Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 606 Kasuga Tokyo Prefecture

Clouds drifted across the sky, blocking out the bright spring sunshine, and were pushed by the wind away from the golden crow behind them, leaving the sky full of brilliance. The bird standing on the branch turned its head, suddenly flapped its wings and flew away.

Extra space had been left in Lu Bu's army camp from the very beginning. Tired men leading their war horses walked into the camp reserved for them, settled their companions who would share life and death with them, and moved step by step into the newly built military tents. Many of them did not even have time to take off their armor. They threw their swords and guns on the ground, fell headfirst on the bed, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

The infantrymen holding swords and spears walked past the military tent, looked at the knights sleeping in the tent, stood silently for a while, reached out to lower the open tent curtain, then left with a slower pace than usual and continued to patrol his own defense area.

His combat boots walked across the soft carpet of the big tent. These were things seized from Gao Yongchang. Lu Bu walked past the heroic figures one after another: "I defeated one of the two Liao armies, leaving only one. Now they have retreated ten miles and set up camp..."

The tiger's eyes swept over the faces of the people one by one, and the mighty voice resounded in the tent: "This shows that the Liao people are afraid! War is all about courage. Wherever the army goes, only the brave can stand in front. The way to fight is courage first, and then strategy; now they are retreating first, we must weaken their edge; on the other hand, our morale is high, and our will to fight is unprecedented. Moreover, the way to win is to make decisions on the spot, be quick and courageous, so that we can defeat the enemy and stand in an invincible position. And those who are united as one are invincible!"

"However, today our men are tired and our horses are exhausted, so it is difficult to launch an offensive. Let us rest for a day first. Tomorrow morning, when the cocks crow at five o'clock, we will start cooking and attack their army at dawn."

"Inform the entire army that whoever captures the enemy leader will be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver, regardless of his rank, and promoted ten levels to become General of the Central Army!"

"Yes!"

In the big tent, a powerful voice was deafening and tore the air. The soldiers patrolling by turned their heads to look. Soon, a group of officers and generals with red faces walked out of the big tent, jumped on their war horses, and galloped back to their respective camps along the road in the camp.

Standing in the tent, Lu Bu walked to the geomancy map, looked down at it for a while, reached out and picked up the chess piece representing his own army from the side, and placed it directly on the mark marking the location of the Liao army camp.

Then he turned around and strode away.

……

Leaving this place where emotions exploded and heading far to the north for the Liao army camp, preparations for war were also brewing.

Yelu Zongyun and Zongdian were escorted by a team of a thousand people through Liaozhou and into Shangjing Road to return to Linhuang Prefecture. The cavalry who rode fast to Shenzhou passed down the order. The slaves of Xiao Han's family who were responsible for defending the city did not dare to delay and quickly ordered Zhang Lin and Lu Yan to lead 4,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry to rush to the rescue, while he used the remaining 5,000 troops to guard against possible enemies.

After Yelu Dezhong retreated, he dug deep trenches in front. Later, he learned that Lu Bu had led the cavalry back. In order to guard against Lu Bu's army attacking from the rear, he ordered the young and strong men in the army to dig pits and erect many deer horns and chevaux de frise at the north gate of the camp. He also divided the camp into two, and gave 10,000 troops to his trusted general Bao Misheng, who formed a camp in the east with chariots and wooden fences to form a chair-corner posture.

However, although the strategy had been decided, Lu Bu's army, which was expected to be eager to attack, did not take any action. After pondering in confusion for a long time in the tent, he had to accept the fate of not fighting for the time being. He ordered the soldiers and horses to rest quickly and wait for the arrival of the next day.

……

Liaoyang Mansion.

The wind got stronger and the view was looking down from the sky.

The army was standing on the road under the leadership of officers. The carriages carrying food and grass were connected in a line and entered the city with the shouts of the young and strong. Li Zhu, Wu Shi and Duo La, two surrendered generals, watched the vehicles enter excitedly. They were a little surprised to see the figures guarding the rear. They hurried over and said, "Brother Fang, you actually came in person, but what happened in the rear?" Fang Xuedu, who was wearing silver armor, hung up his spear, jumped off his warhorse, took off his iron helmet and hung on the saddle, walked over and bowed, "Brother Li, there is nothing else to do, but Brother Qiao Lie and Brother Wu Jiao are in charge in the rear, and there are too few people around the general who can help, so let me hurry over to see if there is anything I can do for you later."

Li Zhu nodded, and extended his hand to introduce the two city gate captains behind him. He then asked someone to call for the grain carts, and extended his hand to lead them. With a smile on his face, he said, "The war has begun, and naturally we need you, the military officer, to come and help. The Liao army is large in number and should not be underestimated."

A soldier in front saw Li Zhu and Fang Xuedu coming over, and he stood up straight and waved to Zhang Xiang who was standing in front of the city gate tower and looking down. He continued, "Fortunately, the general defeated the Guide Prefecture army first. Now only the main force of Yelu Dezhong in Shenzhou remains, but we need to be more cautious."

As Fang Xuedu walked along the compacted sandy road, his armor made a slight sound. He clapped his hands and said, "Good news!" Then he looked thoughtful and asked, "Has Brother Li informed the rear military?"

Li Zhu opened his squinting eyes with a headache and rubbed his temples: "To be honest with you, Brother Fang, there have been many things going on in the city recently, and there is a shortage of manpower in the mansion. Most of the time, one person is doing the work of two people. The general's victory report only arrived this morning, and it has not been passed on yet."

"Oh..." Raising his hand and stroking his beard, Fang Xuedu rolled his eyes, then leaned over to Li Zhu and spoke softly, "In that case, I hope Brother Li can pass the official documents to the rear a little later."

"Ok?"

Li Zhu's body paused for a moment, then returned to normal. He looked at the people around him who were far away, covered his mouth with his hand, and asked softly, "Is there something going on in the rear?"

Fang Xuedu nodded slowly, and also covered his mouth with his hand to answer: "There were too many people just now, so I couldn't say anything. Brother Qiao Lie found something. If the good news is passed on, I'm afraid it will alert the enemy, which is not good."

"Over the coast?"

Fang Xuedu nodded in a whisper. Assistant Li smiled and put down his hand: "Okay, in that case, I'll do as you say."

"I knew Brother Li would do this." Fang Xuedu laughed, and then remembered something: "By the way, your nephew has already gone north with his family, and Brother E Quanzhong has been accompanying him all the way."

Li Zhu looked at him and smiled bitterly: "Things come one after another. It will take a long time to arrange for my family. You have to help me. Don't let me have no place to stay when I come. Those brothers in the army will eat me alive."

"Brother Li is joking, hahaha——"

On this day, the sun was shining brightly, illuminating the earth. Peddlers and vendors selling goods were still walking around the streets and doing business, and they didn't notice anything unusual.

A large amount of food and fodder passed through the city. From time to time, harnessed vehicles carrying large wooden boxes joined the team and were then escorted to the front military camp.

Someone counted the cars passing by, and then walked out of the city and headed north without anyone noticing.

In the spring breeze, a solemn atmosphere is gathering.

(End of this chapter)