People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 154: The Yellow Turbans Take Charge
After arriving in Yuyang, all the soldiers were disbanded and redistributed, and Ma Yan quickly got to know his closest comrades.

After being incorporated into the army, Ma Yan discovered that all his platoon members were new recruits except for the platoon leader, who was not only a veteran but also a formal Yellow Turban. As time went by, everyone got to know each other, and he knew that the platoon leader was the first one to follow the leader all the way from Jizhou to Yuyang.

The military position of sergeant actually has no direct authority. Only the captain of the centurion above him is considered a real officer in the strict sense.

The sergeant acts more as a veteran who guides the new recruits to obey discipline and conduct training. He is more like a big brother to the soldiers at the grassroots level. He can obey the orders of his superiors and plan actions, and can quickly lead the new recruits into training and combat status.

This kind of big brother role quickly attracted the new recruits to feel close to him, and Ma Yan was no exception.

“Back then, we were in the woods of Jizhou. It was cold, and we didn’t have much food. There were elite Han troops blocking our way, and we ourselves were stricken with plague.

At that time, everyone thought we were doomed, but in the end, it was the leader who stepped forward and saved us from disaster.

He even ambushed a Han army in the end. The Han general is still digging stones in the labor camp. He is still unwilling to surrender. He is really a stubborn person. I really admire him. "

In the small tent, the sergeant was telling his own battle stories, and soon several recruits were fascinated by his story.

Most of them had been honest farmers before, and they would never walk more than ten miles away from their homes in their entire lives. The stories told by the sergeant immediately aroused their curiosity about the wider world.

But in addition to telling stories about battles from all over the country, Sergeant also talks about many of the things the Yellow Turbans did along the way.

Fleeing all the way from Zhuo County to Yuyang, the leader gradually established discipline, popularized the doctrine, and put it into practice among local powerful people and common people.

The new recruits could relate to these things because they were all ordinary people whose fate was changed because of these things, and they knew that these things were true.

"The leader led the Yellow Turbans to rebel against the Han Dynasty, not just against the emperor of the Han Dynasty. The so-called emperor is just the spokesperson for those noble masters. Even if we change the emperor, we can't change our hard life. Only by clearing out all the noble masters in the world can we live a relaxed life, just like the life in Yuyang and Youbeiping now."

Although the Yellow Turbans had said these words to the people when they were fighting against the local tyrants, they only told people superficially what was right and wrong and what their positions were.

Only now that he had joined the army and was taught by the sergeant, did he suddenly come to his senses and gain a new understanding in theory. Now he not only knew what was right and what was wrong, but also why it was right and why it was wrong, and why he had to persist in the struggle with his stand.

The daytime training was very hard. Although most of the recruits served as crossbowmen in the team, and the training intensity was easier than that of swordsmen and spearmen, it was still a bit too much for Ma Yan. He felt sore all over after each day's training.

The most relaxing time of the day for him was when a few people lay together in the military tent and listened to the sergeant talk.

He just felt that the sergeant was very powerful. Not only did he understand so many principles, but he was also literate and able to read books. Although he was a Yellow Turban soldier, he seemed like an educated person.

He couldn't help but ask, "Captain Wu, will we have the chance to become yellow turbans like you in the future, and can we also learn to read?"

This sentence immediately perked up the others. It was obvious that they all had the same idea.

In places like Yuyang, Youbeiping, and Liaoxi, the Yellow Turbans were never considered bandits in the minds of the people. It was no exaggeration to say that they only knew about the Yellow Turbans and not the Han Dynasty. If a Yellow Turban appeared in someone's family, the family members would definitely go from door to door to show off.

This is not only because the people support the Yellow Turbans, but also because the Yellow Turbans mean a better future for them.

Under the rule of the Yellow Turbans, only official Yellow Turbans are qualified to be officials, and at least for now, only Yellow Turbans can receive education. The key point is that this door is not closed to the common people.

"Of course there is a chance. As long as you join the army and make contributions, you can apply to join the church. I will be your introducer then!"

The sergeant smiled and encouraged them. He really wasn't just saying nice things.

The fact is that most of the new Yellow Turbans who joined later were ordinary people who applied to join the army. As long as they could perform well, as long as they had the correct ideological awareness, and as long as they could study hard, the Yellow Turbans would not reject any common people.

Of course, the opposite is also true. If the old Yellow Turbans were not capable, they would also be eliminated.

Therefore, the sergeant can fully expect that one day in the future he can be the introducer of these new recruits, as long as they have the ability.

The Yellow Turbans were a real channel for upward mobility, and this channel was open to every common person. This was completely unimaginable for the peasants, because after all, they were farmers before, so they were destined to be farmers all their lives, and their descendants would only be farmers for generations to come.

Rising? That is something that is completely isolated from oneself.

Not to mention becoming an official, there is no way for him to receive education. As long as he looks up, the pyramid above him will press him down so hard that he cannot see any light at all.

The upward channel opened by the Yellow Turbans may be the first ray of light that the poor people in this world have seen since generations.

"Okay, you guys take a good rest and stay energetic. The army has set a schedule of half a month for pre-war training. Even though we are relatively safe crossbowmen, we cannot relax our training. Only if we train well can we kill the enemy faster on the battlefield and increase our chances of survival!"

After these words were spoken, several people stopped and began to rest, and soon there was loud snoring in the tent.

Ma Yan stared at the top of the tent with his eyes wide open, as if he was fantasizing about the day when he would join the religion in the future. However, this fantasy soon ended as the drowsiness brought by the training made him ignore the snoring environment and he soon fell into a deep sleep.

What follows next is the long process of the Yellow Turban Army’s pre-war training.

The training content of crossbowmen not only includes becoming familiar with the operation of the repeating crossbow, but also learning the close combat skills of the ring-handled sword. In addition, more importantly, it is about becoming familiar with and applying various tactical commands.

As the most basic soldiers, they do not need to understand too many advanced military theories. They only need to master sophisticated combat skills and be able to carry out the commands of the officers above well, and they can be considered very qualified soldiers.

Every army of thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of soldiers ultimately relies on such qualified soldiers to form a powerful army that can be commanded at will, and the Yellow Turbans now obviously have such conditions.

Half a month of training was not easy for Ma Yan. He had good food and drink, and the intensity was certainly not low, but his quality as a soldier was also improving rapidly, and he soon became a relatively qualified recruit. If he was deployed outside, he would definitely not be worse than the county soldiers of the officers' army.

Moreover, half a month had basically allowed Ma Yan to adapt to the training rhythm. He was completely in line with the army and was already in a state of preparation for war.

On the day when the army officially set out, 15,000 soldiers, including civilians, gathered in the parade grounds waiting for the arrival of one person, that is the leader they respected so much!

Following the team and standing in the back corner of the army formation, Ma Yan felt it was a pity that he couldn't see the leader's face clearly from such a distance.

But as long as he could see the person, he would be extremely lucky. This was the Great Heavenly Master, the one who was truly worshipped as a god by the villagers, and now he was going to appear right in front of him alive!
The veterans were relatively calm, while the new recruits were mostly looking forward to seeing the leader with their own eyes, just like Ma Yan.

Fortunately, the leader did not make them wait too long. Before long, a young figure appeared in everyone's sight, and the military formation, which had been somewhat moving, became completely silent at this moment. Everyone's eyes were focused on that person.

very young!
This was Ma Yan’s first impression after seeing the leader. Although he had known for a long time that the leader was a young man, when he saw the real person, he still felt a sense of unreality. After all, if you really want to talk about it, he is older than the leader.

This is also the first impression of many new recruits, but if the veterans knew what they were thinking, they would probably disagree.

The longer you stay in the army and the more you understand the leader's thoughts, the sense of strangeness caused by your age will naturally fade away, and it will be replaced by respect and admiration for the leader.

Because they were too far away, Ma Yan couldn't see more details, so the only obvious feeling was the youth.

But the soldiers in the front row could feel more. The leader's young face had a natural friendly and casual temperament. Just looking at him made people feel comfortable, and his confident eyes were even more impressive.

Ma Yan could not feel any of this, nor could he hear the leader's voice. He could only hear from afar the Yellow Turbans shouting and conveying what the leader said.

"This time we are going out to do only one thing, and that is to drive the soldiers back!

General Wang led his army to Liaodong. The Wuhuan people there are still eyeing us covetously. General Wang is going to solve the hidden danger for us, but the officers and soldiers will not sit idly by and watch us do things.

The Han Dynasty will not tolerate us living the life we ​​are living now. It represents the interests of the nobles and masters. As long as they can continue to enslave us, they can pay any price and make any effort.

The Wuhuan once robbed the Han people's property and killed the Han people. The Han people will not seek justice for these things.

Even today when we go to fight the Wuhuan tribe in Liaodong, they still want to help the Wuhuan people and rescue these former murderers and criminals.”

The whole place was silent. The leader looked around at all the soldiers below and said his last words: "The Han people hate us to the core. The better we live, the more they will do everything they can to destroy us. So, let us respond to them with the strongest attitude. In the future, I, the Yellow Turbans, will be the ones to decide Youzhou!"

(End of this chapter)