People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 109 The Hateful Xu Guangtou
In the big tent of the military camp, the Xianyu brothers met Zhang Chun and Tian Chou. Of course, they exchanged some pleasantries before talking about business, which was naturally about fighting the bandits.

Unlike when the Yellow Turbans first arrived, several of them had fought against them directly or indirectly, but now they no longer dared to raise a tiger to cause trouble.

What's more, the four northern counties of Yuyang were already considered to be in their pockets, so how could they tolerate the Yellow Turbans continuing to occupy them?

Although Tian Chou was quite resentful about the Xianyu brothers for diverting the blame, he knew that now was not the time to lose his temper, so he suppressed his emotions and took the lead in bowing to the two brothers.

"The Xianyu clan sent troops to support us out of righteousness, and the Tian clan is very grateful. I believe that if we work together sincerely, we will be able to put an end to the rebellion. Now that the army is strong, we just need to choose the right time to attack!"

"It is our Xianyu clan's duty to fight against the bandits, but in the current situation, should we kill the vicious dog first, or go straight to the bandit's lair?"

Hearing Tian Chou's words of attack, Xianyu Fu nodded in agreement, and then raised a key question: how to fight next.

There are now thousands of Yellow Turbans causing trouble behind Youbeiping. It would certainly not be a good idea to just ignore it, but it is not easy to do either.

However, Tian Chou had already made a plan for this matter, so he immediately made a suggestion.

"The Yellow Turbans are good at running. We can't catch up with them, and we can't suppress them effectively. If we want to kill them, we have to mobilize the whole army to chase and intercept them. However, if we do so, our army will lose countless lives every day. Even if we can successfully kill them in the end, it will not be worth it.

Moreover, the Yellow Turbans still have some strength left in Yuyang. If we ignore them completely, it will be our rear that will suffer.

Therefore, we cannot ignore the Yellow Turbans in Youbeiping, but we cannot dream of surrounding and annihilating them. We can only use capable generals to lead a part of our elite troops to contain and pull them back, as long as we can free up our main force to move."

At this point, Tian Chou snorted coldly: "Although the vicious dog is vicious and cunning, it only has a mouth. It will be fine if you stare at him."

Xian Yu Fu heard this and agreed with it deeply. This arrangement coincided with his idea.

After hesitating for a moment, he turned around and looked at the person behind him, and then introduced him to Zhang Chun and Tian Chou.

"This is Tian Yu, a useless slave. He is a capable general of mine. He may be able to take on this responsibility. I dare not say that he can subdue the vicious dog, but at least he can keep a close eye on it."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked over. Tian Yu responded by bowing and saying that he had met him.

Seeing Tian Yu's calm expression and sharp eyes, this temperament made people trust him a lot. Zhang Chun and Tian Chou naturally had no objection and agreed immediately.

Of course, they also knew that Xian Yu Fu took the initiative to propose this simply because he thought the job was easy and would not involve much risk of loss. However, when it came to the important matter of catching the enemy, they would not care about this little thought.

After they had agreed on the matter, they walked out of the military tent hand in hand. The three armies combined their strength and they saw a mighty army of nearly 20,000 soldiers, with food and supplies being carried in carts one after another. The grand scene made them feel at ease.

The scene before us was the result of the combined strength of Youbeiping County, the capital of the two counties of the Xianyu clan, and the remnants of Zhang Chun's army.

This was the heaviest blow they could launch against the Yellow Turbans after careful preparation.

After coming out and seeing the army, Tian Chou's bad mood because of Wang Dang's sweep was relieved a little, and at this time he couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

"If we fight this battle, the best one can defeat the enemy in one battle and recover the northern part of Yuyang. You, me and the other two can also gain military merit!
On the other hand, if we can inflict heavy damage on the enemy army and recapture one or two counties, we can then press forward step by step and trap the enemy to death!

At the very least, you can learn from the Yellow Turbans and sweep through the countryside in the north to destroy the Yellow Turbans’ foundation. Over time, you can make the rebel army fall without a fight!"

Tian Chou smiled as he pointed at the endless army in front of him. His tone was as if he was giving orders about the whole country. His confident attitude made Zhang Chun and the Xianyu brothers look at him sideways.

Zhang Chun also laughed: "That's great. That bald Xu is a pervert. He not only likes to shave the heads of the Yellow Turbans, but also likes to shave the heads of the powerful people in my family. This time, we have to try what it feels like to shave his head."

After Zhang Chun said this, several people looked a little strange.

After all, they had fought against each other several times, and they knew about the situation of the Yellow Turbans. Naturally, they heard about the Yellow Turban leader shaving his head.

Although most of the Yellow Turbans now have long hair, in the eyes of these scholars, such a look is still ugly and no different from a bald head.

Especially since they despised bandits, they would not have a good attitude towards Xu Chen, the leader of the Yellow Turbans. There were many sarcastic and derogatory words towards him, and the title of "Xu Guangtou" was immediately pinned on Xu Chen's head.

However, in addition to this, Xu Chen has another nickname, which is because the Yellow Turbans like to behead the powerful, so there is also a saying that he is Xu the Barber.

Such a novel statement made the newly arrived Xianyu brothers couldn't help laughing, and the atmosphere in front of the military tent was suddenly filled with joy.

Only Tian Yu, who had been standing next to Xian Yu Fu, could not help but frown. The battle hadn't even started yet, but he was so arrogant. Was this really okay?
Although it looks like a heavy blow now that we have gathered our strength, what if we fail to do so?

When that time comes, I'd better not let this heavy blow fall on myself.

However, he was just a general under the Xianyu clan. He felt that it was inappropriate to look down on the enemy, but it was not easy for him to speak out.

The branch of Tian Yu that Tian Chou came from was actually a branch of Youbeiping Tian Chou. Today, it is just a powerful family under the ordinary slaves, and it is completely incomparable with the main branch of Youbeiping Tian Chou. Therefore, although they both have the surname Tian, ​​the status of Tian Yu and Tian Chou is very different. This is the case in the Three Kingdoms. Your birth determines the volume of your voice in the future. Only a few exceptional people can stand out from the poor and powerful and stand in the front.

Although they had different ideas, they finally acted according to the established strategy.

Tian Yu led a light army of less than 3,000 soldiers and marched quickly, chasing after Wang Dang's Yellow Turban army that was causing trouble in Youbeiping.

Since Tian Yu only needed to chase the enemy in the rear and put pressure on them, and did not seek frontal combat, there was no need to occupy too many troops.

Three thousand people are not too many or too few. As long as we can drive away the Yellow Turbans, it's fine. It's just a guerrilla war where you chase me and I fight. If you can play it, I can learn it too.

As for the main forces, they all stayed behind to march westward to attack Yuyang. They had already made up their minds to go big at once and crush the Yellow Turbans once and for all!

Xu Guangtou?
Can I get a haircut?
How dare you slaughter the noble families like pigs and dogs? Such people cannot exist in our Han Dynasty!

Following an order, their army of tens of thousands of volunteers from the counties and prefectures marched westward in a mighty force, approaching the heart of Yuyang County. The first place that appeared on their path was Pinggu County.

Zhang Chun's eyes suddenly lit up with flames, and he fought back!
I must get back what I lost!
The sheer momentum of the huge army was enough to scare people to death. When the county rebels arrived at Pinggu, the powerful pressure penetrated into every corner of Pinggu City.

On the city wall, Xu Chen couldn't help but take a deep breath, and a layer of sweat broke out on his back. It was the thrill and excitement brought by the war itself.

By today, the role of Wang Dang, the vicious dog, had been fulfilled. It successfully slowed down the enemy's pace and helped the Yellow Turbans survive the critical period of autumn harvest.

The Yellow Turbans are now ready for a major war.

Pinggu is the gateway for Youbeiping to advance westward, and must be the key node in this battle. Xu Chen naturally recruited troops early to prepare for battle, and also came to Pinggu to garrison it in person.

But when he saw the enemy really coming, he still felt the pressure.

The army that appeared before him, at a glance, numbered at about 17,000 to 18,000. His first feeling was that the Tian and Xianyu families were crazy. To bring out such a large force was the result of extreme military violence.

All we can say is that the enemy was determined to achieve their goal in one battle, and this time they really spent a lot of money.

It's just that Xu Chen thought the other party was crazy, but he didn't consider that the other party was also under a lot of pressure. They had all fought against the Yellow Turbans and suffered losses at their hands, so they were well aware of the Yellow Turbans' combat effectiveness.

They had no confidence in winning with a small fight, so if they had to fight, they would have to do their best.

The only thing that made Xu Chen feel at ease was the city wall under his feet. This time, it was finally his turn to defend the city. It would depend on whether your fists were stronger or my bones were harder.

"The enemy has arrived, all troops are ready to defend the city!"

Following Xu Chen's order, all the soldiers perked up. In fact, the city had already made preparations for the battle. All the materials for defending the city were ready, and the craftsmen from the Fortification Institute in the rear organized the laborers to speed up production and transportation.

In addition, Xu Chen did not forget to modify and strengthen the city wall.

This kind of reinforcement is not to raise and strengthen the city wall as a whole. The workload is too large and it will take too long. Xu Chen can only choose to reinforce part of it, and this part is the most important city gate.

The city gate is always the weakest link in a city defense battle. In order to strengthen the defense of the city gate, Xu Chen built a barbican at the city gate early on.

In fact, the 瓮城 is to build a small curved city at the city gate, which is equivalent to adding a city gate and a small city, but it can concentrate attacks on the enemy when the enemy breaks into the 瓮城. Although it is only a small design, it greatly enhances the defense capability. The so-called catching a turtle in a jar is this principle.

Although the 瓮城 appeared early, it was not until the Song Dynasty that it became the mainstream city defense design. At that time, it could be said to be a novelty.

As for the villages outside the city, thanks to Wang Dang's involvement, the people, under the organization of the Yellow Turbans, moved into the city with food and supplies. Pinggu is now in a state of complete fortification and clearing of the countryside.

For this battle, Xu Chen has made all preparations, and now is the time to fight the enemy to the death.

Soon after, the enemy blew the horn, and a large number of siege equipment slowly moved towards the city wall. The huge array also split off a part of the army and began to charge closely following the siege equipment.

The enemy's first wave of exploratory attacks had begun, and the Yellow Turbans on the city walls, under the orders of their respective officers, began their final actions before the battle.

The golden juice in the pot is already boiling, the arrows in the hands are already on the strings, and the rolling logs and boulders are already piled on the city walls.

When the enemy enters the range of bows and arrows, everything is about to happen.

The war has begun.

(End of this chapter)