Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The setting sun emits its last rays of light behind the clouds.

The arrows were ignited, landed on the walls and the ground and burned. The rising columns of smoke meandered up along the surface of the city wall. The sound of war drums on both sides shook the entire battlefield under the sky. The shouting crowd ran in the interweaving rain of arrows, stepped over the burning flames and corpses, covered their mouths and noses and ran to the bottom of the city. In the smoke, they climbed up the wooden ladders. A caltrop fireball with burning lines fell from the city, exploded with a bang in mid-air, and the scattered iron blocks pierced into the human body. The howling crowd fell down under the city, and then a lot of coughing sounds were heard.

Wanyan Pucha covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth and tied a knot behind his head. He climbed up with a knife and a shield in hand. He broke out in a cold sweat as he felt the iron sheet passing by his neck. He did not dare to stop and struggled to reach the top of the city wall against the falling stones.

"kill--"

The young general jumped up and chopped down a soldier with his sword. Several long spears formed a spear array and stabbed at him. He quickly covered himself with a shield. The violent impact made the man take a step back. The captain named Shi Yong next to him suddenly noticed something and took the opportunity to kill him with a long sword in hand.

"Get away!"

Wanyan Pucha raised his knife to block, then swung it back with his backhand. Amidst the shouts, the knife flashed and cut the man's neck, killing him on the spot. An arrow shot at him and pierced his feet. He looked up and saw the spear array rushing towards him again with a roar. In desperation, he quickly retreated, turned over and slid down the wooden ladder. The Jin soldiers below were immediately horrified and wanted to retreat downwards.

laugh--

The caltrop fireballs with burning fuses appeared in sight almost at the same time, and the young general's eyes suddenly widened.

boom--

The body that was pierced with iron pieces fell beside the wooden ladder. He made two "ho ho" sounds, and blood foam gushed out of the corners of his mouth. His upright head suddenly lost its support and fell to the ground, and he died.

In less than an hour, Wanyan Zonghan led the Jin army to launch two attacks on the fort. The defenders on the city wall used various tactics to block the people under the city. Firearms, arrows, stones, and even kerosene were used to drive down the soldiers who attacked the fort several times.

"Vanguard, it's getting dark, we can't keep fighting like this." A Mouke stepped forward and whispered to comfort him: "The soldiers have been through so many battles and their morale is already wavering. If we continue like this, I'm afraid..."

"...Retreat!" Wanyan Zonghan was unwilling, and swung his whip hard, making a crisp sound in the air, and pointed at the fort in front of him: "Sooner or later, this fort will be broken!"

The messenger beside him waved the flag hurriedly, and ding ding ding - the sound of the gong rang out again under the city. The Jin soldiers who were at a loss facing the city wall retreated one after another as if they had been pardoned.

Soon, the soldiers who were carrying the corpses went to the corner of the wall with white flags to collect the bodies of their comrades. When they learned that Wanyan Pucha had died in the battle, the vanguard general roared in anger.

The Jin army retreated slowly.

……

When day turned into night, the army of less than 30,000 people retreated, and Wanyan Pucha lay flat on the ground.

People are dead.

His armor was taken off, revealing a naked body with seven or eight cuts on it. A wound on his chest, where his heart was, had stained half of his body with blood, forming a thick layer of blood stains.

Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Zongbing, Wanyan Loushi and more than a dozen Meng'an and Mouke of the Wanyan tribe stood around. In the middle, Wanyan Aguda looked at the corpses on the ground in silence with his lips tightly pursed. A bonfire was burning in the military camp, reflecting the faces of every Wanyan general. The flames flickered, and the reflections on their faces were unclear.

"Dubojile, it's my fault." Wanyan Zonghan clenched his fists and stared at his comrades who died on the ground: "If I had retreated in time, Pucha would not have..." Wanyan Zonggan sighed, looked at his father, saw him nod, picked up the white cloth to cover the man, and retreated.

"It's not your fault." Wanyan Aguda walked over and patted Wanyan Zonghan on the shoulder. He said to Wanyan Bendu, who was guarding beside him, "Bring me a new set of armor and an eagle flag."

He turned to the crowd and said, "The Southern Army is different from the enemies we faced before. You must remember what happened to Pucha."

He took a deep breath, looked at Wanyan Bendu holding the armor and flag and waved his hand: "Put it on Pucha, cover it with the eagle flag and send it back to the tribe. Tell Sanda that he has a good son, and the Great Jin will not let his child bleed in vain."

Then he turned and walked towards the big tent: "We are all tired today, go and rest, and have enough energy tomorrow to fight a decisive battle with the Southern Army."

"Yes."

The inspired generals saluted in unison and then dispersed with sighs.

……

The night was dark and the wind was blowing across the fields.

Lü Bu sat in the state government office in Yanjin City, looking at the newly delivered battle report with a sharp look in his eyes: "Sure enough, these firearms are powerful weapons on the battlefield. It's a pity... there are too few of them. If there were more, Liaozhou would not have suffered such great damage."

Throwing the document on the table, Lu Bu stood up, wearing a cloak, and raised his hand to call Yu Cheng over: "Are Shi Wengong and Cao Hong ready?"

"Waiting for the general's order." Yu Cheng said with his head down.

"Pass the order, order Lin Chong, Tang Bin, and Hua Rong to go first." Giving the order, Lu Bu took the ring-handled sword handed over by Qiongying and tied it around his waist. Yang Zaixing came over with the painted halberd and handed it over respectfully: "Tell the three of them to attack the camp when the fire starts on the water. No one is allowed to move before seeing the fire."

"Yes." Yu Cheng responded, turned around and ran to the military camp to find someone.

Lu Bu held up his painted halberd and walked outside: "Let's go to the cavalry camp. The weather is good tonight. Let's go and say hello to the Jin people first."

Yang Zaixing grabbed his iron and scratched his head: "Master, won't this alert the enemy? What if the Jin people notice the navy?"

"Pay attention to the navy. It will be difficult for them to compete with Wei Zhaode and his men." The figure did not stop walking. With his cloak fluttering, Lu Bu climbed onto Red Hare with one leg. He looked at his apprentice with a hint of amusement in his eyes: "Since ancient times, northerners are good at horses but not boats. Besides, we are attracting their attention on land. How could they have thought that the main force tonight is actually the navy."

He kicked off the horse's belly and continued while walking slowly: "Remember in the future, don't fight the enemy in a place you are not good at. The Battle of Red Cliff in the past is an example. If Cao Cao had trained more naval forces, even the natural barrier of the Yangtze River would not have stopped him. Unfortunately, that guy was a little impatient."

Upon hearing this, Yang Zaixing rolled his eyes, nodded slowly, reached out to grab the saddle, jumped on the horse, and followed a group of guards to escort Lu Bu towards the cavalry camp.

The price to pay for wiping out the 40,000-plus Jurchen troops fairly is too high. Now that their power is just rising, they cannot afford such losses. Lu Bu looked ahead with a flickering look in his eyes. After a moment, he called the guards to pass orders to the fort outside the city.

The night was hazy, and the military camp was in motion. (End of this chapter)