Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Many days have passed since the North and the South began to gather troops and food, and flags of various colors are fluttering in the air.

In midsummer, on the Jiyou day, the troops south of the Hunhe River were quietly mobilized and deployed in the area from Xianzhou to Anzhou. On the Wuwu day, after worshiping the gods, at the roar of Wanyan Aguda "Let's go!", the Tieli, Shiwei, Wuer, Dalugu and other tribes raised their flags and began to march south one after another under the banner of Jin. Fast horses and cavalry ran in the army, and along the way, intelligence from the north and south was constantly transmitted to the central army.

At the beginning of summer, Wanyan Aguda led a large army into Tongzhou and joined forces with 10,000 troops from Yidian and Hue. The real Jin army was deployed in this small area, with flags stretching for twenty miles. The dust raised covered the sky and the smoke rolled southward.

On the day of Ji Si, Wanyan Gao led 20,000 troops to station in Anzhou, and Han Shizhong's troops joined Xi Sheng. The scouts of both sides fought endlessly in the wilderness, and both suffered casualties.

On the day of Renshen, Wanyan Aguda led 60,000 troops into Xianzhou. The cattle and sheep following the army moved in a long line, eating the green grass near the city and leaving some "alopecia areata". On the same day, Ma Ling led his troops into Shuangzhou, deciding that the war in Liaodong would finally begin on this land.

At the time of Yi Hai, Wanyan Sheng led 20,000 troops and suddenly marched out towards Shuangzhou. The scouts on the front line kept sending news to Xiao Haili and Bian Xiang in the rear.

Two days later, Wanyan Aguda, with the remaining 40,000 troops, advanced to Dongping, looted nearby ships, cut down trees to build rafts and floating bridges, and prepared to cross the Liaohe River to the north to attack Wei Dingguo and Xie Ning, and then cooperate with Wanyan Sheng to break Lu Bu's defense line.

All the defense outposts from Liaozhou to Yinzhou were planning attacks. The most anxious one was Wanyan Gao, Wanyan Aguda's half-brother. Small-scale probing and confrontations between the two sides took place in the wild from time to time, but Xi Sheng also knew that the other side was still looking for weak points to make a breakthrough and was not prepared to launch a full-scale attack immediately.

Xiao Haili and Bian Xiang, who were in charge of coordinating in Shuangzhou, were collecting and transmitting information all the time. Wanyan Sheng in the front was not sure what he was doing. He had been restraining himself from launching an offensive. However, this made the people in Shuangzhou more nervous. They felt that the other side would start a brutal war at any time, so they all cheered up and were ready at any time.

On the other hand, the Jin people had an uncomfortable feeling about Lu Bu’s army’s defense line.

"Lü Bu has been fighting head-on all the way north, but now he is in such a defensive posture, which makes people feel uncomfortable. It is hard to figure out what he is going to do..."

Wanyan Sheng rubbed his chin, frowned again, and then called the messenger cavalry, "Send scouts to both sides of Shuangzhou to guard against Lü Bu's troops coming to support Liaozhou and Yinzhou. Send someone to inform Xieye to ask him to increase his efforts to suppress Liaozhou. Report to Dubojilie and don't delay on the road."

On the third day of the camp, the fast horses were still galloping, the 40,000-strong army of the Jin Dynasty was still requisitioning ships, and flags of various colors were scattered all over the plains. Wanyan Aguda, dressed in ordinary clothes, sat in the commander's tent and handled military affairs waiting for his review. He had been in the army for many years and had been on the battlefield in his twenties. He had rich experience in how to mobilize the army. In addition to the elite troops directly under his command, how to arrange the warriors from various tribes, the herdsmen who followed, and the cattle and sheep that came to serve as military rations were also a number that ordinary people could hardly imagine. These all needed to be sorted out one by one to facilitate unified command and combat. Such a process required time no matter how skilled he was.

At this time, he was actually a little envious of Lu Bu on the opposite side. At least he had been preparing for some time, and all the arrangements were on track.

The military affairs had not yet been handled, but it was already past noon. Wanyan Zonggan and Wanyan Zongmou had already walked in with golden roasted mutton and fine wine.

Aguda looked up at the two of them, put down his pen, stood up and sat down.

"Are the boats and pontoon bridges for crossing the river ready?" A servant brought some clean water. Wanyan Aguda cleaned his hands, reached out and grabbed a knife to cut a piece of meat.

"Reporting to my father Khan, Xinwotashi Mouke sent a message that the wood and boats have been collected almost completely." Wanyan Zonghan, Zongwang and other elders started eating and just reached out to cut their share of meat. Wanyan Zongwang said: "The river here is quite wide and the amount of wood needed is large. Fortunately, there are enough tribal people and conscripted laborers in the rear. Even so, it took a lot of time. After crossing the river, we will concentrate our forces to capture Yinzhou in front. That guy named Lu Bu will be powerless and can only retreat to Liaoyang Prefecture..." "Don't underestimate the heroes of the world..."

Wanyan Aguda took a sip of wine and put down the wine glass inlaid with precious jade. "It's strange that Lu Bu came out, but from the route he took to capture Liaodong, we can see that his purpose is very clear, which is to quickly capture Liaoyang Prefecture. If Gao Yongchang hadn't rebelled before him, I'm afraid Liaoyang Prefecture would have been captured a month earlier."

"If you put it this way, he is a good fighter."

"He is a fierce general." Wanyan Aguda held the wine glass to confirm his son's words, took a sip of wine, and wiped off the wine stains: "But when has the Great Jin Dynasty ever lacked capable and fierce generals? Now that we are on the battlefield, we must see what this man from the south is like."

His Wanyan tribe was founded by fighting. His father Helibo, his uncle Polasu and Yingge fought countless battles for the Liao Kingdom. When it comes to battlefield confrontation, his Great Jin is not afraid of anyone.

The father and his two sons were talking while eating. From time to time, busy officials were coming and going in the tent with official documents. When they finished eating, someone came in from outside and said, "Dubojilie, Anbanbojilie Wanyan Sheng sent someone to report the news."

"Wuqimai can't make up his mind sometimes." Wanyan Aguda laughed and raised his hand to wave: "Let someone come in."

……

A cool breeze blew across the water, and the boat stopped steadily at the edge of the river. Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun watched Wang De's cavalrymen board the warship and breathed a sigh of relief. The two brothers excitedly welcomed Wang De to the bow of the boat. The three of them bowed to each other and then gave the order for the warship to set off.

"I didn't expect the general to let Captain Wang set off at this time."

Holding the sword for protection, Wang De felt the wind blowing over the river, his face solemn: "The general has his own military orders for me, but I am sorry for the hard work on this journey."

"It's not that hard to serve the general." Zhang Shun smiled and said, "We will have to pick up Ruan Xiaoqi and the others later. Then you, Captain Wang, will be the most dangerous."

"When I joined the army, I had been expecting to die on the battlefield." Wang Dechou showed a smile, but it looked ferocious and scary in the eyes of others: "I am still alive today, which means that my time is not up yet."

"The captain is free and easy."

The Zhang brothers shook their heads and sighed. Soon the team passed Liaozhou along the river. (End of this chapter)