On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, in front of Dulonggang in Jezhou, Shandong.
With the sound of gold ringing, Liang Shanbo's soldiers and horses once again withdrew from Zhujiazhuang. However, compared with the number of troops when they entered just now, the number of soldiers was much smaller. Some of them were injured, and their faces were full of wounds. Unhappy, especially Li Kui, who had a lot of blood on his body, he roared: "Sooner or later, I will kill all your Zhu family members!" Zhujiazhuang Ding behind him was so shocked that his face was filled with fear, and he could only keep shooting arrows to vent his feelings. of anger.
This is the twelfth day for Liangshanbo to attack the three villages on Dulonggang. Since the New Year's Eve troops were sent to sneak attack Dulonggang, several parties have fought many times, and each has suffered damage. In terms of casualties, Liangshanbo is the main attacker. The most serious thing is that no less than 300 people have died here.
It's not that everyone in Zhujiazhuang is brave and good at fighting and can defeat the Liangshan bandits again and again. It's actually that the terrain inside and outside their Zhuangzi is too complicated. Not only are the roads changeable, but also many deadly traps have been laid. Just now. From the beginning, many people in Liangshanbo suffered heavy losses from these traps, and nearly half of them died in the traps.
In addition, the people of Zhujiazhuang, headed by Zhu Biao and Luan Tingyu, were also brave. After surviving the initial surprise, they actually managed to secure the entire manor, although their available manpower was only two to three hundred. , but relied on the geographical advantages to defend their homeland, and it has been more than ten days now.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that the other two Zhuangzi Hujiazhuang and Lijiazhuang who were also on Dulonggang often sent troops to assist. The three villages in Dulonggang are distributed in a Z-shaped pattern. When one village is attacked, it can often get help from the two villages. In this way, the people of Liangshan cannot attack Zhujiazhuang with all their strength, and they still have to score hundreds of people. To resist and contain the reinforcements from the two villages, Zhujiazhuang was able to support until this point.
When he saw his brothers returning defeated again, Song Jiang's already dark face turned even darker. But soon, he showed an eager smile again: "Brothers, thank you for your hard work. The food and hot soup are ready. Let's eat and rest first."
"Brother, why is Ming Jin withdrawing his troops at this time? I am almost at the gate of Zhujiazhuang. As long as I break through the broken door, I can go in and avenge my dead brother." Li Kui shouted with some dissatisfaction at this time. asked.
"Tie Niu must not be arrogant. Of course my brother has his own reasons for such arrangements." Dai Zong scolded him quickly. This was in the military. It was different from the past. If he really wanted to pursue the case, he would suffer.
Song Jiang didn't care about this with this fool. He glanced at the brothers who were also looking puzzled, sighed and explained: "It's getting late today, and I'm afraid it will be more detrimental to us if we continue to fight. Don't look at you who have already killed us. In front of the main gate of Zhujiazhuang, but I believe they can definitely hold on for one more time, and the casualties will be even greater."
"But brother, we finally got through those traps today. We may not be so lucky when we fight again tomorrow." Huang Xin, who was once a general in the army and had deep experience in commanding operations, frowned and said own concerns.
These words were also recognized by the other brothers, and almost everyone looked at Song Jiang. For Liangshan people and others, the biggest difficulty in trying to solve Zhujiazhuang is the mystery of more than ten miles outside the village.
In the Soul Array, one careless step will lead you to completely lose your way, and you will have to pay a heavy price if you try to figure it out again. Today they fought cautiously, and finally managed to break out of the road and reach the gate of the manor, when it was time to attack with all their strength.
Seeing that everyone was expressing their dissatisfaction with Song Jiang, Hua Rong, who was his die-hard supporter, quickly said: "Brothers, my brother naturally has his own considerations in doing this. If we really attack Zhujiazhuang, I'm afraid that other people who have been holding back their troops before will The two villages will fight tooth and nail. By then our situation will only become more difficult, and it will not be easy to defeat Zhujiazhuang."
The three villages on Dulonggang are connected with each other, and they are deadlocked. Although they dare not go to war easily because of their lack of troops, once Zhujiazhuang is in danger, these two families may fight hard. This is the reason why Song Jiang retreated at this moment. One, the other is that he is worried that his brothers will suffer too many casualties during the storm, and it will be difficult to explain when they return to the mountain.
You must know that this is the second time that Song Jiang has led his army on an expedition since he entered Liangshan. The previous time he returned without success at Erlong Mountain has made his face tarnished. If he still suffered huge damage in the attack on Dulonggang Sanzhuang this time, then he His prestige in the village will inevitably plummet, which is not the result he wants to see.
"Then what should I do according to my brother's opinion?" Qin Ming, the most impatient one, asked.
Under the watchful eyes of all the brothers, Song Jiang finally revealed his strategy: "After attacking and defending in the past few days, I have seen that Dulonggang is really difficult to fight. The difficulty for the three villages is that they can rescue each other. Let us We can't go all out. In this case, why don't we try to divide the three villages and deal with them one by one. For example, the owner of Lijiazhuang over there, Li Ying, is said to have had a rift with the Zhu family. We can persuade him to join us in Liangshan, and Or the two will not help each other, so we no longer have to worry about the threat on the left. As for Hujiazhuang, although there is a marriage intention between the two villages, as long as Lijiazhuang does not send troops, they will not dare to fight alone, and then we will be able to attack with all our strength I wish you a great village."
After more than ten days of hard work without success, Song Jiang has re-examined his thinking and no longer just attacks by force, but plans to use strategies.
"Will the people from Lijiazhuang agree?"
"You will know if you try it. Dai Zong, I will leave this matter to you. Tonight you go to Lijiazhuang to see Li Ying. You must convince him, at least let him stay in the village. Also, it is best to get him from He asked the secrets of the ecstasy array in Zhujiazhuang. As long as he can find out the truth and falsehood of those roads, defeating Zhujiazhuang will only happen in a matter of seconds." Song Jiang said with a serious look.
Dai Zong did not refuse, and immediately responded with clasped fists: "I will do my best, little brother."
Seeing that Song Jiang had made a decision, the leaders no longer questioned, and all left their tents to rest. Only a few people, including Dai Zong and Hua Rong, remained. When there were only a few of them left here, Hua Rong said with some worry: "Brother, this strategy is certainly useful, but it may delay it for some time. I'm only worried that there will be officers and soldiers coming to rescue the Zhu family." Zhuang..."
Huang Xin also echoed: "I think so too, brother, the longer it takes, the worse it will be for us. Even if the officers and soldiers of Jeju Prefecture have suffered heavy losses before and dare not come back again, the officers and soldiers of other nearby prefectures may also..."
"That's not a problem
, now that all the state governments in Shandong are too busy to take care of themselves, how can they send troops to save a small Zhujiazhuang? The only ones to worry about may be the officers and soldiers from Qingzhou, but they are hundreds of miles away, and the mountains have been blocked by heavy snow recently. Even if they really receive the distress letter and rush over, it will take them half a month. "Song Jiang looked confident.
Recently, he has been observing the road conditions nearby. Although the wind and snow have stopped early, the road congestion has not eased. At least cars and horses cannot pass smoothly. As for walking, it is impossible to cross the mountains and ridges for more than ten days and a half. Come on, by then Zhujiazhuang will have been conquered by him.
Speaking of this, the brothers had no doubts and all expressed their willingness to obey Song Jiang's orders and wait for two more days.
On top of the high wall of Zhujiazhuang in front, the three brothers Longhubiao and a tall man with a yellow face were observing the movements of the Liangshan camp from a distance. At this time, they all had some doubts on their faces.
"This time they have already reached the gate of my manor. Why did they suddenly withdraw their troops? There was no change. Even Hu and Li Villages did not see reinforcements coming out..."
"They must have some conspiracy, otherwise they wouldn't withdraw their troops so easily."
"Brothers, Teacher Luan, I think we don't need to think too much. The best strategy is to directly send people to attack the camp of the Liangshan bandits at night." Zhu Biao looked eager to try: "These days How many people in our village have been injured by them, I really can't swallow this breath."
"Nonsense, now my Zhujiazhuang is in danger, how can I take such risks again!" As the eldest brother, Zhu Long immediately scolded: "No matter how good your martial arts are, how can you defeat one against a thousand?"
"But… "
"Third brother, please don't mention this matter again. And what you mentioned before about asking the Qingzhou Army for help, not to mention that our people can't be killed at this time, even if they can really get out, you think that has nothing to do with you. Is Sun Dujian, who we have only met once, really willing to send troops to rescue us? At this time, Hu and Li Zhuang, who have always been close to us, are mostly just protecting themselves. How can we count on the officers and soldiers hundreds of miles away?" Zhu Longweiren Extremely stable, it is impossible to have expectations for something illusory.
Hearing him mention the performance of the other two villages, Luan Tingyu also frowned deeply: "Our three villages originally agreed to advance and retreat together, but now Liangshan can only contain the strength of the two villages with a mere hundred people. It is really disappointing. It’s so heartbreaking. If things go on like this, our situation will only get worse. Third Young Master, do you think it’s time to take the initiative to seek help from Hujiazhuang? After all, their Third Niang is still engaged to you.”
The arrogant Zhu Biao really didn't want to ask for help, but he didn't know how to refuse. Just as he was struggling with this, Zhu Hu, who had never spoken until now, suddenly said urgently: "Look over there, why did they send people to Lijiazhuang..."
After hearing this, several people on the wall immediately looked to the side in the direction of Lijiazhuang. Sure enough, they saw a line of fire running quickly towards Lijiazhuang. Judging from the number of people and the time, it was obvious that they did not want to attack Lijiazhuang.
"No, are the people from Liangshanbo planning to negotiate peace and join forces with Lijiazhuang?" For a moment, the hearts of everyone present sank, and an extremely unpleasant answer emerged from their minds...