Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The sky was bright and the temperature was pleasant. Soldiers and horses were gathering in Shenzhou City. Young and strong men were running up the city walls carrying boulders and battering rams. Lower-level officers were shouting "Faster!" and "Faster!", holding wooden sticks, and they wished they could throw all the defense supplies onto the city walls at once.

The sunlight shining on people lengthened the shadows on the ground. Bao Misheng, who was seriously injured but not dead, ran back to Shenzhou to pay a visit to Yelu Dezhong, which was considered a little psychological comfort to the loser of this war.

However, the excitement of the reunion of Yelu and his son soon passed. The commander, who had slept for a while and became worried, stood on the top of the city wall, looked at the road to the south, and pounded the city wall heavily.

"The storm is coming..." A dejected voice was heard in the wind.

It was a warm spring in the sixth year of Zhenghe in Song Dynasty and the sixth year of Tianqing in Liao Dynasty.

The Liao army that marched south was defeated and retreated to the military state in the central part. After a day of rest, Lu Bu's army in the south met the infantry that was rapidly pursuing them from the rear. The officers and soldiers of each army hurried to the center of the camp to pay their respects.

They met the surrendered Han father and son, and then went to the center to meet Lu Bu who was surrounded by the crowd.

"The surrendered general Han Qinghe and his son Han Chang are here to meet the General of the Cavalry."

"Please stand up." Lu Bu raised his hand and the people who bowed stood up. "Since we are at war now, I will not hold a banquet to welcome you two generals."

The Han family father and son quickly said they dared not.

"But you two have come at the right time. I am about to continue my journey north. I wonder if you two want to follow me..." Lu Bu stared at the two of them and raised his hand: "Or do you want to take the captives back to Liaoyang Prefecture?"

The father and son looked at each other immediately, with hatred in the son's eyes. Han Qinghe turned back with satisfaction and clasped his fists: "General, my father and I have just surrendered and have not achieved any merit. We are ashamed to be called generals. Now that you want to march north, my father and I would like to be the vanguard. Now Yelu Dezhong does not know that we have surrendered, so we should be able to trick the city gates open."

Lu Bu narrowed his eyes, looked at the two of them for a while, and then said, "It's been a day, how do you know that you two won't be suspected?"

Han Qinghe cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, General."

Han Chang next to him stretched out his hand and pulled out a sharp knife. Lu Bu stood there without moving, looking at the two of them calmly.

"Bold——"

"Put down the sword!"

The guards around drew their swords one after another. A long metallic sound echoed in their ears. Yu Cheng took a step forward with the phoenix-head axe in hand to block Lu Bu.

Han Chang chuckled, then his eyes turned fierce. He raised his hand and pulled his arm, then stabbed and scratched his chest muscles with the sharp knife in his hand: "Ah! Hiss..."

Blood gushed out as the tip of the knife cut through the cloth, soaking it. The guards on guard all around suddenly became agitated, looking at each other with strange eyes as they looked at the two men.

Han Qinghe looked at his son with concern, and seeing that he was fine, he bowed and said, "I wonder if the general believes that my father and I will succeed."

"...Come here, bandage him." Reaching out to push away Yu Cheng who was blocking his way, Lu Bu exhaled, looked at the two men and nodded: "Okay, then you two lead the troops to Shenzhou first, and I will open the door as soon as I arrive."

His eyes moved between the two of them, and when he looked at the generals beside him, Liu Yun suddenly took a step forward and said, "General, I beg your permission to go with me."

The Han family father and son looked at the Jiangnan man, who grinned and said, "Such a dangerous thing cannot be undertaken by two of us alone. We are willing to go together to conquer Shenzhou."

Han Qinghe smiled. This guy's words were quite pleasant to the ears. What's wrong with taking him along?

Lu Bu stroked his short beard with his hand and said, "That's fine, but you two can't bring too many soldiers and horses, otherwise it will arouse suspicion."

"Don't worry, General. I won't have to worry about it." Han Qinghe said with a bow, and then looked at Liu Yun: "Since it's a show, it has to be more realistic. Please pick some injured soldiers, I will guarantee their safety." Lu Bu looked at Yu Cheng next to him and said: "Go and pick some brave men. Regardless of whether they succeed or not, their titles will be increased by three levels, and three thousand silver coins will be rewarded to their families. Those who come back alive will be promoted."

Yu Cheng immediately clasped his fists and accepted the order, then picked up the axe and went to the wounded to pass on the message.

"You three go get ready. We'll set off for Shenzhou in half an hour. I'll leave in two hours."

The three people who received the order immediately clasped their fists and left, hurriedly heading to their respective subordinates.

Xi Sheng, Du Fu and other leading officers watched the three men leave and hurriedly stepped forward: "General, this father and son are not good people for behaving like this. You should be careful."

"I understand. Don't worry too much. They won't turn against us until we are at our wit's end." Fluttering his cloak, Lu Bu turned around and walked towards Red Hare. "Pass on my military order. Du Fu will be the commander-in-chief. Lead Sun An, Mi Xian, and Yuan Lang to capture Guide Prefecture immediately. The rest of you..."

He straddled Red Hare and said, "Follow me to conquer Shenzhou!"

"Yes!"

The roar shook the sky, and all the generals clasped their fists together. Soon, the soldiers who had been resting came out one after another, gathered in battle array on the plains. With the sound of the horn, the soldiers split into two groups and charged towards the predetermined target in the distance.

……

As the day went by, the atmosphere in Shenzhou became increasingly tense. Yelu Dezhong ordered that the people in the city were not allowed to go out on the streets at will. The four city gates were closed, and the defending soldiers walked up to the city walls with weapons in hand.

In the afternoon, there was a commotion on the city wall when dust was flying in the distance. The generals on duty hurriedly ordered to prepare for defense, but they breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the Goshawk flag and the Korean general flag flying in the distance.

Not long after, Yelu Dezhong, who was worried about the small number of soldiers and generals, was overjoyed to learn that the commander Han Qinghe had returned with the remaining troops. He quickly summoned people to the provincial government. The Han general, covered in dust and with a black face, walked into the hall with a sad face, knelt on one knee and clasped his fists: "The defeated general Han Qinghe greets the general, and I hope the general will forgive me."

"General Han, please stand up." Yelu Dezhong came over and helped him up, sighing, "If you want to forgive someone, it should be me who should say so. General, there is no need to do so."

"By the way." The commander of the royal family did not want to talk about this any more, so he changed the subject and asked, "How is your son?"

"My son..." Han Qinghe looked at Yelu Dezhong and sighed heavily: "My father and I were separated on the battlefield. I don't know where he is now. Alas!"

"Oh..." Yelu Dezhong smiled awkwardly: "Good people are blessed by heaven. Your son is brave and will surely return safely."

"Thank you for your good wishes, Marshal." Han Qinghe lowered his head and bowed.

Yelu Dezhong waved his hand and said, "It's good that General Han is back. I was worried that there are too few useful people in Shenzhou. I wonder if General Han can fight again? I think that the bandit Lu will take advantage of the victory to attack Shenzhou soon."

"I still have some courage left." Han Qinghe cupped his hands and said, "Fighting against bandit Lu is what I want."

"Good!" Yelu Dezhong was delighted. "In that case, I will ask General Han to guard the west gate. As long as we can prevent the attack of the thief Lu, I will ask the court for reinforcements. Then we can settle all the old and new accounts with the thief."

"I'm willing to fight to the death!" Han Qinghe's eyes flashed, and seeing that the other party did not suspect anything, he breathed a sigh of relief but felt sorry for his son.

The majestic figure bowed his head and spoke in a sonorous tone. Yelu was overjoyed and was just about to say a few words of encouragement when he heard the report from outside that Han Chang had returned. He immediately called someone in. When he saw the young man with wounds walking into the hall, the royal commander had to congratulate Han's father and son again on their reunion, and then asked the two to go down and prepare for battle.

Soon, a scout came to report that an army was approaching from the south. (End of this chapter)