Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Dingsi in the first month of summer.

The drizzle has stopped, and a waning moon is visible in the night sky. The quiet outline of the city is hidden under the slightly glowing lead-blue color. Animals that have gotten up early to look for food come out, slowly running through the dewy grass, lightly patrolling their hunting grounds.

The night was receding rapidly, and a golden ball of light dominated the sky. The walking beasts stopped, turned their heads to look at the fields behind them, moved their ears, turned around and ran into the depths of the jungle, while the flags fluttered in the wind and stretched out.

Liaoxi Prefecture is one of the border counties close to Zhongjing Road. Since Gao Yongchang established himself, local people have experienced the passage of troops many times, including soldiers from the Yuan Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty, and the fierce soldiers of the Qi army. In order to avoid becoming victims of the passing troops, many villages have their own militia.

The men living in Liaodong are never short of blood.

The villages near the main road saw more than 5,000 soldiers coming from the direction of Liaoyang Prefecture. Many of them curiously climbed up the wooden walls of the village and looked at the large flags with the words "Qi" and "Lu" erected high. They were also close to present-day Tokyo, so they knew what these two flags represented. A large number of war horses galloped past, with the flags of "Wang" and "Niu" mixed among them.

Among the marching cavalry, scouts frequently ran back and forth to deliver messages. On horseback, Wang De, who was unable to participate in the Northern Expedition, looked at the green cultivated fields on both sides with excitement on his face. He was eager to make achievements and had always regretted not being able to participate in the Northern Expedition last time when he was in the south. This time, he had to move up one step in his title no matter what.

"After we drive away the Liao army in Zhongjing and Nanjing, we may go north to attack Shangjing. By then, my brother, will you ask for a position as a shepherd?" The warhorse slowed down. Niu Wenzhong rode over and walked side by side with him. He looked at the fluttering flags in front of him with a smile on his face: "By then, we will have occupied two routes, so we don't need to be on guard against the Khitan army like we are now."

Wang De turned to look at his tall and thin colleague, his figure rising and falling as his warhorse trotted, and he raised his voice amid the roar of horse hooves: "How can I, with my character, sit firmly at the head of an army or a state? It's more refreshing to be in the army than to bow my head to documents all day long."

He paused for a moment, looking at the flying banner with the Chinese character "Lu" in the distance: "If we are to choose the vanguard this time, Brother Niu, please do not compete with me for it." He patted the horizontal sword: "This sword is thirsty and has to chop off a few dog heads."

"Brother Wang, I'm afraid you're itching to do it. Everyone knows that you always capture people in every battle."

The two looked at each other and laughed. Iron Dragonfly on the warhorse looked back at the Wanyan flag fluttering behind him and said, "Brother, with my ability, I will definitely not steal your vanguard, but I don't know about the Jurchen barbarian behind you. He just lacks the opportunity to show off, so he might as well compete with you."

"As long as Brother Niu doesn't fight, how can I be defeated by a barbarian?" Wang De snorted coldly, looking quite proud.

As the two were talking, horns sounded in the front and the sound of horse hooves gradually grew louder. The two men no longer had time to talk and hurriedly urged their horses forward. The running cavalry fell silent and the two men and their two divisions of nearly three thousand people began to speed up to catch up with the front. The only sound between heaven and earth was the sound of the horses running. The team ran faster and faster, forming a long dragon, which made everyone who saw it marvel at the spectacular sight.

In less than two days, the outline of Changqing County in the distance gradually enlarged in the field of vision, and the fluttering flags were drooping down. Soon, a knight came to meet them, passing through the trotting cavalry, and jumped in front of the flaming warhorse: "Your Majesty, your servant Xiao Haili (Han Qinghe) greets you."

"Why are you so polite? Get on your horse and follow me." Lu Bu smiled, his cheeks slightly red, and he seemed to be in a slightly excited state. He gently kicked the horse's belly and said, "What's the matter? Let's talk after we get into the city."

"Yes."

The two men looked at each other, quickly jumped on their war horses, and galloped forward beside him. Not long after, the two men ran into the city along with the wolf riders surrounding Lu Bu. Wang De, Niu Wenzhong, and Wanyan Zonghan brought their own troops to the military camp to set up camp.

The atmosphere before the war became increasingly tense.

……

The sky is getting farther away.

Near Jianzhou on Zhongjing Road.

The water of the Daling River separated the grassland into two sides. Driven by the herdsmen, the cattle and sheep ran away to farther places. They watched in fear and trepidation as large numbers of soldiers and horses marched forward. Under the flags that covered the sky, the long spears held by the cavalry and infantry reflected the skylight, emitting a cold light.

On the other side of the wide river, the army, also holding the Liao war flag, marched parallel to their comrades from Nanjing Road. Flags with Khitan characters written on them were held high in the hands of the flag bearers. As the wind blew on the grassland, the troops unfolded forward with a whoosh. Countless footsteps marched across the grass and meandered eastward along the river bank, preparing to cross the river in shallow water to meet up with friendly forces from Nanjing Road.

The sky eagle flew through the clouds, casting its shadow. From behind, there were rows of iron cavalrymen wearing scale armor and holding spears with attendants beside them. Looking further back, He Chongbao was wearing a dark blue iron armor with cloud patterns and holding a three-pointed, double-edged sword. His tall figure was riding on a tall horse, looking very oppressive.

From the rear, a messenger came running over on horseback, saluted with his arms crossed, and conveyed the news from the rear. After he nodded, he turned his horse and ran back.

"Brother, what's wrong?" He Chai and He Yun, who were in the rear, were directing their troops on the march. When they saw the situation here, they hurriedly urged their horses to run over.

He Zhongbao snorted, his body swaying slightly with the warhorse: "The two major generals behind us want us to go to the front and build a pontoon bridge for the Zhongjing army."

He Chai and He Yun looked at each other, and then saw that they were surrounded by the personal soldiers of his three brothers, and they leaned over and asked, "What do you want to do, eldest brother?"

"Use your brain." He Zhongbao glared at his brother and sighed helplessly: "What else can you do? Follow their orders. Do you want to disobey them?"

"Why don't they bring anyone along?"

He Chai curled his lips, but finally sighed. He was complaining. On the way, the two royal nephews from the royal family were just urging the three brothers to do things in the front. This was also the norm in the Liao army. Khitan and Xi generals had many privileges, while it was difficult for Han people to reach high positions in the army. Most of the time, they had to obey orders and do miscellaneous tasks. Only a genius like Han Derang in the rumors could achieve the ultimate in both military and political affairs. However, the three brothers...

……never mind.

"Order the front troops to speed up."

He Zhongbao had no idea what his brother was thinking, so he shouted, "Let's go to the river mouth ahead first."

The desolate sound of the horn echoed in the sky, and the Khitan flag with the word "He" written on it moved forward in a sea of ​​soldiers, gradually disappearing from the sight behind.

……

same moment.

On top of a distant mound, a few men in simple clothes gathered together and looked at the dust in the west.

"The Liao army always gathers together. How can we sneak in?"

Shi Qian stood on the saddle with extraordinary agility, stretched out his hand to look at the marching place: "With so many soldiers and horses, I can't find the man named He even if I have three heads and six arms..."

"It seems like the troops have been divided over there." Seeing the Liao army's ranks changing, someone stretched his neck involuntarily, as if he could see farther that way.

"Whose flag?"

“I can’t see…”

After saying this, the man with the gold earrings suddenly jumped onto his horse and said, "I see. It's the Chinese character 'He'."

Shi Qian was overjoyed. He spread his legs and sat down on the saddle: "Thank God, it finally came out. Let's go to the front and wait." Several people turned their horses' heads, whipped their horses, and rushed down the hillside.

……

Golden light dyed the clouds. Han soldiers carrying the Liao army's battle flag found a forest and started cutting down trees. Trees of all sizes suitable for building a floating bridge were chopped down, dragged aside and their branches were removed. He Chongbao got off his horse and stood among the guards to stretch his body. Marching was the most tiring. Sitting on the horse all day without moving made his blood flow a little blocked.

He Chai and He Yun rode their horses and galloped forward with their soldiers. Along the way, they saw people sailing in boats ahead, so they stepped forward and shouted for them to send the boats over. There was abundant water and grass in this area, and there were still many fishermen, so the two men collected the fish quickly.

He Chai stood by the river and pointed at the wide river surface with his hand: "A few dozen boats, two by two, with some boards on top, should be enough."

"What else can we do? Do we need to build a bridge across the river?" He Yun got off his horse, squatted down and stood up to stretch his legs, and whipped the ground with his whip: "These idiots in Zhongjing don't even know how to go out and get some boats, instead they are troubling us brothers."

"I heard that all the people who went to war in Zhongjing were descendants of the royal family, so naturally there would be people to help take care of things. After looking around..." He Chai pointed at himself and his brothers: "Aren't we brothers the most suitable to be ordered around?"

He Yun remained silent. He watched the soldiers gather the boats together. Then he heard a voice shouting, "That's my boat. What are you doing with it?"

The two He brothers turned around in a hurry and saw a man who was much shorter than an ordinary man running over. He leaned on his knees and panted twice. He raised his head and bowed to the two men: "Two generals, I live on that boat. If you take it away, I won't have anything to eat."

He Chai rolled his eyes and said in a strange tone: "The army is on the march, and I don't care whether you have food or not. If you delay my important task, I will chop off your head."

Seeing the miserable face of the short and thin man in front of him, He Yun felt soft-hearted and comforted him: "Don't worry, man. We are just requisitioning it to make a floating bridge. We are not going to take your boat away. When you are done, just go to the army in front to get it."

He Chai glanced at his brothers and thought to himself that it was only because your boats were worthless, otherwise I would not have left them to you.

The short man heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this: "It's good that it's not taken away. I was hoping to catch more fish and get married."

Seeing his sharp-nosed and monkey-faced appearance, He Chai couldn't help but sneer, "With your shifty look, are there any women who would like you?"

"Why not?" The man jumped three feet high and took two steps towards the two men. "I usually work in a brothel for a meal. It's a blessing for a woman to follow me."

He Yun was amused, thinking which woman would look at someone like you? Normal people don’t look at money and family…

"What's the time it takes to eat a meal? It takes me an hour every time to go to the brothel." He Chai puffed out his chest and tilted his head back, looking like he was looking down on others.

"No..." He Yun turned around and looked at his brother: "Second brother, what's the point of you comparing this to others!"

The man over there stamped his feet, rushed over in a few steps, and grabbed He Chai's arm: "Bullshit, an hour... Aren't you afraid that your thing will get rubbed raw?"

He moved closer to He Chai, and just as the captured man was about to make a move, he suddenly stopped, with a strange look on his face.

He Yun only felt a black shadow running past him, his face suddenly changed, he reached for his waist and pulled out his protective sword: "What are you doing, man? Let go of my second brother and retreat!"

The sound was a little louder, attracting the attention of soldiers in the distance. Someone shouted, "There's something wrong with the general."

Suddenly someone came over here.

The short man didn't reply. He tilted his head back and looked at the soldiers running over. He let out a cry of "Ah!" and let go of his hand, shouting, "I didn't mean to do that."

Turn around and run.

He Yun saw him running away, pointed his sword at him and said, "Stop!", then raised his leg to chase him.

"Third brother, forget it!" He Chai stopped his brother and looked back at the approaching soldiers: "Go back, there is nothing wrong, quickly pack up the boat and we will go back to report!"

The soldiers responded and quickly retreated. He Yun put his sword back into the sheath, still looking indignant: "I'm so lucky to have pity on such a bastard, bah!"

"Okay, don't be angry." He Chai hugged his brother, turned around to see that no one was looking in this direction, and leaned over to whisper: "That man is a spy of the Qi army."

"Hmm?" He Yun looked at He Chai fiercely. He Chai nodded. The younger brother took a breath and said, "Then go back to find big brother."

……

The skylight is moving, and the evening clouds occasionally block the skylight.

The floating bridge swayed and sank rapidly on the water. The soldiers crossing the river raised the flag of Yelu. The flags with different animal heads fluttered in the evening breeze, telling everyone that these were troops belonging to different royal family generals.

On his warhorse, the arrogant Khitan general glanced at the three He brothers standing by the river, and then galloped back. There were also generals from Nanjing Road, who were also members of the royal family. It was natural for him to go and say hello. As for the soldiers under his command, there were people to help control them.

"What's that expression..."

"Okay, stop talking." He Zhongbao interrupted his brother: "It's getting late, we should hurry back to the camp and have dinner."

He took another look at the riders going away, turned his horse around and rode back.

At this time, his soldiers had already formed a circle with their horses on the outside, with bonfires lit inside. The three brothers dismounted and asked their personal guards to take care of them. They walked to the center and looked at the bonfires surrounded by personal guards. He Zhongbao ordered the guards to step back a few steps, then looked at his brothers and whispered, "What did the Qi army spy tell you?"

"Nothing." He Chai looked around and took out a folded paper: "He stuffed a piece of paper in my hand."

He Zhongbao's eyes lit up, and he quickly grabbed it, read it twice, threw the paper into the bonfire, and watched it burn to ashes. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and said in a low voice: "Qi State promised us the position of General of the Central Army or the post of Governor, as well as the thirteenth-level title, on the condition that we report the situation in the army to them."

"Then what are you waiting for?" He Chai's eyes lit up: "I've been unhappy with those Yelu people for a long time. Selling them in exchange for the glory and wealth of our brothers... This is a good deal."

He Zhongbao looked at He Yun, who also nodded repeatedly: "Didn't the three of us just accept the oppression in the army and be persuaded by the family of the Lu...King Qi? I think it can be done."

"Okay then." He Zhongbao nodded vigorously: "Old Third, go out tonight and ride your horse along the river. Someone will come to find you." (End of this chapter)