Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

In the early autumn of the year Ji Si, Qingliu.

The sweltering sunlight shone outside. Liu Guangshi sat in the hall, shirtless, pouring wine from a chilled jug. In the bright light outside, servants in coarse clothes were carrying a wooden box toward him.

Soon, more than twenty wooden crates were neatly arranged on the bluestone bricks of the hall.

Liu Guangshi stood up and waved his hand. The servants, who had worked hard all day, wiped the sweat from their foreheads and left.

This military commander, who came from a prominent family, stood up. It was unclear how much he had drunk, but he swayed and staggered over to the wooden box. He held the wine jug in one hand and lifted the lid of the box with the other.

Snapped--

The lid of the box opened wide, making a soft sound.

In my line of sight, a box full of copper coins, emitting a metallic stench, assaulted my senses.

"Hehehe..."

Liu Guangshi swayed as he stood up, raised the wine jug high, tilted his head back, and with a flick of his wrist, the crystal-clear wine poured from the spout into his mouth.

Hua Hua——

The liquor quickly accumulated in his mouth. Liu Guangshi stopped, swallowed the liquor with a "hmm!", took a step forward, bent down and suddenly opened another box.

Snapped--

The coins came into view.

"Gudu!"

Liu Guangshi took a sip of wine from the spout, humming a wild, off-key tune as he walked forward, opening one bottle at a time and taking another sip. Though his body swayed constantly as he turned, his steps remained steady.

The wooden boxes were opened one by one, and more than half of them were filled with copper coins, while a small portion of the boxes gleamed with the light of silver in the sunlight.

"belch--"

Letting out a loud burp, Liu Guangshi raised the wine jug with a strange smile and took a sip. Then he frowned, opened the lid, closed one eye to look inside, opened his mouth, and raised his hand to his mouth, emptying the air.

"Damn it..." Liu Guangshi put down his hand reluctantly, straightened his back, and turned his head: "Finished drinking." He hummed a little tune as he walked towards his table.

As dusk fell, fiery clouds lit up the sky, and a cool breeze blew from the courtyard into the house. The figure who had opened all the wooden boxes was still sitting at the table, pouring himself a drink, humming a tune and laughing out loud every now and then.

Two bodyguards ran in from outside, their foreheads covered in sweat in the sunlight. Seeing him drinking and humming a tune, they quickly stepped forward to greet him: "General, the latest battle report is that the northern bandits have attacked from Sizhou."

Liu Guangshi was smiling broadly as he poured wine from the wine pot.

He'd had a bit too much to drink today, and his hearing was a little dull. His gaze was unfocused as he looked over: "Huh? What did you say?"

"The northern bandits are attacking from Sizhou! Their vanguard is already near Baita Town!"

The raised voice echoed in the room, startling the figure pouring the wine. Liu Guangshi looked up and stared intently at him: "What?!"

"General, the northern bandits are attacking! What should we do?"

Hua Hua——

The liquor overflowed from the bowl and quickly flowed across the table. Liu Guangshi exclaimed "Hey!" and stood up, knocking over the chair behind him. One of his legs was covered in liquor stains.

With his eyes wide open from drunkenness, the man didn't care that his pants were wet. He took a step, his legs went weak, and he almost knelt down. He quickly reached out to hold onto the table.

Clang—

The dishes on the table clattered and rattled, and the soup and oil from the roasted meat instantly covered his arms and waist. Liu Guangshi was oblivious, staggering forward and grabbing the messenger with his large hand covered in soup and oil. He pointed at him with his other index finger, reeking of alcohol: "You...you bastard...say it again!"

The man glanced at Liu Guangshi's dirty hands with a look of utter despair, and, suppressing his discomfort, asked, "General, the Qi army is attacking! What should we do?"

"What...what should we do..." Liu Guangshi stared at him unsteadily, as if he felt uncomfortable. He shook his head involuntarily, straightened up, and swayed a couple of times.

"Ugh... Ugh..."

The foul-smelling vomit sprayed onto the man's chest.

A warm, moist sensation instantly spread across his chest, and the person opposite him closed his eyes in despair.

The personal guard who had come to inform the general immediately stepped to his left, looking at the general who was vomiting with disgust. He then took a big step to the side, looking away from the two men. After looking at them for a while, he felt like vomiting.

"Um……"

After vomiting, Liu Guangshi wiped his mouth, staggered, lost his balance, and fell backward. He muttered something, clutched his chest, and tried to open his eyes, but they were only a slit.

"..." The guard, covered in vomit, was too exhausted to speak. He closed his eyes and trembled uncontrollably.

Another guard, trying not to look at his comrade who was dripping wet, stepped forward to check on Liu Guangshi and attempted to call out, "General, please give the order... General, General?"

Thump—

Thump—

The sound of snoring reached their ears.

The guard clapped his hands and said, "Well, this gentleman is drunk and asleep."

"Never mind him, help..." A weak voice came from behind. The person covered in the stench barely opened their eyes, only to find the pungent smell equally assaulting their eyes: "Quickly find me a place to wash up!"

The other person glanced back at him with a disgusted expression: "Go find a place to wash yourself. When you're about to die, who cares if you're clean or not?"

"You forced me to do this!"

"What are you doing? Don't come any closer! Ah!! Stop! Stop! Stop there! I'm going to get you some water!"

The sounds of chickens running and dogs barking filled the room. Liu Guangshi seemed to find it noisy, turned over, mumbled something indistinctly, and continued to sleep on the cold, hard floor.

However, the Qi army was advancing south and their invasion was very urgent. In such a critical moment, how could anyone dare to let him fall into a deep sleep? The two men went out to wash up and then came back to call a few more people.

Wiping his face with wet water and smoking him with smoke, the only thing that made the sleeping Liu Erlang mumble a few words was that he showed no signs of waking up.

The guards who were about to take action were really anxious. Several blisters had appeared on their lips. They looked at each other and finally the head guard gritted his teeth and stamped his foot: "Bring ice, soak it in the well water, and splash it to wake the general up."

Upon hearing his words, the others hurriedly went to do so, and in a short time they had prepared the necessary items. The head of the guards stepped forward personally, hesitated for a moment, and first immersed Liu Guangshi's hands in a basin full of crushed ice.

Although the man was dreaming, he was still conscious. He tried to pull his hand away, but the guard held him down and he could not move. Then he slowly stopped moving.

"Damn..."

The man looked at the fast-sleeping Liu Guangshi and released his grip on his arm: "Whoosh! Whoosh! Quickly wake the general."

wow——

wow——

wow——

"Whoa—" After three basins of ice water were poured over him, Liu Guangshi sat up with a start, crossed his arms, sneezed violently, and glared angrily: "Who? Who did this!"

The guards looked embarrassed, and their leader stepped forward: "General, the Qi army has entered our Chuzhou. They could reach Qingliu in three to five days at most. What should we do?"

Liu Guangshi's eyes widened immediately: "The Qi army is here?!" He jumped up and stared intently at him: "When did this happen?"

"In the evening, I was informed that the general had drunk wine and fallen asleep."

Liu Guangshi's face darkened: "What time is it now?"

"By the end of the hour of You (5-7 PM), the general had already slept for an hour and a half."

Liu Guangshi's expression changed drastically, and with a slap, he slapped the head of his personal guards across the face: "Why are you only waking me up now!"

"This...we..." The head of the guards looked aggrieved, thinking to himself, "You're sleeping like a log, you won't wake up no matter how much I call you, who can I blame?"

But he and no one else dared to say this.

"Never mind, never mind." Liu Guangshi looked panicked and didn't have time to get angry. "Quickly pack your things and come with me to..."

He paused for a moment, then said, "No, Hezhou is too close to Luzhou, we can't go there. Come with me across the river, we'll go to Liuhe City and cross the river from Guabu Town."

The group of men, having received their orders, dared not neglect their duties. They packed up the money and treasures that Liu Guangshi had plundered into trucks overnight, filling up to fifty carts, and finally finished at dawn.

Immediately, the pacification commissioner stationed in Chuzhou issued an order for the troops to assemble. His troops were a mixed bag, mostly bandits and outlaws who had surrendered. Upon hearing that they were leaving, many generals immediately led their men into the city's residences, looted the houses, and then went outside the city to assemble.

Liu Guangshi, however, could not wait for all 50,000 of his troops to arrive. He immediately led more than 30,000 men in a disheveled escape, preparing to cross the Laishui River to the east and head towards Zhenzhou.

……

Xi Sheng's vanguard, Jing Chao, rushed all the way. The garrison of Baita Town numbered only five hundred. Upon seeing the Qi army charging in, they said nothing. The officials left the city, and the garrison surrendered the small city to the vanguard general who was anxious to get on his way.

Jing Chao was overjoyed. He left 300 men to guard the place and led his 2,500 troops toward Qingliu. As soon as they arrived, they saw that the city's four gates were wide open.

He was also audacious, and immediately ordered his troops to seize the city gates. Upon entering the city, they saw groups of Song soldiers looting civilian homes.

Although he did not know what had happened, it was a fact that Liu Guangshi's army had disappeared. After a moment's thought, this general, who had once served in the Imperial Guards, immediately led his troops into the city to quell the rebellion.

The common people of Qingliu were suffering terribly, but when they saw the Qi army entering the city and actually helping them, they were immediately energized. In no time, the Song army in the city became a target of universal condemnation.

It was two hours later before the riots in the city subsided and reinforcements from Shan Shiqi and Wang Bolong arrived.

"Liu Guangshi ran away?"

“I’m a little late.” Jing Chao shook his head regretfully as he looked at his two arriving colleagues. “When I arrived, Liu Guangshi’s troops outside the city had already disappeared. I don’t know where they are either. I can only enter the city first to quell the rebellion.”

Shan Shiqi and Wang Bolong sighed in unison: "That old fellow is lucky. It's all good. He was prepared for a bloody battle, but now he has this place for nothing. Let's see what the Song army in Luzhou can do."

The three immediately sent a message to the central army behind them. After discussing it amongst themselves, they decided that Jing Chao's troops would rest here for a day due to the hardships of their rapid march. Wang Bolong and Shan Shiqi's troops would become the vanguard and head straight for Quanjiao County.

After a day of marching and half a day of attacking the city, the garrison in Quanjiao surrendered. Wang Bolong and Shan Shiqi then dispatched all their cavalry to block the news of Chuzhou's fall.

The rear of Luzhou was officially opened to the Qi army.

In the latter part of early autumn, on the day of Ji Chou.

After clearing out the garrison along the Chuzhou-Hefei line, the Qi army's central route force of over 60,000 troops occupied Yong'an Town in northeastern Hefei. The main force of the army, led by Wang Bolong, Di Lei, Shan Shiqi, and Ma Ling, moved towards Hefei to encircle it, while Xi Sheng began to deploy defenses along the Fei River in southern Hefei in an attempt to completely block the Song army's retreat.

Since last month, the Qi army has been using the speed advantage of its cavalry to hunt down scouts and intelligence agents around the Song army. While this hasn't rendered Liu Qi and his men blind and deaf, it has slowed down their ability to obtain information.

The news of Shucheng's fall was only received three days later, but by then it was too late. They could only watch helplessly as Lü Bu led a thousand Right Guard Iron Cavalry back to the central army. The three generals in the army could do nothing but feel annoyed that the monarch, known for his bravery and straightforwardness, had used a substitute and gone to supervise the battle from the flank.

This time, the Hefei troops only learned of the incident two days later, and everyone in the army who heard the news gasped in shock.

"...You two should prepare to break out." Liu Qi looked somewhat sad. In this battle, three capable generals were killed and nearly 20,000 troops were lost, of which 30% died in battle and more than a thousand could no longer go to the battlefield: "I have the responsibility to defend the land and hold back the Qi Emperor in front of you two."

Yue Fei and Li Qiong also looked grim. Upon hearing this, they swallowed their words of advice. After a long while, the former took a breath and said, "If we retreat now, the entire north bank of the Yangtze River will fall into enemy hands. If we want to cross the river again, we will have to pay an even greater price."

Li Qiong's lips twitched as he listened to Liu Qi say, "If you don't retreat now, once the banks of the Fei River are filled with Qi troops, you won't even be able to return to Jiangnan."

"General Liu, there's no need to fight to the death here. There aren't many soldiers as skilled as you in the army right now. I hope you will prioritize the court and cherish your own life. Send word to the Chaohu navy to come and meet us, and we can retreat back to Jiangnan together." Yue Fei's gaze was calm as he turned to look outside. "I just wonder where the Qi army's troops that crossed the river have gone."

Liu Qi didn't pick up on the previous point about withdrawing troops. After a few moments of silence, he slowly said, "Nowhere will this be good news..."

The sound of cicadas echoed in her ears. Li Qiong looked at the two of them, her expression shifting for a long time before finally speaking: "What does the military intelligence say about General Liu?"

It turns out that Liu Qi and Liu Guangshi both shared the surname Liu. Their armies from the three prefectures were close together, and the generals in the army would often mention each other. Liu Guangshi was also older than Liu Qi, so he was called General Liu the Elder.

Yue Fei frowned and lowered his eyes slightly.

Liu Qi gave Li Qiong a strange look, which made the general feel uneasy. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke: "Military intelligence reports that General Liu Guangshi has not engaged the Qi army and has already led his troops away without a trace. I believe..."

Gumbling—

Li Qiong's heart sank suddenly. He paused for a moment and couldn't help but swallow hard. He heard the other person's voice: "Or they have already crossed the river before us."

The listener's heart sank.

……

at the same time.

The summer cicadas chirped restlessly in Lin'an, the scorching sun shone on the earth, and the ground, which had just rained, was filled with steam, enveloping the city like a steamer.

Some time ago, fast horses from the west and north rushed into the city, and battle reports poured into the Privy Council like snowflakes. Wang Boyan and Huang Qianshan looked at each other, wanting not to report, but not daring to wait for the Qi army to cross the river in full force. After hesitating for several days, they finally presented the situation to Zhao Gou today.

"Tian Shizhong has been defeated, and Hailing is requesting reinforcements..."

"Zhang Jun's reinforcements have been defeated, and they are retreating..."

"Xuyi is besieged, pleading for help..."

"The Qi army's western route, led by Lü Bu, is personally leading the expedition to Luzhou..."

"Hailing has fallen, and Zhang Jun of Yangzhou is under heavy attack by the Qi army's land and naval forces. He is requesting reinforcements..."

"The Qi army captured Sizhou and marched south to Chuzhou..."

"Chuzhou has fallen, and Liu Guangshi has withdrawn his troops without a fight..."

Zhao Gou looked at each document one by one, and when he reached this point, he suddenly stood up: "They ran away?!"

The piercing shout made the ears of all the officials in the hall ring. The young emperor slammed the battle report on the table, looked at the next thing, and suddenly everything went black. He swayed and stopped: "Luzhou and Hefei have become isolated cities?"

Looking at the crowd before him in disbelief, he suddenly turned his gaze to Wang and Huang, and gritted his teeth as he said, "Why are you only reporting so many urgent matters to me now?!"

"The military situation changes daily." Huang Qianshan swallowed hard. "I believe that with so many troops in Jiangbei, there may be a turning point."

"A turning point my ass!" Zhao Gou's face flushed red, and he rarely swore. He grabbed all the military intelligence reports in his hand, waving them around noisily in the air: "The Qi army is pressing in, and you're still hiding this from me? Do you want me dead?!" (End of Chapter)