Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 347: Conquering Three Villages
After seeing the three off, Zhao Zhen went to pack up his weapons and armor. In such weather, the armor he naturally chose was the willow-leaf bamboo armor, the phoenix-wing helmet, the third-level reed-leaf spear, the iron-pierced silver double swords with seawater patterns, and five willow-leaf flying knives. In the unicorn bag was a first-level green birch-bark carved bow seized from Zhu Yongqing and Zhu Wannian, and a pot of white-feather chisel arrows.

The warhorse he rode was a first-grade white dragon colt. The two horses that Zhao Zhenguan rode, Zhaoye Jade Lion and Kicking Snow Black Horse, were sent to the stables these days, and he began to live a busy life with new horses every day.

Just as we finished packing, Hu Sanniang and Hua Baoyan came over. When they met, they said, "Sir, why don't you bring guards with you? I asked Bao Xu and Yan Shude, and they said that the [Chongfengdu] is not on the expedition this time. You only brought Lu Zhishen and Guanghui, which is not acceptable. They are all infantrymen, how can they protect you when you charge into battle? Sister Baoyan and I will lead the female cavalry to protect you."

Zhao Zhen said, "Sanniang, there are only 300 militiamen in Jingmen Town, scattered in three or four places. In addition to the navy, I still have 800 cavalry and infantry, with strong armor and powerful weapons. In this weather, there is no need to [reinforce the front]. The villages all have earthen walls as high as a person, and a few ladders can be used to attack. Instructor Lin and the cavalry of Lu Fang and Guo Sheng are just used to patrol the area and isolate rescue efforts from other places."

Hu Sanniang said, "In addition to fighting on horseback, the female cavalry is also good at archery. When you attack the city, you can see the female cavalry's archery skills."

Zhao Zhen heard this and waved his hand, saying, "Go ahead if you want to. The battlefield is not a joke. You cannot act on your own. Just stay by my side."

After hearing this, Hu Sanniang nodded repeatedly.

With a happy look on his face, he took Hua Baoyan downstairs and prepared to go.

Without mentioning that Wu Yong was preparing to receive the Qingzhou group in Liangshan County, let's just say that on the second day, Zhao Zhen and his companions had dinner at five o'clock in the morning and set off on the ship. With the addition of Hu Sanniang's female riders, the eight newly built warships joined Ruan Xiaoer's navy fleet, which was just enough.

Large and small ships set out together. At the end of the hour of Wei, Zhao Zhen offered sacrifices to heaven and earth on the ship, spending 25 points of luck to dispel the fog between the waterside and Jingmen Town.

Ruan Xiaoer sent out a fast boat to explore along the waterside and chose to land in the direction of Wulibao. Like Shilipu and Eliu, these three villages in Jingmen Town were the only ones close to the waterside. The township where Zhang Gai and Qi Gai were located was the farthest from the water.

Lu Zhishen and Guanghui led the team to disembark first, followed by the artillery led by Ling Zhen, and Zhao Zhen and the female cavalry team were the last to disembark. After forming the team, Zhao Zhen signaled the drummer in the team to beat the Alligator War Drum.

The sound of war drums "Dong... Dong... Dong..." rang out. Shi Kuo, who was at Wulibao on the opposite side, had already noticed something was wrong. Hearing the sound of the war drums, he dared not neglect it. The village banged the gong, and every family ran back to the village, closed the village gates, and the young men gathered with swords and guns.

They quickly ran to Shilibao, five miles away, to ask for reinforcements.

Zhao Zhen was not in a hurry. After lining up, he walked slowly towards Wulibao Village. When he was an arrow's distance from the main gate of Wulibao, Lu Zhishen shouted and asked the army to stop.

Shi Kuo was leading a hundred or so local soldiers and looking out from the village wall. When he saw two big monks leading a large group of well-equipped soldiers standing outside the village, he realized that something was wrong. He held up his shoulder pole and shouted, "I wonder which hero is passing by. I am from Jingmen Town under the jurisdiction of Dongping Prefecture."

Zhao Zhen heard this and motioned Guanghui to talk to him. Guanghui shouted, "We are the government troops of Liangshan County. From now on, this place is under the jurisdiction of Liangshan County. Open the gate of the village, lay down your weapons, and surrender. If you are slow, don't blame us for breaking into your village and killing everyone."

After hearing this, Shi Kuo secretly groaned and said, "General, it's not that I don't want to surrender, but I don't know your identity and dare not come out."

Guang Hui was anxious and shouted, "If you don't come out, I will attack the village."

Just as he was about to give the order to attack the village, he saw smoke and dust rising from two directions in the east. Zhao Zhen thought it was Lin Chong's cavalry, while Shi Kuo thought it was his brother Shi Yue from Shilibao. The battlefield suddenly became quiet.

Lu Zhishen shouted for the guard, and soon the two clouds of dust merged into one place and stopped for a moment, and then a group of cavalry escorted thirty or fifty local militiamen. Shi Kuo, who was looking out, saw this and his expression changed drastically. It turned out that the prisoners were his brother Shi Yue and his gang.

When Zhao Zhen and the others looked, they saw that it was indeed Lü Fang and Guo Sheng who came to help. Guang Hui laughed and said, "You guys in the village, why don't you surrender now? Don't provoke me and kill everyone in your village."

Shi Kuo did not dare to hesitate and ordered the farmers to open the gate. They put down their knives and forks, walked to the front of the village and knelt on the ground.

Zhao Zhen sent someone to call the two brothers Shi Kuo and Shi Yue and asked, "Would you two like to lead the way?"

Shi Yue curled his lips and said, "General, if we were not surrounded by this cavalry, the men of Shilibao would not surrender so easily."

After hearing this, Shi Kuo hurriedly stopped Shi Yue and said carefully, "General, my brother is rude and ignorant of the power of heaven. How can my earth wall stop you?" Zhao Zhen said, "I heard that you two brothers are good at martial arts. Pick one of the men here. As long as you can beat him, I will let you two go back. How about that?"

Shi Yue glared at Lu Fang and said, "If we fight on foot, I won't necessarily lose."

Zhao Zhen asked, "Why, you want to compete with Lü Fangdutou?"

Shi Yue nodded fiercely: "If we lose the infantry battle, from now on, Shilibao will follow the general's lead."

Zhao Zhen looked at Lu Fang, who said without further ado, "Sir, give him a broadsword."

Shi Yue looked fierce, picked up the broadsword handed to him by the soldier, and chopped at Lü Fang. Lü Fang did not dodge, but raised his halberd and knocked the broadsword out of Shi Yue's hand with one blow.

Shi Yue stared blankly at his hands. He was defeated in the foot fight in just one round. Only then did he realize that the reason why Lu Fang's horsepower knocked the broadsword in his hand away was not because of the horse's power.

He immediately knelt on the ground and said to Lu Fang: "The general is very brave, and I am no match for him."

He knelt down and said to Zhao Zhen: "General, I am willing to surrender. From now on, Shilibao will be under the jurisdiction of Liangshan County."

Shi Kuo also said: "Wulibao is willing to surrender, we only ask the general not to allow the soldiers to plunder, and we are willing to offer food and fodder to reward the troops."

Zhao Zhen said: "Since you are willing to surrender, there is no need to comfort the troops. You two should lead the army first and visit the five villages of Sunzhuang, Weizhuang, Xiaoxu, Eliu and Jingmenzhen."

After hearing this, the two of them quickly agreed.

Zhao Zhen then asked Lü Fang and Guo Sheng, "Brothers, why are you two here?"

Guo Sheng said: "Military Advisor Brother Zhu Wu asked us to split into three groups. The two of us will go straight to the great official, Instructor Lin and Brother Zhu Wu will go straight to Jingmen Town, and Brother Luan Tingfang will take half of the troops to patrol everywhere to prevent the villages from rescuing each other."

After hearing this, Shi Kuo and Shi Yue, who were standing by, were glad that they did not confront him head-on, otherwise they would have been beheaded by now.

Shi Kuo and Shi Yue led the way with their own farmers, followed by Zhao Zhen and others, heading east to the nearest E Liu. E Liu Village also closed its gates and was on guard.

Shi Kuo said to Zhao Zhen: "General, Liu Mu, the head of Eliu Village, is my best friend. I would like to invite him to surrender."

Seeing Zhao Zhen nod, Shi Kuo hurriedly thanked him.

Then he turned around, walked to the gate and shouted: "Liu Mu, surrender quickly. My two brothers are no match for you, so why bother to resist? If you delay, there will inevitably be casualties once a battle breaks out, and it will be too late to regret it then."

Liu Mu, the villager, heard this, looked at the people outside the village, sighed, and ordered the village gate to be opened. A man came out and followed Shi Kuo to meet Zhao Zhen and expressed his intention to surrender.

Zhao Zhen was also very happy that he could take these three villages without bloodshed. After all, if someone was killed or injured, it would leave troubles if it was not handled properly.

Zhao Zhen praised him, "Shi Kuo, you have captured E Liu, and I will give you credit for your contribution. If you can still come to surrender to Sun Zhuang, Wei Zhuang, and Xiao Xu, I will reward you handsomely."

After hearing this, Shi Kuo said with a bitter face: "General, I am not trying to shirk responsibility. It is really that among the three places, Sunzhuang, Weizhuang and Xiaoxu, Sunzhuang and Zhang Gai are the best, Weizhuang, Xiaoxu and Qi Gai are in step with each other, and I am afraid these two places will not listen to us brothers."

(End of this chapter)