Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The fog in the forest became thicker at night, and when the sound of fighting gradually disappeared, many soldiers of Lu Bu's army lit torches and walked around in the forest. The swaying firelight illuminated the pale faces on the ground, and blood splashed on the green grass blades. Slowly dripping from the top of the grass, the blood-stained figure made a suppressed sound of pain and slowly crawled on the ground, trying to leave this Shura field.

The dim light of the fire dispelled the darkness in front of him. The crouching figure suddenly stopped his arms, and a pair of black leather boots appeared in his field of vision. The soldier who had a chance to escape slowly raised his head, tears and noses flowing down together.

puff--

The knife stabbed straight down, from the back of the heart until it penetrated into the mud. His frightened face was smashed down, and he hit the ground hard. Blood slowly flowed out from under his body, and he could no longer move.

Pulling out the horizontal sword, the cavalryman shook off the blood on the sword and walked towards the next one. When the light of the fire saw that it was his comrade, he quickly leaned over to lift the person up. The light shone on his figure, and the corpse and blood spread from here. , the wounded soldiers of the Liao army were dealt with one by one, while the injured at home were taken aside for treatment as much as possible.

Deep in the woods, there are occasional screams and roars of wild beasts. They may be wild beasts attracted by the smell of blood and fleeing Liao soldiers. The cavalry in black armor raised their heads indifferently and looked over there, slowly and cautiously. Moving towards the clearing outside the forest.

Many cavalrymen followed military orders and did not participate in the siege. Hundreds of cavalrymen as reserves surrounded the place. Commanding cavalrymen on war horses galloped around. Injured comrades were brought here and looked for clean ones under the light of torches. The people were bandaging up and treating the soldiers, the voices were low and unobtrusive, and the bonfire of the Liao army camp in the distance could still be seen from a distance. Many people had an annoyed look on their faces, feeling sorry that they could not continue fighting.

"Those with minor injuries should be bandaged and allowed to have a good rest tonight. Those with serious injuries should be taken to a secret place for shelter. I see that many villages here are empty. It would be a good idea to go there to recuperate temporarily."

Lu Bu stood among the guards and gave instructions. Yu Cheng nodded and looked at the guards on the side. The latter nodded and walked away. The figure wearing the animal-faced tuantou chain armor stopped for a moment and looked at the big man who was binding his wounds in surprise: "You He was also injured?"

"...I couldn't see the distance clearly in the dark night, so I accidentally hit him." Niu Wenzhong looked at Lu Bu and smiled bitterly: "It made the general laugh."

"Injuries are inevitable on the battlefield." Lu Bu bent down and patted his intact shoulder: "Just be more alert next time."

The latter nodded with a wry smile, and suddenly a voice interjected: "So it was you I shot, bah! If it weren't for Ye Hei, I would have killed you with one arrow."

Niu Wenzhong was so angry that he jumped up from the ground. The figure who stood up straight looked for his voice and saw Wang De leading the horse. A figure was lying on the horse with his hands tied behind his back.

"It's you!"

The angry Iron Dragonfly ran forward a few steps, but was quickly stopped by the man holding the horse. "You can't be angry with a prisoner on death row." "Calm down." With words like "Calm down.", he just glared at the horse that was tied up. Ah Ba, who was restrained, glanced at each person and horse walking past.

The man approaching raised his fists and said, "The enemy general has been captured. Please surrender, general."

"Humph--"

The Liao general on the horse straightened up, glanced at Lu Bu, groaned, and then exhausted all his strength and leaned back on the horse.

Lu Bu felt a little happy when he saw him like this, and just waved his hand: "Detain him for now, we will talk about it later." He glanced at Wang De and patted him: "I will record the credit for you, and I will tell you the merits when I get back."

"Yes."

Wang De responded excitedly, the corners of his mouth turned up, and he looked quite malicious against the ugly face. Ah Ba, who had been struggling to turn his head to look at them, shuddered and muttered in his mouth. I don't know what he said, but then some soldiers came forward, dragged the person down, and pushed him aside.

As he spoke, the sound of horse hooves sounded from a distance, and three figures rushed out of the mist in the eyes of many people who were wary. They galloped all the way to Lu Bu and reined in their horses.

"General..." The scout jumped off his horse and knelt down on one knee: "Ma Sima asked me to report back. There is movement in the Liao army camp, and additional defenders have been deployed at the gate."

"Are there any enemy troops out of camp?"

The scout cupped his hands and said, "Not really."

"It's prudent enough..." Lu Bu touched the messy beard on his chin. He hadn't taken care of it for a long time, and the originally short beard had grown a lot longer: "You can continue to monitor me."

When the scouts walked away, Lu Bu looked up at the moon in the sky: "Without food and grass, let's see how long you can hold on."

……

The golden light pierced the clouds and cast rays of light. The mist gradually became thinner and slowly drifted on the forest grass.

In the camp of the Liao army, Chu Mingyu's eyes turned red after not having a rest all night. The fear of the whole night put him under a lot of pressure. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the sky light up. He sat in the military tent and slowly drank tea to relieve his fatigue. They kept greeting Cao Mingji, and the two of them were ordered to lead troops to reinforce Yelu Yujian at the same time. As a result, when this guy came, he threw his troops and horses at him, and he disappeared.

This guy is not a son of man!

His eyelids slowly closed and then opened suddenly. The panting general simply stood up, walked over and washed his face with cold water. He threw the face towel into the basin angrily and wet it with the splash of water. A skirt.

"General..."

The approaching guards stopped for a moment when they saw this, and bowed and handed over their hands: "Commander, I'm sorry."

"understood."

After waving her hand, Chu Mingyu turned around and walked out of the military tent expressionlessly. The personal guards found in front quickly stepped forward to lead the way, and soon they arrived at Yelu Yujian's temporary military tent.

The general squinted his eyes and turned his head to look at the large banner with Liao characters standing in the distance, which should be the main tent of the Chinese army. He also looked at the sheepskin tent hidden among the ordinary soldiers, exhaled from his mouth, and went to He opened the curtain and walked in, bowing and clasping his fists.

"The last general Chu Mingyu has met the commander-in-chief."

"Sit." Yelu Yujian pointed to the seat next to him, his eyes were bloodshot. He put his left hand on the wooden table in front of him and moved it gently, and said straight to the point: "Since last night, Thief Lu must have defeated Ah Ba's front army. Now, Waiting for you outside, I collapsed due to lack of food.”

Chu Mingyu opened her mouth, pursed her lips tightly, and nodded in response: "The commander-in-chief said yes, the general is also very worried about this."

One of the guards walked into the camp, placed the steaming meat porridge in front of the two of them, put down a plate of pickles and a few pieces of dry meat and retreated.

"Let's talk while eating." Yelu Yujian picked up the rice bowl and took a sip of porridge. The caloric meat porridge sat well in his stomach. He watched Chu Mingyu also pick up the bowl and said: "Thieves Lu are all here." It's the cavalry. Although you and I have tens of thousands of men under our command, now that the news about the supply shortage has spread, many of the soldiers have no fighting spirit. I think this battle can no longer be fought."

The figure eating porridge across from him paused for a moment, then slowly swallowed the porridge, looked up at the imperial clan general, and said in a deep voice: "What the general said is that there are no rations and there are Lu thieves and cavalry watching from the side. It is indeed not appropriate to fight again..."

The hand holding the wooden chopsticks tapped the dishes twice: "But it's also because the other party is all cavalry. How can we retreat to the state?"

The military tent became quiet for a while. Chu Mingyu silently watched the Khitan nobles across the way eating porridge, picking up pickles, and nibbling dried meat. After a while, he put down his chopsticks and said, "Take them all back. I don't have the ability."

Rubbing his mouth back and forth with the back of his hand, Yelu Yujian didn't speak anymore, but just looked at Chu Mingyu.

The general's eyes flickered. After a while, he put down the bowl, walked to the side, knelt on one knee and said, "I can't take care of everyone. If you have a way, you might as well tell me. I will respect you from now on."

"Okay..." Yelu Yujian nodded slowly: "Although I am down and out now, there are still people in the court. I remember what you are saying now." Chu Mingyu clasped his fists and lowered his head: "The general is also a person who makes a pit with his spit. , Commander, don’t worry.”

"There is no good plan, it's just a way to escape..." Yelu Yujian squinted and looked at the opposite side, and slowly said: "I will gather the troops and horses later and announce the withdrawal. You and I will assemble the cavalry under my command together. If we encounter the Lu thieves If we use infantry to stop them, you and I will lead the cavalry and go first. This way we may have a chance to retreat to Guizhou, otherwise we will die without a burial when the army supplies are exhausted.”

"Commander, there is no need to say this. The general is willing to follow Jiwei."

Saying this, the two people in the tent laughed for a while, and then the two of them got a little closer, and whispers rang out in the military tent.

……

same moment.

The early morning light shines on Liaoyang Mansion fifty miles north. Military camps of more than 20,000 people have been set up in a row. It is difficult to see the end at a glance. On the watchtowers, archers in black armor are on guard facing the outside. From time to time, there are The soldiers carrying shields and guns patrolled away.

The sound of horses and voices came from outside the tent.

Xi Sheng and Xiao Haili stood in front of the table together, looking at the military information that had just been sent above. The cold wind in the early morning lifted the curtains, blowing in a burst of chilly air. The two stood up straight, their expressions a little solemn.

Yelu Dezhong's 40,000-strong army was approaching 20 miles away. He did not send out troops immediately. Instead, he was building a camp like others. The scouts in the army went to spy and suffered heavy losses.

"It's not easy to fight..."

Xiao Haili twitched the corner of his mouth and expressed embarrassment: "This guy is working hard every step of the way. If he only works hard to consume, Hunjun has some wealth at least. I can't afford to drag him down..."

"If you can't afford it, you have to delay it." Xi Sheng shook his head and reached out to check the information on the table: "He is dragging you and me here, thinking he is waiting for news from Guidezhou. Don't I plan to do the same?"

Xiao Haili rubbed his bald head and grinned for a long time: "After all, there are fewer soldiers. If we are evenly matched, I will lead the troops to charge at him now."

"Let everyone get ready. We will have a hard fight until the general repels the other group." Xi Sheng looked at the hung Kan map with no expression on his face. He walked over to take a look at it for a while. : "Perhaps there will be some changes when there is news."

"I am afraid that the leader will repel Yelu Yujian, but this guy will also set up camp here..."

The two looked at each other, smiled bitterly, and then issued a series of orders, causing the cavalry to run in the military camp. Several cavalry came out from the gate of the southern military camp and galloped all the way towards Liaoyang Mansion.

……

The spring light gradually filled the earth. Under the pleasant sunshine, the blowing wind still had a bit of chill. In the camp where Yelu Yu saw, the banners and soldiers cut out black shadows in the light, and continued to move away from each other. They formed a neat queue, many of them had nervous expressions on their faces, and their hands holding weapons were ready to fight.

"Back to the city--"

Under the banner, a figure in armor waved his arms under the guard of personal soldiers. He ran out with a dense shield and a large shield that reached almost to his chest. He covered his body tightly, as if he was afraid that someone would suddenly appear and give him a blow. , the archers at the rear ran out under the protection of the spearmen beside them, forming a defensive formation, facing the empty wilderness.

Although they did not see the cavalry, these soldiers now knew that there were cavalry outside, waiting eagerly to intercept them at any time. Rulin's spear stretched back and forth between the sword and shield hands. The archer had a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. He would turn at the slightest sign of trouble. there.

Woo! Woo! Woo!
The unique horn of the Liao Army sounded, and the mighty convoy began to move forward. Soon the archers were protected by the swordsmen and shieldmen. They breathed a sigh of relief and followed the gaps between the vehicles, planning to run in when there was a noise. Rely on the car formation to defend.

In the military camp, countless horses began to move their hooves, and the dust they rolled up was blinding. The flags of the generals supporting "Yelu" and "Chu" moved forward. Following the general's command, the entire military formation began to make adjustments. , moving slowly towards the north in an oval shape.

"Is the Liao army going to retreat?"

"They will do nothing if they run out of food and grass."

"The news spread so quickly and the whole army knew about it? Who is so stupid?"

"Maybe the Liao people are stupid."

"You don't look very smart..."

Amidst the chattering, Du Bo gestured back with his hand, and Fengtai immediately closed his mouth and put his index finger over his mouth to signal Niu Gao not to speak.

Niu Gao on the side glared at him fiercely, with a hint of blush on his dark face. You were the only one who cut his head just now!

Du Bo didn't pay attention to the small movements of the two men behind him. He let out a breath and ordered his surroundings: "Go and notify brother Yuan Lang and ask him to come closer to me. The Liao army is marching out of the camp in a big way, which is more than one person can handle."

After a pause, he took a long breath: "Send the order to the entire army to prepare for battle!"

Ling Qi galloped, and soon there was a trembling feeling on the ground.

……

"General, the entire Liao army has left camp and is forming a formation to retreat north."

Ma Ling knelt on one knee with a damp and cold air: "The opponent is tightly defended, with shieldmen and carriages outside, spearmen and archers inside, and the cavalry are also protected by vehicles."

"...Ha, the people on this grassland have also learned how to use car formations."

Lu Bu frowned and looked around: "Send the whole army to mount their horses. Let's follow X to have a look first."

He turned over to the side of Red Rabbit and picked up Fang Tian's painted halberd: "Don't give orders, don't attack randomly."

He lowered his head and looked at the kneeling Ma Ling: "Go and send an order to Du Kuo and Yuan Lang. Let them read a certain order and not act privately."

"Yes."

Ma Ling also knew that the matter was urgent, so he quickly stood up and hurried away with his scouts.

Lu Bu looked at his back, stretched out his hand to touch the edge of the halberd, raised Fang Tian's painted halberd high in the air, and slashed with a "Huh-" sound: "Follow someone, no matter what the Liao army thinks, we can't let them withdraw so easily..." …”

"let's go!"

The horses' hooves roared as they walked upstream. (End of chapter)