The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 203 There is news
In the middle of the night, Jiaoshui County suddenly welcomed an uninvited guest.

This was a Song army soldier, his hair shaved into a strange hairstyle, clearly a fake soldier. But when he rushed to the city gate, he suddenly raised his hands high to indicate that he had no weapons, and shouted at the gate guards: "Don't shoot, don't shoot, I'm here to see General Guan Sheng."

The guard shouted, "Why are you going to see General Guan with that haircut that looks like neither human nor ghost?"

The Song soldier shouted anxiously, "Please inform General Guan that Liu Sanlang, an old subordinate from Jinan, wants to see you."

The guard then said, "Okay, wait here for a moment. I'll go get General Guan."

Soon, Guan Sheng, the swordsman, came out of the camp, leaned on the city wall and looked out. He couldn't help but laugh: "Oh, Liu Sanlang, it's you."

Liu Sanlang shouted anxiously, "General Guan, I have come to seek refuge with you, and I have brought you news about the Jin thieves."

Guan Sheng gave a wink, and the soldiers opened the door and let Liu Sanlang into the city.

After a while, Wu Jialiang, Guan Sheng, and Yu Fanwen all sat together, listening to Liu Sanlang's news. They wanted to call Madam Gong Er and Master Yue as well, but it was the middle of the night, and unless the news was of sufficient importance, it was better not to wake the commander.

Liu Sanlang hurriedly said, "General Guan, ever since you escaped from Jinan, the brothers have been very upset and regretted not following you. Now we all have no choice but to follow Liu Yu, becoming the running dogs of the Jin thieves, and even having to shave our hair into a half-human, half-ghost hairstyle."

Guan Sheng: "You didn't know Liu Yu was going to surrender to the Jin at the time, so it's no wonder you didn't follow me. I don't blame you. I was loyal to you for not trying to stop me from escaping."

Liu Sanlang said, "Brothers, we regret our decision now. We are just waiting for you to raise your arms and call us to join you again. But I don't know... do you still want us?"

Guan Sheng turned to look at Wu Jialiang, who smiled and said, "Brother Guan, you're being too cautious. What do you have to worry about with the character of the prince and Madam Gong Er? Since brothers have come to surrender, they are of course very welcome."

Guan Sheng was overjoyed and turned to Liu Sanlang, saying, "Brothers, since you are willing to turn over a new leaf, then of course you can come and join us."

Liu Sanlang's face lit up with joy, and he quickly said, "That's fantastic! After I return, I'll escape with everyone else. Oh, and I have some important news to share... Liu Yu's son, Liu Lin, has brought not only three thousand soldiers but also five thousand civilians, many of whom are skilled craftsmen. They used to be responsible for cleaning up the messes left by the Jin bandits' cavalry, but this time, after settling in, they immediately began building chariots and catapults according to the Jin bandits' instructions."

Wu Jialiang's face darkened. "Chariot? Trebuchet?"

Liu Sanlang said, "The chariot looks very similar to yours, with a heavy door panel and four grunts underneath. The catapult is the same type that our Song army usually uses."

Wu Jialiang snorted and cursed, "See, this is why we didn't show off our chariots and firearms before. Once new weapons are exposed, the enemy will inevitably have a countermeasure. We took advantage of the Jin army's ignorance and hit Guwei for a while, but once they reacted, they immediately came up with a countermeasure. Next time we meet the enemy, it won't be so easy."

Guan Sheng said, "They also built chariots with large doors, apparently to block our firearms and bows. And they built catapults to knock down the large doors in front of our chariots."

Yu Fanwen also understood: "As long as we can destroy our light chariots, their cavalry archers will be able to show their skills."

Liu Sanlang said, "The Jin bandit general Gu Wei has already given us orders, telling us Han soldiers to operate the catapults. When the battle begins, the catapults will strike first, until your chariot formation is disrupted and dispersed, and then the Jin bandit cavalry will charge forward."

Guan Sheng sneered, "You're talking as if we don't have any trebuchets." Liu Sanlang said, "The Jin thieves said you don't have many trebuchets, because after all, you only have a small Jiaodong Peninsula..."

This is true. The rebel army is backed by a small Jiaodong Peninsula, which only covers two states and eight counties. Whether in terms of manpower or material resources, it is impossible to compare with the huge Jin Kingdom. Naturally, the number of catapults cannot be large.

If the catapults of both sides were to smash into each other, wave after wave, for several days and nights, or even a month, the rebel army would inevitably be short of funds and unable to make follow-up moves, and would ultimately be defeated.

Liu Sanlang said, "Brothers are very worried that you won't be able to withstand the trebuchets."

Guan Sheng smiled and patted his shoulder: "Don't worry about it. Go back as soon as possible and tell the brothers to find an opportunity to escape. As for the trebuchet, you will know when the brothers throw it over."

Seeing that he was so confident, Liu Sanlang didn't say much. It was enough for him to deliver the message. He quickly left the rebel camp and sneaked back to the Jin army camp.

The next night, Liu Sanlang and a large group of Jinan soldiers took advantage of their night watch to secretly climb over the village wall, ran for more than ten miles under the cover of darkness, and then turned towards Jiaoshui County.

When they arrived in Jinan City, Guan Sheng had been waiting there for a long time and happily welcomed his old subordinates back.

However, he also understood the nature of these old subordinates very well.

These people are all short-legged cats. They can meow at the enemy and wave their claws, but none of them can reach their opponents...

Guan Sheng then told the truth: "Liu Sanlang, don't blame me for speaking frankly. You guys are not very good at fighting."

Liu Sanlang didn't even blush, and nodded immediately, saying, "Yes, we're not very good at fighting. This time, we surrendered to you with an unwelcome request. We want General Guan to arrange some logistical work for us."

The group of Jinan soldiers behind him all said the same thing, nodding vigorously: "It would be best if we don't go to the battlefield."

Guan Sheng smiled: "Sure, no problem at all. I just wanted to tell you this. Our army now has its own set of rules for fighting. If you join us, you will only disrupt our formation and won't be of any help to us. So I want you to stay in the rear and help transport the catapults and so on."

The Jinan soldiers were overjoyed: "Thank you, General Guan, for your care."

Guan Sheng: "Do you remember Wang Hong? We fought under the city of Jinan?"

The Jinan soldiers certainly remembered that they had fought several "battles" with Wang Hong outside the city of Jinan. Both sides were exhausted from fighting, but few died. However, they did spit a lot of saliva and cursed with great pleasure.

Guan Sheng: "Wang Hong is now leading the labor camp and is also in charge of logistics. You can temporarily move with them."

Liu Sanlang said happily, "Okay, the logistics are no problem at all."

(End of this chapter)