Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 557 Retreat

When fighting on the battlefield.

The flag with the word Dayuan on it was fluttering in the southwest. Gao Yongchang was wearing a mink cloak, riding a war horse and being guarded by his own soldiers. The torch was swaying, and he was observing the anxious battle situation on the battlefield. Dozens of battalions of infantry. , took turns to attack the city, and every time they looked at the defenders on the opposite side, Lejiao City was crumbling, but they were never really captured.

The dimming skylight blocked the sight in the distance, and the gaze raised by General Yelu could not be seen. This time, Yeluyu showed his sincerity in sending troops, and recruited new Bohai people in Guizhou, along with the original Bohai people. There are a total of 10,000 troops and horses, and there are 5,000 Xi and Han armies, totaling 15,000, coming to join forces.

"Your Majesty, I saw that Yelu Yu was on the city wall." En Shengnu, wearing standard armor, approached slowly on horseback, came down and saluted and reported.

"Understood." Gao Yongchang raised his hand and touched the neck of the war horse, feeling the warmth in his palm and said lightly: "I order all Bohai people to come closer to me."

En Shengnu suddenly raised his head, opened his mouth, and a wisp of white air came out of his mouth.

"What's going on?" Gao Yongchang looked at him: "Do you have any opinions?"

"I don't dare." The general in armor lowered his head in a sign of respect.

"Hmph! I don't dare..." The Emperor Yuan who was on horseback tapped his horse's head with his riding whip, squinted at the general in front of him, and finally said: "That's all, go get things done, don't let me down."

"I obey my orders." En Shengnu cupped his hands, turned around, mounted his horse and left.

The night wind blew by, the big flag roared and rolled up, the fireworks on the torch lowered down, and then stood up again. Tabuye, who was accompanying the army on the expedition, took two steps forward and raised his hand: "Your Majesty, the outcome of the war has not yet been decided. Do this." I'm afraid Yu Jian will complain a lot, will he..."

Swinging his riding whip to the side, Gao Yongchang glanced at him: "I can't do anything about this. No matter what, Yelu Yujian's wife is the sister of Emperor Wen of the Liao Dynasty. As a general of the clan, how can he convince me that he sincerely surrenders to him?"

He retracted his riding whip and patted his armor lightly: "Now the Liao Dynasty is sending troops. One is the well-spoken slaves of the Xiao Han family and Zhang Lin, and the other is the clan's Yelv Dezhong. What do you say..."

He looked at the moon hanging in the sky with a faint look: "How can I trust him? How can I dare to use him? If someone persuades me in the battle, he will give me a cruel blow from the rear during the war, which will seriously hurt my vitality. , If you don’t call his subordinates here now, you can get out of here, otherwise I want him to die here today!”

Ta Buye frowned and twirled his beard hesitantly. After a long while, he finally sighed: "The Holy One is thoughtful and considerate, and a humble minister cannot be as good as that."

"That's all, just think more about it when you encounter problems in the future." Gao Yongchang's face was slightly sullen, and he pointed his riding whip at the soldiers on horseback: "Go and see a few people over there, and Yelu is watching."

Several personal guards responded, turning their horses and running away with torches. Under the darkening sky, the team under the torches swam toward the southwest like a long snake. The Bohai soldiers holding knives and guns seemed to be floating. The flag of the Yuan Dynasty had a somewhat proud look on its face. Groups of soldiers lined up around them under the shouts of the generals. A general named Xian Geer walked forward covered in blood and loudly ordered to build a defense line. Be prepared for a surprise attack.

Soon, the monotonous sound of horse hoofbeats sounded in the darkness. Two fast horses galloped past. Some soldiers who didn't know why wanted to stop them. The knight on the horse whipped the man in the face. He immediately fell to the ground with a miserable howl. The two cavalrymen fell to the ground with a howl. Ignoring him, he ran over as if he didn't see anything.

Galloping all the way to the center of the army, the knight on the horse dismounted, knelt down on one knee respectfully and said: "Your Majesty, Yelu Yu has retreated towards the north. The two of us have been ordered to come forward to speak. The others are following behind, beware of him. Return suddenly."

"Well done." The riding whip hit the palm of his hand, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at the distant city. Gao Yongchang tugged on the horse's rein: "That's it for today. The army will return to camp and attack Lejiao City tomorrow morning."

The order was delivered by horseback, and the loud roaring sound faded away in the night sky, and the team of nearly 20,000 people began to slowly retreat.

Under the moonlight, the square city remained the same. Two days passed, and it was already noon. The sky was overcast, and snowflakes were falling from time to time. In the Chinese army tent, the burning brazier warmed people's bodies, but it could not drive away the irritability in Emperor Dayuan's heart.

"It has been two days, and Shenzhou has not been captured yet. En Shengnu and Xian Ge'er are like useless people. If we continue to waste time like this, when the Liao army comes over, won't I be attacked from both sides?"

Ta Buye smiled bitterly and looked at Emperor Yuan who was pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pot: "Your Majesty, please be at ease. There are not many soldiers and horses in Shenzhou alone, and no reinforcements from outside dare to arrive. We should be able to capture it in a few days." , and give the two generals some more time."

"Give them some more time..." He repeated angrily. Gao Yongchang took two steps quickly and opened the curtain. With a huffing sound, the curtain floated into the air and fell. An angry voice shouted: "Just a little while." The weather is freezing and the soldiers have no fighting spirit. I cannot win over these two losers. I have wasted all my efforts on them in the past, but this is how they are being repaid to me now?"

Ta Buye was at a loss for words. He didn't know how to comfort his emperor for a moment. He just said dryly, "Your Majesty, please calm down." However, Gao Yongchang became more and more irritable and walked faster and faster.

The sound of horse hooves came, and the cavalry shouted "Report——" from far away. Gao Yongchang stopped immediately, with a bit of joy on his face, and then turned around and walked quickly to sit behind the table.

Then there was the sound of horses neighing outside, and the sound of footsteps approaching quickly. The curtain was opened, and the messenger with snowflakes on his head walked in and knelt down.

"But have you captured the city?" The hopeful emperor stood up slightly, with a smile on his face.

"No..." Na Lingqi swallowed and took out a letter from his arms: "Reporting to your Majesty, someone just shot an arrow letter and stuck the head outside the camp. The villains dare not be good at it. , came here specifically to report.”

"Send it up!"

A personal guard came over, took the letter, and gave it to Gao Yongchang. Ta Buye stood by and asked curiously: "Where is the head?"

"The little man is riding outside the tent. He is afraid of bumping into the holy chariot, so he doesn't dare to bring him in."

Gao Yongchang reached out and took the letter handed over by his personal guard, his eyes a little confused. After hearing this, he glanced at the personal guard and signaled him to go out. He opened the letter and read it word for word. The look on his face gradually became ferocious. He suddenly slapped the table and bang. There was a loud noise and he stood up: "The person named Lu doesn't know how to praise!"

"Your Majesty?"

"look by youself!"

Gao Yongchang was too lazy to say anything and threw the letter to the ground. Ta Buye quickly went over to pick it up. His eyes wandered over the paper to review it. After a while, he raised his head: "How dare this guy...?"

"At this time..." The anxious Emperor Dayuan walked out of the table and walked back and forth with his hands behind his back. He stopped for a while and said, "order the army to retreat and return to Liaoyang Mansion!"

The look he looked outside contained anger, and he squeezed out two words from his tightly closed mouth: "Lu... Bu..."

At the end of the first month of the sixth year of Tianqing's reign in the Liao Dynasty, General Lu Bu rejected the joint proposal of Emperor Gao Yongchang of the Yuan Dynasty and beheaded the envoy and sent him back. He also sent a letter stating that he would punish him. Gao Yongchang could not attack Shenzhou for days, fearing that someone would take advantage of the situation to attack the rear. He had no choice but to retreat back to Liaoyang Mansion.

Soon, the information about the arrival of Liao soldiers and Lu Bu's dispatch of troops was placed on Gao Yongchang's desk almost at the same time.

(End of this chapter)