Chapter 351 Wu Song appears, Song Jiang responds
While Song Jiang was supporting the enemy, he sent out scouts from time to time to conduct reconnaissance.

When he found out that Hua Rong had started the war ahead of schedule, Hei Sanlang couldn't help but curse a few words, but according to the plan, he asked Lu Fang and Guo Sheng to lead 3,000 soldiers each and divide them into left and right, intending to attack Yan Qing from three sides.

Of course, if Hua Rong could lure Yan Qing back, he could divide his troops and encircle them in a roundabout way to speed up the attack.

Lu Fang and Guo Sheng led their troops to bypass them, so Song Jiang led his troops independently to support them. On the way, he received an urgent report from the scouts: Hua Rong seemed to have been defeated and was retreating.

With almost the same number of troops, Hua Rong and Suo Chao had absolute advantage. They could be defeated by Yan Qing. Isn't that called feigning defeat to lure the enemy?

At that time, although Song Jiang scolded the scout, he was very happy in his heart. He thought to himself that Hua Rong was indeed his right-hand man and he could rely on him at the critical moment.

His proud mood did not last long, as he saw the troops pretending to be defeated and retreating like cattle and sheep, with several cavalrymen protecting Hua Rong in front.

How come he's running so fast? Can Yan Qing keep up?

Song Jiang walked forward with confusion, and then he saw Hua Rong holding the horse's neck. Even though the sun was setting, he could see that something was wrong with his face.

Wait, he has an arrow in his back?
"It's just a fake defeat, why is it so serious?"

"Cough cough."

Hua Rong coughed twice and was embarrassed to answer. He immediately changed the subject and reported: "Yan Qing wants to rescue Licheng and has led his troops to follow. The commander can lead the troops directly to fight. I was injured by an arrow and cannot continue to follow the army. I have to return to the camp to find a doctor to treat my wounds."

"I know. Go back to the camp and get treatment right away. Don't let it get any worse."

"Let's go!"

The horses' hooves tumbled again. Song Jiang looked at Hua Rong's back and complained in his heart, "I just wanted to seduce Yan Qing. Do you need to risk your life like this? If anything goes wrong, I will be the one who loses in the end."

We won’t do business that will lose money. You don’t know how to do the math!
Song Jiang quickly sought help from Suo Chao who had come rushing over to resolve the doubts in his mind.

"What happened to Hua Rong? Why was he shot in the back? Did someone in the enemy camp sneak attack him?"

"No." Suo Chao shook his head and replied, "Hua Fangyu and Xuan Zan first fought in a martial arts competition and then in an archery contest. The two fought brilliantly, but I don't know if Xuan Zan had deliberately concealed his strength before, or if he had just learned a quick shot. During the archery contest, he shot ten arrows in a row. Hua Fangyu used all his strength to dodge, but in the end he was still hit by three arrows."

"Is Xuan Zan so good at archery?"

When Song Jiang heard this his eyes widened, and he thought he would go back to find Guan Sheng to verify it.

Why would this ugly thing hide this skill? If your archery skills can be comparable to Hua Rong's, for the sake of your ugly face, you will definitely be admitted to the Tiangang camp.

This is what is called sympathy. Heisanlang himself was born small and ugly, and he admired Lu Junyi for being well-born, but he was extremely jealous in his heart, especially towards Yang Chang, who had both fame and fortune. He had long hated him.

With Xuan Zan's appearance, Hei Sanlang naturally has to take special care of him. His care is similar to that of some women in the company. When recruiting, he will subconsciously take care of female job seekers.

Seeing Suo Chao lower his head in agreement, Song Jiang frowned and muttered to himself, "So, Hua Rong didn't pretend to be defeated? But you guys really lost the battle? How incredible!"

"General, Xuan Zan's martial arts are not inferior to mine. It will probably take Qin Ming or Dong Ping to subdue him."

“They haven’t come yet!”

"That"

Song Jiang raised his hand to interrupt Suo Chao and said sternly, "Since Yan Qing and the others have fallen into the trap, we should directly counterattack with our superior military strength. When Lu Fang and Guo Sheng come to flank us from both sides, we will definitely eat up this group of thieves."

"The Jin army has noticed the Taiwei reinforcements and has slowed down their pace and stopped chasing. They seem to be hesitating in forming a battle array. If the Taiwei wants to attack, we must hurry up, otherwise Yan Qing will definitely run away when he reacts!"

"Then what are you waiting for? Gather your troops and press forward with my rear army. By the way, since Xuan Zan is a skilled martial artist, we will try to capture him alive. Although he is under the command of Yang Chang, he has a close personal relationship with Guan Sheng. I hope we can persuade him to give up his evil ways and join the good."

“That’s good.”

Although Suo Chao agreed, he complained in his heart that it was not so easy to capture someone alive.
Besides, this man surrendered to Yang a long time ago. His rapid improvement in martial arts now may be related to Yang Chang. Guan Sheng's persuasion to surrender may not be effective. No matter how much he says, it will be useless. Capturing a general is not up to him. Things on the battlefield change rapidly. The key depends on God's will.

Since Song Jiang broke through Fengyue Pass, Kong Ming, Yan Shun, and Gong Wang were killed, Zhang Qing and Hua Rong were injured, and Zhu Gui was captured in Licheng. He has fewer and fewer brothers around him and he really wants to add fresh blood.

Most people don't like an ugly man like Xuan Zan, and he doesn't have many friends. An old friend like Guan Sheng is rare, and if you promise him a high position and generous salary, you may be able to make him defect.

Song Jiang was able to expand Liangshan by relying on friends introducing friends, but things had changed by then.

His little reputation in the underworld had long been exhausted after he was recruited. Now that he could have these brothers gathered around him, it was actually because of Zhao Gou's court, which fulfilled its promises to these people and gave them a status that he had never dared to imagine before.

However, Yang Chang is now the Prince of Jin, and one step further is to become the emperor. Even though Xuan Zan and Guan Sheng are old friends, they know who has a better future with him.

Song Jiang had to obey Zhao Gou, while Xuan Zan directly obeyed Yang Chang. There is no comparison at all.

Although Hei Sanlang was daydreaming, he was an expert at marching and deploying troops, and he was able to launch counterattacks and command properly.

The soldiers who were originally retreating in the front were like children who were bullied outside. They felt confident when they found their parents to complain and brought their parents with them to vent their anger.

At that time, Yan Qing had just completed the formation of the battle array. When he saw the defeated army joining the reinforcements, he rushed back without stopping. He did not realize the seriousness of the problem because his mind was on Licheng. He hoped to take advantage of the coming night to break through the obstacles and break into Song Jiang's encirclement.

"Brother Xuan, Song Jiang is a hypocrite, and so are his generals. We may even have a duel later. Whether you can defeat them depends on your archery skills. As long as you injure or kill two enemy generals, the enemy army will surely be defeated again!"

"I try my best. They come very quickly."

"Who says it's not?"

"No, Manager Yan, that's not right." Xuan Zan suddenly became excited.

Yan Qing followed the direction of his finger, frowned and murmured, "You mean, they should slow down at this distance, but the other party didn't slow down?"

"Yes, we have to leave some space for the fight, otherwise it will just be a direct fight!"

"The enemy has more people, but you can lead Chief Steward Lin to train elite soldiers, so we may be able to win. As the saying goes, when two meet in a narrow road, the brave prevail. If we win this battle, we can enter Licheng tonight."

"It seems that the difference in troop strength is nearly two times. Unless we crush the enemy's morale, even if we win, it will be a pyrrhic victory. You'd better think it through!"

After Xuan Zan's reminder, Yan Qing suddenly said in a deep voice: "Prince Jin is not at home now, and Song Jiang's army is not weak, but the manpower is limited. We can consume as much as we can. There will always be brothers who have to fight hard battles. Try to reduce the pressure on the friendly forces.
I estimate that the reinforcements from Yangqu will arrive soon. If we can control the battle line in Licheng, the other cities in Luzhou can be saved. As the commander-in-chief of Luzhou’s army, I have no choice but to do my duty. I’m sorry for the hardship you brothers from Zezhou have to endure.”

"What are you talking about?"

Xuan Zan frowned upon hearing this and said righteously, "Whether it's Luzhou or Zezhou, aren't they all under the command of the King of Jin? You are the commander in this battle, and I will obey your orders. I will lead the front to suppress the enemy, and you will take charge of the overall situation in the rear army!"

"it is good!"

Yan Qing drew his sword, pointed at the enemy in front and shouted: "Brothers, prepare to fight!" After a while, Suo Chao led his troops to charge back fiercely, and Xuan Zan met them tit for tat.

The two men met their match again, and the battle was fierce.

Yan Qing was in command in the rear, and with inferior forces he held off the enemy's charge. The two armies shouted and fought in the setting sun, as if they were going to lift back the veil of night that was about to close in.

Song Jiang, who was also commanding the rear, saw that these opponents not only held their ground, but also slowly moved the battle line northward.

It would be fine if the generals became stronger, but is Commander Yang’s army also so strong?
Is this still available?

The expression on Song Jiang's face grew darker as the night grew darker, but soon the corners of his mouth began to twitch, because suddenly sparks of fire appeared on the left and right wings of the Jin army.

If he and Yan Qing fought so hard that they could delay the arrival of Lu Fang and Guo Sheng's troops who had taken a detour, they would be able to be attacked from three sides.

Yan Xiaoyi, wait and see how you die!
If Yan Qing was also fighting in the front row, he might not have noticed the people coming from the two wings, but he was commanding in the rear at the moment, and like Song Jiang, he noticed the clues and immediately realized the danger.

It would be great if we could enter Licheng tonight and reunite with Sun Li, but the current situation is obviously not right. The gap in military strength between the two sides will soon widen, and in the end I'm afraid we won't be able to win a miserable victory, and these five thousand brothers will also have to die here.

"Ming Jin withdraws his troops!"

"Quick! The rear team becomes the front team, quickly retreat to the south bank of the Zhang River, the front team holds back!"

The real battlefield is not a game. You cannot avoid danger by predicting it. There is no such thing as the fancy snake-skin movements that e-sports players talk about. Soldiers have to run on their own legs and resist pursuers.

It was about fifteen miles from the battlefield to the Zhang River. Since both sides were mainly composed of infantry, whether one could escape or be killed depended on one's own endurance.

The sky gradually grew darker, casting a shadow on the ending.

By the time the smoke cleared, it was already the second half of the night. Song Jiang even chased Yan Qing across the Zhang River and forced him back into the canyon on the south bank. Only then did he dare not pursue him any further due to the terrain.

As for the casualties on both sides, it was too dark at night to make a statistics, but corpses were strewn all over the banks of the Zhang River.

The next morning.

Yan Qing counted the number of people on the mountain road and found that there were only 1,500 people left. He did not win a tragic victory but only suffered a crushing defeat. Xuan Zan was also lying on a cart with multiple injuries due to his hard work in covering him. If he had not died when his mount reached the south bank of the Zhang River, he might have been killed or captured at this time.

Xuan Zan saw Yan Qing was dejected, so he comforted him, "Brother Xiaoyi, don't blame yourself. Who would have thought that Song Jiang had an ambush? Although we lost a lot of soldiers, they fought very hard last night. I guess the other side's losses were not less than ours. At least we achieved a one-on-one loss."

"But we have lost too many soldiers. The remaining thousand or so can't do anything big. I'm afraid we can't save Licheng."

"Not necessarily. As long as Licheng can hold out for a few more days, the reinforcements from Yangqu should be arriving soon."

"How many defenders are there in Licheng? If Song Jiang loses his life, how can he attack fiercely?"

Yan Qing had just said half of his words when an idea suddenly occurred to him. He added excitedly, "I can take fewer troops and continue to harass the Zhangshui area. Song Jiang will definitely send troops to defend it, which will help relieve the pressure on Licheng."

"Too few is not good either. Just arrange a few people to send me back to Lucheng, and you can take the rest of the soldiers with you. This mountain road is relatively narrow. If Song Jiang is really pissed off, he will chase us and we will have the strength to fight."

"That makes sense. I'll assign a hundred soldiers to take you back to Lucheng to recover. If your condition is serious, remember to send you to Yangqu immediately, or bring Doctor Anshen over."

"I don't need to do that. Hu Yanzhuo is feinting at Taihang Pass. Chief Lin will definitely not be able to come. At most, I can send a few thousand more people to reinforce. The subsequent containment depends on you, hiss."

Xuan Zan tried hard to remind himself of the pain, but there were too many wounds on his body and he finally couldn't help but groan.

Yan Qing couldn't bear to see this, so he sent a hundred men to see Xuan Zan off, and he himself led the troops north.

He planned to set up camp at the entrance of the valley first, leaving a retreat route before continuing the harassment. At the same time, he sent scouts to report in the direction of Weisheng, in order to share his own situation and to confirm the location of the Yangqu reinforcements.

After all, Licheng is in danger. If the reinforcements from Yangqu arrive too late, they will lose the city as a stronghold and the situation will be too passive for them.

The problems that Yan Qing could think of were naturally also thought of by the experienced Song Jiang. After he repelled Yan Qing's troops, the only reinforcement left was the one heading towards Yangqu.

No matter who Wu Song appoints as the commander-in-chief of the troops in Yangqu, no one will be as anxious as Yan Qing. After all, he is the chief military officer of Luzhou, so there is no point in staying in Licheng.

However, taking Licheng as a new stronghold would be more helpful in repelling reinforcements. So Song Jiang left Lu Fang to clean up the battlefield and led the army back to Licheng to supervise the battle.

He adjusted his tactics when he returned to the camp. He divided the original siege troops into groups again. Although the number of troops in each group was reduced by half, the attacks were changed from dusk to morning to attacks in rotation day and night, making the wheel tactics to the extreme.

On the 18th and 19th, Licheng fought day and night. Not only were the regular soldiers exhausted, but new recruits were also replaced in batches.

The most critical four guns were consuming shells. Although Li Zhong brought hundreds of them, which were sufficient, they were not enough to "waste" them day and night.

By the early morning of the 20th, all the artillery shells in Licheng had been used up, and there were only a few stones, wood and other military supplies left in the city. Sun Li then ordered the houses to be demolished to take bricks and wood.

Supplies could still be raised despite the difficulties, but the soldiers were almost completely lost, and the survivors were exhausted and could hardly fight again.

After discussion, Sun Li and his men decided to wait until dusk that day and then break out from the west gate with the remaining troops.

However, Song Jiang did not launch an attack that day, but transferred all the troops from the four gates to the west gate, and then slowly advanced westward.

Just when Sun Li was puzzled, Mrs. Gu suddenly rushed to the west gate to announce the good news. She said excitedly, "Uncle, Song Jiang is acting so abnormally today. It must be that the reinforcements from Yangqu have arrived. Maybe the King of Jin has returned!"

"is it?"

Sun Li frowned and said, "I thought he was going to concentrate his forces to attack the west gate, but he marched straight to the west. Could this be Wu Yong's plan? This guy is the most sinister."

"It cannot be ruled out, but we can let the soldiers take a good rest and continue to prepare various defensive materials to prevent Song Jiang from making a surprise attack."

"Well, remember to demolish more houses. Instead of leaving the city to Song Jiang, it is better to demolish it and use it for the battle. Demolish my house too!"

"it is good!"

Mrs. Gu hurried to make arrangements, but she had a premonition that reinforcements had really arrived. After all, it had been twenty days since the incident at Fengyue Pass. If they didn't come, it meant that the Pingding Army was in danger and Luzhou could no longer take care of it.

Who will take charge?
If Prince Jin hasn't returned yet, will the Third Lady continue to impersonate him?

Mrs. Gu has always been smart, but she guessed wrong this time. Qiu Qiongying, who had the highest appearance rate, was now guarding the house in Yangqu, while Wu Song, who had been guarding the rear, came out as the strongest fighting force. Hu Sanniang, who had been guarding the house for a long time, also came with a powerful lineup.

So Song Jiang had a stress response.

(End of this chapter)