People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 211: That young general in white robe?

Two days passed in a flash. When Zhang He and Cao Cao arrived in Zhongshan County, the Yellow Turbans had already conquered most of the county towns in the county. The speed of their advance shocked Zhang He and Cao Cao.

In fact, if their arrival had not forced the Yellow Turbans to fight, Xu Chen would have led his troops into Changshan by now.

The two counties met outside the city of Quyang. In order to prevent the officers and soldiers from destroying the vast rural areas that the Yellow Turbans had just cleared, Xu Chen led his troops to set up camps at key nodes of the main roads to defend against the enemy and block their advance.

When the two armies confronted each other, each side began to examine and observe the other side's positions before the battle.

The more than 30,000 officers and soldiers here seem to be a huge force, but in the eyes of Xu Chen and Wang Dang, this scene is only a small scene in the eyes of the Yellow Turbans today. There is no pressure at all to fight with a force that is only 10,000 more than their own.

They even felt that the officers and soldiers looked down on the Yellow Turbans by only sending such a small number of people. Aren't they just asking for death?

Of course this was just a joke, but King Xu Chen also knew Yuan Shao's current predicament.

"Yuan Shao is too busy to spare any effort, and he is reluctant to give up Zhongshan and Changshan. He wants to defeat us with 30,000 troops. Does he think that Xuanxia is so easy to bully?
It seems necessary to let him taste Xuan Xia's iron fist and let him know how powerful Xuan Xia is."

On the watchtower of the camp, Wang Dang held up the telescope and looked for a while, but soon lost interest in continuing to observe, and began to mutter: "In my opinion, he might as well just ignore the north. Sending troops here is bound to result in casualties. What's the point?"

Xu Chen smiled and said, "In the final analysis, Yuan Shao still lacks a correct understanding of Xuan Xia. However, this is a good thing. We will have to fight sooner or later. It would be good to take advantage of him now when he underestimates the enemy. Let them suffer a big defeat first."

When Ju Shou heard the confidence in the conversation between the two, he smiled and shook his head.

If the enemy heard these words, they would definitely think that the Yellow Turbans were too arrogant. They seemed to have already won before the battle even started and did not take the officers and soldiers seriously at all.

Ju Su was not too worried about this. Although arrogance and underestimation of the enemy was a military taboo, that was based on the premise that the strength of both sides was similar.

Although the Yellow Turbans were confident, they did not underestimate the enemy. In fact, before the battle, the army had conducted a detailed assessment of the soldiers' strength, equipment, supplies, etc. It can be said that before the war even started, the Yellow Turbans had already predicted various possible situations and had a clear understanding of the soldiers.

Therefore, this kind of self-confidence is not a manifestation of arrogance, but actually a natural emotion revealed because of being too aware of the gap in strength between the two sides.

The thought that the Yellow Turbans would suffer a disastrous defeat due to underestimation of the enemy and arrogance never occurred to Ju Shou. Even with his very steady and cautious character, he did not think that there was any possibility of failure.

"The enemy is setting up a camp. I think we can attack first. Our army has the advantage of being well-rested. If we can win the first battle, we can not only slow down the speed of the enemy setting up the camp, but also undermine their morale!" Ju Su stepped forward and made a suggestion.

Wang Dang didn't say anything, but looked at Xu Chen.

Xu Chen nodded: "It's getting late, General Wang will lead 5,000 troops to fight first and give them a warning!"

Wang Dang laughed when he heard this. After establishing the country, he went to do the work of the governor of Zhuo County and was busy with governance every day. Although it was also a serious matter, it was still not satisfactory for him as a general. Now he is back on the battlefield and can finally go back to his old job.

At the command, five thousand soldiers were assembled, then left the camp and formed a battle formation, attacking the enemy position, with another five thousand troops following from the rear to support them.

Seeing this, the officers and soldiers on the other side suddenly became nervous, as their first battle with the Yellow Turbans was about to begin.

Are the Yellow Turbans from Youzhou really that powerful?

Zhang He, Cao Cao and Liu Bei all looked solemn. Since the enemy had come to their doorstep, there was nothing to think about and they had to just accept the challenge.

Cao Cao remained silent, and Zhang He led his army of more than 10,000 to meet the enemy, while Liu Bei watched the battle from the rear with a worried look on his face.

When the two armies met on this narrow road, there was no need for any other communication. As soon as they touched each other, they were at loggerheads and soon engaged in full-scale contact and fighting. The originally peaceful land was also filled with bursts of noisy fighting.

The Yellow Turban sword and shield soldiers in the front row, wrapped in heavy armor, slowly moved forward with neat and steady steps, using the large shields in their hands and the heavy armor on their bodies to absorb the first wave of enemy attacks. The defense line they built was firm and solid, and could not be shaken no matter how the enemy soldiers attacked with swords and knives.

The officers and soldiers' heavy crossbows and bed crossbows could break through the Yellow Turbans' defenses, but their limited numbers and extremely low firing frequency prevented them from playing a role in changing the overall battle situation.

Arrows rained down from the sky from time to time, and although they could directly hit the Yellow Turban army in the rear, the damage of the arrows was greatly reduced under the protection of the Yellow Turbans' armor. Most of the arrows slipped and fell after hitting the armor, and only a very small number could hit accurately, but it was not easy to kill directly.

In this era, a legion fully armed with armor is definitely the enemy's nightmare.

This was an asymmetric battle in terms of equipment, training, morale and quality of troops. The collision between the two sides was like using flesh and blood to defend steel, and the positions of officers and soldiers began to retreat visibly.

The officers and soldiers rushed forward to fight, but as soon as they rushed to the front, they were blocked by large shields, and countless spears and crossbows came out from behind, and a one-sided situation was formed in just one encounter. Of course, the fighting methods of the times evolved synchronously, and the officers and soldiers also had their own swordsmen, shieldmen, spearmen and crossbowmen.

However, their formation was loose, their soldiers were not as tall as the Yellow Turbans, nor were they as strong as the Yellow Turbans, and their coordination was even looser. When they were injured, they fell to the ground and screamed. From time to time, some soldiers were afraid to retreat and were finally killed on the spot by the supervision team.

The gap in hardware equipment, coupled with the gap in the overall quality of the soldiers, ultimately resulted in such a combat scene.

Zhang He was commanding the battle. When he saw this situation, he took a deep breath. The feeling of powerlessness he had when facing the Yellow Turbans reappeared. No matter how he deployed his soldiers, he could only be defeated bit by bit by the Yellow Turbans.

When the gap in the quality of the army is too great, all tactics and strategies become a joke. The Yellow Turbans only need to advance forward in a solid and stable formation to break through everything.

Cao Cao in the back widened his eyes.

Although he had been mentally prepared for the strength of the Yellow Turbans from Zhang He and Liu Bei's descriptions, he still found it incredible when he actually saw them.

"Is this really the Yellow Turban?"

In Cao Cao's eyes, he could see the massive armored Yellow Turbans as a surging black wave. Every surge would cause the officers and soldiers to scatter and retreat. The sense of strength and weakness was intuitive and strong.

When Liu Bei saw the situation on the battlefield, even his breathing became heavy. He felt as if he was there himself.

Because he had actually faced such Yellow Turbans in battle, and that feeling made him suffocate. Now that he saw the Yellow Turbans wreaking havoc again, this feeling subconsciously crept back into his heart.

"Brother, I am willing to fight and resist the enemy!" Guan Yu stepped forward, holding the Lengyan saw tightly in his hand, looking into the distance with cold eyes.

Liu Bei came back to his senses and sighed: "Looking at the current situation, I'm afraid General Zhang He will retreat. If my second brother wants to fight, he will have a chance later."

Cao Cao also nodded solemnly: "It is time to retreat. The Yellow Turbans are indeed very powerful."

Liu Bei was worried: "Today is just the first test. The future battles will be even more difficult. Brother Meng De, remember to take it seriously and don't underestimate the enemy. These Yellow Turbans are not to be regarded as ordinary thieves."

Cao Cao remained silent. He didn't need Liu Bei to remind him. He didn't dare to underestimate the Yellow Turbans in Youzhou anymore.

However, as the battlefield changed, Cao Cao suddenly noticed a place in his own position, and then he pointed to the distance: "The whole army was forced to retreat, but a small detachment on the right was able to push back. The lieutenant who was fighting in the front was even more brave. Who is this person?"

Liu Bei looked forward and quickly noticed what Cao Cao said, and said, "This man Liu Bei happens to know, he is Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong from Changshan."

"The young general in white robe?"

What Xu Chen saw through the telescope was that a small group of enemy troops that were moving against the trend attracted his attention, especially a young general in a white robe who was riding a horse and fighting. His movements were graceful and agile, and he was able to withstand the pressure and forcibly repel the enemy. His bravery made Xu Chen couldn't help but marvel at it.

"My lord, don't worry. The victory or defeat of a war between two armies cannot be determined by individual bravery. The enemy should retreat!" Ju Su didn't care about the young general in white robe at all. He only cared about the overall victory or defeat.

Xu Chen put down the telescope and smiled. He didn't expect Ju Shou to really answer. It was just a subconscious exclamation.

It seems that the man is just an ordinary young general of the other side. It would be strange if someone on our side knew him.

After hearing what Ju Shou said, he shifted his attention away from the young general. Just as Ju Shou said, the focus of war has never been on individuals, but on the overall strength.

This is indeed the case. Although the young general in white robe performed well, he still could not reverse the general trend. He was just a slightly different wave in the sea, and eventually merged into the water flow and disappeared.

The officers and soldiers began to retreat, and the positions in the rear came forward to support them, but the Yellow Turbans did not choose to continue pursuing them.

Seeing that it was getting late, Wang Dang waved his hand and ordered a withdrawal. The Yellow Turban army retreated to the camp like a receding tide, and the battlefield returned to peace again.

Judging from the result of this battle, the Yellow Turbans' achievements were undoubtedly satisfactory, except for one person who was not very happy. This person was not Ju Shou or Xu Chen, but a soldier in the rear camp.

As a "new soldier", Taishi Ci watched the entire battle from the rear. He also saw the performance of the enemy's young general in white robe: "Our army was crushed as a whole, but we lacked a strong general. It's a pity that I didn't go into battle, otherwise how could that young general be so violent!"

Ma Yan, who was standing by, heard his muttering and said, "There should be a big battle tomorrow, there will be a chance."

(End of this chapter)