The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 299 It's a bit tough
Liu Linjun has begun crossing the Bailang River!
He was well-prepared this time, having brought the tools for crossing the river with him.

This tool is called a "leather pouch," which is made by sewing cowhide together to make a large bag. It is easy to carry when folded up. When you get to the river, you blow air into the cowhide bag, and it will quickly become inflated, turning it into a safety tool for crossing the river.

This is called "bragging".

For a moment, thousands of Qi soldiers began to boast, creating a truly spectacular scene.

Fortunately, there was no alcohol at that moment, otherwise it would have been even more spectacular.

Because, among my country's 56 ethnic groups, 55 are good at singing and dancing after drinking, while only the Han Chinese are good at boasting after drinking.

The soldiers, relying on a large number of rubber rafts, began to cross the river.

It went smoothly, and soon two thousand people had crossed the Bailang River and were standing on the opposite bank.

Liu Lin was also very satisfied with his army. With such soldiers who were good at boasting, how could the pseudo-Song dynasty not be destroyed?

However, when there were two thousand people on the eastern riverbank and another thousand were crossing the river...

A sudden change has occurred!
From a grove of trees on the opposite bank of the river, a troop of Northern Song soldiers suddenly emerged. Their leader, Wu Jialiang, shouted: "Archers, fire!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Gunfire erupted, and soldiers of the puppet Qi state fell in droves.

The soldiers of the puppet Qi state, who had already crossed the river, were thrown into chaos. One of them shouted, "Oh no, we've been ambushed!"

The soldiers, who were floating back and forth on the river in the middle of the river, were terrified and all turned around and paddled westward.

As the commander-in-chief, Liu Lin naturally did not cross the river. The commander-in-chief's safety comes first. He was still on the west bank of the river. Upon seeing the ambush on the east bank, Liu Lin's first reaction was to abandon his subordinates who had already crossed the river and run away himself.

But upon closer reflection, running away like that seems a bit unfair.

There might still be a chance to save him; he was desperately trying to think of a solution.

Although he was full of nonsense and not very good at fighting, he always thought he was an excellent general and that he would definitely be able to come up with a solution under these circumstances.

Just then, a shout suddenly rang out behind Liu Lin. The civilians that the Qi army had captured along the way suddenly became chaotic, and a group of people rushed out from among them. These people were carrying short knives, which they had apparently hidden on their bodies to blend into the crowd. Their weapons were at a disadvantage.

But these men were exceptionally skilled fighters. Their inferior weaponry seemed to be nothing to them. They were as brave as tigers and in an instant, they routed the ragtag auxiliary soldiers guarding the civilians.

Then the people shouted and fled into the distance.

Liu Lin's men were at a loss, unsure whether to give chase.

Then a very strong and capable man rushed over.

"My name is Yu Fanwen, a general of the Northern Song Dynasty... The traitorous Qi state should surrender at once."

Liu Lin was startled: "How did people from the Northern Song Dynasty manage to infiltrate the civilians I arrested?"

This is fucking outrageous!

Yu Fanwen was at the forefront, followed by a group of fierce bandits from Jimo. After reforming, these bandits learned several kinds of fist, sword, spear and staff techniques from Qi Jiguang. They were all incredibly fierce. They were fearless when they were thieves, and now that they were soldiers, they were like tigers descending from the mountain.

Once they plunged into the ranks of the pseudo-Qi state's army, it was like wolves among sheep.

The puppet Qi soldiers around him were as timid as lambs, eating one after another.

Seeing that his back was also on fire, Liu Lin knew he couldn't hold out any longer and spurred his horse to flee. A group of his personal guards tightly protected him, and the group raced desperately towards Qingzhou City. "Don't let Liu Lin escape!"

"I want to use his skull as a wine glass to drink from."

Yu Fanwen's troops were all former bandits who had become legitimate. The things they shouted were terrifying and didn't sound like anything respectable. When Liu Lin heard these shouts, he felt his scalp tingle and was afraid that his father, Liu Yu, had given him two fewer legs, so he ran away as fast as he could.

In the blink of an eye, Liu Lin disappeared without a trace.

Yu Fanwen was an infantryman and did not ride a horse, so he could not catch up with Liu Lin. He had no choice but to give up on the big fish and switch to catching the small fish. He turned around and looked at the enemy soldiers who were running around like headless flies.

A group of enemy soldiers ran after Liu Lin in the direction he had run, while another group ran around aimlessly, not even knowing which way was north, south, east, or west. Yu Fanwen chased after them, slashing wildly with his sword. He managed to kill two or three people, but the rest of them raised their hands in surrender.

Those soldiers who had already crossed the river had nowhere to run.

With the Bailang River behind them and Wu Jialiang's army in front of them, they had no chance to escape. Faced with the approach of a large number of Northern Song soldiers, these two thousand unfortunate men who had already been drowning had no choice but to lay down their weapons and kneel down to beg for surrender.

In the blink of an eye, more than half of the five thousand soldiers led by Liu Lin surrendered. Only about a thousand followed Liu Lin back to Qingzhou, while the rest were captured alive.
-
Half an hour later...

The auxiliary soldiers were still cleaning up the battlefield.

Wu Jialiang, along with Guan Sheng, Yu Fanwen, Master Ye, Li Xiaolong, and others, stood before the thousands of surrendered soldiers and the civilians who had been captured along with the army.

The surrendered soldiers trembled with fear and dared not utter a word.

The civilians were just as terrified, cowering in fear like the surrendered soldiers.

Wu Jialiang shrugged: "I'm not very good at these kinds of situations."

Guan Sheng: "Me too."

Yu Fanwen didn't even need to say a word; everyone knew he was the second-in-command of the bandits trying to whitewash himself, and no one expected him to do it.

Yue Wenxuan possessed Master Ye and stepped forward: "Let me talk to them."

Wu Jialiang was overjoyed: "It would be best if Brother Ip Man were willing to step forward."

Yue Wenxuan walked up to the group of people and sighed softly: "What are your plans?"

The people looked at each other, speechless.

Yue Wenxuan: "If anyone wants to return to their hometown, we will not stop you and will let you go back on the spot. However... I am a little worried about whether you will be able to find your home."

Upon hearing this, many people looked embarrassed.

Let alone more than a hundred miles from home, even twenty miles away, many people would get lost here and would never be able to find their way back.

Yue Wenxuan said, "How about this: if any of you are worried that you won't be able to go back, or that you will encounter the same situation again after returning, then how about you stay in our Song Kingdom?"

Seeing that he had a respectable appearance and a gentle tone, the people became bolder. One of them stepped forward and asked, "Sir, we have no land in the State of Song, and we can only starve to death."

Yue Wenxuan: "Don't worry, there's plenty of unclaimed land in Weizhou. Once you get there, we'll give you a plot of land, with a contract as proof. It'll be more than what you have back in your old home in Qingzhou."

Upon hearing this, the people's spirits immediately lifted.

Yue Wenxuan said, "If you're worried that farming will take too long and you'll starve to death in half a year, there are mining jobs available over there. Miners can get 200 catties of grain per month, which will guarantee you won't starve, although it's a little hard work."

(End of this chapter)