Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The morning light rises from the east as always.

The running Liao scouts kept running in all directions. Some of them ran head-on into the figures in black armor. After a fierce battle, they fled in a panic, leaving behind several corpses. Others, after meeting the Jurchen scouts, scattered like water and disappeared without a trace, not giving the Jurchen scouts time to react. More of them were the men from the eight tribes of the enemy who had escaped death and were running towards the city.

One after another, figures gathered towards the ancient city of Giant Mother with alarming news.

Xiao Yixue woke up at dawn, got dressed and paced back and forth in the room. Everything that happened yesterday kept turning over in his mind. Finally he stopped, let out a long sigh, and slammed the table.

"Commander in chief! Command in chief!"

The guards shouted from outside. Before Xiao Yixue could speak, he pushed the door open and knelt down: "Commander-in-chief, something terrible has happened. The enemy troops of La and Dili were slaughtered last night, and only a few escaped alive. In addition, a large number of Qi scouts were found 20 miles outside the city."

"What did you say?!"

Xiao Yixue was shocked, and walked over to grab the man and said, "Which two were slaughtered?!"

"The scouts risked their lives to go to the nomadic camps of Dila and Dilixia, but found that they had already been occupied by the Qi army."

Xiao Yixue's expression suddenly changed, and he hurried to the table to look for something. He picked up the book and threw it on the table. He found a feng shui map from the pile of papers.

wow-

He unfolded the geomancy map, and drew his finger across the areas of Dila and Dili. He whispered, "Twenty miles...", and poked hard with his finger, "West of the city!"

He raised his head and ordered: "Send the scouts to explore the west of the city. This commander wants to know how many Qi troops are coming, who is leading them, and where they will move next!"

"Yes!"

"Come back!" Xiao Yixue called out to the guard who was about to leave, thought for a moment and waved his hand again: "Forget it, go and pass the message."

The guard responded and turned and ran.

Xiao Yixue gritted his teeth and walked around the room twice with his hands behind his back. Finally, he gritted his teeth, walked to the door, and took a step forward: "Come here, send a message to Jingbian City to quickly organize troops to support the south."

"Inform the generals in the city. From now on, keep your swords in hand and your armor on, and be ready to respond to the attack of the Qi army at any time!"

Someone rushed out, and soon, more than ten war horses were galloping towards the north.

……

At the gathering place of the Zhajila tribe, more than a thousand tribal men gathered together in a somewhat dejected manner. Only a little over 30% of the mighty figure that came when they came were left, and many familiar faces were no longer seen. The morale was visibly low.

The sound of war horses neighing suddenly rang out, and several riders came running over from outside. The ones who dismounted did not delay, but walked straight to the side of the one who had escaped the attack, sat down and started speaking.

"Something happened to the Liao people, and a new army appeared. Our scouts were chased and killed as soon as they approached. Fortunately, we ran fast, otherwise we would have suffered a lot of casualties."

"Army? What flag?" Tuozhao's eyes darkened a little. He put down the dried meat in his hand and asked.

"I don't understand. It's not Khitan language."

Tuozhao's heart was moved, and he asked anxiously: "What kind of clothes and armor are you wearing?"

"It looks quite good, all in black armor and black clothes. It looks even blacker than my black horse."

"It must be the Qi people in the south!" Tuo Zhao clapped his hands, and his languid expression became excited: "Only the Qi people in the south wear black clothes and armor. I didn't expect them to attack us now."

"Bartel, what do we do now?"

Tuozhao looked at the somewhat decadent tribesmen around him and gritted his teeth: "Come with me, let's go to the south to contact Qi people. They want to fight with Wugu Dilie on this grassland, and they need people who know the terrain here!"

The majestic body stood up, and several warriors from the tribe looked at each other and stood up as well: "Tuo Zhao Bater, we will go with you."

At that moment, the men of the Zhajila tribe had no intention of staying here any longer. They jumped on their war horses, shouted "Ha" and "Gee" a few times, and rode away at full speed.

……

The sun pours down.

Wanyan Loushi came with a large group of soldiers and horses. The running cavalry blew the assembly horn. In the team, the scouts coming and going collected the information from all around. The cavalry in black armor painted the green grass into ink color.

The deep sound of the horn echoed throughout the area.

Suddenly, a woman's cry was heard, followed by scolding, and several sharp screams were heard in the tent. Liquid splashed on the dirty tent wall, and then a trace of blood seeped out, which looked somewhat similar to the brown marks outside.

The cavalrymen in black armor hurriedly walked out of the bloody tent and put the swords they had wiped clean back into their sheaths. What they saw before them was a mess, with blood and broken spears all over the ground. The killed members of the Dilie tribe were thrown outside the camp, and they climbed onto their horses. They had no time to care about the cattle, sheep and horses whose owners had died, and hurried to gather together with the troops outside.

The wind blew the flags. Wanyan Zongbing and Wanyan Bendu ran into the central army with their personal guards. When they saw Wanyan Loushi on horseback, they saluted and said, "Greetings, Marshal."

Wanyan Loushi glanced at him and pawed the ground with his horse. "The scouts ahead sent a message that the Liao troops are all in the city. You lead your troops to guard along the western river and don't let the herdsmen of the eight enemy tribes unite."

"Yes."

Wanyan Zongbing clasped his hands and turned around to walk away. Soon, the cavalry under the flag of Changshui Cavalry Captain ran up.

Wanyan Loushi glanced at the tribe being slaughtered in the distance and thought for a moment: "Click here to see if anyone will come to rescue us."

After a pause, he said, "Make the smoke bigger."

A group of cavalrymen immediately rushed out, shouting to drive out the cattle, sheep and horses, and threw the dead bodies into the tent. They found the wood, dry cow dung, some camel grass and licorice stored by the herdsmen, and then lit torches and threw them into the tent.

tumultuous--

The dry cloth suddenly caught fire, and clouds of black smoke rose up to the sky.

Wanyan Loushi retracted his gaze, turned his head and ordered to the side: "Send a message to Wulinda Taiyu to lead his troops to move north. If there are reinforcements in Jingbian City, delay them."

"Order Wanyan Zonghan to lead his troops to the foot of Jumu Ancient City to fight a verbal battle and try to provoke that turtle Xiao Yixue to come out of his shell."

The messenger rode away immediately, and he looked at Zeng Tu who was standing beside him and said, "Please ask General Zeng to stay with me in the central army. If there is any need for support, we will send troops there."

Zeng Tu immediately bowed and said, "Everything will be done as the commander says."

Wanyan Loushi nodded and looked at Tushan Hexi: "Send a message to Wuyan Puhanu to lead his troops to be on guard, and the rest of you can rest."

Then he dismounted and asked someone to bring the geomancy map. He pointed and talked about something with Zeng Tu.

……

Black smoke columns meandered and drifted in the sky. The height of the city was enough for the soldiers above to see several ominous smokes in the distant fields, and someone hurried to report it.

Xiao Yixue hurried over wearing armor, holding the hilt of the sword at his waist and looking at the black smoke drifting in the distance with a grim expression.

"Commander-in-chief...are we going to rescue them?" The general guarding the city came over and asked.

"What are you trying to save?" Xiao Yixue's face turned pale, and he pointed at the column of smoke rising in the distance: "Over there is a tribe being slaughtered. They are just setting fire to that place to trick us into coming over to rescue them. What if we are ambushed?"

The general opened his mouth, lowered his head and thought for a while, and finally hesitantly took a step closer and whispered: "What the commander said makes sense, but the men below..."

From what Xiao Yixiu saw, the man gestured to the surroundings with his eyes.

In the sight, the soldiers standing around were all looking at the black smoke over there with worry. Some of them looked over there, then at Xiao Yixue, with eager expressions on their faces.

"..."

Xiao Yixue suddenly felt bitter in his mouth, a feeling of being dumb and eating coptis surged into his heart. He looked at the faces of the soldiers and finally waved his hand: "Pass my order, no one is allowed to leave the city without a military order, so as not to give the Qi bandits in the south a chance to break into the city."

Then he hurried down the city wall and asked the guards beside him, "Have the people who came to ask for help set out?"

"They've all gone out." The guard replied respectfully.

"...Too slow!" Xiao Yixue squeezed the hilt of his knife hard, then jumped on his horse and said, "Let the leaders of each unit come to see me."

Go in a hurry.

……

Black smoke was originally used by people to convey messages. The military called it "wolf smoke". When it was lit, it meant that the enemy was approaching.

At this time, people on the grassland also have the custom of looking for smoke, but it is not necessarily used to send warning signals. It is more to see where there are human habitation so as to mix it with a sip of hot butter tea or kumis. After all, the grassland is vast, and it is hard to say where there are houses near the water source.

Of course, the black smoke was definitely not a good sign. "Over there." Tuo Zhao pointed at the black smoke rising into the sky in the distance and said, "Go and have a look. There must be a war going on over there."

The rest of the men who were stabbing naturally took him as their leader, and then rode away together.

Where the army stayed, there were naturally all kinds of sentries. Not long after Tuo Zhao and his people entered this area, a patrol cavalry team of ten people saw them. The leader saw that they were outnumbered and led his troops to approach them. Seeing the strange knight on the opposite side entering the two-arrow range, he immediately drew his bow and arrow: "Stop!"

Let go and shoot.

puff--

The arrow pierced the ground in front of the horse's side.

The knight of Zhazhisi quickly pulled the reins, and the horse under him neighed and stopped.

"Wait, we have no ill intentions!" Tuozhao shouted in Khitan language with a strange accent. The warhorse moved restlessly. The knight on top comforted his mount and shouted, "We are the enemy of Wugudilie, the herdsmen of the Zhazhishi tribe in the north. We have been fighting with them here. I wonder if the enemy is the general of the Qi State in the south? We have news to report!"

These Jurchens had lived near Huanglongfu for many years, so they could understand what was being said and replied, "We are under the command of Wanyan Loushi, the Western Lieutenant General of Qi..."

Tuozhao's face lit up with joy, and he heard the other side continue to shout: "If you really have something to report, dismount, put down your weapons, and come over. I will take one of you over."

He naturally did not refute, but turned around and said a few words in his own tribal language. The man behind him dismounted and put the iron spear on the ground. He threw the long and short weapons in his hands to his companions, and put down his bow and quiver. Then he kicked his warhorse over, put one hand on his shoulder, and bowed slightly: "Thank you, general, for taking me over."

The team leader nodded, turned around and asked two soldiers to take him to find Wanyan Loushi, while he took the rest of the people to look after the other tribal soldiers here.

His sentry post was only a short distance away from the central army. After a while, he saw Wanyan Loushi talking to Zeng Tu. He quickly jumped off his horse and saluted respectfully.

"Zhazhishi tribe escaped and greeted the general of Qi."

Wanyan Loushi and Zeng Tu stopped talking. Wanyan looked at the visitor with interest and said, "You said you had something important to discuss with me. What is it?"

"Yes, Zhazhici and Wugudilie have been fighting at Wunashui in recent months. I think I am very familiar with the terrain here. I am willing to lead the way for General Qi to search for the enemy."

Wanyan Loushi looked at him and said, "Now that I have led my army to surround the ancient city of Jumu, Xiao Yixue is already trapped. Why do I need you to lead the search?"

"General." He was not flustered, but asked in return: "Does your country only want to fight Xiao Yixue, or do you want to conquer Wunashui as well?"

Wanyan Loushi looked at him with some surprise, and then exchanged glances with Zeng Tu. The eldest son of the Zeng family thought for a moment and nodded, then turned to look at him: "I want to incorporate this place into my Qi State."

"That's it." Tuo Zhao took a breath, "Zhazhici is located in the north of Wugudilie. We have often fought with the two tribes until the Liao Kingdom led them into the Wuna River Basin several decades ago. If the general can conquer this place, we are willing to submit to Qi."

"...It's quite interesting." Wanyan Loushi said softly. After a moment of contemplation, he looked at him and said, "You are the leader of the Zhajishi tribe? Why did you have a dispute with Ugundile?"

"No." Tuozhao shook his head and looked at Wanyan Loushi sincerely: "It is impossible to investigate what happened in the past. It's just that the places where Zhazhishi is located are mostly bitter and cold. We also want to find a warmer place to graze. However, to the south is where Ugundile is. Because of the competition for water sources and pastures, dirty things happened. Later, they killed the herdsmen, so..."

Wanyan Loushi understood without saying the rest. Nowadays, the weather is getting colder every year, and many people in Liaodong cannot stand the cold and go south to Nanjing, or cross the sea to Song Dynasty and Japan to find a warm enough place. Putting himself in their shoes, he can understand the actions of the Zhajishi tribe.

Naturally, Ugundile's hostility towards them probably came from this.

"How many people are you waiting for?"

Tuozhao's face was a little bitter, and he took a breath: "There are more than a thousand people, and there are more than nine hundred who can still fight."

"Quite a lot."

Tuozhao looked at him with some surprise.

Wanyan Loushi smiled and said, "Bring your people here. Since you are familiar with the terrain here, there is no need for me to defend this ancient city of Giant Mother. It is time to bring some changes to Wugu Dilie."

Tuo Zhao was overjoyed when he heard this: "Thank you, General. I will go and inform my companions to bring the person over."

After saying this, he saluted, turned around, mounted his horse and left.

Zeng Tu watched him run away, frowned and looked at Wanyan Loushi: "Your Majesty asked us to defeat the enemy from the north, and did not ask us to conquer the herdsmen here."

"This is a different time." Wanyan Loushi stroked his chin and looked at Zeng Tu: "If this person hadn't come, I would have no choice but to confront Xiao Yixue and attack the ancient city of Jumu. Now..."

He turned around and looked in the direction of the city behind him: "It's time to change the way we do things and give him a headache."

Then he raised his voice and said, "Inform the generals outside to move closer to the central army and ambush outside. Do not show up. Also, send scouts outside to investigate the news in all directions."

The cavalry received the order and left.

Wanyan Loushi looked at his guards and said, "Tushan Hexi, tell Wuyan Puhanu to tell his soldiers to rest and Wanyan Cibushi to replace him."

Then he looked at Zeng Tu and said, "General Zeng, I'm afraid you won't be as relaxed as before."

"There is no such thing as leisure when marching and fighting." Zeng Tu smiled and saluted: "It seems that the commander-in-chief has a new idea. Then the credit will depend on the commander-in-chief."

Wanyan Loushi laughed: "General Zeng, you are joking. This time I have to rely on you generals to save my life."

The two men talked for a while, and then asked the soldiers on duty to rest quickly.

At the beginning of the hour of Wei, a scout came galloping on horseback, reporting that about a thousand cavalrymen were heading towards the central army from the northwest. Wanyan Loushi and Zeng Tu looked at each other and realized that it was the real enemy coming. They immediately ordered the soldiers in the central army to mount their horses and be prepared to deal with the situation. They also ordered the cavalry to retreat, saying that something was wrong and that they should follow the signal of arrows from this side. They also sent orders to the other three routes of troops to encircle and suppress the enemy.

After everything was arranged, Tuo Zhao hurried to the central army with two captains of the tribe.

Not long after, Xiao Yixiu, who was stationed in the city, discovered that the Qi cavalry outside began to withdraw and disappeared.

"Order the scouts to search!"

Xiao Yixue paced in the room, stopped to look at the trusted general who came in to report the news, his usually gentle expression was distorted: "Find out where those Qi people went, they can't be here to enjoy the scenery, tell the scouts outside, if they don't find them, bring their heads to me!"

"Yes!" The general responded. Not daring to get into trouble at this time, he quickly retreated.

Xiao Yixue walked around the room twice, then hurried to the table and looked at the geomancy map for a long time, but he still couldn't figure it out. He punched the map and said, "What do these Qi bandits want to do?"

His question was not answered immediately. At the beginning of the afternoon, a thousand cavalrymen from Jingbian City came rushing to rescue. Although the ancient city of Jumu was no longer in danger of being besieged, Xiao Yixue still did not dare to send these fighting forces back. He just urged the scouts to go out and search.

At 3 p.m., a scout brought back news that a large number of troops and horses were crossing the river in the southwest.

"...Southwest, across the river?" Xiao Yixue repeated, then changed color: "Oh no, Dali bottom."

An impatient figure rushed out of the room.

……

The moonlight rises to the sky, the dark blue color covers the sky, and the stars are inlaid on it, shining like pearls.

"Ten miles ahead is the bottom of Dari."

The warhorse trotted forward, took a sip of mare's milk, pointed straight ahead and spoke.

"It's only twenty miles from where we cross the river." Zeng Tu gently stroked the mane of the horse he was riding, and pointed the whip forward: "If we had gone a little off track, we wouldn't have to come back now."

"It's not too late now." Wanyan Huo Nu chuckled from behind: "Let's take this place. I don't know if the Liao dogs can still sit in the city."

The sound of horse hooves could be heard all around. Wanyan Loushi in front of him looked back at him and said, "If you can't sit still, then take down the next one. There will always be a time when you can make him unable to sit still."

He looked up at the sky and said, "Send an order. The army should move forward quickly and rest tonight... at the bottom of Dari!"

woo-

Woohoo——

Horns sounded, hooves beat like thunder, and the roar faded away, suddenly breaking into the silent camp while everyone was fast asleep.

The night of killing happened again.

……

Further south.

More than twenty people were eating around the fire. A young man named Shi Xiu looked at the iron cage carried by the horse behind him with a thoughtful look on his face. Then he reached into his arms and pinched the yellow cloth.

That was Lu Bu's imperial edict to Wanyan Loushi and other Jurchen generals. (End of this chapter)