Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

"... Huo Chengfu is dead. Five days ago, he was active in the Tiantai area. The Song thief Zhe Kecun led his troops and suddenly launched an offensive from the direction of Wuzhou. Huo Qushuai was caught off guard and encountered Zhe Kecun in the wild. He was killed on the spot in a close combat."

"Brother Shi Bao is guarding the Tiantai line now. Zhe Kecun is very fierce in fighting. Shi Bao and I are fighting one-on-one. I think no one can defeat him. But I can't defeat him even with my army..."

"Before I came, news came from Yuezhou that Wang Bing was preparing for war. The commander of Yuezhou should have also received the news. I think that bastard Xin Xingzong will soon send troops to Xianju as well."

The night was noisy, with the sound of insects chirping outside. Flying insects flapped their wings and flew into the bonfire burning in the military camp, creating a spark. The rebel soldiers holding weapons and wearing Liao army armor walked across the ground, and the slightly heavy footsteps faded away as they walked.

The curtain of the central army tent was open, and the guards were standing five feet away, watching for any suspicious figures approaching. The expressions of the few figures gathered in the tent turned gloomy when they heard Li Tianrun's words.

The big man looked a little confused after he finished speaking. He looked at Lu Shinang, who was wearing green brocade clothes, and spoke after a long while: "I also received the news that the dead eunuch left, but the current situation is not advantageous for our army."

A breeze blew in from outside, causing the candle to flicker.

The dim light flickered. The figure sitting in the main seat tilted his head back, leaned against the back of the chair with half-closed eyes. After listening to Li Tianrun's words, his eyeballs moved under his eyelids. After a long time, he spoke in a hoarse voice: "It seems that the siege of the Song army is about to begin."

"What are you afraid of?" Pang Wanchun, who was sitting opposite, stood up suddenly, with a ferocious look on his scarred face: "Even if he wants to launch an offensive, there are still more than 100,000 fewer people, which is many times better than last year."

He turned his head suddenly and looked at Lu Shinang: "General Lu, we have been defending for more than a year because of the large number of Song troops. Now why don't we fight? As long as we can repel Wang Bing..."

"Then it's time for that damn eunuch to return to the army." Li Tianrun said lightly, looking at Lu Shinang with a tired look: "General Lu, there is something I have always wanted to say."

Lu Shinang cast his gaze on him and said, "Speak."

"When Xiao Qi came south last time, he drank and chatted with Liu Yun, Xie Ning and other generals. He said that we can't achieve anything great in Song..."

Pang Wanchun was furious and took two steps forward: "He is talking nonsense! He is waiting for Liangshan..."

"Let him speak!" Lu Shinang suddenly interrupted Pang Wanchun and looked at Li Tianrun: "Why do you say that?"

"According to what the brothers said, our army has many flaws. First of all... we still don't have our own craftsmen." Li Tianrun lowered his eyes slightly. "In the beginning, our power expanded too fast. Everyone was desperately expanding the army and seizing cities. Although many generals and officials realized the problem, no one was willing to slow down. Even if there were many craftsmen at that time, they only made some swords and distributed them to the soldiers. Few people organized them to make armor."

Seeing Pang Wanchun's face as if he wanted to say something, he emphasized: "Even if you don't understand, try it."

The sharpshooter over there was silent for a moment, then walked back and sat down, remaining silent.

"Now, those craftsmen have fled this miserable place in the southeast. After all, they are craftsmen and can make a living wherever they go." Li Tianrun clenched his fists. "Besides, we don't have anyone to train the army. Although we are struggling to hold on here, the army trained by the Qi people will not be as difficult to command as before."

Lu Shinang nodded: "That's true. I've heard of Liu Yun before. He's just a brother with higher martial arts skills in the sect. Now that he has gained experience, he can already teach our soldiers and generals how to fight."

“…but I still lose most of the time.”

Pang Wanchun sighed. The furious aura he had when he was angry had disappeared with Li Tianrun's words. He just had a fire in his heart that he couldn't vent, and he wasn't deliberately targeting Li Tianrun.

"Normal. The people in the states we occupy are not all on our side." Li Tianrun said calmly, "The Song army is unpopular here, and we have never considered them. How can we use them?"

Looking at Lu Shinang, he exhaled: "That's why we don't have a stable source of soldiers. All those who come are civilians persecuted by the Song army and heroes of the green forest. Once there is a loss, it is often difficult to replenish it in time."

The two people over there were silent. After a long while, Lu Shinang stood up and said, "Some things are indeed too serious to be reversed, but this is not a reason for us not to fight against the Song army."

Li Tianrun opened his mouth, but Lu Shinang held out his hand to stop him from saying anything. "I know you are just worried, but now we should think more about how to repel the Song army's attack."

"Pass on my orders."

The two generals stood up and listened to Lv Shinang's loud voice: "At dawn, the two of you will lead 3,000 soldiers to the Tiantai area to meet Shi Bao, and then follow General Fang's orders."

He looked at the two men and said: "If Tiantai City cannot be defended, then retreat to Ninghai and make sure to stop the Song army outside Mingzhou."

"Master Lu, you are so..."

"I will lead the troops to guard Taizhou. Chen Kutong is in Xianju, and I will cooperate with him to defend the southern position." Lu Shinang looked at the two and laughed: "When you meet up with Shi Bao, you will only have 8,000 soldiers. You must be careful when facing the Song army."

"General Lu is the right one." Li Tianrun and Pang Wanchun looked at each other and said, "The two of us are leading the troops out, so there are even fewer people here. It's not reassuring to have only Tan Gao and Wei Zhong here."

"The Song army in Chuzhou and Wenzhou is weaker than that in Wuzhou and Yuezhou. Your side is the main attack direction." Lu Shinang shook his head: "Tan Gao and Wei Zhong are both capable. They will have no problem dealing with the enemy here. On the contrary, you should be more careful."

After a moment of silence, he spoke again: "If possible, we might as well persuade Liu Yun and other Qi generals to go to the battle."

Pang Wanchun and Li Tianrun raised their eyebrows: "Drag someone into the water?"

The latter shook his head: "It's just that distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. Even if Liu Yun and Xie Ning are willing to lead the troops, the Qi army is still thousands of miles away."

Lu Shi Nang pursed his lips and said, "At least there is a bond of friendship."

Li Tianrun wanted to say something but in the end he didn't say it. He just nodded. The three of them talked for a few more words before going back to their tents to rest. However, they all had something on their minds and tossed and turned in bed for a long time before they fell asleep.

In the following month, the 30,000 men in Taizhou were divided into two groups. Chen and Lu led more than 20,000 soldiers to guard the central and southern parts, and three fierce generals led 8,000 soldiers to guard the northern gateway to Mingzhou. As Lu Shinang had expected, the Song army outside the three states, led by Wang Bing, assembled 20,000 western troops and 60,000 local troops and rural soldiers in the southeast, and were preparing to launch an attack on Yuezhou from Hangzhou with Wang Huan's troops.

During this year, Yuezhou has been the front line in the fight against the Song army, building a city wall for Mingzhou behind it. However, this thick wall is now somewhat weakened.

However, not all the people of Mingzhou were willing to accept the protection of such a city wall. Many prominent families ran away and fled to the land recaptured by the Song army, waiting for the recovery of the army and state, hoping that one day they could return to their homes and continue their previous lives as citizens of the Song Dynasty.

Until they heard that Tong Guan had returned and Wang Bing was in power, some people started to think, there were only so many official positions in the Song Dynasty, Fang La had killed a lot of people in the rebellion, although now they have been filled, but there are still many vacancies in Yue, Ming and Taizhou? If they don't seek a high official position, it should be okay to find a county lieutenant or even a small official in the army, right?
Realizing that they could take advantage of the situation, wealthy officials gathered in Hangzhou. Speculators and young people who were determined to devote themselves to the Song Dynasty began to frequently appear in government offices and military camps.

Yuezhou.

The spacious city gate, the empty streets in the city, everything is changing. Soldiers holding swords and guns and wearing leather armor can be seen everywhere. Some young and strong men are grabbed and pulled to the side of the team, and driven to carry stones and wood to the city wall.

On the deserted streets, every household closed their doors and windows. The pale-faced people hid behind the doors and windows, looking through the slightly opened gaps at the rebels running outside, and deftly used kitchen knives and wooden sticks to make long poles as weapons.

It has been a long time since Yuezhou was conquered, and the situation here hasn't been this tense. No matter who wins or loses, it will not benefit the people like them.

You still have to rely on yourself to protect your life.

In the center of the city, where the government office was originally located, the atmosphere was heated. The remaining generals of the rebel army gathered in the city, and many of them were cursing Wang Bin. Someone came in with military intelligence from outside, and another group of female relatives and ancestors appeared.

There were two figures sitting in the main seats, one was Qiu Daoren in a Taoist robe, and the other was Fang Qifo in armor. They were sitting in their seats listening to the cursing words below, with gloomy and expressionless faces, and suddenly slammed the table.

bang——

The noisy voices quieted down.

"What are you cursing for? If I could curse Wang to death, I would have been cursing him all day long." Fang Qifo took a breath and looked at the man with a refined face but a burly figure: "Wang Yin, the defense of the city still needs you to worry about. Gather the young and strong people in the city first, and don't be too harsh..."

The meeting ended in a few words, and Fang Qifo and Qiu Daoren stood up and went to the back hall amid the greetings of the generals. The door was closed as they moved, and personal soldiers stood outside to guard it.

Inside the brightly lit room, someone had already been waiting here. When the thin Lou Minzhong saw the two men coming in, he quickly stood up and greeted them. The situation of the rebel army had been bad recently, so those in the rear could no longer sit still and ran over in a hurry.

"The situation in Mingzhou is not right either." Before he sat down, Lou Minzhong took a breath and recounted his sufferings: "During this period, we have distributed all the food and herbs we found and the weapons and armor we exchanged with Qi. However, it is really difficult to collect money and goods to trade with Qi people in the future."

"There are only four or five transactions a year, and the number of soldiers and armor transported each time is only three to two thousand. Now we have about 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers in armor. It sounds like a lot, but they are distributed in three states, and each state has only about 10,000 people. Add in the losses, the deaths in the battles, and the recovered ones, and now we have 13,000 or 14,000 is the maximum."

Fang Qifo's voice was a little heavy: "If the deal is cut off, we will be short of armor every time we fight. The Song army now has the support of the court, and has no shortage of weapons and armor, and a lot of siege equipment. If we continue to fight..."

He took a deep breath, with a look of unwillingness on his majestic face.

"It won't last long." Taoist Qiu's calm voice sounded after him: "Since the defeat in Shanyin, the morale of the army is low. Some time ago, General Huo Qu died in battle, which can be said to have cast a severe frost on the low morale."

"If we lose again, we will have no choice but to abandon the city and fight the Song army among the people?" Lou Minzhong clenched his fists. "If that's the case, why don't we keep our manpower and wait for Qi's ships to come and take us to the north? When General Ruan came last time, he said that Qi was attacking Zhongjing and had already swallowed up several cities. I think..."

The opposite side looked at him with surprised eyes, and the left prime minister leaned forward and said: "If this place is not worth taking, why not jump out of this dead end, maybe we can turn this chess game around."

"This... can..." Fang Qifo's lips moved and he sighed dejectedly, unable to utter any words of objection.

He had always been Fang La's confidant. Since Fang La's death, he had been fighting against the Song army with the intention of avenging him. He had been fighting all year round, but he could not take Yuezhou. Instead, he lost half of the state in the past two months. The rebel army did not have as many troops as the Song army to rotate into battle...

I am really tired.

"I have no objection." Taoist Qiu's eyes were calm, with a strange smile on his face: "Speaking of familiarity, I have dealt with Lu Bu when he was still the leader of Liangshan in my early years."

Lou Minzhong exhaled and looked at Fang Qifo. The general of the Yongle Dynasty hesitated, and the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitched several times. Finally, he nodded and sighed: "Who wants to die if they can live? However, Qi State can only send five warships at most each time, and the capacity is limited. Who should leave and who should stay?"

"There's no need to be so particular at this time." Lou Minzhong looked relieved. "Marshal Fang will have to hold out in Yuezhou for at least a month. The Qi navy will arrive at the beginning of next month. By then, Liu Yun and others will have withdrawn and probably won't come again. We can ask them to take their men north then."

Fang Qifo and Qiu Daoren were surprised at first, and then nodded thoughtfully. The battle had come to this point, and even leaders like them had lost confidence. How could they expect Liu Yun and others who only came to help train the army to have expectations in them?

"Since you two agree, I will go to Taizhou right now to look for General Lu." Lou Minzhong stood up, his frail body suddenly full of energy: "He has Shi Bao and Li Tianrun with him. If Ruan Xiaoqi wants to lend a hand, he must bring them along."

"Yes." Fang Qifo and Qiu Daoren had a way out, and suddenly felt that the burden on their shoulders was much lighter, and their expressions changed accordingly: "Thank you for your hard work, Prime Minister Zuo."

Lou Minzhong waved his hand and hurriedly ran outside with a team of guards, heading south without stopping to look for Lu Shinang. Fang and Chou, who had put down their burdens, went to the top of the city wall to boost morale. It would take some time for the Qi army to arrive here, and if they were defeated by the Song army before that, they would have no place to cry.

The speed of the Song army's assembly was increasing with the passage of time. Just as Lou Minzhong, who was heading south, left Yuezhou, Wang Bing brazenly sent out his troops, with Wang Huan as the vanguard, to continue attacking the other half of Yuezhou city.

In the central part, Zhe Kecun and the brothers Wu Jie and Wu Lin attacked Tiantai, while Liu Yanqing and Liu Guangshi, father and son, led their troops to Xianju. For a time, the war in the southeast broke out again, and emotions of panic, uneasiness and restlessness spread among the rebel army.

On the sea, five ships were setting sail and heading south. (End of this chapter)