People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 262: People's Heart

The advantage of maintaining a good military rhythm is that it can maintain long-term stability within Xuanxia.

Although Xuan Xia could have occupied places like Bohai long ago if he wanted to, that would also mean a long war, which would inevitably greatly affect production in the rear.

For Xu Chen, if he did not have enough money and food stored up, he would not be willing to launch an external war easily.

Now is obviously an excellent opportunity, and Xuan Xia was quick to seize the opportunity. In just over a month, he quickly completed the recruitment of 20,000 troops, carried out rapid and high-intensity training, allocated all financial budgets, and installed all equipment.

After receiving the order, Lu Ping led an army of 20,000 and marched towards Bohai.

Xuan Xia had just the right amount of troops. Now that Yuan Shao's main force had entered Bingzhou, the remaining strength in Jizhou was limited. It was more than enough to use 20,000 troops to attack Bohai, and it was not too much of a burden.

By the time Yuan Shao is free to come back for reinforcement, the army in the rear of Xuanxia can also be added to the battlefield, and the military force of Changshan can also be used, which is enough to compete with Yuan Shao.

Xuan Xia's well-equipped and well-trained 20,000-strong army, once entering Bohai, advanced with overwhelming force. In just over half a month, they had captured two large counties in succession and cleared countless villages along the way.

This sudden movement immediately threw Jizhou into chaos.

Yuan Shao has led a large army to Bingzhou to attack Yu Fuluo and Zhang Yang. Now only Yan Liang and Wen Chou are guarding Yecheng with 20,000 troops each. Xuan Xia suddenly launched an attack on Bohai, catching them off guard.

Of course, there is no need to hesitate at this critical juncture. When the enemy attacks, Yan Liang and Wen Chou just need to fight back.

Also accompanying them were Xun Chen, Shen Pei, and Liu Bei, who stayed behind in Jizhou.

In terms of the configuration of the personnel left behind, Yuan Shao also focused on treating everyone equally. There were Xun Chen from the Yingchuan faction, Shen Pei from the Jizhou faction, and the relatively independent Liu Bei. The three of them checked and balanced each other, so that when something happened, there would be no uncontrollable situation.

However, at this juncture, the three of them would not have any arguments. Xuan Xia was coming, and they had no other choice but to meet him head-on.

However, the great battle with Xuan Xia was still fresh in their memory. Back then, the army of 100,000 soldiers had no way to deal with Xuan Xia's 30,000 to 40,000 troops, and was even at a disadvantage. This showed the powerful fighting capacity of the Yellow Turbans.

Xuan Xia came again today, and that huge pressure immediately swept over.

On the march, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Xun Chen, Shen Pei and Liu Bei were all traveling together. As the incident happened suddenly, they could only discuss the matter while they were on the march.

“My two generals, the Yellow Turbans are very powerful. Even if our army has twice as many soldiers as them, it is hard to guarantee victory in a real battle. Therefore, we must not rush for quick success after arriving in Bohai County.

We should just take steady steps to stop the offensive, not seeking merit but avoiding mistakes. Once the governor of Bingzhou has accomplished his mission and returns to support us, our army will be able to break the siege."

Xun Chen rode his horse unsteadily, and gave instructions to Yan Liang and Wen Chou with great concern.

However, Yan Liang and Wen Chou just looked at him and nodded lightly. Although they responded, they did not take Xun Chen seriously.

Then Shen Pei also began to speak: "This battle is indeed not to be taken lightly. No matter what, when the enemy attacks, we only need to do our duty of defense. What the two generals need to do is not to annihilate the enemy, but to defend the homeland and force the enemy back."

This time, Yan Liang and Wen Chou took it much more seriously, and both bowed to Shen Pei and said, "We understand, and we will not make any mistakes."

Liu Bei watched everything in silence, and his mind was clear as a mirror.

The internal factional struggles of Yuan Shao’s group can be seen in everything. At such a critical moment, Yan Liang and Wen Chou are still uniting with Shen Pei of Jizhou and alienating Xun Chen of Yingchuan. This is definitely not a good thing.

The longer Liu Bei had been under Yuan Shao's rule, the more he felt that this was a very important issue. If Yuan Shao still could not resolve this factional conflict in the future, he would suffer losses sooner or later.

In this kind of matter, Liu Bei was a complete outsider and could not participate at all. He could only perform his own duties.

"My second brother Guan Yu is leading the assault team and is accompanying the army. He will cooperate with the two generals when necessary and may be able to play a role in the war." After Liu Bei said this, Guan Yu on his side bowed to Yan Liang and Wen Chou, and Yan Liang and Wen Chou nodded in response, which was more friendly than towards Xun Chen.

After all, Guan Yu was indeed a capable and brave general in Yuan Shao's army, so naturally Yan Liang and Wen Chou looked up to him.

Forty thousand troops rushed all the way to the battlefield in this way. Their reaction speed was extremely fast. After only six or seven days of marching, they had already reached Bohai County. Before they entered, they had already seen a large number of fleeing teams along the way.

Soon they discovered a strange place. There were almost no civilians among the refugees. Most of them were powerful nobles and their servants, who gathered together to form a team.

When these fleeing nobles saw the army arrive, they were overjoyed and took out a lot of money and food to support the army to fight the enemy.

No matter how stingy they were in protecting their family property in the past, now that the Yellow Turbans have come to their doorstep, they will all be willing to sacrifice their wealth for the greater good.

After all, the bulk of their property is the land in their native land. If they cannot drive out the Yellow Turbans, the losses will be immeasurable. And to drive out the Yellow Turbans, the only thing they can rely on is the army in front of them. Now no one will be reluctant to give up the little money in their hands.

This was something that Yan Liang, Wen Chou and others had not expected, but they certainly would not refuse, so they rested on the spot and accepted the rewards.

The scene before them was so intense that it boosted the morale of the army. With more support, they seemed more confident in resisting the Yellow Turbans.

However, Liu Bei was not happy at all, but looked worried instead.

"It is hard to imagine that the bandits attacked but no common people fled with them. I am afraid that Xuan Xia's reputation has spread far and wide in the surrounding areas.

If Bohai is like this, other places must not be much better. I wonder how many people in Jizhou are loyal to Xuanxia now.

With such a strong popular base, can we really defeat Xuan Xia?"

Liu Bei was a man of benevolence and righteousness who always valued the people. No one understood the people's hearts better than him. The more this was the case, the more afraid Xuan Xia made him feel.

The blade is sharp, but the people's hearts are more important.
Xun Chen stood beside Liu Bei without knowing when. He understood the same principles as Liu Bei and was also worried at this moment. The popular support of Xuan Xia was indeed very terrifying.

"I heard that since Changshan fell, the people here have regarded Xuanxia as the imperial court and called Han Ting the traitors. The speed of their change of stance is shocking. It is really shocking that Xuanxia can do this."

Xun Chen thought of some rumors about Changshan, and his heart became heavy.

From these things, we can clearly feel the fierce momentum of Xuan Xia. The prestige of the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years cannot withstand the means of Xuan Xia in a few days. If this continues, who will be able to resist this beast in the future?

"More than that, in Jizhou and the areas adjacent to Xuanxia, ​​the people are increasingly fleeing for refuge. They all regard Xuanxia as a divine kingdom on land. Even if Xuanxia does nothing in the future, our people will run away sooner or later." Liu Bei looked at him, sighed and said so.

Xun Chen couldn't help but sigh: "Although it's hard to accept, this is reasonable. Compared to other places, Xuanxia has abundant land for distribution. There has been no war in the country for several years, and the products are incredibly rich. The living conditions are much better than those outside. If I were an ordinary citizen, I would go there too."

After he finished speaking, Xun Chen shook his head and left.

In fact, he hadn't finished speaking yet. If he were an ordinary citizen and Xuan Xia could provide him with such a stable life, he would still have to call the Han a traitor.

Liu Bei was left standing there with a complicated expression. This was exactly what Liu Bei found very difficult to accept.

How could a bandit like the Yellow Turbans be so benevolent and righteous? What kind of bandits are they?

But when he looked back, he saw that the Han Dynasty, to which he was loyal, was in ruins, and the people were displaced and had difficulty finding a place to live. The terrifying thing was that there was no end in sight for such a world situation. The comparison was stark.

So can we blame the people for abandoning the Han Dynasty and joining Xuan Xia?
What made Liu Bei miserable was that with the emergence of a person like Xuan Xia, what was the point of his insistence on supporting the Han Dynasty?
He didn't know the answer to this question, or he didn't dare to face the answer to this question. All he could do was comfort himself in his heart.

The Liu Han Dynasty is the destiny of the country. It is just in trouble now. As long as I help the Han Dynasty get back on the right track again, the Han Dynasty will definitely do better than Xuan Xia and truly bring prosperity to the people of the world!
(End of this chapter)