Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 642 Response
Zhang Wen pointed at the city wall and said to Xu Ning, "Captain, it's this guy."

After hearing this, Xu Ning ordered the city gates to be opened and led his troops out of the city.

Xu Ning was seen wearing a phoenix-wing helmet, a goose-feather chain mail, a green silk embroidered robe, and cloud-thread inlaid boots. He was riding a snow-white curly-haired horse and holding an ancestral hook-and-sickle spear. He was the first to leave the city.

When Lu Zhen saw this, he shouted, "Call Lei Heng here quickly."

Xu Ning mobilized his troops and shouted, "Bandit, do you know Liangshan's [Golden Spearman] Xu Ning?"

After hearing this, Lu Zhen laughed and said, "What do you mean by [Bronze Spearman] and [Iron Spearman]? You won't be able to use them today."

Xu Ning was furious when he heard this: "How dare you, a lowly thief who hides his head and hides his face, underestimate me?"

As he said this, he dismounted and fought on foot, heading straight for Lu Zhen.

Lu Zhen shook the nine-section staff in his hand and swung it towards Xu Ning.

Xu Ning was furious and picked up his spear to fight. They fought back and forth, and the two of them were like turning wind lanterns in front of the formation, stirring up dust and sand for several feet, stirring up wind and sand and swirling murderous aura.

People on both sides shouted and cheered in unison. In the dark night, the people in the city were all frightened.

When the fight reached a critical point, Xu Ning shouted, "Go!" He used the spear in his hand to block the nine-section staff and the tip of the spear went straight into Lu Zhen's chest.

Lu Zhen was not panicked. He shook the nine-section staff in his hand, broke it into two long and short sections, and quickly blocked it.

Xu Ning used his gun to hook the nine-section staff. Lü Zhen pulled back with all his strength, but was tripped by the gun hook. In a hurry, he couldn't retract the staff, so Xu Ning thrust the gun again. Lü Zhen was trying to take the staff back, but the gun hit him in the chest. Lü Zhen screamed and fell to the ground.

Xu Ning swung his sickle spear and shouted, "Kill."

When the soldiers who were lined up outside the city heard this, they rushed forward together. When Zhang Wen on the city wall saw this, he immediately ordered people to beat drums.

When the Jeju soldiers who were pretending to be bandits saw this, they shouted and ran back the way they came for their lives.

As soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, thunder roared and gongs were struck in the woods, and the soldiers who had been lying in ambush for a long time rushed out, shouting, "Surrender and you won't be killed!"

The bandits were already panicking, and now they were blocked in front and pursued from behind. Seeing no way to escape, many of them dropped their weapons and knelt by the roadside. There were also some brave ones who roared and quickened their pace, intending to break out of the encirclement and escape into the mountains.

Unfortunately, there were only a few brave ones after all. In order to attack Cheng County, they did not even wear armor. They were only in military uniform. They were no match for the fully armed soldiers and were killed on the spot in no time.

After counting the spoils, it was found that none of the 500 attacking bandits escaped.

After the interrogation, Xu Ning and others were shocked. The man who fought today turned out to be the Jizhou Military Commander [Nine-headed Bird] Lu Zhen, and the more than 400 captured were also Jizhou soldiers. Among the five commanders, in addition to Liu Wu, who was killed by Lei Heng under the alias [Guoshanfeng], there were two others who were killed today, one Wanfeng and the other Sun Ze. Wanfeng was from Yizhou, and he was the one who led the way.

Among the captives were Ma Hao and Zhao Junfei, both of whom were natives of Jeju. Because they had joined Lu Zhen early and flattered Lu Zhen on a daily basis, they were transferred to Lu Zhen's headquarters, which had the best treatment in Jeju.

After learning about the origins of the bandits, Xu Ning told everyone who knew about it not to spread the news. Xu Ning left his own soldiers behind and asked Lei Heng to take over as the commander. Xu Ning led his men to escort Lu Zhen's body and Ma Hao and Zhao Junfei back to the capital of Yizhou on horseback.

Yizhou Acting Governor Xu He and Military Commander [Shuangbian] Hu Yanzhuo listened to what the two Jizhou captains escorted by Xu Ning said. Xu He spoke first, "This Jizhou governor is so bold that he dared to send troops to attack the prefecture and county disguised as bandits. I will send a letter to you, sir, and you must not let this guy go easily." Hu Yanzhuo listened and said, "Xu Dujian, these two captains said that they came from Xuzhou?"

Xu Ning nodded and said, "That's right. Lei Heng, Zhang Wen and I have searched the surrounding mountains of Cheng County these days, but we have not been able to find the origin of this guy. However, we never thought that he came here by water."

Hu Yanzhuo said, "That's good. My husband has long wanted to annex Jeju. Now that he has this handle, he will definitely not miss it. Send a letter by carrier pigeon, 500 miles away, and we will also be ready here. If my husband gives the order, we will send troops."

Xu Ning said: "Commander, send troops to Jeju, I'm afraid it won't be our turn."

Hu Yanzhuo laughed and said, "Jizhou is not our turn, Xuzhou is just right. We are not greedy, we just want Teng County on the east bank of Weishan Lake."

The three of them smiled at each other and prepared themselves.

At Baishi Manor in Liangshan, Zhao Zhen received a carrier pigeon message from Yizhou that day.

The letter read: Lu Zhen of Jeju pretended to be a bandit and attacked Cheng County, killing and capturing all of them.

When Zhao Zhen saw it, he immediately summoned Wu Yong, Zhu Wu and others to come. After showing the pigeon letter to everyone, Zhu Wu laughed and said, "Great. There was no chance to take action. This is a godsend opportunity. Sir, now is the time to take Jeju."

Wu Yong looked at the sand table in the hall and asked, "How did this guy get to Cheng County?"

Zhu Wu said: "Xuejiu, look, if you enter the water from Nanyang Lake in Jizhou, pass Zhaoyang Lake in Shanzhou, and reach Weishan Lake in Xuzhou, don't you reach Chengxian County in Yizhou directly? If there is no rumor here, I am afraid it is this road."

Zhao Zhen said, "A few days ago, an official document was delivered to Yizhou. A bandit came down the mountain to attack the city at night and asked Lei Heng to kill a man. Later, a man came out and was able to injure Lei Heng. He used a copper nine-section linked stick. Isn't it the Jizhou governor [Nine-headed Bird] Lu Zhen that Brother Wang Jin mentioned before?"

Wu Yong said: "How can we know whether it was done by the governor of Jizhou alone, and Shanzhou and Xuzhou were not involved? Sir, we must not let go of this ready-made opportunity."

Zhao Zhen nodded and asked, "Who can lead the troops?"

Wu Yong said: "In Jizhou, we can teach Yang Zhi, the deputy commander of Qingzhou, or Chao Gai, the commander of Liangshan's troops. Both of them are capable of doing the job."

Zhao Zhen thought for a while and said, "Now Jeju only has three counties. If we occupy Jeju, Yuncheng County will definitely be returned to Jeju. In this case, let Yang Zhi lead the troops. With his merits, he can be transferred to Jeju to be a commander."

"Then send Zhang Qing, commander of the Guard Cavalry Battalion, to lead his troops and attack Jeju from two directions."

"As for Xuzhou and Shanzhou on the east bank of the Three Lakes, ask Yizhou to send troops to occupy them. Then ask Yizhou to send all the captured soldiers to Liangshan. With this evidence, send them to Bianjing as soon as possible."

Wu Yong said: "Sir, there is no rush to send people to Bianjing. We must capture Wu Chang and Jia Juxin, so that we can know why this fellow has gone crazy and dared to send troops."

Zhu Wu said: "It's not that Jiangnan has won so many victories that the imperial court has freed up its hands. Are they ready to deal with us?"

Wu Yong heard this and shook his head, saying, "The Bianjing Imperial Army has already deployed troops in Pucheng, Dongming, Lankao and other places in the east of Bianjing. The scout battalion has not reported, so they must have not yet moved out. Jizhou is the closest to Liangshan, but instead of attacking Liangshan, they attack Yizhou across the other prefecture. This seems like revenge."

(End of this chapter)