The system has to be used even if it is pulled

On that day, the Privy Councilor Tong Guan, who was appointed as the Grand Marshal of the Emperor's Army, went to the Privy Council and issued a military order. All matters under the Privy Council were entrusted to the Deputy Privy Councilor. Two good generals were selected from the Imperial Camp as the Left Wing and the Right Wing. The order was given, and everything was ready within ten days.

Suizhou's military commander Duan Pengju, Zhengzhou's military commander Chen Zhu, Chenzhou's military commander Wu Bingyi, Tangzhou's military commander Han Tianlin, Xuzhou's military commander Li Ming, Dengzhou's military commander Wang Yi, Luzhou's military commander Ma Wanli, and Songzhou's military commander Zhou Xin, the eight of them immediately assembled their troops upon receiving the order.

The Imperial Flying Dragon General Feng Mei and the Imperial Flying Tiger General Bi Sheng also mobilized 20,000 imperial guards and set off with Tong Guan.

The troops followed their respective teams, and were very orderly. The four teams in the front army were led by the vanguards; the four teams in the rear army were supervised by the generals; the eight routes were driven by the feather flags; Tong Guan was in charge of the central army, commanding 20,000 cavalry and infantry, all of whom were selected by the imperial camp.

More than a week later, Tong Guan's army arrived at Liangshanpo. Zhao Yuanlang had already received an order to set up camp and welcome the army into the camp.

After the army rested for a night, Tong Guan beat the drum to gather the generals. Zhao Yuanlang went to see Tong Guan and was honest. Tong Guan read the imperial edict. Zhao Yuanlang received the edict and ordered 10,000 people to serve as the rear army. He appointed Suizhou Bingma Duan Pengju as the vanguard, Zhengzhou Du Chen Zhu as the deputy vanguard, Chenzhou Du Wu Bingyi and Xuzhou Du Li Ming as the deputy commanders of the rear army, Tangzhou Du Han Tianlin and Dengzhou Du Wang Yi as the left scouts, Luzhou Du Ma Wanli and Songzhou Du Zhou Xin as the right scouts, and the two dragon and tiger generals Feng Mei and Bi Sheng as the wings of the central army. Tong Guan was the marshal, commanding the army, fully armed, and personally supervising.

The war drums sounded three times, and all the troops rose up.

Liangshan had known that Tong Guan was coming a long time ago, so Liangshan mobilized all its elite troops and formed battle formations like those from other strongholds, setting up the Nine Palaces and Eight Diagrams formation to await Tong Guan's army.

The Privy Councilor Tong Guan was on the general platform in the battle formation, looking closely at the Liangshanpo soldiers and horses. Wow, this is the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams formation, the soldiers and horses are heroic, and the officers and soldiers are heroic. He was shocked, thinking that there must be a capable person here.

Tong Guan could not help but say: "No wonder the government troops were defeated in the past, it turns out they are so powerful! General Zhao! How did you defeat the Liangshan bandits last time?"

Zhao Yuanlang strode out and said, "Your Excellency, last time I fought with them, disrupted their morale, bombarded them with artillery, and then charged with the army and attacked from the side with cavalry."

Tong Guan nodded after hearing this. It was a very conventional tactic. How could it defeat the Liangshan bandits?

Humph, it seems that my son was just lucky before. If he can succeed, there is no need for me not to succeed. Tong Guan got off the platform and led the generals to the front of the battle: "Who dares to go out and fight to win the first merit!"

A brave general came out from the vanguard, jumped on his horse, and immediately bowed to Tong Guan and said, "I am willing to go."

It turned out to be Chen Zhu, the governor of Zhengzhou. He wore a white robe and silver armor, rode a green horse with a red tassel, and wielded a large pole sword. He was currently the deputy vanguard.

Tong Guan nodded and waved the command flag. Chen Zhu received the order and rode his horse to the midfield.

Chen Zhu stopped his horse, held his sword horizontally, and shouted: "You unprovoked bandits, you traitors, you still don't surrender when the heavenly soldiers arrive. Don't wait for me to cut your bones and chop you into mud. It will be too late to regret it then!"

A masked general walked out from the Liangshan coalition army. He had a golden helmet on his head that shone in the sunlight, and he was wearing armor that looked like ice. He rode a thousand-mile dragon colt horse, held a two-foot-long red tasseled spear in his hand, and had a Fang Tian painted halberd behind him that shone with cold light.

The two horses met and weapons were raised. After less than ten rounds of fighting, Chen Zhu's hands became sore and he could not hold the weapon. The masked man wielded his spear like a snake and hit Chen Zhu's chest in one swoop. Chen Zhu turned over and died under his horse.

The Liangshan coalition forces cheered for a while, while the Song army was silent.

"Who will go into battle and kill this guy?" Tong Guan was furious as he lost a general at the very beginning.

Hu Yanzhuo wanted to step forward but was stopped by Zhao Yuanlang. Seeing Zhao Yuanlang shaking his head, Hu Yanzhuo had to put away his weapon.

Seeing that no one responded to the challenge, Tong Guan waved his flag, signaling the front army to attack.

Suizhou's military commander Duan Pengju immediately led 20,000 soldiers to charge in, but the army entered the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation and was defeated everywhere. Countless soldiers were surrounded in the formation, and the Song army was suffering from the weapons such as hook-sickle spears in the formation.

When Tong Guan saw that Duan Pengju was trapped, he immediately sounded the call to withdraw his troops. Duan Pengju immediately led his troops to flee, but there was no way out. They had to fight their way out of the battle, lost seven or eight thousand men, and ran back in embarrassment.

Tong Guan lost a battle, lost many men and horses, and set up camp to rest. Feeling depressed, he gathered his generals to discuss.

Zhao Yuanlang said nothing and watched Tong Guan suffer misfortune with cold eyes. Generals Feng Mei and Bi Sheng offered a plan, and three days later the morale was restored. They set up a long snake formation and broke the Liangshan bandits' formation.

The masked general led 3,000 men to shout and curse in front of the battle line. Tong Guan was so angry that he ordered the generals Feng Mei and Bi Sheng to lead 5,000 men to meet the enemy first. After receiving the order, the two rode out on horseback with their spears.

The two poor guys were killed on their horses by the masked general within thirty rounds. When the five thousand soldiers saw that their leader was dead, they lost their composure and immediately retreated. The masked general led his troops to attack.

The Liangshan coalition forces, Chao Gai led Guan Sheng, and Song Jiang led Lu Junyi, each with 5,000 soldiers and horses, charged together to capture Tong Guan.

Tong Guan was shocked and signaled the left and right wings to press forward, but the front army fled, disrupting the army's formation, causing the left and right wings to advance slowly, and the Liangshan bandits were right in front of them.

Many generals rushed forward, trying to stop the four men, but they were no match for Lu Junyi and Guan Sheng, especially Guan Sheng, who had just surrendered to Liangshan and was thinking about making a contribution so as to gain a foothold. He swung his sword fast and hard, killing seven or eight officers alone.

When Tong Guan saw that his generals had failed to stop the bandits and that they were approaching him, he immediately turned around and ran away.

As soon as Tong Guan left, the army fell into chaos. The captains of the imperial court followed Tong Guan closely, and the flag also moved with Tong Guan. When the flag moved, the army moved. At this moment, no one cared about the army. The central army was in chaos and fled in all directions.

Damn, what a waste! Zhao Yuanlang, the rear army commander, cursed harshly.

Chenzhou's Supervisor Wu Bingyi and Xuzhou's Supervisor Li Ming rushed to meet Tong Guan, but when they saw Zhao Yuanlang calling Tong Guan a waste, they immediately reprimanded Zhao Yuanlang.

Zhao Yuanlang ignored the two men and kicked them off their horses, waving his command flag.

When Ling Zhen got the news, the artillery camp opened fire immediately. Thunder rumbled in the sky. Wu Song also immediately ordered the archers to move forward and fired volleys in succession, which slowed down the Liangshan bandits' pursuit.

Tong Guan simply ran away without returning to the camp. He ran like a headless fly, and no one knew where he was going.

After Zhao Yuanlang stopped the Liangshan bandits and gathered the defeated soldiers, he found that there were only more than 50,000 soldiers left out of the 110,000-strong army. Seven or eight thousand of them were killed the day before, and today there were nearly 10,000 casualties. Liangshan captured 20,000 soldiers.

Tong Guan fled for his life, terrified, and headed straight southwest, where he gathered less than 20,000 defeated soldiers and went to Tokyo overnight.

Tong Guan took off his military uniform and went straight to the residence of General Gao to discuss the matter. When the two met, they exchanged greetings and invited each other to sit down in the back hall. Tong Guan told Gao Qiu everything about the defeat.

Gao Qiu was shocked when he heard this. This was a serious matter, so he immediately took Tong Guan to visit Cai Jing.

Although the three of them had hatred for each other, none of them could fall. They knew in their hearts that this was Song Huizong's means of checks and balances among the three parties.

Cai Jing was also very upset. You, Tong Guan, were usually so powerful, but this time you lost so many soldiers and horses, wasted a lot of money and food, and lost Eighth Route Army officers.

In order to save his life, Tong Guan no longer cared about his dignity and begged Cai Jing desperately.

Cai Jing thought for a long time and came up with a plan to comfort Tong Guan. He asked him to be smart when he went to court the next morning. Then he could say that they had to stop fighting and withdraw their troops because of the unfamiliar climate and hot weather and the loss of tens of thousands of soldiers.