The Ji River was one of the four blasphemies in ancient times, but it had disappeared in the later generations.
However, at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Ji River was still a large river with a width of more than a mile. It flowed eastward through Yun Prefecture, Qi Prefecture, Zi Prefecture, Qingzhou, and other places before flowing directly into the Bohai Sea.
Because of this reason, merchant ships came and went frequently on the Ji River. Merchants from Hebei, Shandong, and other places all transported their goods to Tokyo through the Ji River.
Due to the development of water transportation, a small town appeared on the west side of Jishui. Because it was close to Liangshan Lake, it was called Liangshan Town.
When the merchants passed by Liangshan Town, most of them would stop to take a break and then eat some meat and drink some wine to fill their stomachs.
If the sky was dark, they would stay in Liangshan Town for a night and continue their journey the next day.
Therefore, the small Liangshan Town was really a prosperous place.
Back in Shijie Village, He Tao and Zhu Tong led two hundred soldiers and three hundred strong local soldiers to set up camp by the shore of the Shijie Lake. They requisitioned the fishermen's fishing boats while waiting for Huang An's troops to arrive.
But at this moment, bad news came from Liangshan Town.
It was said that a group of Liangshan bandits took the opportunity to break into Liangshan Town and plundered countless money. They then split into 50 people and were robbing the surrounding villages.
The person who came to report was someone who had escaped from Liangshan Town. He Tao and Zhu Tong were shocked when they heard this.
He Tao immediately cursed," What a group of bandits. Now that the state capital's army is here, they don't obediently hide on Mount Liang. Instead, they dare to come out and plunder. They clearly don't put us in their eyes."”
" Governor Zhu, you stay here and guard the camp. This envoy will go and exterminate that group of bandits. Otherwise, if the Zhizhou finds out, it will not look good on our faces.”
He Tao was furious. He ordered Zhu Tong and then led 200 soldiers and 100 strong local soldiers. Each of them was armed with weapons and headed towards Liangshan Town.
If the Liangshan bandits were hiding in the water, He Tao would not dare to take a step in even if he was given a hundred guts.
However, this group of thieves did not know the immensity of heaven and earth. They actually took the initiative to come out of the lake. Not only did they break through Liangshan Town, but they also split up and attacked the surrounding villages. How could he endure this?
In an instant, He Tao's blood rushed to his head. He vowed to take advantage of Huang An's absence to chop off the heads of dozens of bandits and take this first credit.
Although the soldiers of the Great Song lacked training and their combat strength was pitifully low, they were well-equipped. When facing bandits, they had a considerable psychological advantage.
Although He Tao's 200 soldiers were not as well-equipped as the Imperial Army, they were still better than bandits!
This was also the reason why He Tao dared to send troops.
Shijie Village was about thirty miles away from Liangshan Town. He Tao brought three hundred soldiers and horses, and they hurried on without stopping. Soon, they were only seven or eight miles away from Liangshan Town.
At this moment, he saw a large forest in front of him. It was filled with old pine trees, and the main road extended from the forest.
Just as He Tao and his group entered the forest, they suddenly heard a whistle. Then, a rain of arrows shot out from the forest. In an instant, dozens of people were hit by the arrows and fell to the ground. Waves of miserable cries rang out in the team.
"Ambush!"
He Tao was shocked. He didn't have time to think and quickly ordered the team to retreat, but how could he make it in time?
"Kill-"
A loud shout was heard, and a burly man leaped out of the forest on his horse. He held a spear with a red tassel and stabbed two soldiers to death.
The hundreds of minions behind him followed suit and burst out with shouts of killing. In an instant, a large number of people were killed.
The burly man was Shi Wengong. He had received orders from Xu Fengwu to lay in ambush in the pine forest and wait for the government troops to pass by. Even the messenger just now was deliberately released by Xu Fengwu.
Shi Wengong rode on his horse and raised his spear. The tassel spear in his hand appeared and disappeared unpredictably. There was almost no match for it. He killed the surrounding government troops until they were thrown off their horses. The Liangshan minions followed closely behind. They waved their sabers and spears, forcing the government troops to retreat continuously.
The quality of the Liangshan minions was actually not much higher than these local soldiers. Their equipment was even slightly inferior, so they could only fight a few battles with ease.
However, with Shi Wengong leading the way, he took the lead like a fierce tiger out of its box.
Seeing how brave he was, the minions behind him also became more imposing. They charged forward without any regard for their lives, killing the government troops until they cried for their parents.
Ambush was definitely a lethal weapon for an army that lacked training.
He Tao's group was ambushed by the Liangshan troops and had long been frightened. They had already lost half of their courage.
Seeing Shi Wengong so unstoppable, they were even more shocked. They lost the remaining courage and scrambled to escape.
In a short moment, He Tao's 300 soldiers were defeated.
The local soldiers belonged to the local security forces, which were established during the Song Shenzong period. They were controlled by local patrol officers and county magistrates. The equipment and pommel horses were provided by the government, mainly to guard against thieves.
However, by the time of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, except for the frontier fortress, these local soldiers were already useless. In the peaceful land of Jingdong, they were no different from ordinary yamen runners.
The Imperial Army and prefectural armies were already rotten, and the local soldiers were even worse off. There was no need to mention the local soldiers. Moreover, these people had traveled a long distance and exhausted a lot of their physical strength.
In comparison, the Liang Mountain lackeys licked blood from their blades and were the best at fighting. With the addition of Shi Wengong, how could He Tao's 300 troops not be defeated?
He Tao's face had long turned pale. He had never seen such a brave person like Shi Wengong. Seeing the other party charge into the crowd alone and kill his way towards him, he turned his horse around and fled without saying anything.
"Dog official, where are you running to?"
Shi Wengong saw He Tao riding a horse and knew that he was an official. He immediately spurred his horse to chase after him.
He Tao heard the shout behind him and knew that Shi Wengong was chasing after him. He was scared out of his wits and whipped his mount with all his might, wishing that the horse could fly.
It was also because He Tao was not fated to die. The Great Song Dynasty was seriously lacking in horses, especially high-quality horses. However, Shi Wengong was riding an inferior horse, which was even worse than He Tao's.
Shi Wengong was chasing, but he didn't expect the horse under him to suddenly lose its front hooves and fall out together with the horse.
Fortunately, Shi Wengong's martial arts skills were extraordinary. He flipped in the air and landed steadily on the ground. When he looked up, He Tao had already ridden far away.
Shi Wengong was furious. He looked at his mount and saw it lying on the ground, wailing. It turned out that it had broken a leg.
"You bastard, I usually feed you well, but at the critical moment, you screw up.”
Shi Wengong cursed and looked at the battlefield. He saw that the 300 local soldiers had long been killed and fled in all directions. They threw away their helmets and armor along the way, looking very sorry.
Shi Wengong didn't chase after the deserters. He quickly called his lackeys to count the number of people. He saw that more than a dozen people were lightly injured, and two people accidentally died in the chaotic battle.
Shi Wengong knew that this was unavoidable. He immediately ordered his men to clean up the battlefield and cut down the horse himself. Then, he ordered his men to carry two corpses and more than forty captured soldiers to meet Xu Fengwu.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。