Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 983: Weak Xingzhong Prefecture
The clouds were blown away by the wind to a farther sky and earth. The sun occasionally shone through the gaps between the clouds from several directions. Many knights were galloping across the fields, carrying with them military intelligence documents written by generals, trying to quickly find the big flag with the word "Lu" on it, and were either heading in the opposite direction or in the forward direction to approach the flag that carried the hopes and wishes of countless people.

As pieces of intelligence were brought into the army, Lu Bu, wearing a golden-locked beast-faced chain armor and a scarlet cloak, sat on Red Hare, discussing with Wang Zheng, Du Fu, Xi Sheng, Lu Sili and others how to deal with the surrendered cities in the rear. The spring wind on the grassland was quite strong, and the flags around were blown from time to time, making popping sounds.

"Your Majesty, there is no need to keep anyone in the cities. Just let the surrendered officials maintain the city's law and order. If we have a smooth journey, they will not dare to rebel even if they are brave enough."

The military intelligence was passed among the guards. Xu Wen, who was on guard outside, ran over on horseback and handed over the military intelligence. Lu Bu unscrewed the bamboo tube, poured it out and took a look, and a smile appeared on his handsome face.

"Your Majesty, why are you so happy?" Du Fu, who was riding on a horse next to him, asked, with some guesses in his mind.

……

Deafening shouts boiled on the city walls. Under the bright sky, ladders and wooden ladders were placed on the city walls under the cover of stone bullets and bows and arrows. Soldiers with shields in their hands climbed up while biting their blades. Soldiers who had already climbed up the ladders roared and swung their weapons. After the sounds of weapons colliding, screams of varying lengths rang out.

The soldiers in earth-colored armor gathered on the top of the city wall and cooperated with each other to fight with others on the city wall. A black shadow drew a long arc in the sky and fell from the sky. Some stone bullets flew directly over the city wall and fell into the city. After the sound of houses collapsing, there were panicked shouts from civilians, which made the morale of the soldiers on the city wall even more unstable.

Some of them crashed into the crowded crowd, and the unfortunate soldiers' bodies were immediately shattered, blood and flesh splattered everywhere, spraying all over their comrades.

Screams came from the mouths of several men holding swords, sharp and piercing, and then they collapsed and ran towards the city, driving many soldiers around who had never seen blood to run down together. The soldiers supervising the battle in the rear drew their swords and yelled at them to go back, and then the two sides fought together. The new recruits stimulated by the blood went crazy and hacked and killed several supervising soldiers on the spot, attracting more supervising soldiers to come, and the entire rear formation was in chaos.

"Hold on! Send reinforcements to the left third and left fifth of the city wall. Don't let the Qi army gather together." Yelu Dexin's forehead was covered with sweat, and he kept shouting loudly: "Send the reserve veterans up, and leave those newly recruited rubbish in the city to prepare for street fighting. Hurry up--"

"But commander-in-chief, behind..." A guard pointed at the fighting among his own people in the rear with a panicked look on his face.

"what?"

Yelu Dexin looked back and saw that the fighting group was expanding with the joining of supervising soldiers and the shouts of new recruits. Those new recruits were recruited from villages and counties, and everyone had relatives or friends in the army. A casual shout attracted the response of more than a hundred people, and those supervising soldiers were the most hated ones in the army, both new and old. Yelu Dexin saw clearly that a crossbowman in the back turned around and shot a supervising soldier to death on the spot with an arrow.

Cold sweat immediately broke out on his head and back. The young man from the royal family grabbed the soldier beside him and said, "You idiot, why don't you wait until I die before telling me!"

He pushed the man away and drew out the sword in his hand. "Come with me, let's deal with these troublemakers first." The guards around him followed quickly.

The running figure rushed away amid the shouts of countless soldiers, "Stop!" The roar came from the mouth of the royal family general holding the Seven-Star Sword, but the people in chaos ignored everyone. The stimulation of iron and blood made these irrational soldiers even more crazy.

Below the city wall, figures of generals such as Dong Xian, Zhao Li, and Shan Shiqi appeared on the battlefield, looking up at the city wall with fiery eyes. On both sides of them, figures in armor and holding weapons were advancing rapidly. Above their heads, arrows were interlaced like rain, and whistling stones were flying by at intervals but continuously.

At a certain moment, these generals who were famous for their bravery personally led their troops to charge up, like raging waves hitting reefs, crashing and squeezing towards the top of the city. The generals guarding the city sections on the top of the city kept sending out signals for help.

On the north and south sides, Yuan Lang and Hu Yanzhuo led the cavalry to gallop, and from time to time they bypassed from the east, and shot flaming arrows onto the top of the city, causing the defenders to scramble to put out the fire. When they turned back, another burst of flaming arrows flew up, which once again made the defenders on the city nervous. The generals kept shouting at the defenders on the city to be on guard, but they began to get numb as the number of times increased.

At the rear of the central army, Xiao Haili touched his eye mask and looked at the sky, "It's almost time..."

he said to himself.

Further northwest.

Generals Wang De, Shi Wengong, Niu Gao and Ma Ling waved their arms, the sound of horns to dispatch troops echoed in the sky, and countless figures moved swiftly towards the distant city.

……

"Your Majesty, is this the battle report from General Han Shizhong or General Wanyan Loushi?" Lu Sili's voice echoed in the footsteps.

Lü Bu held the paper with the information with a smile on his face. He stood straight on his horse, his golden armor glittering in the sun. He shook the paper with his hand, and the paper rustled. He said in a loud voice, "In the east, Xiao Haili has passed Chuanzhou and is heading towards Xingzhong Prefecture. Ma Ling, Wang De and others have already contacted him. According to the time, if nothing unexpected happens, he should be fighting with the army of Xingzhong Prefecture now."

"...It's on this Zhongjing Road that I don't feel the passion for war at all." He looked up at the clouds in the sky, then leveled his eyes down, sweeping across the soldiers in front and around him and the civil and military officials beside him. He stroked Red Hare's neck out of boredom, causing the beast to shake its head, seeming to be equally bored: "But it doesn't matter, my boredom is better than everyone else fighting to the death on the battlefield."

The wind blew his cloak, and the scarlet color fluttered behind him.

……

On the city wall of Xingzhong Prefecture, the fighting was still escalating. While the soldiers on the east side of the city wall were fighting desperately, the west wall also erupted with astonishing shouts of killing. Generals Ma Ling, Wang De and Niu Gao took the lead, climbing up the wooden ladders with swords, shields and other short weapons. The Liao army, whose attention was attracted by Mi Xian and Xiao Haili, could not resist for a while, and retreated step by step, frequently ringing the golden bell for help.

Yelu Dexin, who was supposed to be in command on the top of the city wall, was leading his personal guards to kill the new recruits who caused the unrest. When he heard the ringing of the golden bell, he suddenly became anxious and killed the soldier holding a spear in front of him with a knife. He took two steps back and was about to give an order when he suddenly heard a cry. He turned around to look, and the hot blood in his body instantly cooled down.

In sight, several figures in iron armor climbed up to the top of the city wall, and a shocking fight broke out around them. As more and more people came up, the top of the city wall was gradually stained with black.

Dong Xian, Shan Shiqi and Zhao Li, holding swords, formed a battle formation with their personal guards. Relying on their strong iron armor and bravery, they pushed aside the soldiers in front of them who were holding shields and spears, and rushed into the rear, killing the general who was commanding the defense of the city section. As the collapsed soldiers retreated, more soldiers rushed up.

The sounds of fighting and shouting hit his eardrums at an even louder volume, and the clanging sounds of swords clashing continued to ring out.

"...It's over."

Yelu Dexin stood there for a while, then turned around, his face gloomy as if water was about to drip, ran over and killed a soldier with a knife, tilted his head to avoid a spear, raised his hand to grab the spear, stabbed the knife in his hand into the body, and then pulled it out...

"You damned bastards!"

Poke in.

"It's not you who caused me to be in this state..."

draw out.

"If it weren't for you, I'd still be in Zhongjing, eating yellow sheep and drinking fine wine!"

Poke in.

"I have a beautiful girl by my side."

draw out.

"Why are you just..."

The knife in his hand was raised with sticky blood, and Yelu Dexin's face was covered with blood, his eyes were red, and then he chopped it hard: "You must come to attack the Liao Dynasty!"

Half of a human head flew out and the dead body fell heavily to the ground, with red, yellow and white blood flowing all over the ground.

Beside him, the chaotic sounds gradually stopped. Both the personal soldiers and the new recruits who had previously fought with the supervising soldiers looked at the blood-stained and mad commander in doubt and did not dare to move.

"Huff... Pfft..." A mouthful of spit flew out and spat on the dead body. Yelu Dexin turned his head to look at the top of the city wall which was almost completely lost, and walked towards the stone stairs of the city wall: "Don't stand there like dead people, the city wall can't be defended, get down!"

The dead cannot stand...

The corners of one of the guards' lips twitched, but he didn't dare to say it out loud. He watched him walk through the crowd and hurriedly followed him. The supervising soldiers and the chaotic soldiers around him no longer had any desire to fight, and they hurriedly went down the city wall to escape.

Black smoke rose from the city walls on all sides, winding its way up into the sky.

The black figure that climbed onto the top of the city wall almost engulfed the ochre-colored area. When Mi Xian came up with a big axe, the black-armored soldiers, led by Zhao Li, killed their way down the inner city wall and rushed towards the city gate.

Not long after, a creaking sound rang in everyone's ears. Outside the city, several cavalry generals including Yuan Lang, the Teng brothers, Hu Yanzhuo, and Dong Ping showed ferocious smiles and rode in.

The iron hooves stepped on the short bluestone ground, and a crisp sound roared in the city.

On the west side, the tightly closed door opened almost at the same time, and Shi Wengong rushed in first.

Shouts of killing enveloped the east and west city gates, and Xingzhong Prefecture fell into hysterical screams. The killing spread from the two city gates in a very short time. Under the hysterical roars of the general, the defeated defenders of the city wall barely stopped and formed a battle formation at the street corners, preparing for the final resistance.

Common people did not dare to come out of their homes and blocked the doors and windows with tables and cabinets. In the homes of the rich and powerful, servants were organized to guard the courtyards carrying simple weapons and door panels. Some people bravely went out to see what was going on, and then never returned home.

A house was on fire, illuminating the panicked figures of people running in front. Then a slender black shadow inserted into the shadow in front from behind. After a scream, black-armored soldiers holding bows and crossbows came over in groups of three or five. The bright armor illuminated by the flames reflected the metallic light.

The galloping warhorse ran from one end of the street to the other, slashing the back and neck of the fleeing man with a knife. Blood spurted out and the body fell to the ground. The knight reined in the warhorse. There were two blue moles on his head. His figure followed the horse and turned in a circle on the spot. His eyes were fixed on a narrow alley not far away. Then he shouted, and the nearby black-armored cavalry came over, forming a small formation and rushed over.

In some crowded alleys, soldiers fleeing down the city wall were frantically banging on doors. The people inside dared not open the doors. Some anxious Liao soldiers raised their spears and stabbed them hard inside.

click-

Wood chips flew everywhere, and the spear was halfway penetrated. There was a scream from inside the house. The soldier pulled the spear back. There was no blood on the spear tip. He cursed inwardly and was about to stab it again when the sound of galloping horses reached his ears.

The dozen or so soldiers who were smashing the door widened their eyes in fear and turned to look at the alley entrance. In their terrified sight, a figure on horseback appeared at the alley illuminated by fire. When he appeared with a sword in hand, these people shouted, threw away the guns in their hands, and ran to the back, shouting in fear.

The black-armored cavalrymen in the rear laughed grimly, put their swords back into their scabbards, picked up the spears hanging on the sides of their horses, and several cavalrymen chased inside. The Liao army had no intention of resisting anymore and just hoped to outrun their comrades.

After a few people died in the back, they began to reach out and pull at the armor of the people in front, using their fallen companions as barricades. Their horses' hooves trampled on them fiercely, and screams rang out almost simultaneously with the sound of bones breaking.

Several Qi knights sped up and stabbed wildly with their spears. Blood splattered among the running figures. Amid screams, the man running in front was stabbed in the back by an armored soldier and rushed out of the other end of the alley.

Woohoo——

The sound of the horn echoed in the sky. The knights at the back listened and shouted to the people rushing out of the alley in front: "Brother Dong, it's the assembly horn."

The general of a hundred men named Dong Xiaochou shook his spear in an instant, and the corpse flew half a foot away. He pulled the reins, shouted "Go!", and returned with the cavalry.

Not long after, he saw his general in black and red armor holding a dejected figure in his hand. After some inquiries, he learned that it was the governor who was preparing to escape.

Chaos spread in the city. The organized Liao soldiers surrendered to the Qi army that entered the city. Yuan Lang, who entered the city first, had to order Teng Xun and Teng Kan to take the cavalry to guard these surrendered soldiers.

The two brothers who looked similar had no choice but to obey the order and drive these people to the open space in the east of the city to watch. The younger brother Teng Kan glanced at the dark crowd and muttered: "There are so many people here, several times more than us, we might as well just kill them all..."

pong——

A big hand came over and slapped him hard on the helmet behind his head, causing Teng Xun to bend forward. His brother Teng Xun's voice came into his ears: "Don't cause trouble. If you provoke these people into rioting, won't it be difficult to deal with them?"

"Hiss... hit me again." The younger brother sniffed with his teeth bared, and said in a low voice in dissatisfaction: "There are too many people, nearly 20,000 surrendered soldiers without firing a single arrow, this... who can rest assured?"

"He doesn't look like a soldier. He should be the herdsman and farmer who was conscripted into the army as rumored." Teng Xun approached his brother and whispered, "If you kill him, who will help you plow the land and graze in the future? Just shut up and watch."

Teng Kan then lowered his head and muttered, "Then I don't care. If something goes wrong and His Majesty wants to blame me, I'll tell you what you think."

His brother glared at him fiercely in hatred.

In the distance, Yelu Dexin, who had taken off his armor, stood in a courtyard, panting as he looked at the soldiers around him who were taking off their armor. "Hurry up, this is my villa, few people know about it, and the Qi army generally doesn't harass the people. You guys should pretend to be servants and be smart when you speak and act."

He took two steps and said, "We'll run again when the city calms down."

The sound of a horn rang out in the air, and the face of this clan member changed for a moment. Then he heaved a sigh of relief when he heard no movement outside. The guards behind him took off their armor and buried them in the yard, covering them with mud. Yelu Dexin quickly directed them to do some cleaning work.

Just at this moment, a rumbling sound was heard outside, and Yelu Dexin's heart suddenly began to beat violently. He had just put his hands together and was about to pray for the protection of the gods.

boom--

The vermilion-painted door protruded inward, blocked by a hanging bolt.

Yelu Dexin's face suddenly turned pale.

boom--

boom--

bang——

After several collisions, the door bolt broke in two. Teams of black-armored soldiers rushed in from the side of the strong man carrying the battering ram. A figure wearing black and red armor and holding a Fang Tian painted halberd walked in, took a look, and then looked at the people in the yard: "Yelü Dexin..."

Low voice, playful expression
"This general..." Yelu Dexin forced a smile and looked at Shi Wengong with a flattering smile: "Who are you talking about? I am the general in the city..."

Shi Wengong looked back and saw a figure being pushed in from behind. Yelu Dexin's pupils shrank suddenly, his legs went weak, and he almost fell to the ground.

"This man said he was the prefect of Xingzhong Prefecture..." Shi Wengong looked at him with interest: "Tell me, who are you?"

Yelu Dexin's mouth twitched and he lowered his head dejectedly.

(End of this chapter)