Volume 1 Chapter 62 Day 5
When Yue Fei saw the other party draw his knife and point it at him, he did not panic at all. Instead, he answered calmly in the same Hebei accent as the other party:
"Let this Chief Li know that I was once surrounded by the Jin army in Hebei and was injured by an arrow in the eyebrow when I tried to break through the siege. So it seems like I am rolling my eyes at everyone, but I don't mean to look down on anyone ."
Li Cheng was suddenly stunned. Before he could think of how to respond, Zhang Rong beside him simply put his hands on his hips and laughed out loud, which made Li Cheng even more embarrassed and in a dilemma!
"alright!"
At this moment, General Yang suddenly spoke up. "Fu Xuan, go collect the weapons of the heroes sitting here..."
It has to be said that although Yang Weizhong seemed rude before, he was actually very experienced. He had not spoken for a long time, but when he spoke, he spoke at the right time. He not only gave Li Cheng a way out, but also resolved the conflict between Li Cheng, Zhang Rong and Yue Fei, and strengthened his own authority at the same time.
Upon hearing the military order, a young military officer under Yang Wei Zhong immediately stepped forward and led several other military officers to collect the weapons of everyone in the hall from the front to the back. They only collected one table, and the second one came to Yue Fei and Ma Kuo in order.
Ma Kuo didn't care and directly handed over the sword at his waist, but Yue Fei remained motionless.
"This Commander Yue..." The military officer named Fu Xuan couldn't help but urge.
"Are you from the Taihang Mountain Eight Character Army?" Yue Fei sat still, just looking up at the eight characters tattooed on the man's cheek, and sighed softly. "You shouldn't be one of the twelve tribes that crossed the river that day, right? Otherwise, I wouldn't forget you."
The man was slightly startled, then said solemnly: "Reporting to Commander Yue, the Jin people relocated the Jurchen and Khitan men to various military states in Hebei, and frequently sent hundreds of thousands of troops back and forth, making endless demands. The people of Hebei could not bear the hardships, so they rose up and gathered in Taihang Mountain... Among them, the Wuma Mountain in the North Taihang Mountains has Prince Xin as a guarantor, and has the greatest influence in the north; while in the South Taihang Mountains, the Eight Characters Army of Taiwei Wang is the most famous... I left home in November last year to join Taiwei Wang, and then got my tattoo, and I have indeed heard of Commander Yue's reputation from the young military officer Fan."
Yue Fei nodded slightly, glanced at Ma Kuo beside him, and then continued to ask: "Since the Eight Character Army is so powerful, why are you here?"
"Were they dispersed by the main force of the Jin army when we were coming down the mountain?" Fu Xuan replied helplessly. "The momentum in the mountains was growing, but once we entered the plains, we were no match for the Jin cavalry... Fortunately, when we were heading east after the defeat, we happened to meet General Yang, and he followed us all the way."
Yue Fei nodded again.
"Commander Yue." Fu Xuan finished chatting with Yue Fei in front of everyone's sidelong glances, but finally urged him. "If you want to talk, let's have a drink tonight, and I will talk to you slowly. Please hand over your weapons now... so that I can do it better!"
Yue Fei finally held the sword at his waist and shook his head slowly: "Captain Yang recognizes me, and you have heard of me. You must know that I am the commander of the Eastern Capital of the Great Song Dynasty, a regular military officer, and this must be the lobby of the Great Song Dynasty government. There is no reason for a dignified commander of the Great Song Dynasty to surrender weapons like a group of bandits."
Ma Kuo was embarrassed when he heard this, Fu Xuan was also caught off guard, but Yang Weizhong simply turned his head and said nothing.
"What do you mean?!" Li Cheng in the hall was furious again after hearing this, and drew his sword for the second time. "You are a nobody commander, you still look down on me, Li Cheng, right?!"
"I'm not looking down on Chief Li. I'm just telling the truth," Yue Fei responded sincerely.
Li Cheng became more and more angry, and he jumped forward and chopped at the man on the head with a knife.
Seeing this, the two people closest to them, Ma Kuo and Fu Xuan, reacted very quickly. One tried to lift the case to stop them , while the other turned around and reached for his knife.
But Li Cheng was no show-off, and he was vicious, not just bluffing. His sword was powerful and powerful, and it was also very fast, and he was definitely going to kill people. In contrast, Fu Xuan had already seen the sword before he turned around to touch the weapon, and Ma Kuo didn't even lift the table... Because there was someone who reacted much faster than them. When Yue Pengju saw the other party coming to chop, he stepped on the table directly, bent his waist and exerted force, and drew his sword to fight!
Almost in a flash, everyone only felt a flash before their eyes, and the two men fought fiercely in the hall! When the blades collided, sparks flew!
Except for the dumbfounded civil servant, almost all the people present were warriors. With just one strike, they could tell the true strength of the two men. Everyone was in awe. Even the knowledgeable old lieutenant Yang, who had promoted Han Shizhong and was well-informed, could not help but squint his eyes.
As for Yue Fei and Li Ben, they were both on guard. While holding their swords, they also looked at each other carefully... The former really didn't expect that this bandit would have such martial arts and strength, and he was somewhat moved; the latter was even more frightened, because this man was born in Hebei, served in the army in Huainan, became a bandit in Shandong, and traveled all over the north and south of the Yellow River. Other things were fine, but he claimed to be invincible in martial arts. As a result, he ended up in a draw in today's sneak attack. Doesn't this mean that the martial arts of this mediocre Song army officer in front of him are three points better than his own?
How can I not be surprised?!
"Li Cheng!"
Just as the two of them were standing in silence, Taiwei Old Yang spoke again, but his stance was clear. "What do you mean by suddenly killing a legitimate governor of the Song Dynasty in the lobby of the government?!"
After these words were spoken, Fu Xuan and others came to their senses and drew their swords. The group of Shandong heroes who followed Li Cheng also drew their swords to fight back, but Li Ben himself, who had come to his senses, raised his hand to stop them.
Not only that, this man actually took the initiative to put away his sword, and then took a step forward with his chest puffed out, facing the more than ten Song army officers in front of him who were holding swords, and then spoke to Yang Weizhong behind him through these officers:
"Old Taiwei Yang, we are here today to fight against the Jin under your banner... Although it was me, Li Cheng, who drew my sword first and broke the rules in the court today, are you going to kill me for this? If you kill me, who among the heroes in Jingdong will believe in your orders? Your Majesty has fled all the way from Hebei to Huaishang, and has only just recovered from his shame and anger, and has made up his mind not to retreat again. As a result, he has not yet broken his promise there, and Old Taiwei Yang is going to ruin your reputation in Jingdong?!"
"You have a sharp tongue..." Yang Weizhong couldn't help but sneer. "With such a sharp tongue, why did you lose to Chief Zhang just now?"
Zhang Rong came to his senses and was slightly stunned.
"No matter what, if General Yang doesn't want to kill me, I will go first!" As he said this, Li Cheng didn't hold his sword, nor paid attention to the Song army officer in front of him. He just glanced deeply at Yue Fei, who had already sat back down with a normal expression , and quickly walked out of the hall.
After this man left, many Shandong heroes, or heroes from Jingdong East Road, looked around and probably felt that since Li Cheng was gone, it would be difficult for them to stay here, so they also bowed and said goodbye... The lobby that was bustling before was suddenly half empty.
However, Zhang Rong smiled and put his hands on his hips: "How about it, Old Commander Yang, how about I be your deputy this time? And give me a commanding position, so that I can wear a red flower on my head to show off when I return to Liangshanpo..."
"Chief Zhang, please wait a minute. Let me go to the backyard to catch my breath." Yang Weizhong pinched his beard and stood up, speaking fluent Mandarin. "Yue Fei, Ma Kuo, you two, come with me to the backyard!"
"As you wish, old commander!" Zhang Rong couldn't help but grin again.
Yue Pengju and Ma Zichong stood up immediately, and Fu Xuan and others hurriedly followed... It should be noted that Yue Fei had been directly under Yang Weizhong in the Marshal's Office before, and Ma Kuo was from Didao, Xizhou, and had a Western Army background, otherwise he would not have been easily summoned by Yang Weizhong with just a piece of paper. How could he dare to neglect him now?
“Yue…”
They didn't even reach the backyard, but just turned into the corridor behind the lobby, but Yang Weizhong couldn't wait any longer and wanted to speak.
"Then Li Bencheng has bad intentions."
However, before the old general could ask, Yue Fei had already answered calmly. "Although he is from Hebei, his subordinates are all from Jingdong East Road. May I ask how a group of bandits from Jingdong East Road abandoned the geographical advantages of Mount Tai and Yimeng Mountain, abandoned their hometown, and ran to Jingdong East Road to fight against the Jin? It's just that they saw that the chaotic world has come, so they specifically look for the place where the Jin people are fighting with us, intending to waver, raise the price, and even take the opportunity to secede! To put it bluntly, it's just that the government is holding back the Jin army on Huai River at this time. If it can't hold back, Huai River will be trampled by the Jin army, and these people will run to Lianghuai to cause chaos."
Yang Weizhong thought about it and was unable to refute it. Even Ma Kuo, Fu Xuan and others nodded in agreement.
"As for Zhang Rong, it's different." Yue Fei continued calmly. "Half of the Liangshan Marsh is in Jeju, and this time the 5,000 Jin troops are in Jeju City next to Liangshan Marsh, and they are bullying and trampling on the people. Zhang Rong is the lord of the Marsh Marsh, and his subordinates are all poor fishermen who make a living from the Marsh Marsh. I'm afraid he is as determined as we are to deal with this Jin army... So, you can use Zhang Rong without any worries! And the only way to defeat the 5,000 Jin cavalry in Jeju is to lure the Jin army into the Marsh Marsh and destroy them by taking advantage of the terrain!"
Yang Weizhong thought for a long time but still had nothing to say. Fu Xuan and Ma Kuo could only nod their heads.
"Call Zhang Rong!" Seeing that Yue Fei stopped talking for a while, Yang Weizhong naturally knew what was going on.
After a while, Zhang Rong came in with his hands on his hips. Seeing the three people standing there, he continued to laugh.
Unexpectedly, Yue Fei was too lazy to argue with this man, and asked directly: "How many soldiers does Commander Zhang have?"
Zhang Rong could not help but be solemn, and stepped forward to intervene and said, "Old General Yang and Commander Yue really want to fight?"
Yang Weizhong and Yue Fei remained silent.
Zhang Rong had no choice but to nod his head. "If we go out of the water fort and fight on land, I can only have 7,000 to 8,000 strong men! But let me make it clear in advance that although you call me the commander, I am not as good as you. I will not eat the salary of my fellow villagers, and you will not give me salary..."
"What if we lure him to the waterside?" Yue Fei was too lazy to argue with the other party and just asked seriously.
"Then I can summon 15,000 or 16,000 people! They are all capable of using bows, rowing boats, and swords, but they don't have many armors." Zhang Rong became more serious. "Do you really want to fight? Don't bluff me!"
"How many soldiers does the old general have?" Yue Fei turned his head and asked again.
"I only have over a thousand remnants, but Commander Fu brought over three thousand soldiers from Taihang Mountain..."
"That's enough." Yue Pengju narrowed his eyes and answered. "Select 20,000 people, take advantage of the water, find a good place to set up an ambush, and that's enough to defeat the enemy! You know, for an enemy of 5,000, 20,000 people are enough to ambush, and more is useless."
General Yang, Ma Kuo and Fu Xuan still didn't know how to refute.
"Water Margin Liangshan is 800 miles long, and there are many places of wonder. I can tell with my eyes closed where to kill the Jin army and feed the fish." Zhang Rong still felt a little confused. "But why would the Jin army take the initiative to come to Water Margin and fall into my ambush?"
"Of course we should take advantage of the fact that the enemy is so rampant at this moment and lure them forward." Yue Fei answered simply.
"Whoever goes to lure the enemy, there are five thousand Jin cavalry!" Zhang Rong put his hands on his waist again and sneered. "Whoever goes will die!"
"Of course I'll go." Yue Fei remained calm.
It was spring but the flowers had not yet bloomed, and there was a sweet breeze blowing in the corridor. This time, even Zhang Rong didn't know how to refute.
"Do you really want to fight?" After a long pause, Zhang Rong stood in front of him again.
"If we do this, how many days will it take to prepare everything?" Yang Weizhong asked, twirling his beard and gritting his teeth.
"Are you short of military equipment? How long will it take to gather people?" Yue Fei continued to ask, but to Zhang Rong.
"No, there is no need to spend time recruiting people. The water fort has everything, including the people... We have gathered here to guard against the Jin army. We just need to send a boat to pick you up and sneak across from the Jishui River." Zhang Rong answered with gritted teeth.
"Then, counting from now on, how many days will it take to make all arrangements for the crossing?" Yue Fei continued to ask.
"Five days is enough... You should set off early tomorrow morning and travel as fast as you can. You will reach the waterside at noon the day after tomorrow. You can take a boat for a whole night, rest for another day and night, and repair your equipment. You will be able to set up an ambush on the fifth day... I know this with my eyes closed." Zhang Rong was actually a little flustered. "I have walked this road countless times, and I will never make a mistake."
"Then we'll defeat the enemy in five days."
Yue Fei turned around and calmly replied to Yang Weizhong, just like a stone without emotion saying something ordinary. "The old general is too famous, so why not take the remaining soldiers and those small groups of rebels to stay here to drink and have fun, to attract them; it would be best for Chief Zhang to quarrel with the old general in public, and then sneak back tonight; and tomorrow morning, Brother Ma and Commander Fu should quickly lead the troops to Liangshan Lake; I will lead 500 cavalrymen to cross the river from Dingtao to the south bank of the Jishui River, and on the fifth day, the 28th of the first lunar month, lead the main force of the Jin army to the lake... At that time, you will be ready to meet me in front of the lake, guide me into the ambush circle, and then 20,000 people will go out together, and the victory or defeat will be decided... Don't delay time, you must know that things will change over time, and we are not in a good position, so everything needs to be discussed with all the gentlemen."
Yang Weizhong stared at Yue Fei for a long time, twisting his beard, as if he was looking at something strange. He instinctively wanted to refute the other party's nonsense. But after thinking about it for half a lifetime of military experience, he still didn't know how to refute it.
As for Fu Xuan and Ma Kuo, they were already stunned.
Zhang Rong counted with his fingers and couldn't help but say something: "Five days later is the 28th day of the first lunar month, so Commander Yue, please lead the Jin army there after mid-afternoon and before dusk."
"Can."
Yue Fei still had a wooden expression, but he did take a quick look at the leader of Liangshan Marsh who looked like a fisherman in front of him.
