People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 123 What do you think?

"I actually lost, the White Horse Volunteers actually lost!"

In the camp of officers and soldiers, Gongsun Zan almost vomited blood when he saw the more than one thousand cavalrymen who escaped back in disgrace. These White Horse Volunteers were the trump card of his fighting force that he had built up over many years, and now nearly two thousand of them were gone in just one blow!
"Are you brainless? You even fell into the trap set by the Hu people!"

Gongsun Zan was so angry that he drew his sword and was about to chop off the head of the cavalry general in front of him, but he finally kept his sanity.

The situation is already very bad now, and killing people at this juncture will only undermine morale.

At this time, there were several people standing next to Gongsun Zan, including Tian Kai, the former county lieutenant of Zhuo County, and two other generals, Yan Gang and Shan Jing.

After being appointed as the Cavalry Commandant, Gongsun Zan began to recruit soldiers in the western counties in name only. Local tyrants also contributed money and food to support the cause to varying degrees. Yan Gang and Shan Jing were among these tyrants, and now they were two generals under Gongsun Zan.

However, the two of them had just arrived and could only remain silent at such times. Only Tian Kai, an acquaintance, spoke up to persuade Gongsun Zan when he was furious.

"General Gongsun, our cavalry suffered heavy losses and is no longer able to contain the enemy's cavalry. I'm afraid it will be difficult to cope with future battles. It's better for us to make plans first." Tian Kai also had a worried look on his face as he spoke.

Gongsun Zan knew that now was not the time to get angry. The war could be temporarily suspended for now, but due to the lack of cavalry, future battles would be difficult to fight.

He felt sad whenever he thought of this. It was really not easy to train the White Horse Volunteers. It would take an incalculable amount of time and energy to recruit 3,000 soldiers.

After sending the cavalry general away in a bad mood, Gongsun Zan sat down in the main seat with a gloomy face.

"It's a pity that Zhang Chun, the traitor, rebelled so suddenly. Otherwise, I wouldn't have hurriedly led 30,000 soldiers to deal with him. If I had been given more time, I would have mobilized 50,000 or 60,000 troops. Not to mention Zhang Chun and Wuhuan, I would have taken down the Yellow Turbans as well!"

Having said this, Gongsun Zan slammed the table hard, his anger evident in his words.

Tian Kai, Yan Gang and Dan Jing all sighed when they heard this. They had originally expected the situation in Youzhou should not be like this, but the rebellion of Zhang Chun and Wuhuan disrupted all their plans.

Tian Kai said: "Fortunately, Zhang Chun Wuhuan did not join forces with the Yellow Turbans, otherwise the situation today would be even worse."

As soon as these words came out, Gongsun Zan felt his heart sink. He felt terrified just thinking about this possibility.

Although he had not fought with the Yellow Turbans since they left Zhuo County, his previous experiences were enough to leave a deep impression on him. Those Yellow Turbans were not easy to deal with.

The Yellow Turbans are now entrenched in Yuyang County and are even more powerful than before. If they join forces with Zhang Chun's gang, I'm afraid they can really swallow up the entire Youzhou.

Gongsun Zan could only pray that such a thing would not happen again. Zhang Chun and Wuhuan were already enough of a headache for him, so it would be better not to make things more difficult.

"Our army is weak in strength, and now we have no cavalry available. We can no longer fight this battle for a long time. I'm afraid we should prepare for retreat now. If the situation is unfavorable, we will retreat to Zhuo County and defend the city."

Gongsun Zan's face was gloomy and uncertain. After a long silence, he said so.

Yan Gang was shocked and could not help but stand up and speak: "General Gongsun, our army can certainly retreat to Zhuo County, but once the road is opened, the rebels can go straight out of Youzhou. From now on, it will be a flat and smooth road. Who can stop them then!"

Shan Jing also expressed his worry: "Given the Wuhuan's style, if they invade the Central Plains, it will surely cause disaster."

These two sentences made Gongsun Zan frown. How could he not understand these principles?

Having dealt with the Hu people for many years, he knew their style very well, but now he had no time to care about others. The most important thing was to protect his base in Zhuo County first.

As the commander, it was not appropriate for him to speak out about such matters, but fortunately, Tian Kai was very sensible and stood up.

"Generals, it's not that our army has ignored the civilians, it's just that we are not strong enough. We can't hold on to this battle anymore. Instead of wasting our time, it's better to conserve our strength for the future."

Shan Jing and Yan Gang looked at each other and could only shake their heads and sigh.

This kind of thing is the most helpless. What Tian Kai said certainly makes sense. The reality is like this and we have no better choice.

Can you hold on if you just stick to it?
If we are not careful and the enemy suffers heavy losses, and even lose our little foundation, we will have no choice but to stare at the enemy helplessly from now on.

Preserve your strength, recruit soldiers and prepare for war, there will still be hope for a reversal in the future.

But if we retreat from this battle, it would mean just sitting back and watching the rebels go south and do whatever they want.

Gongsun Zan finally made the decision: "Let's do this. Our army will hold on for a few more days, and after the baggage is transferred from the rear, we will retreat to Zhuo County."

Inside the tent, several people could only agree reluctantly.

They all foresaw that it would not be long before the rebels would march southward into Jizhou and Qingzhou and engage in burning, killing and looting. Although this made them feel a little reluctant, they had no other options.

As the decision was made here, the officers and soldiers' camp also began to move and prepare for the retreat. If nothing unexpected happens, perhaps after two or three days, the officers and soldiers will completely abandon the camp and open the road completely.

In order to ensure a smooth retreat, the soldiers could not relax their guard. In the following two days of fighting, they still fought hard, but they were visibly beginning to struggle. In the soldiers' camp, Gongsun Zan commanded the defense. The changes in the war situation also strengthened his determination to retreat.

Although it is not easy for the enemy cavalry to attack the camp, it is different from being completely useless compared to the city. After all, it is much easier to break through the camp gate. Every time the infantry rushes open the camp gate, the charge from the cavalry in the rear will put the officers and soldiers under tremendous pressure.

By now, defense has become increasingly difficult. If we don't retreat actively, we won't be able to leave even if we want to.

He had also begun planning for tomorrow's retreat, leaving behind several thousand soldiers to cover the rear and using the remaining one thousand light cavalry for cover while the main army retreated to the rear first. As for other matters, he would no longer be able to take care of them.

While he was thinking, the situation on the battlefield ahead suddenly changed, which attracted his attention.

Upon closer inspection, the rebels who had just been attacking the camp with great momentum suddenly stopped attacking. After a brief period of chaos, they retreated like the tide.

This made Gongsun Zan confused. He hurriedly climbed up to see the situation clearly, but the soldiers in the watchtower had already started reporting.

"General, the enemy's rear camp is in chaos. It seems that they are under attack by unknown forces. The main force of the enemy is coming back to support the main camp!"

When Gongsun Zan heard this, he was surprised but also doubtful.

Is this a way out of despair? But who will come to reinforce me at this time? It seems that there is no greater force in Youzhou that can influence the situation.

At this critical moment, Tian Kai, who was fighting on the front line, rushed over breathlessly, but had already discovered something was wrong.

"General, the enemy is in chaos. Please give orders to pursue the victory!"

"No, I will lead the troops to pursue them personally. Pass on my order. Leave 3,000 central troops to guard the camp, and the rest of the army will follow me to attack!"

Gongsun Zan just started to have doubts in his heart, fearing that it might be some conspiracy, but the next second he saw black smoke coming out of the enemy camp in the distance. Just by looking at the thick black smoke, he knew that there was a big fire in the enemy camp.

Now all his doubts disappeared, and he didn't bother to think about what was going on. This opportunity was rare, and the right thing to do was to press on and seize the opportunity.

Soon the army was dispatched and chased in the direction of the enemy's retreat. The rebels were obviously also panicked by the chaos in the rear. In a hasty battle, although they managed to block the counterattack of the officers and soldiers, they were also retreating step by step.

The two sides fought for a while, and it was the Wuhuan cavalry that reacted and turned around to support, and finally pushed the officers and soldiers back.

This field battlefield was ultimately the home ground of the assault cavalry. Although Gongsun Zan seized the opportunity keenly, he could only give up for the time being in the face of the response of the Wuhuan cavalry.

However, this pursuit has yielded quite a few gains, with the rebels leaving behind many corpses along the way.

What's more, the movement of the officers and soldiers slowed down the rebels' pace, which bought more time for the reinforcements that came from nowhere, and played a significant role.

After Gongsun Zan returned to the camp, he closely followed the situation in the enemy camp and found that the riots there soon subsided. He didn't know whether the reinforcements were wiped out by the rebels or had already withdrawn.

At this time, he was more curious about where this reinforcement came from.

Fortunately, he soon found out the answer to the question.

A scout got to know the situation and reported it immediately: "General, there are more than 10,000 Yellow Turban troops approaching from the east. The reinforcements that attacked the enemy camp are the Yellow Turban's vanguard!"

When Gongsun Zan heard this news, he was completely stunned.

Tian Kai and others looked at each other in disbelief.

They had planned everything, but they didn't expect that the reinforcements would be the Yellow Turbans. Instead of helping the rebels, the rebels helped the government soldiers. What kind of thing is this?
Tian Kai's expression was somewhat interesting, and then he looked at Gongsun Zan: "General, how should our army respond next?"

Gongsun Zan was speechless for a long time, and finally couldn't make up his mind. The sudden appearance of the troublemaker made him confused about the situation: "Let's wait and see what happens."

While the officers and soldiers were filled with sorrow, Zhang Chun and the Wuhuan coalition forces were all gloomy.

Zhang Chun, Qiu Liju, and Su Puyan, who arrived later with his cavalry, all had gloomy faces when they saw the baggage in the camp that had been burned to ashes.

"Damn it, Guangtou Xu actually stabbed us in the back, is he crazy?" Zhang Chun's hands began to tremble with anger. The situation, which had been going well, was turned back to square one by the attack of the Yellow Turbans.

Su Puyan said in a deep voice: "All the food and supplies are destroyed. How can we continue this battle?"

Qiu Liju's eyes flashed with ferocity: "Xu Guangtou, do you really think that I don't have a temper? You shameless guy, gather your army for me, I will eat him first!"

Zhang Chunqiuliju already had a lot of resentment towards Xu Chen, and now he was even more angry. Now he even ignored the officers and soldiers and turned around to fight the Yellow Turbans.

(End of this chapter)