Insufficient balance

  Ma Chao led over a thousand Yellow Turban remnants, originally intending to avoid the government army's large camp. However, the government army reacted quickly and completed their assembly in an extremely short period of time, shouting as they charged out of the camp to intercept them.

  In the thin dawn, the two armies collided and fought together. Due to the suddenness of the matter, the government army was unprepared and was soon broken through by the Yellow Turbans. After breaking through the defense line, the Yellow Turbans did not entangle much, quickly got rid of the government army and fled northward. In just a moment, the government army, which was stunned on the spot and dared not pursue, could only see their backs in the distance.

  These Yellow Turbans, although they were defeated soldiers, were all robust men who had crawled out of piles of dead bodies. If they didn't have extraordinary physical strength and leg power, it would be impossible for them to follow Guan Hai and break through the siege from Wan City to Jing Mountain. Now, following Ma Chao to make a living, their minds were filled with thoughts of fine wine, delicious food, and beautiful women, so they naturally used all their strength, each one running faster than rabbits.

  It turns out that Qin Lie was too confident, and he was certain that the remnants of the Yellow Turbans would not dare to make a surprise attack at night, so he summoned all the leaders of the righteous army to discuss matters in the main camp. As there was no commander-in-chief, the northern righteous army did not dare to act rashly, and could only watch as the Yellow Turban bandits disappeared into the dust.

  When Huang Zhong rushed back to the military camp on his fast horse, the Yellow Turbans had already retreated ten miles away. Huang Zhong hastily assembled his troops to pursue them and at the same time sent someone to report this to Qin Yong. Upon receiving Huang Zhong's report, Qin Yong was still skeptical and didn't believe that the Yellow Turbans could change overnight and become so formidable.

  Qin Lie summoned Wen Ping from Mount Heng, and when Wen Ping climbed up to take a look, he only saw a large pile of straw men surrounding the bonfire to keep warm, and couldn't help but curse loudly.

  ……

  Ma Yuanyi led the remaining troops to flee north for less than 20 li, and they barely reached Laohegou. At this time, there were only over 800 people left behind him. After a chaotic battle, more than 200 people were lost again.

  Pei Yuanshao, now a startled bird, hastily rushed up and grabbed Ma Chao's reins, shouting: "Boqi, don't go any further north! North is Yan City, where Zhu Huan's army and Han Zhong's rebel forces are. It's a dead end!"

  Guan Hai also said in a low voice: "That's right, ahead is Laohegou, and the government troops may have an ambush."

  Ma Yue's face floated up with a sly smile and asked: "Do you all think that going north is a dead end?"

  "Uh-huh."

  Guan Hai and Pei Yuanshao nodded at the same time.

  "That's right!" Ma Yue slapped his palms together and exclaimed, "As expected, the government troops would think this way too. This is exactly the perfect opportunity for us to break out of the encirclement and shake off the government troops."

  "Tube Hài."

  "In."

  "Order you to lead 300 men to ambush on the left side of Laohegou, when the government army comes to attack, look at my hand gesture as a signal, and lead the troops to cover up and kill."

  Bai Yuanshao.

  "In."

  "Order you to lead 300 men to ambush on the right side of Laohegou, when the government army comes to attack, look at my hand gesture as a signal, and lead the army to cover up and kill."

  "The rest of you, stay put with me outside Laohegou."

  Guan Hai and Pei Yuanshao didn't understand the meaning of Ma Chao's arrangement, but they still led their troops to hide separately. Ma Chao let the remaining hundred or so people sit down at the old river mouth to rest, quietly waiting for the arrival of the government army.

  This is another gamble with one's life!

  If the government army commander was cautious enough, gathering all troops before pursuing northward, then Ma Chao's two routes of ambush would be useless. Facing a government army with superior numbers, equipment and training, the remaining Yellow Turbans could only end up like eggs hitting a rock, their heads broken and bleeding.

  Ma Yue gambled on the imperial army underestimating the enemy!

  The Yellow Turbans' consistent poor performance made it easy for the government army to become arrogant and complacent. Moreover, having been ambushed by the government army in multiple routes last night and being defeated miserably, the government army's arrogance could only intensify.

  Although they escaped in a hurry, Ma Chao still estimated that the government army guarding the north slope had only about 500 people. If the government army on the north slope did not wait for the other three directions of the government army to merge and came alone, then Ma Chao would have a great opportunity to defeat this route of the government army first, and then escape from the siege.

  Time was ticking away second by second, although in front of the soldiers, Ma Jue's face remained calm and composed, but in reality he was tense to the extreme, facing a life-or-death decision, no one could remain unmoved. Ma Jue wasn't a god or a demon, just a small figure struggling to survive in a chaotic world.

  It's finally here, as expected.

  When that group of government troops suddenly appeared on the southern horizon, the huge stone in Ma Chao's heart finally fell to the ground, and he had won his bet again! Now even if the Emperor himself came to Luoyang, he couldn't stop this less-than-thousand-man remnant of the Yellow Turbans.

  ……

  Huang Zhong rode his horse to the forefront, as he led the vanguard in a forced march. His 500 brave warriors had been stretched out in a long, winding line, with the fastest ones barely able to keep up behind Huang Zhong's horse, eating dust, while the slower ones had already fallen far behind. Yet Huang Zhong continued to urge his soldiers to quicken their pursuit.

  Huang Zhong was anxious in his heart.

  For the first time under General Qin's command, not only did he fail to achieve any merit, but he even let the Yellow Turbans escape from his defense of the northern slope. How could Huang Zhong, who had always been proud and arrogant, accept this?

  "Hurry up!"

  Huang Zhong furrowed his brow, turning back to beckon the soldiers ceaselessly. One of them suddenly pointed ahead and shouted: "General, look! The Yellow Turbans are approaching!"

  Huang Zhong suddenly turned his head, the thin morning mist had already dispersed, and indeed saw that in front of the old river ditch where he had set an ambush last night, there was a group of about 100 Yellow Turbans either lying or sitting on the ground, panting. At this moment, the Yellow Turbans also discovered the government army, and like startled rabbits, they jumped up from the ground and swarmed towards the depths of the old river ditch to escape.

  Huang Zhong's spirit was lifted, and he thought to himself that this must be a small group of Yellow Turbans who had fallen behind, and the main force of Yellow Turbans should not be far ahead.

  Huang Zhong, eager to make a name for himself, didn't take this small band of over 100 Yellow Turbans seriously and, without waiting for the main troops to arrive, led the vanguard of over 100 men in a head-on charge into Lahe Gorge, determined to annihilate this small band of Yellow Turban rebels first. To be sure, Huang Zhong was well-versed in military strategy and shouldn't have made such a low-level mistake as underestimating the enemy and rushing forward rashly, but he had been accurately read by Ma Chao.

  Underestimating the enemy! Deep down, Huang Zhong had never taken the Yellow Turbans seriously, just a mob of undisciplined rabble, not worth considering. Last night's battle at Laohekou only deepened this impression.

  In the depths of the old river ditch, a small band of over 100 Yellow Turbans had been driven into a desperate situation.

  Behind them were pursuing soldiers, in front of them was a large expanse of muddy terrain, they had nowhere to escape, that small group of Yellow Turbans gave up running away, turned around with their backs against the riverbank, and unusually wanted to fight the government army to the death. Huang Zhong shouted loudly, urging his horse to advance quickly, wielding his sword straight at the Yellow Turban bandit standing in front, who was quite dignified in appearance.

  In front of the Yellow Turbans' formation, Ma Chao raised his right arm high and locked his cold eyes onto Huang Zhong before fiercely swinging down his right arm.

  "Whoosh!"

  In the midst of a sharp, piercing sound, a cold killing intent suddenly struck from the left side. Huang Zhong was greatly shocked and hastily dodged to avoid it, barely avoiding a fatal blow to his throat, but unable to dodge another strike that hit his shoulder.

  "Sure."

  A loud thud, a sharp arrow had already pierced through the iron armor on his chest and deeply penetrated Huang Zhong's right shoulder.

  "Ouch!"

  Huang Zhong let out a mournful cry, almost falling off his horse. It was indeed a case of the hunter becoming the hunted, as he who had been shooting geese for years had now been blinded by a goose's peck. Huang Zhong was originally skilled with the bow and arrow, but today he had fallen victim to someone else's ambush!

  "Kill!"

  Over a hundred Yellow Turbans, who were in desperate straits, charged forward first.

  "Kill!"

  "Kill!"

  A deafening shout of killing suddenly erupted from both sides of the old river ditch, and countless yellow turban thieves emerged like ghosts from the waist-deep wormwood thickets, rushing towards the more than 100 government soldiers in the middle like a tide. Even if it was just a false show of strength, the more than 100 brave warriors behind Huang Zhong were frightened enough.

  "Not good, there's an ambush!" Huang Zhong's heart turned cold, he quickly turned his horse around and shouted, "Withdraw, withdraw quickly!"

  The commander left immediately, and the righteous and brave soldiers who had already chilled their gallbladders also lost their will to resist in an instant. They turned around and ran back along the way they came. The follow-up righteous and brave soldiers didn't understand what was going on before being disrupted. When they saw the Yellow Turban thieves rushing over like a tide, they were flustered and didn't know how many people and horses there were, so they hastily followed suit and turned around to escape.

  The defeated soldiers were like a collapsing mountain, Huang Zhong had set an ambush in Laohekou last night to heavily attack the Yellow Turbans, but now he was ambushed and attacked by the Yellow Turbans instead! It can be said that things in the world are unpredictable and changing beyond recognition.

  "Haha, kill!"

  He Zhang Cang let out a loud roar, and with one slash of his sword, he knocked down a slow-moving government soldier. He felt an indescribable sense of relief and joy in his heart. Usually, it was the Yellow Turbans who were being chased around like dogs by the government troops. But today, the tables had turned, and it was the government soldiers who were being chased around like dogs by the Yellow Turbans. It was exhilarating, truly exhilarating!

  He looked up at the sky and laughed loudly three times, Guan Hai was about to chase again with his knife, but was pulled back by Ma Yue.

  "It's done, don't pursue anymore, immediately gather the troops and advance at once."

  "Why?"

  Guan Hai was stunned and didn't understand. Pei Yuanshao on the other side also didn't comprehend, now is exactly the perfect time to beat a drowning dog.

  "The pursuing government troops will arrive in an instant, and the Zhu Yun's army in Yan City may also come down at any time. If we don't leave now, we'll have no place to bury our bodies!"