Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Liangshan Marsh, in front of the Hall of Righteousness and Brightness.

At this moment, countless leaders had gathered here to watch the excitement, and in the middle were two people: one was Li Hanxiao, who was holding a three-pointed double-edged sword, and the other was Yang Zhi, the "Blue-faced Beast," who was holding a twelve-foot steel spear.

According to the agreement between Li Hanxiao and "Blue-Faced Beast" Yang Zhi, Yang Zhi's injuries have almost healed, and it's time for them to have a showdown. If Li Hanxiao can defeat Yang Zhi, then Yang Zhi will be willing to pledge allegiance to Li Hanxiao and stay at Liangshan Marsh.

To be honest, most of the brothers on Liangshan had witnessed Li Hanxiao's skills and had no doubt that the final result of this battle would be Li Hanxiao's victory and Yang Zhi's defeat.

However, they all wanted to see what the legendary Yang Family Spear Technique was really like. After all, the Yang Family Spear Technique was a closely guarded secret of the Yang family generals, unlike the Huyan Spear Technique, which was widely circulated in the Northern Song army.

Wouldn't it be a good thing to secretly learn one or two tricks?

"Commander Yang, today Li Erlang will experience the Yang family spear technique firsthand. Come on!"

Li Hanxiao assumed a "standing tall and upright" stance with his three-pointed double-edged sword, waiting patiently for Yang Zhi's attack.

"Alright, Chief Li, Yang Zhi has offended you!"

Yang Zhi, nicknamed "Blue-Faced Beast," immediately launched into the first move of the Yang Family Spear Technique, "Poisonous Dragon Emerges from its Cave." The spear tip spun like the wind and lightning, heading straight for Li Hanxiao.

Li Hanxiao then used the move "Exploring the Sea and Slaying the Dragon," with his three-pointed sword cutting down from above, intercepting the spear halfway, and then the three sword tips aimed straight at Yang Zhi's head.

It was as if Erlang Shen were locked in fierce combat with Ma Huaguang, or Yang Huaiyu were locked in a deadly battle with Di Nanfu. Two dragons vie for a pearl, two tigers fight over prey. The steel spears rose and fell like thunder, the three-pointed swords flashed like the frost and snow of Kunlun.

Suddenly, a thousand sharp energies surged forth, thunder roared and wind howled in the clouds; clattering and clanging, cold light flashed on the thick earth!

Two dragons vie for treasure, their blue waves crashing, frightening the mighty Qing Ji, whose eyes glazed over; a pair of tigers fight for food, shaking the pines, startling the bold and careless Bian Zhuang, whose soul was stolen. Two dragons vie for treasure, their heads and horns majestic, their tails swaying so violently that the crystal palace of the dragons seemed to tilt; a pair of tigers fight for food, baring their teeth and brandishing their claws, their roar shaking the Ao Lai Fu earthquake, bringing auspicious snow to the mortal world in the sweltering heat, and bringing cool breezes to the dog days of summer!

In the blink of an eye, Li Hanxiao and Yang Zhi had already exchanged thirty-six moves. Li Hanxiao used his three-pointed double-edged sword to counter each move, and it was clear that he had broken through all thirty-six styles of Yang Family Spear Technique.

When it came to this final, decisive move, "Blue-Faced Beast" Yang Zhi used his last move, "Surrounded by Soldiers at Two Wolves Mountain." This move was originally created by Yang Liulang (Yang Jing) and Yang Yanzhao as a counterattack spear, a supreme method to turn defeat into victory.

"Good marksmanship!"

Seeing Yang Zhi unleash the essence of the Yang Family Spear technique, Lin Chong, Wang Yin, Ma Ji, and other masters of spearmanship couldn't help but cheer, but they were also very worried, wondering how Li Hanxiao would be able to counter this move.

Li Hanxiao drew a circle in front of him with his three-pointed double-edged sword, faster and faster, until the three blade tips were stirring like an electric fan, forcefully shattering the tip of Yang Zhi's spear into pieces!

"Excellent swordsmanship! Yang Zhi is impressed!"

Looking at the bald stick left in his hand, Yang Zhi, nicknamed "Blue-Faced Beast," couldn't fathom the ingenuity of Li Hanxiao's move and immediately conceded defeat.

"Haha, Commander Yang, you'd better admit defeat! From now on, Liangshan will have to rely on you, our Yang family general!"

Li Han smiled as if she had found a treasure.

“A true man accepts defeat when he gambles. It is a pity that my Yang family has been heroes for nine generations, loyal to the country. In every battle, my Yang family has been wounded. In every battle, my father and son have died. Yet Yang Zhi has nowhere to go. The court... the court... I don't care about the court anymore... Chief Li, Yang Zhi greets you!”

True to his word, Yang Zhi immediately pushed over the Golden Mountain and the Jade Pillar, bowing to Li Hanxiao as a gesture of respect between ruler and subject.

At that very moment, Zhu Guifei, the "Dry Land Crocodile," rushed up the mountain like a whirlwind.

"Chief, a woman has fainted at the tavern at the foot of my mountain. We found a letter on her from Li Ying, the chief of the Li Family Village in Dulonggang, to you."

As Zhu Gui spoke, he handed the letter to Li Hanxiao.

Li Hanxiao took the letter, somewhat puzzled. He didn't have much of a relationship with this "Soaring Eagle" Li Ying, so why would he write to him?

Upon opening it, Li Hanxiao was even more exasperated. The letter had clearly been soaked in water, and the writing inside was illegible; only the writing on the waxed paper cover was still legible.

It turns out that this "One-Zhang-Qing" Hu Sanniang traveled a long way, day and night, to Liangshan Marsh to seek help. When she arrived at Zhu Gui's tavern at the entrance of Lijia Village, she collapsed from exhaustion and was taken up the mountain by Zhu Gui. However, when she went out of the sewage ditch from Lijia Village earlier, she accidentally wetted the letter, and now the letter was completely unreadable.

"Bring the people up the mountain!"

To find out the whole story, we can only ask the messenger!

When Li Hanxiao saw Hu Sanniang, who was still unconscious, he was almost suffocated by the stench. What was that smell?!

In her haste to get help, Hu Sanniang didn't even bother to clean herself up along the way; the smell must have been truly pungent...

Li Hanxiao really felt that the smell emanating from her was a bit too strong for his eyes, so he quickly ordered, "Quick, find a female relative to wash her first, then wake her up first, I'm suffocating, cough cough cough!"

Wu Song, who was standing nearby, also covered his nose and said in a muffled voice, "I'll go and ask Jin'er to fetch a bucket of water for this girl to wash up..."

So, they carried Hu Sanniang to the back mountain. At that time, Li Shishi was teaching Lin Niangzi and Jin'er to embroider Suzhou embroidery when she saw Li Hanxiao and Wu Song carrying a woman in.

"Brother Wu, this is... oh dear, why does this person smell so strongly..."

Jin'er couldn't help but complain.

"Quickly, the chieftain ordered us to fetch a bucket of water and give her a wash!"

Wu Song put Hu Sanniang on the bed and immediately went outside to catch his breath and get some fresh air.

"Young master, who is this young lady...?"

Li Shishi looked at Li Hanxiao with a questioning gaze, which seemed to also contain a hint of defending her sovereignty...

"I don't know who she is. She was found unconscious at the foot of the mountain. She had a letter for me on her, but it was wet and I couldn't make out anything. I have to get her out of there first."

Li Hanxiao explained.

"I see, this girl is quite attractive!"

Li Shishi picked up a handkerchief and wiped Hu Sanniang's cheeks, discovering that she was indeed a stunning beauty.

"Shishi, there's really nothing between her and me!"

Although Li Hanxiao had never been in a relationship in his previous life, he knew that if a woman got jealous and became possessive, it could be fatal.

Li Shishi smiled mischievously and said, "Of course I believe you, young master, but the more bloodline you have, the better. If you are interested in her, I won't stop you!"

Li Shishi didn't care about anything. After all, even if Li Hanxiao took a concubine, she would still be the eldest and occupy the position of the main wife. Even if she had children in the future, she would still be the mistress of the house. There was no need for her to be jealous or competitive.

"Hi……"

Li Hanxiao realized that Li Shishi was just being mischievous, so he ignored it and went out to wait for Hu Sanniang to wake up.

After waiting for about half an hour, Li Shishi told Li Hanxiao that Hu Sanniang had woken up, and Li Hanxiao then officially met Hu Sanniang.

"Are you Chief Li of Liangshan Marsh?"

Before Li Hanxiao could ask a question, Hu Sanniang asked first. Li Hanxiao nodded, "I am Li Hanxiao. Miss, what is your relationship with the Li Family Village?"

Hu Sanniang was surprised that Li Hanxiao was so young and promising. She replied, "I am not from Li Family Village, but Hu Sanniang from Hu Family Village in Dulonggang. She is known in the martial arts world as 'One-Zhang-Qing'."

"Hu Sanniang?"

Li Hanxiao was a little puzzled. Why was the letter from Li Family Village delivered by Hu Sanniang? Wasn't Hu Sanniang the betrothed wife of Zhu Biao from Zhu Family Village?

"Well, Master Li's letter is so blurry that I can't read it clearly. Tell me why Master Li summoned you here!"

This is all too chaotic, and Li Hanxiao needs Hu Sanniang to explain it to him properly.

So, Hu Sanniang talked about the past grievances between the three villages, all the way to the Zhu Family Village attacking the Li Family Village and annexing the Hu Family Village, and how she came to deliver the news.

Li Hanxiao never expected that the three villages of Dulonggang would start fighting amongst themselves, and that Li Ying would even come to Liangshan Marsh for help.

This was like a pillow being delivered to someone who was just dozing off. Li Hanxiao was planning to attack the Zhu Family Village, and now he had such an opportunity to send troops to the Zhu Family Village!

“Chief Li, my father and brothers are in the hands of the Zhu family. Now, both our Hu Family Village and Li Family Village are in imminent danger. If Chief Li can send troops to rescue us, our two families will naturally repay you in return… I… I… I am also willing to offer myself in gratitude, and from now on, I will be yours, Chief Li…”

Hu Sanniang blushed and said those words.

Originally, she was quite resistant to this last bargaining chip, after all, she thought Li Hanxiao should be a well-known, burly bandit leader, or at least a middle-aged man.

Which young girl doesn't dream of love? Naturally, she didn't want to find someone like that, but now it seems that Li Hanxiao is not bad. He is young and promising, and has a rather heroic appearance!

"Sigh...don't talk nonsense..."

Li Hanxiao immediately stopped Hu Sanniang from speaking, while Li Shishi was still listening nearby!

As a result, after Li Hanxiao said that, Hu Sanniang thought that Li Hanxiao looked down on her, so she asked, "Chief Li refuses? Is it because you think I'm ugly?"

"No, no, a gentleman cannot take advantage of someone in distress. Since Master Li has asked for help, and some of my brothers on Liangshan have connections with Master Li's men, it is only right and proper for me to help. This is the code of brotherhood. Furthermore, Liangshan Marsh acts on behalf of Heaven and specializes in killing local tyrants and evil gentry. This Zhu Family Village has always been a place of oppression and bullying the people. Liangshan Marsh has long wanted to get rid of this cancer!"

Li Han smiled righteously and spoke sternly.

"So, Chief Li is willing to send troops!"

Hu Sanniang, nicknamed "One-Zhang-Qing," was overjoyed when she heard Li Hanxiao's words.

"No rush, let me discuss this with the brothers first. Shishi, you take care of her for now, I'll go find the strategist!"

Li Han laughed as he left the room and went straight to Wen Huanzhang, telling him Hu Sanniang's purpose.

What is Mr. Wen's opinion on this?

Li Han asked with a smile.

“Good news. We Liangshan now have a considerable number of troops, more than enough to take down the Zhu Family Village. We can take advantage of the attack on the Zhu Family Village to train our brothers.”

Wen Huanzhang's idea was to sustain the war through war. First, if they could capture the three villages of Dulonggang, it would be a great boost to Liangshan Marsh, allowing them to bring in another batch of troops, horses, and provisions.

Secondly, training requires bloodshed. No matter how intense the training is, it is not as useful as a real battle. Improving soldiers' combat effectiveness through combat is the fastest way.

“I’ve wanted to attack the Zhu Family Village for a long time. Sun Li once told me about the layout of the Zhu Family Village and Luan Tingyu’s tactics. I think it shouldn’t be too difficult to deal with the Zhu Family Village now.”

Li Hanxiao planned to launch a direct attack on Zhu Family Village, but Wen Huanzhang had the opposite opinion.

His idea was to launch a rapid attack, exploit the information gap, and instead of focusing his main forces on attacking Zhujiazhuang, he would take down the Zhujiazhuang siege force in Lijiazhuang.

Wen Huanzhang said that the Zhu Family Village is unaware that Liangshan Marsh will send troops to help them. They can split their forces into two groups, one to attack Zhu Family Village from the outside, preventing the Zhu Family Village troops from returning and cutting off their supplies, thus annihilating them on the spot.

Because more than half of the leaders of Zhu Family Village are in the besieging troops of Li Family Village, as long as they are eliminated, Zhu Family Village will only have Zhu Chaofeng left. What can an old man like him do?

Moreover, the losses in field battles are far less than those in siege battles. This is a basic common sense in warfare. If the troops from Zhujiazhuang were driven back into Zhujiazhuang and then attacked again, their casualties would naturally increase exponentially.

Moreover, Wen Huanzhang believed that siege was more important than attacking the Zhu Family Village. He thought that by first eliminating the main force that the Zhu Family Village had sent out to attack the Li Family Village, they would lose their ability to resist. At that time, the Zhu Family Village would surrender on its own.

At that time, the Zhu Family Village that Li Hanxiao obtains will be the most complete and undamaged one, thus maximizing his profits.

The other force that Wen Huanzhang mentioned was to attack Hu Family Village, first isolating Hu Family Village's forces from Zhu Family Village, leaving Zhu Family Village completely isolated and helpless, so that it would collapse without a fight.

"That's a good idea, but we need to send troops out quickly. If we delay, the Zhu Family Village will become aware of our plans. Otherwise, the Li Family Village might not be able to withstand the Zhu Family Village's fierce attack, and we won't be able to use our troops then!"

Wen Huanzhang's strategy was similar to a blitzkrieg, which Li Hanxiao also highly approved of.

"We'll muster our troops today and set off tomorrow. If we travel day and night for four days, we can reach Dulonggang and launch a surprise attack to cut off the Zhu Family Village troops' retreat. We might be able to end the battle within seven days."

"How many troops should Liangshan send this time?"

Li Hanxiao asked Wen Huanzhang about troop deployment. After thinking for a moment, Wen Huanzhang maintained his cautious opinion, "In my opinion, we need five thousand. In addition to taking down the Zhu Family Village, we also need a considerable number of troops to deter the Li Family Village and the Hu Family Village. Don't be fooled by their nice words. If we fight the Zhu Family Village to a standstill, who can guarantee that they will still keep their promises?"

Wen Huanzhang never considered Zhu Family Village as an opponent, but rather regarded the three villages of Dulonggang as a piece of meat. Now that Li Hanxiao was going out, he had to devour all three pieces of meat.