People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 83 Style
On the wilderness, the noise faded away. The Yellow Turbans fought an ambush without warning. At the cost of four or five hundred casualties, they finally won a great victory and captured the enemy general in one fell swoop.

There was no way to help the soldiers who had already died in this battle, so Xu Chen had to order the Yellow Turbans to be careful and restrain themselves, and then ordered the accompanying military doctors to provide emergency treatment on the spot for the minor and serious injuries.

This battlefield treatment is not just for the Yellow Turbans. Ordinary soldiers of the enemy army can also receive treatment from military doctors after surrendering.

Although this was just a small action, the effect was surprisingly good. At least after seeing it, the large number of surrendered Guangping soldiers and captives changed their attitude towards the Yellow Turbans from panic and fear to one of reassurance.

In this battle, the officers and soldiers' battle formation collapsed and fled in all directions, but most of the troops also surrendered.

Afterwards, a recount was taken, and it was found that this battle killed or wounded more than 800 enemy soldiers, captured more than 1,000 soldiers, and more than 2,000 civilian laborers and auxiliary soldiers. There were also countless supplies left behind by the enemy, so the harvest was quite rich.

At Xu Chen's command, the entire army began to station and rest on the spot. Whether it was cleaning the battlefield and collecting corpses, or treating the wounded and managing prisoners, it all took time. Although this meal was a lot, it still needed to be digested well.

All the captives were stripped of their armor and weapons by the Yellow Turbans and gathered in one camp for unified custody.

At first they were still worried about their own fate. The most brutal and extreme situation they could think of was that the Yellow Turbans would directly kill the prisoners. Although the probability was low, it was still possible.

The most consistent approach of the Yellow Turbans would be to take the captives with them to join in the rebellion, which was not something they wanted to do.

Of course, they also know that they have no choice, so they can only wait for their final fate with fear.

It was not until they saw the Yellow Turbans coming and carrying away all the seriously wounded soldiers, and then treating them in the temporary military medical camp next to them under their watchful eyes, that they felt much more at ease and began to have a more favorable impression of the Yellow Turbans.

To be honest, even in our own army, the attitude towards injuries is often to let them fend for themselves.

Therefore, it was extremely unexpected and heartwarming for them to receive care on the battlefield from the Yellow Turbans, who were considered to be their enemy.

This group of Yellow Turbans seems pretty good.
Afterwards, dozens more Yellow Turbans came and said some very special words.

They said that they were an army fighting for the poor masses, and the captives this time were also poor masses, so they would not make things difficult for the captives.

They also said that their enemies were the powerful families and the Han Dynasty. They wanted to eliminate all these guys who bullied the poor and oppressed them, and then redistribute the land to every citizen.

They also said that the poor brothers should unite and defeat these evil guys together. After the war, all the prisoners here can share the land!

The tone of these Yellow Turbans was very contagious, making people subconsciously convinced, and these words were also very catchy, and many people were really confused after listening to them.

But this alone is not enough to change their minds. Although they are confused, they are just confused.

What happened next made them fall into it unknowingly and they could never get out.

Soon, the Yellow Turbans led them into the Yellow Turban army, and each prisoner was assigned his own officer.

When they joined the Yellow Turbans' squads or groups, they were nervous and panicked at first because of the unfamiliar environment, but they gradually settled down. These Yellow Turbans' squad leaders and even the other Yellow Turbans in the same team were actually quite nice to them.

Unlike the original army, the officers, no matter how big or small, would always beat and scold the soldiers, treating them like servants, and there would often be bullying among the soldiers. The Yellow Turbans were completely different. Although the discipline here was strict and there were many restrictions, and I was told many things I shouldn't do and many habits I couldn't have when I first arrived, it was also fair and tolerant.

Many low-level soldiers, especially the farmers who were conscripted as auxiliary soldiers, felt respected in the army for the first time.

Among the captives, there was one person like this. As an ordinary carpenter, Hu Tao was inevitably conscripted by Zhang Ju during the war. No one asked him whether he was willing to go, because even if he didn't want to go, he would be forcibly captured.

If the farmers could save money and pay the exemption money, they might be able to escape the disaster, but craftsmen like Hu Tao were considered special talents and would not be let off during requisition.

After all, when you go out to fight, you will need craftsmen whether setting up camp or building equipment.

However, Hu Tao's craftsmanship could not earn him a higher status in the army. Instead, he was often ordered around. If something did not satisfy him, he would be severely beaten. Hu Tao had become numb to such grievances.

And just because he has done the work doesn't mean he doesn't have to fight with a sword. If a real fight breaks out, he will still have to go to the battlefield.

When he was captured this time, Hu Tao thought that the Yellow Turbans had the same style as previous armies. However, after being incorporated into the Yellow Turbans, he found that this place was different, very different, and every place was different.

No one scolds me, no one beats me, only discipline and military orders restrain me.

All responsibilities are clearly defined, and it is clear what each soldier should do, what the responsibilities of the sergeant are, and what the responsibilities of the squad leader are.

He even saw that soldiers could loudly reflect and discuss issues with their sergeants and that officers would not bully their subordinates.

Of course, this is not because the Yellow Turban officers are all open-minded, but because he discovered that every hundred people in the army have a supervisory guard.

If the soldiers had any problems, they could report them to the supervisory guards, which made the Yellow Turban officers dare not act presumptuously. Everything had to be maintained according to military law and discipline, rather than relying on the personal authority of their superiors.

The Yellow Turbans rested for three or four days. Their strict discipline initially made the captives very uncomfortable, and Hu Tao was no exception.

They have been punished for these disciplines many times, but the punishments and regulations are applied equally to everyone, including the Yellow Turbans themselves, so they don't think there is anything wrong with it.

And slowly, after they got used to these disciplines, they felt they were pretty good, because they discovered that many of these disciplines were designed to protect them, the ordinary soldiers.

Another day passed, and when night fell and after dinner, the centurions of each camp, under the supervision of the guards, began to organize the soldiers to gather around the fire and chat at night.

Hu Tao, who gradually became familiar with the place, knew that a meeting to recall the past was about to begin.

Hu Tao would hear many tragic stories of the soldiers every night, and these stories made him feel the same way, because these were things he might have experienced or seen, and he knew they were all true.

The guard supervisor said that all these pains and miseries were brought about by the Emperor of the Han Dynasty and the powerful families, and they are our enemies.

Under this kind of propaganda day by day, in this atmosphere of unified thought, Hu Tao now feels more and more that what the Yellow Turbans say seems to be right.
(End of this chapter)