Insufficient balance

  The first row of Western Liang Iron Cavalry and Yellow Turban bandits clashed fiercely, with sharp long spears easily piercing the bodies of the Yellow Turbans, then stabbing into the bodies of the second row of Yellow Turbans. More Yellow Turbans were knocked flying by the surging warhorses, and they died instantly as they fell backwards through the air.

  The Yellow Turban rebels were immediately thrown into chaos, frightened by the sudden attack and unable to respond. At this time, the Western Liang iron cavalry had already come in waves, wielding heavy slashing sabers. These well-trained horsemen formed sharp arrowheads that charged into battle, cutting through the disorganized Yellow Turbans like a sharp scalpel, slicing them into countless scattered pieces. The bloody slaughter began...

  Zhou Cang exerted himself, wielding his long sword to cut down a Western Liang cavalryman. As he swung his sword towards the second Western Liang cavalryman, an icy killing intent came from the front right side. Zhou Cang suddenly turned his head and saw a cavalryman clad in black iron armor charging towards him like a ghost, with a cold gaze that sent chills down one's spine, his snow-white long sword already raised high in mid-air.

  "Kill!"

  Zhou Cang was fearless, patting his horse and dancing with his knife as he charged forward. The warhorses clashed, and the two long knives collided without any fancy moves, emitting a deafening metallic ringing sound. Zhou Cang felt a suffocating sensation in his chest, as if he had been struck by a thousand-pound hammer. His arm went numb, and he could no longer grip the knife handle tightly. With a loud clang, the long knife fell to the ground.

  The war horse continued to charge forward with inertia, and Zhou Cang's eyes suddenly opened wide, and he had actually penetrated the enemy cavalry array.

  "Bandits retreat, and take another blow from Hua Xiong!"

  Zhou Cang reined in his horse and turned around, only to see a lone rider galloping towards him. Zhou Cang's heart went cold, and he spurred his horse on towards Anxi City. As soon as the commander left, the Yellow Turbans immediately collapsed and scattered in all directions, fleeing across the mountains and fields. Fortunately, this time the Western Liang Iron Cavalry broke with tradition and only pursued for a short while before sounding the retreat.

  So, not many Yellow Turbans were actually killed, but the elite troops led by Zhou Cang still ended in disaster. Of the 5,000 who set out, fewer than * returned to Wan City to report to Zhang Mancheng, with the vast majority dispersing during their retreat.

  ……

  Xi E, Ma Yue's expected Zhang Mancheng army did not appear after all. The chaotic battle between Zhao Hong and Liu Bi groups was inevitable, with nearly 100,000 people from the five forces starting an unusually brutal fight due to greed and desire. Zhao Hong and Han Zhong's allied army had the absolute upper hand, launching wave after wave of swift and fierce attacks on Liu Bi, Gong Dou, and Sun Xia's 30,000-strong allied army.

  Although the Liu Bei group was stationed and defended, the simple camp could not stop the attack of the Zhao Hong group at all. Many camps had been breached, and the two armies were in a melee, falling into a chaotic battle, and the situation became more unfavorable to the Liu Bei group.

  In the main camp, Liu Bi's expression was dismal, with a look of regret, Gong Dou and Sun Xia also had twitching expressions. Now, even if they wanted to repent, it would be too late! Zhao Hong, who had taken the upper hand, would not show any mercy. All along, Zhao Hong and Han Zhong had been trying every means to swallow up Liu Bi's three battalions, today was just an excuse for them to take action.

  Outside the main camp, Zhao Hongyao pointed to Liu Bi's military camp and couldn't hide the excitement in his expression. He turned to Han Zhong beside him and said: "Brother Han, defeating Gong Dou, Sun Xia, and Liu Bi's bandits is just a matter of today. Tomorrow onwards, looking at the entire Nan Yang area, only Zhang Shuai and our two families' allied forces will be left, haha..."

  Han Zhong's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness, and he said in a low voice: "From today on, I'm afraid even Commander Zhang will have to show some deference to Brother Zhao."

  Zhao Hong looked up at the sky and laughed loudly, with a pleased expression on his face. If he could successfully annex Gong Du's three troops today, Zhao Hong would indeed have the strength to challenge Zhang Mancheng. At that time, the two heroes would contend for supremacy, and it was still unknown who would be the master of Nanyang.

  Poor Zhao Hong, who always regarded himself as a hero, but in his eyes there was only this small piece of land in Nanyang.

  "Wooo..."

  Zhao Hong's laughter had yet to fade when a distant and drawn-out bugle call suddenly echoed from the north.

  "What sound?" Zhao Hong's face changed color and he exclaimed in a low voice, "Could it be the horn blowing!"

  Han Zhong listened intently for a moment, his expression changing greatly as he said: "This is bad, it seems to be the sound of the government army's horn!"

  The two men looked at each other in horror, both seeing the fear in each other's eyes. The government army suddenly appeared at this time, and it was really hopeless. At this time, the two armies were already entangled with Gong Dou and his three people, and it was not easy to withdraw now?

  The distant and lingering sound of the horn has just stopped, and the stirring sound of the war drum has already risen with a loud noise. Zhao Hong and Han Zhong looked at each other in shock and gazed northward, only to see that behind the low and calm horizon, dense and colorful tribal flags suddenly appeared. In front of them, a large flag was raised, embroidered with a huge "Zhu" character. Under the tribal flag, knives, guns, swords, and halberds stood upright like a forest, and the soldiers were densely packed, exuding an aura of murder that rushed towards them. The two armies were actually less than a thousand paces apart.

  "It's really the government army!"

  "It's Zhu Yuanzhang's army!"

  "How did they get here?"

  "It's all over! This is the end!"

  Zhao Hong and Han Zhong sighed at the same time, their minds already in disarray. At this moment, the Yellow Turbans outside the camp had discovered the arrival of the government troops and were retreating in a state of panic, while those inside the camp continued to fight chaotically, completely unaware that disaster was already upon them.

  ……

  Zhu Yun turned his horse around, and saw that the soldiers behind him were standing upright like a forest, their cold killing intent almost freezing the sky and earth.

  Zhu Yun drew his sword and held it high above his head, the intense drumming suddenly stopped, all the soldiers stood still with their feet together, thousands of pairs of cold eyes focused on Zhu Yun at the same time, there was no other sound in the world, only the heavy breathing of the soldiers and the rustling sound of the flags being blown by the cold wind.

  "Hurray for the Chinese army!"

  Zhu Yunzhen waved his arm and shouted loudly, the sound wave piercing through the quiet sky and clearly entering the eardrum of every scholar present.

  "Hurray for the Chinese army!"

  The Han army officers and men raised their arms and shouted loudly, the crowd was excited, the huge sound wave was like a landslide, covering up all the sounds in the world.

  "It's now or never to make a name for ourselves! " Zhu Yun turned his horse around, his precious sword slicing through the air, and his thunderous voice echoed across the sky, "Charge!"

  "Kill!"

  The Han army responded with a loud shout, fighting bravely and launching a massive attack on the Yellow Turbans, who were already in disarray.

  Han army left wing, Sun Jian wore a suit of fire red armor, his whole body was like a burning flame, with an ancient halberd in hand, weighing sixty-three kilograms, swinging it around like a dazzling silver flower, charging straight into the Yellow Turban array, those who stood in front were all scattered! Behind Sun Jian, four tiger generals followed closely, determined to die together. Wherever the five horses passed, the Yellow Turban thieves were immediately split and broken, not one person could stop them for even a moment.

  The Han army's right wing, Liu Bei held a double-edged sword, his chest burning with hot blood due to Zhu Huan's stirring words, and he shouted loudly to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei beside him: "Second brother, third brother, the time for us to serve the court, make achievements and establish merits has come, kill!"

  Guan Yu and Zhang Fei rode horses side by side, 500 vanguard troops gathered from Youyan, advancing with a loud shout.

  ……

  At the moment the government troops appeared, Ma Chao knew that Huang Zhong was finished!

  Zhu Huan did not disappoint as the last famous general of the Han Dynasty, and he did not miss such a great opportunity. He led his army to attack when the two groups of Yellow Turbans were most fiercely at odds with each other.

  Under Zhu Huan's command, the 5,000 northern troops were well-trained and well-equipped, having just experienced the baptism of blood in the battle against the Yellow Turbans at Yingchuan. Their combat effectiveness and will to fight had reached unprecedented heights, with a qualitative leap forward that far surpassed the peasant army of the Southern Yellow Turbans.

  If in normal times, relying on a tenfold advantage in military strength might still create the miracle of ants biting an elephant to death. However, at present, the two groups of Yellow Turbans who were already in disarray and unable to form ranks to meet the enemy, the government army only charged once, the Yellow Turban army was thrown into chaos, and soon turned into a great rout.

  In the chaos of the army, Ma Yue found Chen Gan and Chen Le, and led the two brothers to desperately flee.

  The Han court's treatment of rebels was quite severe, once caught, they would be beheaded without asking for the reason. Therefore, Ma Yue never had any illusions about surrendering, except for escaping, even if it meant dying in battle, he absolutely could not fall into the hands of the government army! Ma Yue was not afraid of death and did not lack courage, but he also knew that one person's resistance was fundamentally unable to change the overall situation.

  Mixed in the fleeing remnants of the Yellow Turbans, Ma Jue deeply felt the helplessness and sorrow of the small soldiers. The Yellow Turban army was not lacking in brave and fearless warriors, but with disaster looming over them, many Yellow Turban bandits fought to the death without retreating. However, their figures were soon swallowed up by the iron tide of the government army. In the face of the tiger-like government army, their resistance seemed so pale and powerless.

  If the Liu Bei's forces were not so incompetent, if the Zhao Hong's forces did not have such a narrow vision, the fate of the Yellow Turbans might have been different. However, this is only an "if", and it can never become a reality. The Great Yellow Turban Rebellion was doomed to fail from the very beginning, because it lacked a strong upper-level structure.

  Just like a person, having strong muscles but no intelligent brain, is destined to be mediocre.