Chapter 352 Tian Ji Horse Racing
Song Jiang and Sun Li fought for several days, and both sides knew the situation clearly.

Especially the artillery of Licheng. The number of firings on the 19th was sparse, and some city gates only fired a few shots a day. It can be said that it was better than nothing.

The defending generals were ready to abandon the city, so how could the attackers not understand that the city was about to be captured?
Based on various details, Wu Yong estimated that the city could be taken during the day on May 20th.

So Song Jiang got up early that day and prepared to enter the city as soon as possible after the city was broken. One was to avenge the murder of Yan Shun, the second was to vent his anger for Wu Yong and other brothers who were humiliated and scolded, and the third was to restrain the soldiers from disturbing the people.

At this moment, he had already regarded Luzhou as his own territory. He was angry because he had besieged She County for too long. After breaking the city, he did not establish rules in time, and his soldiers became bandits when they entered the city, causing great disaster to the people of that county.

Now that Yan Qing has been repelled, only Yangqu is left to reinforce. Luzhou seems to be in our pocket, so we can no longer mess around in Licheng.

After breakfast, Song Jiang was about to go to the front line to command, but unexpectedly, the scouts outside sent back information: a large number of troops were moving south along the Zhang River, and that army was flying a big flag with the word "Wu" on it.

The Zhang River originates in the southwest of Luzhou, and first passes through Shangdang, Lucheng, Xiangyuan and other places, drawing a "几" character on the ground, then flows southward through the west of Licheng, to the Taihang Mountains in the south, and finally flows east out of Taihang and into the Yellow River.

The official road between Xiangyuan and Licheng was dug along the Zhangshui River Valley. When Wu Yong evacuated midway, he left Zhang Qing and Gong Wang behind to guard the upstream and downstream of the Zhangshui River.

As two people died or were injured, and Yan Qing came to reinforce, a war was triggered, and Yan Qing then moved around in this area.

Wu Yong saw that Yan Qing wanted to harass and delay, so he suggested that Song Jiang send Lu Fang's troops to watch, so Lu Fang sent someone back to the central army to report the incident. Song Jiang preconceived that it was Yan Qing who was causing trouble, and only after asking clearly was he sure that Wu Song's reinforcements had arrived.

It takes half a day to march from the discovery of the enemy's position to Licheng.

Song Jiang originally planned to let Lu Fang delay the battle while he himself would focus on capturing the city first. However, he was worried that he would not be able to take the city in half a day, and would be at a disadvantage if he fought with an exhausted army. So he asked Wu Yong to discuss countermeasures.

Wu Yong suggested giving up the siege temporarily without giving it much thought.

Not only that, he also suggested that the troops that attacked the city last night be gathered together to strengthen the army, and set up a battle array ten miles southwest of Licheng to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.

When it comes to military deployment, Song Jiang always listens to Wu Yong's advice, which led to what Sun Li saw.

An army of 45,000 deliberately blocked the road to Licheng, waiting for Wu Song's reinforcements to arrive.

The midsummer sun is very diligent. After rising from the east, it continues to climb higher, also spreading its heat to the earth, baking people on the open ground as if they were frying oil.

At that time, the place Wu Yong chose to await the enemy had only a few small trees to provide shade and escape the heat, so most people were destined to be exposed to the sun.

After Song Jiang arrived, he waited for a while. Seeing that Wu Song's men had not arrived yet, and glimpsing that the soldiers in the rear were in poor condition, he pulled Wu Yong aside.

"Military advisor, we are here exposed to the sun, and half of our brothers have experienced a night battle. Can this be considered as waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out? It would be better to bring half of the people to hold them back, leaving last night's team to rest, and then continue the siege later."

"No!"

Wu Yong answered decisively, then covered the two men's faces with his feather fan and explained softly: "According to the information from the scouts, Wu Song's army may have 20,000 soldiers. Although they marched under the scorching sun, they never fought once. Think about the fight with Yan Qing that day? We only have half the number of people, so we don't have much advantage."

"What the military advisor said is true."

Song Jiang was instantly awakened, and he straightened up, stroked his beard and murmured: "Yang Chang's army can fight against the Jin people. If I fight with equal forces, I will not be able to gain an advantage. However, half of our brothers are tired and can hardly help us in a real fight. Wu Song is anxious to save Licheng, so fighting will be useless."

"I asked the general to gather the whole army here to calm Wu Song down and prevent him from fighting hard. Once the soldiers have rested, we can have a decisive battle."

"Is it so easy to delay? Yan Qing fought to the death that day."

"Yan Qing's situation is different. He will stay if he doesn't fight to the death. Wu Song has so many soldiers and is responsible for helping Yang Chang defend the land. He should not be too impulsive."

Wu Yong twirled his beard and stared into the distance with his sharp eyes. He could vaguely see some black spots, so he added, "There are soldiers moving ahead. It must be that Lu Fang can no longer hold them back. Wu Song should be here soon."

"Lü Fang only has 2,000 men, and he was used to guard Yan Qing. It's not his fault if he can't stop Wu Song."

Song Jiang had just finished his comment when he suddenly came close to Wu Yong and asked with concern, "By the way, although Wu Erlang is usually very calm, once he gets angry, no one can stop him. What plan do you have to calm him down, Advisor?"

"It's not difficult."

Wu Yong smiled and raised his scissor hand, and replied meaningfully: "Two points. First, the high temperature has an impact on us, and it also affects Wu Song's party. They have walked for half a day today. Seeing 40,000 to 50,000 people blocking their way, even the most impulsive people will calm down a bit;
Secondly, it is unlikely that tens of thousands of people will retreat peacefully in the end after confronting each other under the scorching sun, so we can only confuse them by shouting or fighting with their generals, so that they dare not start a large-scale war. "

"Calling out the fighting general?"

Song Jiang frowned when he heard this, then he thought that Wu Song was not as sharp-tongued as Gu Dasao, and he was confident in a verbal confrontation, but he was not sure about fighting a general.

Although he brought enough brave generals with him this time, Hua Rong and Zhang Qing had been sent back to Shexian due to injuries, leaving only Qin Ming, Dong Ping, Xu Ning, and Suo Chao. However, Yang Chang had Lu Junyi, Lu Zhishen, Wu Song, Qiu Qiongying, and Yang Zhi under his command.
The most important thing is that Wu Song also learned how to fight on horseback, and he was a type that Suo Chao couldn't resist. If these brave men joined the fight, Qin, Dong, Xu, and Suo wouldn't be able to resist either.

Wu Yong saw Song Jiang's serious expression and smiled to comfort him: "Don't worry, Taiwei. With the Jin army at Yanmen and the Pingding Army holding him back, Wu Song definitely doesn't dare to recall all the brave generals. Even if he does, the number is relatively limited. Right now, Lin Chong is being held back by Hu Yanzhuo. As long as Lu Junyi is not here, Qin Ming and Dong Ping are enough to calm him down!"

"I'm afraid that Lu Junyi will follow me. No one except Yang Chang can take on this guy's martial arts skills."

"That depends on luck, but I guess Lu Junyi won't come. From what Bai Sheng knows, this man has always stayed with Yang Chang, but after retaking Yanmen last year, he stayed in Daizhou for a long time and didn't come back. Besides Yang Chang, Wu Song can't command Hedong, right?"

“So there’s a lot of hope?”

Song Jiang's eyes sparkled, and hope was rekindled in his heart. Wu Yong pointed ahead and said, "It's meaningless for us to speculate here. Lu Fang will be here soon. The commander will know the answer by asking him."

"good."

About an incense stick of time later, Lu Fang returned to Song Jiang and reported the real-time military situation.

Song Jiang was so happy to hear this that he couldn't help but jokingly asked Wu Yong, "The military advisor's prediction was accurate, but despite your brilliant calculations, did you expect such a lineup to arrive?"

“It was beyond my expectation.”

Wu Yong frowned and twirled his goatee. He couldn't understand why none of the generals guarding the border were present, and why Qiu Qiongying, who was good at martial arts, was not there either. At this time, Song Jiang smiled and added: "As expected, Wu Song is still the leader. Hu Sanniang's martial arts are also passable. Yan Qing, who was defeated a few days ago, is barely passable. The rest, Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi, are the leaders of the navy. Cai Qing, Tao Zongwang, and Hou Jian are not up to par. It seems that they really have no one to use, so they even brought these guys in to make up the numbers."

"Taiwei, don't be careless. Qiu Qiongying is quite powerful, but she didn't show up this time. Is there some conspiracy? Also, I heard from Suo Chao that he once had a sparring match with Xuan Zan and the two were evenly matched. A few days ago, he injured Hua Rong in an archery duel. Then, Kong Ming was killed by Zou Run, and Yan Shun was also knocked off his horse by Sun Xin. Everything seems strange."

Before Wu Yong could finish his words of persuasion, Song Jiang blocked his fanning hand and said seriously:
"Military advisor, you are worrying too much. I have come down to learn more about it. Xuan Zan was able to become a county horse because of his ability with bows and arrows, so it is reasonable for him to defeat Hua Rong. As for the draw between him and Suo Chao, I think it was because Suo Chao did not let go.

Besides, Kong Ming's killing was an accident, and Yan Shun was injured before, so Sun Xin took advantage of him. In short, don't spread rumors. Based on Wu Song's lineup, can you think of a good countermeasure to give them a warning?"

"With this lineup, I'm really afraid that Wu Song will directly charge forward. Let me think about it." Wu Yong pushed Song Jiang's hand away, waved his feather fan with a frown, walked back and forth twice, and suddenly stopped.

"The commander-in-chief may imitate Tian Ji's horse racing, and use your inferior horses against his superior horses, your superior horses against his middle horses, and your middle horses against his inferior horses."

Song Jiang tugged at Wu Yong's sleeve, nodded and said, "I know this story, Military Advisor, please explain it more clearly."

"It's very simple." Wu Yong's mouth twitched slightly, and he said meaningfully: "Wu Song brought these people. They rarely fought with us before. When we fight, we must try to choose the right opponents. If Qin Ming and Dong Ping go up at the beginning, how can they resist?"

"But apart from Wu Song and Hu Sanniang, I'm afraid the others won't appear."

"Then we should find a way to provoke them. It would be best if we could capture a few of them on the battlefield. Then we will have the initiative in our hands. Killing them directly can also undermine the enemy's morale. As long as we delay them for a day or half a year, so that the brothers who participated in the battle last night can have a good rest, we can then launch a frontal attack."

"Makes sense."

Song Jiang nodded in affirmation and added, "Before Wu Song arrives, let's arrange the upper, middle and lower horses first, so that it will be easier to deploy troops later."

"hehe."

Wu Yong smiled and consoled, "Actually, there's nothing to arrange. Apart from infantry commanders like Tang Long, we don't have any horses on our side. It's just Qin Ming versus Wu Song, Dong Ping versus Hu Sanniang, Xu Ning and Suo Chao versus Yan Qing. When the Ruan brothers go out to fight, let Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu deal with them. As for the rest, Tao Zongwang and Cai Qing, Xiang Chong, Li Gun, and Tang Long can handle them."

“It seems to be true. I’m suddenly looking forward to it.”

The scorching sun shone on Song Jiang's face, and his dark complexion was shrouded in cunning.

If Yang Chang had not expanded his territory so much and gathered all the capable brothers together, he would not have been able to "take advantage of the opportunity" today.

Song Jiang thought that Wu Song had no one to use, so he could only bring a group of hooligans to make up the numbers. However, he didn't know that these people had been promoted by Yang Chang, and their strength had greatly improved compared to before, and they were no longer "Wu Xia A'mon".

Of course, this lineup was not what Wu Song and Hu Sanniang originally intended. They had planned to leave the three Ruan brothers to help Qiu Qiongying defend Yangqu, but the riding skills that Yang Chang picked up were sufficient, so they assigned them to all the Liangshan brothers under their command, not only the three Ruan brothers who were in charge of the navy, but even An Daoquan, Jin Dajian and others were not spared.

Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi insisted on joining the war, so they squeezed out the places of Li Ying and Chai Jin, thus forming a lineup that Song Jiang and Wu Yong despised.

When the news of the incident at Fengyue Pass reached Yangqu, everyone was shocked. No one expected Song Jiang to launch a surprise attack there.

Yang Chang had always been on guard against Song Jiang, but because he had to continue dealing with the Jin people and stabilize the newly recovered land, he was cautious but did not take action. After all, the threat posed by the Jin people was greater.

Luzhou has Fengyue Pass as a barrier, and sparrows outside act as eyes. In addition, Song Jiang deliberately confused Huai and Wei, so Yang Chang placed the focus of defense in Zezhou, which caused this strategic misjudgment.

At that time, the fierce attack of the Jin army was put down. On the day when Zhao Fujin went to reinforce, Hu Sanniang dispatched several thousand elite soldiers and ordered Ma Baoguo to go with her to obey orders. Therefore, when Yangqu received the battle report of Fengyue Pass, there were not many troops to mobilize.

There was also an enemy in Zezhou. Guessing that Lin Chong's reinforcements were insufficient, Wu Song and Hu Sanniang thought about it and decided to withdraw troops from Fenzhou, Weisheng and Liaozhou, and barely gathered 20,000 infantry and cavalry, so they arrived relatively slowly.

However, their numbers were not as good as the soldiers from Zezhou in quality. In addition, after meeting Yan Qing in Zhangshui and learning about the scale of Song Jiang's army, Wu Song and Hu Sanniang became even more unsure.

So after forcing Lu Fang to retreat, Wu Song ordered the entire army to maintain speed and kept reminding them to drink water to cool down, for fear of a sudden encounter.

Seeing the enemy troops forming a battle array from afar, Wu Song's heart immediately skipped a beat. He did not plan to engage in direct battle with them, and also hoped that by engaging in a fight with Song Jiang, he could allow his soldiers to rest.

Thinking of this, he immediately discussed with Hu Sanniang and Yan Qing, "Sister-in-law, Xiaoyi brother, we are traveling under the scorching sun, and Song Jiang's soldiers are waiting for us to tire out. Remember not to get carried away and try to delay time with words or fighting, so as to give the soldiers some time to rest."

"Second brother is right. You will be the one making the decisions on the battlefield later."

"Well, once the soldiers have adjusted themselves, they will need encouragement from their brothers and sisters before the battle. I found that as long as the brothers and sisters say a few words, the morale of the soldiers will be higher."

"It is obligatory."

Hu Sanniang nodded in agreement, thinking to herself that your feeling is right, this is the fortune that the master has given me.

Wu Song then said to Yan Qing: "I am not afraid of anyone when it comes to fighting, but when it comes to talking, this is indeed my weakness. Brother Xiaoyi, I will rely on you to challenge you later!"

"To be honest, although I am proficient in playing musical instruments and singing, I still lack the ability to curse." Yan Qing was embarrassed at first, but suddenly pointed at Ruan Xiaoqi behind him and reminded him, "Oh, Brother Qi is here!"

"What's wrong with me?" Ruan Xiaoqi looked surprised.

"Brother Wu, if I ask you to yell in front of the battle line, do you dare or not?"

"Scold? Sure! If Song Jiang were here, I'd scold him till he's mad!"

Yan Qing originally made a proposal, but he didn't expect that Ruan Xiaoqi not only responded promptly, but also spoke with great confidence.

Wu Song was afraid that he would get carried away, so he quickly reminded him, "I'll remind you when the time comes. Remember not to act on your own, otherwise it will affect the overall plan."

"Don't worry, second brother. Xiao Qi knows what's going on."

"That's good."

Although Ruan Xiaoqi answered readily, when the two sides lined up to confront each other, he rushed forward to break the deadlock and pointed at Song Jiang and shouted, "Song Jiang, you are not dead yet?"

(End of this chapter)