Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Chapter 177: The troops from Rencheng County arrive to reinforce; the Liang family generals engage i

Zhang Bofen and Zhang Zhongxiong split their forces into two groups. One group directed the defense from the city wall, while the other led troops down to block the city gates, preventing the Liangshan army from easily breaking through the gates.

Every cannon of Ling Zhen, nicknamed "Thunderbolt," roared. Although he had only been on Liangshan Mountain for a few months, the number of cannons he and his apprentices had built was enough to arm an entire artillery company.

The power of firearms was revolutionary. The crossbows used by the imperial guards on the city wall could not reach the Liangshan soldiers, but Ling Zhen's cannons could hit them, and more than a dozen died in an instant.

More often, firearms were used, since cannons are very time-consuming and labor-intensive to manufacture. Small cannons like the Tiger Crouching Cannon were fine, but a normal large cannon would consume thousands of kilograms of metal, and the manufacturing process was very slow.

Therefore, Li Hanxiao provided Ling Zhen, the "Thunderbolt," with another alternative—the three-eyed gun.

This type of firearm, which was once widely used in the Ming Dynasty, is supposedly inferior to the arquebus and flintlock musket. However, the manufacturing difficulty of these two types of weapons is too high, and Liangshan Marsh cannot manufacture them with the current technology.

Conversely, while the three-barreled gun wasn't exactly a high-quality firearm, its advantages lay in its cheapness, durability, simple manufacturing process, low resource consumption, and ease of mass production.

In addition, the three-barreled gun is a lump of iron, and when it gets close, it can be used as a blunt weapon to hit people. It can be used by both cavalry and infantry, and should be considered the most suitable individual firearm for Liangshan Marsh at this stage.

However, the drawback of this three-barreled gun is that its accuracy and power are not as good as later firearms. But in this era, due to technological limitations, firearms cannot be manufactured to such a high standard.

The only solution is to increase the number of firepower to compensate for the lack of accuracy. A group of people firing simultaneously creates a barrage of firepower, much like the situation during the medieval period of "lined executions."

The Liangshan Marsh has already produced several hundred three-barreled guns that are currently in use. After all, the iron part at the front of this thing can be cast using a mold, shaped by dragging the mold, and finally a wooden handle can be added at the back.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Jinmaohu" Yan Shun hid behind the city wall. Two or three bullets grazed his head and passed by. If he showed his face, he would die.

"Shield!"

Zhang Bofen shouted loudly for his soldiers to advance with their shields. While a normal shield could block swords and blades, it was not capable of blocking firearms.

Left with no other option, Zhang Bofen had several wooden curtains brought up to provide cover for the defending troops.

Wooden canopies were an ancient type of siege vehicle equipped with wooden planks for cover.

Also known as "cloth curtain" or "leather curtain," it was a device developed to counter enemy projectiles such as arrows and stones.

In its early days, this thing used materials such as grass, cloth, and wood as coverings.

After being able to buffer projectiles, it evolved and improved, eventually developing into a style with an extremely thick and wide wooden board hanging in front.

This thing is generally used in siege warfare, but I didn't expect it to be used in defense now. It can stop bullets from a three-barreled gun, but it can't stop cannonballs.

Although the Liangshan army surrounded the city on all four sides, only Li Hanxiao's side actually began the attack. Before the attack, Li Hanxiao anticipated that if they attacked all four gates, the casualties among the Liangshan forces would be heavy. Only by attacking the city with all their firearms and breaking through one point could they minimize the casualties.

Li Hanxiao had previously considered distributing firearms evenly to all sides, but the actual situation was not optimistic. If the already limited number of firearms were dispersed, it would be difficult to suppress them with firepower.

Therefore, the Liangshan troops at the other gates did not launch an attack on the city. Only the troops led by "Leopard Head" Lin Chong at the west gate were fighting against the troops that had come from Rencheng County.

Zhu Tong, known as "The Bearded Gentleman," is wielding a steel saber and fighting an old general. The old general is armed with an elephant-trunk-shaped ancient crescent blade, and his swordsmanship is shrewd and skillful. For a time, the two are evenly matched.

The warhorse puffed out white steam and left iron hoofprints in place. The old general on its back pressed down like a mountain. A dozen light white scars were interspersed among the iron-blue mane. When this twenty-year-old warhorse raised its neck, its long neigh could still shake the snow off the pine branches.

The iron scale armor on the horse's back gleamed bluish-black in the morning light, and the bronze fangs of the shoulder-swallowing beast had long been worn with a dark blue patina by the years. In the center of the breastplate, layers of dark red blood scabs had congealed, which were definitely the bloodstains accumulated from years of battles and had never been washed away.

The old general's hand, gripping the reins, bulged with bluish-purple veins. When the elephant-trunk-shaped ancient moon sword lay horizontally in front of the saddle, a blood-red tassel hung from the end of the three-foot-long blade. His bronze face was etched with chiseled lines by the wind and sand of the frontier. His wide lips were tightly pursed, and his jaw muscles protruded, as if he could crush iron nails at any moment.

The most striking feature was his eyes; his murky amber pupils held the weight of fifty heavy snowfalls, a hundred bloody storms, and a lifetime of battles.

At this moment, his eyes shone faintly like two embers in the ashes. When he suddenly grinned, the gaping wound that ran from his ear to his chin was revealed, showing half of a silver-plated molar. This old man had suffered a considerable injury; his mouth had been split open...

Meanwhile, a young general who looked about 70% like the old general was fighting against "Winged Tiger" Lei Heng.

To the discerning eye, it was clear that they were a father and son. The young general's roars rang out continuously. An ordinary person might think he was just shouting randomly, but that was not the case. He must have practiced some kind of external martial arts, and his roars were a method of using internal energy to generate power.

As he yanked the reins, the bronze bells on his chainmail wristbands rang out in a series of clear sounds. The gilded fish-scale armor shimmered with a flowing golden halo in the sunlight. The fiery red tassel on the warhorse's forehead was pulled straight by the gale. The figure in silver armor and white robes on the horse's back resembled the sharpest ice blade during an avalanche.

This kid is also quite handsome and has a dashing air about him. If his father didn't have that scar on his face, he probably wouldn't have been too bad-looking in his youth.

The brow-tip dagger transformed into a silver lightning bolt in the young general's hand. With a sharp whistling sound as the blade tore through the air, the feather-like patterns on the blade were clearly visible. This was a dagger forged from fine iron, incredibly sharp.

Lei Heng, nicknamed "Winged Tiger," fought the young man on horseback for a while and couldn't help but marvel at himself. Although his horsemanship was slightly inferior to the young man's preferred foot combat skills, this junior was actually able to hold his own!

The younger of the two men was Liang Tian, ​​the military commander of Rencheng County, and the older one was his father, Liang Ting.

These two, father and son, were not famous in history and their names were not even recorded. However, this old Liang had a son and a daughter. His daughter, Liang Hongyu, was very famous.

Liang Hongyu's grandfather and father were both military officers, and Liang Hongyu learned martial arts from her father and brothers from a young age. In the second year of the Xuanhe reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, Fang La, a resident of Muzhou, launched a rebellion that quickly grew to hundreds of thousands of people, capturing several prefectures and counties. The government army repeatedly failed to suppress the rebellion. Liang Hongyu's grandfather and father were both punished and killed for missing opportunities in the suppression of Fang La's rebellion.

The Liang family fell into decline as a result, and Liang Hongyu also became a courtesan in Jingkou, which was a type of official courtesan managed by the government of various prefectures and counties. Liang Hongyu was a singing courtesan.

And the unfortunate father and brother who were killed in her original history are none other than Liang Ting and Liang Tian, ​​the father and son, standing right in front of her.

To be honest, the Liang family wasn't originally from this area. Liang Ting's father came from the Western Army, and Liang Ting himself also came from the Western Army and participated in the Battle of Pingxia City.

The Battle of Pingxia City took place in the first year of the Yuanfu era, during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of Song. The Western Xia attacked the northwestern border of the Northern Song Dynasty, besieged Pingxia City, and launched a fierce attack for more than ten days.

At that time, the Song army resisted fiercely and held Pingxia to the death. After a long siege, the Western Xia army had no choice but to retreat. Zhang Jie, the military commissioner of Jingyuan, sent Zhe Keshi and Guo Cheng to lead light cavalry to attack the Western Xia army at night. The two sides fought at night and the Western Xia army was caught off guard. The commander Weiming Amai and the supervising officer of Xishou, Meile Dubu, were captured. The Western Xia army suffered a great defeat.

This battle was a pivotal moment in the war between the Song and Western Xia. After the war, various forces in Shaanxi built fortified cities and occupied territories under Western Xia control, forcing Western Xia to swear an oath to seek peace.

Logically, this was a victory, and since Liang Ting participated in the battle, he should have been promoted. But why is his son, Liang Tian, ​​only a minor military officer in Rencheng County, where he remains unknown?

After the initial victory, the resistance of the Western Xia people was greatly weakened and the morale of the Song army was high. Lü Huiqing assigned troops to build Mizhi Village and the second and fourth generals to build Kaiguang Village.

In addition, the generals of the third, fifth and seventh routes provided cover for the advance into the Nanyang area. They promised to provide the local troops, militia, and laborers with extra salaries, allowances and rewards, so that each project could be completed in five or six days.

As a result, the original plan was to complete ten forts and strongholds along the Fuyan Road, but only nine were completed in the end, and the road was straightened to connect with the boundary of the Linfu Road.

The only fortress that was not completed was the one supervised by Liang Ting. Because the fortress he was building was delayed due to a flash flood and was not completed on time, he was convicted of delaying military operations.

Fortunately, he fought desperately against the enemy, which resulted in his merits and demerits being offset, and he was demoted to a commoner, thus bidding farewell to the battlefield.

Later, it was his son Liang Tian who became the military commander of Rencheng County under his guidance, and only then did they move their whole family to Rencheng County.

Upon hearing that the prefecture had been attacked by Liangshan Marsh, the father and son, both military officers, immediately led their men to its rescue.

The moment Zhu Tong, the "Magnificent Beard," reared up on his chestnut horse, his long beard blossomed amidst the dust kicked up by the horse's hooves. The steel saber in his hand stirred the air, and the nine golden rings on the blade emitted a soul-stirring hum as he unleashed a powerful and heavy "Dragon-Slaying Saber" move.

Meanwhile, the veteran general Liang Ting, atop the blue-maned horse, swung his Elephant Trunk Ancient Moon Blade horizontally. The cold light seeping from the spiderweb pattern on the crescent blade resembled an underground river surging beneath the ice, as he received the blow.

However, he did not express any praise for Zhu Tong's strength, but instead focused his attention on Zhu Tong's magnificent beard.

"What a fine beard!"

The moment the veteran Liang Ting shouted, the two warhorses collided; men fought, and horses fought back.

Zhu Tong, known as "The Bearded Gentleman," wielded a sword with an air of grandeur. As he slashed with the force of a whirlwind, the reverberating sound of the golden rings created afterimages in the air, displaying remarkable precision and meticulousness.

Although Liang Ting was old, his swordsmanship was as sharp as a rock breaking through the waves. His forty-pound Elephant Trunk Ancient Moon Blade always managed to block the attack at the last half inch, and the blue flames that burst out when the blades collided made his beard and hair stand on end.

When "The Bearded Gentleman" Zhu Tong spun around for the seventh time and unleashed a crescent slash, the veteran general Liang Ting suddenly used the elephant trunk hook on the hilt of his sword to lock the mouth of the Azure Dragon Blade, and the two warhorses reared up with neighs.

"Go!"

With a roar, Zhu Tong shook his head, and his long beard suddenly coiled around Liang Ting's knife hilt like a living python.

Veteran Liang Ting felt a chill on the back of his hand as three strands of silver beard twisted around the iron spikes on his wrist guard, pulling him forcefully toward him.

Under the immense force, Zhu Tong's long beard broke off one by one, but at least it slowed him down for a moment. Even that moment was enough.

In a flash, the steel blade in the hand of "Beautiful Beard" Zhu Tong broke free from its restraints and swept across. As the old general Liang Ting retreated hastily, the blade barely grazed the iron armor on his chest, and the scraped copper scales bounced like golden beans on the sand.

The fight had escalated to this point, with both swords drawing blood. Zhu Tong, known as "The Bearded Gentleman," had three bloody gashes in his green battle robe, and his once-proud beard had been torn off.

The old general had half a gold ring embedded in his left shoulder armor, which was left from the sword of "Magnificent Beard" Zhu Tong. His own chest armor was also cut open, almost breaking through.

As the blue-maned horse reared up again, and the elephant-trunk-shaped ancient crescent blade unleashed a mountain-splitting strike, "Beautiful-Bearded Gentleman" Zhu Tong suddenly leaned down and pressed himself against the horse's neck—this opening allowed the old general Liang Ting's blade to graz his back, but it also sent his remaining long beard flying into the air.

The blade flashed like a silver snake, and Zhu Tong, the "Beautiful Beard," wielded his sword along the cracks on the back of the Elephant Trunk Ancient Moon Blade, causing the eight golden rings on it to suddenly explode in unison.

Veteran Liang Ting's pupils constricted sharply. He was getting old and his reaction time had become sluggish. He simply couldn't keep up anymore!

At this moment, amidst the scraping sounds, fear transformed into excruciating pain. In the half-breath of hesitation, the steel knife in the hand of "Beautiful Beard" Zhu Tong was like a net covering his face. The blade of "Beautiful Beard" Zhu Tong slashed upwards along the elephant trunk pattern of the Ancient Moon Blade.

Amidst the piercing shriek of metal clashing, a cold star streaked across the chin of veteran general Liang Ting.

As the two riders passed each other, Zhu Tong, the "bearded gentleman," brandished his sword, his half-inch of silver beard dangling from the tip. Meanwhile, blood slowly seeped from the bronze chin of the veteran general Liang Ting, the falling drops of blood creating nine shallow craters in the yellow sand.

The blue-maned horse suddenly stopped. As the old general Liang Ting leaned on his sword and gasped for breath, he saw that the bloodstains on the long beard of "Beautiful Beard Lord" Zhu Tong were being torn into threads by the west wind, and in a daze, they looked like the vermilion banners fluttering in the temple of Guan Yu.

"I'm old, I'm no longer useful..."

Liang Ting uttered these words with a self-deprecating tone. He knew that twenty years ago, this person in front of him probably wouldn't have been a match for him, but now he couldn't deny that he was getting old...