could this be...", his back hunched slightly, and his voice was low: "Could it be that I was the only one who got drunk yesterday?"

"I have heard about this, little one." Seeing his expression, the old servant didn't know how to comfort him, so he told the truth: "I heard that four people collapsed before the banquet even started, and countless others got drunk during the banquet, but I don't know who they were."

Li Cheng blinked, straightened his back a bit, and said, "It's good that it's not just me: Bring me my clothes and help me put on my armor."

The old servant hurriedly went out.

The year-end has passed.

With Lü Bu and his family all there, the streets of Hejian were busier than in previous years. Many people from the surrounding area strolled around the streets, occasionally finding a teahouse or tavern to sit and drink tea, wine, and chat for a while.

A bustling crowd of pedestrians and peddlers weaved through the crowd when they heard the sound of a gong behind them, followed by shouts: "By order of the government, the streets are to be cleared, and pedestrians shall give way."

"What are you doing?"

"Never mind that for now, make way, quick!"

Pedestrians whispered among themselves, and those who were nearby quickly pulled others aside to avoid them. Teams of yamen runners ran over and stood on the street, while many curious onlookers stood there with their hands tucked in their sleeves, watching.

Before long, the sound of hooves could be heard, and a figure in iron armor rode past on a tall warhorse.

"What's going on? So many soldiers are entering the city."

"Don't tell me you're planning a southern expedition. Let me tell you, I'm from Xiongzhou. Around the twelfth lunar month, quite a few of our troops went south."

"Is this going to be a war..."

"The New Year has just passed, the ground is still frozen, and the snow hasn't melted yet, so it shouldn't be too bad yet, but I think it will be soon. The world is full of ups and downs, isn't it?"

Amidst the cacophony of whispered voices, a group of imposing generals rushed over. The hall where the banquet had been held the day before had been cleaned up. Dozens of figures entered the hall, looked at the geomantic map hanging high above, and then, led by the guards, took their seats.

"These are geomantic maps of the two routes in Hebei. It seems they intend to continue their conquest of Hebei."

"We now have Zhen Ding, Hejian, and Daming Prefecture in our hands. There are no more important towns in Hebei. Once we take over a few idle military prefectures, we will be separated from the Southern Dynasty by only the Yellow River. We can reach them at any time with just a small boat."

Inside the main hall, several generals huddled together, whispering. Zhang Rong, sitting on the side, looked left and right, and couldn't help but turn to the fair-skinned figure beside him: "I am Zhang Rong. May I ask the general's name?"

"Zhang Shun." Upon hearing the voice, the White-Striped Wave turned around, smiled at the somewhat nervous young man, and said, "I've heard of you. Are you under General Wei's command?"

"Yes." Zhang Rong nodded hurriedly, a delighted smile on his face, and said, "I've heard of your illustrious reputation, General. Besides the three Ruan brothers of Liangshan, you're second only to... uh..."

But then he remembered that the man in front of him had lost his elder brother.

Zhang Shun knew he was going to say it was the second Zhang, so he reached out and patted him: "Don't say that. Where do you put General Wei, General Li, and General Huyan?"

He sighed with some emotion: "The battlefield is different from the martial world; you must remember that."

Seeing that he wasn't angry, Zhang Rong felt relieved, nodded, and wanted to say something more.

Outside, Yu Cheng stepped in: "His Majesty has arrived!"

boom--

The hall fell silent instantly. The seated generals all stood up and watched as the man in the black and red robes strode in and sat down in the main seat.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

Below, the former Qi army generals, newly recruited generals, and surrendered generals all bowed and scraped. Lü Bu's gaze swept over them, pausing briefly on the surrendered generals Li Cheng, Cao Rong, Yang Jin, and Li Gui, his expression somewhat strange, before he waved his hand and said, "Please sit down, everyone."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

All the generals sat down. Lü Bu gestured for the geomantic map to be pushed forward, and Wei He walked over and pressed down the black and red chess pieces representing the forces of Qi and Song on the map.

"As you can see, Hebei, from Cangzhou in the east to Taiyuan in the west, has been captured by us. Shi Wengong, Mi Sheng, Wanyan Loushi, and Yang Zaixing attacked Luozhou last year, while Du Xue captured Fenzhou and Liaozhou south of Taiyuan."

After a pause, Lü Bu watched Wei He finish planting the flag in his hand before continuing, "Now, Hebei and the southern part of Hedong only have ten military prefectures left to form a contiguous area, which can exert a powerful influence over the capital region."

He tapped his finger lightly on the table and looked at the generals below: "I have already issued an edict to Jizhou and Youzhou to support this battlefield. More Zhechongfu commanders will be arriving with their troops soon."

Below, some clever generals couldn't help but straighten their backs and look at the main seat with shining eyes.

"I will give you three months to conquer these ten military prefectures before the summer of May." At this point, Lü Bu looked at Xi Sheng: "Du Xue will still be in charge of Hedong. He will arrange the battles of Weisheng Army, Longde Prefecture and Zezhou. You will lead the men to take Luozhou, Cizhou and Xiangzhou. Dong Ping, Huyan Zhuo, Pang Wanchun, Hua Rong and Cao Rong will be assigned to your command."

Xi Sheng stood up, bowed, and accepted the order. Lü Bu then looked at Bian Xiang: "You will lead your troops out of Daming Prefecture, capture Anli Army and Weizhou, and Han Chang, Yelü Ma Wu, Niu Gao, Li Cheng, Li Shixiong, Suo Chao, Li Bao, Zhang Shun, and Zhang Rong will be assigned to your command."

"Here!"

Lü Bu leaned back and said, "Go and prepare. After spring, I hope there will be no Song troops in Hebei."

"Death for His Majesty!"

The generals shouted excitedly, and Lu Bu gave a few more instructions before getting up and leaving.

The remaining generals, some with excitement and others with regret, followed the others out of the hall, mounted their warhorses in twos and threes, and headed towards the military camp outside the city.

Seeing this, the people on the street, looking at the many generals who were riding high, began to speculate, and opinions were divided. The speculation that troops would be dispatched became the mainstream view.

Zhang Rong walked back to the military camp outside the city with an excited expression, his face still flushed. Jia Hu and a few of his confidants were the first to greet him. Zheng Wo looked at his face and said, "Brother Rong, you went drinking again? The Emperor is quite particular; he provides a meal of wine every time you go."

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Zhang Rong couldn't help but reach out and slap him on the forehead, making the simpleton take a step back. He couldn't help but look at Jia Hu and the others and laugh: "Get ready, His Majesty has ordered the capture of several nearby military prefectures, and we are among those who will be sent to fight."

"real?!"

"So fast?"

Jia Hu and Meng Wei exclaimed in surprise, and Zhang Rong nodded: "We will go with General Bian Xiang, but the commanding officers should be Generals Li Bao and Zhang Shun."

"Where?"

“Anli Army and Weizhou.” Zhang Rong walked to the bedside and sat down, looking at several familiar faces, and said, “Today we only decided to send troops. As for how our navy will cooperate, it has not been said yet. Perhaps we will find out when we go to General Bian.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, "However, I suspect that we are probably coordinating with the cavalry and infantry to capture the city. Our main task is to block the river and prevent the Song army from crossing to provide support."

The group nodded slowly: "That's right."

……

In the ninth year of Jianwu, the new spring.

After a month of peace, the Qi and Song states resumed fighting. Relying on the grain reserves seized from Song cities and the compensation received from Bianliang last year, the Qi army launched attacks on three fronts.

Du Xue and Sun An ordered Yu Dajiang to lead 3,000 troops to guard Fenzhou, and also ordered Wang Bolong, Zhao Li, Dong Xian and Jing Chao to lead the vanguard to attack Weisheng Army in the south. Meanwhile, Yuan Lang, Feng Tai and Aliqi led a detachment to march southeast from Liaodong to Longde Prefecture.

The Hedong region was thrown into chaos. The Weisheng Army, short of soldiers and generals, could not hold out for more than five days before raising a white flag to the Qi army below the city. The four generals who had won the victory did not rest and drove the surrendered Song army of Weisheng Army to continue south.

When Yao Gu was defeated, he was recalled to Bianliang. The general who succeeded him, Xie Qian, led the troops left behind by the former general and fought hard for half a month. However, the army had just suffered a defeat, and no matter how much money and official positions he offered, he could not regain his former courage.

Soon after, Wang Bolong, Zhao Li, Dong Xian, Aliqi and others broke through the city, and he led the remaining troops to retreat to Huguan, hoping to use the strategic pass to block the Qi army from continuing south.

Unfortunately, Yuan Lang, Feng Tai, and Jing Chao had already persuaded the garrison at this pass to surrender, preventing Jie Qian's troops from entering. They could only flee eastward, pursued by Feng Tai all the way, and disappeared into the Taihang Mountains.

In Hebei to the east, Xi Sheng and Bian Xiang launched their campaigns almost simultaneously.

Just as Zhang Rong had predicted, Li Bao, along with Zhang Shun and his navy, blocked the river, while Bian Xiang, with Yelü Ma Wu and Niu Gao's cavalry, swept away the Song army outside the city.

Li Cheng, Li Shixiong, and Suo Chao, three surrendered generals from Daming Prefecture, led a group of surrendered soldiers from Daming Prefecture in a fierce attack on the city.

These surrendered soldiers had a very comfortable winter. Many of them had earned titles for their merits during the previous attack on Bianliang, and the generous rewards made many of their former comrades envious.

At the start of the battle, they charged towards the city walls with such enthusiasm that it stunned the Qi army, which was already on guard against the Qi army's southward advance.

The city of Liyang alone had 15,000 soldiers, and all kinds of defensive weapons were readily available. The generals and officials, fearing that the soldiers would not be able to defend the city well, also spent a lot of money in accordance with the orders of Li Gang in the court.

Fifteen days later, the city was captured by surrendered Song soldiers who were eager for military merit. The general defending Liyang refused to believe that the attackers were his former comrades-in-arms.

Xi Sheng's side was much the same as Bian Xiang's side, except that Dong Ping and Hu Yanzhuo had been holding back in the rear for too long. Once Xi Sheng released them, they were like wild horses that had broken free of their reins, crushing several armies along the way and charging fiercely to the walls of Handan.

Relying on his superior horsemanship and swift horse, Dong Ping stormed into the city before the gates were fully closed, causing chaos. When his cavalry and Huyan Zhuo charged in from behind, the generals guarding Handan lost all hope, bound the city officials, and surrendered with a white flag raised.

These battle reports were all sent to Xiangzhou by express courier and placed on Zhao Gou's desk.

"After the defeat at Liyang, the Song army advanced into Weixian, where the troops numbered less than three thousand..."

wow——

The papers are turned over.

"The entire city of Handan has surrendered, and the vanguard of the Qi army is marching relentlessly towards Fuyang..."

The fingers holding the battle report loosened, and the report fluttered to the ground.

"This..." Zhao Gou murmured, his legs going weak. He took two steps back and plopped down in a chair. His lips trembled as he finally managed to utter, "Surrounded by two sides, this is going to kill me!"

“Your Highness…” Wang Boyan stepped forward, and a “whoosh” sound came from below. He looked down, bent down and picked up two battle reports, placing them on the table: “Your Highness, do not be alarmed. The Qi army has not yet reached my Xiangzhou.”

"How could I not know?" Zhao Gou glanced at him with a bitter smile, then lowered his head and said weakly, "It was only a matter of time. The Qi army will move in two directions. Once Cizhou and Anli are captured, they can attack Xiangzhou from both sides. At that time, our 20,000 men will not be able to make any waves."

"not necessarily."

Wang Boyan uttered two words, and Zhao Gou couldn't help but hum "Hmm?" and look up at him.

"I would like to ask Your Highness first whether you are willing to give up the position of Marshal of the Hebei Army."

Zhao Gou stared intently at the man's lips as they moved, and after a long while, he said, "Hebei is almost gone. What is there for me, the commander-in-chief of the army, to give up? If I were to give up the Qi Kingdom, would I leave it to you?"

"Your Highness misspoke," Wang Boyan said lightly, then bent down and whispered in Zhao Gou's ear, "Since Your Highness doesn't care about this military marshal position, why don't you leave?"

Zhao Gou blinked, then suddenly stood up: "Yes, it's me who's gone mad." He spun around twice, then suddenly grabbed Tingjun's sleeve: "Since Tingjun says so, he must have an idea. Where do you think we should go?"

Wang Boyan glanced outside with unease, then whispered, "Your Highness, the current situation is unfavorable. The Qi army's southward advance will surely be more ferocious than last year. If we head towards Bianliang, we might be safe, but something unspeakable might happen. In that case, you might have to be loyal to the Emperor and the Retired Emperor. Do you want to take a gamble?"

Zhao Gou released his hand from his sleeve, hesitated for a couple of steps before turning around: "This is not advisable. This matter is too dangerous. There is a high chance of losing the gamble. This is something a wise person would not do."

Then his eyes flashed: "Besides, I had a dream a few days ago in which the Emperor took off his imperial robe and bestowed it upon me, and I took off my clothes and put on the robe he had given me."

He paused, then looked at the person opposite him, whose eyes widened and lit up: "It would be better to find another plan."

"Then there's only one option left. We can either head south to Weizhou and wait and see what happens, or we can cross the Yellow River and move east to find a safe place to continue recruiting soldiers."

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Gou ordered: "Gather the troops and cross the river immediately!"

(End of this chapter)