Chapter 72: The Grain and Fodder Are Plundered

  On the second day at dawn, the army set out again, and Wang Xu was also arranged to be in the central army, riding alongside main generals such as Huangfu Song.

  At noon, Huangfu Song was about to order the army to bury their pots and cook when a small general suddenly came galloping from the corner of the main road, whipping his horse with his whip, stirring up waves of smoke and dust, and arrived in an instant.

  "Report to General, General Zhu has encountered the Yellow Turban leader Peng Tuo near Xihua! Last night, he set an ambush and defeated the enemy army that raided the camp. However, the Yellow Turbans are powerful and cannot be conquered for the time being, so I was sent by General Zhu to report back!"

  After listening to Xiao Jiang's report, Huang Fu's eyebrows furrowed: "Didn't the letter from the Prime Minister of Chen Guo say that this Peng Tuo department had only 20,000 to 30,000 people? How could it be difficult for Gong Wei?"

  Upon hearing this, the young general immediately shook his head and replied: "Reporting to the General, Peng Tuo's original force indeed had only over 30,000 men, but the Yuannan Yellow Turbans have already merged with Peng Tuo's bandits, currently they have a total of 70,000 men."

  Although he had heard that the enemy's forces were strong, Huangfu Song did not panic. He nodded and asked, "How far is this place from Xihua?"

  "It's like a swift horse, when there is half a day's journey!"

  "Hum! Then quickly report back to General Zhu, order him not to engage in battle, wait for me to lead the army to arrive, and then discuss the long-term plan!"

  "Yes!" The young general cupped his hands together in a salute, then turned his horse around and galloped away once more.

  After he left, Huangfu Song frowned and thought for a moment, then waved his hand and ordered: "The whole army will bury the pot and cook rice, rest in place for an hour, before dawn today, we must join forces with General Zhu!"

  "Yes!" The surrounding generals, including Wang Xu, all bowed their hands in unison, and then returned to their respective troops to make arrangements.

  And the row of orderlies in the rear immediately rushed forward at top speed, loudly shouting to convey Huangfu Song's orders...

  King Xuguang had just returned to his own department, when a messenger soldier rushed back, hastily clasped his fists and said: "General Wang, General Huangfu orders you to return quickly!"

  "What's wrong? Didn't you just order us to rest in place?"

  "Just now a swift horse came to report, our army's grain and fodder have been raided, in danger at dawn..."

  "What?" A cry of surprise, Wang Xu had not even had time to greet Xu Shu in the distance before he immediately turned over and mounted his horse, hurrying back to Huangfu Song's side.

  When he arrived, several generals were discussing it, and before he had even dismounted his horse, he loudly asked: "General Huangfu, I heard that our army's grain supplies have been raided?"

  At the sound of Wang Xu's voice, all the generals immediately turned their heads. Huangfu Song looked at him with concern and nodded: "That's right, according to reports, there are more than 10,000 Yellow Turban elite cavalry!"

  "Which general is in charge of transporting grain and fodder? How many men and horses!"

  Facing Wang Xu's direct inquiry, Huangfu Song didn't mind and immediately replied: "The grain and fodder are being escorted by Zhao Yan, the Longshui Colonel, with 5,000 infantrymen. Just now I received a report and have dispatched Yuqi Colonel Gai Sheng to lead 5,000 iron cavalry to meet them!"

  Upon hearing this, Wang Xu slightly relaxed. Although Zhao Yi, the Longshui Colonel, was not highly skilled in martial arts, he was quite knowledgeable about military tactics and had a cautious personality, so there shouldn't be any major issues. And since Gai Sheng excelled at rapid raids, sending him to provide support would be the best choice.

  In his heart, he secretly admired Huangfu Song's quick reaction and ability to use people well. At the same time, he thought about the strange occurrence of Huang Jin appearing behind him, and suddenly became suspicious again.

  "Huangfu General, don't you know where these Yellow Turbans came from? The Huangzhong Yellow Turbans have been pacified, and those in Chenliu and Runan are currently in Xihua. Logically speaking, it's impossible for them to have circled around behind us without our knowledge, yet we still haven't detected anything?"

  As soon as Wang Xu spoke, the generals began to discuss again. Huang Fu also said with doubt: "This is exactly what I don't understand about this yellow scarf army! However, it's not too possible that it's the yellow scarf from Xihua. Except for the main road we took to Xihua, there are two small roads on both sides of the south and north, but they are rugged and difficult to walk. How can 10,000 fine cavalry get through? Moreover, how can they avoid my scouts and Gong Wei's reconnaissance? It's absolutely impossible unless they have divine assistance!"

  Unfortunately, Huangfu's explanation made Wang Xu even more headache. Ten thousand elite cavalry are not a small force, how did they suddenly appear behind the main army?

  Just as everyone was bewildered, a general rushed over from afar and shouted loudly from a distance: "General Huangfu, please dispatch troops to reinforce us quickly, our great army is in danger!"

  "Hmm? What makes Meng De say this?"

  At the same time that Huangfu Song called out someone's name, Cao Cao had already rushed to the side of the crowd. He hastily bowed his head and immediately opened his mouth: "I just received the general's information, I thought for a long time, only then did I realize that this matter cannot be taken lightly."

  Having said that, without waiting for the crowd to ask questions, he hastily opened his mouth to explain: "You all know, gentlemen, that it is impossible for the Xihua Yellow Turbans to bypass us from behind. However, since the Yingchuan Yellow Turbans have been pacified, if there are other Yellow Turban forces coming from afar, we should also be able to obtain intelligence from the prefectures and counties along the way. But so far, we have gained nothing, which means that both possibilities are impossible! And..."

  "And the only possibility is that in the Battle of Changsha, it was the Yellow Turbans who escaped north under our noses!"

  Wang Xu took over the conversation, his eyelids jumping non-stop. At first, he really didn't think of going up there, but Cao Cao's reminder made him think that the only way to achieve this sudden attack was with Zhang Jue's young son's troops.

  At first, he probably only split half of the people to escape north, attracting Huangfu Song's attention. He himself led the other half of the people to take advantage of Huangfu Song's pursuit of Bo Cai, and when he was busy with no time to spare, they went south. At that time, even if someone saw them along the way, they would only think it was a scattered defeated army, while Chen Guo and Ru Nan would think they were a gathering of Yellow Turbans. So in this gap, this troop became an intelligence misunderstanding without being detected. Plus the support of the Yellow Turbans in Ru Nan and Chen Guo, it's not a big problem for them to lie low.

  As soon as Cao Cao and Wang Xu said this, the other generals immediately reacted, and Hu Jun Sima Fu Jia angrily said: "Good thief, actually use this golden silkworm escape plan!"

  As the commander, Huangfu Song did not see any panic, his eyes narrowed, and a cold light suddenly shot out. But before everyone could notice, his face changed instantly, and he hastily said: "That yellow scarf has extremely strong combat power, and there are many fierce generals in the army. Even Sun Wentai was injured that day. I led the great army to reinforce it, and it took a lot of effort to defeat them. I'm afraid Zhao Yan and Gai Sheng are not their opponents!"

  As he spoke, Huangfu Song's eyes slowly swept over the surrounding generals, but in the end, they all shook their heads and let out a deep sigh.

  "I and Fu Shuo will lead three thousand iron cavalry to reinforce again!" Just then, the commander of the garrisoned cavalry, Bao Hong, stood out.

  Seeing this, Yuan Shao, who had been standing by silently, also spoke up in agreement: "I think it's feasible. Bao Hong and Fu Jia both have bravery and strategic thinking, they are fully capable of taking on this task!"

  And as soon as he spoke, Yuan Shu couldn't stand it anymore and immediately took over the conversation: "The fighting strength of that group of Yellow Turbans, everyone saw it that night, several bandit generals were also exceptionally brave, and the command on the spot was quite orderly. I think it's better to bring more troops and horses to go, don't rush into battle!"

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