Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 647 Confrontation
However, Gao Qiu urged his soldiers to hurry on their journey, while at the same time he sent messengers to find the other eight military governors and pass on their orders that no battle should be waged before the main army was assembled.

Five days later, Gao Qiu arrived at Chuqiu County, and the eight military governors also arrived with their troops one after another.

Gao Qiu beat the drum to gather his generals, and all eight military governors entered the city to pay homage.

Gao Qiu said with a gloomy face: "You ten military governors are all well-known veterans in the world. Now you have conquered Shan and Xu, and you have also lost Xiang Yuanzhen and Jing Zhong. Are you all just famous for nothing?"

"If you are too old to fight, tell me now and I will report to the emperor and I will fight in your place."

As soon as he finished speaking, the eight Jiedushi were all furious. Wang Huan said, "General, although Wang Huan is old, he can still eat ten kilograms of meat in one meal, and the thirty-kilogram spear in his hand can still make it turn like a windmill."

Xu Jing said: "Although I am old, I am still very agile. Nowadays, people don't call me by my nickname [Four-legged Snake] anymore. Now people call me [Xu Laoyuan]. I don't take a junior like me seriously."

Others also volunteered to fight.

Gao Qiu nodded and said, "In this case, please gather your troops for three days. I want to review the troops and then march forward to suppress the rebellion."

The generals received the order and organized their armies.

Three days later, Gao Qiu reviewed the troops one by one and immediately divided the troops. He sent Mei Zhan and Xu Jing as the vanguard, Wang Wende and Wang Huan as the rear guard, Zhang Kai and Yang Wen as the left army, Han Cunbao and Li Congji as the right army, and Gao Qiu himself led 20,000 imperial guards and 5,000 Jing Zhong's troops as the central army.

The three armies, large and small, marched together and headed straight for Zhao Zhen's camp.

As for Zhao Zhen, after Bian Xiang killed Jing Zhong, he stopped sending out scouts. He heard that Gao Qiu had arrived, so he waited for Gao Qiu to send out troops.

Gao Qiu's army of 100,000 marched towards Zhao Zhen's camp in a mighty force. The vanguards, Mei Zhan and Xu Jing, were two miles away from Zhao Zhen's camp. Seeing a flat and vast wilderness, they gathered their troops and formed a battle formation, waiting for General Gao's army to arrive.

Gao Qiu's army set up a wooden platform in the center and ordered two judges to go up there. They moved the troops left and right, up and down, to form a four-gate fighting formation.

Just as the battle formation was formed, thunderous cannon fire was heard in Zhao Zhen's camp. The three gates in the east, west and south of the camp were opened, and a group of soldiers and horses flew out from each.

Gao Taiwei ordered the generals to restrain their troops. From the general's platform, he saw a group of soldiers pouring out of the east gate. The first group had red flags, the second group had mixed-color flags, the third group had green flags, and the fourth group had mixed-color flags. The west gate also had a group of soldiers pouring in. The first group had mixed-color flags, the second group had white flags, the third group had mixed-color flags again, and the fourth group had black flags.

A group of people also poured out of the South Gate, but they were a group of yellow flags behind the blue, white and red tricolor flags.

A large group of soldiers and generals rushed forward, occupied the center, and formed a battle formation.

The group of people heading south all had flaming red flags, red armor and red robes, and rode red horses with red tassels.

In front of them was a red flag with the six stars of the Southern Dipper embroidered in gold and the image of a Vermillion Bird embroidered below. On the flag was clearly written: [Laizhou Commander Thunderbolt Qin Ming]. On the left and right were two deputy generals, the left was [Mountain Shaking Warrior] Wen Zhongrong, and the right was [Mountain Moving Warrior] Cui Ye. Three generals, holding weapons, all rode red horses and stood in front of the battle formation.

There was a group of people and horses at the east wall, all with green flags, green armor and green robes, and riding green tassels and green horses.

In front of them was a green flag with four stars of the Eastern Dipper embroidered in gold and a blue dragon embroidered below. On the flag was clearly written: [Guan Sheng, the Commander of Qingzhou]. The two deputy generals on the left and right were [Scorched Leopard] Yang Tengjiao on the left and [Green Bamboo Snake] Zhen Xianglin on the right. Three generals, holding weapons, all rode on green horses and stood in front of the formation.

To the west was a group of people with white flags, white armor and robes, and white horses with white tassels.

In front of them was a white flag with a gold-embroidered Western Dipper and a white tiger embroidered below. On the flag was clearly written: [Yanzhou Commander Double Spear General Dong Ping]. The two deputy generals on the left and right were [Little Wei Chi] Sun Xin on the left and [Peach Blossom Man] Su Yi on the right. Three generals, holding weapons, all riding white horses, stood in front of the battle formation.

There was a group of people and horses at the rear, all with black flags, black armor and black robes, and riding black horses with black tassels.

In front of them was a black flag with the Big Dipper in gold and a black tortoise embroidered on it. On the flag was clearly written: Bian Xiang, the [Arhat of the Mountain] of Dengzhou. The two deputy generals on the left and right were Huo Wancheng, the [Sweeping Dragon] on the left and Wang Liang, the [Bronze Pillar of the Sky] on the right. The three generals, holding weapons, all rode on black horses and stood in front of the battle formation.

In the shadow of the southeast gate, there is a group of soldiers and horses, with green flags and red armor.

In front of them was an embroidered flag with a gold Xun hexagram on top and a flying dragon embroidered below. The flag clearly read: [Xuanwei General Xue Tou Tuo Guang Hui, Baoguang Tathagata Deng Yuanjue]. The two deputy generals on the left and right were [the soul-seeking ghost] Wang Feibao and [no name] Han Bolong. Four infantry generals, holding weapons, stood in front of the formation.

In the shadow of the southwest gate, there is a group of soldiers and horses, with red flags and white armor.

In front of them was an embroidered flag with a gold Kun hexagram on top and a flying bear on the bottom. On the flag were clearly written: [Lu Zhishen, the flower monk of Wuwei, and Wu Song, the tiger-subduing Tai Sui]. On the left and right were two deputy generals, [Stone General] Shi Yong, and [Tiger Claw] Yan Liu. Four infantry generals, holding weapons, stood in front of the formation.

In the shadow of the northeast gate, there is a group of soldiers and horses, with black flags and green armor.

In front of them was an embroidered flag with a golden hexagram of Gen on it and a flying leopard on the bottom. On the flag was clearly written: [Little Li Guang Hua Rong, the commander of Mizhou]. The two deputy generals on the left and right were [Little Wenhou] Lu Fang on the left and [Sai Rengui] Guo Sheng on the right. Three generals, holding weapons, all rode war horses and stood in front of the battle formation.

In the shadow of the northwest gate, there is a group of soldiers and horses, with white flags and black armor.

In front of them was a flag with a golden Qian hexagram on it and a flying tiger embroidered on the bottom. On the flag was clearly written: [Yizhou Commander Double Whip Hu Yanzhuo]. The two deputy generals on the left and right, the left one was [Mountain Splitting Warrior] Mie Gong, and the right one was [Little Overlord] Zhou Tong. Three generals, holding weapons, all rode war horses and stood in front of the battle.

The eight formations were similar to iron barrels, with cavalry following cavalry and infantry following infantry, each holding a steel knife, axe, broadsword, and spear, with neat flags and banners, and a majestic formation. Going to the center of the eight formations, one could see a circle of apricot yellow flags, with sixty-four long-legged flags in between, with sixty-four hexagrams in gold, also divided into four gates.

There are four gates in the central formation. The east gate is occupied by [Mountain Guardian] Tang Meng, the west gate is occupied by [God of Death] Bao Xu, the south gate is occupied by [Meng Ben's Competitor] Yan Shude, and the north gate is occupied by [Shameless] Jiao Ting.

On the left and right rear sides of the yellow flag, on the left is the commander of the imperial cavalry [white horse and silver spear] Shi Wengong, who leads [downhill wolf] Gou Ying and [flowered arm] Jin Zhuang. On the right is the commander of the army [Sai Cunxiao] Wang Tianba and [mountain-pulling strongman] Tang Bin, who lead two generals, Hu Qiong and Mao Zhongyong, and their cavalry and infantry are divided into two groups.

Behind them were the Shenji Camp and the Shesheng Camp, led by five soldiers: [Xiao Yang Youji] Pang Wanchun, [Hunting Tiger Warrior] Lei Jiong, [Hunting Bear Warrior] Ji Ji, [Hongtianlei] Ling Zhen, and [Iron Shanzi] Gao Gao.

A tower rose in the middle, with three people standing on it, namely Wu Yong, the "wise man", Zhu Wu, the "divine military strategist", and Bao Daoyi, the "spiritual celestial master". Wu Yong and Zhu Wu held the command flag and deployed the troops. Bao Daoyi, however, stared at Gao Qiu's army.

Below the flying tower, there is a gold-plated umbrella, a horse with an embroidered saddle, and a person sitting upright. It is [Little Mengchang] Zhao Zhen. He is wearing [a fire-alkan battle robe with small gold-printed round patterns], [willow leaf bamboo armor], and is fully dressed. He is armed with a golden sword and a crystal knife, and rides [a jade lion that shines at night]. He stands in the middle of the battle to supervise the battle and command the central army.

Behind the horses came the Green Kite Guards and their female guards, with three hundred and sixty golden melon warriors and three hundred and sixty silver club warriors standing on the side, and two thousand followers in brocade robes, carrying golden spears, long spears, and large axes, all in neat order. They also had thirty to fifty generals, including [God of Dangerous Road] Yu Baosi, [King Kong in the Clouds] Song Wan, [Touching the Sky] Du Qian, etc., holding sharp blades and fully equipped.

There were also [the God of Speed] Dai Zong and [the Godly Horse] Ma Ling, who led the reconnaissance battalion, holding goose yellow flags embroidered with the word "order", and were responsible for reporting military intelligence and mobilizing troops within the army.

Outside the formation, there were two more teams of brave infantry. The left team of 3,000 soldiers was led by Li Kui, the Black Whirlwind, Xiang Chong, the Eight-armed Nezha, and Li Gun, the Flying Great Sage, from the Yongyi Camp. The right team of 3,000 soldiers was led by Shi Xiu, the Desperate Samurai, Yang Xiong, Zhang Xianzhou, and Li Fengshan from the Guoyi Camp. Behind the formation, there were 200 Thunder Chariots that were never shown to the public.

The formation was extraordinary, with the Eight Trigrams and the Nine Palaces. It occupied the mechanism of heaven and earth and seized the atmosphere of wind and cloud. The front and back were in the shape of a tortoise and a snake, and the left and right were in the shape of a dragon and a tiger. The four directions were divided into twenty-eight constellations, and the circle had sixty-four changes of trigrams. The formation was winding and twisting, and in the chaos it became a long snake. It was neat and orderly, and in the silence it was majestic like a crouching tiger.

Gao Qiu, standing on the platform in the battle formation, stared at the Liangshanpo soldiers and horses, and instantly formed this Nine Palaces and Eight Diagrams formation. The heroic soldiers and horses, the heroic officers and soldiers, were so frightened that their souls flew away and their hearts and minds were shattered.

He said to Sun Jing and Hu Chun who were standing by: "It turns out that Song Jiang was no match for this fellow. Both routes of Jingdong were taken. It turns out that he is so powerful!"

After watching for a while, I could only hear the sound of gongs and drums from Zhao Zhen's army urging them to go to war.

Gao Qiu stepped down from the general's platform, mounted his warhorse, and went out to the front army again. He asked the generals, "Who dares to step forward and fight?"

As soon as he finished speaking, three brave generals came out, jumped on their horses, and immediately bowed and said, "We are willing to go and ask for your permission."

When Gao Qiu looked, he saw the Vanguard General, Yingzhou and Runan Jiedushi [The Fierce and Darling] Mei Zhan, joined by the Rear General, Henan and Hebei Jiedushi [The Old and Romantic] Wang Huan, and Jingji Dujian Hu Chun.

Gao Qiu said, "The two Jiedushi should take a rest. Hu Dujian is the bravest among the three armies. You can go into battle first."

At that moment, Gao Qiu ordered the army to send out three golden gongs and unfurl the red flags. Hu Chun rode out from under the gate flags, and the two armies shouted together.

Hu Chun stopped his horse, held his sword horizontally, and shouted: "You are a traitor without any reason, a rebellious lunatic. You have not surrendered even when the heavenly soldiers have come here. It will be too late to regret until your flesh and blood are turned into mud!"

Zhao Zhen was in the center of the army, waving a red flag. Qin Ming, who had already taken the command flag, rode out on his horse, brandished a wolf-tooth stick, and went straight for Hu Chun.

The two horses met, weapons were raised, and both armies shouted in unison.

Hu Chun was not just a name for nothing. He was very skilled in using the large chopping knife. He fought with Qin Ming for more than thirty rounds without a clear winner.

Qin Ming saw that Hu Chun was very skilled, so he used all his knowledge and did not allow any time to rest. Just when the fight was about to start, Bao Daoyi on the flying building caught a sword shadow from the Xuantian Hunyuan Sword in his hand and shot it towards Hu Chun.

Although the sword shadow did not have much killing power, it looked intimidating. When Hu Chun dodged in a hurry, he was not fast enough and was hit on the head by Qin Ming's stick, which shattered even his helmet.

When Generals Wen Zhongrong and Cui Ye saw this, they rushed out, seized Hu Chun's body and the good horse he was riding, and then went to escort Qin Ming back to the battlefield.

When Gao Qiu saw that Hu Chun was killed, he hurriedly sent Mei Zhan to ride out on horseback with his spear in hand.

Mei Zhan received the order, holding a three-pointed double-edged sword in his hand, flew out in front of the battle and shouted: "Do the rebels dare to fight me?"

The drums and trumpets sounded again in Zhao Zhen's army, and from the east side, Guan Sheng, wielding the broadsword, rushed out to fight.

Guan Sheng shouted, "Come and tell us your name."

Mei Zhan stopped his horse and shouted, "Bottles and jars also have two ears. You must have heard that the ten military governors like us have made great contributions and are famous throughout the world. Do you know General Mei Zhan?"

Guan Sheng laughed and said, "General, you are too old to contribute to the country. Please go back. Let the younger ones come out to fight."

Mei Zhan was furious when he heard this: "How dare you underestimate me."

After saying this, he drew his sword and jumped on his horse, heading straight for Guan Sheng. The two generals were both wielding broadswords, and when their blades clashed, golden stars flew in all directions.

After fighting for more than thirty rounds, Guan Sheng turned his horse and hurried away. Mei Zhan was reluctant to let him go, so he shouted, "Where are you going, boy?" and then chased after him.

Yang Wen shouted from behind: "Don't pursue further."

Mei Zhan tried his best to get off his horse. Just as he was about to get on, Guan Sheng used his divine power to lift up the back of his knife, slapped it, and shouted, "Get off!"

Mei Zhan was defeated, and Guan Sheng's deputy generals [Scorched Leopard] Yang Tengjiao and [Green Bamboo Snake] Zhen Xianglin rushed out to help.

Two generals also emerged from Gao Qiu's camp, they were the Jiedushi of Henan and Hebei [Old Romantic] Wang Huan, and the Jiedushi of Longxi and Hanyang [Jade Rat Fairy] Li Congji.

In Zhao Zhen's formation, the two generals Dong Ping, the Double-Spear General, and Guang Hui, the Blood-Headed Monk, were already fighting.

Wang Huan faced off against Dong Ping, Guanghui followed by Li Congji, horse against horse, infantry against infantry, the four generals engaged each other, and the soldiers shouted to help.

Let's just talk about this [Jade Rat Immortal] Li Congji. He was originally a tomb robber. He was short in stature, and was good at using a pair of [Soul-Captivating Iron Hooks]. He was the first among the ten governors who was good at fighting on foot.

The two men fought with double swords against double hooks for about twenty rounds, but there was no clear winner.

On the other side, Wang Huan and Dong Ping's horses met, and three guns were raised randomly. In the dust and shadows of the expedition, in the midst of murderous aura, the one who used two guns had unique gun skills, and the one who used a single gun had his own magic. The two fought for thirty or twenty rounds, but there was no winner.

Gao Qiu saw that Li Congji was small and thin, while Guanghui was strong and muscular. After the two had fought for a long time, Li Congji had made more attacks than gains. Fearing that Li Congji would be timid and cause trouble for Wang Huan, and that two more military governors would be lost, Gao Qiu started to sound the gongs in the central army.

The four men were fighting fiercely when they heard a gong from Gao Qiu's army. Wang Huan and Li Congji tried to escape in a hurry, but Dong Ping and Guanghui, holding them with two spears and two swords, refused to let go.

Here, Zhao Zhen saw a commotion in Gao Qiu's camp. It turned out that Xu Jing, the governor of Shangdang and Taiyuan, and Yang Wen, the governor of Jiangxia and Lingling, saw Wang Huan and Li Congji in a dilemma and wanted to rescue them. Gao Qiu was undecided for a while, causing a commotion.

When Zhao Zhen saw this, he ordered [Thunder] Ling Zhen and [Iron Fan] Gao Gao to fire the signal cannon.

I saw Ling Zhen fire a car-box cannon, which flew straight into the sky and made a loud noise, like a thunderbolt in the sky.

But behind the formation, two hundred thunder chariots came charging straight forward.

(End of this chapter)