Volume 4 Chapter 43: Success and Adversity
Once Li Cheng's army was shaken, it was out of control. After mid-afternoon, it turned into a complete failure and collapse.
Just as everyone before had forgotten everything and charged forward bravely, at this moment, once the outcome was decided, the front troops of the opposing imperial camp were certainly overwhelmed with joy and continued to attack, but Li Cheng's troops had a blank mind and only wanted to survive.
But, if you want to survive, you can't just run away.
In fact, as soon as the rout began, the defeated troops of Li Cheng's army encountered a huge problem. That was that there were too many troops and it was too crowded in the middle, while the equipment was too heavy... So soon, a huge "bump" was formed in the center of the battlefield. In that area, obstruction and trampling became the biggest source of casualties, and in a very short time, it caused casualties that were no less than those caused by the previous battle!
Then the collapse becomes completely irreparable.
Yue Fei was at the frontline, and had a clear view of the battle situation. He instinctively wanted to have his troops bypass the middle and stretch out from both sides in order to surround and force the enemy to surrender. But unfortunately, at this point, not to mention that his subordinates were already bloodthirsty, it was difficult to effectively convey military orders in such a crowded battlefield, not to mention that the cavalry was tied up in the middle. Helplessly, Yue Fei could only set up his general flag and watch the battle develop freely, preparing to find troops to command and make subsequent decisions after the "big lump" in the middle of the battle was untied.
But soon, Yue Fei noticed another thing, that is, Li Cheng's flag was obviously trapped in the knot, because he saw with his own eyes that the flag, which had retreated several times and tried to gain a foothold several times, stood up again after being submerged by the sea of people for a while. Not only that, but a thousand cavalrymen, including some of the iconic long sword cavalrymen, gathered under the flag and tried to resist stubbornly.
The pace of Li Cheng's escape slowed down again, and the attention of countless Song cavalrymen in front of them was attracted, and fierce fighting broke out again.
Of course, under the general trend, this struggle was meaningless. Just a moment later, before the Song army could rush forward, Li Cheng's attempt failed again. Even the cavalry of a thousand people began to disintegrate and surrender. Only about a hundred or eighty long-sword cavalry continued to resist stubbornly, and were surrounded by the cavalry under Zhang Xian.
"My master asked me, Xu Dadao, to tell Daxiaoyan something!"
Just as Zhang Xian was about to launch an attack, a blood-soaked general holding a long-handled broadsword leaped out on his horse, holding the sword in one hand and pointing at Yue Fei's flag in the south of the battlefield with the other hand. "If Daxiaoyan is willing to come and face him in person, he is willing to surrender in person..."
The news did not reach Yue Fei, and Zhang Xian, who had absolute power to make decisions on the battlefield, asked Guo Jin to step forward and confront him: "Xu Dadao, my General Zhang also said that there is no need for the governor to come in person. The country has its own laws. A traitor like Li Cheng who has a reputation and controls a county can only surrender unconditionally. No conditions are allowed... But my General Zhang has a kind heart. He can't bear to see soldiers like you die in vain, so I will give you half an incense stick of time to make a decision. If you surrender, you surrender. If you don't, you can only die!"
The general, Xu Wen, whose sword weighed fifty kilograms, did not say a word. Upon hearing this, he directly joined the long sword army formation under General Li and did not make any further movement.
And Zhang Xian was not one to suffer a loss. While waiting, he quickly had his men intercept team after team of crossbowmen from the rear... Today's war broke out too quickly, and the battlefield was narrow, so hand-to-hand combat ensued. In addition, the area of hand-to-hand combat was too thick, which made the crossbowmen and archers basically lose their tactical function from the beginning, and the few bows and arrows were basically only used by individual soldiers.
But this time it was different.
It can be imagined that if Li Cheng did not surrender within the deadline, this last group of long-sword cavalry would be quickly killed by large-scale bow and crossbow fire.
Seeing this, not only the last long-sword cavalry of Li Cheng's army was somewhat shaken, but many of Zhang Xian's knights who were originally eager to try suddenly felt a little bored. For example, Yang Zaixing, who had heard of the reputation of Xu Dadao and Li Cheng, cursed and wanted to lead his troops to bypass this place and continue the pursuit.
However, it can only be said that this long-sword cavalry was indeed the core of Li Cheng's army. Although they were shaken after seeing the large-scale gathering of bows and crossbows by the Song army, few of them turned around and fled. Instead, they remained silent, as if they were waiting for their lord to make the final decision.
"No more waiting!" Seeing that the number of archers around was gradually saturated, Zhang Xian no longer hesitated, and regardless of how long an incense stick of time was, he directly signaled to Li Kui who followed and joined the command. "Kill them!"
Li Kui, who had some grudges with Li Cheng but had some friendship with Xu Dadao, obviously hesitated for a moment, but immediately followed the military orders on the battlefield, waving the flag and ordering all the archers to collectively and densely shoot at all the enemy troops under this general's flag.
After the military order was given, nearly a thousand archers gathered and shot arrows together. The more than a hundred long-sword knights who were surrounded tried to launch a final counterattack. However, as everyone expected, after a round of shooting, they fell down with their horses before they could speed up. There were heavy casualties almost instantly. Only a dozen people survived, but they had almost no fighting power.
There was only one general who had lost his warhorse, but he was still wearing heavy armor and a mask, wielding a fifty-jin sword in his hand, like a mad tiger, and fighting back with all his might. Who else could it be but Xu Dadao from Mizhou?
Zhang Xian was bored and just ordered his men to quickly draw their bows and kill the man. However, unexpectedly, a horseman suddenly came galloping over and attacked Xu Dadao from the side and rear. It was Yang Zaixing, who was about to ride away, but was overjoyed to see the prey and turned back.
Zhang Xian was speechless and could only stand there and watch. However, he had already made up his mind that if Yang Zaixing lost his share, he would not have any military merit to speak of this time.
However, the expected fierce fight did not happen. It was not known whether Yang Zaixing was too strong or Xu Dadao had already been injured. The former rushed over on horseback, and the latter turned around to face him. But after just a moment, Yang Zaixing raised his spear, accurately pierced the opponent's abdomen through the gap in his armor, and then threw him casually on the pile of corpses.
After killing this man, Yang Zaixing did not take his head or report anything. He just rode away and continued to lead his men to pursue other defeated soldiers.
Li Kui, who was standing by in shock, was a meticulous man. He remembered that Xu Wen and Xu Dadao were old friends of his, so he quickly led his team to rush out and personally deal with the situation... However, at this time, Xu Dadao was thrown to the ground with blood flowing from his abdomen. Although it was obvious that he was beyond saving, his chest was still rising and falling, and he seemed to be still breathing.
Li Kui sighed, then stepped forward and took off the other man's mask and helmet.
"Brother Li!" Xu Wen's mouth and nose were bleeding, and his eyes were blurry. But when he saw Li Kui, he spoke soberly again. "Back then, everyone in Mizhou said that you were the most meticulous and could understand the general situation. When we meet again today, it turns out that the rest of us deserved to die, but you are the only one who is so glorious. It shows that you are really meticulous, and we are all pretending to be heroic..."
Li Kui saw that the other party was clearly having a last gasp of energy. He had a lot to say to the other party, but now he was completely speechless. He could only hold the knife and sigh: "I heard that after Lao Du and the others died, you took Lao Du and their families to my home in Laizhou. I can't lose face, so I will take good care of them for you!"
Xu Wen nodded and was about to speak for a moment, but after glancing at the Song soldiers who were cautiously approaching the flag obscured by the corpses, he chose to shake his head. In the end, he said nothing, but the anger in his chest escaped and he immediately stopped moving.
After a moment, Li Kui suddenly realized why Xu Wen had behaved strangely in his last moments... It turned out that there was no one else under his command, not even Li Cheng. Xu Wen was being loyal until his death and was buying time for Li Cheng who had already escaped.
Although the long-sword cavalry were almost wiped out, it did not mean that there were no other defeated soldiers mixed in and survived under the general's flag. Soon, several defeated soldiers quickly gave a definite answer - Li Chengguo was not here. This time the general's flag was raised privately after Xu Wen discovered it and was unable to turn back to rescue. As for Li Ben, the Grand Commander of the Pseudo-Qi, after failing to raise the flag three times, he simply gave up and fled directly to the northwest.
At this point, he might have already escaped from the battlefield.
After hearing the report, Zhang Xian immediately came to his senses. Without waiting for Yue Fei to give instructions, he directly sent orders nearby. On the one hand, he personally led the cavalry to pursue to the northwest, and on the other hand, he ordered Li Kui to lead some infantry to follow. Their purpose was to seize the Zibo City between Longshui and Ziboshui!
It was between two rivers and was the only city within dozens of miles of the battlefield.
When the news reached Yue Fei, Yue Pengju, who had just arrived at a hill on the south side of the battlefield, just frowned slightly and didn't say much... At this time, the battlefield had been evacuated and a full-scale pursuit was underway. Zhang Xian also made the most sensible or rational pursuit move. The only problem was that the land of Lu was still green in late summer and early autumn, and there were forest areas behind the hills on both sides. Once Li Cheng gave up going to Zibo City to receive the surrendered soldiers and instead escaped directly, he would have to rely on luck.
As for Xu Dadao's sense of loyalty, it can only be said that he is not good at big righteousness, but only good at small righteousness. Yue Fei is too lazy to pay attention to him.
"General Tian." In fact, Yue Fei heard the message and hesitated for a moment before dismounting. He looked at the general in front of him seriously. It was Tian Shizhong who was sitting on the hill in a daze. "The opportunity for battle is rare. Please give the order to mobilize the Hucheng troops behind you and the scattered defenders in Yidu and other places. Tell them not to hesitate and quickly move westward to cooperate with our army to press into Jinan Prefecture and take Zhangqiu together."
Tian Shizhong, who was covered in dirt and extremely tired, looked up in confusion, and looked at Yue Fei with a slightly complicated look, whose half body was black and red, but who was energetic and calm. Then he was silent for a while, but turned around and called a personal guard. He took out paper and pen on the battlefield, and then wrote a few military orders with the pen dipped in a puddle of blood next to an enemy soldier's corpse that had not yet stiffened.
When the guards turned around and rode away, Tian Shizhong seemed to have recovered. Then he said to Yue Taiwei, "I have a few words to say and something to ask."
"General Tian, please speak." Yue Fei remained calm.
"The general fought well!" Tian Shizhong sighed slowly. "There is a river blocking the way ahead, so many soldiers can't be gathered together. As long as we cross the river and force our way through, they will be meat on the chopping board... So after this battle, not to mention that the government wants us to take down one or two state armies, the entire pseudo-Qi will basically be in our hands... Your troops are really powerful, and you, General Yue, are also really powerful! It's rare for me to be impressed by others, and today I am impressed by another person!"
"General Tian is the one who made the greatest contribution in this battle," Yue Fei replied earnestly. "You are indeed a famous teacher in the world."
Tian Shizhong shook his head and said, "This is the second sentence of the two sentences I want to say..."
Yue Fei then realized that what the other party meant by "two sentences" was actually "two" sentences.
"General Yue, this army is the lifeblood of my general..." Tian Shizhong stared at Yue Fei and continued to sigh. "No matter how stingy he is, he has never lacked the military pay and equipment of this army. All the officers are veterans who have fought against the Jin people in Taiyuan and Huaishang. But with such an army, even if we went to stop the elite troops of Hezhameng'an and Loushi at Yaoshan, we would not have lost as many as today... Therefore, no matter how much I admire you, I will severely impeach you after this battle."
Yue Fei nodded, not caring at all: "If it were me, I would impeach him too."
Tian Shizhong nodded, and then they faced each other seriously on the ground again: "But I have another question. My 3,000 people are the essence of the entire Imperial Camp Right Army. It is not unexpected that they dare to fight to this point. But your 20,000 people today, although not as fearless as my army, but I look at the battle between the two armies... At the beginning, the momentum of both sides was evenly matched; then the casualties were two or three, and the two armies did not waver. As far as I know, this is already considered a strong army; but when both sides had four or five casualties, that is, half, Li Cheng's army began to waver, but the front army of the Imperial Camp did not move at all; then the two army commanders moved forward together, and the two sides fought to the limit. The casualties were nearly 10%, and Li Cheng's army began to crumble, and the flaws were exposed, but the front army of the Imperial Camp did not lose heart, nor did the formation fall apart, and it was still as one... How did they do it? Just pay enough military pay?"
Yue Fei thought about it seriously for a while, but still answered immediately: "If the military pay is sufficient, the equipment is guaranteed to be genuine, and the armor covers more than 70%, we can only survive a sudden casualty of 40% to 50% without being shaken. But if we want to survive a casualty of 10%, and the upper and lower levels are still united, we need proper training in normal times. However, since General Tian has asked me about it, I can't hide it... In today's battle, even if there are more casualties, about 15%, it should be safe, because I believe that I usually enforce the law fairly and treat the soldiers as soldiers. I rarely treat them as servants and drive them to work. And like the ordinary troops of the Right Army of the Imperial Camp, the soldiers also have to help the officers build houses and escort business. That is to say, if they are rewarded enough, they don't regard themselves as a 'soldier' in their hearts, but a 'servant' or a 'serviceman'. They will not be able to get through this hurdle anyway."
Tian Shizhong sighed deeply.
"Actually," Yue Fei thought for a moment and continued to answer. "This time they are just returning from a long journey and are indeed exhausted. Otherwise, if our army had won consecutive battles and rarely lost, and if we had let the scholars in the army explain the righteousness before the battle, they might have dared to fight a little more... But these people's wishes must be based on sufficient military pay and supplies, otherwise empty talk is useless."
Tian Shizhong became more and more silent.
In this way, time passed slowly, and the battlefield began to be dragged and deformed... On the one hand, some troops stayed in place to collect surrendered soldiers, rescue wounded soldiers, and clean up the battlefield; on the other hand, cavalry and many troops in the rear with low participation rate chased all the way to the banks of Longshui and the city of Zibo, and successfully forced the pseudo-Qi troops to surrender on a large scale.
However, facing the surrender of Zibo City without a fight, Zhang Xian still did not discover his important target Li Cheng.
Yue Fei could consider the overall situation and not care about Li Cheng alone. As for Wang Gui, it seemed that he did not need to care about the credit either. However, Zhang Xian and all the officers and soldiers under him could not ignore such a huge piece of military merit and glory.
So, taking advantage of the good conditions of the relatively late sunset in late summer, Zhang Xian let Li Kui, who arrived later, control the city of Zibo and properly gather the surrendered soldiers. Then he gave another order to send out all the cavalry units to find Li Cheng!
But to be honest, everyone felt that hope was a little slim.
Firstly, the terrain is complex; secondly, the vegetation is dense; thirdly, it is about to get dark.
In fact, this was indeed the case. Under the cover of Xu Dadao, Li Cheng escaped early, mixed in with the cavalry, and galloped towards the northwest... He abandoned his horse in the middle, chose the mountainous area and crossed the hilly area on the north side of the battlefield, then avoided the city of Zibo and went directly to the downstream of Longshui, waiting for the situation to be settled. When Zhang Xian sent out cavalry to search all around, he had already arrived at the bank of Longshui and was taking a short rest, preparing to take off his armor and cross the river to Jinan.
"My lord, drink some water!"
It can only be said that Li Cheng is indeed able to win people's hearts. Not only did they die for him with their two broadswords and those cavalrymen with long swords, but even when he fell into such a situation, there were still more than ten people following him. When he rested by the river, some people even took the initiative to scoop river water from their helmets and offer it to him, showing no respect at all.
Li Cheng looked dazed, but when he came to his senses, he instinctively asked, "Did everyone drink?"
The man raised his hand and pointed. Li Cheng, who was a little dazed, saw that everyone was standing in the river, bending down to drink water. Seeing this, the man, who was already extremely thirsty, was relieved a little, and then hurriedly brought the helmet to drink.
Unexpectedly , when he got the helmet in his hand and was about to pretend to drink, he saw the officer who delivered the water turned around and drank from the river himself. He could not help shaking his head and laughing, so he threw the helmet to the ground, walked down to the shallows, and drank from the river with others.
As his limbs were inserted into the water, countless blood threads immediately spread out. Li Cheng originally wanted to wait, but seeing the blood threads constantly escaping from his hands and feet, he was finally helpless. He could only pretend not to see it and lowered his head to drink all his breath in the shallows.
After drinking it all in one breath, the commander-in-chief was about to look up and say some words of encouragement, but he was stunned.
It turned out that when his thirst was gone and he looked up, he saw his face reflected in the water, with his pores clearly visible. However, his image at this moment was so miserable that it was appropriate to describe it.
While staring at his own face, he put his legs in the river, water was flowing around him, and the cool air dispelled the heat of the afternoon in late summer and early autumn, but gradually he felt a bit chilly.
The commander-in-chief who had regained consciousness sighed to himself... He knew in his heart that all his troops had been lost in this battle, and the foundation of the three counties in Jingdong would be completely lost. Not only that, with his narrow-minded use of troops, he would never leave any loopholes in the overall situation. He was afraid that he would immediately cross the river to the west and advance towards Zhangqiu.
Once this happens, Li Cheng can imagine the future situation without the need for those people with big and small eyes to plan. Once Zhangqiu falls, Jinan will be surrounded on three sides, and the Song army will inevitably surround it without attacking, trying to lure the Jin people. But judging from the performance of the Jin people today, it is impossible for them to cross the Yellow River and Jishui River continuously under such a disadvantage, and send their precious main force into this pocket to be swallowed by the Song army... They have long known that Jingdong is isolated in Henan, and sooner or later it will be in the pocket of the Song Dynasty when its military strength has recovered.
In other words, Jinan is also a dead end. After this battle, the Pseudo-Qi has no way to retreat.
But Jinan is a dead end, so what about other places? If you don't go to Jinan, and directly cross the river to the north to join the Jin people, without soldiers and horses, why should you be given the title of a hereditary commander?
Would I have to take up a sinecure like a county magistrate by then?
But what's the point of such a result other than just keeping alive?
After this battle, I actually have no way out.
Just as Commander Li was in a trance, there was a sudden cry of surprise from all around. He raised his head and looked around quickly. Then, following the instructions of the soldiers beside him, he immediately saw a scene that made him feel fear and panic... It turned out that in the river ahead, several corpses floated down from upstream, and judging from their attire, they were all his own men.
It goes without saying that this was the fate of the few resisters and those who hastily crossed the river when the Song army from upstream chased them to the riverside.
Reason told Li Cheng, a veteran of many battles, that this meant nothing.
However, just as he was about to speak to appease the crowd, he saw another corpse floating down the river, so he quickly shut up and prepared to wait for the corpse to pass before speaking again. However, the corpse kept spinning with the current, and it was spinning and floating in front of Li Cheng... The commander saw clearly that the man was only eighteen or nineteen years old, his beard was not tied up, his body was stiff, but his eyes were wide open, and no matter how he moved, he always stared at him.
Seeing this, for some reason, General Li, who had traveled all over the country and never thought he would be frightened by a corpse, suddenly felt sick to his stomach and vomited directly into the river.
This was a cowardly behavior that he had never shown before. After Li Cheng stopped vomiting, he became alert and quickly mustered up his strength. He forced himself, who had already taken off his armor, not to hesitate and to float forward to cross the river.
However, as his feet stepped into the deep water and his neck sank into the water, blood stains appeared again in the clear river water. Li Cheng was actually frightened and dared not move forward.
Amidst the cold and dizziness, he felt a complex emotion of fatigue, nausea, and fear.
"My Lord!"
People around him obviously noticed his discomfort.
"Take a break first." Li Cheng raised his hand to signal, trying to suppress his discomfort. He turned around and headed east, while defending himself. "I drank too much just now, and I feel a little uncomfortable in my stomach... The water is too cold."
The subordinates around him were naturally speechless.
A moment later, Li Cheng, breathing evenly, tried to wade for the second time, but for some reason, this time, when he reached the chest-deep water, he felt that strong discomfort again.
Then, give up again.
At this time, Li Cheng had already begun to panic... This reminded him of his previous experience on the battlefield, when he had tried several times to keep his flag but failed to gain a foothold.
Now that we have been defeated, we can’t even cross a river?
The accompanying soldiers also saw the problem, and they began to try to find boats, driftwood and other things, but found nothing. As a last resort, they found two wooden sticks, and someone took off his clothes and wrapped them on them, trying to make a simple stretcher to carry their own governor across the river.
In any case, it is best to cross the river before dark.
But Li Cheng refused his subordinates' kindness. He felt that being carried across the river was almost as ridiculous as the corpse. Moreover, he knew in his heart that if this river could be carried across, what about a river as wide as the Ji River? What about a river as wide as the Yellow River? This river must be crossed by walking, otherwise it would be difficult to cross the Heshuo River and the Huanghuai River as in the past. So he hesitated for a long time until dusk, when he was forced by the situation and made a third attempt. But this time, the water was even colder. He only walked to the waist-deep water and retreated in embarrassment, and even fell in the water.
After getting ashore, Li Cheng, the double-sword warrior who had been determined to make a career since the Jin army came south, began to completely collapse. He even rejected the suggestion of not crossing the river for the time being and going downstream.
There were wise men among the soldiers. They had realized that this was not a question of whether the soldiers were cold-blooded or not, but that their own commander had suffered such a defeat and knew that he had nowhere to go and had no more energy.
It's just that the form of the attack is a little strange and the time is a little later.
When they were defeated and retreated, many men committed suicide on the battlefield.
As the sky gradually darkened and the sunlight faded, more than half of the dozen soldiers who accompanied him secretly left. Among the remaining few, there was a general who had received great kindness from Li Cheng. He simply committed suicide to show his sincerity. This move slightly brought Li Cheng back from his depression.
Then, these people began to try to cross the river again with the last glimmer of light... but it was still difficult. When the water reached his chest, Li Cheng was unable to hold on again, and the few remaining confidants tried to control his hands and feet, but they found that this great commander was indeed a great warrior in the world, and the power he exerted in the water was still not something that others could easily shake.
At this point, these people finally became discouraged and gave up on the great commander-in-chief. Then they all crossed the river and dispersed, leaving Li Cheng alone in the water, unable to move forward or backward.
The situation was at a stalemate for a while, but what broke the stalemate was the sound of a Song army knight's horse hooves.
"Don't be scared, man!" The Song general with a ladle tied to his waist reined in his horse and appeared on the shore behind him. He said something appropriate. "I am not a person who kills indiscriminately. Although you are strong, your face is gray. I am afraid you are sick. It is impossible for you to be a powerful person at this time... Tell me, have you seen your general Li Cheng?"
Li Cheng's lips were blue and purple, he was trembling, and he was hesitant to speak.
The big ladle seemed to understand something, and just shook his head when he saw this: "I knew that Li Cheng ran faster than a rabbit, how could we find him? Last time in Dongping Prefecture, he threw tens of thousands of friendly troops to block his way, and this time he threw Xu Dadao and tens of thousands of troops to block his way... This kind of person runs like he can fly, he should have crossed the river long ago."
Li Cheng still stood in the water without saying a word.
"Let's go!" The big ladle muttered a few words and waved his hand on the horse. "It's because I'm the kindest person who can't bear to see the poor suffer. If Yang Zaixing was here, he would have killed them all with one arrow... No matter where you are from, stay in Jingdong, take good care of your health, and don't join the army. Jingdong is about to be stable. Finding a few acres of land or working in the city is better than this... Now that I've found the river, I won't get lost if I follow the river, so I'll go back directly."
While he was talking nonsense, it turned out that Da Mashao was the lost one and was about to rein in his horse, preparing to go upstream along the river.
Li Cheng couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw this, and then quickly tried to cross the river again.
However, as Li Cheng took a step out of the water, he felt his hands and feet were freezing cold. He finally couldn't stand it anymore and simply turned around and shouted to the big ladle:
"I am Li Cheng."
The big ladle, that is, the lost Guo Jin, looked back blankly: "What did you say?"
"I am Li Cheng from Xiongzhou." Standing in the water, Li Cheng's lips were blue and purple, and he mustered up the last bit of courage to confront her. "I am a defeated general, unable to advance or retreat, and unwilling to be a prisoner. Since you are here, it is fate. I beg you to grant me death!"
Guo Jin understood what he heard this time, and immediately took out the bow and arrow from behind him. However, he could not help but ask curiously while drawing the bow: "Since you are the famous Li Cheng, if you want to die, why can't you kill yourself? Even if you don't have a weapon, what's wrong with wading into the river and drowning yourself?"
Li Cheng smiled bitterly: "The water is too cold..."
As soon as he finished saying these three words, an arrow flew out and hit the man right in the throat. General Li, who was recognized as the number one rebel since the Jingkang Rebellion, fell into the river.
Guo Jin dismounted, untied the ladle and put it on the table, then walked into the river and cut off the head directly in the river.
After walking out of the bloody river, the man hesitated for a moment. In the end, he was reluctant to tie the head to the side of his ladle. Instead, he untied the wet hair on the head, tied it under his horse's head, and then, taking advantage of the last ray of sunlight, hung the ladle and went upstream.
