Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The weather was sometimes good and sometimes bad, and the breeze blew through the woods from time to time, making a rustling sound.

The mountains are lush and green, full of vitality.

The war in the northeast of Liaodong entered a stage of offensive and defensive changes since Lu Bu went north. Wanyan Sheng, who was originally at a disadvantage, launched his troops to Jingyuan City when the Qi army went north to block Binzhou. The fluttering flags were flying away, and the bleak fields were left with marks of people and horses. Occasionally, in places whose names were unknown under the daylight, scouts from two of the three parties started fighting. However, these were no longer the most important issues for Wanyan Loushi at the moment.

Two days ago, Xi Sheng led a large army northward, and the Qi Central Army that followed joined them and threatened Binzhou. The defending general Wanyan Chang relied on Wanyan Loushi's strategy and deliberately made an unguarded move, but the Qi army did not come. Some of the impatient Jurchen defending generals kept sending scouts to investigate near the Qi army camp.

The breeze blew away the bloody smell. From time to time, wounded or missing scouts ran back to the barracks, and then more cavalrymen shouted and rushed out. Zeng walked quickly into the central army tent wearing armor and holding the hilt of a sword. The commander Xi Sheng was sitting in the commander's seat handling military affairs. He turned his eyes and looked at Wang Zheng who was lying on the wooden chair, and he was immediately furious.

"General Xi, Military Advisor, when do we start the siege? It's been two days, and we've been waiting in the barracks every day. The brothers below are almost sick from holding it in."

This is exactly what happened in the past two days. The Qi army was expected to attack the city immediately after they arrived, but after the central army arrived, Wang Zheng and Xi Sheng had a secret talk, and the matter was delayed. Until now, all kinds of siege equipment have been built, but they have been dragging their feet and not attacking the city, which really puzzles him.

"What's the hurry?" Wang Zheng slumped on the wooden chair like he had cartilage disease, his legs stretched straight down, and said lazily: "My brothers in the infantry didn't complain, so why are you cavalry quarreling? After all, we have the scouts of the Wanyan tribe to fight these two days."

Zeng Tu's eyes widened: "That one..."

"Who said I don't have complaints?"

The voice interrupted the Jurchen man's words. Han Shizhong walked in with his iron helmet in one hand and the hilt of his sword with the other, followed by Hua Rong, Ma Ling, Lin Chong, Tang Bin, Di Lei, the Ma brothers and other generals.

Wang Zheng sighed helplessly upon seeing this, and sat up straight with reluctance on his face.

"General, military advisor."

Hua Rong and the others came forward to greet him, and then Little Li Guang said, "I don't know what the next rules will be. I hope the commander-in-chief and the military advisor will let us know."

At the commander's position, Xi Sheng put his pen on the pen stand, raised his head and laughed: "Military Advisor, you lost. I said they would come to ask questions in less than three days."

Han Shizhong's face darkened: "So you two are treating us as Guan Pu's pawns."

Wang Zheng laughed and shook his head: "The Northern Army General is too polite. I think we can wait for three to five days before attacking Wanyan Loushi. Xi Annan has a different opinion and thinks two days will be enough."

Xi Sheng stood up, smiling gently on his gaunt face, "So I'm going to make a bet with the military advisor, using the days of your patience as the stakes. Today is exactly two days."

Everyone had a look of realization on their faces, but they were still a little confused. Hua Rong bowed and asked, "I wonder why the commander-in-chief and the military advisor want to delay the attack? But what is so special about Pennsylvania?"

Xi Sheng waved his hand to signal everyone to sit down, and called the guards to bring some water. He then spoke: "It will take some time for the King of Qi to go to Ningjiang Prefecture. If we stay here, it will attract more attention from Wanyan Loushi than attacking the city immediately."

"Besides, if we set up camp here and do nothing, it will confuse the Wanyan tribe even more than attacking the city." Wang Zheng continued, "Calculating the time, if nothing unexpected happens, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi should have already reached the north. Then we can do something here to prevent Wanyan Loushi from getting out of this quagmire in Pennsylvania." "Are we going to fight?!"

Zeng Tu's eyes lit up, his mentality gradually changed as Lu Bu's power expanded. Now his five brothers were generals in the army, and although his old father was doing the old job of raising horses, he held an official position, so it was no exaggeration to say that they were a family of officials.

Because of this, his father even said that only daughters from wealthy families could enter the house.

However, his wise old father was blinded by the official position. As the eldest son, he had no choice but to push the King of Qi up. Then his family would naturally prosper. This was also the consensus between him and his brothers.

"Of course we have to fight." Xi Sheng nodded and had the geomancy map hung up. "But we also have to be careful that Wanyan Loushi will take advantage of our siege to launch a surprise attack with cavalry."

Seeing the looks from the generals, Xi Sheng walked over to the geomancy map, patted Binzhou with his hand, picked up a piece of charcoal and drew on it: "Our scouts have fought many battles with others in Binzhou in the past two days, with some wins and some losses. Judging from the places where they suffered the most damage, the areas along the Hunhe River and the west, north, and southwest of the city were the worst."

Hua Rong, Ma Ling, and Tang Bin looked thoughtful. Han Shizhong slapped his thigh and said, "That Wanyan Loushi must be near the west of the city."

"I thought so too." Xi Sheng nodded and drew a big circle on the geomancy map. "So yesterday I ordered my scouts to focus on investigating the west. Unfortunately, the defense there is tight and we have not been able to find the enemy's army."

He glanced in the direction of Zeng Tu, Lin Chong, and Tang Bin: "If we attack the city, the enemy will certainly not let us do whatever we want, so the main task of Captain Zeng and the Xianzhen Camp is to guard against the enemy cavalry attack."

The three of them bowed to show that they understood.

"I heard that Wanyan Loushi had withdrawn all his infantry into Binzhou City, so the enemy has sufficient manpower. These Jurchen soldiers are veterans who have fought for many years. You should be careful when attacking the city." Wang Zheng patted the armrest of the chair and said, "Your Highness the Prince of Qi will cut off the food supply of Wanyan's tribe in the north. When the enemy army is in chaos, it will be our chance to perform meritorious deeds."

Han Shizhong, Ma Ling, Di Lei and other infantry officers looked at each other. Ma Jin stroked his chin and said, "Military Advisor, you want us to conserve our forces and not charge too hard?"

"That's it." Wang Zheng nodded and spread his hands: "This saves a lot of effort."

Everyone in the tent nodded slowly.

Xi Sheng saw that they understood, and then smiled: "Generals, you can go back to the camp to prepare. After noon, we will go to greet the garrison commander of Pennsylvania. He has made people wait for so long, so we should give him some gifts."

The generals burst into laughter.
The commander of the army looked at Ma Ling again and said, "General Ma, please stay for a moment. I have something to tell you." He turned around and ordered his guards, "Come here, go find General Niu."

Then someone hurried out. Zeng Tu and others did not ask any questions when they saw this. They left the central army tent and went back to make preparations for the war.

Soon, Niu Gao, wearing armor, came riding a warhorse, threw off the stirrup, and entered the tent. (End of this chapter)