Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Crowded.

Under the firelight, Lu Bu looked at the battlefield ahead with a somewhat dim expression.

In his life, he had been guarding the grasslands with the border troops and killing Xianbei people when he was young. Now he has lived a new life and fought for twenty to thirty years. Although he could not predict the enemy's coming with ease, he was 80 to 90% confident. Otherwise, he would have been defeated by Yuan in Jizhou back then.

“…It’s just too easy.”

With a light breath, Lu Bu's words were blown away by the wind.

"What did your majesty say?" Yu Cheng and Wei He, who didn't hear clearly, asked hurriedly. The figure in the scarlet cloak in front did not turn around, but just raised his hand and waved it backwards, then closed his mouth and continued to be vigilant about his surroundings.

The sound of horse hooves continued to be heard, and knights with red flags on their backs ran back and forth. Military information was gathered to Lu Bu along with the words of the knights, and then he received new orders and ran back.

Someone brought the head of Dongxian Wenrong, but Lu Bu was too lazy to even look at it. He just waved his hand and said, "Send an order to call for surrender. These Liao soldiers are so weak that they will collapse at the slightest provocation. It is really boring to fight to this point. Continuing will only increase the killing and will not benefit us in governing this place."

After a pause, he said, “Gather the prisoners and send the Jurchen cavalry as the vanguard to break into his camp tonight.

Send orders to all battlefields to find the commander who led the surprise attack tonight. I still need him."

As he spoke, several cavalrymen who had received the order galloped away. Lu Bu shook the reins and kicked his horse forward, and more than two hundred armored knights of the Zuo Wuwei followed suit.

The figures moving slowly forward rose and fell. The Liao soldiers who were fleeing towards this side saw them from afar and hurriedly dodged. Some who were close, under the instructions of Yu Cheng and Wei He, the knights with bows shot arrows. Screams were heard and bodies fell off their horses.

"Your Majesty has ordered that those who surrender will not be killed!"

The sound of shouting rang out on the battlefield ahead, followed by dozens of people yelling at the top of their lungs. Liao soldiers continuously threw down their weapons, dismounted and surrendered as if relieved of a heavy burden. There were more and more figures, and soon only the soldiers in black armor were still sitting on their horses on the field.

Miserable cries came from the ground. Lu Bu glanced down and saw that most of them were Liao soldiers wearing khaki armor. Some knights dismounted from their horses, hung heavy spears and iron spears on their horses, stretched out their hands to draw their swords, and if they met any of their own people who were still alive, they would call their friends to carry the people to the side. However, a single blow from a seriously injured Liao soldier could take a life.

The wind swept across the field. Bai Yelin's cavalrymen looked at the flag coming over and saluted immediately. A moment later, Xu Wen, covered in blood, looked at the big flag with the word "Lu" on it and rode over quickly, clasping his fists on his horse.

"Your Majesty, we are counting the number of surrendered soldiers, but many of them ran away in the panic, so I am afraid we have not been able to complete our mission."

Red Hare walked forward, took a look at the horse under his crotch, and snorted loudly. His dark eyeballs slid across Xu Wen's face, he shook his neck, exhaled a breath of hot air, and stood in front of him with his head tilted.

Didn't this beast just...

Look down on me?!
This guy has become a spirit!
Xu Wen was stunned, and for a moment he thought he had seen it wrong. Before he could take a closer look, Lu Bu reached out and patted him on the shoulder: "It's not bad to fight like this."

Looking at the battlefield, some were carrying corpses, some were searching for loot. Occasionally, someone would secretly look over here. When they met his eyes, they would smile shyly and quickly salute. Lu Bu's mouth curled up and said, "No one expected the other side to be so weak. I thought they would be better than before, but they dispersed so quickly."

Xu Wen nodded, and listened to the emperor's voice: "Get ready. I have already ordered Wanyan Loushi and others to go ahead. Their camp will be taken away tonight."

The young general was stunned: "Your Majesty, so fast, you don't even wait for the infantry to arrive?"

Lu Bu chuckled and pointed at the figures gathered on the ground: "With so many prisoners, why do I need infantry to break through the enemy camp?"

Soon, news came that Commander Xia Mo had not been found, and the smiling face on Red Hare turned dark.

……

As the night deepened, the brutal battle ended in front of the forest. Half an hour later, Wanyan Loushi assembled the Jurchen cavalry and marched south with a thousand prisoners.

Lu Bu selected 300 men from the captives and the 200 cavalrymen who were left behind, a total of 500 people, to guard the remaining 3,000 men. He himself led the central army and followed closely behind.

Under a crescent moon, rumbling sounds like muffled thunder continued to be heard in the whimpering wind. The sound of thousands of horses galloping shattered the tranquility of the night, raising a trail of dust and heading south along the fluorescent marks that the Liao army had spread when they came.

The originally silent field was occasionally filled with sighs and groans from the bushes. Xia Mo and more than thirty of his personal soldiers gathered together. The night was a bit cold, and they had no fire starter at hand. They could only wrap their cloaks tightly and carry the fire.

When the sound of horse hooves came, those who had just come down from the battlefield were startled and crawled to the side of the war horses. Listening to the sound, they whipped the horses frantically to avoid the direction of the army. They didn't know where they were running in the dark night, but just instinctively fled towards the dark place.

"My lord, it's a mound!"

"Go around!"

After a simple conversation, the frantically running figures quickly went around to the back. As the war horses ran, Xia Mo, who was rising and falling, turned his head to look back. In the swaying field of vision, the team composed of torches pulled up short lines of fire, forming an irregular shape and galloping towards the original road they came from.

The warhorse ran to the back of the mound. The man who was holding the warhorse nervously held the reins and sat upright on the horse. Xia Mo's cheek twitched: "It seems that the Qi army is going to attack the camp overnight. It's useless for us to go back now."

"..." The guards looked at each other, then saw Xia Mo's lips moving slightly, but he could not utter a word.

"...Go west." The roar of horse hooves came from afar. Xia Mo took a deep breath and said, "Don't go past the city. Go through the village. Get supplies from them. Then turn south and go to Nanjing to find His Majesty."

"Your Majesty..." A personal guard hesitated and advised, "Why don't we surrender? The Qi bandits... the Qi people are also very good to those who surrender. Look, Zhang Lin, Yelu Yudu and others are all famous in the court."

"The Qi thief is very ambitious, and he is of Han ethnicity. I don't trust him. Who knows if he will still be the same after a few years." Xia Mo shook his head: "In the court, I am still the king of the Xi tribes in Zhongjing Road. If I go to Qi, I will be an ordinary leader. If the Qi people gain power in a few years, I will definitely be suppressed. I may even lose my life. Don't even mention the idea of ​​surrendering to them."

The guards fell silent and no one said anything.

The sound of galloping war horses was heard again soon. Xia Mo dismounted from the war horse and walked to the mound to lie down and watch. More fire points appeared in his field of vision than before. He silently estimated the number before dismounting and mounting his horse: "Let's go. The Qi army's cavalry should have all passed by. Let's take this opportunity to leave quickly."

How could the personal soldiers beside him have any objection? They hurriedly spurred their horses to follow King Xi who turned his horses' heads, and a group of more than 30 people hurriedly crossed to the west.

……

Dading Prefecture.

The imagined riot did not break out. Han Shizhong scratched his head as he looked at the clerks standing together in the provincial government office.

The consequence of the escape of those who stayed behind was that all the officials in the city who could escape ran away. Apart from these men in clerk clothes, there were only three or five officials with ranks, all of whom were insignificant officials. However, they were enough to excite the Qi army that occupied the government office.

"I'd like to trouble you all to post notices saying that the Qi army will not harass the people, so that everyone can live in peace. If anyone takes the opportunity to cause chaos and commit crimes, please report to me and I will take care of them. From now on, Dading Prefecture will be a city under the jurisdiction of Qi State. No matter what, we will not destroy the Great Wall."

With his hand on the sword at his waist, Han Shizhong walked slowly: "Don't worry, as long as you do your job well, I will not treat you unfairly. On the contrary, I will report your achievements to His Majesty. Maybe you can be promoted two levels." The trembling figures looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. Several people in official robes stepped forward and bowed: "We will follow the general's order. We will go down and draft the documents and will not let any chaos in the city disturb the peace."

"Very good." Han Shizhong nodded with satisfaction. He watched the officials and clerks leave before turning to look at Guan Sheng and Pan Zhong. "The speed at which Dading Prefecture surrendered is faster than I expected. I thought it would take daytime to take over this broken place, but I didn't expect them to all surrender at midnight. Now..."

He narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "The only thing left is the Liao army camp ahead. I intend to take advantage of the situation tonight and break it!"

"We have too few soldiers and the enemy has a camp..." Pan Zhong hesitated: "It will be difficult."

The firelight flickered as the door opened, and the figures of three people suddenly swayed on the wall.

"The Liao Emperor..." Guan Sheng closed his eyes and slowly stroked his beautiful beard, "He has lost all the confidence of his soldiers. Although there are many soldiers and horses in his camp, they are not a cause for concern."

"That's several times more than us." Pan Zhong was unhappy. He stood up and walked outside to check the sky. "It's still early. Why don't we send the cavalry to inform His Majesty and General Xiao Haili about what's going on here and ask them to send someone to join us quickly? However, this number of people plus the 7,000 surrendered Liao soldiers may not be enough if we want to launch a surprise attack on the Liao army camp ahead."

Guan Sheng opened his eyes and said proudly, "The Liao people have lost their will to fight and their generals are ready to surrender. Dading Prefecture was easily taken by us with only a thousand cavalrymen. Now we have thousands of soldiers and horses, several times more than before. How can it not be enough?"

"We still have to guard the city, and with so few people there might be trouble." Pan Zhong shook his head: "If Dading Prefecture surrenders and then rebels again, it would be more trouble than it gains..."

"I think that before our army and the Liao army in front of us decide the outcome, Dading Prefecture will not make any more changes." Guan Sheng stood there, holding the jade belt at his waist with one hand: "If General Pan has any doubts, why not lead his cavalry to stay? Zuxing's troops and the guards at the city gates can be trusted. If they are well managed, they are worth thousands of troops."

Pan Zhong's expression suddenly showed some interest.

"General Guan's words make sense, and General Pan's concerns are not without reason. Let's do this." Han Shizhong nodded and immediately decided: "I will write a letter to your majesty and General Xiao first, and General Pan will stay in Dading Prefecture to guard the retreat for General Guan and me. If the night attack by the two of us fails, we will have a way to retreat."

"That's fine. That's it." Pan Zhong and Guan Sheng both nodded in approval.

Han Shizhong immediately called for his cavalry, wrote two official documents, sealed them with wax, and stamped them with his own seal. Then he ordered the cavalry outside. Pan Zhong immediately led 200 cavalrymen under his command and 2,000 soldiers from Zuxing's army to defend here.

Han Shizhong and Guan Sheng mobilized all their cavalry and selected 1,500 Liao soldiers from the surrendered soldiers and dispersed them to follow their own army. At night, the sound of chaotic footsteps could be heard again in Dading Prefecture, rumbling as they rushed out of the city.

The people, who had been trembling with fear and unable to sleep since the Qi army entered the city, hid in their houses to guard against the rebels who might break into their homes. The third watch of the night was already a time when people were tired and exhausted. After waiting for a long time without seeing any signs of the Qi army causing trouble, they were about to go to bed at the fourth watch when they heard the sound of the army marching outside again.

I then tremblingly held the rolling pin and wooden stick against the doors and windows. Although it was dark, I could no longer fall asleep.

……

The dark sky turned into inky blue, the darkness of dawn had passed, and the fireman who had gotten up early went to the river to fetch some clean water and prepared to go back and make breakfast.

The surging waves sparkled as they flowed from sight into the distance. Soldiers in the camp walked out of the military tents one after another. After the golden bell rang once in the morning, the horn sounded before the golden sun rose, and then the military camp, which had been silent all night, woke up.

Smoke rose from the fields, and figures were happily holding food in their hands. In the largest white tent in the middle, a flag with a white horse and a blue cow painted on it was swaying in the breeze.

"The commander-in-chief went to attack the Qi army, but I don't know what the result will be..."

"Who knows, but this morning's porridge... tsk - does it taste like shit?"

"Maybe what they cooked was shit. These cooks have been doing nothing. Sooner or later they will poison their brothers to death."

"Eat what you can..."

Amid the whispers, Xia Mo, who was supposed to be the protagonist, was just the first to start. Then everyone started to curse the army's food. Someone put the bowl of porridge on the table and said, "This is inedible."

"Why not find those who cook and teach them a lesson..."

The Liao soldiers sitting around were cursing angrily. An old soldier nearby looked at him and said, "You still want to teach me a lesson? Be careful that your breakfast is poisoned next time!"

"No way..." Several fresh-looking new soldiers said, "We are all comrades in the army. They wouldn't poison us, right?"

"Why not?" The old soldier pointed at the porridge and said, "If this thing tastes worse, it must be poisonous..."

In his sight, the porridge with soup shook slightly, and the straight fingers suddenly bent slightly. The soldier stopped talking and looked at the rippling soup, his eyes gradually widened.

The new recruit next to him didn't understand what was going on. He looked at Zhou, then at him, and couldn't help but urge him.

"What's the matter? Tell me."

"What are you looking at?"

"The water is shaking..." The old soldier took a breath, "There are cavalry."

"Is the Marshal back?"

"We left at three o'clock in the morning. It's been almost a few hours..."

A few recruits standing by didn't take it seriously.

"That's not right. When the commander comes back, he should order the cavalry to go back and report the victory." The old soldier stood up and turned to run outside: "I'll go find someone to ask."

However, soon, the veteran's question could be seen without the help of others. Smoke rose in the distance, and a black line was looming in the dust. Gradually, the fluttering flag could be seen clearly.

Several large flags with the words "Wanyan" and "Wu" written in Chinese first caught the eyes of the soldiers on the watchtower, and the warning golden bell was rung.

In the second year of Jianwu in Qi and the beginning of summer in the second year of Baoda in Liao, the Qi army set an ambush and defeated Xiamo's elite troops in the wild, and then drove the defeated troops southward to attack their camp.

At that time, General Pingbei Han Shizhong attacked Dading Prefecture, and then sent troops to attack Xiamo’s camp from behind, and attacked from both sides with Lu Bu’s main force.

There was no general capable of fighting in the military camp, and after barely holding out for a moment, the entire army surrendered.

At noon on the Bingchen day of the first lunar month, Lü Bu led his army into Dading Prefecture. (End of this chapter)