Insufficient balance

  The imperial army approached, and the Yellow Turbans didn't even put up a decent resistance before fleeing in disarray. Zhao Hong's men and Liu Bi's men were packed together, rushing towards the southern city of Wan, their former mortal enemies now becoming desperate brothers in flight.

  Thirty miles south of Xiying, Dong Zhuo's Xiliang Iron Cavalry had defeated Zhou Cang's 5,000 Yellow Turbans. After defeating Zhou Cang, Dong Zhuo, who was accustomed to being bloodthirsty, did not pursue the victory this time, but instead quickly gathered his troops and re-arrayed them. The army was rearranged into a neat cavalry formation and pressed northward again.

  To the east and west of Xi'e, there were two elite government troops advancing southward, forming a pincer movement with Zhu Huan's main force in the center, firmly blocking the escape routes of the Yellow Turbans to the east and west. The battle-hardened Zhu Huan had already opened his jaws, like a lion revealing its bloody fangs, waiting for the ignorant Yellow Turbans to fall into the trap.

  The flustered and bewildered Yellow Turbans were like headless flies, rushing into the trap set by the government army.

  More than 10 miles south of Xi'e, the White River makes a bend here, which locals call Baidongtan. When the defeated Yellow Turbans fled to Baidongtan, the government army finally completed its encirclement.

  The Western Liang General Dong Zhuo's iron cavalry blocked the escape route to the south, Zhu Huan's large army pursued and killed from the north, Colonel Cao Cao led 500 elite soldiers to appear in the west, ordering his men to drag dry firewood back and forth on the ground, raising floating dust as a decoy array, the already chilled Yellow Turbans did not dare to break through to the west.

  The government troops on the east side seemed to be the weakest and easiest to break through, but unfortunately, there was a White River in between. The Colonel of the Shock Troops, Yuan Shao, led 500 elite soldiers in a line on the opposite bank of the White River, waiting in strict formation. Hundreds of Yellow Turbans yelled and jumped into the White River, trying to swim across to escape with their lives, but they were either frozen to death or shot dead by the government troops on the opposite bank.

  Countless Yellow Turbans crowded on the narrow Baidi Plains, flustered and at a loss, it seemed they had no other way out but to wait for the government troops to slaughter them.

  Seeing that the Yellow Turbans were already in a desperate situation and had nowhere to escape, Zhu Huan ordered the government troops to stop pursuing them. At a distance of one thousand steps (about 1.5 kilometers) from Baidi, they set up their camp and ordered the soldiers to rest on the spot.

  The all-out pursuit just now had caused great damage to the Yellow Turbans, but at the same time it had also greatly consumed the physical strength and morale of the government army. At this moment, if they were to launch another fierce attack into the enemy's formation, perhaps they could annihilate the Yellow Turbans once and for all. However, after their physical strength had decreased, the casualties of the government army would increase dramatically. As the commander, Zhu Yue did not want such a thing to happen.

  Soldiers are his life, he must be responsible for every soldier who follows him to fight, this is Zhu Yun's consistent style of leading troops.

  ……

  Yellow Turban bandits' camp.

  Ma Chao sighed, knowing that the government army's temporary halt in attack was not out of kindness, but rather a brief rest to recover their strength, so as to better slaughter the Yellow Turbans later.

  The poor Yellow Turbans were still in a mess on the riverbank, pushing and shoving each other. From time to time, some unfortunate weaklings would be pushed into the White River and meet a tragic end. There was no commander to boost morale or any general to restore order; everything had descended into chaos, with no rules or discipline to speak of. In essence, these Yellow Turbans were nothing more than a group of peasants who had taken up arms.

  In less than half a watch, when the government troops had recovered their strength, the doomed day of these poor Yellow Turbans had also arrived, and they would witness with their own heads and hot blood the rise of one after another of the heroes of the chaotic world.

  Look up at the dark horizon, the heavy dark clouds make people breathless, Ma Yue's mouth corners rise with a faint bitter smile, this is the chaotic world. The downfall of the Yellow Turbans was faster than he had imagined, and before he could even use his two thousand years of wisdom to change his own fate, the Yellow Turbans had already collapsed.

  Like this, accompanying these ignorant Yellow Turbans to become a cup of yellow earth? Ma Jue was not willing, although it is said that in the chaotic world, human life is cheap as ants, but he did not want to die so unclear! Taking a deep breath of cold air, Ma Jue put his heavy steel knife on his shoulder and walked out among the crowd to the front of Baidi Mountain. Turning back to look around, he saw that the narrow Baidi Mountain was crowded with people, at least 500,000 more Yellow Turbans, if they could be inspired to fight, maybe there would still be a chance to turn things around.

  Ma Yue picked up an ownerless steel knife from the ground and struck it against his own knife, producing a clear and crisp metallic ring that attracted the attention of hundreds of Yellow Turbans who were about to resist. These Yellow Turbans turned their heads to look at Ma Yue, their eyes filled with alarm and doubt.

  Facing the hundreds of Yellow Turbans with bewildered eyes, Ma Chao's expression was stern and he said in a loud voice: "From your helpless and desperate gaze, I saw the fear of death! I'm just like you, I also fear death. Perhaps one day we will fall into the arms of the god of death, plummeting into that cold endless darkness, but I want to tell you, it won't be today!"

  Hundreds of Yellow Turbans showed a listening expression, since joining the Yellow Turbans, no one has ever spoken to them like this, their calm performance attracted the attention of the surrounding Yellow Turbans, and more Yellow Turbans joined the ranks of listeners.

  "Perhaps one day we will be forced to jump into the icy river and be shot at by government troops on the shore like hedgehogs, but I want to tell you that it absolutely won't be today!"

  "Perhaps one day we will be beheaded by the brutal government troops and our heads hung high on the city walls for all to see, but I want to tell you that it absolutely won't be today!"

  ……

  More and more Yellow Turbans noticed the abnormality here, they gradually stopped their noise, stopped their crowding, quieted down, calmed down, and began to silently listen to Ma Jue's speech. In less than ten minutes, Ma Jue successfully attracted the attention of all the Yellow Turban bandits, and the commotion on Baidi Mountain finally subsided. At least at this moment, all the Yellow Turbans were listening intently to Ma Jue's speech.

  In front of the official army formation, Zhu Yun's eyes revealed a look of surprise and doubt, looking around left and right, he asked: "What's going on? The rebels' disturbance seems to have subsided."

  Liu Bei rode his horse forward and said to Zhu Ling: "General, it seems that someone is shouting in front of the formation, boosting the morale of the bandit soldiers."

  A glint of sharpness flashed in Zhu's eyes, and a cold smile spread across the corner of his mouth as he said in a low voice, "Interesting, let's see what else he can do."

  Sun Jian, standing on one side of the horse, changed his expression upon hearing this. He put his hand on the railing and looked towards Baidi, seeing a tall man standing in front of the enemy army, waving his arms and shouting. The sound was loud enough to be heard from afar.

  ……

  Since they had already attracted the attention of all the Yellow Turbans, Ma Chao turned over and mounted a masterless war horse, waving his arm and shouting: "In front is the White River, we have no way to retreat! Surrendering means death, throwing oneself into the river also means death, either way it's death, why don't we fight the government army to the end!"

  Pei Yuanshao pushed through the crowd and walked to the front of the troops, his face flushed like a sunset, his eyes revealing a murderous intent that made one's heart skip a beat. As soon as Ma Chong's words fell, he raised his arm and shouted: "Fight to the death!"

  "Fight to the death!"

  Hei Lian Da Han Guan Hai also arrived at the front of the team at some point, and followed Pei Yuanshao's loud shout.

  "Fight to the death!"

  More Yellow Turbans followed with loud cries, and then more and more Yellow Turbans joined the shouting crowd. In the end, almost all the Yellow Turbans started shouting frantically. Once the desperate and depressed emotions found a breakthrough to vent, the energy that burst out was undoubtedly quite astonishing.

  "Ahhh~~"

  Ma Yue spurred his horse and turned around, facing the Northern Han army's main camp. With a loud shout, he wielded the steel knife in his hand with all his might.

  "Ahhh~~"

  Pei Yuanshao, Guan Hai and more of the Yellow Turbans followed suit, imitating Ma Chao's actions by raising their weapons high into the air and brandishing them wildly as they bellowed loudly. Tens of thousands of people gathered together to shout and yell, creating a deafening din that was like thunder in the distance, causing the eardrums of the government troops stationed over a thousand paces away to ache with pain.

  ……

  In front of the government army, Sun Jian's expression changed slightly. The sudden change of the Yellow Turban rebels was somewhat beyond his expectation. Was this still the familiar Yellow Turban rebels he knew? Even if it were his own elite soldiers from Jiangdong, they might not have performed any better than the current Yellow Turbans in such a desperate situation.

  Zhu Yun's eyes also flashed with a hint of unusual color, and the icy smile at the corner of his mouth became even more intense. He said calmly, "It's getting more and more interesting, there are actually such people among the bandits, this is a worthy opponent! If they were all just mediocre people, it would be too boring to fight, hum."