Chapter 517 Escape
In Yidu City, Song Jiang was terrified and invited Yong'er into his mansion.
"Military Advisor, we have lost three battles in a row today and our morale is low. What should we do?"
Lai Yong'er said, "Brother, please be patient. Although we lost the battle today and our morale was dampened, we are defending the city with many soldiers and generals, so we are not afraid of him. Zhang Qing is very skilled, but he is not the most worrying one. What is worrying is the artillery of the Liangshan Army. Brother Di Yun was ambushed and killed by artillery. The navy also got the Liangshan underwater cannon, which is why they won a great victory over the imperial navy."
"Although I lost three games today, I have seen clearly that Zhao Zhen is not a loyal minister to the court."
After hearing this, Song Jiang asked hurriedly, "What do you mean, military advisor?"
Lai Yong'er said, "Brother, have you seen that Zhao Zhen seems to have sent a lot of troops? But if you calculate carefully, there are only more than 20,000 people. And the soldiers he has are only one tenth or twelve of them."
"The generals who went out to fight today were not his own, and the artillery was hidden in the army and not used. Brother, wait and see tomorrow. This fellow Zhao Zhen will definitely send his men to challenge the enemy and will never attack the city."
"This fellow must be thinking about preserving his strength. Judging from his actions, he is just occupying prefectures under the banner of the imperial court. Now, except for Liangshan Prefecture, Yanzhou, Yizhou, Mizhou, and Weizhou are all under his control. We occupied these places first, and now we have made them his wedding clothes."
Hearing this, Song Jiang could not help but frown and said, "Now that only Qingzhou is left, why is he still delaying?"
Lai Yonger said, "It is precisely because Qingzhou is the only one left that he is not in a hurry to encircle and suppress us. Although Brother Song Qing is no match for Wu Yong, he is not in a hurry to suppress him and drives Brother Song Qing to run around in Laizhou and Dengzhou. Naturally, he is also thinking of taking the opportunity to annex us."
"Now that we have been wiped out, the imperial court will certainly not tolerate him. This guy must have seen clearly that he wants to take advantage of us to eliminate the remaining government troops. The underwater rapid-fire cannon he sold to us is proof of this. Even more, Zhao Zhen wants to force us to continue to roam."
After hearing this, Song Jiang sighed and said, "Since Song Jiang was born, why was Zhao Zhen born?"
"When I first settled in the Qingzhou mountain stronghold, this guy was just a local tyrant. We fought hard and made him successful."
"Military Advisor, if Zhang Qing challenges us to a fight tomorrow, who will go to fight?" Song Jiang asked.
Lai Yonger heard this and said, "Brother, it may not be Zhang Qing who will challenge tomorrow. He won three battles in a row today, which is a great achievement. Don't other commanders have any ideas? I don't believe that these people can be convinced by Zhao Zhen."
Just as Lai Yong'er said, Zhao Zhen held a banquet to celebrate. During the banquet, Hu Yanzhuo and others also asked for orders to go into battle.
Zhang Qing had made great contributions today and was unwilling to give up his position as the vanguard. Hu Yanzhuo, Shan Tinggui and others repeatedly asked him to do so, and Zhao Zhen finally agreed out of consideration for his feelings.
Hu Yanzhuo said, "Sir, the Qingzhou bandits are doomed to fail. We have failed to suppress them and will be demoted if we cannot make any contributions. I beg you to have some mercy on us."
Wei Dingguo also said: "What Huyan Commander said is correct. We are people who have made meritorious contributions while serving our sentence. If we have no merit, demotion is a minor matter, but even punishment is a possibility."
After saying this, he looked at Zhang Qing and said, "Zhang Dujian has made great contributions. How can you bear to watch us make fun of ourselves?"
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Zhang Qing had to give up the position of vanguard. Zhao Zhen saw this and promised everyone that starting tomorrow, they would take turns to challenge each other.
Everyone was delighted when they heard this.
In the next few days, fights between dragons and tigers took place every day outside the city of Yidu.
Back in Linzi city, Ma Yuan had already found out where the government troops were gathering and where they were dispersed.
It turned out that Gao Lian, Wei Huchen and Yun Tianbiao were killed and scattered that day, but they did not flee like headless flies, but they all fled to the northwest without any prior agreement.
They all planned to go through Qiancheng and Boxing, return to Zibo, and regroup. Yun Tianbiao saw the opportunity early, and led his most elite 500 machete soldiers and the remaining 700 to 800 soldiers to escape first. Because they had no food, they could only pass through villages along the way to plunder food for emergency.
Because Yun Tianbiao looted food and grass along the way, Gao Lian and Wei Huchen, who were following behind, suffered a lot. The more than 3,000 people led by the two of them were stretched to the limit in terms of food.
The villages along the way were either on alert or fleeing, and the soldiers, hungry and thirsty, began to flee.
Gao Lian was helpless. Seeing that the Qingzhou bandits did not pursue him, he discussed with Wei Huchen and planned to pick a large village to plunder and replenish their food and grass.
Coincidentally, after two days of hurried escape, Gao Lian and his group entered the territory of Zhengyi Village.
Seeing that Zhengyi Village was prosperous, Gao Lian did not hesitate. He performed magic at night to pray for rain and create fog. Then, with three hundred "Flying Divine Soldiers" leading the way, he blew the wind and whistled, and charged into Liren Village.
The sudden heavy rain caused the militiamen on duty at Liren Village to relax their guard, and Gao Lian was able to break through such a large village in one fell swoop.
Ha Yunsheng was killed by the flying soldiers in his sleep.
When Ma Yuan got the news, Gao Lian had already fought a battle with Guihua Zhuang Haransheng, Zhengyi Zhuang Sha Zhiren, and Mian Yixin.
Thanks to the money and food from Liren Village, the soldiers had a full meal. The next day, they packed up their dry food and water bags and prepared to flee from the village. Harlansheng had already gathered the militiamen from the two villages.
Harlansheng took the lead and rushed straight towards the government troops.
Wei Huchen had no capable commanders or militiamen under his command, so he had to go into battle first.
When the two horses met, Wei Huchen was not strong enough and with just one blow, he turned the one-legged bronze man of Harlan Sheng, who had attacked with hatred, into a meat paste.
Gao Lian saw this and did not hesitate. He drew his sword from his back, muttered something, and shouted, "Quick!"
A black cloud was seen rising from Gao Lian's army. The cloud spread into the air, causing sand and rocks to fly, shaking the earth and the sky, and creating a strange wind that swept across the battlefield. Harlansheng and his men could not look at each other, and they got off their horses in shock and ran around roaring.
Gao Lian waved his sword, and three hundred divine soldiers rushed out from the formation, with the government troops behind them helping them and attacking them together.
Harlansheng and his troops were driven away, scattered like stars and clouds, calling for their brothers and looking for their sons and fathers. Fortunately, there was a village behind them, so they escaped with their lives. Even so, the local militia lost two to three thousand people.
Gao Lian won a great victory with the help of his Taoist magic and magic weapons. However, he did not dare to stay any longer because he was afraid that the Qingzhou bandits would chase him. He also collected his own troops and continued to flee.
In Guihua Village, Harlansheng said to Sha Zhiren and Mian Yixin: "It's a pity that this Qingzhou thief actually has a Taoist magician in his midst. Otherwise, I would have been able to avenge my brother today."
Sha Zhiren said, "Da Lang, look at the banners. These guys are not from the Qingzhou bandits. The man you killed looked friendly, and he seemed to be Wei Huchen, the governor of Maying Town. The one behind him was carrying the banner of Gao Lian from Gaotang Prefecture. This group of people seemed to be the government troops that crossed the river to suppress the Qingzhou bandits Ma Yuan and his gang."
Mian Yixin replied: "Isn't it that the government army was defeated?"
Harlansheng shouted, "So what if the government troops attacked us without reason and killed my brother? How can I let it go? Please help me, my two brothers, to avenge my grievances."
After hearing this, Sha Zhiren and Mian Yixin said quickly, "Yunsheng is also our brother, so we will do our best."
(End of this chapter)
In Yidu City, Song Jiang was terrified and invited Yong'er into his mansion.
"Military Advisor, we have lost three battles in a row today and our morale is low. What should we do?"
Lai Yong'er said, "Brother, please be patient. Although we lost the battle today and our morale was dampened, we are defending the city with many soldiers and generals, so we are not afraid of him. Zhang Qing is very skilled, but he is not the most worrying one. What is worrying is the artillery of the Liangshan Army. Brother Di Yun was ambushed and killed by artillery. The navy also got the Liangshan underwater cannon, which is why they won a great victory over the imperial navy."
"Although I lost three games today, I have seen clearly that Zhao Zhen is not a loyal minister to the court."
After hearing this, Song Jiang asked hurriedly, "What do you mean, military advisor?"
Lai Yong'er said, "Brother, have you seen that Zhao Zhen seems to have sent a lot of troops? But if you calculate carefully, there are only more than 20,000 people. And the soldiers he has are only one tenth or twelve of them."
"The generals who went out to fight today were not his own, and the artillery was hidden in the army and not used. Brother, wait and see tomorrow. This fellow Zhao Zhen will definitely send his men to challenge the enemy and will never attack the city."
"This fellow must be thinking about preserving his strength. Judging from his actions, he is just occupying prefectures under the banner of the imperial court. Now, except for Liangshan Prefecture, Yanzhou, Yizhou, Mizhou, and Weizhou are all under his control. We occupied these places first, and now we have made them his wedding clothes."
Hearing this, Song Jiang could not help but frown and said, "Now that only Qingzhou is left, why is he still delaying?"
Lai Yonger said, "It is precisely because Qingzhou is the only one left that he is not in a hurry to encircle and suppress us. Although Brother Song Qing is no match for Wu Yong, he is not in a hurry to suppress him and drives Brother Song Qing to run around in Laizhou and Dengzhou. Naturally, he is also thinking of taking the opportunity to annex us."
"Now that we have been wiped out, the imperial court will certainly not tolerate him. This guy must have seen clearly that he wants to take advantage of us to eliminate the remaining government troops. The underwater rapid-fire cannon he sold to us is proof of this. Even more, Zhao Zhen wants to force us to continue to roam."
After hearing this, Song Jiang sighed and said, "Since Song Jiang was born, why was Zhao Zhen born?"
"When I first settled in the Qingzhou mountain stronghold, this guy was just a local tyrant. We fought hard and made him successful."
"Military Advisor, if Zhang Qing challenges us to a fight tomorrow, who will go to fight?" Song Jiang asked.
Lai Yonger heard this and said, "Brother, it may not be Zhang Qing who will challenge tomorrow. He won three battles in a row today, which is a great achievement. Don't other commanders have any ideas? I don't believe that these people can be convinced by Zhao Zhen."
Just as Lai Yong'er said, Zhao Zhen held a banquet to celebrate. During the banquet, Hu Yanzhuo and others also asked for orders to go into battle.
Zhang Qing had made great contributions today and was unwilling to give up his position as the vanguard. Hu Yanzhuo, Shan Tinggui and others repeatedly asked him to do so, and Zhao Zhen finally agreed out of consideration for his feelings.
Hu Yanzhuo said, "Sir, the Qingzhou bandits are doomed to fail. We have failed to suppress them and will be demoted if we cannot make any contributions. I beg you to have some mercy on us."
Wei Dingguo also said: "What Huyan Commander said is correct. We are people who have made meritorious contributions while serving our sentence. If we have no merit, demotion is a minor matter, but even punishment is a possibility."
After saying this, he looked at Zhang Qing and said, "Zhang Dujian has made great contributions. How can you bear to watch us make fun of ourselves?"
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Zhang Qing had to give up the position of vanguard. Zhao Zhen saw this and promised everyone that starting tomorrow, they would take turns to challenge each other.
Everyone was delighted when they heard this.
In the next few days, fights between dragons and tigers took place every day outside the city of Yidu.
Back in Linzi city, Ma Yuan had already found out where the government troops were gathering and where they were dispersed.
It turned out that Gao Lian, Wei Huchen and Yun Tianbiao were killed and scattered that day, but they did not flee like headless flies, but they all fled to the northwest without any prior agreement.
They all planned to go through Qiancheng and Boxing, return to Zibo, and regroup. Yun Tianbiao saw the opportunity early, and led his most elite 500 machete soldiers and the remaining 700 to 800 soldiers to escape first. Because they had no food, they could only pass through villages along the way to plunder food for emergency.
Because Yun Tianbiao looted food and grass along the way, Gao Lian and Wei Huchen, who were following behind, suffered a lot. The more than 3,000 people led by the two of them were stretched to the limit in terms of food.
The villages along the way were either on alert or fleeing, and the soldiers, hungry and thirsty, began to flee.
Gao Lian was helpless. Seeing that the Qingzhou bandits did not pursue him, he discussed with Wei Huchen and planned to pick a large village to plunder and replenish their food and grass.
Coincidentally, after two days of hurried escape, Gao Lian and his group entered the territory of Zhengyi Village.
Seeing that Zhengyi Village was prosperous, Gao Lian did not hesitate. He performed magic at night to pray for rain and create fog. Then, with three hundred "Flying Divine Soldiers" leading the way, he blew the wind and whistled, and charged into Liren Village.
The sudden heavy rain caused the militiamen on duty at Liren Village to relax their guard, and Gao Lian was able to break through such a large village in one fell swoop.
Ha Yunsheng was killed by the flying soldiers in his sleep.
When Ma Yuan got the news, Gao Lian had already fought a battle with Guihua Zhuang Haransheng, Zhengyi Zhuang Sha Zhiren, and Mian Yixin.
Thanks to the money and food from Liren Village, the soldiers had a full meal. The next day, they packed up their dry food and water bags and prepared to flee from the village. Harlansheng had already gathered the militiamen from the two villages.
Harlansheng took the lead and rushed straight towards the government troops.
Wei Huchen had no capable commanders or militiamen under his command, so he had to go into battle first.
When the two horses met, Wei Huchen was not strong enough and with just one blow, he turned the one-legged bronze man of Harlan Sheng, who had attacked with hatred, into a meat paste.
Gao Lian saw this and did not hesitate. He drew his sword from his back, muttered something, and shouted, "Quick!"
A black cloud was seen rising from Gao Lian's army. The cloud spread into the air, causing sand and rocks to fly, shaking the earth and the sky, and creating a strange wind that swept across the battlefield. Harlansheng and his men could not look at each other, and they got off their horses in shock and ran around roaring.
Gao Lian waved his sword, and three hundred divine soldiers rushed out from the formation, with the government troops behind them helping them and attacking them together.
Harlansheng and his troops were driven away, scattered like stars and clouds, calling for their brothers and looking for their sons and fathers. Fortunately, there was a village behind them, so they escaped with their lives. Even so, the local militia lost two to three thousand people.
Gao Lian won a great victory with the help of his Taoist magic and magic weapons. However, he did not dare to stay any longer because he was afraid that the Qingzhou bandits would chase him. He also collected his own troops and continued to flee.
In Guihua Village, Harlansheng said to Sha Zhiren and Mian Yixin: "It's a pity that this Qingzhou thief actually has a Taoist magician in his midst. Otherwise, I would have been able to avenge my brother today."
Sha Zhiren said, "Da Lang, look at the banners. These guys are not from the Qingzhou bandits. The man you killed looked friendly, and he seemed to be Wei Huchen, the governor of Maying Town. The one behind him was carrying the banner of Gao Lian from Gaotang Prefecture. This group of people seemed to be the government troops that crossed the river to suppress the Qingzhou bandits Ma Yuan and his gang."
Mian Yixin replied: "Isn't it that the government army was defeated?"
Harlansheng shouted, "So what if the government troops attacked us without reason and killed my brother? How can I let it go? Please help me, my two brothers, to avenge my grievances."
After hearing this, Sha Zhiren and Mian Yixin said quickly, "Yunsheng is also our brother, so we will do our best."
(End of this chapter)
