Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Chapter 45 Guan Hai! Guan Hai!

“I don’t believe the Great Virtuous Teacher has been defeated! Guangzong has over a hundred thousand Taiping Dao followers!”

“But leading the Han army is the Northern General Lu Zhi! He defeated the Great Virtuous Teacher in the field, forcing him to retreat repeatedly. Now he must have used some trick to scheme against the Great Virtuous Teacher.”

“The truth is right before our eyes. If there wasn’t a major problem in Guangzong, how could ten thousand Han soldiers have quietly appeared in Julu?”

“That’s right, we should probably make plans early.”

“What did you say? Do you want to betray the Great Virtuous Teacher?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Most of the Yellow Turban generals were from the lower classes. When they argued, they didn’t care about etiquette or humility; they just argued bluntly.

Before long, several hot-tempered generals seemed unable to resist drawing their swords.

With many Yellow Turban generals suspecting that Zhang Jiao might have met with misfortune, the morale of the army was clearly wavering.

Chu Yan, who was among the crowd, remained silent, his eyes first glancing at Zhang Liang, who was sitting in the main seat with a vacant look, and then scanning the men around him who were spitting as they spoke.

He suddenly felt that the Yellow Turbans' future was much bleaker than he had imagined.

Moreover, Chu Yan was not originally from the Taiping Dao. He was originally from Changshan Commandery. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, he saw the government being smashed and the soldiers unable to protect themselves, so he took the opportunity to gather a group of young men to become bandits.

Unexpectedly, before they could enjoy a few days of banditry, they unfortunately ran head-on into a large group of Yellow Turban bandits and were surrounded.

To survive, Chu Yan had no choice but to lead his group of young men to join the Yellow Turbans. Chu Yan quickly gained Zhang Liang's appreciation for his extraordinary bravery, and within a month or two, he became a Yellow Turban general under Zhang Liang.

However, due to his background, Chu Yan was repeatedly ostracized by the other Yellow Turban generals who believed in the Taiping Dao.

Silently, Chu Yan seemed to inadvertently retreat to an inconspicuous corner, lest those reckless men really draw their swords and fight, and blood would splatter on him.

At this moment, rather than the life or death of the Great Virtuous Teacher, Chu Yan was considering how to take the opportunity to lead his confidants to leave the Yellow Turbans and return to Changshan Commandery.

Just then, a deep voice rang out.

“Enough!”

Seeing that some Yellow Turban generals were really drawing their swords, Guan Hai strode forward and grabbed the shoulders of the two generals who had drawn their swords with his fan-like hands.

Guan Hai's arms, which were almost as thick as ordinary people's thighs, suddenly exerted force, lifting the two Yellow Turban generals up, one in each hand, and then throwing them out of the council hall.

“Bang! Bang!”

The sound of the two bodies hitting the ground completely silenced the chaos in the council hall.

Guan Hai, who was almost a head taller than the other Yellow Turban generals, looked around at the surrounding generals. Almost no Yellow Turban general dared to meet his eyes.

As the almost universally recognized number one warrior in the Taiping Dao, he was usually taciturn, but when he was angry, no one dared to provoke Guan Hai.

The black-faced man Zhang Fei was still separated by a city wall, but Guan Hai in front of them could take their heads at any time.

Then, Guan Hai knelt down to Zhang Liang in the main seat and respectfully requested.

“General Ren Gong, I wish to go to Guangzong to confirm the safety of the Great Virtuous Teacher.”

Only then did Zhang Liang in the main seat show a bit of spirit in his eyes, looking at the generals below whose morale was wavering, and Guan Hai kneeling on the ground.

Zhang Liang did not have the slightest doubt about Guan Hai's intentions.

If other Yellow Turban generals made such a request, Zhang Liang would suspect that they wanted to find an excuse to escape Julu, but Guan Hai was not among them.

Guan Hai's loyalty to Zhang Jiao and his belief in the Taiping Dao were absolutely firm.

The reason why Guan Hai was in Julu was because Zhang Jiao was worried that Zhang Liang, whose personality was hesitant and indecisive, would not be able to subdue the other Yellow Turban generals, so he specifically sent Guan Hai to Zhang Liang's side to assist him.

Immediately, Zhang Liang stood up from the main seat and paced back and forth, thinking.

“No!”

Zhang Liang, who had basically regained his composure, said.

“Now we don’t know if the Han army is using a trick. Even if we want to contact the Great Virtuous Teacher, we only need to send a large number of scouts to Guangzong to find out the truth.”

“And if the Great Virtuous Teacher is really forced to temporarily retreat from Guangzong, then Julu City is absolutely indispensable to our sect. General Guan is the mainstay of our sect, and taking the risk of leaving Julu at this moment is definitely not worth the loss.”

It must be said that although Zhang Liang has obvious flaws in his personality, his ability and vision are not comparable to ordinary Yellow Turban generals. After calming down, he quickly understood the key.

Regardless of whether Zhang Jiao had an accident or not, stabilizing the Taiping Dao's morale and holding Julu City were the best choices.

As the strongest warrior in the Taiping Dao, Guan Hai played an extremely important role in stabilizing the morale of the army in Julu City.

Guan Hai heard this, bowed to Zhang Liang respectfully and said.

“I vow to protect the sect with my life!”

Seeing this, the other Yellow Turban generals also knelt down to Zhang Liang and proclaimed with the unique etiquette of the Taiping Dao. “We vow to protect the sect with our lives.”

Zhang Liang said with a bit of joy on his face.

“Good, good, good. With the help of you generals, the mere Han army is just grasshoppers after autumn.”

“We only need to sit firmly in Julu City, and when Bo Cai of Changshe, Zhang Mancheng of Nanyang, Peng Tuo of Runan and other commanders defeat the Han army and attack Sili Luoyang, overturning the heavens and establishing the Yellow Heaven, these Han troops will also collapse on their own.”

As soon as these words came out, many Yellow Turban generals' eyes also lit up with a bit of hope.

Although the Yellow Turban Army led by the Great Virtuous Teacher himself on the Jizhou battlefield was repeatedly defeated by Lu Zhi and had to retreat to Guangzong, Bo Cai, Zhang Mancheng, Peng Tuo and other commanders in many places had repeatedly sent good news and were constantly approaching Sili from different directions.

Once they successfully attacked Sili, Luoyang fell, and the Son of Heaven was captured, then changing the new heaven would undoubtedly be just around the corner.

However, just then.

A Yellow Turban warrior hurriedly reported: “Zhang Fei has come to the south gate to curse again. His words are very hateful and vulgar, causing the sect members guarding the city to be agitated. Please, General Ren Gong, make a decision.”

As soon as these words came out, the Yellow Turban generals in the council hall, who had just ignited a little fighting spirit, almost all shrank their necks, for fear of being named by Zhang Liang.

Zhang Liang was even more troubled by this and completely did not know how to deal with it.

Zhang Fei that fellow, really has a thunderous voice and is extremely vulgar!

Zhang Liang believes that he can be regarded as having very good self-restraint, but he was still so angry by Zhang Fei's few words that smoke came out of his seven orifices.

It is conceivable that letting Zhang Fei be presumptuous will undoubtedly have a sustained and heavy blow to the morale of the sect members guarding the city.

After all, the Taiping Dao proclaims the uprising on behalf of the Yellow Heaven every day, but there is nothing they can do about Zhang Fei. It is really too embarrassing, and it may even cause a large number of sect members to shake their faith in the Taiping Dao.

‘But, who can be Zhang Fei's opponent…’

Zhang Liang's eyes swept over the Yellow Turban generals who were shrinking like quails, and he understood that even if he forced them to duel with Zhang Fei, there was a high probability that they would be defeated.

Seeing this, Guan Hai cupped his fist and said in a deep voice. “Reporting to General Ren Gong, Guan Hai requests to fight, and will definitely take Zhang Fei's dog head, and will not allow him to slander my Taiping Dao sect.”

However, Zhang Liang was unwilling to let Guan Hai take risks, waved his hand and rejected Guan Hai's request, and then said.

“Tell the sect members that the words Zhang Fei said are just the whispers of the inner demon. What he is doing is disturbing our belief in the revered Yellow Heaven. Just strengthen your will and silently recite my Taiping Dao doctrine, and it will dissipate like a passing cloud.”

Since he couldn't beat him, Zhang Liang was already lying down, preparing not to resist, and conveying a kind of Ah Q spirit to let the sect members comfort themselves.

Suddenly, Zhang Liang suddenly thought of something and asked the Yellow Turban warrior.

“That's not right! How many soldiers did Zhang Fei lead this time?”

Being suddenly asked by Zhang Liang, the Yellow Turban warrior was stunned for a moment, and then thought for a moment before answering.

“About five hundred cavalry.”

“Could it be… a trick?” Zhang Liang muttered.

“What trick?” Guan Hai asked inexplicably.

Zhang Liang replied.

“Logically speaking, even if Zhang Fei came specifically to curse, there should be a large number of soldiers pressing the formation in the rear.”

“However, this morning, Zhang Fei was followed by only a thousand cavalry, and now there are even only five hundred people. Could it be… is he bluffing?”

The more Zhang Liang spoke, the more suspicious he felt, and his eyes unconsciously revealed a hesitant look, muttering.

“Or, should we test him?”

After hesitating for a long time, the more Zhang Liang thought about it, the more suspicious he felt, especially since Zhang Liang had never seen the existence of the ten thousand Han troops from beginning to end.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Liang slowly made up his mind and asked Guan Hai, whom he trusted the most.

“General Guan, do you dare to raid the Han army's enemy camp at night to find out the truth?”

“How dare I disobey General Ren Gong's order?” Guan Hai replied in a deep voice.

“Okay, then tonight you will gather three thousand Yellow Turban warriors, three thousand elite sect members, and when the time comes, attack…”

When it came to the target, Zhang Liang hesitated for a long time between the north and south Han army camps.

South?

Not appropriate, not appropriate. There is Zhang Fei and thousands of cavalry in the south…

The Han army camp in the north has not had the slightest action or reaction so far, and seems more suspicious than the Han army camp in the south.

“Attack the northern camp to find out the truth. If there is anything wrong, General Guan must remember to retreat quickly.” Zhang Liang earnestly instructed.

“Yes.”

Guan Hai cupped his fist to accept the order, and then hurried down to gather the Yellow Turban warriors and elite sect members.

Although the entire city of Julu is full of Yellow Turbans, the vast majority are undoubtedly just believers, and do not even have the qualifications to be truly recognized by the Taiping Dao as sect members.

Even among the Taiping Dao followers, those who could be considered Yellow Turban Warriors and elite members were few and far between, representing the true backbone of the Taiping Dao.

Zhang Fei harassed them with a frequency of almost one hour of cursing followed by one hour of rest, until the sun completely set, and the incessant cursing that annoyed countless Yellow Turban followers finally ceased.

Guan Hai also began to prepare the six thousand elite Yellow Turban soldiers who had rested ahead of time during the day, and then began to eat.

By the time Guan Hai had made all the preparations and finished assigning tasks to each of the Yellow Turban minor leaders, midnight was approaching.

At this moment, the moonlight was dim, and dark clouds covered the sky!

The north gate of Julu City slowly opened, and Guan Hai led six thousand elite Yellow Turban soldiers straight towards the Han army camp ten miles away.