On the eleventh day of the sixth month in the tenth year of Jinghan, it rained heavily on Liangshan.
The pouring rain was accompanied by dark clouds all over the sky. Occasionally, lightning and thunder flashed across the sky, stirring up the eight-hundred-mile-wide swamp into chaos. In this huge swamp, the foothills of Liangshan protruded out of the water. In the midst of the thunderstorm and lightning, it was like a wild beast from ancient times. In the darkness, its huge body remained motionless, weathering the wind and rain, firm and terrifying.
Ever since Song Jiang and the others rose up in Liangshan, they had swept through the strongholds near the lake. Entrenched in the dangerous land of Liangshan, they had defeated the soldiers several times. Since Zengtou City, their momentum was like the sun at high noon. Then, taking advantage of the Wu Dynasty's northern expedition and the aftermath of Fang La's failed uprising, it entrenched itself in power and rose to the top. In the eyes of some people, it was as terrifying as this giant island in the middle of the water. Not even the might of Heaven and Earth could bring it down.
In the eyes of many people, the reason for their defeat in the battle of Dulong Gang was still a mystery.
On the evening of the eighth day of the sixth month, the main force of Liangshan broke through the blockade of the Wu Rui Battalion. For the whole night after that, some of the leaders tried their best to reorganize the army and flee. It was not until the next morning that they gradually gathered around the General Ridge. Thinking of how high-spirited they were here only half a month ago, it really felt like a lifetime had passed. After that, they reorganized a little at the General Ridge and then went to the Wanjia Ridge, which had already been conquered. At this time, they counted the number of people. Of the twenty thousand people who had gone to Dulong Gang, only less than eleven thousand could be sorted out.
Of the people who disappeared, more than half were dead, some were captured, and some fell behind one after another during the escape. They could only hope that they would gradually regroup later or return to Liangshan on their own. Among these people, it was very likely that a part of them had begun to lose hope in Liangshan. They had no family to hold them back, so it was not impossible for them to run away by falling behind.
In Dulong Gang, there were only about ten thousand soldiers who could really be sorted out. After this battle, from a smooth sailing at the beginning to a loss of more than ten thousand soldiers, it was like a farce. However, there wasn't enough time for them to stop and reflect on themselves. They had escaped from that weird nightmare in Dulonggang, but the aftertaste was still brewing. Even an idiot would know that the bloody-handed butcher, Ning Liheng, would not stop at this point in his revenge. Next, he would gather all the forces he had and take advantage of the emptiness of Liangshan to launch a strong attack.
One's decline and the other's growth.
The cold situation was in front of them. At the same time, in front of the people of Liangshan, there was the extremely troubled situation. The morale of the eleven thousand soldiers that had been assembled might not be completely usable. It was not something that could be done in a short period of time to restore them to their original state. The most troublesome thing was that there might be a considerable number of people who had already been incited.
However, it was impossible for them to clean up the place. This kind of thing could only be done when one was victorious. The more one lost the battle, the less authority one had, and the more the people below would stick together. On Liangshan, where loyalty was the driving force, what was waiting for the big bosses to clean up was the mutiny and rebellion of the heroes from the three mountains and five peaks.
In such a serious situation, they could only turn a blind eye to these troublesome things for the time being. On the ninth and tenth day of the New Year, Song Jiang and the others tried their best to arrange for the troops that had attacked Wan Jialing to transport all kinds of supplies back to Liangshan. Then, more than ten thousand people were transported back to Liangshan. By the tenth day of the New Year, only one or two thousand people had been transported back to Liangshan. On the eleventh day of the New Year, it began to rain heavily in the early morning. Things could only be delayed for a while. Wu Yong and the others paid attention to the morale of the army. In fact, the morale of the army was quite good … or perhaps it was quite good.
Wan Jialing had won, but the soldiers, leaders, and family members who had not been on the battlefield were all curious about how Dulonggang had been defeated. Some of them were well-informed, and most of them knew that the attack on Dulonggang had been quite smooth in the first few days. Only the leaders of the army and the soldiers who had participated in the war knew what had happened after that. However, the soldiers who had returned to Liangshan almost all chose to remain silent and not mention what had happened to the people around them. However, this effect actually came from the anxiety and fear in their hearts.
When faced with the test of life and death, the individuals in the game began to choose to make rational considerations for the sake of the overall situation. The principle of the game had finally appeared on the people of Liangshan. In a sense, it was indeed somewhat comforting. In the midst of the storm, in a room on the side of the Juyi Hall, Zhu Wu was also somewhat calm when this matter was mentioned.
"… At least if there is a real fight, the morale of the army is still useful. Everyone's family is on Liangshan, and most people do not want Liangshan to fall."
There were many leaders sitting in the room. When the door was opened, the wind and rain blew in, causing the burning torches to flutter. Behind the desk, Wu Yong supported his forehead with his hand. "After all, the people at Dulonggang are almost exhausted. Even if they want to come, only a few people can come. If … if that Ning Liheng really has the support of that treacherous minister, the Wu Ruiying Camp will send troops, but in my opinion, they are not so determined. As long as we can defeat the Wu Ruiying Camp in the first battle, with the terrain of Liangshan, we will be able to hold on. "
"Now, we still don't know what that person will do, but as long as we can win the battle, we can take advantage of the victory and start to consolidate the morale of the army. After that, it will be smooth sailing. In short, everything must be done in this direction. "
"The morale of the thousands of people originally under Leader Huyan's command and the five thousand of us left to guard Liangshan is still there. With a total of ten thousand people, with the terrain advantage, it will not be too big a problem to hold on."
"We can perform a great ceremony for our dead brothers and boost the morale of the army …"
Ever since they returned from Wan Jia Ridge, everyone had been working hard to prepare for the possible attack, such as how to defend the surrounding islands, which leader to use, how to control the public opinion on the island, how to estimate the opponent's attack, and so on. At this time, at least between Wu Yong and Zhu Wu, there was no longer a problem of exclusion.
Xi Junyu had also been included in the crowd, but during this period of time, he chose to keep a low profile and remain silent. He had also cried to Song Jiang that he had caused the root of the trouble and caused the deaths of many of his brothers. But at this time, how could Song Jiang pursue the responsibility from him? He patted his chest and said that as brothers, they should share blessings and misfortunes together. Xi Junyu was grateful, and everyone also said that Brother Gongming was righteous.
They also understood that even if they sent Xi Junyu away, the other party might not let Liangshan go. At least, the brothers who rushed into the Su family that day were probably on the revenge list. If these brothers could really be sent away, it would not only be a matter of face, but also the collapse of Liangshan, which valued loyalty above all else.
In fact, regarding the problem of how to rely on the terrain to defend against the soldiers or the enemy, Liangshan had already had countless countermeasures. At this time, even if they thought about it a hundred times, they would not be able to come up with a solution. But now that the situation was unclear, doing more would make everyone feel more at ease.
They distributed their tasks to the group of leaders and told the people who originally stayed in Liangshan that this was just an unexpected small setback. They were to do all the preparatory work that could be done in full swing, which was also the best way to boost morale. At noon that day, the rain had changed slightly, and there was no more lightning and thunder. When the first ship arrived at Liangshan, it brought news from the Wan Jia Ridge area.
"The brothers who were separated from the group and were separated from each other on the road have gathered a few hundred people this morning. However, some of them were released by the Bloody-Handed Butcher … Leader Huyan settled them down and asked me to come back and ask what we should do. He also asked me to bring a few people to ask the leader and the military advisor …"
Wu Yong's hands trembled when he heard the news in the meeting hall. He exchanged glances with Zhu Wu. Although the situation was urgent, he knew what he was doing. His lips moved and he smiled. "You … you're letting it go again?"
After a short inquiry, they knew how many of the hundreds of people who had gathered at the Wan Jia Ridge had been released. Huyan Zhuo could not count, but what he did was right. At this time, the people who had been released could only be temporarily isolated. Now, what worried Wu Yong and the others the most was what the other party had done to these captives. They didn't dare to lower their guard any longer, and they hurriedly summoned the captives they brought to the island and interrogated them in detail about the entire situation.
It was still raining outside the meeting hall. This interrogation went on for several hours. In the afternoon, a soldier came to report that someone had taken a small boat back to the island in the heavy rain and was stopped by the soldiers of the water stockade. The other party also said that he had something to report to the chiefs.
When that person was brought back, the interrogation in the meeting hall was still going on. Everyone's spirits were starting to become a little numb. When they asked this person to reply, he was actually released. According to his story, he thought that the situation was serious and immediately got a small boat to return to report the whole matter. Everyone had already interrogated the other people several times, including the release of more than a thousand captives, the entire interrogation process, and the words Ning Yi had said. The soldiers were originally a little hesitant about these words. It was only when Wu Yong and the others lost their temper that they finally told them the whole story. Wu Yong and the others could also understand the weight of those words.
"I'm coming for you. Can you stop me?"
It could almost be said that the other party's terrifying image, with these words, seemed to have materialized again, appearing face to face in front of everyone. This was because they could almost see the seriousness in these words, as well as the possible consequences.
Of the more than a thousand people, more than five hundred had been captured by the other party on both sides. In addition to the other party's record of forcefully beating down Liangshan from its peak state in three days, it was already impossible to estimate how many people would feel threatened by the other party this time.
Wu Yong's voice was dry. Only then did he remember something. "Let the water stockade be on guard. Check … check how many people are returning to the island in the heavy rain …"
After making some more inquiries, Song Jiang stood up and walked out of the meeting hall silently. The rain drifted over from the eaves, and he held the wall as he walked forward. Behind him, Li Kui caught up with him with his broad axe. He heard Song Jiang mutter in the rain, "I, Hu Baoyi, Song Jiang, have been open and aboveboard all my life. I've never done anything that goes against my conscience. Why …"
Li Kui thought that he was angry about Xi Junyu and said, "I'll go kill that bastard Xi right now! This kind of person … "
"Iron Bull, don't you dare act recklessly!" Song Jiang turned around. "You … What's the use of killing him now? Wouldn't it seem that everyone in Liangshan is afraid? And how can we listen to that evil thief's side? Brother Xi, Brother Xi, he … "
He was not necessarily angry about Xi Junyu's matter, but worried about the difficulty of the situation. After saying a few words, he finally couldn't say anything else. His eyes swept across the entire Liangshan that was trapped in the rain outside the Juyi Hall. The houses, arrow towers, figures, light spots, pavilions in the mountains, and big boats in the water were far and near. His eyes were bloodshot.
"This is … this is forcing people to die …"
He lowered his voice and roared angrily in a low voice.
At the same time, a small interlude was happening on the side of Liangshan in the rain.
Xi Junyu was carrying a small bag on his back, wearing a bamboo hat and a straw raincoat. Looking at the rain that was still not very optimistic, he finally bent down and began to push a small boat into the water. At this moment, a voice sounded from behind, "Brother Xi, are you leaving!?"
Xi Junyu's bent body paused for a while. After a long time, he finally stood up and turned around. "This matter in Liangshan started because of me. Although Brother Gongming and the other brothers are loyal to me, I don't have the face to stay in Liangshan. The son-in-law of the Su family came for me. Maybe if I leave, he will follow me and leave … "
His face was filled with remorse and worry. This sort of explanation was actually somewhat powerless, but no one saw that when he leaned over to push the boat and the voice behind him rang out, the expression that appeared on Xi Junyu's face was not one of remorse or worry. Instead, it was a strange smile, as if he had been waiting for something to happen for a long time.
However, in the evening, when the rain stopped, the news that Xi Junyu wanted to take advantage of this time to escape spread among the leaders. Therefore, Xi Junyu was temporarily put under house arrest. That night, there was a good moonlight in the sky. Xi Junyu was sitting in the dark room. Finally, another figure came from under the eaves. He quietly waved away the people who were watching the door, opened the door, and came in silently.
"Brother Xi, you have been wronged."
"This matter started because of me. A little abuse is nothing … Are you investigating?"
"Yes, I am."
The other party answered. Xi Junyu nodded. Looking at the little light outside, a trace of ruthlessness appeared on his face, and he laughed.
"It hasn't been long since this matter started. Now that they are so concerned about whether I will stay or not, they either have the intention of joining the imperial court, or they are moles that Ning Yi placed among us from the beginning. In the scene this afternoon, the latter will definitely not be absent. As long as we follow the clues and slowly peel the melon, we will definitely be able to find the person … "
After he said this, the other party nodded. After a moment of silence, Xi Junyu raised his head. "I heard what those people brought. Is it … a little too late?"
This time, the other party looked out of the window and did not speak. The situation in Liangshan and the hearts of thousands of people could no longer be predicted …
The moonlight shone on the earth. At this moment, the stronghold of Liangshan was like a city surrounded by a huge swamp. People's hearts were racing. More than a thousand people who had been released from the military camp were also surrounding the city, making their own choices. People who returned to the swamp at night were intercepted or investigated and cleared out. Many people had already hidden in the darkness of the stronghold. Bit by bit, their malice invaded the stronghold.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
