Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Fast horses carrying military intelligence galloped across the plains. In the darkness, countless horses were running wildly.

The gates on the north and east sides of Huanglong Mansion were left open a crack, allowing the knights to rush in. Wanyan Sheng was just having dinner when he received an order to ride in at full speed. Without waiting for the horse to stop, he jumped on the horse and hurried down the stairs under the guards' attention. He did not have time to greet the eunuchs on duty and shouted outside the palace: "Bojilie, urgent military information from Xiangzhou."

"Wait, you can't..."

The eunuch saw him trying to come in and hurried forward to stop him. The door at the back creaked open and Wanyan Sheng walked out with a greasy mouth, "What news?"

A woman came out from behind and looked over curiously.

The commander saluted and said in a loud voice: "Today after noon, the Qi army attacked Huaide City, surrounded it from three sides, and captured it before nightfall. Now the vanguard of Qi has entered the city, and Xiangzhou has been conquered."

"Hmm...ah?" Wanyan Sheng's eyes widened. He took two steps forward in disbelief and grabbed the soldier's arm. "What did you say? Say it again!"

Lingqi was suddenly caught and was stunned for a moment. He hesitated for a moment: "After noon today..."

"Not this sentence, the last sentence!" Wanyan Sheng exerted force on his hands.

Lingqi's expression changed a little. After thinking for a while, he asked tentatively: "Has Xiangzhou been conquered?"

Across from him, Wanyan Sheng suddenly stood up straight, withdrew his hand, and took a breath: "Quick, let Nianhan enter the palace as soon as possible."

The eunuch hurriedly took the order and went to find someone. Not long after, another scout walked quickly into the palace, followed by Wanyan Zonghan, who was dressed in casual clothes. Wanyan Sheng excitedly told him about the events in Xiangzhou.

"Nianhan, this is a good opportunity. We can quickly send troops to Binzhou and take it before the Qi army does."

"It's so intense, please be patient."

The Jin commander stood in the hall and thought for a while, then looked at the scout who had arrived before him and asked, "Where is the Qi army now?"

"Set up camp 20 miles northeast of Huanglongfu."

"Have you received the battle report from Xiangzhou?"

"I saw a lot of cavalrymen rushing into the military camp from the direction of Huaide City. They must be the cavalrymen waiting for his notification."

"Nianhan?"

Wanyan Sheng spoke excitedly again. Wanyan Zonghan frowned and looked at the knight who first reported the news: "Before Huaide City fell, did Wanyan Loushi's troops come to rescue?"

“Never seen it.”

The mighty man touched his chin, looked at Wanyan Sheng and said, "Bojilie, I think it's best to follow the original plan and attack Jingyuan City."

"Why?" Wanyan Sheng was a little unhappy. "Below Xiangzhou, there is no obstacle in front of our army. We should seize it before the Qi army goes north to Binzhou. What? Do you insist on giving our Great Jin city to the Qi people?"

The two scouts and the eunuch quickly lowered their heads to look at the tips of their shoes and slowed down their breathing.

Wanyan Zonghan shook his head: "It's not like that." Looking at Wanyan Sheng's angry eyes, he smiled bitterly: "Bojilie, I have fought with Wanyan Loushi for more than a year, and I know that he is a man who likes to control everything. Wanyan Xiyi just surrendered to him, but he was still appointed as the governor of Xiangzhou. This is not in line with his personality."

Wanyan Sheng frowned: "What do you mean?"

Wanyan Zonghan looked at him and sighed in his heart: "Wanyan Xiyi was placed in Huaide City by him, probably to test the combat power of Qi army, so that he would not feel bad even if he lost. If Qi army easily captured it, they might look down on his army in the future. In the next battle, they might use this arrogance to ambush Qi army. Therefore, I think Wanyan Loushi must have an ambush near Pennsylvania. If we run into him now, I am afraid we will be hit head-on, which will not be worth the loss."

Looking at the silent Wanyan Sheng, he bowed and said, "So I think our army should stick to the original plan, first attack Jingyuan, and then wait for an opportunity to move."

After a long time, Wanyan Sheng nodded: "Then do as you say."

……

At the same time, thousands of war horses formed a circle. Some knights were standing guard outside, but more were resting inside the circle, wrapped in blankets and leaning against their horses.

To the east is a river called Hunhe River.

...There are mountains and forests in the northeast of Liaodong, with abundant water and soil. The Hunhe River cuts through the land in the north, nourishing the creatures on both sides of the river.

The Wanyan tribe, with its mountains, forests and rivers, was easy to defend but difficult to attack. There were also many tribes outside as part of the alliance. They seized Ningjiang Prefecture and Binzhou in the south as a barrier, and set up extrusion checkpoints due to the battle with Wanyan Sheng. There were also beacon towers in the checkpoints. Once an emergency occurred, the beacon smoke would be the first to transmit the military information back to the tribe.

Xiangzhou in the southeast was an unexpected surprise. Wanyan Gao had never thought that he would be able to obtain a city near Huanglongfu so easily. Therefore, although Wanyan Loushi felt a little regretful when he withdrew, he did not feel much heartache.

To the west of Pennsylvania, on the undulating hills, several soldiers in military uniforms were standing against strange rocks and trees, talking to their companions. In the distance, the sound of horse hooves was heard. Several Jurchen men quickly shrank behind the rocks, and only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw a team of their own scouts approaching from afar. They watched them run past and continued the previous topic.

The horses moved forward quickly across the field, passed several hills, and turned into a valley. A military camp that could accommodate 8,000 people stood here. Bare-legged Jurchen soldiers were washing their horses beside the stream. The soldiers guarding the gate did not stop the horses when they saw them running. Instead, they moved the antlers away and allowed the horses to run into the camp unhindered.

A simple feng shui map was spread on the table, with stones and wood representing the enemy and us piled on the map. Wanyan Loushi stood in front of the table with a frown on his face, tapping the table with his fingers, making a dull sound.

Ever since he decided to withdraw his troops from Huanglongfu, he had not thought of just crossing the river back. Instead, he divided the army into two parts. One part was mainly composed of infantry, and all of them returned to Binzhou and Ningjiangzhou for defense. The other part was entirely composed of cavalry, who were brought here by him.

Most of the soldiers in the army did not know what the commander was going to do and they just followed his orders. After all, the commander was still able to control the arrogant and powerful soldiers under his command.

There was the sound of war horses neighing at the door, followed by footsteps, and the young Wanyan Huonu ran into the tent in a hurry.

"Dad, I'm back."

"Hmm..." Wanyan Loushi hummed in response and looked up at his son: "How is it? Has the winner of Xiangzhou been decided?"

Wanyan Huonu sat down on the stool and took the water bag to drink. "The winner has been decided. Wanyan Xiyi didn't even last half a day. He was captured before dark."

"...It's as expected." Wanyan Loushi sighed, "The two sides have been fighting for years, and the soldiers have no time to rest. They don't know when they will die in battle every day. They were also defeated by Qi State, and the morale of the army has long been gone. Gu Shen is not a good fighter. Although he has been in Xiangzhou for a long time, he has never led troops to fight. The morale is so low and he doesn't know how to encourage..."

He reached out and took away the stone that represented his side in Xiangzhou: "How can we not be defeated?"

"...Then, father, what should we do next?" Wanyan Huo Nu was silent for a moment before she said, "The Qi army attacked Xiangzhou this time. I watched from a distance and saw that their banners only had about 10,000 people."

"Ten thousand people..." Wanyan Loushi looked at the geomancy map, stretched out his hand to pile up the wood blocks, and said, "Are they all infantrymen?"

"They are all infantrymen..." Wanyan Huonu replied, and then thought for a moment: "Hmm... Cavalry were spotted at the south and west gates. The scouts who were watching said that there were no more than a thousand cavalrymen. The cavalrymen at the south gate entered the city but did not leave. The cavalrymen at the west gate went north when the city was breached, and they were heading towards Pennsylvania."

Wanyan Loushi listened, placed a few pieces of wood on the Feng Shui map, picked up a few pieces of wood with his right hand, and then let them fall into the palm of his left hand.

"Heh... Wanyan Xiyi can still go back if he's lucky." With a thoughtful look on his face, he picked up two wooden blocks and placed them on the geomancy map: "Don't worry about it for now. I heard that the Qi army sent out an army of 200,000 this time. It must be a lie. Qi can't afford such a large-scale expedition."

Wanyan Huonu opened her mouth, and her father glanced over and saw that he was not convinced. He immediately knew what he wanted to say and shook his head: "Where in Liaodong can support an army of 200,000 people to go to war?"

"Uh……"

"Use your brain more when you speak and act."

"Aren't you here with me, father..." Wanyan Huonu's voice was so soft that it was drowned out by the noise from the military camp outside.

Wanyan Loushi tapped the geomancy map with his fingers, propped up the table with one hand and looked carefully for a while: "Have you found out where the King of Qi is?"

"Found it." The son stood up and walked over to look at the geomancy map: "It's in the south." He stretched out his hand and drew a circle on the geomancy map: "I sent people to search all over the area near Xiangzhou. Finally, a scout ran a little further and found the flag he was waiting for. It was 25 miles southeast of Xiangzhou. He had set up camp in the dark. It looked like a camp with 50,000 people. More than a dozen scouts died because of it."

"Hmm..." Wanyan Loushi stood up, took two steps, and stopped: "Before you came back, was there any movement in the Qi army camp?"

Wanyan Huo Nu thought for a moment and shook her head, "No, the scouts said the military camp is in good order, there are patrolling soldiers outside, guards inside, and people are everywhere under the bonfire. It may be difficult for Dad to launch a surprise attack on his camp."

"Who said I was going to launch a sneak attack?" Wanyan Loushi turned around and looked at the geomancy map with a serious expression: "The Qi people's target is not Pennsylvania." He slammed the table hard and looked at the disturbed map: "Ningjiang Prefecture."

Word by word.

The young Jurchen youth looked stunned. (End of this chapter)