People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 52 The Yellow Turbans are cunning!

On the official road, it was not until noon that Liu Bei and Lu Zhong, who had finally gathered the scattered rebel army, finally waited for the late arrival of Zou Jing's army.

But at this time, Liu Bei already felt that the matter was over, and Lu Zhong's face showed anxiety and worry.

In fact, Zou Jing's army was already coming quite fast. After he had detected the Yellow Turbans' movements, it would only take him half a day to catch up. However, Xu Chen chose the timing cleverly and broke out at night. Zou Jing in the rear did not know the details, so naturally he would not rashly choose to march at night.

By the time he rushed back after resting for a night, everything was over and the Yellow Turbans had already run away to who knows how far away they were.

Xu Chen used a tactic of hiding during the day and coming out at night, which could create a time difference of almost a whole day.

"The Yellow Turbans are cunning. Our army finally caught up with them, but now we are being left behind again. It's really infuriating!" Zou Jing slammed his fist, looking very annoyed.

He suddenly felt a strong sense of powerlessness. This yellow scarf was really...
After thinking for a while, he found a suitable adjective, which is slippery, as slippery as a loach.

Since we started to deal with these Yellow Turbans, we couldn't catch up with them if we chased them, and we couldn't contain them if we surrounded them. We couldn't go left or right, it was really difficult to cope with them.

Looking back, he realized that he had never had the initiative from the beginning to the end, and had always been led by the Yellow Turbans.

According to their original plan of setting up an encirclement network, at this time as long as Liu Bei and Lu Zhong could delay the Yellow Turbans a little, they would be able to successfully encircle and suppress them in one fell swoop.

However, although the idea is good, the reality is cruel. Liu Bei and Lu Zhong said that the two sides just fought each other and their side collapsed completely. Slowing down is just a joke.

The premise of harassment and entanglement is that you can successfully avoid fighting, but the Yellow Turbans are so fierce beyond their imagination that there is no way to escape once the fight starts.

This Yellow Turban army, with its high morale, young soldiers, well-equipped and swift movements, was unexpectedly strong. Only after a real fight did Liu Bei feel the terrible pressure.

He even thought that this Yellow Turban army might be only a step away from becoming a truly elite force.

"It is pointless to say more now. Captain Zou, please speed up the march to save Fanyang immediately. If the enemy army breaks into the city, I dare not think about the consequences!"

Lu Zhong didn't have the heart to think about these messy things, as he was already extremely upset at the moment.

Now it seems that perhaps Lu Ling’s suggestion was correct. Who would have thought that even with an army of more than 10,000, they still couldn’t catch these Yellow Turbans!
The Lu family's assets are all in Fan Yang. If we allow the bandits to repeat their previous practice of slaughtering the powerful, then we're doomed!

Liu Bei looked at Zou Jing with a serious expression and also bowed to make a suggestion.

"This villain Xu Chen is good at deceiving people and is no less dangerous than Zhang Jiao. If we cannot kill him now, he will become a disaster for our Han Dynasty in the future.

This may not be a bad opportunity. Whether they have captured Fanyang or not, they will definitely stop for a while. As long as our army speeds up its march, we can definitely catch up with them!"

Zou Jing nodded and agreed: "Order the whole army to march at full speed, and we must reach Fanyang by tomorrow at the latest!"

Zou Jing and his men didn't know that the Yellow Turbans had already broken through Fanyang when they just started to join forces. But of course they also made this worst-case scenario plan. Even if the Yellow Turbans really broke through Fanyang, the government soldiers could rush there in less than a day. No matter how fast the Yellow Turbans were, they would be blocked by the government soldiers, and that would end it all.

As Zou Jing's order was issued, Zou Jing, together with Liu Bei and Lu Zhong, with a total of less than 4,000 troops, began to march at full speed towards Fan Yang. Amid the billowing smoke and dust, the army soon disappeared in the distance.

Forced marches are a great test of the army's physical strength and willpower. This is a skill that the Yellow Turbans are very skilled in, but it is a torture for the officers and soldiers.

But at this time they had no choice. No matter how painful it was, they could only grit their teeth and keep going.

Xu Chen led the Yellow Turbans to Fan Yang. They ran slowly and strenuously all night long with torches in hand, and only saw Fan Yang City at noon the next day. Now Zou Jing and his men had just set out, and the test had just begun.

However, he did not dare to follow Xu Chen's example and march all night long. Xu Chen did that because he had planned to get enough rest during the day. But Zou Jing could not follow his example now. If he continued to run day and night like this, all his soldiers would be exhausted to death.

After a forced march for half a day and a night's rest, Zou Jing and his men finally arrived at Fanyang City at 9:00 p.m. the next day. However, the situation in Fanyang at this time made them feel a little heavy.

As early as half an hour ago, when they were still on the road, scouts had already reported the news they had discovered that Fanyang City had indeed been breached by the Yellow Turbans, and that the entire Yellow Turban army had already left the city half an hour ago, with more than 3,000 bald Yellow Turbans fully equipped and heading out.

With heavy hearts, they arrived at the city of Fanyang, and the scene they saw was indeed bleak.

It can be seen that the gates of Fanyang City were completely open, and there was not a single soldier or Yellow Turban to be seen on the top of the city wall. But even in such an open situation, no civilians were seen entering or leaving. The whole city looked lifeless, and there were many uncollected corpses scattered at the foot of the city wall. It was obvious that the city had been completely destroyed by the Yellow Turbans.

Lu Zhong's face turned pale and he almost fainted, and he almost fell off his horse.

Although the fate of the Lu family is still unknown, based on the Yellow Turbans' past practices, the wealthy families in the city are likely to be in danger, and the Lu family will naturally not be spared.

At this time, Lu Zhong could only hold on to a last bit of luck, hoping that his family could escape the disaster, so he immediately asked Zou Jing to leave and go into the city.

The fall of Fanyang City was certainly not good news, but this was also the closest Zou Jing had ever been to the Yellow Turbans. Now the two sides were only an hour away from each other. As long as they caught up with them, they would be able to catch up.
Zou Jing almost gave the order to continue the pursuit, but when he looked back and saw that the soldiers were all exhausted and panting, he hesitated.

Of course Liu Bei also noticed this, and after hesitating for a while, he hurried over to persuade him.

“Liu Bei knows that Captain Zou is anxious, but please don’t be too hasty. The enemy is well rested and waiting for us to tire out, while our army has traveled a long distance. If we catch up with them, the consequences will be disastrous.

Although the bandits are right in front of us, they are very brave and are not easy to deal with. We cannot afford to be careless. Therefore, Liu Bei believes that we must rest for a while before making any plans! "

Zou Jing gnashed his teeth. Although he was extremely anxious, he also knew that Liu Bei was right. He could only suppress his emotions at this moment: "Order the entire army to rest for half an hour."

It was at this time that a group of people walked out of the city. They were sent by Lu Zhong who had just arrived in the city.

"General, all the households in the city have been killed. Every family is angry about the Yellow Turbans' brutality. Now they are all willing to donate their remaining money and food to support the army and contribute more to the fight against the bandits. Please lead the troops into the city to take over!"

(End of this chapter)