Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The surging shouts, wails, and pleas for mercy gathered on the top of the city wall, spreading to the entire section of the city wall and extending to the other three sides.

Guan Sheng held his long beard with one hand, leaned on his Qinglong Yanyue Sword and shouted, looking at the Shangjing city that was about to be opened, his red face turned purple with excitement.

As the soldiers of the Liao army of Linhuang Prefecture defending the city, the defense arrangement of Shunyang Gate on the south side became a decoration. A large number of arrows and stones were placed on the city wall without any use. All the defenders on the north gate who dared to fight had been killed. The blood flowed like a stream along the grooves of the bricks and stones, dyeing every inch of the place that could be touched red.

To the north is the imperial city of Shangjing. I never thought that he would be able to reach it so easily. I wonder what the old Liao emperor's face will look like if he breaks into the palace.

Looking at the large flag with the word "Liao" fluttering in the wind on the flagpole as thick as a bowl, Guan Sheng walked over, raised his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, and waved both hands downward.

click-

The flagpole broke in two.

"That's the city gate—"

"There are enemies on the city wall. Shoot the flare arrows! Quickly!"

"Go and defend the imperial city!"

Below the city, the sound of surging footsteps could be heard. The 1,500 reinforcements from the Pi Shi Army and the Orudo Army finally arrived when the city wall was breached. They roared at the figures on the city wall as if they had just woken up.

"Go down, open the city gates, and welcome the cavalry into the city!"

Behind him, Deputy General Zeng Kui shouted and led his soldiers to run down the stone steps, while the flags of the infantry on both sides were moving towards the east and west walls. Guan Sheng's troops had not yet fully deployed here, and Pan Zhong and Wang Jun, who came up later, would not wait here foolishly. Opening more breakthroughs was the best option for them, who were the first to climb the city.

call out--

Signal arrows were continuously shot into the sky to send messages, extending all the way to the countless buildings inside. Panicked figures were running around. Guan Sheng squinted his eyes and walked to the city wall near the city and stood still. He looked in the direction where the black spots were moving, then looked at the Liao army lined up below, and then walked down the city wall with his Qinglong Yanyue Sword upside down.

The sounds of shouting and fighting rang out again in the area. Arrows flew from below to the city wall. Some soldiers in black armor were hit by arrows without paying attention. They fell to the ground with screams and knocked down their comrades in front of them. In the chaos, someone shot downwards again, and the sound of arrows piercing through human bodies and into the ground was heard.

Soldiers wearing standard Liao Army armor stepped over the corpses of their comrades and moved towards this side from the front. Under the daylight, the armor on many generals' bodies gleamed with metallic light.

"Watch out for the enemy's arrows from behind! Sword and shield soldiers, follow me!"

Zeng Kui shook the steel spear in his hand, looked at the Liao soldiers rushing towards him and bravely went to meet them. The moment the two sides came into contact, the figure holding the shield turned his body and leaned forward violently.

boom--

The shields collided with each other, and the figure at the back squeezed the opposite side hard, with a roar of "Ahhhh——", the boots sank into the mud, and the black figure took one step forward, then two steps. A long spear poked forward from the back, and suddenly someone fell to the ground with a scream.

"Capture the city gate, capture the city gate!"

The steel spear broke through the armor, blood dripping from the spear tip, Zeng Kui shouted loudly, and the archers on high places kept shooting down whistling arrows. Some soldiers saw that the height was about the same, so they climbed over the wall guardrail next to the stone steps, jumped down suddenly, and headed towards the city gate.

"Don't retreat, push forward! Kill all these bandits and take back the city wall! Quick, quick—"

The Liao army general, who had been furious about the capture of the city wall, led his troops forward, roaring loudly and waving his scimitar to order the soldiers to charge forward. In his field of vision, the young general holding the steel spear kept advancing forward with the support of the sword and shield soldiers. The soldiers who rushed forward were stabbed in the vitals by the spears, and fell to the ground and died with a scream, while the infantry of the Qi army were swarming behind him.

A general of the Liao army rushed to the defensive formation with his personal guards, shouting loudly in an attempt to boost morale and stabilize the retreating soldiers.

On the opposite side, the black figures fighting were struggling forward, and blood seeped into the mud under their feet as the front line advanced. Guards of the Pi Shi Army and the Orudo Army kept falling in front of the passage of the north gate. Guan Sheng, holding a big knife, squeezed into the formation in front.

"Low!"

A general of the Wuluduo army shouted loudly, and a big man in helmet and armor ran out from the back. The general pointed at Zeng Kui and said, "Chop them back! Quickly--"

The Khitan man named Luowu responded without even turning his head and raised his hand: "Come on, follow me!" He squeezed through the soldiers in front, supported his shoulder with his hand and jumped up for a moment, swung his hand and chopped the Qi soldiers who were pushing forward with shields to the ground, and roared forward.

The soldiers of the Orudo Army in the rear shouted loudly, "Bows and crossbows provide cover!" The soldiers in the rear raised their bows and crossbows, but before the order was given, a volley of arrows flew from the top of the city wall, instantly making a gap in the crowd.

Zeng Kui held a steel spear and bravely advanced under the cover of the Qi army beside him. The fighting on the front line had reached a fierce level. The Liao army was afraid that the Qi people would open the city gate, so under the leadership of Luo Wu, they pushed the fighting area two steps closer to the city gate. In the battle, blood flowers bloomed.

"Drink-"

Zeng Kui was very anxious. The military order he received was to stop the Liao army from advancing. Even though he was only forced to retreat two steps, he was still anxious. He aimed at the Khitan general who was wielding a knife over there, roared, and shot the Liao army soldier in front of him to the ground.

"Guard this place!" He roared and rushed towards Luo Wu with a gun, raising the gun with both hands and smashing it down.

The steel spear flew through the air with a fierce whistling sound and came towards his face. Luo Wu blocked it with his sword across his hands, and the blade hit the gun barrel, sparks flew out along with the fragments of the blade.

The huge recoil force made Zeng Kui's arm numb. In his field of vision, the Khitan general's eyes swept over him. He used the notched knife to chop down the sword and shield man who was rushing towards him, took a step forward, and chopped down with a heavy knife.

Zeng Kui's hands were still numb, and he tried hard to raise his gun to block.

when--

There was a clanging of metal, the knife pressed the steel spear downwards, Luo Wu let out a loud "Ah--" and with his other hand pressed the handle of the knife, the blade cut his shoulder, blood spurted out, the Khitan warrior raised his foot and kicked the man, causing him to roll on the ground.

"How brave!"

Guan Sheng was watching his deputy general being hacked in the back, so he swung the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in his hand, drawing an arc and smashing it downwards.

"Damn..."

Luo Wu was just at the stage where his old strength was exhausted and his new strength had not yet been generated. How could he dare to take the angry knife attack? He stepped back suddenly, and with a bang, his Green Dragon Crescent Blade hit the bricks and stones, and a few cracks appeared on the blade.

Luo Wu took a breath and was about to raise his knife forward when a voice said, "The city gate... the city gate is open!" He stopped him. His expression suddenly changed and he retreated without thinking.

call out--

There were whistling arrows flying into the sky. Guan Sheng looked at the Liao army soldiers in front of him, sighed, and shouted: "Make way, make way, disperse!"

……

ga-

The door axis turned, and then continued to open to both sides. The Gongchen Gate, which was the least open gate on weekdays, opened a gap. The sounds of fighting and shouting were transmitted to the ears of the cavalry waiting outside as the gate opened.

"Fire a flare to notify the infantry inside to get out of the way!"

Niu Gao drew out his iron mace and roared, then kicked his warhorse with both legs: "Charge into the city and capture the Liao emperor alive!" The mount neighed loudly and ran forward on all fours.

"Capture the Liao Emperor alive!"

The cavalry began to move. The knights holding the flags with the words "Niu" and "Feng" followed the figures in front holding black and gold maces. The war horses became agitated, raising trails of dust, and accelerated madly towards the fully opened city gate.

Black figures flashed to both sides, and amid screams and shouts, the roar of collision exploded in front of the city gate. Screams and blood burst out under the iron hooves. Then the cavalry holding the flags of Wanyan and Yuan turned back from both sides of the city wall and followed Niu Gao and Feng Tai into the city.

……

Lu Yanlun walked into the imperial city with his shoulders drooped, supported by his personal guards. There were panicked figures all around him. Someone was holding porcelain and ran too fast and tripped to the ground. There was a slight sound, which turned into fragments all over the ground and pierced into his body, but he didn't even cry out. He got up and continued to run without paying attention to the broken porcelain pieces piercing his body.

He stopped here for a moment, then slowly glanced at the inner city wall on the other side of the imperial city. His body felt a little weak due to blood loss, but he still walked firmly towards the Liaison Office, pushed open the tightly closed door, and stepped in.

The governor of Shangjing, who had returned earlier than him, sat upright behind the table. The silent figure clasped his hands together, supporting his chin. When he heard the door open, he glanced at him and then stood up: "You're back... It seems that I can't hold on any longer."

"Stay behind..." Lu Yanlun wanted to say something, but finally shook his head, walked over to sit down with some staggering steps, the wounds on his arms and shoulders were burning.

Yelu Tabuye stared at the bleeding wound on his body in a daze, and after a while he asked, "Does Lu Dianzhi still have a way to save the situation?"

The sound of arrows blasted from afar. Outside, there were cries of surprise, shouts, and sounds of things being thrown. The wounded man sitting down looked at the white cloth stained with red on his arm, and his dry lips opened: "There are too few soldiers in the city. Including the Pishi Army and the Orudo Army guarding the palace, there are only 7,000 soldiers. Most of them are still in the south city and the east and west sides. The Qi army outside the city has at least 20,000 soldiers. They may have already entered the city..."

He raised his head and looked at Yelu Tabuye: "I have no way to stop the Qi army from entering the city. Please stay and surrender."

"Punishment..." The standing Shangjing garrison laughed at himself: "I'm almost dead, so what's the point of talking about punishment? If anyone wants to be punished first, it should be me, the garrison commander..."

Then he sighed heavily: "Besides, it is not your fault that there are few soldiers in the city. More than half of the 80,000 troops in Shangjing followed Marshal Yelu to fight, and the other half followed His Majesty on hunting trips. If you still have soldiers under your command, I am afraid they would be chopped off as soon as Xiao Delidi reported to the emperor."

Lu Yanlun remained silent, and the figure standing over there also stopped talking and looked up, stroking his beard, not knowing what he was thinking. Neither of them spoke for a while.

I don't know how long the silence lasted, but suddenly there was a sound of footsteps in front of the door, and a guard ran in breathlessly: "Remainer, Palace Guard, the Gongchen Gate is wide open, the Qi cavalry is charging in, the Pishi and Oruduo troops who came to reinforce have been killed and scattered, and they will soon charge into the imperial city, please make a quick decision."

Lu Yanlun moved his arm slightly, and then he felt a piercing pain, and the muscles on his face twitched involuntarily.

"Got it, you go out first."

Yelu Tabuye nodded and waved his hand. The guard clasped his fists and retreated. He turned around and looked at the sitting figure. He stared at him carefully for a while and said, "Lu Dianzhi, I am ready to surrender. What do you think?"

Lu Yanlun looked at him blankly, but the Khitan man opposite smiled and said, "I've thought about it. Linhuang Prefecture cannot be defended. Even if the north gate is fine today, when the main force of the Qi army gathers tomorrow, our troops are still not enough and will be breached sooner or later. Since we can't defend on the left or block on the right, why should we fight to the death with the Qi army?"

Lawrence Lu opened his mouth slightly but couldn’t utter a word.

The governor of Shangjing stepped forward and said, "Besides, His Majesty is not in the imperial city. Since His Majesty is not worried, then we are not considered a failure. It is just that the nobles in the city are suffering."

Lu Yanlun lowered his head and closed his eyes, then opened them, raised his head and nodded: "Your subordinate... listen to the one who stays behind!"

"Okay! Then go gather the troops from the east, west, and south, and then follow me to surrender."

Yelu Tabuye nodded with satisfaction, but there was no figure walking out of the Liaison Office with a thoughtful look on his face. Then an order was issued from here.

……

"Quick! Bring out the swords and bring me the silver mail."

In a palace in the imperial city, a woman with a slim figure, fair skin and a rosy face, dressed in a white tight suit, was standing with her hands on her hips directing a group of burly female soldiers under her.

Figures were running quickly. Female soldiers wearing leather armor and holding scimitars at their waists were holding silver-gilt fish-scale armor on the woman, putting on a silver-flowered crown and a seven-star sword around her waist. Someone was kneeling on one knee holding a silver-handled spear in both hands. The figure dressed as a female general stretched out her bare hand and took the spear.

He walked to the courtyard, climbed onto a white horse with silver mane, looked at the gate of his palace and took a breath: "The Qi bandits outside have entered the city, we can't let them do whatever they want. You all follow me to train every day, and now it's time to be loyal to the king."

The little feet in flowery boots kicked the golden stirrups, and the warhorse slowly moved forward. The delicate voice echoed under the sky of the imperial city: "Follow me into battle! A fight to the death with the Qi bandits!"

"Yes!"

The female soldiers in white clothes and armor in the courtyard shouted in unison, holding their silver-painted swords and guns, and surrounded the female generals on horseback and walked out of the courtyard.

From a distance, they all walked like dragons and tigers, not like the delicate and graceful girls of ordinary women.

……

The cool spring breeze blew the flags into the city.

Wanyan Loushi looked at the buildings around him and took a deep breath. The air mixed with the smell of blood made him feel refreshed. Then he chose a direction and rushed forward with his cavalry.

……

The sun was setting in the west, and the black smoke from the distant Gongchen Gate gradually dissipated. A large number of defeated soldiers in armor retreated back to the imperial city from there, and then did not stop, but ran directly out of the South Gate. Following their respective Yu Hou and team leaders, they ran around in a panic based on the familiar terrain. Some ran into people's homes, took valuables and ran away, while some hungry people took wine, meat and noodles and ate them without restraint. Chaos began to spread in the city. (End of this chapter)