People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 230 Zilong, what do you think?
"Yuan Shao is so impatient."

After hearing about Changshan's situation, Xu Chen frowned.

He expected that after the war, Yuan Shao would take at least a while to reorganize before launching an attack on Changshan, but he didn't expect that this guy couldn't wait at all.

If it weren't for this expectation, I wouldn't have gone to rescue the Qingxu Yellow Turbans with such confidence.

Lu Ping said in a deep voice: "When I led the army to the expedition, I received news that Changshan had requested assistance. Yuan Shao mobilized an army of 100,000, and General Zhang was completely unable to cope with it. Now he can only defend Gaoyi, but there are no troops left to defend other places."

Wang Dang stood up and said worriedly, "I received the news when I was setting out. If you take into account the time it took the messenger to travel, it should have been a long time now. I wonder if the White Cavalry can hold out now!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone felt that something was not good.

After all, Zhang Baiqi only has 5,000 elite soldiers, and the rest are former Yellow Turbans of Changshan. They are completely weak in fighting and there is no way they can withstand the counterattack of Yuan Shao's army of 100,000.

They could imagine that Changshan must have been completely exposed to Yuan Shao's troops by now, and the territory that Xuan Xia had just obtained might have to change hands again.

Ju Su stood up and said solemnly: "My lord, our army needs immediate rescue. We have entered the heart of Qingzhou and will soon reach Youzhou. The migration team only needs 2,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry to escort them safely. The rest of the troops should be able to move in to provide support!"

This matter could not be delayed, Xu Chen adopted the suggestion without hesitation: "Let's do it this way. The main force of our army will immediately turn west to provide support. We will first send 4,000 cavalry to march at full speed, and another 10,000 troops to remove their armor and march quickly. After arriving, we will immediately intercept the enemy troops in the hinterland!"

To go north from Qingzhou to Youzhou, one has to pass through Jizhou and Bohai County. It seems that there are only 3,000 soldiers from Xuanxia left to escort the migrating team of hundreds of thousands, which is relatively small. But after all, there are still tens of thousands of Qingxu Yellow Turban soldiers in these teams. Even if they are not very strong in fighting, the number is large enough.

Almost all the military forces in Jizhou had been withdrawn by Yuan Shao, and the few remaining county soldiers in Bohai County could not threaten the transfer of the migrating team at all.

Therefore, it is enough to send this nearly 500,000-strong team here. What Xu Chen needs to consider now is to seize the time to provide support.

Fortunately, we have cavalry. At this stage when heroes from all sides generally lack cavalry power, Youzhou actually has a considerable advantage. At this critical moment, the speed of cavalry support is extremely important.

Corresponding to this is the infantry forced march, which Xuanxia has always been very good at. Although the forced march requires the removal of armor and heavy weapons, which will affect a lot of combat effectiveness, relying on the strong qualities of Xuanxia soldiers, as long as they arrive at the corresponding battlefield, they are still able to complete their tactical tasks.

The group quickly gathered together and finalized the next battle plan. Four thousand cavalrymen took the lead and marched towards Changshan in a mighty manner.

Then Lu Ping personally led 10,000 soldiers to take off their armor and march quickly. They had to cross Bohai and Hejian to reach Changzhou within ten days.
It was impossible to maintain the maximum speed during such a long forced march, and for an army of 10,000 to reach the designated combat location within ten days was already the limit of what they expected to achieve.

As for the army in the rear, it will be even slower and may even take more than a month to catch up.

The main reason was that the routes they were travelling on were all through enemy territory, and they could not leave the logistics behind and move ahead, so they could only control the marching speed. However, as long as the leading cavalry and light infantry arrived in Changzhou and dealt with the enemy, they could stabilize the situation and buy time for the army in the rear.

The key lies in whether the situation in Changzhou can be stabilized before the arrival of cavalry and light infantry.

"cut!"

In front of the rural village of Changshan, with a stern command, the officers and soldiers raised their swords and slashed, and the heads of the people kneeling on the ground fell to the ground.

All of these heads had a yellow headband tied on their foreheads.

Such a bloody scene made the onlookers shudder.

Some children burst into tears, and many adults' eyes turned red, but no one dared to shed real tears, because if the officers and soldiers in front of them found out that they sympathized with the Yellow Turbans, they might lose their heads in the next moment.

However, seeing the Yellow Turbans being executed in such a line, the villagers' hearts could not help but twitch. It was not easy to endure such grief.

However, before they could feel sad and heartbroken, a bad voice reached their ears. This voice was the voice that issued the beheading order. "Look at me, this is the fate of the traitors!"

The person who was speaking was fat, wearing armor that made him look like an iron ball. His face was extremely fat, and his red rosacea was the most eye-catching. He was Chunyu Qiong, a subordinate of Yuan Shao.

Chunyu Qiong, like Yuan Shao, originally served as a captain in the Xiyuan Army established by Emperor Ling. But now that the situation in the world had changed drastically, he judged the situation and defected to Yuan Shao, becoming a general under Yuan Shao. This time, he was ordered to enter the hinterland of Changzhou to wipe out the Yellow Turbans.

So far, he has done a pretty good job. The Yellow Turbans that have come along have either been driven away by him or captured and executed directly as he saw now.

"Traitors are hateful and they deserve to die. If anyone dares to sympathize with them or even help them, then they are also traitors and they deserve to die as well. Do you understand?"

Chunyu Qiong was riding on his horse, and under his gaze, the people all lowered their heads in fear. This feeling of awe made Chunyu Qiong very happy.

In his eyes, many people in Changzhou deserve a beating.

He did not say this casually. While clearing out the Yellow Turbans along the way, he discovered a very strange thing: many of the common people he passed by helped the Yellow Turbans to deal with him. Wasn't this going against the Tian Gang?

Who are the rebels and who are the soldiers?
But no matter what, as long as the people don't go too far, he won't suppress them indiscriminately. After all, he is not so cruel as to slaughter the people. Generally speaking, he will just give them warnings.

"You'd better remember my words. This is not a joke. Many people who colluded with the Yellow Turbans have been beheaded by me before. If you don't obey, you will end up like them!"

When these words were spoken, the people present were even more terrified, and Chunyu Qiong was also very satisfied with the effect.

Then, he waved his hand and sneered, "Our army has been fighting against the rebels to protect your peace. Now we are short of food and need to collect grain. I think you should not mind providing a little supply."

Do the villagers dare to say no?
Of course they didn't dare. Just by looking at the shining swords of the officers and soldiers, they knew what the consequences of refusing would be.

Chunyu Qiong certainly had no intention of really asking for opinions, and he simply ordered his soldiers to start searching for food from house to house. Soon, the village became a mess.

Although the people gnashed their teeth, they had no choice but to endure it, but the hatred in their eyes would not fade away.

However, what is even more infuriating is that after looting the food, the officers and soldiers were still not satisfied. The young women in the village were also forcibly abducted by the officers and soldiers. Any villagers who resisted would be beaten or even killed by the officers and soldiers.

Chunyu Qiong was totally indifferent to the miserable cries of the people. A meat-eater like him would not consider the suffering of the poor people.

The order of the Han Dynasty has collapsed. Although their army is called official soldiers, they are actually private soldiers. Naturally, they are allowed to do whatever they want.

After such looting, Chunyu Qiong was finally satisfied. He gave an order and marched away with his 10,000-strong army, leaving only the miserable people, who huddled together and cried bitterly.

Only one young man stood there, looking at the direction where the "officers and soldiers" were going away, his eyes gradually cooling down.

As a former captive of the Yellow Turbans, he can now be considered to have been rescued by the officers and soldiers. Without the constraints of the Yellow Turbans, he has regained his freedom. His reaction at this time should be happiness.

But when he looked at the bloodstains on the ground and the gloomy village, he had only one feeling in his heart.

It was a feeling of anger. He hadn't felt such intense anger in a long time. He was angry at the actions of the "officers and soldiers" and at his own powerlessness.

In fact, he was not the only one who felt so angry. At some point, Xiahou Lan stood beside him and said something through gritted teeth.

"I'm going to gather my brothers to kill these bastards. Zilong, what do you think?"

(End of this chapter)