Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The flags were rolled up in the air, and the sound of hunting was heard constantly on the heads of the people. The village soldiers wearing layers of clothes were puffing out white air and looking feverishly at the general flags floating in front of them.

Excluding the infantry left behind on the logistics island, a total of more than 20,000 Liangshan horse and infantry troops plus field soldiers gathered in the wilderness. The troops were in good order and full of energy. Lu Bu swung his big cloak and got on the horse first, followed by Du Bo, Xiao Haili, Yuan Lang and Shi Wengong both followed on horseback.

All the village soldiers took a deep breath, forcing themselves to suppress their turbulent emotions. They all held their breath and concentrated, with solemn expressions and tall and straight postures.

Not long after, Lu Bu turned his horse's head, looked at the longing eyes behind him, and exhaled: "Follow someone and seize our land!"

"Seize the land!"

"Seize the land!"

More than 20,000 people screamed their inner desires and kept hitting the ground with the butts of their guns. The cold ground was as hard as iron, making a banging sound.

"Set off--"

The reins shook, and the fiery red war horse turned around. The black outer cloak and the inner red cloak shook in the air, and ran forward. Behind him, the sound of footsteps roared, and people shouted and horses neighed, following with excitement. Go up to the figure in front.

The dust was lifted up, and there was a strong atmosphere.

……

The sun slanted and shone on the somewhat dilapidated city walls of Pingnan County. The city guards in thick clothes sniffed and shivered as they looked at the pedestrians in groups of twos and threes.

This county is built near the sea. Like other places in Liaodong, there are a large number of Bohai people and Han people living here. There are also a few Khitan people living here. Because it is close to the sea, there are also Jurchens who live here for fishing and hunting.

It's just that it's the twelfth lunar month of winter, and there are few pedestrians walking on the streets in the cold weather. There are also few people going in and out of the city. Only a few men carrying fish baskets hurried out and walked onto the official road.

The bored soldiers stood on the tower facing the outside of the city, looking up at the sky. It was not time to change shifts yet, so they had to endure the cold wind and continue to endure the cold weather.

"Look..." Behind the battlements to the west, some of the soldiers who were patrolling back and forth turned their heads, slowed down in confusion, raised their hands after hesitation and pointed to the end of the field of vision: "Is there smoke and dust over there?"

In the mid-air, dust was rising faintly in the wind. After hearing his words, the patrol soldiers and people on duty leaned forward against the wall. Looking into the distance, some veterans who had fought in the war had serious expressions on their faces: "That's a march." There will only be dust and smoke!”

"Where did the army come from? The official didn't say anything this morning."

"Perhaps you are passing by?"

"Isn't it a bit far to go to Muzhou from here..."

A group of Liao soldiers stood there and speculated. The Khitan general who was resting in the city gate tower heard the sound, stood up and opened the window, looked at it, then opened the door and walked out: "Why are you making a noise if you don't patrol?"

He looked at the soldiers standing on the other side of the wall and wondered: "Why are you all standing there? What happened?"

"Commander, there are troops marching outside."

The Khitan general turned his head when he heard the doubt. In the rising dust and smoke, a figure appeared faintly. He took two steps forward and stood behind the wall in a daze. He murmured: "There is no document saying that there are soldiers and horses crossing the border recently..."

The patrolling soldiers just looked at him. At this time, even if the sky fell, there were tall people holding it up. The superior officer was there, so he didn't need to wait to make up his mind.

The Khitan man squinted his eyes and looked at it. After a long time, he patted the cold wall with "Ah!", turned around and shouted at the patrolling soldiers: "Go and sound the alarm. The flag you don't recognize is definitely not a court soldier." horse!"

Rebels? !
The soldiers who had recently heard of the presence of rebels in the territory were suddenly frightened. They ran to the side where the alarm bell was, pulled up the bell and struck it hard against the bell.

Dang-dang-dang-

The warning bell on the city tower rang. The sergeant standing in front of the city gate was stunned for a moment, and then realized what he was doing. Amidst the captain's roar of "Quick! Enter the city and close the door!", Ma Liuda ran into the city dragging his spear. Fortunately, there were not many people wandering the streets in the city. There were only a few lonely figures running in panic on the streets.

The county magistrate, who was worrying about winter food in the county government office, heard the warning bell. He didn’t think about calling the police for a moment, but the government servant ran in and asked loudly, "There is an enemy invasion, county magistrate, how should we defend ourselves against the enemy?" Realize that the sound of the bell means an enemy is coming.

After much hesitation, the county magistrate only ordered one person to maintain order on the street, and ignored the officers in the Yamen. He went to the back Yamen alone, quickly changed into regular clothes, and ran to a safe place to hide, waiting for the city to be broken or the enemy to retreat. .

The military people in the city who heard the bell hurriedly rushed to the west wall. At this time, less than half an hour had passed, and the team in the distance was much closer. In everyone's sight, densely packed figures wearing black armor were in the smoke and dust. Faintly appearing, like a black tide spreading towards the city wall.

"Why are there so many people..."

The sound of footsteps on the ground could be heard clearly from miles away. The soldiers of the Han and Han tribes standing at the top of the city couldn't help but sweat on their foreheads and chills on their backs.

Soon, a long line of troops came over the official road from the other side and set up their positions. At a glance, in the dark sea of ​​​​people, the upward-facing weapons shone with metallic light. At a glance, there were as many as ten thousand people.

Before the commander of the city defenders could discuss with everyone how these rebels would attack the city, several figures on war horses ran out from the horse army, stopped two arrows away from the city tower, raised their heads and shouted: "City Leader, listen, we are rebels, we came here to make the people in the city prosperous. My general asked us to spread the word that it is your duty to defend the city. After the city is broken, we will not be in trouble! "

Then another knight answered loudly: "However, swords and guns are blind on the battlefield, and there is no need for you to die for the faint king. If you don't open the door and surrender, I will definitely treat you well!"

"I'll give you a cup of tea to think about it, and then we'll attack the city!"

The knights under the city didn't pay attention to the actions above. They just shouted loudly and then turned around and ran back to the formation.

A commander on the tower picked up his bow and arrow, hesitated and put it down again. The comrades on the side looked at him strangely: "Why don't you shoot?"

"Two arrows...are out of reach."

"..." The comrade suddenly didn't know what to say. He just rolled his eyes and looked at the general aside: "Commander, how should we deal with it?"

"We, the imperial emoluments, should share the imperial government's worries." A dull voice sounded from the tower: "He can't wait for some low-class bandits and strong men. How can we, the officers and soldiers..." The voice suddenly stopped. His still calm eyes suddenly widened.

Below, the crowd standing in the front row separated to the left and right. Some soldiers from the field pushed several carts, and began to build ladders and cyclone cannons in full view. There were also battering rams and three-ox crossbows covered with cowhide being pushed to the front line, wearing heavy armor. Armor's trapper, dressed in a metallic color, walked out of the passage that the infantry had given way to, looking coldly at the tower with his sword and gun drawn.

"What the commanders are talking about is how to submit to a group of thieves who come from nowhere!" A commander pulled out a sword from his waist: "As long as we hold the city wall and wait for reinforcements, the enemy will retreat."

The commander opened his mouth and said "Ah...", and the commander who stood up shouted: "I will lead people down to kill them."

After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped, turned around and looked at his colleagues: "No one helps me?"

"You are seeking death, what does it have to do with us..."

Some of the commanders nearby smiled bitterly and said: "There are only a thousand, three or four soldiers in the city, and not many of them have armor. What can we do to block the enemy? If you lead people down to charge, what else are you doing if you are not seeking death?"

The commander remained silent and continued to smash and smash: "This city can't be defended anymore. Let's stay useful for the future."

"Yes, yes!"

Everyone on the city tower smiled flatteringly, looking at the military formation below and exhaled. (End of chapter)