People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 84 A small test of one’s skills
"Master, I have been supervising the troops to preach to the prisoners in the army these days, and it has achieved some results. I dare not say that they have completely won over, but they will not cause any trouble. With the command and leadership of our officers, they can be made to fight!"

A few days later, Tian Shitou, the military commander, immediately came to the central military tent to report his work to Xu Chen.

The Yellow Turbans already had a set of procedures for how to treat prisoners. Compared to forcing prisoners to fight with them through violence, the Yellow Turbans preferred to accept and digest them through assimilation. Of course, persuasion alone was not completely reliable, and the real guarantee lay in the military system and officer management.

After hearing Tian Shitou's report, Xu Chen nodded with satisfaction. This was exactly the purpose of his training an inspection team. With the inspection team's supervision and guidance, both the military and political ideology and style could be corrected and guided. As long as the direction was correct, everything else would be easy.

Once these captives can be influenced, they will naturally be willing to fight for the Yellow Turbans. In an inclusive and fair military atmosphere, they may even suddenly have a stronger will and combat effectiveness.

The rest during these few days was naturally not just for absorbing prisoners, but Xu Chen was waiting for the enemy to attack.

He knew that even if the Yellow Turbans did not take any action, the enemy would come looking for him.

Under the current circumstances, the enemy can only have the strength to fight against us if the two counties join forces. If they are divided into two places, even if they fight to defend the city, they will definitely be defeated by the Yellow Turbans one by one.

But if they work together to defend one county, it would be tantamount to handing over another county, which is certainly unacceptable.

The situation is like this, with both sides almost having their cards exposed. Now the only way to decide the outcome is through a battle. Whoever can stand to the end will be the one in charge of Yuyang County.

Xu Chen could only be thankful that the current situation of the Han Dynasty being riddled with holes was largely in his favor. As the Han Dynasty's command system failed, he would never face too much pressure.

In this battle, we cannot fight in the city, otherwise the military settlements, farmlands and civilians outside the city will be difficult to protect. We can only block the main roads and set up camp to meet the enemy.

Over the past few days, we have continuously reinforced the camp, and now it is very complete. We just need to wait for the enemy to arrive and then we can deal with them separately.

It turned out to be as Xu Chen expected. After a few days, the scouts sent out really reported the enemy's movements. Now, the two counties have a combined population of 10,000 people, who have been heading here. In another half a day, the two sides should meet.

In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient and there were only a few roads for the army to pass through. There were always some key places where passage could be blocked, which would become the key points of battle.

If the enemy wants to capture Yuyang now, they must first capture Xu Chen’s camp, and a tough battle is inevitable.

The approaching war caused the entire Yellow Turban camp to react, and all the soldiers became nervous from the relatively relaxed state of the previous few days.

Each camp was lined up, and the centurions and guards were standing in front of the station shouting to boost morale, which indeed boosted the morale of the Yellow Turbans.

They knew that behind them was Yuyang, their homeland, and their fellow villagers. If they lost here, the land and property that had been distributed with great difficulty would vanish in one day.

All the soldiers shared the same hatred for the enemy. Their shouts were in unison and powerful. They wanted to defend their last line of defense.

Soon, half a day passed and the scouts came back with news that the enemy army had stopped ten miles ahead, as if they were going to set up camp and rest there.

Xu Chen pondered for a moment and said, "I think the enemy army has come here with a lot of troops and is unwilling to rush to attack, so they set up camp far away to rest first."

Wang Dang on the side snorted coldly and took a step forward to challenge: "How can we let them get what they want? Master, let me test their quality first. If they are useless, I will swallow them up in one gulp!"

Xu Chen naturally agreed and stood up immediately: "General Wang will lead 3,000 infantry and cavalry to attack the camp, and I will lead 4,000 troops to support the rear!" As the military order was given, the entire army quickly moved. After all, the Yellow Turbans have the advantage of being well-rested, and they cannot let the enemy set up camp so easily. Wang Dang selected 1,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry from the vanguard camp, and left the camp first.

Afterwards, Xu Chen left behind more than a thousand soldiers to guard the camp, and led four thousand troops to advance from the rear.

Wang Dang was not in a hurry to march ahead. After all, he still had to go ten miles, and more energy should be saved for fighting. So he marched slowly. After more than half an hour, he saw the silhouettes of an army in the distance.

Wang Dang took a closer look and saw that the enemy troops were on high alert and had obviously been trying to detect his movements.

In this case, there is nothing more to say. Let's just see the result with our own hands.

"Divide all the cavalry into the left and right groups to harass the flanks. Two thousand soldiers will follow me to charge in the front!" Wang Dang snorted coldly, gave the order loudly, and then led his troops to charge.

The three thousand strong army surged forward like flowing water, with cavalry guarding on both sides and a formation in the middle pressing forward. A strong sense of oppression immediately overwhelmed them.

The enemy was also on high alert. When the Yellow Turbans closed the distance, they drew their bows and shot arrows. As the arrows rained down, they immediately caused a lot of casualties to the Yellow Turbans. However, the Yellow Turbans charged very quickly. After only two or three rounds of arrows, the two armies came into direct contact.

Once the torrents of flesh and blood collide, blood and death will bloom.

The Yellow Turban sword and shield soldiers held the front and took the first wave of damage from the enemy, and then coordinated the attack with the long and short spears in the rear, engaging in a life-and-death struggle with the enemy on this contact line.

The enemy army also had a tight formation and fought tenaciously against the Yellow Turbans. Both sides suffered casualties, but it was difficult to tell who was stronger.

The cavalry on both sides of the Yellow Turbans constantly harassed the enemy's formation and controlled the overall battlefield situation.

Although the battle was fierce and Wang Dang himself was leading the charge, he did not get carried away. Instead, while fighting, he watched the flag orders conveyed by the main force coming from the rear, and then directed the soldiers in the battle formation to take corresponding actions.

Half an hour later, the soldiers from the rear positions also joined the battlefield and took the lead again when both sides were tired.

The situation on the battlefield changed instantly. Once the energetic Yellow Turban reserve army engaged in the battle, they immediately forced the enemy's front line to retreat step by step. However, the enemy was no pushover and soon made the same reaction and stabilized the battlefield.

The two sides attacked and defended back and forth like this, and neither side could gain an advantage. Less than two hours later, until the sun gradually darkened, both sides tacitly withdrew their troops.

Fighting at night is indeed an extremely risky thing. One wrong move might lead to the collapse of the entire situation, so neither side is willing to take the risk.

Xu Chen naturally ordered the Yellow Turban army to withdraw to the camp. Although he did not gain any advantage from today's trial, hindering the speed of building the enemy's camp was an excellent result.

But Zhang Chun on the other side was in a difficult situation. Although the situation of this battle was still acceptable, they could not set up a camp for defense, and the army would have to remain highly vigilant at all times, which was definitely not acceptable.

"After nightfall, we will set up camp in shifts overnight without any delay!"

(End of this chapter)