People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 210 Three-foot Achievement
"If what Xuande said is true, the fighting power of the Yellow Turban bandits is probably incomparable to that of the elite troops of the Han Dynasty. In my early years, Cao was ordered by the late emperor to lead the Central Army of Xiyuan. However, even the Central Army of the Han Dynasty is so strong that it cannot achieve what Xuande said!"

After five years of struggle, the Yellow Turbans in Youzhou finally established their country. To outsiders, this process was incredibly difficult and legendary, but until now, Xuanxia had only occupied a marginal area.

Looking at the world today, Xuan Xia can certainly not be ignored. Cao Cao knows something about them, but that's just some knowledge.

The Han Dynasty was falling apart, and everyone was only concerned with their own future. Few people cared about the decline of the empire. Everyone was staring at their own little piece of land. It was already a luxury to think of gathering together like the previous coalition to fight against Dong Zhuo.

No matter how great the danger of Xuan Xia is, as long as it does not pose a threat to them, the princes from all sides will not pay too much attention to it.

Cao Cao has nowhere to live now, and the Yellow Turbans are not something he cares about. The one who should be worried is Yuan Shao. Now he has been sent to suppress them. After hearing what Liu Bei said, he was shocked to realize that the strength of the Yellow Turbans seemed to be beyond his imagination.

"Is this really not an exaggeration?" Cao Cao looked at Liu Bei and Zhang He suspiciously.

As far as he knew, these two guys had suffered great losses at the hands of the Yellow Turbans. One almost had his entire army wiped out, and the other even lost his sworn brother. Perhaps they exaggerated the strength of the Yellow Turbans deliberately in order to save face for themselves.

It’s not that we are not strong enough, but that the Yellow Turbans are too powerful?

It's no wonder that Cao Cao was suspicious. He knew that the Yellow Turbans were not ordinary bandits. But if they said they were so powerful, he would never believe it without seeing it with his own eyes. It was really hard to imagine.

"I'm not lying. If I hadn't fought the Yellow Turbans and knew their true strength, the governor wouldn't have sent me to join the army. Brother Meng De, you must be careful in this battle, otherwise you will definitely be harmed by the Yellow Turbans!"

Liu Bei quickly defended himself, saying that no one wanted to defeat the Yellow Turbans more than he did.

The situation in the world was changing too fast. I had just settled down under Han Fu, and before I could even get comfortable in my job, my boss changed. In this chaotic situation, I didn't know how the future would go.

In such a world, he had only two goals in life, one was to support the Han Dynasty, and the other was to destroy the Yellow Turbans and avenge Zhang Fei.

Now that he has the opportunity to join the army to fight against the Yellow Turbans, he is more anxious than general Cao Cao, for he is afraid that Cao Cao will underestimate the enemy and suffer losses.

Zhang He couldn't help but sigh, "I rarely lost on the battlefield, but I felt powerless when I fought against the Yellow Turbans in Youzhou. I am not making excuses for my defeat. The reason I lost to the Yellow Turbans was not because of poor tactics or mistakes in command, but because the difference in quality between the soldiers on both sides was too great to defeat each other."

The two of them kept talking back and forth, which made Cao Cao start to wonder: Are the Yellow Turbans really that powerful?
However, when he thought about how Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan of Youzhou were defeated and killed so quickly, he felt that there was a reason for it.

As early as when Liu Yu took office as the governor of Youzhou, he and Yuan Shao had predicted that it would be difficult for Liu Yu to suppress the Yellow Turbans.

But their prediction was just that it would be difficult to suppress, but the situation would not get out of control in such a short time, leading to the loss of Youzhou and the death of Liu Yu for his country.

In the past, Cao Cao thought that he had overestimated Liu Yu's ability, but now after listening to the descriptions of these two people, he realized that maybe it was not that Liu Yu was too useless, but that the Yellow Turbans were more powerful than expected.

Is it really that strong?

Cao Cao was not a man who would not listen to advice. After the two men's warnings, he became serious. While speaking, he turned around and glanced at the army behind him. His own family assets of six or seven thousand were among them. This was the capital with which he had made his fortune.

In the subsequent conversation, Cao Cao asked in detail about the characteristics of the Yellow Turbans, and the more he listened carefully, the more frightened he became.

According to Zhang He and Liu Bei, the Yellow Turbans in Youzhou were simply invincible. Whether it was their fighting will, equipment and weapons, or tactical techniques, they were far superior to ordinary armies.

He couldn't imagine how this was done, until Liu Bei explained the reason behind it, he took a deep breath.

Liu Bei knew a lot about the Yellow Turbans from Liu Yu. When he told Cao Cao that the Yellow Turbans conducted drill training every day, all soldiers received military pay and pensions, the entire army was equipped with armored clothing, and all young and strong men had three meals a day, Cao Cao fell silent.

Being strong is just the result; how to achieve strength is the problem.

If what Liu Bei said is true, then becoming powerful is a natural thing. If things go this way, it would be strange if he wasn't powerful.

Cao Cao didn't know how the Yellow Turbans had achieved this point, and it was unimaginable how much it must have cost.

After he finished talking to the two of them, he slowly slowed down his horse's pace, waited for his general Xiahou Dun, and whispered something to him. As for what he said exactly, only the two of them knew.

Twenty thousand troops were not enough to make Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Zhang He feel at ease. They continued to recruit soldiers from counties along the way, and eventually their strength increased slowly. After five or six days, they finally gathered a total of more than 30,000 troops and arrived in the northern part of Jizhou.

Their arrival inevitably attracted the attention of the Yellow Turbans, and they responded accordingly. "The government soldiers are coming. They want to continue to enslave our vast number of poor brothers. They don't allow us to rescue the people of Jizhou, but it doesn't matter. Victory will eventually belong to the majority.

We helped the people defeat the nobles above their heads, helped them divide the land, and now the people know who is truly helping them, and they also know who to support. This world belongs to the masses, and whoever they support will win, and we are on the right side!
Brothers, follow the leader and beat back all these soldiers. Today we rescued the people of Zhongshan and Changshan, and in the future we will rescue the entire Jizhou, and even the greater Shenzhou, and even every inch of land in the world!"

In the army, the soldiers sat quietly on the spot, while in front of them were the guards who were waving their arms and cheering.

As the Yellow Turbans have developed to this day, these supervisory guards who dominate the army's thinking have their own fairly mature theoretical guidance. In peacetime, they supervise the army to correct the atmosphere and promote doctrine. In wartime, they must go deep into every battle sequence to boost morale and establish combat goals.

The soldiers knew why they were fighting and why the enemy was coming.

If you know, you won't be confused, and you won't hesitate in battle. All soldiers will be united in will and fight for one goal.

Now they are rescuing the people of Zhongshan and Changshan. If the enemy does not allow it, then defeat them!
Only after the supervisory guards finished their propaganda did the soldiers disperse. According to the scouts' reports, the enemy would arrive nearby the day after tomorrow, and that would be when the great war would begin.

As the war is approaching, the soldiers have different emotions. Some are nervous, some are afraid, some are excited, and Taishi Ci is the one who is absolutely excited.

"After a year of hard work, it's finally my turn to show my skills!"

As soon as he entered the tent, Taishi Ci drew out his ring-handled sword and wiped it carefully with a towel.

Although he was better at bows and arrows and double halberds, all soldiers in the army were required to be uniform, so he could only use standard equipment.

Fortunately, the Yellow Turbans' weapons were well-made, and Taishi Ci was very skilled in using them. Not to mention that for a master like him who was good at fighting, weapons were never really important.

Opposite him was his sergeant Ma Yan.

Seeing Taishi Ci's expectant look, Ma Yan laughed and said, "I still remember the first time I went to the battlefield, I was so nervous and scared that I couldn't sleep at night. It's rare to see someone as excited as you."

Taishi Ci looked around and saw that the two new recruits beside him both had nervous faces. He then understood that Ma Yan was deliberately trying to help them calm down.

He smiled faintly, slowly sheathed his sword, and said, "It's inevitable that new soldiers will be afraid for the first time. After all, I am a captive. I have participated in many wars in the Han Dynasty before, so I am naturally not afraid of anything. You don't have to compare yourself with me."

The atmosphere in the tent suddenly became relaxed, and several new recruits turned their eyes to Taishi Ci, somewhat curious about this captured "veteran".

However, Taishi Ci was in no mood to communicate with the new recruits. Instead, he looked at Ma Yan and said, "I remember asking you a question when we were in Lelang. At that time, you said that you had not become a formal Yellow Turban. Now you have become a sergeant. Congratulations!"

Ma Yan seemed to remember something after hearing this, his expression was a little gloomy, and then he nodded: "I was lucky to have made some military achievements, but the result is always good."

Taishi Ci's eyes were burning: "I heard that your military achievement was to kill the enemy general. This is very impressive. I want to fight with you!"

Ma Yan was speechless for a moment, shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I just took advantage of the siege. It's not just me who killed the enemy general. In terms of skills, I am definitely not your opponent. It's better for you to save your strength for the battlefield."

Taishi Ci curled his lips upon hearing this, thinking that Ma Yan was a bit boring.

Life in the army was actually very boring. Taishi Ci, who loved fighting, had been itching to fight for a long time, but unfortunately the discipline here was strict and there was no chance for a fight. He could only use his strength on the battlefield as Ma Yan said.

Ma Yan said: "You have always said that you want to join the Yellow Turbans. This war is your chance. As long as you make military achievements, your chances will be great. I will be your introducer then."

Taishi Ci smiled slightly, his expression full of confidence: "I will definitely be able to make a contribution. You can kill the enemy general. I can't let you down. This time, I have to do the same!"

Ma Yan looked at him for a moment and wanted to say that killing the enemy general was not such an easy task, but when he thought of Taishi Ci's bravery, he kept silent. Maybe this guy could really do it.

Taishi Ci looked outside the tent, his eyes full of impatience. The war that would start the day after tomorrow still seemed a little too long for him.

"A real man should carry a three-foot sword and accomplish unparalleled feats. The so-called heroes of the world are nothing but selfish rats. I, Xuan Xia, am the one who can truly save the people from danger. I, Taishi Ci, must devote myself to such feats!"

(End of this chapter)