People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 316 Testing
"Today is already the eleventh day of the battle."

It was only the dawn, but Xu Chen had already arrived at the camp's watchtower, holding a telescope and observing the movements of the enemy camp.

Hearing his question, Taishi Ci and Ma Yan who were standing beside him both responded yes.

Ten days have passed since the battle, and the Yellow Turbans have still not succeeded in driving the rebellion out.

Yuan Shao controlled the key roads and had a great geographical advantage. Although Xu Chen could have launched a head-on attack, he was not willing to use unnecessary lives to clear the road.

A frontal attack might be able to capture the camp, but the price to be paid would be something he was unwilling to see, as the Yellow Turban soldiers were much more valuable than the enemy.

Since they did not intend to launch a frontal attack, what the Yellow Turbans could do was to minimize their own disadvantages under realistic conditions as much as possible. If the enemy controlled the dangerous areas, they could also find ways to control the enemy's vital points.

Ten days of waiting might bring some good combat opportunities.

"The agreed time has come. There is no need to feint today."

Xu Chen put down the telescope and looked at Ma Yan and Taishi Ci: "When you attack today, you should show your true ability. You don't have to destroy the camp, but you must put enough pressure on the enemy."

Taishi Ci and Ma Yan immediately saluted: "I obey your orders. We will attack with all our strength today!"

Xu Chen nodded, and finally turned his head to look at Yuan Shao's camp again, and said to himself, "The good show has just begun."

Today, the Yellow Turbans had already prepared dinner at five o'clock in the morning. As soon as it was bright, Taishi Ci and Ma Yan led their troops out of the camp. On the surface, today's movements seemed to be no different from the previous ten days, but if you look closely, it is easy to feel that the momentum of the Yellow Turban army is different.

In the previous ten days, the Yellow Turbans had launched attacks in a calm manner, but today's army clearly had a fierce and aggressive momentum.

Others may not be able to feel this subtle change in momentum, but outstanding generals who have been on the battlefield for many years will definitely be able to detect it keenly.

At this time, in the Yuan army's position, Zhang He and Gao Lan saw the movement of the Yellow Turbans' battle formation, and their faces unconsciously became solemn.

Today's Yellow Turbans seem different from the past few days
Before the fight even started, several people already felt an overwhelming pressure.

This feeling was obviously not an illusion. When they accepted Yuan Shao's order to lead the troops to defend, they immediately felt an unprecedented intensity of the attack. The Yellow Turban soldiers suddenly changed their normal behavior and became extremely brave.

The most obvious feeling is that even the enemy's movements of swinging weapons have become faster, more accurate and more powerful.

In previous battles, if they encountered a difficult place, the Yellow Turbans might choose to avoid and retreat, but now facing the same place, they met it head-on without hesitation, without any reservation.

As a result, not long after Zhang He and Gao Lan started fighting, beads of sweat began to appear on their foreheads.

After fighting easily for more than ten days, they were suddenly faced with extreme combat pressure and were a little overwhelmed for a while.

It's not that they as generals are not used to it, but that the soldiers under them are not used to being the direct combatants.

This variation of attack achieved very powerful results in the first place. The Yuan army soldiers were caught off guard, and many of them had no time to react before they were beheaded in one blow.

The defense line below was shaken. Gao Lan and Zhang He soon found it very difficult for them to command. The defense line was almost completely suppressed. The soldiers were struggling too hard to deal with the enemy, so naturally they had no energy to care about their command.

Is this the strength of the Yellow Turbans? It would be fine if they didn’t use their strength, but once they did, it was so amazing that they beat their own side so badly in a short time that they couldn’t even raise their heads.

Zhang He and Gao Lan's pupils shrank slightly. The familiar feeling came back again. When facing the Yellow Turbans, there was that kind of powerful pressure that made them feel like suffocating, and they also felt a strong sense of powerlessness.

However, there was no room for retreat on the battlefield. No matter how powerful the enemy was, they had to face the challenge head-on. Once the Yellow Turbans got serious, the intensity of the battlefield increased several levels compared to before, and the number of casualties began to rise visibly. Among them, not only a large number of Yuan army soldiers were killed and wounded, but also the casualties of the Yellow Turbans were not small.

The defense line of Yuan army's position was almost collapsed. Even with the three-meter-high camp wall, even with the disadvantage of attacking from below, even if they could not display their battle formation, if the Yellow Turbans really attacked with all their strength, with the help of sufficiently solid armor, they could still advance all the way under pressure.

In this way, the Yellow Turbans advanced through the narrow passage between the walls and soon approached the gate of Yuan’s camp, where the two sides engaged in a brutal tug-of-war.

Time passed little by little. Although the Yellow Turbans rushed into the camp several times, this was the enemy's base camp after all. There was a steady supply of reserve troops that could be continuously replenished, and they eventually pushed the Yellow Turbans out.

After several rounds of fighting, as time slowly approached noon, a signal to retreat came from the rear of the Yellow Turbans, and the fierce offensive momentum slowly faded.

Not long after, the Yellow Turbans retreated back to their camp like the receding tide. During the retreat, Yuan's army, still in fear, did not dare to pursue them any further.

After Taishi Ci and Ma Yan returned to the camp, they immediately came to the general platform to report to Xu Chen: "Master, our army has been attacking for a long time today, but the enemy's resistance is still strong, so we were unable to break through the camp!"

Xu Chen watched the entire battle clearly from behind and nodded: "Although the Yuan army is struggling to defend, they are not panicking. In comparison, their defensive capabilities are almost the same as those shown in the past few days, or even better. It seems that they are not disturbed by other things."

Taishi Ci frowned and asked, "Could it be that Zilong's actions were ineffective?"

Ma Yan pondered and said, "I'm afraid that's the case. If Zilong can take the villages behind the enemy lines, the enemy's energy will be distracted, and the front battlefield will also be affected. However, judging from the enemy's strength today, it is clear that it has not achieved the effect we expected."

Zhao Yun's army advanced deep into the enemy's territory alone and was separated from the rear. They were unable to communicate with each other in time, but they were still able to make some judgments based on the enemy's reactions.

Before Zhao Yun left, Xu Chen made an agreement with him to launch the attack on time ten days later, so today Xu Chen increased the intensity of the attack to test the enemy's reaction.

If Zhao Yun succeeds, Yuan Shao's rear will be uneasy, and he will have trouble taking care of both ends, and the strength of his frontal defense will also be reduced.

In this way, even if the enemy cannot be defeated in one fell swoop, Yuan’s army will certainly find it difficult to hold on under the high-intensity attack, and victory in this battle will be within reach.

But now looking at Yuan Jun’s reaction, it is obvious that the expected effect has not been achieved.

"I'm afraid that this plan has been discovered by the enemy, and Zilong's surprise attack should have been prevented by the enemy. However, this cannot be blamed on Zilong. This plan was not very secretive, and Yuan Shao is surrounded by talented people. It's not surprising that they could have discovered it."

Although this plan failed, Xu Chen did not look too frustrated. No plan was 100% effective. After all, the enemies were not all fools.

When the two sides fight, everyone knows what cards each side has in their hands. There are only a few ways to play these cards. As long as you think carefully enough and prepare in advance, it is not a difficult thing.

If you want to surprise someone, the most effective way is not to play around with something that is already known, but to hold on to a card that no one else knows about, and then use it to make a decisive move at the most critical moment.

However, even though they guessed that Zhao Yun would suffer a setback in this battle, the three of them were not worried about Zhao Yun at all.

Zhao Zilong is an extremely brave and courageous man, and he leads an elite group of top-notch soldiers. Even if they cannot complete the scheduled mission, they have enough power to protect themselves, so they don't have to worry about their safety.

Taishi Ci looked at Xu Chen and said, "Master, how should our army respond next?"

Xu Chen smiled faintly: "If this plan fails, I still have a backup plan. It depends on whether Yuan Shao can withstand it. If not, then this battle should end here."

Ma Yan's eyes lit up: "Master, do we not need to hold back at all?"

Xu Chen nodded and said, "Tomorrow morning, we will attack with all our strength. There is no need to hold back. Our army will surely defeat the enemy in one battle!"

(End of this chapter)