Chapter 45: Launching Another Attack

  Let's start rescuing the princesses! Haha, go for it!

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  On April 15, Di Lie and his party appeared on the north bank of the Yellow River near the Fahsi Temple - two days ago, this was where Wanyan Sheyema's five thousand strong army was stationed. However, according to the latest intelligence, these five thousand Jurchen soldiers had moved northwards and were now estimated to be approaching Laiyang.

  Di Lie's party consisted of fifteen people, including Yang Feng, A Shi, Zhang Rong, Jia Hu and ten Liangshan heroes.

  Yang Feng is the guide, and all the scouts are his subordinates, so they have to come; A Shi is the most ideal translator for dealing with the Jurchen people, it's impossible if the language is not communicated. Moreover, Di Lie didn't suspect at all, if he left this Jurchen woman in the mountain stronghold, he estimated that as soon as he left, she would "disappear" immediately; As for Zhang Rong, of course, it was because of his ninety-nine heads. Compared to the powerful lineup of the Jin army, Di Lie's reckless courage made him even more shocked.

  Before, Zhang Rong and others had also heard rumors that Di Lie, with only a few people, broke into the Guxin barracks at night and single-handedly defeated thousands of Jin soldiers. To be honest, they had always found it hard to believe this rumor, but Yang Zhechong, Zuo Kai, Fang Hong and several other leaders spoke about it with conviction, making it sound credible, so that people couldn't help but believe it. So this time they wanted to follow him no matter what, to see with their own eyes how the miracle happened.

  Yang Zhechong was also arguing to come along, but he was ordered by Di Lie to train new recruits with Zuo Kai, Fang Hong, and Zhi He. Di Lie gave a strict order that if he saw the same group of weaklings when he returned, all training officers would be severely punished. As a result, Yang Zhechong, who was feeling depressed, vented his frustration on these new recruits, and it can be imagined how he would drill more than a thousand new soldiers who had just put down their hoes and picked up guns.

  When Di Lie and his party advanced to Laiyang again, one after another astonishing news came: the three thousand troops of Bao Shan Da Wang (Wanyan Xiebao) and the six thousand troops of Gai Tian Da Wang (Wanyan Zongxian, Jurchen name Sai Li), had successively merged with the five thousand golden soldiers of Zhen Zhu Da Wang Shi Ye Ma - this time, it was indeed a chaotic dance of demons, and a gathering of great armies.

  This string of news has shocked almost everyone, causing them to unconsciously come to a halt.

  Di Lie merely raised an eyebrow and said lightly, "It's great, the three armies are gathering, the war spoils of destroying Song are so rich that it makes one's eyes bloodshot! Let's see how much meat we can bite off."

  Di Lie's fearless attitude also clearly infected Zhang Rong and others, this group of Liangshan heroes were originally afraid of nothing, most feared being looked down upon, how could they show fear. At that time, one by one, their heroic spirit soared to the sky, competing with each other to rush forward on horseback.

  Di Lie waved his horse whip, letting everyone calm down a bit. His explanation was: Lishan is too close to the main camp of the Jirou people. If they were to cause trouble for the Jin people at this time, it's likely that they would also be causing trouble for themselves.

  "So when do we make our move?" Zhang Rong couldn't help but ask.

  Di Lie's eyes flashed: "Quickly! Our goal, first is to clear the Jin army's scouts, the action must be swift and decisive, and cannot alarm the nearby sentries. To achieve this goal, we need to do one thing..."

  Di Lie signaled to Yang Fen with his eyes, and the latter pulled a bulging leather bag from a spare horse, throwing it on the ground, where pieces of Jin army uniforms scattered all over.

  Under the astonished gaze of the crowd, Yang Fen was the first to jump off his horse, pick up the fur hat and old leather jacket from the ground, put them on himself, raise his head and smile at the crowd: "Old rule, borrow this tiger skin, muddy water and fish."

  Zhang Rong and the others thought about it, and indeed, if they didn't disguise themselves, with just over a dozen people, they might not even be able to see the gate of the Jin army camp, let alone get in. They would likely be surrounded and killed by the layers of scouts and reconnaissance horses sent out by the Jin army.

  In order not to attract the attention of the enemy, their attire was basically that of ordinary Jin cavalry: fur caps, sheepskin jackets, outer waist-length leather armor, horse pants and boots. Their weapons were uniform five-dragon bows, two quivers of arrows, a curved knife and a short dagger. Zhang Rong had an additional heavy iron club, while Yang Feng carried a chain mace.

  Among the fifteen people, the highest "official position" is Ah Suo. His identity is a Pu Dian Pai Zi Tou. Apart from having an extra wooden plaque on his waist to prove his identity, the difference in appearance lies in the fact that his short leather armor is covered with long strips of iron plates, which means he has an additional layer of protective armor.

  Zhang Rong and his gang were not enthusiastic about this foreigner, but they had no objection to Ah Su's "official hat". It was obvious that as the temporary "leader" of their group, he would be the first person to deal with the Jin army in the front. In this way, there really wasn't a second person more suitable than Ah Su.

  The uniformed group of Dilie, looked quite neat and tidy. However, except for Art and Yang Feng who were already accustomed to dressing like this, Zhang Rong's group was completely out of sorts - after all, the biggest difference between Song and Jin dynasties' clothing was that one had a right lapel and the other had a left lapel. Wearing clothes with completely opposite openings for the first time was really uncomfortable.

  Di Lie doesn't have this kind of worry. In modern society, the clothing is not as distinctive between left and right as it was in ancient times, so it's no big deal.

  Then, an ancient version of "Behind Enemy Lines" officially debuted.

  Although Di Lie's party was neither fast nor slow, hanging far behind the Jin army's main force by dozens of miles, it didn't mean they were safe. The three routes of the Jin army converged, not to be underestimated, with scouts and reconnaissance horses sent out, more than double the normal amount, and the scouting distance extended to over thirty miles away.

  Just after passing Liyang, Di Lie and his party had just crossed a mountain ridge when they unexpectedly encountered a Jin army rear guard patrol.

  At that time, Di Lie's small team was on the top of the mountain ridge, and the Jin army patrol was at the foot of the slope. The straight-line distance between the two sides was 200 meters, and if they followed the winding mountain path, it would exceed 500 meters.

  At this time, the Jin army had many scouts, and the pros and cons of not being affiliated with each other became apparent: The advantages were that there were more patrols, and defense was naturally more secure; The disadvantages were that when two patrols encountered each other, they would instinctively think that it was their own scout, even if they didn't recognize each other, it could also be a scout from another king's camp.

  Of course, to really muddle through, it's not just about having a "tiger skin" and good luck from a distance. A crucial point is that there is Ah Shu, this real "trump card".

  Since the war between Song and Jin, countless Song generals, officials, and soldiers have surrendered to the Jin people, but not a single Jin soldier has ever defected to the Song. Therefore, the Jin scouts couldn't imagine that the "authentic" Jurchen head who deliberately went around the mountain ridge and shouted at them was actually a despicable traitor!

  Thus, Di Lie's small detachment, under the nose of the Jin army's patrol, who were arrogant and invincible after their great victory in destroying a country, broke through several layers of blockade lines. Unbeknownst to them, they had already approached the central camp of the three kings of the Jin army.

  The smaller the team, the more tense and excited Zhang Rong's group became: Good guys, last time they didn't catch up; this time, it's our turn for the Liangshan heroes to show off. Yang Fen, on the other hand, was in a heavy mood, his scouts had been unable to penetrate deeper to gather information, what lay ahead was completely unknown. This meant that they were already deeply trapped in the enemy's encirclement, easy to get in but hard to get out!

  If Di Lie knew about Yang Feng's concerns, he would definitely sneer at him: Leave? Since we've already come in, if we don't take out our own people and get what we deserve, even if they begged us to leave on their knees, we wouldn't budge!