Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Led by Lü Fang, the group sped towards Duiying Mountain.

Midway through, Lu Fang's wounds, which had just been bandaged by An Daoquan,

Because of the horse's jolting, many of them burst open again.

His newly changed robes were instantly stained blood red again.

Zhao Yuan wanted Lü Fang to point him in the right direction, and then he quickly returned to Liangshan to re-bandage his wounds.

Lü Fang, however, stubbornly refused to nod.

"Brother, the Liao cavalry that chased me will definitely report back when they get back. If those Liao troops are worried about Liangshan getting involved, they will definitely attack the Duiyingshan camp immediately!"

"The sooner we arrive, the safer Brother Duan Jingzhu will be!"

“If I leave, although Duiying Mountain is not large, there are several paths in the mountains. If my brother and his soldiers get lost and are delayed, and something happens to Brother Duan Jingzhu, then I will be held responsible!”

His words were reasonable and well-founded, so Zhao Yuan naturally couldn't continue to persuade him.

They could only urge the cavalry to speed up again, hoping to arrive as soon as possible and lessen Lü Fang's suffering.

......

On Duiying Mountain,

The Liao troops surrounding Lü Fang's camp were also having a headache.

“Your Highness, our crossing of the border and deep into Song territory has already violated the alliance between the Song and Liao dynasties,”

One of the men advised, "If the Song court's officials and soldiers find out about what we've done and report it to the King, I'm afraid we'll all be severely punished by the King of Wei!"

This man's name was He Chai. He was originally the commander of Tanzhou, a general under the command of Dongxian Attendant Bo Jin.

Before him stood a beautiful young woman dressed as a noblewoman of the Liao Dynasty; she was none other than Princess Tianshou of the Liao Dynasty.

Princess Tianshou was not the daughter of Emperor Tianzuo of Liao, but the daughter of his younger brother, Prince Wei, Yelü Dezhong.

Yelü Dezhong was deeply trusted by Emperor Tianzuo and was the garrison commander of Jizhou in the Liao Dynasty.

Princess Tianshou, Dalibo, was originally the daughter of the King of Wei, and by rights, she shouldn't have had the title of princess.

But Dalibo was not only beautiful, she was also skilled in martial arts.

In addition, his brave and skilled fighting personality made him a favorite of Emperor Tianzuo.

A year ago, Emperor Tianzuo made an exception and bestowed upon her the title of Princess Tianshou. His favor and imperial affection were already common knowledge in the Liao Kingdom.

Half a month ago, Princess Tianshou went hunting and toured Tanzhou.

The commander of Tanzhou, the Dongxian Attendant Minister Bo Jin, in order to please her,

He specially dispatched his generals, the three brothers He Zhongbao, He Chai, and He Yun, to accompany the princess on the hunt.

The three He brothers originally thought it was just a routine trip to accompany a distinguished guest on a sightseeing tour.

Unexpectedly, during the hunt, a man with red hair and a yellow beard suddenly barged into the hunting grounds.

The magnificent white horse he rode, pure white without a single blemish, immediately won the favor of Princess Tianshou.

The Liao generals captured the intruder, seized his white horse, and presented it to the princess.

I thought that was the end of it.

Unexpectedly, that very night, the precious horse was stolen back by the red-haired, yellow-bearded man.

This infuriated Princess Tianshou!

She then led a group of generals in pursuit along the way.

The three He brothers had assumed that Princess Tianshou would stop once they reached the Song-Liao border.

But she completely ignored him and insisted on continuing her investigation southward.

They chased him all the way to the foot of Duiying Mountain before finally catching up with the red-haired, yellow-bearded man.

Originally, if they had just captured him, they could have reclaimed that magnificent white horse.

Unexpectedly, bandits intervened midway and rescued the red-haired, yellow-bearded man, bringing him back to their mountain camp.

The Liao people pursued them all the way to the mountain stronghold.

To be honest, this mountain stronghold was built in an extremely rudimentary way.

In a mountain valley, two simple wooden watchtowers were built on either side, connected by a wooden fence.

If there were a squad of infantry armed with shields, they could easily breach this rudimentary camp.

But what could they do? The Liao army was entirely composed of cavalry, all for the sake of convenient hunting!

Without shields for cover, a force of thirty or forty men charging into such a camp would certainly suffer heavy losses, even if they managed to capture it.

In this group, besides the three He brothers, there was also Qiong Yao Nayan, who was specifically sent to protect Princess Tianshou.

Most of the remaining people were guards and retainers from the Prince of Wei's residence, and Princess Tianshou naturally did not want them to suffer any losses.

Yesterday morning, the Liao forces launched a probing attack.

Although he managed to kill several henchmen thanks to his accurate archery skills

However, one of them was wounded, and two of their horses were riddled with arrows by the bandit's archers.

The Liao generals were caught in a dilemma. If it weren't for Princess Tianshou's insistence, they would have already wanted to ride back to the Liao Kingdom in the north.

"He Chai, where are Qiong Yao Na Yan and your elder brother? Haven't they returned yet?"

Princess Tianshou said angrily with displeasure, "They chased a mere bandit all day and still couldn't catch him. How dare they call themselves warriors of the Great Liao Kingdom?"

“Your Highness, this is Song territory. General Qiongyao and my elder brother are unfamiliar with the area. They may have already captured that bandit, but they got lost and haven't returned in time.”

Just as He Chai finished speaking, his younger brother He Yun strode over and reported,

"Your Highness, General Qiongyao and the others who went to pursue the bandits have returned!"

......

The Liangshan cavalry set off at noon and finally arrived at the foot of Duiying Mountain before sunset.

The group did not immediately ascend the mountain, but instead rested for a while at the foot of the mountain.

The cavalry soldiers dismounted one after another.

He took out the cloth bag he carried with him and fed the warhorse with a concentrated feed mixed with wheat straw, oats, and black beans.

After the horses had eaten their fill, they took out their own rations to fill their own stomachs.

Lu Fang had suffered a bumpy journey, and most of his wounds had reopened.

The constant pain and blood loss turned his handsome face deathly pale.

During their break, Shi Xiu and Sun An quickly re-bandaged his wound.

After the soldiers and warhorses had recovered some of their strength,

Zhao Yuan then ordered the entire army to set off, with Lü Fang leading the charge towards the Yingshan camp.

The sky was beginning to turn dusky.

Led by Lü Fang, the Liangshan cavalry advanced rapidly along the mountain path.

At that moment, Qiongying suddenly noticed a ball of fire burning on the mountain ridge above.

Upon seeing this, Lü Fang immediately became anxious.

"Brother, my camp is built on that very spot where the fire started!"

Chapter 208 Battle at Yingshan

At this moment, on Duiying Mountain,

The group of Liao people, carrying makeshift rattan shields woven from tree branches, approached the gate of the mountain stronghold.

They poured the wine from the wine sacs onto the wooden door and then set it on fire with torches.

Since we can't break into the camp, let's force the bandits inside to come out!

This was an idea that Qiong Yaonayan and He Zhongbao suggested to Princess Tianshou after Qiong Yaonayan and He Zhongbao returned.

Dalibo was initially worried that setting the fire would burn the magnificent white horse.

But after He Zhongbao told her that the escaped bandits seemed to have been taken in by a military camp,

Dalibo immediately agreed to his idea.

Although Princess Tianshou was arrogant, she was not stupid. On the contrary, she was an extremely intelligent girl, otherwise she would not have won the favor of Emperor Tianzuo.

The reason they insisted on going south to retrieve the BMW was...

Firstly, because she looked down on the Song people of the South from the bottom of her heart.

Secondly, although Princess Tianshou did indeed love that white horse, she did not intend to ride it herself after acquiring it. Instead, she wanted to present it to Emperor Tianzuo to consolidate her and her father, the Prince of Wei's, favor.

In Dalibo's view, these Song people, occupying the most prosperous land in the world, were timid and cowardly, as stupid as pigs.

Princess Tianshou had always revered the Holy and Divine Empress Dowager Xuanxian of the Liao Dynasty.

This empress dowager's real name was Xiao Chuo, and she also had a nickname, Xiao Yanyan. It was she who led Emperor Shengzong of Liao and personally led a large army south into Song territory, forcing Emperor Zhenzong of Song to sign the Treaty of Chanyuan.

For more than a hundred years after that, there were no major wars between the Song and Liao dynasties.

However, the Song Dynasty was required to send 10 taels of silver and 20 bolts of silk to the Liao Dynasty every year. The two sides also agreed to use the Baigou River as the border, which completely deprived the Northern Song Dynasty of the righteous cause of recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

However, despite looking down on the Song people, Princess Tianshou also knew that the Liao Dynasty of today was no longer comparable to what it had been a hundred years ago.

Putting everything else aside, the current Emperor Tianzuo hardly pays any attention to state affairs, except for hunting.

This led to the Liao Dynasty, which had shown signs of decline since the reign of Emperor Daozong, becoming like the Song Dynasty, with its military in disarray and its people displaced.

In retrospect, Emperor Tianzuo and Emperor Huizong of Song were indeed a pair of incompetent rulers, except that one was good at military affairs and the other at literature.

After hearing the reports from Qiong Yaonayan and He Zhongbao, Princess Tianshou was also worried that her trip might provoke a conflict between the Song and Liao dynasties.

They immediately adopted He Zhongbao's suggestion and prepared to set fire to the stronghold to force the bandits out!

Unexpectedly, the wooden door of the mountain stronghold was just set on fire.

A scout returned to report that a large cavalry force had been spotted heading up the mountain.

"Your Highness, immediately order an evacuation!"

He Zhongbao immediately said, "Our entry into Song territory this time has already violated the alliance between the two countries. If Your Highness falls into the hands of the Song army, then the face of the Great Liao Kingdom will truly be lost."

Princess Tianshou gritted her teeth and took one last look at the chaotic mountain stronghold. If she had just one more incense stick's time, she could rush into the stronghold and reclaim that precious horse!

Thinking of this, although Dalibo was furious, he still drew his golden waist knife and swung it forward.

"Warriors of the Great Liao Kingdom, follow me down the mountain to break through the encirclement!"

......

There is only one road leading down from the Duiyingshan camp.

The Liangshan cavalry, who were going up the mountain, inevitably clashed with the Liao cavalry who were trying to break through the encirclement by going down the mountain!

"Warriors of the Liao Dynasty, slaughter these Song pigs!"

"Men of Liangshan! Slaughter these Liao dogs!"

At this moment, the blood of hatred that had been dormant for over a century surged once more within the veins of the soldiers of both the Song and Liao dynasties.

The two sides roared and charged at each other!

Although the Liao Kingdom had a small population,

But firstly, I've been conserving my energy these past two days and haven't expended much physical strength.

Secondly, apart from generals like Qiong Yao Na Yan, the remaining Liao soldiers were mostly retainers of the Wei Prince's mansion, all of whom were handpicked and skilled in archery and horsemanship!

Meanwhile, on the Liangshan side...

The cavalry had been rushing around for a day to rescue Duiying Mountain. Although they had rested for a while at the foot of the mountain, they had still exhausted a great deal of their strength.

Furthermore, the Liangshan cavalry had only been formed two or three months prior.

Although under Xu Ning's day and night training, the army is gradually showing signs of becoming a strong force.

However, the cavalry lacked the most important thing: experience in mounted combat!

This cannot be trained through drills alone.