Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The night wind whistled across the fields, stirring up waves of grass and trees, and tiny sparks in the distance flickered in the darkness.

There was a lot of noise in the huge camp. Marching figures holding swords walked across the open space in the camp. The leading general shouted a scolding. The noisy sounds in the tent suddenly became silent, and only started to sound again after people passed by for a while.

Xia Mo was sitting in the middle of the battle, looking a little tired. There were nearly 50,000 Liao troops heading north this time, but it felt like the effort he put in was more than leading 100,000 troops north.

Of course, this was just an illusion. In his entire life, he had only led more than 10,000 people to participate in rebellion suppression campaigns. He thought that the number of people was only 40,000 more than the original number. He never expected that just eating, drinking, defecating and urinating would make him exhausted. He had to stop and set up camp after walking less than 20 miles a day.

"Enhua City is above..." Rubbing his cheeks with his hands, the King of Xi felt an unbearable pain in his teeth. Feeling the lump on one side, he knew that if he was looked at from the opposite side at this moment, one of his teeth would probably be swollen.

There were orderly footsteps outside. The man in the tent looked at him but said nothing. He knew that it was the patrolling soldiers passing by. Fortunately, no worse news came.

He looked at the message displayed on the device. It was hastily sent from Dading Prefecture in the back. After Enzhou and Huizhou were captured, Jinyuan City in the east also decided to surrender. The officials in the city who refused to surrender had been driven out, and the news was brought over through the waterway of Jianzhou via Wendi.

"They are all wimps! Hiss..."

After saying this, the King of Xi covered his swollen cheek with his hand, groaned twice, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and thought about his troubles.

Zhongjing Road has a vast territory, and the cities are closely connected in the middle but distantly connected in the southeast. This is also related to the water areas here. People are chasing water and grass, so there are many cities near rivers, especially near the Daling River.

This time, except for Xingzhong Prefecture, the entire northern and eastern parts of the Daling River will probably belong to Qi State...

"hiss……"

Taking a deep breath with a toothache, Xia Mo stood up and walked to the feng shui map hanging in the big tent. He looked at it for a long time in the light of the fire before rubbing his forehead and whispered to himself: "Fortunately, we concentrated our forces in the two prefectures before. As long as we defeat the invading Qi army, we can recover everything. Hiss..."

He turned around while holding the Sa Bang and shouted, "Someone come!"

The guards outside the tent came in quickly and bowed, "Your Majesty!"

"Go." Xia Mo tried to control her facial expression: "Put some cold water in a pot and bring it over. It's better to be a little colder."

The guard quickly responded and retreated. Not long after, he brought in a porcelain pot with water droplets hanging on it. Xia Mo waved the man away and put the pot against his face with a comfortable expression. However, it hurt so much when he put the pot down that he had no choice but to walk out of the tent wearing a cloak.

As he walked through the camp, the campfire illuminated his figure. The patrolling soldiers all looked at him with reverence, unaware that the man who walked into the darkness had a swollen cheek and was in great pain.

That night, the commander of the 50,000-man army, Xi Wang Xiamo, strolled in the military camp and arrested fifteen gamblers and twenty-four people who spoke to disrupt the morale of the army. He walked around several camps and patrolled until dawn.

In short, he

The pain made me lose sleep.

……

The darkness covered the land of Zhongjing Road without distinction between north and south.

Wanyan Loushi was sitting in a mansion in Enhua City. A well-dressed woman timidly placed the hot wine on his table. The strong Jurchen man reached out to take it and waved his hand. The woman quickly retreated as if she had been pardoned.

When he opened the door to go out, he almost bumped into Wanyan Huonu who was coming in. The young Jurchen woman stepped aside to let her go out, then walked in and closed the door.

"Dad, there's news."

He came over excitedly and handed a finger-wide, palm-long note to his father: "The army of Dading Prefecture has left the city, 50,000 people, but they only walked 20 miles and then stopped again. I don't know why."

"Let me see it?" Wanyan Loushi took it and leaned closer to the fire to look at it. He pondered for a moment, then stood up and walked to the table with pen and ink. He bent down and wrote something: "Go find some soldiers with good riding skills, and take the document I wrote to the back of the army and give it to His Majesty."

"Oh."

Wanyan Huo Nu responded, watched her father finish writing, and then reached out to take it. She listened to him say, "Send someone to the east to find General Han and ask him to join us as soon as possible. The enemy has 50,000 soldiers. If we can defeat them, Dading Prefecture can be taken overnight."

"Okay, I'll call someone right away." Wanyan Huonu nodded quickly, looked at the hot wine on the table, poured a glass, drank it in one gulp, wiped her mouth and said, "Not bad, the Liao people's wine is still as tasteless as theirs."

"Go and tell the messenger to leave overnight without delay." Wanyan Loushi walked over and kicked him in the buttocks, scolding him with a smile: "You are still picking it up. There will be plenty of wine to drink when you get home."

"Okay, I'll leave now."

Wanyan Huonu screamed, jumped up and ran out.

Wanyan Loushi shook his head, brought another lamp to the desk, spread out the geomancy map on the table, and looked at it in the light of the fire. Sometimes he buried his head in it and drew dots to mark the selected locations, then he stood up and pondered, not knowing what he was thinking about.

There are countless people who cannot sleep this night.

Far in the south of Danzhou, Miyun City was shrouded in a sea of ​​weapons and iron cavalry. Figures wearing armor and carrying swords kept walking into the city under the cover of night. The swords and guns reflected the light of torches, flashing and making the eyes of the military governor of Danzhou standing nearby flicker. The hand holding the emperor's order turned white for a moment, and then a smile appeared on his face.

"General Ji, since His Majesty has ordered you to stay in Danzhou to prevent the Qi bandits from moving south, I will certainly cooperate with you to the fullest extent."

Under the firelight, a general with a strong figure dismounted from his horse. He had a square face, a rough look, and bright eyes. He took the imperial edict with both hands, with joy on his face, and said in a loud voice: "Thank you, Mr. Ma. Your Majesty always says that Mr. Ma is the backbone of the country. Today I see that he is indeed extraordinary. In the future, we will work together. Please give me more guidance."

The official opposite him relaxed his expression upon hearing this, and reached out to touch his neatly trimmed beard. "I've heard for a long time that General Ji was a military candidate in the second year of Tianqing, and was praised as a rare talent in a century. His prestige overwhelmed everyone who came after him, and he was praised as a warrior of the dynasty. Seeing him today, it turns out that the rumors are true."

The sound of soldiers walking on the ground was endless. The torches swayed in the wind, illuminating Ji Anbang's face. He clasped his arms and said, "I am ashamed. These are just empty names. In fact, Anbang is just a stupid and reckless man with only two points of strength. If it weren't for your majesty picking me up, I would still be just a small soldier in Nanjing."

When he took the military examination before, he was also a proud and arrogant person, and offended many powerful people. Therefore, after passing the examination, he was not assigned to serve in the army like other martial arts champions. Instead, he was neglected for three years and was made a low-ranking military officer in Xijin Prefecture. As a result, his temper was worn away.

"General, you are joking." The official on the other side smiled and said, "There are many fools in the court who don't know talent. The general must be extraordinary to be able to catch the eye of His Majesty. Come, you and I should not stand here. The general has come a long way and is tired. Go to the house and rest for a while, and then we can talk."

"Thank you, sir." Ji Anbang hurriedly bowed and responded very tactfully. After all, according to the imperial decree, he would be stationed in Tanzhou from today until an unknown time. Several years of wasted time had taught him that it was necessary to establish good relationships with his superiors and colleagues.

…The sky in the east began to turn pale, there was a damp smell in the air, and dark clouds stretched out in the sky. The 50,000-strong Liao army, which had not yet left the Qijin Mountain, slowly set off amid shouts and curses.

Xia Mo was riding on a warhorse, with a swollen left cheek. He had to call a military doctor to check it out. After taking some medicine, there was still no sign of the swelling going down. However, the army was going to the battle, and he could not delay the dispatch of the troops because of himself. What's more, these soldiers lacked the ability to obey orders, so he wanted to take this opportunity to integrate these people.

The troops moved slowly. The soldiers who had not had breakfast complained and ate their rations with one hand. The buzzing sound hovered over the army, which made King Xi impatient. He endured the pain and issued an order: "Let them be quiet. They can't stop eating."

He immediately ordered the soldiers to ride away. Amid the shouting, the noise in the army became quieter, which made the commander breathe a sigh of relief. As they marched, they heard the sound of horse hooves from behind and turned to look.

From behind, a ball of fiery red was approaching quickly, and when it came to him, it pulled the reins. The man was riding a crimson horse, with a crimson crown on his head and a brilliant red tassel. His armor was painted red, and he was wearing a crimson battle robe underneath. Hanging on his horse was an eight-foot fire dragon sword, the blade was made of some unknown material and was all fiery red, and the handle was painted red. The whole person looked so bright red that it was hard not to feel a little restless.

"So it's the Cave Immortal Wen Rongxiangwen." Turning her right face to face him, Xia Mo forced a smile: "What's the matter?"

"King Xi." Dongxian Wenrong clasped his hands and bowed on his horse, his face serious: "I think the army is too large. It would be better to eliminate those newly recruited young and strong men. These people are useless in the army. Instead, they will hinder the army's progress. If there is a war, I am afraid they will be the first to be defeated."

The two men rode slowly on their war horses. Xia Mo nodded and said, "I understand Xiang Wen's feelings, but Zhongjing Road is also short of experienced soldiers right now."

He pointed forward with the whip, tilting his right face to look at the red figures behind him: "These new soldiers are just lacking in training. The Qi army in the north is small this time, and the vanguard is only about 120,000 to 130,000. We are five times more than the enemy, and we can suppress them with great momentum. As long as we win one battle, these new soldiers will have seen blood and become useful soldiers even if they are not elite. If we abandon them and go north with less than half of our troops, I'm afraid we will suffer some losses."

Dongxian Wenrong was silent for a moment, then he reached out and touched his messy beard, and nodded: "Since King Xi has a plan, that's the best, but we still have to be careful not to let those new soldiers disturb us on the battlefield."

"Of course." Xia Mo smiled and said confidently, "Don't worry, Xiang Wen. I am not someone who is unfamiliar with military affairs. I will naturally be careful about these things."

The red figure behind him opened his mouth, then closed it again, and bowed on his horse: "Then I will follow King Xi's arrangements. Please be careful."

After taking a deep look at the right half of the face in front of him, Dongxian Wenrong pulled the reins, turned the horse's head and walked backwards.

Xia Mo immediately looked at him turning back. He had just turned his head expressionlessly, holding his left cheek with his hand. The muscles on his cheek twitched violently. He had been talking for such a long time without any attention.

Then he sighed sadly.

God, when will this swelling and pain go away...

……

The Liao army's advance was still not very fast. Its turtle-like pace was discovered by the Jurchen scouts, who were all extremely surprised. With confusion and doubt, they turned back on horseback and sent the message back to the city in the rear.

Wanyan Loushi received the military intelligence and passed it to Lu Bu behind him while sending it to Han Shizhong in the east. He himself did not sit in Enhua City. The Jurchens were good at field battles, siege cities were second, and defending cities were third. Therefore, he left only the infantry in the city with 6,000 soldiers and horses, and rushed out of the city with 4,300 cavalry, looking for a place along the river to win the battle.

north.

With the sound of flying horses' hooves, several cavalrymen returning with military intelligence galloped back. The horses and men kept returning all night long. When the sky brightened, they looked at the large Qi flag fluttering in the distance with expressions of relief on their faces.

Traveling in the dark, they were afraid of taking the wrong path, but luckily they were lucky and did not deviate too far from the direction.

The cavalry came galloping, and someone among the marching soldiers was already watching them. He ran out on his horse and shouted, "Who is coming from the front?"

"General Pingdong has urgent military information to report—"

The sound came from afar amid the sound of horse hooves. The person asking the question did not dare to delay and immediately ordered someone to escort them to the central army. The military information was passed on to Lu Bu through the hands of the Wuwei.

"Has the Liao army come out of Dading Prefecture? Their marching speed is still so slow..."

Lu Bu raised his eyebrows, his face somewhat surprised, patted the paper, making a few crisp sounds, and handed it to the curious Wang Zheng: "I don't know much about the Liao people, do the military advisor and the guard know what they think?"

Wang Zheng took it and glanced at it, then gave it to Lu Sili beside him. There was a hesitant look on his lazy face: "I don't know much about Xia Mo. Does the Weiwei know this person?"

"I don't know. This person is the King of Xirenfu in Zhongjing Road." Lu Sili shook his head and laughed at himself: "My official position is not high enough. How can I talk to such a person as the King of Xi? If Zhang Xianggong was here, he would be able to answer your majesty's questions."

After a slight hesitation, he said, "But I heard that this man is very brave and resolute, a rare and powerful general, and he has quelled several rebellions in Zhongjing."

"...Tough General."

Lu Bu looked at the note in his hand and frowned, "Less than 20 miles a day, is this a conspiracy or a step-by-step strategy?"

Then he slapped his thigh and said, "It doesn't matter. No matter if he is plotting against our army or taking every step carefully, I will order all the cavalry to carry three days' rations and follow me south immediately. Since the Liao army has poked its head out..."

Red Hare kicked its hooves twice restlessly, and the hand holding the reins pulled it a little, trying to comfort the old friend under his crotch. Lu Bu smiled heroically and said, "I won't kill him. It's unfair for him to send troops this time."

Someone beside him hurriedly ran to pass on the order. Soon, the sound of the horn representing the dispatch of troops echoed in the sky. War horses passed by the left side of the army, with various colored flags flying, and followed the big flag with the word "Lü" as they galloped south.

……

same moment.

"Faster, faster!"

Dust flew in balls above the green grass as twelve hundred knights in black armor galloped forward, led by a general in front.

"Li Yi, go ahead and find the shortest way to Dading Prefecture!"

Amid the roar of horse hooves, Han Shizhong shouted: "Our army is going to attack the rear of the Zhongjing army!"

A figure beside him shouted "Yes," and flew forward. (End of this chapter)