People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 238
Of course Xu Chen did not forget Ma Yan, and he later praised Ma Yan individually, which eliminated Ma Yan's grievances.

For him, the appearance of Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci was indeed a surprise, but it was just a surprise. He would not give them any special treatment because of their historical reputation.

After calming down, he treated these two guys the same as Ma Yan. In Xu Chen's eyes, the historical color on them had faded, and now they were just two ordinary Yellow Turbans.

How far they can go in the future depends entirely on their own abilities. If they can move forward step by step, they will naturally come to you one day in the future.

If they step out of history and come to this new group, but ultimately fail to reproduce their historical achievements, they will just be lost in the crowd.

It has to be said that their contribution this time was not small. Not only did they protect the people, but they also made a direct contribution to defeating Chunyu Qiong. This contribution was enough to allow Taishi Ci and Ma Yan to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel of a thousand men. Even Zhao Yun could go straight into the Yellow Turbans and be promoted to the rank of captain of a hundred men based on his merits.

Of course, at this time they were only appointed to command the soldiers captured from Chunyu Qiong. To truly take up their current positions, they had to wait until the war was over and then undergo an assessment.

Such a result was very satisfactory to both Taishi Ci and Zhao Yun.

At least they can clearly see that the Yellow Turbans do not care about background at all, as long as you have the ability, you will be able to succeed. Although they can only be regarded as low-level and middle-level officers now, they are all confident that they can go further in the future.

As worried as Zhao Yun was about finding a way out in the past, he feels more relieved now. He is not afraid of difficulties, but only of having no way out.

In other places, background is considered important. For a child from a poor family like me, it would be difficult for me to get ahead in my lifetime. But among the Yellow Turbans, to some extent, background is considered important in the opposite way. The more powerful the noble family is, the harder it is for them to gain a foothold.

After this round of awards and promotions, Zhao Yun and others withdrew, and only then did King Xu Chen, Lu Ping, and Ju Su talk about business.

Several people looked at the map together and soon their eyes fell on Gaoyi. At this time, Yuan Shao had recalled various troops to garrison there, and the 30,000 troops led by Zhang Baiqi were trapped in the city and could not move, and urgently needed rescue.

"My lord, if the enemy attacks us, we must rescue them. Our army has no choice but to respond. There is no need for any tricks in this battle. We can only fight hard!"

The situation was clear and there was nothing to analyze. Ju Su pointed out the direction directly.

Wang Dang and Lu Ping both nodded. Just as Ju Shou said, now was the time for them to meet on a narrow road.

Of course, they also felt the pressure. After all, Yuan Shao also had an army of 80,000 to 90,000. This was the most powerful enemy force the Yellow Turbans had faced so far.

In the past, they shared Youzhou with Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu, and the scale of wars between the two sides was mostly controlled at around tens of thousands.

Now that they have taken over Youzhou, the opponents they face are even more powerful. Jizhou is vast, populous and rich in resources. Yuan Shao has just gained a foothold and can easily mobilize an army of 100,000. The pressure on the Yellow Turbans has suddenly increased.

"Including the 10,000 captured soldiers, we still have 40,000 soldiers, and another 4,000 cavalry. We should be able to repel them, if not defeat them."

Xu Chen also calculated the combat power of both sides and had some confidence in his mind.

Yuan Shao's strength cannot be underestimated, but Xuan Xia is not something that can be easily controlled. If the combat effectiveness of the 10,000 captured soldiers was not up to the level of the Yellow Turbans, the 30,000 troops in Gaoyi City would be even more difficult to achieve. Xu Chen even wanted to defeat Yuan Shao.

After all, the real main force of the Yellow Turbans only consisted of 30,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry, and the rest of the combat effectiveness was extremely limited.

Yuan Shao's army was not very powerful, but it had the advantage of large numbers and sufficient logistics. Moreover, Changshan was severely damaged after a round of raids by the enemy, and it was difficult to provide enough supplies to the Xuanxia army. This left Xuanxia with very little tactical space, and the battle had to be ended as soon as possible.

From this expedition to attack Changshan and Zhongshan to the current decisive battle with Yuan Shao, the situation has completely deviated from the original plan.

According to Xu Chen's original plan, he just wanted to take advantage of Changshan and Zhongshan and then retreat. However, as the fighting went on, the time for the expedition had seriously exceeded the plan, and Xu Chen was actually under a great burden now.

Lu Ping pondered for a moment and said, "I think it's not that difficult to just repel the enemy."

Wang Dang slowly realized something. Compared with Yuan Shao's army, Xuan Xia had a strong advantage. At this stage, not many forces had this advantage, and Xuan Xia was one of them.

Ju Shou also smiled: "Our army's 4,000 cavalry is our biggest advantage. This is the key to our victory or defeat."

Xu Chen nodded happily. This was the greatest source of his confidence. Composite arms combat must have more tactical options than a single arm. At this moment, the Yellow Turbans have an organized elite cavalry that most heroes do not have. This is actually a great weapon.

Youzhou had many disadvantages, but the only thing that he lacked was cavalry. By taking Youzhou, he would have a cavalry advantage over the Central Plains. The Xuanxia army did not stay for too long. After the reunion, they marched southward in a mighty manner. The destination was undoubtedly Gaoyi, the core of the battle between the two sides.

Xuan Xia had enough confidence to fight, and Yuan Shao's army was well prepared for everything.

After several days of marching, the army finally arrived at Gaoyi. Although one side was besieging Gaoyi and the other was rescuing Gaoyi, the 30,000 Yellow Turbans in Gaoyi had little impact on this war.

Among the 30,000 troops, only 5,000 are elite soldiers capable of fighting, and the rest are the Yellow Turbans of Changshan whose combat power is insignificant. They can still fight while defending the city, but it is quite difficult for them to go out of the city to participate in the battle. Their strength cannot affect the direction of this war at all.

Zhang Baiqi certainly understood this. He was clearly at the core of the battlefield, but he could only be a spectator on the top of the city wall. This feeling was not very pleasant.

However, when he and his men saw the Xuanxia army arriving from afar, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brothers, the leader has not given up on us, we must cheer up, and once we have a chance, we will go out of the city to fight and help the leader!" Zhang Baiqi roared, and the entire city wall responded with a loud roar.

The soldiers all looked excited. What they feared most was being abandoned and left alone to die. As long as they could see support, they would cheer up.

During the siege, although Yuan Shao's army did not launch a head-on attack, the mere presence of soldiers outside the city was enough to create tremendous psychological pressure. Now that the main force had arrived to support them, all the pressure was released, and the soldiers were even eager to try and look forward to a big battle.

However, Zhang Baiqi was not carried away by the joy of the arrival of reinforcements. He knew clearly that with the strength of the defenders in the city, a rash battle would not only not provide much help to the main army, but would also distract the main army's energy, which would be counterproductive.

All we can do now is to guard our city and wait for the opportunity to move out. It is better to keep our troops in place than to make mistakes.

Then he soon saw that not long after Xuan Xia's army arrived, Yuan Shao's camp responded immediately. Soon, 30,000 troops were divided into the center and the left and right wings and pressed forward, giving Xuan Xia no time to breathe. It was obvious that they wanted to take advantage of the situation and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.

Although Yuan Shao looked calm while standing on the podium, his heartbeat quickened involuntarily. His heart was far from being as calm as he appeared.

This kind of nervous feeling had never occurred to him even when he was facing the coalition forces of the Yanshan bandits and the Xiongnu, but now that he was fighting against the Xuanxia team with even fewer troops, he felt uneasy. This feeling puzzled even Yuan Shao himself, but he soon understood why.

The army has its own temperament. Obviously, the temperament of the Xuanxia army is much stronger than those of the Black Mountain bandits and the Huns. This strong temperament is enough to make up for the difference in troop strength.

The foundation for the establishment of Xuanxia stems from the continuous victories of the Yellow Turbans along the way. The momentum brought by the continuous victories can itself give the army a powerful force. This is a more macro momentum than morale. This invincible momentum is the source of Yuan Shao's uneasiness at this time.

Therefore, Yuan Shao wanted to seize any advantage he could get, so he omitted all attempts and sent out a large army right away, with a tough attitude of deciding the outcome in one battle.

These 30,000 troops were led by Yan Liang and Wen Chou respectively, while in the rear, Zhang He and Gao Lan each commanded 20,000 troops as reserve troops on standby. When the time was right, they would also attack and increase the offensive pressure.

Once the battlefield with tens of thousands of people from both sides was deployed, it was a vast area of ​​several miles. In order to maximize the advantage of his own military strength, Yuan Shao prepared an extremely wide and flat battlefield for Xuan Xia, which indeed allowed Yan Liang and Wen Chou's large army to fully display their strength.

However, the battlefield was not only beneficial to Yuan Shao, but also to the Yellow Turbans.

Fighting on large battlefields with large armies was a specialty of the Yellow Turbans, who had advantages in equipment and quality of soldiers. Many times along the way, they had won by using large-scale battlefield battles with large armies.

The two sides clashed head-on, and the area within a few miles was filled with fighting between the soldiers of both sides.

However, soon, Yuan Shao's army, like all the Yellow Turbans' previous opponents, felt the terror of the Yellow Turbans. The soldiers charged forward and immediately ran into the heavily armored soldiers in the front row. Their formation, which was like a solid wall of steel, was chilling.

Their attacks landed on the wall, and it was difficult to cause much effective damage, but the countless spears and crossbows coming towards them were terrifying.

Soon after the battle began, the sounds of soldiers fighting, roaring, howling and crying could be heard everywhere on the battlefield.

Iron and blood collided and surged in every corner, countless people lost their lives here every minute and every second, and life at this time became as insignificant and cheap as grass. What made Yuan Shao sad was that he could clearly see that most of the casualties came from his own army.

It was not an easy battle, but he had to fight. After all, the Yellow Turbans had few soldiers, and as long as they kept fighting, they might be able to break through the defense line.

When the battle lasted for a certain period of time, with Yuan Shao's order, Zhang He and Gao Lan in the rear also led their troops to attack, and even greater pressure was put on the Yellow Turbans.

(End of this chapter)