The Second Volume of Water Margin

  He spent the whole night thinking, sitting dryly on the edge of the bed watching Zeng Tuo who had taken the medicine and fallen asleep, feeling that his entire world had already collapsed.

  Zeng Tu's eldest son has been with him since childhood, suffering together, hunting, and digging ginseng, all of which he is good at. He himself is quite skilled in martial arts and is also steady. Zeng Quan came to Lingzhou to gather intelligence for the Jin State, which also meant finding a good future for Zeng Tu.

  Relying on ginseng trade and horse smuggling, plus the backing of the Jin state, Zeng Quan had tens of thousands of guans at his disposal. Therefore, Zeng Quan spent a high salary that made others envious to hire the martial arts expert Shi Wenguang and Su Ding to instruct his five sons in martial arts.

  But in fact, Zeng Quan's mind was all on his eldest son. Seeing that Zeng Tu Wuji was making progress every day, Zeng Quan was really delighted and even specially brought a Zhoye Yuzi horse from the Jin State to give to Shi Wenguang as a mount.

  I had planned that after this year, I would send Zeng Gou back to Jin State. Now Jin and Liao are in the midst of a fierce battle, so let's establish some military achievements and accomplish something.

  But the whip that Bu Yuntian Sun Li wielded struck Zeng's left shoulder bone, breaking his tendons and shattering his heart.

  All the doctors in Zengtou City were invited to come and take a look, and the conclusion they finally came up with was the same: after the left arm was injured, it would be useless.

  What? Dancing with a spear or staff? That requires two hands! In this situation, being able to wield a single sword is already quite good. As for joining the army and going to war, forget about it.

  One night passed, Zeng was in tears all along.

  Looking out at the bright sky, Zeng Quan slowly got up, exercised his almost numb limbs, and let the maid continue to serve Zeng Tu, while he himself went back to bed for a nap.

  The road had just gone halfway when a family member came to report that Shi Wengong was seeking an audience.

  "Want to see?" Zeng Quan revealed a hint of bitter smile: "Nothing more than advising me to seek help from Lingzhou government, no need to see if not."

  "Just say I haven't gotten out of bed yet." Zeng Quan dropped a sentence and floated away.

  "What? Not up yet?" Shi Wengong had originally prepared many words to persuade Zeng Quan to send a messenger to Lingzhou Prefecture, but he didn't expect to be met with a closed door.

  "Your master has not risen yet, I will wait here until he gets up!"

  Shi Wengong had eaten his fill and steeled himself, preparing to spend the whole day at Zeng's place when a soldier came running over in a flurry: "There are several hundred Liangshan troops, led by Red-Haired and Yellow-Bearded, along with two other generals, heading straight for our left camp!"

  "Come and attack our left camp? You go back and tell Zeng Suo, we must defend the camp to the death, do not come out to fight!" Shi Wenguang was greatly shocked, hastily turned over and mounted his horse, hurriedly rushing back to his own central great camp.

  The soldier received the reply and hurried back to the left camp.

  Shi Wengong had just stepped into the Central Village when another scout from the Right Village arrived: "There are hundreds of Liangshan troops, led by a man with a red birthmark on his face and black hair, along with three other generals, who are challenging us to battle at the gate of the Right Village!"

  "Has the right side also come?" Shi Wengong suddenly had a feeling of being at a loss, originally thinking of using three strongholds as a support, but now that the left stronghold has something going on, Shi Wengong was preparing to transfer some troops from Su Ding's guarded right stronghold, taking the rear route of Liangshan, but unexpectedly Liangshan also simultaneously attacked the right stronghold, could it be that they want to divide some troops from the central stronghold?

  "Not good! This is the way to break through the middle of the two-sided blooming flower!" Shi Wengong's face changed: "Tell Su Dingyan to defend to the death and hold on tightly! Do not go out to battle!"

  Shi Wengong understood that Liangshan was doing this to lure him into dividing his troops to rescue, and there must be a main force of Liangshan lurking in ambush near his own camp, waiting for the opportunity to strike. As soon as he divided his troops, this main force would surely pierce straight into his central great camp!

  Shi Wengong broke out in a cold sweat at the thought, if he didn't rescue them, both camps would be in trouble. If one of the camps was breached, the defensive formation of the three camps would be broken, and even if his central camp wasn't breached, the Liangshan troops could easily bypass it and attack Zengtou City!

  "Come on! Move your whole family, including the old master, to Central Village!"

  At this time, Shi Wengong had no choice but to share the fate of Central Dazhai! As long as Central Dazhai was not destroyed, Shi Wengong's life would naturally be spared!

  "Zeng Suo, little kid, come out and see your Uncle Jinmao the Tiger!" Yan Shun had red hair and yellow whiskers, long arms and a broad waist, holding a large knife in his hand, shouting and cursing non-stop in front of Zengtou City's Left Garrison.

  Zeng knew that his troops were insufficient, and he sent soldiers to the Central Camp to ask for reinforcements in a continuous stream, but all they got back was the two words "hold fast".

  "How can you defend, how can you defend?" Zeng Su kicked over the soldier who had brought the news and roared: "This is my Zengtou City territory, not your Shi Wenguang's! Not a single soldier in sight, only two words 'defend', if you're capable, Shi Wenguang, come and try defending it yourself!"

  "Third Master, calm down. Shi Wengong may not have to send reinforcements, but the old master will definitely give orders." A veteran guard beside him said, "Why don't Third Master send someone to deliver a message to the old master?"

  "Why didn't you say so earlier?" Zeng Su's hair stood on end, and he pointed at the soldier who had been kicked over by himself: "You go back to Zengtou City again, let Master give the order in person, that Shi Wenguang will certainly not dare to disobey!"

  "Xiao has just returned from the Central Camp, and even the old master and his family members have been taken into the Central Camp. Shi Wengong doesn't allow anyone to get close!" The soldier rolled back and continued to lie on the ground, saying.

  Zeng Su heard this and almost fainted: "We're done for! Holding out, holding out, what's the point of holding out? That Shi Wenguang wants to use our flesh and blood to dull the edge of the Liangshan bandits!"

  "Third Master, what to do?"

  "What to do?" Zeng Suo gritted his teeth and said: "Staying in this stronghold is a dead end, follow me to charge out, there's still a way to survive!"

  As soon as he said that, the soldiers under his command all started to murmur and the main general had given up, what was there to defend? The whole camp gradually became chaotic, every soldier's mind was not on defending but on escaping!

  Zeng had lost control and was unwilling to try to regain it, so he simply ordered the soldiers to open the camp gates and let the troops escape while he led his personal bodyguard of 50-60 men, each mounting their horses, preparing to make a break for it when the opportunity arose.

  These deserters will serve as their own best human shields!

  "What does this mean?" Jin Maohu Yan Shun cursed with a dry mouth and tongue, really wanting to let Huo Yan Xian Deng Fei and Mo Yun Jin Chi Ou Peng continue to scold. Unexpectedly, "Squeak" the opposite mountain gate opened wide, and a swarm of bees flew out from inside, many Zengtou City soldiers rushed out.

  "Is this a breakout? How did Zeng Suo not see it?" Ou Peng, who was also watching in shock, said: "No, these soldiers seem to be fleeing for their lives!"

  Those soldiers from Zengtou City did not form a phalanx to charge over, but instead scattered in all directions, except for not running towards the Liangshan side, they ran wildly everywhere. Some drilled into the forest, and some ran towards the direction of Zengtou City.

  Huoyan Xunyuan laughed loudly and said, "These sons of bitches from Zengtou City knew they couldn't hold on to the stronghold, so they scattered and ran away! For now, Zeng Suo hasn't appeared yet, we must be careful not to let him get away!"

  Jin Mao Hu Yan Shun Guai shouted: "Such a meritorious deed, it's too cheap!" He immediately ordered the archers to come forward and shoot the fleeing soldiers at will!

  In a short time, arrows fell like rain. Those soldiers who had been so proud of their city were now unable to bear the suffering, covering their heads and fleeing in all directions. For a while, no one knew how many had been shot dead!

  As the hail of arrows ceased, a cavalry unit suddenly emerged from the stockade, numbering only fifty or sixty men, but forming a small wedge-shaped formation. At its head was Zeng Suo, holding a gleaming three-pronged spear, charging forward to attack!

  Zeng Suo, although not as skilled in martial arts as Zeng Tuo, was good at training soldiers. The fifty or sixty personal guards under his command were trained into an iron cavalry, each one a fierce horseman with a long sword. At this moment, they charged out, and if they tried to escape by searching for a path, they would certainly be slaughtered by the Liangshan army.

  So Zeng Suo waited patiently until the arrow rain from Liangshan was over, and the "meat shields" outside were almost consumed, before finding an opportunity to charge towards the Liangshan troops.

  As long as Liangshan doesn't dare to hard-engage his own iron cavalry, Zeng Suo has the confidence to take advantage of the situation and kill a way out in the Liangshan army, after all, except for the three marshals, Liangshan is all infantry!

  "This guy has some guts, daring to charge at me with just 50 or 60 men!" Jinmao Hu Yan Shun laughed loudly and ordered the archers to take aim at this cavalry.

  A round of arrow rain passed, and the cavalry behind Zeng Suo had fallen seven or eight people, but Zeng Suo's eyes became more determined, and the three-pronged spear in his hand steadily pointed to the center of the Liangshan formation.

  It's less than 100 steps now!

  "Brother, be careful, don't underestimate these fifty or sixty men. We must spread out our army's formation and let them pass through, then we can attack them at leisure!" On the side, Deng Fei advised with a keen eye: "The cavalry is fast as wind and lightning, I'm afraid bows and arrows will be useless!"

  Jin Mao Hu Yan Shun also felt that something was wrong. After the second round of arrow rain, only three people fell from the cavalry on the opposite side. Some cavalrymen were shot with arrows and still galloped wildly!

  The archers in front can already see the flower pattern on Zeng's armor, their hands and feet are busy, the third round of arrow rain is sparse and weak, this time not even one cavalry fell.

  "Change formation!" Jin Maohu Yan's face finally changed, for the first time feeling that this achievement wasn't so easily obtained!

  Yan Shun's order came too late, as Zeng Suo's triple-pronged spear had already pierced the archer at the front of the formation, creating three shocking blood holes!

  "Kill!" Zeng Suo shouted angrily, his three-pronged spear stabbing left and right as he led a cavalry troop of less than fifty men into the Liangshan formation.

  For a moment, with this cavalry as the center, the Liangshan soldiers retreated one after another, and the entire formation had a tendency to collapse!

  Wielding the three-pronged spear, Zeng Suo saw fear in the eyes of the Liangshan soldiers and for the first time saw a glimmer of hope to escape with his life!

  "Kill! Kill! Kill! Don't stop the weapon in your hand! Rush out with one breath!" Zeng Suo shouted loudly.