The Jin army was brave, and many of them were skilled with clubs and hammers. The heroes reaped a great harvest, and each of them obtained a weapon that was almost satisfactory. They all returned laughing and joking.
Once the battlefield was calmed down, the Jin soldiers and generals looked at each other, their faces contorted with disbelief. Their deputy commander, Nianhan, with a livid face, spurred his horse forward a few steps and shouted, "Let your commander come out and speak!"
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, I stepped forward and asked, "What is it?"
Nianhan asked angrily, "Who exactly are you people?"
I laughed and said, "The composition is rather complicated, and I can't explain it to you in a short time, but our Liangshan troops have arrived as scheduled."
Nianhan snorted and said, "Fine, I'll go ask the commander-in-chief for permission to wipe you all out in one fell swoop!"
I waved my hand and said, "Do you dare wait a few days for us? Our forces are not yet fully assembled; this is less than one-tenth of the total."
Nianhan laughed angrily: "Not even a tenth of the way! Since our commander-in-chief has agreed to a ten-day deadline with you, then we'll wait for you for another seven days. After seven days, I will personally lead the troops to fight you to the death!"
I suspect that if Nianhan knew I wasn't lying to him, he wouldn't have said that. To claim that less than 10% of his 250,000 troops were actually absurd; no one would believe it. The Jin army had just suffered a defeat and needed time to return and rebuild their morale, which is why Nianhan dared to agree to the 7-day deadline without authorization.
Just as Nianhan was about to lead his troops back to camp, I said, "Do we really have to fight? Why don't you go back and ask your commander to release my wife and Li Shishi, and we can call it a day?" At this point, the 2.75 million troops hadn't even set off yet, so there was still time to withdraw.
Nianhan turned his head without looking back and stormed back to camp.
All we can do now is wait. After midnight tonight, I need Liu Laoliu to give me the password for the military route before my supposedly 8 million troops can arrive.
By 11:30 PM, Liu Laoliu still hadn't made a sound, and I was getting restless. After waiting another ten minutes or so, I couldn't wait any longer and called him. From his voice, it sounded like Liu Laoliu was eating, with occasional slurping sounds. The TV was blasting, with bursts of laughter and applause coming from it; he was probably watching a comedy show. I asked impatiently, "You're still in the mood for drinking? What's the password?"
Liu Laoliu asked blankly, "What password?"
"Military password!"
Liu Laoliu slapped his forehead: "I almost forgot."
I'm speechless...
Liu Laoliu asked He Tiandou, "What's our password?"
He Tiandou: "Haven't they set it up yet?"
Liu Laoliu: "Then let's set one up now?"
He Tiandou: "Hmm, let's set up a system that's hard to crack, so that the Qin Dynasty's soldiers don't get to the Three Kingdoms."
Liu Laoliu: "Then what should we set up?"
Just then, a comedian on TV shouted at the top of his lungs, "Five cents for two, not a dollar!"
Liu Laoliu immediately had an idea and said to me, "The password is 50 cents, that's the password for the entrance. When we get to the Song Dynasty, we'll shout 'I won't sell it for one dollar.' Remember, this is a local passage; you can't go anywhere else except the Song Dynasty."
Five cents for two, not a dollar... How profound!
After hanging up the phone, I checked the time and realized it was almost time, so I started calling various dynasties. I shouted at the top of my lungs, "The password is 50 cents, not a dollar! Send troops immediately, send troops immediately!"
I had previously placed a signal booster in Xiang Yu's territory and another in the Tang Dynasty. Except for Qin Shi Huang, who had some difficulty speaking to him, everyone else received the password smoothly.
This night was destined to be anything but peaceful. An army of 8 million (claimed) was poised to strike. 250,000 Qin soldiers had marched a long way, 300,000 Chu soldiers were traveling day and night, 600,000 Tang soldiers were in menacing armor, 600,000 Song soldiers were already close at hand, 300,000 Mongol cavalry had also assembled and were ready to go, and finally, 700,000 Ming soldiers set off from Nanjing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty...
The night before the upheaval was peaceful, with the massive Jin army camp and Liangshan facing off in calm. To be honest, I was a little uneasy. With a military operation involving millions of people, who knew what unexpected events might occur along the way? It was really risky to rely on just "five cents and two ounces"! But the Jin army seemed quite confident. With 800,000 against 250,000, all they needed was a reasonable battle plan to defeat us.
Around 3 a.m., an unusual color appeared in the sky to the west of the Jin army's allied camp, accompanied by the faint sounds of clashing weapons and horses' hooves. At 5 a.m., Liangshan scouts and Jin army reconnaissance discovered almost simultaneously that a legion of 600,000 men had assembled in that direction. However, their uniforms made it impossible to identify their country; they were neither Western Xia, nor Tibetan, nor Dali. The direction from which they came was also unidentifiable; no powerful nation to the west could possibly deploy 600,000 troops…
The Jin army, unaware of the situation, was naturally thrown into chaos, as evidenced by the sudden illumination of their camp. I wasn't much better off; although I knew rescue had arrived, I couldn't tell whose troops had come first. It's like having many friends promise to lend you money, and then finding a large sum in your account—you can't immediately tell who sent it.
Qin Qiong took the map and studied it for a long time before laughing, "It should be the troops of my Great Tang Dynasty arriving. I'll go around and take a look."
I inserted a cell phone into his breastplate and reassured him, "Second Brother, if this is truly our team, then it will be a lot of trouble for you to lead the troops. But remember one thing: surround them without attacking. If the Jin soldiers come to harass us, just give them a taste of their own medicine. We'll deal with the rest once everyone has arrived."
Qin Qiong said, "In that case, it would be best to set up a formation..." As he spoke, his eyes kept glancing at Ding Yanping. Speaking of formations, Ding Yanping's One-Character Long Snake Formation had caused the Wagang people a lot of trouble back then; he was an expert here. Luo Cheng understood and warmly pulled Ding Yanping, saying, "Godfather, then we'll have to trouble you to set up that Long Snake Formation again."
Ding Yanping shook him off, saying, "Do I even need to set it up? You can break it all by yourself, can't you?"
Luo Cheng smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Isn't that because you taught me so well?"
Everyone laughed. They all knew that Luo Cheng had cleverly tricked Lao Ding back then, extracting the method to break the Long Snake Formation and the secret of using a single spear to break two spears from him. But when it came to setting up formations, Lao Ding was still the best choice.
Ding Yanping, upon hearing that he had 600,000 men at his disposal, was eager to try. Taking advantage of the situation, the old man said loudly, "Setting up an array requires a few fierce generals as the core. Who will come with me?"
The bandits of Liangshan could no longer contain themselves and eagerly said, "I'll go, I'll go."
A large group of people shouted and rushed out.
Of the eighteen heroes, half went with Qin Qiong, while Yuwen Chengdu, Yang Lin, and the others stayed with me. Looking closely, I saw that Yuchi Jingde hadn't left either. This was the Xing Tang team! I asked in surprise, "Brother Gong, why didn't you go?"
Yuchi Gong forced a smile and said, "Shubao alone is enough to handle things over there."
I thought about it for a moment and then it dawned on me. Both Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong were marshal material. Actually, in terms of strategy, Yuchi Gong was more mature. It's just that Qin Qiong was more popular, so he had always been the commander-in-chief. It would be awkward for Yuchi Gong to go there. I comforted him and said, "That's perfect. When Zhu Yuanzhang's men arrive, you can help me lead them."
Yuchi Gong nodded with satisfaction.
Qin Qiong and his men set off in the morning and didn't call back until noon. Marshal Qin, who had regained command of the army, said with great vigor, "They are indeed our Tang army. I have already sent a declaration of war to Jin Wuzhu. We cannot fight without a declaration. Besides, we should also give him a good deterrent."
I said, "Yes, that's right."
The Jin army, suddenly and inexplicably surrounded by 600,000 enemies, clearly felt the pressure. From our perspective, we can see a large portion of the Jin army's troops hurriedly moving westward. Liangshan is directly east of them, and the Tang army is directly west. If we were to be flanked from both sides, the Jin army would be in a very passive position. But Jin Wuzhu is indeed shrewd; somehow, he managed to keep the Jin soldiers relatively calm, busy but not chaotic.
In the afternoon, I received a letter from the Jin army urging me to surrender. Of course, at this point, Wanyan Wuzhu certainly didn't have any real hope; it was merely a tactic to demoralize the enemy.
The letter stated that the demise of the weak Song Dynasty was inevitable, and we should not go against the will of Heaven by arming a motley crew and innocent peasants to put up a futile resistance. It also said that surrendering earlier would save my life.
I'm furious. I just don't understand why this guy surnamed Wan (Yan) is fixated on the word "peasant." What's wrong with peasants? Which of the most formidable armies in history wasn't primarily composed of peasants? Besides, his description of Liangshan is somewhat plausible, but his portrayal of the Tang army is just sophistry. The Tang army's equipment was magnificent and practical; even after several centuries, it was still among the most luxurious in the world at the time.