People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 559 The end of the road

At the end of the war, Zhou Yu's desperate attack ultimately ended in failure. Although the main force of the army successfully withdrew to the city in the end, the price paid was extremely heavy.

This battle made Zhou Yu completely educated himself. He no longer dared to have any improper thoughts about the Yellow Turbans in the distance. He clearly realized that even if the Yellow Turbans had only 50,000 troops, they were not someone he could challenge if they were defending their camp.

After the attack failed, Zhou Yu had no choice but to retreat again, staying in the city and not daring to make any more moves.

If there was anything Zhou Yu should be thankful for, it was that he managed to save the main force of the army in the end. However, after this incident, the morale of the soldiers began to decline and the entire military camp was filled with gloom.

Zhou Yu had no time to worry about these problems. Not long after he retreated into the city, an even bigger blow came.

"Reporting to the Grand Commander, General Huang Gai was unable to escape from the entanglement with the enemy general and died on the front line. Although our soldiers fought hard, they still could not recapture the general's remains. In addition, General Huang Zhong of the Shu army was also seriously injured and is now receiving treatment from a military doctor. We don't know how he is doing yet!"

"What? General Huang died in battle!"

After hearing the soldier's report, Zhou Yu stood up suddenly, his expression falling into great shock.

Lu Su and others around him were also in disbelief. They looked at each other in silence for a moment. A sad and bleak mood quickly began to spread. Hearing such terrible news right after the defeat made people feel uncontrollably pessimistic.

After all, Huang Gai was an old general who followed Sun Jian in the rebellion and had a high prestige in the army. His death in battle would only make the already low morale worse.

"Gong Fu, it was my incompetence that killed you."

Zhou Yu laughed miserably and sat down on the ground dejectedly. He no longer had any of the demeanor that a great commander should have. His face was filled with only desolation and self-blame.

He really regretted it. Why was he so impatient? He could have waited for the army in the rear to gather before making plans, but he just couldn't wait and took action first!
After taking this risk, Zhou Yu suffered greatly. At this moment, Xu Chen and the Yellow Turbans seemed to have become nightmares in his heart.

But the bad news was not over yet. The soldier then reported again: "We have roughly calculated the casualties of our army in this battle. I am afraid that the casualties have exceeded 10,000."

When this news came out, everyone gasped again.

In fact, this battle did not last too long, and the casualties of more than 10,000 were really shocking. Of course, they also knew that most of these troop losses were due to Zhou Yu's decision to cut off the rear to survive, and at that time they could only preserve the army at such a huge price.

Although most of these more than 10,000 troops may have surrendered to the Yellow Turbans, it was no different from death for Wu and Shu. This loss was completely unbearable.

"The blame for this battle lies with me. After I meet up with Your Majesty, I will personally apologize to Your Majesty."

At this time, Zhou Yu still forced himself to cheer himself up. After all, he was not at the end of his road yet. As long as he still had a large army, he would not completely lose his fighting spirit.

However, every time after being defeated by the Yellow Turbans, Zhou Yu couldn't help but envy Xuan Xia. With a faithful warrior like the Yellow Turbans, it was no surprise that Xuan Xia could get to where he is today.

If possible, Zhou Yu hoped that he could also imitate Xu Chen's form and build an equally powerful army. In that case, he would have absolute confidence to compete with Xuan Xia, instead of being in a situation where he was worried about how to fight like today. Of course, this was just a fantasy, and he also understood that this kind of thing was not something he could learn just because he wanted to.

The Yellow Turbans could distribute land to all the people, but Wu and Shu could not do that. The nobles and powerful families below would never agree to this no matter what, and the ruling basis of the two sides was completely different.

It is precisely because of this that Zhou Yu understands that the current war is not just a war for hegemony, but a war of the times.

If Wu and Shu lost in the end, it would mean the complete decline and demise of the era of powerful aristocratic families, and a brand new country with national sovereignty and people-oriented power would stand on this land. That would be a complete failure of the old era.

At this time, the rest of the people were also sighing in their hearts. They could only wait and see in this situation.

Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Lu Su could only cheer up and tell some good news to ease the mood: "Although our army suffered a setback in the first battle, the main force of the army is still there. As long as we wait to meet up with Emperor Liu and Your Majesty, and gather the strength of more than 300,000 troops, we can still do it. Now the messenger has contacted the rear, and it won't be long before the whole army can be assembled."

Upon hearing this, the generals began to smile, but most of them were forced.

No one here is a fool. The Wu and Shu armies can still join forces with the armies of Liu Bei and Sun Quan in the rear. The Yellow Turbans also have an army of 100,000 in the rear rushing to the front line. If everyone has backup forces, it is equivalent to no one having them. In the end, they will still be defeated.

Moreover, with the same amount of troops, the combat effectiveness of the Yellow Turbans is more than several levels higher. Once the armies of both sides are assembled, the chances of Wu and Shu winning may be even lower.

The only thing they could hope for was that Liu Bei and Sun Quan would arrive at the battlefield earlier than the Yellow Turbans' reserve troops, so that they could attempt an attack with a larger force.

If tens of thousands of troops are not enough, then more than 300,000 troops may not be enough. After all, the Yellow Turbans only have 50,000 troops now.

But if Liu Bei and Sun Quan cannot take the initiative, Lu Su's current optimistic judgment is just self-consolation.

Before today, perhaps some people did not have a clear understanding of the Yellow Turbans' fighting power. After today, no one had any doubts anymore. This battle directly woke everyone up, and they clearly saw the gap in strength between the two sides.

Even the retreat is so dangerous, I dare not even imagine what the scene will be like in a real decisive battle.

Although the crowd did not show anything on the surface, they could not suppress their pessimistic mood secretly. However, they had no choice. No matter how strong the Yellow Turbans were, they could only bite the bullet and fight to the death.

The generals, both big and small, standing here represent the nobles and powerful families in various states and counties. They have no room for compromise with the Yellow Turbans. Only when they are truly on the verge of death and have no other choice, will they completely resign themselves to their fate and accept the reality of social class decline, hoping only to keep their lives alive.

After all, it is not the last moment when they are really desperate, and they are still unwilling to give up the pride of the nobility of the old era.

However, the final time is not far away. Their living space has been compressed to the last narrow area of ​​Jingzhou. The Yellow Turbans only need to exert the final pressure to force them into a dead end.

(End of this chapter)