Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 877 Dawn
The charge of the war horses slowly stopped, the smoke and dust gradually dissipated, the corpses of people and horses were spread on the ground, the gathered cavalry slowly opened up a passage, the fiery red horses walked past under the light of torches, drops of blood on the Fang Tian Huaji dripped as the Red Hare moved forward, and the slight sound was covered by the sound of horse hooves.

Ting ting ——

Red Hare shook its head and snorted loudly, then its strong legs and feet came to a stop. Lu Bu held the reins and looked at a dozen corpses that had turned into mud. Their limbs were twisted in strange ways, their mouths and noses were covered in blood, and their clothes and armor were so dirty that they could not be recognized.

In the firelight, two or three war horses were lying on the ground wailing. One of the mounts had two big holes on its body. It was struggling to raise its head and shouted "Hui'er Hui'er~" in the direction of its master. Then the horse's head fell to the ground, tears flowed from its dark eyes, and the strength of the horse's belly bulged weaker and weaker, and it gradually became stiff in a pool of blood.

A surviving warhorse was using its head to butt up against the corpse of its master. Long cuts on its sides were oozing blood, changing the color of its brown hair. It looked like it wouldn't live long.

"…bury the person."

The wind blew against his body. After a long silence, Lü Bu gave an order. The painted halberd in his hand shook, and sticky blood splashed on the ground. With his other hand, he pulled the reins and turned around to walk back. A wolf rider dismounted and walked towards the corpse. A deep voice came from behind him again: "Give it a proper burial."

Several wolf riders were stunned for a moment, then lowered their heads in response.

The sounds of fighting around were barely audible. Occasionally, there was a sound of collapse coming from the fire in the distance. Soon, there were sounds of footsteps moving towards this side. Under the flickering firelight, soldiers wearing white middle coats and white scarves on their heads stopped two arrows' distance away from the cavalry.

In the crowd, three riders and four men ran over. When they stopped, they dismounted swiftly. The tall He Zhongbao thrust his three-pointed double-edged sword into the ground, and followed his two brothers to come over quickly behind Shi Qian. They knelt down and said, "I, the guilty minister He Zhongbao (He Chai) (He Yun), kowtow to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi. May the King be blessed by God with his bravery, achievements and achievements, and wipe out the enemies of the world."

Shi Qian opened his mouth, glared at the three brothers who quickly knelt on the ground, then knelt on the ground sullenly and clasped his fists: "I am Shi Qian, the general of the scout camp, and I pay my respects to the king." He smacked his lips, and the usually eloquent man suddenly didn't know what to say. He always felt that nothing he said at this moment would be as good as what He Chongbao had said just now.

"Everyone, get up."

Lu Bu handed the painted halberd to Yu Cheng, then dismounted, stepped forward and pulled He Zhongbao up. He looked at him and smiled, "Your Highness, you have come to surrender tonight and have won over thousands of troops. I am very happy. I hope you will do your best in the future."

He Zhongbao's gloomy face suddenly revealed a happy smile. He clasped his hands together and bowed his head heavily: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will repay you with my death!"

He Chai and He Yun were even more delighted to see Lu Bu treating his brother with courtesy. They looked at each other and smiled as if they had picked up a rare treasure. Shi Qian also breathed a sigh of relief and no longer hesitated about what to say. It was better that He Chongbao was treated well, since he would not be able to escape the credit for this contribution anyway.

Lü Bu smiled and let go of He Zhongbao. He looked at the place where the flames were rising and walked forward. He Zhongbao hurriedly followed behind him. The wolf riders scattered around followed quietly. The former's voice reached the ears of the latter: "It's a pity that I can't drink with the general today. The trip to Shangjing will be busy with wars in the future. I can only hold a banquet to welcome the general when I return to Liaoyang Prefecture."

"What are you talking about, Your Majesty?" He Zhongbao walked behind and clasped his fists. "As a subject, I should be with Your Majesty and help you with state affairs. How dare I trouble Your Majesty to hold a banquet for me? Although the war is intense now, I am grateful for Your Majesty's kindness in my heart, and I have no way to repay you. If I can serve the State of Qi under Your Majesty, even if I die, I will have no regrets. As for the banquet, it will not be too late to celebrate with Your Majesty when we have made great achievements in the war in the future."

"Well said!" Lu Bu looked back at him, then turned around and laughed, pointing to where the flames were burning: "But you have already made great contributions today. Without the fire you set inside, this place wouldn't be burned like this. In this case, I owe you two dinners."

"Your Majesty is joking."

He Chongbao looked towards the fire scene. The red flames made people's faces flicker. A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. It seemed that he had made the right choice to defect to Qi State this time. Next, he just had to wait for Nanjing Road to send his wife and children over.

The sky was gradually getting brighter, and the fire became smaller with the appearance of sunlight. A boat came over from the river, and the soldier who brought the news rowed to the shore. Led by the guards, he ran to the big flag with the word "Qi" on it, knelt on one knee, clasped his fists, and talked about the situation of the navy.

The smell of burning filled the air. Lu Bu waved his hand to let everyone leave, a smile on his face. He turned to Xiao Haili and the newly surrendered He Zhongbao who were accompanying him and said, "It seems that we have a good harvest tonight. Xiao Qi and Zhang Shun have successfully seized the food and grass. We don't have to worry about it for a while. I don't have to be nagged by Liu Min to save money." "So...even if we break into Shangjing Road, we will have enough food and grass?" Xiao Haili pinched his knuckles, making a crisp sound. "If it were me, we should just defeat Yelu Dezhong and then kill him in Shangjing. Yelu Yanxi has been in that position for long enough."

He Chongbao glanced at Xiao Haili sideways, thinking that this Khitan noble was even more cruel than himself, a northern Han Chinese, and wondered what kind of injustice he had suffered before.

Lu Bu pondered for a moment and nodded: "The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. If we can defeat the Shangjing Army quickly enough, we can just attack Linhuang Prefecture."

Xiao Haili was immediately overjoyed: "If that's the case, then I will be the vanguard!"

"Okay!" Lu Bu glanced at him, then turned back to look at the military camp that was almost burned to the ground: "If you can capture Yelu Yanxi, I will grant you the title of a king for life."

Xiao Haili's grinning mouth shrank, and then widened a little: "I will try my best."

The sound of footsteps came from a distance. Several people looked over there and saw the Qi army on war horses driving the captives who had escaped from the barracks. He Zhongbao suddenly remembered something, hesitated for a moment, and clasped his hands together: "Your Majesty, I have something to say but I don't know if I should say it or not."

"explain."

He Zhongbao bowed his head and said, "There is another general in the camp this time named Bangur. I have a good feeling about him. If we capture him, I hope the king will allow me to recruit him."

Lu Bu did not object and smiled: "But, if you can persuade him to surrender, it will be another achievement for you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." He Chongbao let out a breath and bowed heavily.

As they were talking, figures escorting prisoners gradually came over in the distance. Amid the noise, the captured Liao soldiers were taken to one side to look at their guards, and the generals stepped forward to surrender.

The sky gradually brightened the world. The cavalry generals had already led their troops back. He Chongbao went forward to inquire one by one. It took him a long time to find out from Niu Wenzhong that the Chuanzhou army was captured by him. He hurried over to inquire and found out after a while that when Ruan Xiaoqi and Zhang Shun used catapults to attack the camp on the river, a stone hit Bangur's camp. The unlucky commander was hit by the stone and had been dead for a long time.

Afterwards, Yang Zaixing brought back Yelu Dehua's head, and an official from the Military and Political Department came forward to record his merits, and also wrote down the merits of Dong Ping and Hu Yanzhuo. However, Wang De and Yelu Ma Wu came over dejected. They had been chasing for a long time but only caught some personal guards. The commanders Yelu Dezhong and Dexin had no idea where they had gone. The two searched for them in the camp for a while, but ran out because they couldn't stand the smoke.

Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongbi, who came last, ignored each other. When they saw Lu Bu, the former ran over and jumped off his horse and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty. I have captured more than 400 Liao soldiers outside and have come to surrender my order."

Lu Bu looked at the Liao prisoners who were tied together and said, "General, you have worked hard. Go to the side and hand the prisoners over to General He's subordinates for custody."

When he looked at Wanyan Zongbing, his eyes were stunned for a moment. There were less than a hundred people tied up there, and it seemed extremely empty.

"Your Majesty, I want to report Wuzhu. He was passive and lazy in the battle, and let countless Liao soldiers escape. Please punish him severely."

Wanyan Zongbing, who came over on horseback, had a dark face.

(End of this chapter)