People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 155: What’s the point of risking your life?
This trip might be the farthest journey Ma Yan has ever taken in his life. Even in the past, even when he was doing labor or military service for his family, he would most likely just go to the county. But this time, not only did he travel far away from his hometown to Yuyang County for the first time, he also had to continue west to Guangyang to block the road for the officers and soldiers.

Even Ma Yan, a new recruit, was very clear about the goal of his army's battle, because everyone from the leader to the captain of the hundred-man team had told it clearly.

General Wang Dang, the leader of the Yellow Turbans in Youzhou, has led a large army eastward to conquer Liaodong to ensure stability in the rear area under the rule of the Yellow Turbans.

Ma Yan was well aware of the threat posed by Su Puyan to the Yellow Turbans. After all, he would never forget the pain that the Wuhuan invasion had brought him. The Wuhuan slaves in western Liaoning had already stood up and settled all their sins, but the Wuhuan people in eastern Liaodong were still eyeing the Yellow Turbans covetously.

Although this was Ma Yan's first time to go to war, military households from the same village had responded to the Yellow Turbans' call in the past, so he also knew that the Wuhuan in Liaodong had made several invasion attempts in the past two years, but they were all repelled by the Yellow Turbans.

Ma Yan only hopes that General Wang Dang can defeat the enemy smoothly along the way, rescue Liaodong, and completely eliminate the dangers and hidden dangers.

However, Ma Yan did not expect that the Han court would actually interfere with the actions of the Yellow Turbans.

Just as the leader said, the government cannot tolerate the people living the way they are now, and they must put the mountain on the people's heads. To this end, they can tolerate Su Puyan's past rebellion, and can also forget the sins that Su Puyan had committed, and instead help Su Puyan to deal with the groups that had suffered in the past.

The mission of his army was to resist the interference of officers and soldiers and buy time for General Wang's operation in Liaodong, and the time must be at least three months.

Ma Yan not only knew why this battle was fought, but also knew that the strategic goal of this battle was to defend.

So there is no need to fight to the death with the officers and soldiers now, you just need to keep an eye on them.

After arriving in Yuyang, they soon ran into the soldiers. In the past, they always heard other military households in the village bragging after returning from the battle. Now, they finally participated in the battle themselves.

The two armies faced each other from a distance, and the solemn and tense atmosphere made people's blood boil.

At this time, the soldiers, under rotation, began to collect their equipment in the baggage camp in the rear. Ma Yan, a crossbowman, soon received his quiver, crossbow, a full set of light armor, a ring-handled sword, a clean white cloth, and a small porcelain bottle of medicine powder.

Soldiers have different equipment according to their different arms. In addition to the differences in their main weapons, the shapes of their armor also vary greatly.

The sword and shield soldiers at the front are wearing full body armor, and their entire bodies are wrapped in iron. The spearmen's armor coverage is lower, but still very solid. As for the crossbowmen at the end, they are wearing completely light armor, with only gold and iron protecting the vital parts, and only leather armor for other places.

This white cloth and medicine powder are standard equipment for every soldier. Although each Yellow Turban army is equipped with a military medical battalion, military doctors cannot take over the wounded on the battlefield in the first time. The best solution is for the soldiers to perform simple first aid themselves, using cloth strips to bandage wounds and medicine powder to stop bleeding.

After being equipped with these equipments, Ma Yan immediately felt the atmosphere of a great battle.

However, what came first was not the thrilling life-and-death struggle, but the hard work of setting up camp. Building a qualified camp is a big project that requires a lot of manpower. Even if there are many civilians, soldiers are also needed to help.

The officers and soldiers did the same thing, and the gap between the two sides was clearly visible in the efficiency of camp construction.

Everything is in good order here in the Yellow Turbans. The command of the soldiers can be broken down to a specific squad of a hundred or even a tenth or a squadron, so the distribution of work can be more flexible and efficient.

The situation among the officers and soldiers seemed much more chaotic. Although they also had a detailed military system, their training level was far behind that of the Yellow Turbans, and the organizational capabilities of both sides were also greatly different.

At first glance, people who didn't know the truth might even think that the Yellow Turbans were government soldiers, and the government soldiers were bandits.

The two sides were stuck in this confrontation. Even a small soldier like Ma Yan could clearly feel the tense atmosphere. It was the sergeant who analyzed the situation for them based on his military experience.

“Although the officers and soldiers can take a long detour through the Great Wall to Liaodong and do not have to confront us here, if they leave, it will be equivalent to completely abandoning their rear.

Now the officers and soldiers obviously want to leave, but the Yellow Turbans are here, so they can’t move forward or backward.”

After the sergeant said this, Ma Yan, an ordinary soldier, finally understood why both sides were stuck here. It was obvious that the officers and soldiers' target was not the Yellow Turbans in front of them, but to aid Liaodong, but now they were trapped here and unable to move.

When they were on duty at the camp, they would listen to the sergeant imparting his experience in their spare time.

These things were the sergeant's own understanding of war after fighting one battle after another, and now he spoke them out without reservation.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that the officers and soldiers have more troops than us, but in fact they are not strong enough to fight. Our leader has always paid attention to the quality of the army. Although there are only 15,000 troops now, the cost of organizing these 15,000 troops is definitely much more expensive than the 30,000 or 40,000 officers and soldiers."

The sergeant looked at the soldiers from afar, his face showing disapproval. After he said this, the worry they had about the difference in troop strength was inexplicably reduced.

After coming to their senses and thinking about it again, they found that this seemed to be the case. People around them had served in the military under the government and knew what kind of treatment soldiers received. There was no salary, and if they died, their death would be in vain. If they wanted equipment, they could only prepare it themselves.

Looking at the Yellow Turbans again, they have everything they want and they train every day, so the consumption is naturally high. The resources the Yellow Turbans invest in one soldier are enough to support three officers and soldiers, they think.

They don’t know whether quality or quantity is more important, but when they have their pay in their hands and wear the equipment on their bodies, they are definitely more at ease and comfortable than the officers and soldiers.

Ma Yan couldn't help but ask, "Are the soldiers just going to stare and watch?"

The sergeant shook his head and said, "Of course not. These past two days, both sides have only been setting up camps to guard against each other. A battle will probably start soon. But generally speaking, the first battle is just a test between the two sides, and the result of the test will determine the subsequent fighting style."

Almost as the sergeant finished his words, they heard the sound of alert from the Yellow Turban camp.

When they looked again, they saw movement in the enemy's camp. This made Ma Yan and the other new recruits nervous. They all grabbed their crossbows, as if they were ready to fight immediately.

The sergeant found their reactions a little funny and said, "Don't be so surprised. When we go to battle, we will receive orders. Before that, just stay still."

Sure enough, the Yellow Turbans soon took corresponding actions. As soon as the officers and soldiers left the camp, the Yellow Turbans' troops also attacked immediately.

However, the team that fought in the first battle did not belong to Ma Yan, so they were just spectators in this battle.

The battle between the officers and soldiers and the Yellow Turbans began soon. For a while, there were loud shouts on the battlefield in front. The tension of life and death made Ma Yan, a bystander, feel nervous. Soon he began to sweat and his mouth became a little dry.

Especially every time he saw someone falling on the battlefield or blood splattering, his heart would tremble.

This is a real battlefield. When two armies are fighting, life is as insignificant as grass.

"The battlefield environment is chaotic. If we are on the battlefield, we will be surrounded by fighting all around us. We have no way of judging the situation. To know the advantages and disadvantages, we only need to see whether we are advancing or retreating.

Of course, for us soldiers, we only need to follow orders. Whether we are retreating or advancing, we only need to continue fighting and follow orders in all actions. "

Even watching from a distance, Ma Yan could feel the chaos that the sergeant had described. People were entangled with each other. If he were in the middle of it, he would probably only be able to hear the waving of weapons and the sounds of angry roars and howls from all directions.

This is war. It is not the thrill of galloping across the battlefield as you imagine, but a cold and cruel fight to the death.

Fortunately, there was the presence of the sergeant by his side, which allowed Ma Yan to see the true face of war in advance even though he had not actually gone to the battlefield.

This battle involving thousands of people lasted less than half an hour before both sides retreated. However, this was not the end, but a preparation for the next battle.

After the battle, the military camp soon became busy. Ma Yan saw wounded soldiers being carried back wailing. Although many soldiers had already given emergency treatment to their injuries themselves, this was not enough. They were soon sent to the military medical camp for further treatment.

"On the battlefield, casualties are inevitable, but you have to believe that the casualties of officers and soldiers are definitely much greater than ours. We have more armor, we are stronger than the enemy, and we have undergone more training. This is our advantage.

Even if you are really injured, don't panic. As long as you are not fatal, there is a good chance that you can survive after receiving first aid yourself and going to the military medical camp.

If they unfortunately die, we the Yellow Turbans will provide them with pensions, and the hero's family will receive tax benefits every year, and the same goes for the disabled."

In fact, the sergeant didn't need to explain these things. The several new recruits knew them all. They had seen it with their own eyes. They had great trust in the Yellow Turbans on this point. After hearing it from the sergeant again, they felt a lot more at ease.

Suddenly, they felt some sympathy for the officers and soldiers.

Not to mention the medical treatment for the wounded, pensions for the dead, and preferential policies, even the most basic things are not available. It's really not worth it.

If possible, he really wanted to say to the officers and soldiers on the opposite side: Why are you fighting for your lives when you don’t even have any pay?

(End of this chapter)