People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 235 Poverty
Zhao Yun looked at the tall and strong Xuanxia cavalry in front of him and felt a little jealous for a moment. He thought how wonderful it would be if he could also lead such powerful cavalry to gallop.

It has to be said that although Xuanxia originated from the Yellow Turbans, it has long since gotten rid of the Yellow Turbans' characteristics of low combat effectiveness and chaotic military discipline.

Even though this cavalry was just quietly lined up for battle, Zhao Yun could feel their strength and discipline. The leading general only needed to give an order and all the cavalry would follow and execute it without any extra words. The soldiers were as cold and silent as wooden men.

Whether it is cavalry or infantry, enforcing orders is a hard requirement in Xuan Xia's training.

This is not just a cavalry squad of a few hundred people, but a well-organized cavalry corps of 4,000. To achieve this, one has to wonder what kind of effort is behind it, and how much hard work and resources are invested.

This also gave Zhao Yun great confidence in the upcoming battle. With such a powerful cavalry, they were able to run rampant in Changshan. Moreover, according to the cavalry general Wu Li, behind the cavalry there would be Lu Ping leading 10,000 light infantry to follow in a forced march. This was good news that surprised Zhao Yun.

He, Taishi Ci and Ma Yan led a team here and soon came into contact with Wuli. After explaining the local situation, they talked about the war at hand.

Zhao Yun said: "Our army has the advantage of cavalry. We don't need to take the initiative to attack. We just need to keep an eye on them. In a few days, the enemy will collapse on their own!"

Taishi Ci also added: "That's right, although our cavalry is strong, it is not conducive to attacking. Now the enemy has taken advantage of the terrain to form a defensive formation. Attacking hard will only bring trouble to ourselves. Encircling but not attacking is the best strategy!"

Ma Yan looked at Wu Li in front of him and said, "In order to drive away the enemy, we planned to attack and burn the camp at night, and then organized the people to evacuate. The enemy has been in a situation of shortage of military rations and can't hold out for long."

Wu Li listened to the suggestions of the three people and nodded. These suggestions were undoubtedly very feasible.

This also made Wu Li feel a little emotional. There was indeed no shortage of talents among the Yellow Turbans. Compared to himself, Ma Yan and Taishi Ci were only ordinary Yellow Turban soldiers, and Zhao Yun was not even considered a Yellow Turban.

It was just these few guys who stood up and turned the tide when the local area suffered a huge blow.

He knew that even if he had not come now, the enemy army in front of him would have been driven out by the people in front of him. He just happened to run into them and was able to stop the enemy army from coming back.

Wulin was really impressed that the few people in front of him could achieve this by leading only two thousand people.

Although these guys are now just grassroots soldiers among the Yellow Turbans, and one of them is not even considered a Yellow Turban, Wuli, who has been promoted to the commander of the cavalry battalion, treats them with an equal eye. He can feel that these guys will be able to make a difference in the Yellow Turbans in the future.

At this time, a cavalry scout also came back to report intelligence: "Captain, our army has discovered the enemy camp and found that there are indeed not enough baggage and food reserves!"

After hearing this definitive information, Wu Li finally felt relieved: "Okay, then we will besiege the enemy for a few days and wait for them to collapse on their own. Maybe I will really see an army starved to death for the first time!
Yuan Shao's strategy of dividing his troops and conducting a sweep deep into Changzhou could certainly strike a blow against Xuan Xia's grassroots forces in Changzhou, and according to his expectations this was completely feasible.

However, doing so would also force each team to go deep into the heart of the battlefield, taking on great risks. If there was any accident, the result would be the same as Chunyu Qiong's.

In fact, in the entire Changzhou, it was not just Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci and Ma Yan who organized the people to fight in times of crisis.

The Yellow Turbans' military model gave the soldiers sufficient subjective initiative. Even without a central command system, the grassroots Yellow Turbans only needed two or three people to make decisions as a basic organizational unit.

After the initial destruction caused by the mopping-up armies, the grassroots Yellow Turbans in various places all responded. Even if other places did not do as well as Taishi Ci and his men, they were able to cause some trouble to the enemy.

After the first wave of attacks, the effects achieved by the various mopping-up armies were no longer up to expectations, and Chunyu Qiong's army not only suffered successive setbacks, but was now also hit head-on by Xuan Xia's cavalry corps. If things go wrong, there is a real risk of annihilation.

"General, we are in danger!" In the camp, the deputy general looked at Chunyu Qiong with a panicked look.

Chunyu Qiong stared at the cavalry camp in the distance, his face also looking extremely ugly. The sudden appearance of this cavalry team made him feel a little desperate.

He knew that the danger described by the deputy general was not exaggerated at all, and the army only had enough food for three days.

The three days of food supply would have been enough for them to get out of here, but now they were blocked like this. It was like crying out to heaven and earth for help, and no one could help them. He didn't even dare to think about what he would face after three days.

"No matter what, we must send reinforcements to deliver the message first. If it's too late, we will really die here." Chunyu Qiong ordered with gritted teeth.

The deputy general opened his mouth and wanted to say that the road was surrounded and it was impossible to send anything out. Even if the goods were sent out, it would take at least five or six days to go back and forth and wait for reinforcements, by which time the opportunity would be lost.

But seeing Chunyu Qiong's murderous face, the deputy general wisely swallowed all his words and nodded in agreement. Chunyu Qiong said again: "It won't work if we continue like this. Most of the Yellow Turbans are cavalry, which is not good for positional fighting. Our army must also try to march, and the more we can move, the better!"

Although the deputy general felt that there was no point in doing so, he had no better solution at the moment and had to obey the order and leave.

So in the next two days, Chunyu Qiong repeatedly sent troops to attack, trying to repel the Xuanxia cavalry and create an opportunity for himself to retreat.

This did have some effect. The Xuanxia cavalry seemed to have no intention of fighting them head-on. Every time Chunyu Qiong took a step forward, the Xuanxia cavalry would take a step back. But when Chunyu Qiong really wanted to march, the Xuanxia cavalry would come back and feint an attack, forcing Chunyu Qiong to defend on the spot.

The initiative of the cavalry was fully utilized at this time. Whether to fight, when to fight and where to fight were all decided by the cavalry. Relying on the advantage of mobility, they could fully implement guerrilla strategies to torture Chunyu Qiong to death.

Chunyu Qiong cursed Xuan Xia in the camp every day, but no matter how he cursed, he could not deal with the current situation. After the third day, the atmosphere in the whole camp suddenly became depressed. The soldiers were not stupid, they all knew that the food and grass in the camp were exhausted.

Fear and hunger quickly swept through the entire camp. Chunyu Qiong certainly noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere in the camp, but he had no way to deal with it. Even if he had supernatural powers, he had to accept the fact that he couldn't get enough food.

He realized that he seemed to have few choices. He had to choose between death or surrender, but could he survive by surrendering?
"General, our army can no longer cook, otherwise... we will..." When the deputy general found Chunyu Qiong, his tone was hesitant and he didn't dare to look at Chunyu Qiong.

Chun Yuqiong raised an eyebrow and glanced at him, but he knew what was going on: "Just what, surrender?"

"General, do you have this intention?" The deputy general's expression brightened, and he was suddenly a little surprised: "To be honest with you, General, now the soldiers below have already surrendered, otherwise I would not have come to suggest this matter. Since the general also intends to surrender, then it is easy to talk about it."

Chun Yuqiong said calmly: "It is indeed easy to say. If the soldiers want to surrender, then use your head to warn them."

When the words fell, the deputy general was stunned. Before he could react, Chunyu Qiong's knife had already swung towards him. Then he felt a chill on his neck and his vision began to turn. Before his consciousness finally disappeared, what he saw was Chunyu Qiong's indifferent face.

"What a pity. You can surrender, but I can't."

Chunyu Qiong sighed and walked out of the tent carrying the deputy general's head.

For the soldiers below, they can choose to surrender, but as a general, even if he surrenders, he will only die.

Xuan Xia was no longer an unknown figure. The name of Xu the Butcher was well known to the surrounding forces, and Chunyu Qiong knew their style very well. Given his identity and what he had done, Xuan Xia would never let him go.

Not to mention anything else, just based on his actions of sweeping deep into the heart of Changzhou, if he fell into the hands of the Yellow Turbans, he would definitely be killed.

After walking out of the tent, the soldiers' eyes quickly focused on him. When they saw the head in Chunyu Qiong's hand, they immediately panicked. Such an accident happening at such a panicked moment made them even more uneasy.

"Just now, he actually asked me to surrender. He must be guilty of retreating and fearing the enemy, so I will take his head!" Chunyu Qiong finished speaking and stared at the crowd.

In a strictly hierarchical army, even if Chunyu Qiong's actions went against everyone's wishes, he could still suppress them all by himself.

The commander-in-chief can decide the fate of everyone. The life and death of all soldiers are in the hands of the commander-in-chief, which is as unbreakable as the moral code between the monarch and his subjects.

Feeling Chunyu Qiong's cold eyes, the soldiers felt a chill in their hearts, and no one dared to think about surrendering anymore.

Chun Yuqiong snorted coldly: "I believe you will not be as cowardly as he is, so pick up your weapons and charge with me!"

With his order, more than ten thousand troops followed suit, ready to launch a final counterattack in the desperate situation.

The next meal can no longer be prepared, Chunyu Qiong will not wait until then. He must fight to the death now while the soldiers are not really starving!
However, this was destined to be just a helpless attempt by Chunyu Qiong. The Yellow Turbans had obviously been prepared for it. When they launched the decisive battle, the Yellow Turban cavalry also moved along.

People cannot run faster than horses. Thousands of cavalry easily avoided frontal combat and then, through a long period of consumption, completely exhausted the remaining physical strength of Chunyu Qiong's army.

After a long period of chasing and fleeing, the Yellow Turbans completely defeated the exhausted enemy army without even a single casualty.

(End of this chapter)