Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 919: Fight Again (Two in One)

at the same time.

In the ancient city of Jumu, the troops were not gathered here to march south as people in the south had guessed. On the contrary, Xiao Yixiu and the troops of the Wugundilie Military Command were very angry in the city.

The Zhajila tribe, a nomadic people in the north, had conflicts with several of the eight tribes of Dilie. It was also his bad luck that he could have relied on the court to suppress these troubles, but when the news of the change of hands in the capital came, the enemy became arrogant and directly summoned 3,000 young and strong men in the tribe to attack him.

The war spread from the grassland to Jingbian City, and also involved Xiao Yixue, who led his troops to join the group at Jumu Ancient City, making it impossible for him to advance southward indefinitely.

The scorching sun hangs over the vast plain.

War horses raised their own clouds of dust. The knights on horseback wore simple leather armor or cloth clothes of various colors. Occasionally, someone had iron plates hung on his chest or back for protection. He made strange noises and threw out the slingshots tied to earthen jars in his hands.

Pong bang——

The broken earthenware jar splashed out sticky and pungent liquid, and the flaming arrow was put on the bowstring, and it turned suddenly, and then
let go.

hum-

Arrows kept flying across the sky, crisscrossing each other, igniting flames that nailed to the ground, burning on the bodies of people and horses and suddenly exploding, spots of blood flew out, and inhuman screams and mournful wails of war horses were heard in the flames. On this battlefield, they gradually transformed into human-shaped and horse-shaped torches, running on the ground and then falling down with a bang.

The knight shot an arrow with all his might, and with a gloomy look on his face, he ran past the lifeless fire and rushed towards the enemy who was swaying left and right on his horse. The flying arrow grazed the horse's neck and fell down. A burst of wild laughter came from the front, and when he turned around, his horse was hit by an arrow flying from the side.

The man and the horse fell to the ground with a loud bang, rolled forward for a distance, and lay on his back on the ground with blood gushing out of his mouth. The sound of hooves approached, and the hooves as big as bowls stepped down, and with the sound of "crack", the eyes popped out with the sound of bones breaking.

The people chasing behind kept shooting arrows. From time to time, people wearing various leather armors fell down, and people wearing Liao army equipment fell on the battlefield.

The view rises to the sky and goes far away along the grassland. Knights on war horses are galloping in all directions. The battlefield has long become a scene of chase and escape. The burning flames spread, and the rising black smoke rushed into the air. The smell of burning flesh spreads across the wilderness.

Further behind, large flags of "Liao" and "Xiao" stood on raised earthen mounds.

Xiao Yixiu was about thirty or forty years old, with a handsome face. He rode a warhorse under the big flag, observing the situation on the battlefield in the distance. He knew that these Zhajila herdsmen killed people on horseback and dismounted to graze, but he did not expect them to be so difficult to deal with. The cavalry on the battlefield were pulled in several directions, and there were not many enemies in each place, but they could not be caught up.

Under such circumstances, it no longer matters whether a cavalry can catch up with and annihilate the enemy in front. Instead, it is necessary to hurt the invading enemies or even exterminate their entire clan in order to calm the grassland down again. Otherwise, with the rise of Qi State, the grassland, which is the place where Qi State started, will no longer be stable.

The messenger cavalry was running back and forth, the blown horns and raised flags swaying in the air conveyed the message, and the prepared troops in the rear began to run to the side, trying to see if they could get around and get past.

The skylight moved westward, and one after another, the mobilized troops were moving. In front of the battlefield, in the fields and on the grass, countless cavalrymen from both sides were galloping. The distance between them was terrifying. In the field of vision, only the dust rising in the distance could be seen, and even that was gradually fading.

The distance run is already quite far.

"Damn it..." Xiao Yixue whipped his horse whip and said, "Tell the cavalrymen who have gone far away to come back. Don't let them run too far and cause any more problems."

The messenger knight in cloth ran out with only a bow and arrow. He sighed as he watched the figure going away. A personal guard offered him a water bag and he took a sip.

Since arriving at the ancient city of Jumu, Xiao Yixiu has been anxious, with several blisters on the corners of his mouth. However, he was also afraid that if he withdrew all the troops, it would give the Zhajila tribe an opportunity. If he withdrew too few troops, he dared not go south, so he became more and more anxious recently.

On the other side of the battlefield where war horses were galloping, on the mound.

A burly, flat-faced man from the Zhajila tribe had his hair loose and was fixed with a hairband. He was looking at the dust rising in the distance and silently calculating something. Behind him were three hundred strong men from the tribe, wearing somewhat old standard leather armor decorated with iron plates for self-defense. They were constantly touching the iron spears in their hands with nervous expressions.

"Battle of the escape." Someone called him softly from behind: "Is it time to set off? If you get any closer, you will miss the opportunity."

"...It's time to set off." Tuo Zhao took a breath and looked at the dust in the distance, pointing to the right: "But the plan has changed. Let's go over there. There are three clouds of dust scattered over there. Killing them from this side will do the most damage to their manpower."

Then he pulled the reins and said, "People of the gods, let the fools of Ugundile see who is the real warrior."

He immediately raised the iron spear in his hand and said: "Dedicate the victory to the gods!"

"Dedicate the victory to the gods!"

Iron spears and long guns were raised, and roars were heard across the wilderness.

“Hoo-hoo!”

With a strange cry, he took the lead and galloped out. His companions behind him also let out a strange cry and ran forward. Someone took out a whistling arrow and put it on the bowstring.

The pursuing cavalry shot arrows from time to time, and the sharp arrows that flew across the sky occasionally pierced into flesh and blood.

Boom boom boom boom——

The sound of horse hooves stamped on the ground, and a sharp sound was heard in the sky.

"Turn around, hold them back—"

The cavalry in front howled, and immediately deviated to the left, while constantly turning around to draw their bows and shoot arrows, which made the pursuing soldiers even more angry. The general leading the troops roared "Speed ​​up!" and chased forward.

The war horses roared and rose up. Under the setting sun, the army horses attacking from the side finally attracted people's attention. "Right! There are ambushes on the right!" A panicked roar was heard. The general in front turned his head and shouted, "Meet the enemy!" and wanted to turn the horse's head.

But the person being chased in front would not let him escape so easily. He turned around and rained arrows down, instantly knocking several riders in the front row off their horses.

"kill!"

The hair behind his head fluttered in the air. Seeing that the distance was enough, he pulled out his hand axe and threw it. Axe light and hammer shadow also flew out from behind.

"what!"

The rotating blunt weapon hit the man and horse hard, and blood spurted out continuously, dyeing half of the body red. The warhorse fell to the side after being hit hard, and the knight on it was pressed to the ground.

"Go in! Go in--"

Hysterical shouts came from the man named Battelle.

He raised the iron spear and stabbed the figure in front of him off his horse. He roared and drew out his scimitar to deflect the stabbing spear. The horse continued to move forward without stopping.

Behind him, a knight holding a long-handled weapon also rushed in, his whole body trembling slightly under the stimulation of blood. The long handle whipped people off their horses, and the sharp iron weapon pierced into leather armor and flesh, stringing people up and lifting them into the sky with a series of “Ahhhh——” screams.

Blood and body parts flew into the sky, and the corpses that fell to the ground were trampled by horses' hooves. The team that was cut in half began to fall into chaos. Some people pulled the reins and ran away, while others rode their horses forward with red eyes, stabbing the opponent to death, but were stabbed to death by the knights who came later.

"Turn around! Turn around quickly--"

"Bateer escaped and charged into the enemy camp, go back and help!"

Most of the knights running in the front were ordinary herdsmen. When they turned around and saw the chaos in the rear, they were overjoyed and turned back shouting. One after another, their figures crashed into the Liao army in the front with strange cries.

War horses neighed, swords whistled, and people shortened the distance between each other. The iron swords made a harsh clashing sound. The weapons in the hands of both sides slashed and stabbed back and forth over the head and chest. The iron helmet was damaged, and the bleeding general had half of his face red, but he still let out an unwilling roar and waved his swords with all his might. Gradually, he was overwhelmed by the cavalry and died.

"Don't chase, don't chase!"

The one who had escaped with a killing move looked at the already scattered Liao soldiers and yelled loudly: "Keep going, next one! Next one——"

The war horses stomped the ground and tried to move towards the next direction where dust was rising. Seeing this, the tribal cavalry behind hurriedly followed. The herdsmen who had wanted to chase the Liao cavalry also turned their horses' heads and swarmed towards the next place under the roars of their respective centurions.

Soon after, the previous battle was repeated.

This happened again and again. …

The setting sun cast its last red ray.

The signal of the horn echoed on the grassland, and the pursuing cavalry gradually retreated. The pursued figure did not try to stop them, but just reined in his horse to look back in the distance, and then galloped towards the agreed place.

Under the lit torches, Xiao Yixue saw that there were hundreds fewer soldiers returning. Suddenly, his eyes went dark and he pointed at the figure approaching: "Great, really great! I never expected that I would lose soldiers at the hands of a group of people with incomplete armor!"

"Commander in Chief..."

Several generals who were leading the troops in pursuit opened their mouths, looked at each other and lowered their heads. It would be wrong to say anything at this time, so they just stood there and listened to his scolding.

"Humph!" Xiao Yixue pointed at this and that, and finally waved his hand: "Return to the camp!"

……

north.

A bonfire was lit on the grassland. Men wearing leather armor and cloth clothes drank kumis, ate dried meat, and talked around the fire.

wow-

Tuozhao poured water over his head, blood mixed with minced meat flowed down his body. The burly man shook his hair and wiped it dry with a cloth. He sat naked by the fire and warmed himself. Someone handed him dried meat and kumis. The big man took a sip and asked, "How many people were killed?"

"Two hundred and seventeen herdsmen died. Most of them were slow runners and were shot to death by Liao cavalry. Some were hacked to death when they charged into the enemy lines. There were many injured, about four hundred and thirty people, including tribesmen and herdsmen. Seventy-four of them could no longer fight. The rest, after applying some medicine and bandaging their wounds, can still fight."

The man who was speaking paused, looked at the people eating and drinking, hesitated and spoke again: "Tuo Zhao Bater, if we continue like this, the losses will be too great. After all, we are facing the Liao army, and we can't win alone."

"I know, and so does the Khan." Tuo Zhao bit the dried meat open, drank a mouthful of mare's milk, and chewed hard: "So we don't have to decide the outcome with the Liao people and win a few more battles... Gululudu——"

He drank a few sips of wine to wash down the dried meat, wiped his mouth and said: "Let's make peace with the Liao people. They still have the threat of Qi in the south, so they don't have the energy to fight with us. When the time comes, we can ask for some pastures, and I think the Liao people will not refuse."

"Can...can it be done?"

Several centurions who were in charge of the herdsmen looked at each other and seemed to lack confidence.

"Listen to me." He stretched out his little finger to pick the meat thread between his teeth, took a look, and stuffed it into his mouth again: "I promise it will work."

Soon, in the firelight, the tribal warriors lying on felt fell into a deep sleep, and the night passed slowly under the watch of several men on duty.

The next morning, the golden morning sun spread out its light.

After eating and drinking, Tuo Zhao jumped on his horse, shook the reins, and with an excited look on his face, he jumped on his horse and ran through the camp with his iron spear raised: "Warriors of Zhajila, continue to make the Liao people tremble today, and then seize their pastures!"

The tribal soldiers who woke up roared with excitement, and the wounded also struggled to get up, beating the ground.

woo-

Woohoo——

The desolate ox horn sounded as the cavalry ran, the distant dust floated in the air again, and the horses' hooves rumbled again.

……

Far away from the banks of the Heci River.

The erected tents were folded up, and Wulindatai, who was ahead, rushed towards the ancient city of Jumu with the excitement and tension before the battle.

The noisy voices of people and the neighing of war horses filled people's ears, and the buzzing sound scared the birds and animals in the area away.

Wanyan Loushi mounted his warhorse, and Zeng Tu and Wanyan Huonu also mounted their horses one by one. He turned his head to look at the people around him and ordered his disciple Hexi: "Let Wanyan Zonghan be the left wing and Wanyan Zongbing be the right wing. Tell those two bastards that your majesty is watching this battle. If anything goes wrong, come to see me with your heads on your shoulders!"

He raised his hand, drew out the long sword from his waist and raised it, the golden light in the air refracted and scattered: "Send a great gift to the Ugundile Army Command, march quickly, kill Jumugu, roast their cattle and sheep in their city, and rob their women!"

Four thousand Jurchen cavalrymen and fifteen hundred cavalrymen under the command of the Jurchen General Zhonglang roared in unison.

The order to set off was given, and the cavalry swarmed northward.

After all, it was the first independent battle after the incorporation, and these Jurchen generals also needed military achievements to prove something.

……

Far away from the Ugundile tribe.

Preparations for war were ongoing. Scouts ran to the fields before dawn and watched the surrounding scenes vigilantly.

Boom boom boom——

The sound of horse hooves came from afar. The three scouts in the team looked at each other. Someone stood up on his horse and looked in the direction of the sound. It was a tiny cloud of dust spreading towards this side.

"It's those shabby households in the north!"

He crossed his legs, sat on the saddle, and turned his horse's head: "Go, go, go! Go back and report the enemy is coming!"

The warhorse, dressed simply and with few weapons, galloped quickly, raising a trail of dust as it ran back the way it came.

Soon, the Ugundile tribe, who had received military intelligence, began to gather, and more than 8,000 soldiers began to run outside under the command of Xiao Yixiu.

In the military camp, cavalrymen and soldiers came and went, and everyone's face was filled with a sense of urgency as the war was approaching. A large flag with the word "Liao" on it fluttered in the camp. In front of the troops gathered for a meeting, Xiao Yixue, wearing armor, looked down with a group of trusted generals from the Commandery, and talked from time to time.

"Zhajila's escaped move is indeed a talent. If we can subdue him and bring him to fight against Southern Qi, he will be able to make great contributions to the country. Now that the emperor's order has been issued for nearly a month, it is really wrong for us to waste time here. Perhaps we can promote peace among the three tribes through negotiation. They are all our people from the Great Liao, and it is really stupid to waste our strength for nothing."

In the sight, soldiers and horses gathered behind their respective flags. After Xiao Yixiu finished speaking, several trusted generals behind him found it difficult to respond. He took a deep breath and looked up at the flag of the Liao Dynasty, but felt a sense of sadness. When had they been forced into this state by force?
"Damn it, let's hurt the guy who escaped first. If he doesn't know what's best for him, I'll kill him."

He cursed in a low voice, but his expression showed no emotion. He had been an official and a general for a long time and had already developed a certain level of sophistication. Unless he got emotional, no one could tell that there was anything wrong with him.

"Cheer up, these past two days are just minor setbacks. Don't worry. After all, the other side has fewer people, and victory will belong to us in the end!"

"The commander-in-chief said that if we win this battle, we will be rewarded with gold, silver, women, cattle and horses!"

"Let those poor people see who is the most powerful tribe on this grassland!"

Shouts came one after another in the parade ground. The generals in command kept encouraging their men. It was not known whether they were ashamed to lose to a small number of soldiers or the rewards stimulated their desires. Many knights from both divisions shouted loudly, and the sounds of killing shook the heavens and the earth.

Morale is available!

Xiao Yixue nodded with satisfaction under the central army flag and waved his arm: "Send out the troops!"

On the vast grassland, with an order given, a wave of blood exploded in the river area.

(End of this chapter)