Volume 1 Chapter 66: Water Margin (Part 2)
Liu Lin sighed, stopped thinking about it, and turned back.
However, at this moment, during the so-called gap in the battlefield, Yue Fei, Liu Lin and many soldiers all noticed a small boat coming from the southwest... There was nothing they could do, the boat was too abrupt, and the shapes of the people on the boat were too weird.
It is said that there is never a shortage of small boats on Liangshan Lake. Even when the large army just poured in, many fishermen could be seen hiding in the reed marshes in panic. After the fighting just started, many small boats came and went to observe, and it was not known whether they were watching the excitement or gathering information... The Jin army noticed this early on, but did not take it seriously.
In fact, Liu Lin's mention of Liangshan pirates just now came from this. Because the officers of Wanyan Saili's Central Army generally believed that the Song army should have contacted the Liangshan pirates, but only to plan a retreat, hoping that the pirates would come to support them, but the battlefield was fierce and the Jin army was strong, so they were afraid to go out.
However, unlike the previous small boats that often observed the battle situation from several miles away and then hid in the reeds in a moment, this oddly shaped and light boat actually did not stop. It rowed all the way from the depths of the lake to the so-called Shuotou Beach, only a hundred steps away from the Jin army on the shore, barely within the range of their bows and crossbows.
At this time, many Jin soldiers near the left shore not only did not shoot arrows, but could not help laughing... Because when they got close, everyone noticed the funny thing about the small boat and the people on the boat that came out from the reed marsh on the left.
The so-called small boat was more like a raft, with a very small and broken boat in the middle and a piece of wood with sharpened ends tied to each side of the boat. At first glance, it looked like a raft made of three pieces of wood... extremely simple.
As for people, that's even more interesting.
In early spring, the daytime is hot and the nights are cold, so this person wore a tattered red cotton jacket and his chest was bare. This would have been fine, but what was even more terrible was that this person actually pinned a huge red satin flower on his head!
In the Song Dynasty, it was a common tradition to wear flowers in one's hair. Not to mention the number one scholar riding a horse and parading through the streets with flowers, even in ordinary cities, there were one or two vagrants who boasted of their fair complexion and good looks, and often wore flower tattoos to boast about their looks... So much so that in the world, there were often people like "so-and-so, the most beautiful woman in Daming Prefecture", "so-and-so, the most beautiful woman in Jinan Prefecture", and those who were as famous as the Nine-Patterned Dragon and the Eight-Patterned Phoenix.
However, back to the present, this fisherman, who is about thirty years old, has a dark face tanned by the wind and sun, looks to be over forty, has a tuft of black hair on his chest, and is wearing a greasy red cotton-padded jacket. He is personally handling such a shabby boat, and is wearing a big red flower in his hair. It is ridiculous.
In fact, it was the Jin people who laughed at first, but when they saw this man rowing his boat very quickly and easily turning to the side of the small beach, even the Song soldiers who recognized him couldn't help but laugh.
"Commander Yue!"
Liu Lin looked at it for a long time and wanted to retreat directly, but when he saw this scene, he couldn't help but asked with a smile. "Is this your reinforcement?! What did you rely on to lead our 5,000 Jin Kingdom troops here today?!"
Yue Fei watched Zhang Rong rowing past him two or three hundred steps away, but he raised his head calmly and asked loudly: "Do you look down on him?!"
"I understand. Commander Yue wants to use this person to make the 5,000 soldiers on the beach laugh to death!" Liu Lin shook his head repeatedly, but gave up the idea of communicating and was about to ride away.
However, just as he reined in his horse, he suddenly heard a wolf-like howl from the lake, which frightened him so much that he almost fell off his horse. After he steadied himself, he realized that it was the man with the red flower who was singing a fisherman's song in public. The man's voice was unpleasant, and his tone was not good at first, but after testing his voice, he finally sang with a hint of Jianghu flavor, and he could also hear the vulgar lyrics.
As the saying goes:
"My grandfather was born in Liangshanpo, and he was born to kill.
There is no righteous man who has killed fire, and there is no righteous man who has killed the Tokyo Bird Official!
The hero can't read poetry or books, he just lives in Liangshanpo.
Although I was born a scoundrel, I kill thieves instead of killing people!"
The song is obviously taken from the tune of an ordinary fishing song, because "that" is added in each sentence as a transition, and each section ends with a long call as a conclusion... It is not necessary for the boatman to row the boat.
Yue Fei immediately swam in the gradually clear water in front of the battle line, and tried to follow the loud singing voice in the noisy battlefield, going around him from afar, from left to right, from near to far, and from far to near, but he never moved.
On the other side, Liu Lin was just slightly startled. After recovering from the shock of the wolf howl, he turned around early to report to Wanyan Seri.
"Not surrendering?"
"No."
"It's as expected." Wanyan Seri sighed. "But I really admire his ability and want to help him."
"Me too..." Liu Lin thought to himself but didn't say it out loud.
"In that case, let's not talk about it any more." Wanyan Saili collected his thoughts and pointed at the man with a flower hairpin who was singing in a boat and came back from the other side of the riverbank and asked seriously:
"What's the matter with this person?"
"It should be that the bandits in the water are a little bit loyal, and a leader came out to give an explanation to the man surnamed Yue." Liu Lin didn't care. "Our previous guess was correct. The Song army must have contacted the bandits in the water, but who are those bandits? How dare they fight against the army? This time they must have been afraid to fight, and they didn't even dare to send the fleet to support them."
Wanyan Seri nodded repeatedly, but as he watched the boat gradually turn back from the right, he felt something was wrong. He couldn't tell what was wrong for a moment, and he stood there in a daze, feeling a little flustered.
At this moment, as they were talking, the boat was approaching with great agility, and the singing could be heard again.
As the saying goes:
“Grandpa was born between heaven and earth, and he is not afraid of the court or officials.
The water is covered with a net, and the turtles and tortoises are caught in it!"
The singing was clear and loud, echoing endlessly on the water. However, many Jin soldiers on the right side of the beach found it difficult to understand the local dialect and only thought that the man looked funny. Their reaction was the same as that of the Jin soldiers on the left who first saw him, and they laughed continuously.
However, amid the singing and laughter, Wanyan Saili did not say a word, wasting his fighting opportunity. At the central army, the four fierce generals came to ask in person, but they only saw this experienced general standing on his horse in a daze, as if thinking about something.
"General!"
Liu Lin asked carefully. "It's time to order a general attack!"
"Something is wrong!" Wanyan Saili confessed. "That guy is wrong!"
"That guy is just a scoundrel who pretends to be ugly. There have always been such people in the martial arts world!" Liu Lin quickly persuaded. " If you get startled, you will fall into his trap!"
"Master Liu is right." A Jurchen named Meng'an couldn't help but interrupt. "If such a clown on the water ruins the chance to fight, wouldn't the general become a joke? It's almost dark. If we can't defeat this Song army, and if the pirates really come and surround us, and we retreat in a panic, won't people think we've been defeated?"
Wanyan Seri thought about it over and over but couldn't figure out what was wrong. He began to suspect that he was being too suspicious, so he nodded and gave orders, to concentrate the elite troops and attack continuously to make sure to defeat the Song army before sunset!
Upon hearing the military order, the Jin army rushed forward. Many people splashed countless water while running on horses, which reflected light together with their armor in the setting sun, which was truly spectacular!
Seeing this scene, Wanyan Seri's feeling of uneasiness surged into his heart again, but he always found it difficult to tell what it was exactly... For a moment, he almost wanted to order the entire army to withdraw immediately, but in the end, reason overwhelmed emotion.
The battle started again, the entire Jin army pressed forward, and the two sides began to fight in water that was not up to the calf level. Every time someone died, countless splashes of water were created, and the previous pool of blood soon turned red again... And this time, Yue Pengju simply dismounted himself and led several hundred white cavalrymen who had rested for half a day to fight forward on foot!
Therefore, although the Song army's formation was gradually declining, they were still able to hold the Jin army at its weakest point.
Wanyan Seri, who was watching this scene from afar, felt very annoyed. But when he turned around, he saw the strange little boat appearing behind him on his left side and continuing to sing.
In an instant, the Jin general's vigilance became stronger, and he was completely attracted by this man. Because he couldn't hear the other party singing in the sound of fighting in front, Wanyan Saili actually chose to throw down the general's flag, ride to the beach behind him, and immediately listen to the other party's song in the shallow water.
And this time, he once again heard the other party's lyrics clearly.
As the saying goes:
“Grandpa was born between heaven and earth, not seeking wealth or honor, nor an official position.
Spend your life in Liangshanpo, eating and drinking as well as being like a god.
One day the Jin people came to Jeju, killing my brothers and destroying my fields.
How can we let him go to heaven when he comes to the water again today?"
Hearing this, not to mention Wanyan Seri, even Liu Lin on the side became alert, but when the two looked at each other, they saw a hint of doubt in each other's eyes... Obviously, since they came to the water to fight, they all had guessed that the bandits from Liangshanpo came out to help the Song army, so they were not too surprised by this person's position and the possible surface attack. It was just that they both noticed a hint of dangerous phenomenon that violated common sense from this person and this boat, but they couldn't explain it for the time being.
But they didn't have time to think about it. As the man turned the boat far in front of the reed marsh, a long fisherman's song "Aihou" fell heavily! In the reed marshes on both sides of the entire Shuotou Beach, there was a thunderous response!
It really is like thunder!
Thousands and tens of thousands of people shouted together, and the sound shook repeatedly on the vast surface of water, which immediately frightened the Jin and Song armies who were fighting and made them lose their minds in panic!
Wanyan Seri and Liu Lin, however, were in the best position to witness a spectacular sight with their own eyes - under the setting sun, thousands of small boats emerged from the reed marshes, with only three to five people on each boat, but they rushed towards the beach with unstoppable momentum like cavalry emerging from the woods, just like thousands of horses galloping and charging into battle.
Wanyan Seri sucked in a breath of cold air and quickly turned around to look. Sure enough, on the other side of the beach, that is, in the deep of Liangshan Lake on the right, the small boats emerging from the reed marshes there were no less numerous than those here, and there were even countless large ships, rolling in from behind!
All in all, there were no less than tens of thousands of naval forces ambushing on both sides!
"Withdraw!" Without time to think, Wanyan Saili, who was under the command of the general, rushed back to the center on horseback and made the most reasonable decision. "We must not fight the pirates here at night!"
This time, as the general's flag was waved, no one, whether it was the Meng An or the officers of the Central Army, refuted it, because the scene of thousands of people responding to the fishing song was too shocking! The visual impact of this scene was really frightening!
The Jin army hastily retreated to reorganize, but the Song army, under the command of Yue Fei, gave up the pursuit and chose to retreat to rest instead.
After a while, as the nimble boats in front approached, the Jin army also assembled and mounted their horses. Under the setting sun, thousands of cavalrymen immediately changed from the rear army to the front army and galloped away along the way they came.
But what happened next overturned the common sense of Wanyan Seri and even all the thousands of Jin soldiers!
Led by the man with flowers in a red coat, hundreds of strangely shaped boats, like water cavalry, launched a flank charge on the retreating cavalry at the bottom of the gourd!
When cavalry collides, quality, speed, and sacrifice can determine the outcome in an instant!
And there is no doubt that the winner must be the ship with a strange shape, because the knights on the ship can jump into the water... Countless simple small boats still maintained a certain speed forward after the drivers suddenly jumped into the water in the deep water area, but they followed the shallow water with two sharp wooden spikes and collided with the Jin army's horses and knights at the narrow pass. People and horses capsized, the boats were broken into pieces, blood and flesh were blurred, groaning and crying, just like a sea of blood and hell.
"Why is there water there all of a sudden?" After seeing this scene, Wanyan Seri, whose heart was tightening and scalp was tingling, was terrified and immediately drew his knife to ask around fiercely. "I just wanted to ask, why can the boat suddenly go from the left to the right, and then suddenly go from the right to the left? The bottom of the gourd behind is clearly a land beach! Horses can run in! Is that right?!"
Most of the Jin officers nearby were in a daze, except Liu Lin, who came back to his senses. He hesitated and wanted to speak, but no sound came out after he opened his mouth several times.
"What do you want to say?" Wanyan Seri was furious and put the knife directly to the other person's neck.
"The tide... the tide is coming!" Poor Liu Lin, a tall and strong man, actually broke down and cried. "I didn't expect this lake to be so big, and it could have the same high and low tides as the sea!"
Wanyan Saili was a smart man. Hearing this, the knife in his hand lost its balance and fell to the ground. Obviously, he was no stranger to the rising tide and thought of a very terrible possibility!
“No wonder it’s called Shrinking Beach!”
On the small beach in the distance, the exhausted Fu Xuan spat bloody saliva on the wet gravel under his feet, and then cursed angrily. "Damn it, this bird beach will be completely submerged by the water when the tide rises completely in the middle of the night? Otherwise, why call it Shrinking Beach? Isn't it better to call it Gourd Beach?!"
Yue Fei, standing on his horse, glanced back at the other party but did not answer, because at this moment, seeing that the raft boats had successfully blocked the Jin army's way back, the Liangshanpo bandits, under the leadership of someone unknown, began to sing the local fishing song again.
Grandpa was born between heaven and earth...
The singing voice was rough and the lyrics were barbaric, but it was the most neat and shocking song Yue Fei had ever heard in his life!
