Dai Zong and Shi Qian were ordered to go to the back mountain to explore the retreat route, but they saw colorful flags fluttering in the distance and a large number of imperial officers and soldiers stationed. Dai Zong was shocked when he saw this, and he and Shi Qian returned to Liangshan Dazhai, entered the Zhongyi Hall, and reported the situation in the back mountain to Song Jiang.
Song Jiang was stunned when he heard the news; Lu Junyi and Wu Yong also became frightened and uneasy when they heard the news.
Song Jiang said: "What should we do?! In the past battles with the imperial court, Liangshan maintained an undefeated record; this time the imperial court took real action and used the elite soldiers who conquered Khitan to suppress Liangshan. Nowadays, it is impossible to lose a battle. If you go and talk to him, you must at least have a way out. If even the way out is cut off by the officers and soldiers, wouldn’t it mean that you will lose your life!”
After speaking, Song Jiang looked at Wu Yong, hoping that Wu Yong would come up with a way to save his life.
Wu Yong pondered for a moment and said: "Brother Gongming, don't panic. In the current situation, we have no choice but to fight with the imperial troops. We can quickly send Lu Zhishen and Wu Song to lead 5,000 troops to guard the north, and Lin Chong and Hu Yanjun to lead 5,000 troops. Horses guard the west, Dong Ping and Zhang Qing lead 5,000 troops to guard the south, and east of Jinshatan Beach, Guan Sheng, Hu Yanjun, Qin Ming, Hua Rong and others should be left to guard to ensure that the stronghold is not captured."
Song Jiang said hurriedly: "Okay! Okay! Military advisor, please pass on the order quickly and tell the generals to lead their troops and horses. They must do their best to guard the key points."
Wu Yong sent an order. Upon hearing the order, the above generals led their troops and went to the southwest and north to guard.
Song Jiang was still worried and said: "Passive defense like this is not an option. Sooner or later, the stronghold will be conquered. What should we do then?"
Wu Yong said: "At that time, the only way out is to surrender to the court."
"Can the imperial court allow us to surrender?" Song Jiang asked anxiously: "Military advisor, we must not lose this stronghold. When the time comes, all of you will be able to surrender, except for me and Yuan Lu."
Wu Yong comforted Song Jiang and said: "Brother, please be patient. Brothers will defend the mountain stronghold with their lives."
Song Jiang said: "I hope so! If we survive this disaster, the owner of the village will be handed over to Yuan Lu." When Lu Junyi saw this, he was quite surprised and looked at Song Jiang hurriedly. Song Jiang continued: "Originally, the master of this cottage should be handed over to Coach Lin. Coach Lin originally snatched this cottage from Wang Lun. Moreover, Leader Chao also belongs to Coach Lin. However, Brother Tianwang asked before his death, whoever can catch it Shi Wengong, who will be the master of the stronghold? Since it was Lu Yuanwai who captured Shi Wengong, I will hand over the master of the stronghold to my brother."
When Lu Junyi heard what Song Jiang said, he thought to himself, what were you doing? Now that the catastrophe is coming, you have to hand over the master of the cottage to me, and I don’t want it! Thinking like this, Lu Junyi hurriedly said: "Brother, this is absolutely impossible, and it is better for me to do it! Besides, we will talk about the future later, let's not discuss it for now, the top priority now is to resist the attack of the imperial troops."
Song Jiang nodded and said: "Okay! Okay! Look at the present first."
Liangshan sent elite troops and strong generals to guard the north, south, west, and north to prevent the horse and infantry from conquering Liangshan from land. In the direction of the water park in the east, Gao Qiu surrounded and refused to attack, and the stalemate lasted for another six or seven days. In the following days, the imperial army no longer even beat the war drums.
Song Jiang was puzzled and sent Zhang Shun, who was very good at diving, to dive to check the situation.
Zhang Shun received the order and dived to the imperial naval fleet. He saw false flags on the boats and only a few soldiers. A large number of soldiers and horses were not on the boats. Zhang Shun was curious, so he hurriedly dived back, got to the shore, rushed to Liangshan Dazhai, and reported the situation to Song Jiang, Lu Junyi, and Wu Yong.
In this situation, Song Jiang, Lu Junyi, and Wu Yong were also puzzled.
The three of them stared at each other for a while, and then Song Jiang sent people to investigate the situation on the south, west, north and south sides. The news they received back was that all the camps were empty!
When Song Jiang heard the news, he laughed loudly, said with his forehead and hands in celebration: "Ah! What a blessing! What a blessing! God will not perish on me!"
What is this scenario? It turned out that Gao Qiu, Gao Taiwei and Tong Guantong led the imperial army to completely surround Liangshan, hoping to trap Liangshan to death. The imperial court suddenly came to report that a crowd had gathered in La in the south of the Yangtze River to start an uprising. Tong Guan and Gao Qiu were ordered to He immediately led his troops back to the court.
Tong Guan and Gao Taiwei received the report and felt that they had finally gathered elite troops and surrounded Liangshan. The Liangshan bandits were at the end of their rope. If they withdraw at this time, wouldn't all their previous efforts be wasted? !
In response to this situation, Tong Guan and Gao Qiu had an urgent discussion and decided that the two of them should quickly return to the court and report the situation of the invasion of Liangshan to the emperor in person, requesting that after Liangshan was defeated, the army would be withdrawn to destroy La in the south of the Yangtze River.
After Tong Guan and Gao Qiu discussed it, they handed over the troops to suppress Liangshan to Cai You, the commander-in-chief of the division. Tong Guan told Zhong Shizhong and Cai You: "While Gao Taiwei and I return to the court, you can just encircle Liangshan without attacking him. After Gao Taiwei and I return from the court, how will we attack?" Decide.”
After settling in, Tong Guan and Gao Qiu led an army of 2,000 horses, galloped all the way back to the court, entered the palace, and met Emperor Huizong.
When Emperor Huizong saw the arrival of Tong Guan and Gao Qiu, he felt much more relaxed and said hurriedly: "I am greatly relieved that the two gentlemen have returned with their troops and horses! Sirs, the matter is urgent. Jiangnan La gathered people to start an uprising." , establishing his own country, calling himself emperor, the disaster is not small."
Hearing this, Tong Guan stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this time only Captain Gao and I returned alone, and we did not come back with any troops."
Huizong was shocked when he heard this and said hurriedly: "Withdraw your troops quickly! No delay."
"Your Majesty!" Tong Guandao said: "I and Lieutenant Gao have led the troops to surround Liangshan and killed countless people. The bandits in Liangshan are now at the end of their rope. If the imperial troops and horses work harder, they can completely annihilate Liangshan and eliminate the root of the disaster. Your Majesty, now Withdraw the troops, Liangshan will rise again, and all the previous efforts of the imperial court will be wasted!"
Huizong heard the words and said anxiously: "Privy Tong! Liangshan is just a minor ailment of the skin. It is just a small fight to disturb the place, and it is not a cause of trouble. Nowadays, the south of the Yangtze River is a serious problem. Sirs, don't hesitate. , withdraw your troops quickly, as for the Liangshan bandits, I have my own way to deal with them."
Hearing this, Tong Guan and Gao Taiwei looked at each other, wondering what Emperor Huizong could do to clean up Liangshan? Could it be that he wanted to recruit Liangshan? !
Thinking like this, Tong Guan said again: "Your Majesty, the Liangshan thieves have never changed their minds. We must not recruit these thieves!"
When Huizong heard the report, he felt unhappy and said loudly: "Wang Fu concealed the civil uprising in the south of the Yangtze River and refused to report it, which made Fang La bigger! I have dismissed him and appointed Grand Master Cai as prime minister again. How come you two don't understand me? Be attentive! You two gentlemen, don't say anything anymore, retreat quickly, move your troops south, and conquer Fangla!"
Seeing this, Tong Guan and Gao Qiu quickly bowed and replied: "I will obey the imperial edict!"
Tong Guan and Gao Qiu were die-hard loyalists of Emperor Huizong, and they had always followed Emperor Huizong's lead. Seeing that Emperor Huizong was displeased, they no longer insisted on annihilating Liangshan first. Tong Guan and Gao Qiu exited the main hall, left the palace, and came to the Privy Council Mansion to discuss the withdrawal of troops.
Gao Qiu said: "In this round of encirclement and suppression of Liangshan, Song Jiang and other bandits are already exhausted. If they work harder, they will definitely conquer Liangshan and show the power of the imperial court. However, Fang La's uprising will cause even greater harm, so they have to withdraw the troops from Liangshan first." , crossed the river to conquer Fangla, and gained the advantage of the Liangshan bandits."
Tong Guandao: "This is a matter of weak intention. Lieutenant Gao, the current plan is to withdraw the Liangshan soldiers and horses. If the Liangshan bandits know that the imperial court is withdrawing, they will definitely be arrogant and take the opportunity to attack. The imperial army and horses will suffer losses. We must not Don’t worry.”
Gao Qiu said: "What should we do according to the Privy Council's wishes?"
Tong Guandao: "Of course it's a feint to attack and retreat secretly. You can send a small group of soldiers and horses to attack Liangshan continuously to cover the retreat of the large army of soldiers and horses. After the large army of soldiers and horses retreat, the soldiers and horses covering the retreat quickly break away from contact, withdraw to the capital, and prepare for the expedition." Suppress Fang La."
Hearing this, Gao Qiu shouted loudly: "The Privy Council's good plan will be handled accordingly."
After Tong Guan and Gao Qiu discussed the strategy, they rushed back to Liangshan County Yamen and ordered the rear army to change into the front army and retreat in an orderly manner. In order to confuse Liangshan, Captain Gao specially arranged a small group of troops to harass and attack Liangshan, so that Song Jiang, Wu Yong and others in Liangshan did not notice that the imperial troops had quietly retreated. When Song Jiang saw that the imperial army and horses had stopped beating drums and sent people to inquire about the situation of the imperial army and horses, the main army of the imperial army had withdrawn to Bianliang, the capital, and was preparing to conquer La in the south of the Yangtze River.
After learning that the imperial troops had withdrawn to Bianjing, Song Jiang, Lu Junyi, and Wu Yong saw that Liangshan was short of food and grass and had no way to survive, so they discussed countermeasures.
Lu Junyi said: "Brother Gongming, the imperial court's attack on Liangshan was all caused by the Jeju Prefecture. The Jeju Prefecture prepared thousands of warships for the imperial court, so that Liangshan was unable to repel the imperial troops and suffered huge losses. Listen, stupid brother He said, "Jeju is rich and has sufficient food and grass; now that the imperial troops have retreated, Jeju Prefecture's military strength will inevitably be weak. We should move to Jeju, cause trouble for Jeju Prefecture, and go to him to eat food."
Wu Yong was shocked when he heard this, and secretly feared in his heart.
Song Jiang was overjoyed when he heard this, so he left Lu Junyi to guard the stronghold while he took Wu Yong and others to attack Jeju Prefecture.
Zhang Shuye, the prefect of Jeju Prefecture, whose courtesy name was Jizhong, was from Guangfeng, Jiangxi Province. He once served as an official in Lanzhou and joined the army.
When Zhang Shuye was stationed in Lanzhou, it was when the Qiang people were extremely powerful. They often invaded Lanzhou and disturbed the peace of the place. After Zhang Shuye was ordered to garrison Lanzhou, unlike other generals who defended passively, Zhang Shuye took the initiative and built a castle at the place where the Qiang people gathered before invading Lanzhou, and sent troops to guard it. It was impregnable and made the Qiang people The people could not gather together, so they sent out a large army and defeated each one, until the Qiang people retreated to Qingtang and did not dare to cross the border even half a step.
For this reason, Lanzhou is called the "Jincheng". The word "gold" is not the word "gold" like the "Jin Zhangye" in the Hexi generation, how rich it is, but it means as solid as gold and indestructible.
Speaking of which, Zhang Shuye is also a capable person.
Song Jiang conspired to attack Jeju, but Zhang Shuye's subordinates discovered it and hurriedly came to report to Zhang Shuye. When Uncle Zhang heard the report at night, he smiled slightly and ordered his subordinates to retreat.
Ever since the imperial troops retreated, Zhang Shuye had expected that Song Jiang would come to attack Jeju. Now, after learning that Song Jiang was coming to attack Jeju, Zhang Shuye expected that Liangshan would take the water route and launch the attack from Weishan Lake. After careful consideration, Zhang Shuye arranged more than 2,000 troops in advance, each in a small boat. The boat was filled with saltpeter, thunder and fire. He hid the boat in the reeds near the lake, waiting for Song Jiang to attack.
Song Jiang thought that the imperial troops had just retreated and Jeju Prefecture was unprepared, so he brought his troops and horses, seized the fishermen's boats, ordered the fishermen to drive them, and rushed to Jeju in a mighty manner.
When the fleet led by Song Jiang approached Jeju, thousands of small boats suddenly emerged from the reeds and flooded the lake. They surrounded the large boat of Song Jiang and others. After a barrage of arrows, they threw saltpeter, thunder and fire into Song Jiang. A large ship waiting for people to ride. The big boat that Song Jiang and others were riding in suddenly burst into flames, burning Song Jiang and others into a state of embarrassment.
When the fishermen kidnapped by Song Jiang saw this and the fire igniting, they knew it was important to save their lives. In panic, they all dived into the water and fled.
Poor Song Jiang and his party, in the panic, they also jumped into the water, splashing to the ground, like landlubbers, and many people died in the water. Fortunately, the Ruan brothers and navy generals such as Zhang Shun and Li Jun followed Song Jiang on his expedition to Jeju. Northern generals such as Song Jiang, Wu Song, and Lu Zhishen were saved by the Ruan brothers and others at the risk of their lives, and Song Jiang, Wu Yong, and others were able to return. Return to Liangshan.
They originally planned a sneak attack, but instead of gaining any advantage, they were hunted and killed. This battle made Song Jiang frightened and terrified all day long.
Through the encirclement and suppression by Tong Guan and Gao Qiu, as well as the failure of the sneak attack on Jeju, Wu Yong had a clear understanding of the strength of the imperial troops.
