Insufficient balance

  Mopan Pasture

  The sun was setting in the west, and Pei Yuanshao hurried over to meet with Ma Yue and Guan Hai. Behind Pei Yuanshao were fifty soldiers, each carrying a large canvas bag on their back, which was filled with quicklime. When Ma Yue discovered the quicklime kiln in the backyard of Zhangzhuang, he was overjoyed. Although it didn't look like much, if used properly, it had unimaginable lethality.

  What Ma Yue didn't expect was that quicklime had already appeared during the Three Kingdoms period. In fact, as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the Chinese had already mastered the calcination method of quicklime.

  Guan Haijing's face turned red with rage, and he exposed his sturdy physique as he tossed a large bundle of dry grass into the thistle bushes by the side of the road. He shouted at Ma Chao in an unhappy tone: "Boqi, brothers have been busy for half a day, just cutting grass here, we don't even feed pigs, why cut so much grass? Are we going to fight and kill government troops or not?"

  A flash of coldness flickered in Ma Jue's eyes. Although the eight hundred bandits had experienced life and death several times, they had not yet gone through a real fierce battle, so their tolerance for the cruelty of war and death was limited. At this time, it was necessary to avoid a hard fight with the government army as much as possible, so Ma Jue had to think of ways to use clever tactics to deal with the government army.

  Only after experiencing many victories can the confidence of the Liúkòu be cultivated, and a psychological advantage over the government army be established in their hearts. At that time, the 800 Liúkòu will become a reliable army, and they will have the strength to fight the government army head-on. But not now.

  Ma Yue's expression turned cold as he sneered and asked, "Old Guan, do you think cutting grass has nothing to do with fighting?"

  "Huh? This...?" Gan Hai scratched his head, asking back in puzzlement, "Does it matter?"

  "Of course." Ma Yue coldly smiled, deciding to give Guan Hai and Pei Yuanshao a lesson in tactics. Pointing at the gentle slope in front of him, he said, "Pasture Slope is the only way for Fuyang County to reach Zhangzhuang. If the government troops come to attack, they will definitely pass through here."

  Guan Hai and Pei Yuanshao nodded at the same time, this is easy to understand.

  A sinister smile flashed across Ma's face, and he said in a low voice: "The terrain here is flat and covered with thick grass, with gentle slopes on three sides, except for the south side which is a swamp. Now it's early spring, the weather is dry and the grass and trees are withered and yellow, making them extremely easy to burn. If our army sets fire simultaneously from the east, west, and north sides, the flames will spread from all directions towards the center, leaving the government troops no choice but to retreat southward."

  Guan Hai and Pei Yuanshao nodded as if they understood, but actually didn't.

  Ma Yu turned his head to glance at the fifty burlap sacks stacked neatly, a ruthless killing intent flashing across his face. He said coldly, "As long as the government troops retreat into the swampy terrain, they will fall into a dead end, and even gods won't be able to save them."

  "Uh..."

  Guan Hai and Pei Yuanshao shivered at the same time, Ma Yue's eyes at this moment made them feel a chill behind their backs.

  Ma Yue hummed and said in a deep voice: "Old Guan, Old Pei, according to my previous order, hurry up and prepare!"

  "Yes, Big Head."

  The two of them responded in unison and then disappeared into thin air.

  ……

  "Hurry up, hurry up, catch up from behind, don't fall behind."

  "Advance troops continue to press on, don't stop."

  Li Yan rode on horseback, constantly urging his soldiers to speed up their march.

  Zhang Zhuang's steward, Zhang Qiu, wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve and looked enviously at Li Yan's horse, calling out in distress: "Lord Li, please rest for a moment, I'm really exhausted, ah, I truly can't move anymore."

  "No, it can't be done!" Li Yan firmly refused. "The bandits in Zhang Village may flee at any moment, we must rush there before they escape and wipe them out with one blow."

  Zhang Qiu said with a bitter face: "Lord Li, if we rush like this, even if we can catch up with the fleeing bandits before they escape, the soldiers will be too exhausted to fight. This would be disadvantageous. Why not rest for now and wait until our spirits are lifted before proceeding slowly?"

  Li Yan glanced at Zhang Qiu with disdain and sneered: "A rustic fellow, how dare you discuss military affairs? Haven't you heard that one drumbeat boosts morale, the second weakens it, and the third exhausts it? All officers and soldiers must follow orders, absolutely no slackness is allowed. With one drumbeat, we'll charge towards Zhang Village, and after annihilating the bandits, Governor Chen will heavily reward us."

  Zhang Qiu's small eyes flashed with a thread of anger, and he could only drag his tired legs to continue on the road.

  Proceeding less than three miles further, the whole army advanced into a gentle slope overgrown with a patch of mugwort. Li Yan's eyebrows furrowed as he was about to order a halt, when his eyes suddenly caught sight of a marshy wetland in the south. Given that this gentle slope had a flat terrain and an open view, it was not suitable for setting up ambushes, so he relaxed and asked Zhang Qiu with a light expression: "Zhang Gongzhu, what place is this?"

  "Replying to your honor, this place is called Pasture Slope, and five miles further ahead is Zhang Village."

  Li Yan's expression changed, he waved his whip and shouted: "The three armies listen to the order, five miles ahead is Zhangzhuang Village, speed up the march!"

  ……

  On the top of a small hill not far to the north, Ma Jue lightly waved his hand, and the two bandits behind him loosened their grip. The lone pine tree they had barely supported came crashing down. A young leader named Zhang Gong strung his bow, and in a series of creaking sounds, the strong bow was drawn into a full moon shape.

  Seeing the lone pine on the small hilltop in the north fall, both Tong Hui to the east and Pei Yuanshao to the west drew their bows and nocked an arrow. The bandits had already pulled out the fire-tipped arrows from the ashes, lit them by brushing against the oil-soaked arrowheads, and as they let go of the bowstrings, the flaming arrows shot into the air with a whooshing sound.

  ……

  "Whoosh!"

  Li Yan's words had just fallen when three shrill whistling sounds pierced the air, and three rockets shot out simultaneously from the east, west, and north. Li Yan and 300 government soldiers watched with wide eyes as the three rockets drew curved trajectories in the sky before landing in a withered yellow grass thicket. Before they could regain their senses, three fires had already erupted.

  Li Yan was the first to react, his face changed greatly, and he shouted loudly: "The whole army speeds up its pace and passes through Moma Slope immediately!"

  However, it's too late! More rockets flew in and fell around the government army, and the dry hay that the 800 bandits had carefully prepared for an entire morning finally played its due role. The fire spread quickly, with the wind assisting the flames, and soon burned into a piece, pressing in from the north, east, and west, trapping Li Yan and the 300 government soldiers in the middle, leaving only the south side of the swamp without fire.

  Li Yan was shocked and lost his composure. Before he could give an order, the 300 government soldiers, who were already in a state of panic, did not wait for his command and fled in disarray.

  "Wow wow......"

  The government troops jumped into the icy swamp like dumplings, and the thick mud immediately submerged their knees, making it difficult for them to move. Several unlucky ones sank quickly and disappeared in the mud pit in the blink of an eye, leaving the soldiers behind who had not fallen into the water looking horrified.

  The raging fire quickly spread over, and the government army standing on the shore could no longer withstand its scorching power. With nowhere to escape, they closed their eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped into the swamp. Those who stayed on the shore were bound to be burned to death, while those who jumped into the swamp might still have a chance to survive.

  Li Yan also galloped into the swamp with his horse, but unlike the soldiers who were rejoicing in their hearts, he knew that since the bandits had set up such a vicious fire attack on Pasture Slope, they would not leave any way for the government army to survive in the southern swamp, and feared that there might be even more vicious means waiting for them.

  Li Yan did not disappoint as a renowned young talent from Nanyang, and indeed he guessed it correctly.

  When the last government soldier jumped into the swamp, a loud shout suddenly erupted from the forest on the other side of the swamp, and then a large group of bandits rushed out of the forest. Li Yan looked around and roughly estimated that there were more than 500 people, which was not what Zhang Qiu had said to be only over a hundred people. At this time, he knew that he had fallen into the bandit's trap, and he couldn't help but turn his head back to hatefully think of finding Zhang Qiu, intending to cut off his head with one sword. However, in the chaotic army, Zhang Qiu's figure was nowhere to be seen.

  What surprised Li Yan even more was that the over 100 bandits in front did not hold knives or guns, but instead two people carried a heavy sack together, and it was unknown what was inside. The over 100 bandits carried the heavy sacks to the edge of the swamp and threw them into the water, then turned around and left without attacking.

  Soon, Li Yan was shocked to find that the water surface near the southern shore of the marsh began to emit hot air, and many places on the water surface were boiling like a rolling boil. The government army, which had barely managed to get here, didn't understand what was happening before they started screaming like pigs being slaughtered, then jumped up and down, rolled into the marsh, and struggled in agony, their appearance quite pitiful...