Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Under the city of Qingyun, there were constant sounds of cursing. Soldiers of Lu Bu's army riding on war horses were rushing towards the north gate, while the cavalry at the north gate put down their spears and rushed towards the figures holding swords and spears.

The sound of horse hooves suddenly panicked the people gathered in front of the door. The terrified people wanted to escape, but found that their legs could not move due to the vibration of the ground. In panic, someone threw a knife to the ground and screamed shrilly: "Don't kill, don't kill! Surrender, surrender--"

"Yes! Don't kill, surrender, I surrender--"

"It's down, it's down—"

The people nearby were awakened by the shout, and they dropped their weapons and fell to their knees.

In front, the war horses that rushed forward knocked several people away with a bang. Screams and panicked roars rang out. Du Fu, who was leading the way, shouted, "Stop——"

woo-

A personal soldier blew a horn, and the galloping warhorse rushed forward several feet before stopping under the pull of the knight. Groans were heard under the warhorse. Many people swallowed their saliva and stared at the approaching black shadow with wide eyes. The heat from the warhorse hit their faces at this moment.

Torches were lit in the back, illuminating more than a dozen corpses and dozens of injured people on the ground.

"What happened?"

Xiao Haili, who was in charge of the central army, ran forward under the protection of his personal guards. He frowned at the person kneeling on the ground, exchanged a glance with Du Fu, and looked at the person on the ground: "Han language? Khitan language? Anyone who knows how to speak, please come forward."

There was a commotion below, and the kneeling people all turned their heads to look. A dark figure couldn't stand up, so he supported himself with his hands and crawled over. Under the flickering firelight, he showed a face with a flattering smile. He knelt on the ground nervously, turned around and bowed, "My humble servant greets all the generals."

"Who are you waiting for? Why are you here? Where is the Jin army?" Du Fu thrust his Zhangba Snake Spear forward. The sharp tip of the spear made the man on the ground lean back desperately, shaking his hands repeatedly: "General, General, you are too close, too close!"

"Say it!"

The snake spear retreated slightly.

Zhang Quan took a deep breath and said, "I am Zhang Quan, the captain of the county government here. Today, the Jin army in the city has gathered us, the government officials and the city defenders and asked us to go out from the north gate. They will probably go out from the east gate themselves." He spoke very quickly, and the man who called himself the captain kept gasping for breath.

Du Fu: "East Gate?"

Xiao Haili: "East Gate?"

The two leaders looked at each other in bewilderment. Suddenly Xiao Haili turned around and gave an order: "Pass the order, the horses turn east, shoot..."

Howl——

Howl——

The sound of arrows came one after another from the east, getting closer and closer.

"It's the scouts!" Du Fu reacted suddenly and pulled the reins: "The enemy has indeed broken through from the east!"

"The Jin army is breaking out from the east. Blow the horn, blow the horn—" Xiao Haili raised his copper knife and shouted loudly: "Go to the east of the city and intercept them!"

Wuwuwu——

The trumpet sounded.

A large number of cavalry began to turn around, and the roar of horse hooves exploded in their ears again. Those kneeling on the ground suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground one by one as if they had been pardoned.

"Damn it, why are you still lying there? Get out of here!" someone said and stood up.

"Why run away? You might as well go back to the county and continue to be an official." Zhang Quan, who was lying on the ground with his arms and legs spread out, said this. He caught a glimpse of the black shadow that was about to leave and paused. He continued faintly, "Anyway, all the officials in the city have followed the Jin people. If they stay now, won't it make us stand out?"

"...That makes sense!"

The voices of agreement rang out simultaneously.

……

"Stop them—"

At the east gate of Qingyun County, Wanyan Yinshuke, leading the vanguard cavalry, rushed out of the city gate. The rumbling sound of hooves stepped on the dirt road, and arrows fell from the sky like locusts. Behind each chevaux de frise were soldiers holding large shields. The shadows of the shields covered the archers who bent over, and from time to time they would pull out an arrow from under the shield and shoot it.

The charging warhorse crashed into the antlers without stopping, and the pointed wooden stakes pierced the warhorse's body, spraying a lot of smelly blood. The sturdy defensive weapon shook violently, and collapsed with a series of roars. Wanyan Yinshuke, with blood all over his face, raised the iron spear in his hand and shouted: "Kill them and go home——"

The Jin soldiers, covered in blood, shouted in unison: "Go home!" and rushed forward risking their lives.

Wanyan Sheng rode his horse in the center of the army, holding a spear, and constantly commanded the cavalry and infantry to attack the defensive line. Behind him, hundreds of figures tied their hands tightly to the handles of their swords, and charged forward with red eyes.

The arrow was pulled out of the quiver very quickly, and many of its kind were put on the bowstring with the movement of the arm. The tough arrow tails pressed against the string and quickly tightened. The shouts of fighting and the sounds of chopped and clashed blades around shook the heaven and earth, and a series of running figures kept advancing.

An anxious voice shouted: "Shoot——"

The bowstring vibrated, and the air was filled with the buzzing sound of the bowstring. Dense black shadows shot over in the darkness, and arrows flew over with whizzing sounds. The black-clad soldiers with shields and guns hurriedly dodged. From time to time, someone screamed and fell to the ground. More people heard the sound of arrows disappearing above the shield, and they stood up and roared to meet the charging figures.

Shrill shouts came from both the enemy and our side, swords clashed, and the Jin cavalry and infantrymen, holding swords and spears, rushed into the infantry defense line of Lu Bu's army without any regard for defense. Then they were pierced by several spears with screams and thrown aside. More Jin soldiers took advantage of the situation and rushed over, roaring and crashing into the spear formation. The defenders retreated step by step.

Sweat flowed down from the temples and dripped onto the ground under his feet.

Behind the crowd where the fighting was spreading, Han Qinghe rode his warhorse, running back and forth in the formation, watching with a painful look on his face the increasing number of casualties among his soldiers. These were the Liao army soldiers he had recruited to surrender, and they were also hoping to gain a foothold in this new force. They never expected that they would be beaten to the point of collapse in this place.

Wanyan Poluhuo was dressed in black armor and holding a mace. He rode his horse slowly and watched from behind for a while. Then he raised the mace and shouted at the soldiers behind him.

"The Jurchens have only been established for two years. We have fought against tens of thousands of Liao people, if not millions. We have always won by using the few to defeat the many. The battle formation of these soldiers in front of us is exactly the same as that of the Liao people, and now they dare to stand in front of us--" The voice suddenly rose: "Follow me, tell everyone who is hostile to the Jurchens that even if they are in danger, we cannot be defeated by just anyone!"

"God bless us, and we will defeat the enemy and return home!"

As the voice fell, figures around him howled like ghosts and the sound of soles of shoes stepping on the ground spread.

Boom boom boom——

Countless figures ran forward. This powerful army, which had followed Wanyan Aguda to fight against other tribes, defeated Yelu Xie Shi, and conquered Huanglongfu, pushed forward like a tsunami. The soldiers who were fighting in the front were pushed away, dodging the chopping and stabbing weapons, and killed people on the ground with their backhands.

On the battlefield, a large sword cut the charging Jin soldiers in half. Han Qinghe rode his horse past the front line and watched several defensive formations being killed and scattered. His eyes widened with bloodshot. He turned to the deputy general whose half body was covered in blood and shouted, "Let the reserve team come up together, and let my son lead the supervision team forward. Whoever runs will be killed!"

The arrow flew up and penetrated into the human body with the force of falling. A running Jin soldier suddenly screamed "Ah--" and fell to the ground. Then a series of howls rang out. The soldiers on both sides, those charging and those defending, fell to the ground one after another and rolled over.

"How cruel..." Han Qinghe turned his head away and dodged an arrow, his face changed slightly. The arrows coming from a distance covered people without distinguishing between friend and foe. More and more people were shot to the ground without any preparation. The injured Jin man reluctantly hacked the man to death with a knife, then staggered up and continued to rush forward.

"Hurry up and get the rear guard up! The Jin army has gone crazy!"

In the sight, the figure in khaki armor rushed over more frantically. Han Qinghe sent someone to pass the order again, and immediately led his personal soldiers and the surrounding soldiers to rush to the front line. Before they got close, the defense of the front line seemed to collapse under the heavy pressure. Han Qinghe rode his horse and rushed over there with a sword in his hand: "Stop them, quickly--"

However, this time they were facing Jin soldiers who were determined to break through and go home. They were covered in blood and did not care even if they were stabbed a few times. Some of them were still rushing out desperately with arrows in front and behind them. Among these soldiers, the brothers Wanyan Poluhuo and Wanyan Yinshuke also rushed up, waving swords and maces, blood spurting, and forcing the soldiers who came to support them to retreat continuously.

On the other side, Han Qinghe rushed forward with a sullen face, brandishing a sword. In the field of vision in front of him, a person's body flew up. When he reined in his horse to avoid it, a burly warrior holding a mace rode towards him and knocked down several soldiers along the way. Their eyes met across several feet.

"General Nan, die!" With a roar, the mace smashed down on Han Qinghe's head. Just a few moves made Han Qinghe sweat coldly. He looked at the general who only attacked and did not defend with disbelief in his eyes, and for a moment he was unable to stop himself.

"Get out of my way!"

Wanyan Bali rushed over waving the iron spear in his hand and stabbed down. Han Qinghe blocked it, but Wanyan Poluhuo next to him took the opportunity to hit him on the shoulder with a stick. His face suddenly changed, and he could not wave the sword in his hand with one hand.

The spear-wielding general's eyes flashed coldly.

In the back, Han Chang led hundreds of soldiers to charge forward without regard for their lives. Seeing this, he became very anxious. He ignored Wanyan Yinshuke who was rushing past the formation, picked up his bow and arrow, and shouted, "Attack--"

puff--

As the iron spear pierced the iron armor, the man on horseback was hit in the face by an arrow and fell off his horse. Han Qinghe did not dare to stay in the front line any longer. While Wanyan Polu was looking for the archer, he turned his horse and retreated. Han Chang on the other side hurriedly led his soldiers to protect his father and retreated.

The sound of fighting soon became monotonous, and words of cheer in the Jurchen language echoed in the air. Large numbers of Jin soldiers broke through the infantry line of defense and fled for their lives.

In the early autumn of the sixth year of Tianqing, Wanyan Sheng led 13,000 men to return to Huanglongfu from Qizhou in the north. They broke through three lines of defense and fought with Lu Bu's cavalry on the Liaohe River. In the end, only less than 5,000 men broke through the siege.

On Dingyou, Hua Rong led his troops northward all the way to the vicinity of Tongzhou, where he rested and wrote a letter to Lu Bu, hoping that he could send troops for support.

In the year of Ji Hai, Hanzhou was captured by Xiao Haili, Du Fu and others, and the troops of Xi Sheng and others in the rear followed and pressed forward, with the intention of continuing to attack Xinzhou in the north. (End of this chapter)