People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 437 Death Struggle
"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

In the dark night, sharp whistles suddenly sounded, and the huge Yellow Turban camp responded very quickly. In an instant, torches lit up in the camp, and teams of soldiers lined up for defense under the command of sergeants.

After hearing the sentry's warning, everyone immediately understood that Cao's army was coming out of the city for a night attack!

Although the situation was urgent, the Yellow Turbans reacted very quickly and without any confusion. The soldiers who had been on duty at night immediately built defenses in the camp, and more soldiers subsequently gathered and lined up as reserve forces.

Torches, weapons, armor, generals, soldiers.

All supplies and equipment were quickly placed and utilized. The generals and soldiers performed their duties and responded efficiently. The whole process was clean and neat. Even before Xu Chen walked out of his tent, the camp had already made all preparations.

This kind of military quality is not surprising for the Yellow Turbans themselves. After all, they are the most professional army of the era.

But for Zhang Liao, who was carrying out this night attack mission, the reaction of the Yellow Turbans made him feel a little desperate.

In fact, when he heard the Yellow Turbans' warning whistle, his heart had already sank. It was obvious that the Yellow Turbans had made sufficient preparations for the night attack. The Yellow Turbans responded almost as soon as he led his troops out of the city.

Night attacks require suddenness. Once the enemy discovers the attack in time and reacts quickly enough, the success rate of the night attack will drop sharply.

But at this point, Zhang Liao has no choice.

Everything in the Yellow Turban camp ahead could be clearly seen under the light of torches. Even though Zhang Liao knew that the Yellow Turbans had made sufficient defenses against his night attack, he still roared and led his troops to force an attack on the camp.

"Everyone in the army, follow me to break the formation and burn the camp!"

Thousands of elite soldiers followed closely behind Zhang Liao. They were the most loyal and elite core force of the Wei army. Today they would carry out the most important and dangerous mission for the Wei State. As long as they could burn down the Yellow Turban camp in front of them, it would be worth it even if they all died!

This was also Zhang Liao's last hope for the night attack in this battle. After all, he did not need to defeat the Yellow Turbans, he only needed to successfully burn the Yellow Turbans' baggage.

One advantage of night fighting for the attacker is that it can happen suddenly and use the darkness to make the enemy panic. If the attack is fast and powerful enough, it is entirely possible to cause the enemy to collapse in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately, when Zhang Liao's troops completely collided with the Yellow Turbans, Zhang Liao did not feel any fluctuations in the Yellow Turban camp at all. He even felt the quietness in the camp.

Of course, it’s not that the Yellow Turban camp is really quiet; it’s actually an illusion brought about by order.

The Yellow Turban army that was preparing for the battle was calm enough, like a steel wall blocking Zhang Liao's way, and the Yellow Turbans mobilized in the rear of the camp did not show any panic.

They moved in neat formation, everything was in an orderly manner, as if they were not rushing to a dangerous battlefield, but doing something as ordinary as eating and drinking.

This calmness stems from the Yellow Turbans' frequent and intensive training system. The soldiers had long since turned marching discipline into a habit of life and did not need any additional command. Their instinctive reaction was the most appropriate and correct action.

The Yellow Turbans' camp was well built, with earthen walls and trenches outside. If Zhang Liao wanted to rush in, he had to pass through the outer wall that was far enough away. During this process, they would continue to suffer harassment and attacks from the Yellow Turbans above the walls, and it would be very difficult for them to rush to the camp gate.

However, he was a brave general, and he led the best soldiers of the Wei army. After a battle, he rushed to the camp gate, and the two sides really engaged in close combat. However, under such conditions, the well-prepared Yellow Turbans were obviously the more advantageous party. No matter how Zhang Liao attacked, the Yellow Turbans' defense line did not move.

What was even more terrifying for the Wei army was that the long and narrow team in the rear was still under attack from the Yellow Turbans from above. Once the Yellow Turbans cut off the Wei army's team, Zhang Liao would be trapped in a desperate situation of being surrounded.

As the fighting continued, Zhang Liao's heart sank. He knew that today would not be a good outcome for him as there was no way they could attack the camp gate.

But he knew that he was not dying in vain.

When he saw that the Wei soldiers in the rear had raised their bows and arrows and shot flaming arrows into the Yellow Turban camp, he still smiled even though he was in the center of the storm of metal.

Even if he died, even if the entire army was killed here, when these rounds of rockets were fired into the camp, his mission would be accomplished.

The direction of his raid was of course carefully chosen. This place was the closest to the Yellow Turban baggage camp. With the range of his arrows, he didn't need to hit the baggage area accurately. As long as he started a fire, the baggage would inevitably be burned.

Just burn it!
The Wei army did achieve this goal, but the small force of the Wei army, including Zhang Liao, was unable to fight the Yellow Turbans. When the fighting lasted for half an hour, the movement gradually weakened.

Zhang Liao saw a silver-armored general with a stern face and a spear in his hand rushing towards him. After a long battle, he could only fight back hastily. However, this silver-armored general was extremely brave and was the strongest opponent Zhang Liao had ever seen in his life.

In the narrow and dangerous battlefield environment, the two men fought each other, and after more than ten rounds, the strength of the two men finally became clear.

A flash of cold light passed by, and Zhang Liao felt a chill in his heart, and then all the strength in his body faded away like a thread being pulled out.

He knew that he was going to die.

He smiled with a sigh and some reluctance, and soon he was silent. With his fall, the night battle ended with the almost complete annihilation of the Wei army.

Cao Cao, Xun Yu and others on the city wall had no time to grieve for the sacrifice of Zhang Liao and the soldiers. They were all staring at the movements in the Yellow Turban camp.

They were initially excited about the increasing number of fires in the Yellow Turban camp, but this excitement soon turned to disappointment, because the fires died out before they had time to grow, and there was no scene of burning the entire camp as they had imagined.

With such a fire intensity, it was almost impossible to burn the Yellow Turbans' baggage.

It failed.
They were greatly disappointed that such a carefully planned operation had such little effect.

Xun Yu also shook his head. He was not that surprised. Although he was the one who proposed the plan, he actually knew that a success rate of 10% to 20% would be considered high for such an action. This was actually just a last-ditch struggle out of desperation.

He was about to say something to comfort Cao Cao's disappointed mood, but he saw Cao Cao sigh and turn away.

"Now we have no choice but to fight with real swords and guns. I have made plans for the worst, and you should also be mentally prepared."

(End of this chapter)