Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 478 Siege
After the greeting, Zhao Zhen asked, "What brings you here, warrior?"

Zeng Sheng bowed and said, "Sir, I am Zeng Sheng from Zengtou City. I have been summoned by the government and appointed as the chief of Guide. I am here on behalf of my brother to invite you to lead the troops to attack Laiwu Prison together."

Zhao Zhen deliberately asked, "I heard that your brothers have been besieging Laiwu Prison for many days. What is the situation now?"

"These Qingzhou thieves are greedy for fame and fortune, but there is not a single hero among them. After many days of fighting, the Qingzhou thieves in the city have retreated to their shells and are nothing but weaklings."

"Why not attack the city?" Zhao Zhen asked.

"The Laiwu Mountain is steep, and most of us are cavalry, so it is inconvenient to attack the city." Zeng Sheng said.

"That's true. I heard from coaches Shi Wengong and Su Ding that your family is from the Great Jin and is skilled in riding and shooting. You came here to invite me to attack Laiwu Prison, but are you asking me to attack the city here?" Zhao Zhen asked again.

Zeng Sheng nodded.

Li Ying rebuked him: "How can this be absurd? A mere halberd-bearing officer from Guide dares to order the Jiedushi around."

Zeng Sheng said quickly: "It is really inconvenient for the cavalry to attack the city, it's not that we don't want to."

Seeing Zeng Sheng was about to speak, Zhao Zhen interrupted him and said, "We are all for the purpose of suppressing the Qingzhou bandits. General Zeng's words are not without reason. So, General, please go back and send troops tomorrow to see the Laiwu Prison first and then discuss it."

After Zeng Sheng left, Zhao Xin, who had been silent the whole time, asked, "Sir, these people from Zeng Toushi just wanted to protect their own soldiers and let my Liangshan soldiers lead the charge. It seems that they are not dissatisfied with you, Sir."

Zhao Zhen said: "Who said we were going to attack Laiwu Prison?"

"Brothers, didn't you hear him say that the Laiwu Prison only defends the city and doesn't go out to fight? In that case, I will surround the Laiwu Prison. Isn't there a lot of cavalry in Zengtou City? How about letting him bypass the Laiwu Prison and go to Qingzhou?"

After hearing this, Liu Huiniang asked, "Master, do you want Zengtou City to cause chaos in Qingzhou?"

Zhao Zhen nodded: "To cause chaos in Qingzhou and weaken Song Jiang is only one of the reasons. When Song Jiang heard that the government troops had entered Qingzhou, he would certainly not let off steam, and a fight was inevitable. In addition, if we besiege Laiwu Prison, we will not have to fight, and we can also tie down some of Song Jiang's forces. We will also have an explanation from the court."

On the second day, Zhao Zhen led his troops to break camp and marched out, leaving Li Ying and Shi En to guard Xintai. The army marched in a mighty force and reached the city of Laiwu.

After setting up the camp, Zhao Zhen sent someone to invite the sons of Zeng's family to come and discuss the matter.

In the big tent, Zhao Zhen looked at the three people below the stairs and said, "I have seen Laiwu Prison today. The city is strong and I am afraid it will not be easy to capture. I intend to set up a camp under the city and besiege this place. First, cut off Laiwu Prison's contact with the outside world and prevent Laiwu Prison from connecting with Laiwu City. Second, I have heard that Qingzhou is empty, so I will send cavalry here to bypass Laiwu Prison and kill the bandits in the heart of Qingzhou."

"You are all the militiamen of Zengtou City, not my soldiers. You agreed with me to attack the city yesterday, but it is not easy to attack Laiwu Prison. I am afraid that if we take down the city, there will be many casualties. How about you join me in besieging the city?"

Zeng Tu, the leader, said, "I wonder how many cavalry troops you have sent to attack Qingzhou? Who is leading the troops?"

Zhao Zhen said: "There are 1500 cavalrymen, divided into three teams, sneaking into Qingzhou, attacking the city if possible, killing the bandits if possible, and there is no specific purpose. You don't know the others, but the commander Shi Wengong and Du Yuhou Su Ding are one of them."

Zeng Tu listened and said, "Yesterday I heard from my fifth brother that the two coaches are serving in the lord's army. Now they are in charge of a battalion of soldiers. They are indeed much better than Zeng Toushi."

"Since you are going to send out cavalry to attack Qingzhou, my family also has 3000 cavalry and is willing to lend a helping hand."

Zhao Zhen heard this and said, "Although there are not many Qingzhou leaders, you are not familiar with the terrain after all, and you are local militia. It is inevitable to encounter danger if you go deep into Qingzhou. It is better to besiege the city here." Zeng Tu said, "Otherwise, we admire the country of Song and came here from the Jin Kingdom to settle down. I am just a commoner, but I was appreciated by the government and granted an official position. I must report it."

"You have commanded many soldiers, and there are still 2000 infantrymen. How do you arrange for them?"

"My fifth brother Zeng Sheng is young, so he will stay behind to lead 2000 infantry and 500 cavalry. My second brother Zeng Mi and I will lead 2500 cavalry to Qingzhou. We must make some contributions first." Zeng Tu said.

Zhao Zhen hesitated for a moment and said, "That's fine. Tomorrow, my three cavalry troops will leave first, and you can arrange your own activities. Zeng Sheng will be responsible for guarding the west gate of Laiwu Prison."

After the military meeting, Zeng Tu and the other two returned to their camp. Zeng Mi asked first, "Brother, why are we going to Qingzhou to fight?"

Zeng Tu did not answer, but asked Zeng Sheng who was standing behind him, "Fifth brother, do you know the reason?"

Zeng Sheng said: "We have fast horses, and Qingzhou is empty, so there is not much danger. If we go to Qingzhou, we can not only kill the bandits and gain merit, but also rob them of their wealth. How can we not go for such a good opportunity?"

Zeng Tu said, "Fifth brother is right. Second brother, don't you see that Prime Minister Zhao doesn't want us to go? He got promoted by suppressing the Qingzhou bandits. We have been operating in Lingzhou for many years. Now, how can we not seize this opportunity?"

"Tomorrow, I will lead 2500 cavalrymen from the two places and head straight to Qingzhou. We are not familiar with the road, but we can capture some locals as guides. If we can't capture the county, can we still capture the villages? With the help of horse power, we can come and go like the wind. Looting wealth is secondary. We can chop off more heads this time. We can't expect the military commander to do so, but we will need a militia commander. In this way, Lingzhou will be..."

On the second day, Zeng Tu and Zeng Mi saw the cavalry marching out of the Liangshan camp early in the morning. Without any hesitation, they gathered their soldiers and rushed to Qingzhou.

Zeng Sheng sent the two away and had his men dig a moat and place caltrops to guard the west gate.

At Zhao Zhen's place, the deer horn chevaux de frise were also neatly arranged to block the roads in and out.

However, Laiwu's garrison commander Zhou Tong, the Little Overlord, Meng Futong, the Flower Knife, and Ruan Qixiang, who surrendered from Yizhou, were all worried when they saw this situation.

As the commander, Zhou Tong looked at the situation from the top of the city wall and ordered his men to guard the top of the city wall while he invited Meng Futong and Ruan Qixiang to come down to the city to discuss the matter.

Zhou Tong asked: "Do you two brothers have any ideas in this situation?"

Meng Futong said, "We are following Brother Gongming's orders to defend Laiwu Prison and hold back the Liangshan army. This morning we saw the cavalry heading east, so we sent a pigeon to inform Brother Gongming and make preparations early to prevent any accidents."

After listening to this, Zhou Tong nodded, arranged for people to send out three carrier pigeons in a row.

Ruan Qixiang pondered for a moment and said, "Brother, I heard that the military advisor went to Liangshan to pay a visit and said that Mr. Zhao promised that he would not fight against us this year. Judging from the situation, the government troops outside seem to only want to besiege us and not attack the city."

Zhou Tongdao: "When I came here, Brother Gongming did tell us that we only need to carefully guard Laiwu Prison and contain the Liangshan army, and not to go out of the city to fight with the Liangshan army. The city has already prepared enough military rations and horse feed, and the Liangshan army will retreat when the summer heats up. Or we can wait for Brother Gongming to defeat Hu Yanzhuo and lead his troops to rescue us."

Then Zhou Tong said to Ruan Qixiang: "Brother, you were in charge of the defense of the East City of Yizhou. Now I have to rely on you to take on the responsibility of defending the city."

Ruan Qixiang heard this and said, "Don't worry, brother. When it comes to martial arts, I am not as good as you, but when it comes to defending the city, it is my strong point. Moreover, I think the people below the city have no intention of attacking the city. As long as we control the soldiers and prevent the city from becoming chaotic, we will have no problem defending it for a year or two."

Zhou Tongdao: "Even so, we can't let down our guard. We must be extra careful and not let the government troops launch a surprise attack. From today on, the three of us will take turns to defend the city every day. I will send a letter to Brother Gongming to see what he has to say."

(End of this chapter)