Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The heat began to fade away with the arrival of night. The bright moon obscured the dark clouds and pulled them in front of it, slowly climbing up to the sky as time passed.

To the west of Changqing is the Liao army camp.

Patrol figures walked along the dirt road, and the grassy ground was trampled flat. In the dark night, the sound of horse hooves could be faintly heard passing outside the military camp, and the figures of horsemen were visible swaying in the light of torches.

In the central army tent, the lights were still on. The cavalry officer who came over passed the message to the guard, who turned around and quietly went into the tent. Yelu Neri behind the table took the message and unfolded it, reading it carefully from beginning to end. He waved his hand to let the guard go down. He opened the collar of his clothes, and his black hair curled up on his chest. A cool breeze blew in, and he couldn't help but scratch it.

"My lord, what is the news?"

"Nothing..."

The muscles on King Qin Jin's face twitched twice, and he passed the military situation to the person who was speaking: "After searching for most of the day, these scouts found nothing..." He grabbed the wine on the table and took a sip, then closed his eyes. The muscles around his nose twitched for a while, and he put the wine bowl on the table with a bang. The wine sloshed and splashed out: "They are all trash! Did the thief Lu's cavalry go to the sky? They couldn't even find this."

The general named Tong Lihe placed the message on the table in front of him: "Don't be anxious, my king. We are here to besiege the city. The one who should be anxious is Lu the thief."

bang——

"I'm not anxious, I'm angry!" He slammed his huge fist on the table, stood up, grabbed the wine bowl and threw it on the ground. It broke into countless pieces with a snap. "We can't defeat the Jin thieves. We can't defeat the Lu thieves. Now we can't even find the whereabouts of the enemy. What's the point of the court wasting so much food and rice every year to feed them?"

The guards outside heard the noise and hurried in, but he shouted at them, "Get out!" and then they hurriedly retreated.

"Perhaps the Lu thieves have not yet come from Xianzhou." Tong Lihe said to comfort him, "Perhaps we can find their traces when we come to Liaoxizhou tomorrow."

"Hmph..." Yelu Neri took two steps with his hands behind his back, his clothes fluttering, his chest hair and pot belly revealed in the firelight: "Don't comfort me, you are also a military expert, can you believe what I said?"

Tong Lihe smiled bitterly. Yelu Nieli paced back and forth, his eyes bloodshot and his chest heaving. "Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Since Lu the bandit is coming with all cavalry, he will definitely not waste time in Xianzhou. If we can't find him now, we can only say that the scouts are incompetent!"

He took two steps, stopped suddenly, and turned back to the door of the big tent. "Inform the generals in the army to be alert to night attacks and strengthen patrols inside and outside the barracks. In addition, the scouts don't need to rest at night. Go out and search for them. Don't come back if there is no trace of Lu's cavalry!"

At this moment, the night was cold and the sky was full of twinkling stars. Soon someone walked out of the tent and returned to the military camp.

……

West of the Liao army camp, on the other side of the river, and on the eastern edge of Zhongjing Road.

The forest near the river was even cooler. Figures filled their water bags and walked into the forest path. In the darkness, voices could be heard.

"My nephew Yang is staying with Wei He and Han Tao. Why doesn't the general send some soldiers to help him and protect him?" Du Fu took a sip of cold water and poured most of the water in the water bag over his head. His eyes became sharp again.

"On the battlefield, there is no such thing as being safe. Even if you follow me, you are in danger of dying in battle." A deep voice came. Lu Bu wiped his face with a white towel and handed it to the guard beside him. As he walked, his voice came faintly: "Besides, there are many young people joining the army. If you want to support and help each of them, it is better not to step into the battlefield."

He walked to the side of Red Hare, turned over and sat on it, and picked up the painted halberd stuck in the ground: "I have him here...", paused for a moment and took a breath, "Everyone has his own way to go. I brought him to the army, but I didn't intend for him to be just a spectator."

"The general is really strict." The sound of horse hooves echoed in the forest. Xiao Haili put on his helmet and walked over with a copper knife in his hand: "I hope everything goes well tonight." Lu Bu pointed at him: "In the past, a few hundred cavalrymen could roam freely in Song territory. Today, we have dozens of times more troops and horses than before. You are starting to get nervous."

"Hahaha——" Xiao Haili laughed heartily: "Before, I was penniless, so I didn't feel bad even if I lost something. Now I have a horse and a foundation, and I would complain for a long time if I lost a general."

"Stop talking nonsense." Shaking his head, Lu Bu looked behind him: "Is Dong Ping ready?"

"Everything is ready. We are just waiting for the general's order to attack Changqing City." Xiao Haili nodded heavily.

"Let's go!" Lu Bu waved his halberd, and under the stars and the moon, a faint light lit up in the woods: "Cross the river and finish this midnight snack."

Figures swayed in the forest, and slight hoofbeats sounded in the air. Soon, the war horses crossed the river amid the sound of rushing water and galloped towards the military camp in the southwest.

As the war horses galloped across the land of Dongjing Road again, the Liao army's camp became increasingly quiet. The only sound could be heard around them: the rumbling of night insects. The dotted bonfires burning in the camp occasionally made crackling sounds.

Yelu Neri suddenly opened his eyes, swallowed hard, got up from the bed, walked barefoot to the table without wearing shoes, picked up some cold water and drank it, bringing a cool feeling.

"call--"

Looking up and exhaling, Yelu Nili wanted to go back to sleep, but maybe because the water he drank was cold, he was very awake for a moment. As he tossed and turned, he felt his stomach getting more and more uncomfortable. He simply got up and ran to sit down. After a while, he held his forehead with his hand in pain.

Everything was normal in the camp outside the tent. It was dark at night and it was difficult to see anything. The patrolling soldiers were yawning as they walked through the camp, and the sleeping soldiers were deep in their dreams.

Occasionally, the wind blew through the night, and the still burning bonfire floated up into the night sky with sparks. The chirping of insects around suddenly stopped at some point. The horse's hooves wrapped in cloth stepped on a pile of turned-over earth. In the darkness, water droplets dripped down the horse's body to the ground. Lu Bu held the Fang Tian Huaji and gently clamped his legs together, and Red Hare slowly moved forward.

In the distance, the military camp with spots of fire became the end of darkness. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, grabbed the reins with one hand, exhaled, opened his tiger eyes, raised the halberd, and pointed it straight ahead.

"Get ready." The gentle command shook the air in the dark night.

Behind him, figures also wrapped in horse hooves swayed, and four thousand seven hundred figures urged their horses to gather in formation.

blah blah-

The crisp sound of Red Hare's hooves reached his ears. Without even turning his head, Lü Bu pointed his halberd at the military camp, his tiger eyes flashing with murderous intent, and his voice was sonorous: "Kill them and let the Liao people know who the prey is!"

hum-

The Fang Tian Huaji cut through the darkness, and Red Hare suddenly neighed loudly, then kicked the ground hard, swirling up grass and mud, and rushed forward.

next moment.

The cavalry behind him, with countless horse hooves, surged like a tide in the dark night, charging towards the Liao army camp. (End of this chapter)