Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The light of day moved westward, spreading across the blood-stained city walls and outskirts.

Figures wearing armor and holding swords and bows were gathering. The order to break out had been delivered to each leader a moment ago. The sounds of running footsteps, the collision of various weapons and armor, and occasionally the sound of people running too fast and bumping into each other could be heard from time to time in Hangzhou City.

A chilly wind blew through the crowd. The standing figures were still sweating profusely, shouting and commanding the soldiers to join the team. A cold current mixed with the smell of rust on the battlefield and the smell of fireworks blew through the crowd from time to time.

More than a dozen sturdy figures gathered together, swirling away in the dust under their feet.

"Gather all the horses. I will charge first. While the Western Army is focusing on me, take the Holy Lord and leave here."

The words were mixed in with the noise. The one who spoke was Fang Qifo, who was wearing a black armor with gilded beast masks on his shoulders. His hands were on the sword at his waist, and his eyes were fierce. "Let everyone go out from the west gate. After leaving the city, you protect the Holy Lord and go to Muzhou. Remember not to raise the flag. Let others cover you."

Gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist tightly, Fang Qifo spat out a mouthful of saliva, which was blown by the wind onto the armor of others. Deng Yuanjue's armor was bulging due to his burly figure, like a strong man wearing clothes that were one size smaller. Now, he lowered his eyebrows, his lips moved slightly, and there was an unclear sound in his ears.

The people of Yongle Army all knew that this monk was chanting sutras.

"Dharani for Removing All Karmic Obstacles and Being Born in the Pure Land"
Also known as "Amitabha Buddha's Fundamental Secret Mantra", commonly known as -

"Nirvana Sutra".

Bei Yingkui stood aside, his majestic figure motionless in the wind. In the battle of Jiaxing, more than half of his soldiers were killed or wounded. Although he was frantically recruiting soldiers now, he still hadn't recovered. It was also his own effort to escort Fang La back to Muzhou this time.

There is no other reason. The one who has made great contributions has done nothing wrong in saving the emperor, and the one who has drawn vicious plans has done nothing wrong in cutting off the food supply. He does not have the ability to cut off the food supply of the Western Army outside, so it is always good for him to show up next to the Archbishop so that he will remember him.

dong dong dong-

As he spoke, the exciting war drums began to beat again. Fang Qifo raised his head and looked at the top of the city wall. Two flags representing a fight to the death and a request for help were raised at the same time. The general of the Yongle Dynasty was silent for a moment, and turned around with his cloak fluttering: "Prepare to break out!"

Armored and helmeted figures scattered in all directions.

At the end of the Shenshi hour, the Western Army outside Hangzhou looked at the city they had not conquered in the slanted sunlight with some surprise. On their way south, both the generals leading the troops and the ordinary fighters had become accustomed to the rhythm of winning in one go.

It's a bit uncomfortable that we haven't been able to capture this small city after a whole day of siege.

"Send the order to retreat!"

"Order Xin Xingzong and Yang Weizhong to lead the troops to surround this broken city from the south and north."

Wang Bing raised his whip and pointed out: "These guys suddenly seized the city and the land, most likely they will not choose to break out. Surround them and let me see how they will act when they run out of food and aid."

The soldier who delivered the message ran out in a hurry.

If it were a normal day, Wang Bing's judgment would be correct. These rebel forces in Hangzhou City would really hold on until the end and would only collapse and retreat when they were unable to do so.

It was a pity that Lou Minzhong in the city was influenced by someone and had already convinced Fang La, which was something he could not have imagined.

The flag with the word "Fang" written on it stood up and fluttered in the wind.

The figures standing next to the horses each held a large coarse porcelain bowl in their hands. A soldier carried a wine jar and poured wine into the bowl. The aroma of wine filled the air and the liquid swayed in the bowl. Some of the wine overflowed from the edge of the bowl and spilled onto the ground with a light "pa" sound.

At the front, a figure in black armor took the wine bowl handed over by the personal guard, raised it high above his head, and glanced around: "My fellow brothers, you and I have been rebelling against the Song Dynasty for more than two months, and now we are in such a predicament..."

He scanned the faces in front of him, all with different expressions, and his voice became louder: "Haven't we all thought about this before? Since we are willing to kill officials and rebel, we will definitely face backlash from the officials!"

The figure in front raised his head, and the general over there spitted: "How could those officials know how much suffering we have endured! The taxes in the southeast are heavy, and all kinds of harsh taxes are imposed on people. You and I have sisters in our families who were sold to reduce the burden!
With two major Yingfeng bureaus looming over their heads, even the most affluent families will have their wealth squeezed out of them. How could anyone be willing to endure this!
Now that we have stood up and are trying to remove the huge rock that is pressing down on our heads, they are sending us lackeys and lackeys. What do you think we should do? "

"I'll kill his ancestors!" The burly Xiaoqu commander in front named Chao Zhong suddenly shouted.

"That's right, let's fight!"

"There's a big scar on my head, I'm not afraid of anything!"

Someone took the lead, and countless voices began to echo, and for a moment the chaos covered up the shouting outside the city.

Fang Qifo nodded without saying any more nonsense. He just raised the wine bowl and slowly turned his head to look at the person in front of him. The moment his voice became lighter, he withdrew his arm.

The wine bowl was brought to his lips, and the sound of "gulping" of wine was heard, and finally the bowl was thrown to the ground.

Pong bang——

The coarse porcelain vessel shattered and flew everywhere.

Fang Qifo wiped his mouth and said, "Drink this bowl of wine and kill him!"

"Kill the motherfucker!"

The sound of people talking at once was repeated, followed by the sound of "gulping" wine.

Pong bang——

Pong bang——

Porcelain bowls fell to the ground, and the ground was covered with small and large pieces.

Fang Qifo grabbed the saddle, stepped on the stirrup and mounted the horse, swung the sword in his hand and said, "Open the door, follow me and turn the world upside down!"

boom--

Figures kept getting on horseback.

woo-

The horn blew a short trumpet, and the mottled South City Gate was pushed open with a creaky sound. The black horse legs took a step forward, and dust was stirred up under the horseshoes.

Fang Qifo adjusted the iron helmet with white feathers on his head, and a powerful voice spread from the city gate: "Follow me!"

"kill--"

The roar of horse hooves stirred up dust that swept across the earth. The 700 cavalrymen who were pieced together from the army of tens of thousands might have been inspired by the alcohol to boost their courage, or might have harbored a deep hatred for the Song government troops. For a moment, they advanced bravely and no one showed any intention of retreating.

The government troops attacking the city were retreating, but they never expected the city gate to open in the back, and then a figure on a warhorse rushed out. "Defense--"

The general in front suddenly shouted, and the retreating steps stopped. The rear team stopped in the front team, but it was too late. Fang Qifo's warhorse arrived in an instant, and the figure wearing black armor on the horse roared: "Whoever stands in my way will die!"

The sword was bent and chopped down fiercely. In the bloody light, the warhorse's mane was stained with the spurting blood. It rushed past with bloodstains. The sound of horse hooves came from behind. Gao Keli, Zhang Jinren, Zhang Tao, and Zhang Jian, with swords and spears flashing with a murderous light, rushed forward and cut the tired Western Army soldiers into two. At the same time, blood was spilled on the ground, and more cavalrymen came galloping from behind. Countless horse hooves hit the ground like a torrential rain, and rolled up a large cloud of dust and rushed straight to the retreating government troops.

"...Damn it!"

Wang Bing's eyes were bloodshot, and his face first turned red, then blue: "Order Wang Yuan and Yao Pingzhong to press forward and wipe out this cavalry in..."

Before the words were finished, the Eastern Army commander who had spoken widened his eyes and made an indescribable sound in his throat.

A black crowd poured out of the Hangzhou city gate. Behind the armored soldiers painted red and white were the rebel soldiers wearing clothes of various colors. They were like an ant nest that had been dug up, and they were spreading out in all directions, following the traces of the cavalry in front.

"Blow the horn - blow the horn - move forward, everyone. Don't let Fang La escape!"

The order to change was passed down, and under the dim sky, the sound of trumpets in the sky conveyed the order to conquer. This sound was drowned out by the sound of horses' hooves receiving orders from the other side. The iron hooves of the Western Army rushed out of the ground, and the leading general wore a phoenix-wing helmet, a red robe over iron armor, and held an iron spear in his hand.

In the sight, amidst the rising smoke and dust, iron hooves were cracking the ground. Fang Qifo, who was in the lead, led the four generals behind him and charged forward desperately, with bloodstains on the curved swords in their hands. The seven hundred cavalrymen behind him began to distance themselves from each other due to the quality of their horses.

Boom boom boom——

Smoke and dust from different directions were approaching, and at the moment of intersection, the human figures were like fallen leaves blown away by the wind, and blood and limbs were constantly sprayed among the charging horses.

"I am the general of the Yongle Dynasty, Fang Qifo!"

With a loud shout, the curved sword slammed onto Yao Pingzhong's iron spear. The fierce general of the Western Army felt his hands sink, and then he took another blow from the sword, his arms feeling numb from the shock. Then he watched the figures passing by and charged forward desperately without stopping.

The iron cavalry swept over like the waves of the Qiantang River. Yao Pingzhong lost the chance to make the first contribution. He was so angry that his eyes widened. Seeing Zhang Jian approaching from behind, he roared, and the iron spear rammed into the man's chest, then flew into the air. In front of the trajectory of the fall, a war horse galloped past.

Fang Qifo noticed something was wrong in the front, but at this moment he was there to attract attention. He wished that all the eyes of the Western Army were on him, so he just rode his horse faster, completely ignoring the fact that two hundred cavalrymen behind him were intercepted by Yao Pingzhong and surrounded and killed.

"Don't stop, keep going forward, "Kill Wang Bing——"

The sound of horse hooves roared, and the figure holding a bent sword looked at the commander's flag in the distance. He turned the reins, raised the sword in his hand, and cut the figure in front of the horse into two. Behind him, Gao Keli and Zhang Jinren gritted their teeth and followed. The remaining cavalrymen, less than 500 in number, rushed towards the commander's flag of the Western Army.

"Prepare to withstand the impact! Archers prepare--"

Wang Huan in front shouted and gave orders, and wide shields were put down on the stands. The soldiers behind stepped forward and put their shoulders behind the shields, and long spears and iron lances protruded from the depressions on the tops of the shields.

"Southeast for me--" Fang Qifo saw it clearly on his horse, but still chose to charge forward at the first opportunity. His warhorse roared, and he swarmed forward with hysterical shouts of "Kill--" from behind.

Outside the city of Hangzhou, the vast battlefield was filled with a tragic atmosphere by this cavalry. Riders were constantly shot down by arrows, and there were also scarlet figures who were knocked off their horses.

The light of day is setting in the west.

Further back on the battlefield, the rebel infantrymen who rushed out on foot began to engage in battle with the Western Army. The increasingly dim vision made it difficult to distinguish the target in front of them. In the moment of darkness, countless figures were fleeing from the battlefield.

Wang Bing quickly ordered the lighting of fires for illumination, but on a battlefield with tens of thousands of people fighting, it was impossible to take care of every corner at once. He was not a god, and he did not have the ability to make his words come true. He could only watch the fires flicker in some places.

The fighting outside Hangzhou city is coming to an end.

The hard ground reflected a dark red color under the firelight. Feet and horse hooves kept stepping on the soft yet hard objects, and the smell of blood lingered in the nose.

The battlefield was littered with people, horses, broken weapons, corpses and wounded soldiers spread out in all directions, and the flowing blood gathered in the low-lying areas into a sticky pool of blood.

The Western Army soldiers holding torches were walking with spears and bone clubs in their hands. When they saw something strange in the firelight, they would rush over. From time to time, the sound of blunt objects hitting flesh and bones could be heard in the air, and occasionally there were shrill screams. Under the dark night sky, it sounded a bit creepy.

Moving his sight upwards, he saw more and more figures holding torches under the city. People wearing scarlet robes and who were injured but not dead were carried to the side and groaned. The Yongle Dynasty soldiers who had thrown away their weapons and squatted down to surrender were roughly dragged up and pushed to the side. Some of them walked a little slower and were stabbed to death by someone in the back, causing countless roars. However, they were soon tied up and strung together by the Song army, and teams of dozens of people stood by to guard them.

More than 6,000 people surrendered.

In the firelight, the captives stood in a black mass and caught Wang Bin's eyes. The commander of the Eastern Army narrowed his eyes slightly. The last time, there were about three to four thousand people captured under the city of Jiaxing. Because the old lady did not like prisoners and wanted to intimidate the southeast, all those people were killed. Now...

His eyes darkened. Not far away, Wang Yuan, who was wearing a red battle robe, ran up to him and jumped off his horse: "General Jie, there is no Fang La among the prisoners."

"I expected it." Wang Bing nodded and looked up at the starry night sky. "He broke out in the dark. If he was stopped by us, he should have been surrounded and suppressed long ago."

He paused for a moment, looking directly at the dusty warriors: "Where are Fang Qifo, Fang Fei, Lou Minzhong, and Zu Shiyuan?"

Wang Yuan was silent for a moment, then he cupped his hands and said, "Fang Qifo failed to break out of the formation, and was escorted by a dozen riders to break out to the southwest. General Wang Huan led his troops to pursue him, but now he has not returned and I am afraid he will not be able to catch up.

As for the other high-ranking members of the bandit army..." He shook his head and said, "We haven't found any of them. Maybe they all ran away with bandit Fang."

"That's clever." Wang Bing whipped the outside of his thigh lightly, snorted, and looked at the messenger beside him: "Let the army enter the city and search carefully, and send someone to report to the commander in the rear, saying that Hangzhou City has been captured.

Send someone to the west to find General Liu Zhen and exchange military information with him. Make sure we advance and retreat together and force Fang La's army into Muzhou."

The messenger immediately turned around and walked back.

Wang Bin shifted his gaze and looked at Wang Yuan and said, "Drive those captives to a far place and dig a big pit."

The latter bowed, turned around and mounted his warhorse without saying anything. He was not a novice in the battlefield. There were many such decisions in the northwest, and...

The grief and anger in the commander's heart also needed to be vented.

On that day, countless soldiers rushed out of Hangzhou city, and countless well-known Fang La military commanders and officials escaped. The Western Army only knew that it was not time to return to the capital yet.

The war in the southeast will continue.

……

The sky began to brighten again, and white seabirds flew back and forth overhead, making sharp cries.

The sea breeze blew the hanging triangular flag, and the boat swayed up and down with the waves. Zhang Shun raised his head and took a deep breath of the salty air, pointing to the spacious water in front of him: "Brother Li, the Yangtze River estuary is in front of us. Enter from here and walk forward to Jiangning Prefecture."

The waves hit the hull, making a splashing sound. (End of this chapter)