People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 574 Feint Attack
It was late at night and the Yellow Turban camp was already quiet. Only teams of soldiers on guard duty were patrolling and guarding the camp, while the rest of the soldiers were mostly resting in their tents.

The sentries in the Yellow Turban camp include not only visible sentries patrolling back and forth, but also secret sentries hiding in the darkness. The light and secret sentries take care of each other, and they can give warnings at the first time if any situation occurs.

Moreover, the Yellow Turban camp was built very spaciously, and there were quite a few soldiers on duty at night. The number of teams moving around the camp alone was countless. All one could see were teams of torches circling back and forth in the darkness, like teams of fireflies trying their best to guard their nests.

Of course, this kind of defense can only alert a very limited area around the camp. The darkness is a natural cover, and they cannot see any further away.

For Wu and Shu, such a dark night provided them with the conditions for brewing accidents.

The night was calm and the darkness swallowed up all traces and movements. The Yellow Turban camp itself became a part of this calm.

The soldiers were all immersed in sleep at this time, perhaps they were dreaming of the joyful scene of the people lining the streets to welcome the victorious army back to the capital.

If nothing unexpected happens, they will wait for the next day in such a beautiful dream and then start a new round of battle.

However, someone just doesn't want them to sleep comfortably, so this night is destined not to be peaceful.

Law
A sharp whistle suddenly appeared in the silent night, as sudden and crisp as metal hitting glass, appearing suddenly and unexpectedly.

Then, the next moment after the sound appeared, there was extreme silence again, as if everyone paused for a moment.

Until the next moment, the camp went from extremely quiet to extremely noisy. The camp, which was peaceful just now, suddenly came alive.

More frequent whistles were sounded one after another, shouts of "enemy attack" and "be alert" were heard everywhere, torches were lit in clusters, and the legions on duty in the camp quickly occupied the camp gates and walls, and the defense line was built at the first opportunity.

All these actions were done cleanly and neatly without any confusion or delay. Everyone knew where they should be and what they should do at that moment.

Following closely behind were soldiers that quickly moved out of the tents. These soldiers, who were resting, put on their armor and picked up their weapons at an extremely fast speed. Then, under the leadership of their respective superiors, they obeyed the mobilization orders from higher levels and continuously replenished their defenses.

Everything happened in a flash. Even the shouts of the Wu and Shu armies' night attack had just been heard when the Yellow Turbans had already responded. The whole process was as fast and precise as a machine triggered by a mechanism. Before the Wu and Shu armies could rush to the camp wall, the entire camp was defended like an iron barrel by the Yellow Turbans.

At this time, Zhou Tai, who was in charge of the night attack mission, couldn't help but gasp when he saw the camp in front of him suddenly change from a loose one to a tight one.

It’s too fast, it’s really too fast!

When the army was only two or three hundred meters away from the camp, the night attack army led by Zhou Tai was discovered by the Yellow Turbans. Then the warning whistle sounded, and the night attack army no longer concealed itself, but charged forward with all their might.

From this time to the time they rushed to the vicinity of the camp wall, the whole process can be said to be very fast, but Zhou Tai watched helplessly as the camp wall, which was empty just now, was quickly filled with fully armed Yellow Turban soldiers. The speed of the reaction left him dumbfounded.

At this moment, he even wondered if the Yellow Turban Army had no sleep at all at night, otherwise how could they be so fast.

The value of a night attack lies in being able to catch the enemy off guard under the cover of darkness.

The army rested at night, and the time window for the soldiers to wake up, form a battle array, and defend against the enemy was very limited. As long as they seized this window, it would not be a myth to break through the enemy camp before the enemy could react. However, the Yellow Turbans reacted too quickly, so quickly that Zhou Tai could not even catch this time window.

What Zhou Tai didn't know was that the Yellow Turbans had detailed standards for all wartime response mechanisms, and this kind of reaction of being awakened by an order and quickly assembling was itself part of daily training.

According to the Yellow Turbans' requirements, from the time the whistle sounded and the soldiers woke up from their deep sleep to the time they got their basic weapons and equipment and lined up outside the camp, the entire process could not exceed thirty breaths. Subsequently, they had to be able to achieve the effect of hitting wherever they were pointed, so that they could react immediately during a night attack.

This kind of military accomplishment is completely incomprehensible to people of today, so Zhou Tai was dumbfounded.

Originally, he wanted to take advantage of the Yellow Turbans' slow reaction, but now, seeing that the Yellow Turbans' long spears and crossbows were about to be stuffed into his mouth, he knew that he was overthinking.

Of course, even if he couldn't gain any advantage at this time, he still rushed towards the Yellow Turban camp.

Even if it is a feint attack at night, it has to be done in an impressive manner. After all, the purpose of this battle is to tire out the enemy. Only when the entire enemy camp is woken up can it be considered a success.

Just like that, the night that should have been quiet was now filled with shouts and screams, and the two sides were fighting inside and outside the city walls just like during the day.

I just don’t know if it’s because it’s night time, the intensity of the Wu and Shu armies’ attack wasn’t as fierce as imagined.

What is strange is that although the offensive of the Wu and Shu armies was not fierce, its momentum was very huge.

At this time, Xu Chen walked out of the tent, wearing a light armor. He took a look at the ongoing war in the camp. His expression did not show any panic. He just walked calmly towards the general platform in the middle camp.

When I arrived here, I saw a general standing on the stage. It was Taishi Ci who was on duty today.

Seeing Xu Chen coming, Taishi Ci hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted, then asked in confusion: "Why did you get up, Master? Although the enemy attacked at night, it was just a feint with a lot of noise but little rain. There is no need for our army to respond with all their strength. Master, you can rest assured."

Xu Chen smiled and said, "I'm not worried, it's just that the noise was a bit loud and I woke up. Since I'm already awake, I might as well come and take a look."

Of course, the Yellow Turbans also had a contingency plan for night attacks. It was not necessary to mobilize the entire army to prepare for the attack as soon as the enemy arrived. Otherwise, if the enemy came a few times, the soldiers would not be able to sleep.

When facing an enemy attack, the Yellow Turbans would first use the scheduled 20,000 garrison troops to carry out defensive tasks, and then see if more defense arrangements were needed.

If the enemy's attack is just a feint, 20,000 troops will be enough to handle the situation, and the rest of the troops can rest in peace.

Therefore, Taishi Ci was the only one in charge of the situation at this time, because it was enough for him to command 20,000 soldiers to ensure the safety of the camp.

Hearing Xu Chen's answer, Taishi Ci pointed ahead and said with a smile: "Actually, there's nothing to see. Their feint attack won't last long. I'm afraid it won't be long before they retreat."

Xu Chen took a look and saw that, as expected, the battle that had been going on for a while slowly died down. The Wu and Shu troops that had been attacking in all seriousness just now disappeared into the darkness in the blink of an eye after leaving behind dozens of corpses.

(End of this chapter)