Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 384 Song Jiang defeats three government armies
However, three days had passed since the Walhan presented the Thunder Chariots. After discussing with Wu Yong and Zhu Wu, Zhao Zhen went to Wanzi City to recruit a battalion of 500 soldiers without waiting for the Thunder Chariots to be completed. They then went to Xiaoping Mountain to train with the five completed Thunder Chariots.

By the time the hundred Thunder Chariots are built, the soldiers in this battalion will have been well trained and can be assigned to different chariots, with the old leading the new, and this chariot army will be complete.

Zhu Wu asked who was the commander of the chariot army?
Zhao Zhen told Liu Huiniang what she said. Because it was easy to be targeted and limited by the terrain, the chariot army did not fight alone. Therefore, the chariot army did not have a commander. Each chariot had 25 people, one person was the chief, and one person was selected as the chief. They just followed the army and followed the orders to attack.

The plan was finalized, and Zhu Wu was there to support them. However, Zhao Zhen was practicing martial arts in the village.

When Zhao Zhen was resting, Wu Yong came back and walked up to Zhao Zhen, saying, "Sir, there is news from Qingzhou."

When Zhao Zhen heard this, he immediately asked, "How is it? Has Song Gongming been wiped out?"

Wu Yong shook his head and said, "On the contrary, the three reinforcements suffered heavy casualties, and Song Gongming took advantage of the situation to capture Qingzhou and beheaded the prefect Murong Yanda."

"Song Gongming was defeated by Gao Feng's Dao Fa, and lost [Dwarf Tiger] Wang Ying. He retreated to the mountain stronghold and dared not fight. But in the blink of an eye, Gao Feng's Dao Fa was broken? Did the spies find out clearly?"

Wu Yong said: "It is also Song Gongming's luck. There is a mountain under the jurisdiction of Yanzhou Prefecture, called Wolf Howl Mountain. There are five heroes who raised a big flag on the mountain, recruited many followers, bought horses and stored food, and gradually gathered thousands of people, with a powerful momentum."

"The leader is from Quanzhen, and his name is Wu Jiao. He calls himself [Zhongtian Yiqi Huanglong Taoist], also known as [Sheng Dongbin], and he has great magical powers. He can move mountains and seas, call the wind and rain, cut paper into horses, and cast beans into soldiers. The four heroes below are all his disciples. In addition to martial arts, they are also good at magic. The first one is [Qinglong God] Yan Guang, the second one is [White Tiger God] Tian Ba, the third one is [Suzaku God] Dong Kai, and the fourth one is [Xuanwu God] Yu Zhiwang."

"The government sent troops to suppress the bandits several times, but they were defeated and several officials were killed. It was only because of the resistance of Zhenmao, the chief of Feihu Village, that they could not disturb the state government. Now Zhenmao has been transferred to Qingzhou to collect the money from Song Jiang and his gang. The leaders in the mountains got the news, broke into Feihu Village, and looted a lot of money and food and went up the mountain."

"The chieftain on the mountain was thinking: If we destroy the village now, I'm afraid the imperial court will also send troops to suppress it. Although the Wolf Howl Mountain is in a dangerous position and the fort is strong, there is no room for maneuver. It can't withstand a long battle. Once the army is sent to suppress it, it will be surrounded on all sides. How can we fight the enemy? Thinking that Song Gongming in Qingzhou is very powerful, it is better to abandon the small camp on Wolf Howl Mountain and go to Song Gongming in Qingzhou. So he called four disciples, and after a discussion, they gathered the people and horses in the camp, loaded all the gold, silver and food on the cart, and set off for Qingzhou."

"It was with the help of Wu Jiao that Song Gongming set up the Hunyuan Yiqi Sancai Formation. Although Gao Feng also had Taoism, he did not know the formation. Relying on the merit of killing Wang Ying last time, he gathered his troops together and led 300 [Flying Divine Soldiers] to rush into the formation. Wu Jiao and his disciples raised clouds and mist to change the formation. The officers and soldiers were like mindless flies, flying around in all directions and unable to break the formation. Instead, Song Gongming seized the opportunity and attacked with all his strength, killing most of the officers and soldiers and taking advantage of the situation to break through Qingzhou City."

"Three reinforcements. Zhen Mao, the chief of Yanzhou Feihuzhai, was killed by [Flying Centipede] Wu Qian and [Ironback Wolf] Cui Hao in the battle. [Double Spear General] Dong Ping led more than a thousand people to break through, and Gao Feng's vanguard Wan Fuxiong was also killed by [Hairy Star] Kong Ming and [Lone Fire Star] Kong Liang. Gao Feng led half of his troops to break through and return to Yizhou. After Song Gongming broke through Qingzhou Prefecture, he divided his troops to capture Linqu and Yiyuan again, and divided his troops to garrison. Now he is dividing his troops to attack Laiwu and Linzi. The news has spread throughout Qingyan."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen said, "I didn't expect Song Gongming to become so powerful. We should also make preparations early. If he really conquers Qing and Yan states, I'm afraid that we will be neighbors with him and we will inevitably be hostile to him."

Wu Yong also said, "That's right. I heard from the spies that in addition to the five people from Wolf Howl Mountain, Li Zhong told him that there are now two leaders on Jieyun Mountain in Yizhou, [Iron Arhat] Fatong and [Drunken Vajra] Fahui, who were invited by [Artemisia Leopard] Di Lei from Qingyun Mountain to join the group." Zhao Zhen heard this and said, "Yizhou is mountainous, and Gao Feng is harming people everywhere and doing all kinds of evil, forcing many good farmers to become bandits. In this situation, I don't know how many mountain strongholds will want to surrender to Song Jiang."

The two sighed for a while, and Wu Yong suddenly said, "Sir, now that Dong Ping has been defeated, he will definitely be reprimanded when he returns. I'm afraid that his position as the military commander will be unsettled. Why don't you make some plans and take on the role of military commander of Dongping Prefecture so that you can fight against Song Jiang?"

Zhao Zhen shook his head: "How can it be so easy? The last time Lord Taishan wrote to me, he told me that he had been criticized by the court for taking on the post of magistrate of Shouzhang County. It was all thanks to the recommendation of Grand Tutor Cai and Secretary Tong. It would be extremely difficult to move up to the next level."

"Now, Pudao has been issued to every village, and the militiamen have been training in their spare time. Tao Youda, the manager of rattan armor, has started to weave rattan armor. So far, 300 pairs have been made. There is no need to wait. Just like Pudao, they will be numbered and sent to every village. The first batch of rattan armor will be ready in October, about 1500 pairs. Together with the original 400 pairs, these 1900 pairs will be distributed, and every village will have the ability to protect itself. By then, all the soldiers here will be able to gather and go out to defend Dongping Prefecture. I think I can do it."

Wu Yong said: "What you said is right, sir. Now we have the chariot soldiers as a surprise force. If Song Jiang comes, we must hurt him in the first battle, so as to force him to withdraw his troops."

Zhao Zhen listened and nodded repeatedly. After the two discussed it, Wu Yong went to the Armory to get the rattan armor and had people distribute the rattan armor to various villages, recording them in a book according to their numbers for future inspection.

Zhao Zhen thought about it, stood up and went back to his residence, and told Cheng Wan'er the news he had obtained.

After hearing this, Cheng Wan'er said worriedly, "My husband, will Song Jiang overthrow Dongping Prefecture?"

Zhao Zhen shook his head and said, "How would I know? According to my guess, it would not be possible within one or two months. But I thought I should remind my father-in-law to make preparations early. My wife should also write a letter to persuade my mother-in-law to come to Liangshan County to stay temporarily."

Cheng Wan'er heard this and said, "My husband is right. My father has the responsibility to defend the land. My mother can go to Liangshan to take shelter for a while."

Having said this, Cheng Wan'er went to the study and wrote a letter. Zhao Zhen also wrote a letter and asked Bai Sheng to take someone to deliver it together with Cheng Wan'er's letter to Dongping Prefecture.

Zhao Zhen's letter was not to seek the position of military commander, but to remind his father-in-law Cheng Wanli to recruit young men and make preparations early. It would be best if he could write to the court to ask for reinforcements.

(End of this chapter)