Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 644: Dispatching Generals (600 monthly tickets plus more)

Gao Qiu heard this and said, "Your Majesty, I am a humble official, but I am willing to do my best to suppress the rebellion in Shan and Xu states and prevent the traitors from succeeding. I beg for your approval."

The emperor nodded and said, "I will leave it to you to take charge. If it is feasible, do it. Don't force it."

Gao Qiu said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, please be at ease. I would like to ask Your Majesty to allocate 5,000 soldiers from each of the four armies, namely, the Sun-Bonding, Heaven-Martial, Dragon-Guard, and Divine-Guard, to protect the central army in order to achieve success."

The emperor agreed and ordered the Secretariat to convey the imperial edict and dispatch troops. He also asked for brocade robes and golden armor to be given to Gao Qiu, and said, "You and the prime minister are both my right-hand men. If you succeed, our dynasty will have another talented general."

After the court session, Gao Qiu received the imperial edict, went to the Palace Marshal's Mansion, sat down, and beat the drum to gather the generals. Soon, the generals in the Palace Marshal's Mansion heard the drum and came to the tent to pay their respects. Gao Qiu shouted, "I, the Grand Marshal, have been ordered by the Emperor to select soldiers to suppress the rebellion in Shanzhou and Xuzhou. You, the generals, must be attentive. If you have any meritorious service, I, the Grand Marshal, will personally recommend you for promotion."

As soon as he finished speaking, two commanders came out from the steps. They were brothers, one was called Dang Shiying, the other was called Dang Shixiong. Each of them was brave enough to defeat ten thousand men. Gao Qiu had many generals in front of him, but these two were the most powerful.

The two men came forward and said, "Captain, we have been waiting impatiently for a long time, and now we are finally able to be of use."

Gao Qiu laughed out loud after hearing this.

At that time, he ordered two people to take the military order and go to the four armies to select brave and courageous men. He also requested an order to open the armor and weapon warehouse in the capital to select clothes, armor, helmets, swords, flags, and make sure that the army and horses are in good order to fight the enemy.

Gao Qiu publicized the need to mobilize troops to suppress the rebellion. Many commanders, military commanders, military defense officers, and militia officers in the Palace Marshal's Office, all of whom were skilled in martial arts, were recruited.

For a time, the news that General Gao was sending troops spread throughout Bian Jing.

Some people thought they were good at martial arts and wanted to be promoted. When they saw that the court was recruiting ten military governors to go with them, they volunteered to go to Gao Qiu's mansion to ask for help in the expedition to Shandong. Among them was a governor of the capital, named Hu Chun, who was born with broad shoulders and a thin waist, big ears and a square face. He used a big chopping knife and his martial arts were better than Dang Shiying and Dang Shixiong.

Seeing that the generals were enthusiastic and the army was motivated, Gao Qiu became more ambitious.

After Li San and Le He delivered the official document, Le He led his troops back to Liangshan first, while Li San stayed in Bianjing to gather information.

Hearing that the emperor had issued an order to appoint Gao Qiu as the commander, and to dispatch ten military governors to assist him, and to lead 120,000 troops to suppress Shanzhou and Xuzhou, and to eliminate the traitors who colluded with Fang La in Jiangnan, Li San did not dare to stay, and rushed out of the city, returning to Baishi Manor to report before Lehe.

Upon hearing the news, Zhao Zhen immediately summoned Wu Yong and others to discuss the matter.

Zhao Zhen asked, "Scholar, what does the court mean by this?"

Wu Yong said: "Sir, the court does not want us to occupy Shanzhou and Xuzhou, so they are sending troops without any cover and with great fanfare."

Zhu Wu said, "I have also heard of the reputation of the Ten Jiedushi in the martial arts world. These ten people are Wang Huan, the Jiedushi of Henan and Hebei, Xu Jing, the Jiedushi of Shangdang and Taiyuan, Wang Wende, the Jiedushi of Jingbei and Hongnong, Mei Zhan, the Jiedushi of Yingzhou and Runan, Zhang Kai, the Jiedushi of Zhongshan and Anping, Yang Wen, the Jiedushi of Jiangxia and Lingling, Han Cunbao, the Jiedushi of Yunzhong and Yanmen, Li Congji, the Jiedushi of Longxi and Hanyang, Xiang Yuanzhen, the Jiedushi of Langya and Pengcheng, and Jing Zhong, the Jiedushi of Qinghe and Tianshui. They are all highly skilled in martial arts." Wu Yong heard this and said, "I have also heard of the great names of these ten Jiedushi for a long time. They are very heroic, but half of them are now old and outdated. How can they compare to the group of brothers under my command who are as fierce as wolves and tigers."

"Since the imperial court is going to send troops, they must do it before the weather turns cold. We have already occupied Shanzhou and Xuzhou. With the cities and the advantages of the terrain, we can slowly fight him."

Zhu Wu heard this and said, "We can occupy the city and slowly fight him. Although this plan is good, it has a disadvantage. Our troops will be scattered and he may defeat them one by one."

Zhu Wu said, "This is not difficult. Send someone to Bian Jing to get information and see where he is gathering and how he is deploying troops. We only need to use a small number of troops to occupy various cities and gather a large army to confront him on the border. If this guy delays, before he can enter Shanzhou and Xuzhou, the weather will be freezing and the morale of the army will be completely lost. Even if he doesn't delay, there won't be much time to fight this year."

At that moment, Zhao Zhen no longer hesitated. On the one hand, he sent Li San and Liu Tong in disguise to go to Bian Jing to inquire about the news, and on the other hand, he mobilized troops to attack Shanzhou and Xuzhou.

Ma Ling, Dai Zong, Shi Qian, Bai Sheng, Wu Neng and Xu Jin were working non-stop, delivering orders everywhere.

In just over ten days, all the county towns in Shanzhou and Xuzhou were captured.

By the time Gao Qiu sent out his troops, the three newly occupied prefectures had already been deployed. Wang Lun, the Tongpan of Puzhou, was transferred to act as the Tongpan of Jizhou, Yang Zhi, the Green-faced Beast, was appointed as the commander, Fang Xuedu, the Sheep Mountain Tiger, was appointed as the military commander, and two militia commanders were appointed, Zhu Jing, the Blood Knife, and Yu Yulin, the Bear Mighty General.

Shanzhou was merged with Guangji Army, and the governor was Xu Guanzhong. Pang Yi was appointed as the commander of the army, with Fu Yu and Li Zongtang as the military supervisors, Zhou Jin and Sheng Ben as the training officers, and 10,000 soldiers in command.

Xuzhou transferred Li Tianxi from Weizhou to act as Tongpan. Chao Gai, the Heavenly King of Holding Pagoda, was transferred as the commander of the army, Peng Qi, the General of Heavenly Eyes, and Han Tao, the General of Hundred Victories, were appointed as the military supervisors. Three militia commanders, including Haransheng, the Right-armed Bear, Chen Da, the Jumping Tiger, and Yan Shun, the Golden-haired Tiger, were also appointed to lead 10,000 troops.

He also dispatched Bu Qing, the Taihu Dragon, and Ni Yun, the Curly-haired Tiger, to lead a hundred large and small warships and three thousand naval officers and soldiers to garrison Weishan Lake and patrol the waters.

At this time, Li San and Liu Tong in Bianjing had also heard about the imperial court's dispatch of troops. Gao Qiu did not divide his troops, but ordered all the troops to gather in Chuqiu, Yingtian Prefecture.

Apparently, upon hearing that Liangshan had completely occupied Shan and Xu states, the imperial court issued an edict urging Gao Qiu to send troops.

At that moment, General Gao was dressed in military uniform, riding a warhorse with a golden saddle. He offered Ma Hao and four other men as sacrifices to the flag, led the army out of the city, bid farewell to the emperor and set off towards Chuqiu, Yingtian Prefecture.

Liangshan Prefecture had naturally made preparations early on. They dispatched a large army to build a camp 20 miles outside Shanfu City, the capital of Shanzhou Prefecture near Chuqiu.

Zhao Zhen personally went out to fight, with Wu Yong, Zhu Wu, and Liu Huiniang as military advisors. He dispatched 50,000 soldiers from the Cavalry Battalion, the Huben Cavalry Battalion, the Yongyi Battalion, the Wuwei Battalion, the Xuanwei Battalion, the Guoyi Battalion, the Tanbao Battalion, the Yiwei, the Cavalry, the Personal Guards, the Personal Guards, the Qingyuan Guards, the Shesheng Battalion, the Shenji Battalion, and the Chariot Army, and Guan Sheng, the Great Sword of Qingzhou, Dong Ping, the Double Spear General of Yanzhou, Hu Yanzhuo, the Double Whip General of Yizhou, Qin Ming, the Thunderbolt General of Laizhou, Hua Rong, the Little Li Guang General of Mizhou, and Bian Xiang, the Kaishan Arhat General of Dengzhou, each led 5,000 soldiers and horses.

Eighty thousand soldiers gathered at the border, and the food and grass were waiting for the imperial army to come and fight. The rest of the troops were guarding the city carefully to prevent any changes.

(End of this chapter)