Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 480 Asking for help
Lai Yong'er and his group rushed into Laiwu City with a clamor. Hu Yanzhuo and others were shocked when they heard it, thinking that the Qingzhou bandits had reinforcements coming.

After standing on the chariot and observing for a while, Hu Yanzhuo got off the chariot and sent someone to invite Shan Tinggui, Wei Dingguo, Han Tao and Gao Gao to discuss the military situation.

Hu Yanzhuo spoke first, "It's already difficult for us to attack Laizhou City, and now the Qingzhou bandits have sent more troops. Do you have any ideas, generals?"

Shan Tinggui said, "Now the soldiers here are no match for the Qingzhou bandits. We are only able to fight Song Jiang thanks to the linked armored cavalry. Now the Qingzhou bandits are getting stronger, so we should ask for help from Prime Minister Zhao, the vanguard of the Eastern Capital and the one in charge of suppressing the bandits in the eastern part of the capital."

Wei Dingguo heard this and said, "He has now joined forces with Zengtou City to besiege Laiwu Prison. I'm afraid he will not be willing to come here."

As they were talking, a spy from the army came up to report: "General, there is a bamboo pole erected on the top of Laiwu City, with Zeng Tu's head on it."

Han Tao was surprised when he heard this: "Laiwu Prison was defeated?"

Hu Yanzhuo asked quickly: "How do you know?"

The soldier said, "The Qingzhou bandits on the city wall are shouting that the government troops that invaded Qingzhou have been defeated. Let's see what we can do."

Wei Dingguo hesitated and asked, "Could it be that a few kids from Zengtou City led their troops to attack Qingzhou?"

After hearing this, Hu Yanzhuo immediately asked a few trusted soldiers to rush to Laiwu Prison to get information. Hu Yanzhuo and his men only asked the soldiers to guard the camp, and they all waited anxiously in the camp.

Half a day later, the soldiers who went to investigate reported back, and Hu Yanzhuo and others learned that, just as Wei Dingguo had guessed, the soldiers from Zengtou City were defeated in their sneak attack on Qingzhou, and Zeng Tu was shot dead.

Fortunately, only this route was lost, Liangshan Prefecture did not suffer a defeat, and some civilians were rescued and moved to Yi Prefecture. Now Laiwu Prefecture is still surrounded by government troops. Although it cannot be captured for the time being, they will not release the Qingzhou bandits to help.

Shan Tinggui said, "The boys in Zengtou City, relying on their martial arts and the many farmhands they hired at home, don't take us seriously. It's a pity that they have never been in a battle and don't know how high the sky is or how deep the earth is. They dare to call themselves the Five Tigers of the Zeng Family. Now that they have lost their troops and generals, they can't blame others."

Wei Dingguo also said: "The Zeng family has contributed to the country after all, so why should I say more, brother?"

Han Tao interrupted and said, "At this moment, we still have to rely on Brother Gaoang to fire cannons to force the Qingzhou bandits out of the city. Otherwise, we will have no chance of winning the siege."

Gao Gao heard this and said, "We have been attacking for a long time, and most of the gunpowder and shells we brought have been used up. The general must buy more early to prepare for consumption."

Hu Yanzhuo said, "I have sent people to Bianjing to write to the Grand Commandant to transfer the artillery, but the artillery cannot be stopped."

Hu Yanzhuo then asked everyone to return to their camps and restrain their troops. Hu Yanzhuo personally wrote a letter and sent it to Gao Qiu in Bianjing by express horse to explain the situation.

Outside Laiwu Prison City, Zeng Sheng returned to his own camp and said to Zeng Mi with a gloomy face: "Second brother, my eldest brother was shot dead by the Qingzhou thieves. I only regret that I didn't get my brother's body back."

Zeng Mi was a reckless person by nature. After hearing Zeng Sheng's words, he ignored his wounds and wanted to attack the city. Zeng Sheng tried to persuade him and he gave up.

Zeng Mi said: "Fifth brother, eldest brother's revenge must be avenged!"

Zeng Sheng said, "Brother, many of our soldiers and warriors have been killed. I'm afraid it won't work if we rely on ourselves. Unless we can persuade the Liangshan army to help." Zeng Mi was anxious after hearing this, "This bastard husband, how could he have the intention to attack the city? He has been besieging the city for so long and never left the camp. If we ask him to send troops, I'm afraid he won't agree."

Zeng Sheng also said, "Don't worry, second brother. I have visited him many times in the past few days. Although Liangshan Prefecture has many soldiers and generals, like the imperial army of the Song Dynasty, it is also short of horses. A prefecture only dispatched less than 2000 cavalry, which is not as good as our Zengtou City. My family sells horses. If we promise to sell some horses to him, I believe he will not be willing to help us attack the city."

Zeng Mi said: "Although my family started out by selling livestock, we sold very few war horses."

Zeng Sheng said: "What's the big deal? Now that we want to avenge our eldest brother, my father will naturally agree."

After the two men discussed it, Zeng Sheng led a few trusted men and rode to Zhao Zhen's camp.

After some crying, Zeng Sheng explained his purpose.

Zhao Zhen asked, "It's not good to be so utilitarian, but I really lack war horses here. If Zengtou City is willing to sell war horses, I will naturally be happy to send troops to help the young general to take revenge. I won't take advantage of you, so how about exchanging tea for your war horses?"

Zeng Sheng said, "Sir, please be kind and give us the tea first. I will send someone back to the village to bring us the war horses."

Just as Zhao Zhen was about to speak, he heard the guard Jie Zhen come over to report: "Sir, Commander Shi Wengong sent someone to deliver a letter saying that he had found General Zeng's body. He was afraid that the Qingzhou bandits might have ambushes, so he temporarily went to Yiyuan to rest."

"What?" Zeng Sheng asked hurriedly after hearing this.

When Zeng Sheng saw that Zeng Tu's body had indeed been found, he burst into tears and asked Zhao Zhen to send someone to bring Zeng Tu's body to him.

Zhao Zhen said, "Don't worry, young general. I will send someone to escort General Zeng's body. I will also send someone to deliver the tea, and you can return to Zengtou City together. I have also prepared weapons. Once the transaction is completed, I will naturally prepare to attack Laiwu Prison."

After sending Zeng Sheng away, Zhao Zhen carefully considered the matter, drafted a memorial, and after using the seal, he still sent Dai Zong to Bianjing to deliver it. The letter deliberately exaggerated the losses of the sneak attack on Qingzhou and asked the court to allocate more war horses and equipment.

Three days later, Zeng Tu's body and the spear he used were delivered to Zhao Zhen, who handed them over to Zeng Sheng. Zeng Sheng sent a cavalry of more than 100 soldiers to escort Zeng Tu's body and received 1,000 stones of tea prepared by Zhao Zhen in Dongping Prefecture, and then returned to Zengtou City via Qizhou Prefecture.

Let's not talk about Laiwu, where fighting was going on every day, but Gao Lian, who was in charge of the army in the north, was preparing to attack Qingzhou. Yun Tianbiao and Wei Tianbao followed Gao Lian and told him about the situation inside and outside Linzi.

After hearing this, Gao Lian shouted, "The Qingzhou bandits have blocked the Zibo River. How can you just sit there and do nothing?"

Wei Tianbao said, "Sir, it's not that I'm just sitting there watching. We've gathered the boats on both sides of the Zibo River. In early spring this year, a leader called Li Jun, the Dragon of the River, came and led more than 3000 bandits to fight on boats. We are not good at fighting on water, so we let him win twice. He burned many of our boats and robbed the rest. Now all the boats on the Zibo River are occupied by the bandits. Yun Zongguan and I have tried many times to lure him ashore. We fought twice, but he escaped back to the river each time."

"During these days, we can only guard everywhere and prevent them from coming ashore to attack. The two of us have little influence and our words cannot reach the ears of the emperor. Now that you are here, please make the decision and dispatch the navy to escort us across the river."

After hearing this, Gao Lian inspected the Zibo River and had no choice but to write a letter to Gao Qiu, explaining the reason and requesting naval support.

The memorials from Zhao Zhen, Hu Yanzhuo and Gao Lian were delivered to Bian Jing one after another.

(End of this chapter)