Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 646 Jing Zhong
When Chao Gai heard this, he became furious and shouted, "How dare you slander me, old man?" After that, he drew his spear and was ready to go into battle.

Peng Qi, the military commander, hurriedly stopped him and said, "Brother is the commander of an army, how can you be the first to go into battle? I will go out and fight him."

As soon as he finished speaking, [Golden Haired Tiger] Yan Shun said, "Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? There is no need for the eunuch to go there. Let's see how I can defeat him."

After saying this, Yan Shun rode out into the battle.

In Xiang Yuanzhen's team, deputy general Xiang Yanbin had already rushed out to take over.

Both of them were armed with ordinary broadswords. Yan Shun rode a white horse from Dayuan, while Xiang Yanbin rode a red horse. The two fought back and forth for more than twenty rounds.

The two were equally skilled in martial arts. Yan Shun saw that he could not defeat Xiang Yanbin, so he showed his weakness and let Xiang Yanbin's broadsword come forward to chop him. Yan Shun hid in his stirrups, and Xiang Yanbin's chop missed. When the two horses met, Yan Shun moved back and chopped at the rear of Xiang Yanbin's red horse.

The warhorse felt pain and stood up, knocking Xiang Yanbin off the horse after he had chopped off the weapon.

Yan Shunhuo turned his horse around and knocked Xiang Yanbin down with one blow. Just as he was about to strike again, Xiang Yanbin was hit. He heard [Right Arm Bear] Harlansheng shouting from behind: "Be careful."

Yan Shun heard this and leaned forward hastily, but his left arm was already hit by an arrow. It was Xiang Yuanzhen who saw that Xiang Yanbin was no match for him, so he shot a hidden arrow and injured Yan Shun.

Yan Shun endured the pain and ran back to the formation.

When Xiang Yuanzhen saw this, he and his deputy general rode out to rescue Xiang Yanbin and return to the battle line.

When Chao Gai's men saw this, [Jumping Tiger] Chen Da came back to support Yan Shun, [Tianmu General] Peng Qi and [Right-Armed Bear] Haransheng rushed out on horseback to join Xiang Yuanzhen in the fight.

Peng Qi was the enemy of Xiang Yuanzhen, and Harlan Sheng was the enemy of this deputy general.

The four men rushed to the center of Gai and fought, four horses met, weapons were raised at the same time.

In a flash, Harlansheng's one-legged bronze man weighing 75 kilograms was flying in front of the deputy general. The deputy general quickly blocked it with his sword, but the bronze man shook his tendons and he fell off his horse. Before he could get up, Harlansheng's horse arrived and the bronze man fell down, killing the deputy general on the spot.

On the other side, Peng Qi and Xiang Yuanzhen were fighting. One was wielding a three-pointed, double-edged sword, and the other was wielding a bone-piercing steel spear. The two men were evenly matched, fighting with swords and spears.

Xiang Yuanzhen was shocked to see that his deputy general was killed in just one move.

Seeing Harlansheng coming with the one-legged bronze man in his hand, Xiang Yuanzhen followed and fought against the two generals without fear. The three horses were arranged in a shape of a character and fought in front of the battle.

In Chao Gai's army, Chen Da took Yan Shun back, removed the arrow shaft, and bandaged it. Yan Shun did not return to the camp to rest, but came to the front of the battle with his arm hanging to watch the battle.

[General of Hundred Victories] Han Tao saw this and said to Yan Shun, "Brother, watch me avenge you."

He quickly took the bow and arrow, put a hard arrow on it, pulled the bow tightly, and shot the arrow towards Xiang Yuanzhen's face.

Xiang Yuanzhen fought against Peng Qi and Harlansheng, but he was more defensive than offensive, so he had no time to worry about the arrows coming at him. He heard the sound of the arrow feathers breaking the wind, and when he tried to dodge, the arrow rubbed his ear and went past.

Xiang Yuanzhen screamed "Ah!", and the spear in his hand lost its balance, causing Harlansheng to knock him down with a bronze man. Before he could react, Peng Qi's sword arrived and chopped Xiang Yuanzhen off his horse. Harlansheng picked up another bronze man and hit Xiang Yuanzhen on the back, causing him to fall to the ground.

Xiang Yanbin also struggled to get up and was about to return to the battle formation when Peng Qi caught up with him and chopped off his head with a knife.

Chao Gai saw this and shouted loudly, wielding his spear and driving his troops forward. Xiang Yuanzhen's troops were frightened to death when they saw that they had lost their commander, and the Xuzhou army chased Xiang Yuanzhen's troops all the way to the Huaiyang army before calling back the troops.

Of the 10,000 soldiers and horses, including the 5,000 militiamen who were escorting food and fodder, only less than 3,000 of them escaped back to Huaiyang Army.

Chao Gai counted the harvest, marked the merits of the generals, wrote a report of victory, and ordered Peng Qi to take Xiang Yuanzhen's head to Shanfu camp to report the victory.

In the camp, Zhao Zhen saw the heads of Peng Qi and Xiang Yuanzhen and couldn't help laughing, "I didn't expect that Xuzhou got the first credit. With these guys' heads, let's see how Gao Qiu dares to act so arrogantly."

After that, he ordered his men to throw Xiang Yuanzhen's head into Chuqiu City when they were on patrol tomorrow, to give Gao Qiu a warning. Zhao Zhen also generously rewarded the soldiers of Xuzhou, and tripled their monthly salary this month. Not only were the old soldiers in the army happy, but the newly recruited soldiers in Xuzhou were even more excited. After this battle, Xuzhou was stabilized. Everyone in the prefecture and county admired him.

On the second day, the troops led by [Kai Shan Luo Han] Bian Xiang went out for patrol. Just after walking five miles, they met Shi Qian and Bai Sheng on the road. After meeting Bian Xiang, Bai Sheng stayed to report the news, while Shi Qian went straight to the camp to see Zhao Zhen.

It turned out that Jing Zhong, the governor of Qinghe and Tianshui, had led his troops and rushed into the city of Chuqiu.

A large camp had been built outside the city of Chuqiu by conscripting laborers, but the soldiers and horses sent by Zhao Zhen to scout there were ordered to dismantle it, and the wooden fences and other items were ordered to be moved back to Zhao Zhen's camp.

That's right, when Jing Zhong's troops arrived, they could only station in the city.

After hearing that Jing Zhong's troops had arrived, Bian Xiang said to the new deputy generals [Sweeping Dragon] Huo Wancheng and [Sky-supporting Copper Pillar] Wang Liang, "Brothers, do you dare to follow me to fight for a while?"

Huo Wancheng said, "Why not? Xuzhou has achieved great success first, and I am taking advantage of the fact that Jing Zhong has just arrived and his troops are exhausted to defeat him first."

At that moment, the four men led their troops and marched straight to the city of Chuqiu.

After the battle was drawn up, Bai Sheng came out and threw Xiang Yuanzhen's head down to the city walls, shouting, "Attention, people in the city, the head of Xiang Yuanzhen, the governor of Langya and Pengcheng, is here. If you know what to do, quickly open the city gates and surrender."

After saying this, regardless of the reactions of the people on the city wall, he rode back to the battlefield.

On the city wall of Chuqiu, Jing Zhong heard this and was furious: "How dare the rebel be so arrogant in front of me?"

"Give me my knife." Jing Zhong shouted and ordered the city gates to be lowered, and was about to lead his troops to charge out of the city.

Prefect Du Yan urged: "Sir, this group of people are not ordinary bandits. They are invincible in the two routes of Jingdong. Let's wait for the arrival of the Taiwei's troops before we fight."

Jing Zhong shouted, "I have been in the martial arts world for more than 40 years and have never had an opponent. Today, there are only 5,000 soldiers outside. If we don't take this opportunity to cut off the wings of the bandit leader, how can we succeed? This guy secretly harmed Xiang Jiedu, and today he ran into me, which is a good opportunity for revenge."

Having said that, he led five thousand soldiers out of the city despite Du Yan's obstruction.

When Bian Xiang saw him, he immediately stepped out and shouted, "Old man, do you know Bian Xiang from Liangshan?"

After hearing this, Jing Zhong rode out on his horse, cursing: "How dare you, you unknown brat, be so arrogant. When the troops arrived here today, instead of surrendering early, you dared to resist. You are courting death! I will capture you and your gang alive, take you to Bian Jing, and cut you into pieces!"

Bian Xiang was furious and brandished his mountain-splitting axe, heading straight for Jing Zhong.

When Jing Zhong saw this, he laughed out loud, drew his sword, and rode out on his horse to fight Bian Xiang.

Bian Xiang also came to meet him with a big axe.

Two horses met, two weapons were raised at the same time, swords and axes were crisscrossed, and horse hooves were in chaos.

The two generals fought for about twenty rounds, and Bian Xiang took advantage of their weakness. The axe handle swung away the broadsword, and the axe blade turned and hit Jing Zhong's head, chopping off Jing Zhong's head with one blow.

When Huo Wancheng and the other two saw this, they rushed out with their Fang Tian Hua Ji in their hands, and the five thousand soldiers and horses behind them also rushed forward to kill. When Du Yan on the top of the city saw this, he did not dare to open the gate. The five thousand government troops under the city were killed and suffered a great defeat.

Bian Xiang gathered his troops and retreated calmly.

Du Yan had no choice but to write a letter and send it to Gao Qiu's army at full speed.

Gao Qiu's army had just left the capital and was marching slowly along the way. Just as they reached the border of Yingtian Prefecture, a messenger ran into them on the road and brought a letter from the prefect Du Yan. When Gao Qiu saw it, he shouted, "How can this be possible?"

He urged the soldiers to rush to Chuqiu City at full speed.

(End of this chapter)