Insufficient balance

  Let's not mention Ma Chao meeting Zou Yumao in Yu Yang for now, and focus on the Yellow Turbans in Wan Cheng. What happened to them? What exactly occurred that night?

  Liu Bi heard that Ma Yue had surrendered to Guan Hai, and in a fit of rage, he led his army to raid Zhao Hong's camp. Zhang Mancheng led the army out of the city to mediate, but was ambushed instead. In the chaos, Zhang Mancheng was forced to retreat into Zhao Hong's camp, and took Zhao Hong, Gong Dou, and Sun Xia with him. Only Han Zhong managed to slip away unnoticed.

  Du Yuan, who had already been bought off by Han Zhong, took Liu Bi's order to contact Gong Dou and Sun Xia's troops, falsely claiming that Gong Dou and Sun Xia had been killed by Zhang Mancheng. He said that Zhang Mancheng was now in the west of the city at Zhao Hong's large camp drinking and feasting, and that Liu Bi had already led his army there, intending to kill Zhang Mancheng to avenge the deaths of Gong and Sun.

  Du Yuan was extremely eloquent, and after he stirred up the crowd, Gong Dou and Sun Xia's soldiers immediately believed it to be true. They shouted slogans to support Liu Bi as the Grand Commander of Nanyang and to avenge Zhang Mancheng's death. When Du Yuan led them in a chaotic rush to the west gate of Wan City, Zhang Mancheng happened to lead his army out, which led to the scene where Zhang Mancheng was ambushed.

  Liu Bi did not want to become an enemy of Zhang Mancheng, but the ambush troops had already raised the flag of Commander-in-Chief Liu Bi, and he was already speechless. He simply took a deep breath and led his army to join the siege against Zhang Mancheng.

  Zhang Mansheng sent someone to ask Zhang Xian for help, and Zhang Xian hastily mobilized 100,000 troops to come and rescue him. However, in the chaos, they mistakenly fell into an ambush by an unknown army (actually Han Zhong's army) halfway through. A chaotic battle ensued, resulting in most of his soldiers scattering, leaving only less than 20,000 men when they arrived at the western camp. They were immediately drawn into another chaotic battle, and it wasn't until dawn broke that all sides sounded the retreat.

  By then, the Nanyang Yellow Turbans had completely disintegrated.

  Zhang Mancheng, who was originally the strongest, suffered the heaviest losses in this chaotic battle. Zhang Xian not only lost the northern camp, but also had his 100,000-strong army ambushed and then clashed with Liu Bi, resulting in more than half of his soldiers fleeing or being killed, leaving him with less than 10,000 men.

  Zhou Cang's two thousand elite soldiers were almost wiped out in the melee, and even Zhou Cang himself was seriously injured. This was all done by Guan Yu.

  Because Zhang Mancheng arrested Zhao Hong without reason, he provoked the rough man Guan Hai. As a result, Guan Hai led his 1,000 elite soldiers to defect and join Liu Bi in attacking Zhang Mancheng. More than half of Zhou Cang's 2,000 elite soldiers were killed by Guan Hai's men, while Liu Bi just made some empty noises.

  Liu Bi, who was originally the weakest force, actually increased his strength after a night of chaos and killing. Zhang Mancheng killed Gong Dou and Sun Xia in a fit of rage, and most of their subordinates were absorbed by Liu Bi. After a night of chaos, although they suffered heavy losses, more than 3,000 people remained, plus the nearly thousand people Liu Bi originally had, making him much stronger.

  However, the one who benefited the most from it was Han Zhong, who had already surrendered to the imperial court. It was also Han Zhong who, under the planning of Qin Ying, the governor of Nanyang, created this great chaos, directly leading to the collapse and dispersal of the Yellow Turbans in Nanyang, never to recover again.

  When the sun rises again from the east, the city head of Wan has already changed to a Korean flag. Taking advantage of Zhang Mancheng and Liu Bi's endless battle, Han Zhong took the opportunity to capture Wan City, incorporated the soldiers left in the city by Zhang Mancheng, Zhao Hong and others, and expanded his forces to nearly 20,000 men, becoming the strongest force among the Yellow Turbans in Nanyang.

  Apart from this, there is a fourth force, that is, the 800 old troops led by Guan Hai, who set up camp in a village not far from the original city's western camp, watching each other from a distance. Although they fought all night yesterday, Guan Hai still doesn't understand what happened and doesn't know whether Zhao Hong is alive or dead, so he can't bear to leave.

  Around noon, Han Zhong finally stabilized the situation in the city and sent envoys to Zhang Mancheng, Liu Bi and Guan Hai's camps respectively, asking them to meet outside the west gate of Wan City, saying that there were important matters to discuss.

  ……

  Xi E, Zhu Yun's official army camp.

  As the sun began to set in the west, when the officers and men of the government army thought that today would be as peaceful as yesterday, Qin Wei rushed into Zhu Yun's camp with a joyful face and said loudly: "General, great joy! Great joy!"

  Zhu Huan's expression was cold and stern as he lifted his head from the map, while Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and other generals under him also turned their heads towards Qin Yu at the same time. Qin Yu took a deep breath, adjusted his excited emotions, and said: "General, Han Zhong acted according to plan, last night there was a big melee in Nanyang Huangjin, countless soldiers and horses were lost, its strength has been reduced by 90%, it's no longer worth worrying about."

  Qin Lie's words had just fallen when the faces of all the generals in the camp changed greatly.

  Dong Zhuo, Liu Bei and Yuan Shao were all incredulous, Sun Jian's eyebrows furrowed as if doubting the truth of this statement, only Cao Cao's gaze was calm and collected, his face showing little surprise, as if all this had been within his expectations.

  Zhu Yun's expression changed, and he exclaimed: "Are these words true?!"

  "It's true!" Qin said, "Now that Han Zhong has occupied Wan City, the remaining rebel forces under Zhang Mancheng are less than 10,000 and are stationed west of the city. The others, such as Liu Bi and Guan Hai, have few troops and little strength, and can almost be ignored."

  "Bang!"

  Zhu Huan's double palms struck together, making a crisp sound. His eyes stared intently at Qin Ping, and he said with a flourish: "General Qin planned in secret, and with a wave of his hand, the bandits were reduced to ashes. The Yellow Turbans of Nanyang have been defeated, and you should take credit for this achievement!"

  As soon as Zhu Huan spoke, Yuan Shao and Dong Zhuo's faces changed color at the same time, showing obvious anger. In their opinion, Qin You was just moving his lips and playing a small trick, neither drawing a knife nor killing an enemy, how could he be considered the first achievement? Only Cao Cao slightly nodded his head, deeply agreeing with Zhu Huan's words.

  "General, you're overpraising me. If it weren't for your personal leadership of the great army to quell the rebellion, even if I had the talent to control the heavens and earth, I wouldn't have been able to deal with the Yellow Turbans. This achievement naturally belongs to no one but you."

  Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao felt relieved upon hearing this, thinking that Qin Yong would not dare to take credit for this achievement. Cao Cao, however, showed a different expression, casting a deep glance at Qin Yong, who happened to be looking back at him at the same time. Their eyes met in mid-air, and both saw a hint of admiration in each other's gaze.

  Zhu Huan burst out laughing and said in a loud voice, "Whoever should be credited with the merit is for the imperial court and the emperor to decide. Now is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the situation and launch a major attack on the Yellow Turbans! All generals, listen to my orders!"

  "Agreed!"

  Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Sun Jian and Liu Bei took a step forward simultaneously, clasped their fists and loudly pledged allegiance to Zhu Jun.

  Zhu Huan took a deep breath, and in a low voice, commanded: "All generals, quickly mobilize the troops and horses, follow me to launch a campaign. First, we will attack Zhang Mancheng outside the city, then defeat Han Zhong, and wipe out the Yellow Turbans of Nanyang. Today is the day."

  Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao responded in unison, with a strong murderous intent in their eyes. Sun Jian and Liu Bei were also excited, looking like they were eager to take action. Only Cao Cao slightly furrowed his brow, seemingly having a different opinion on how to deal with Han Zhong, but he didn't say anything and silently accepted Zhu Huan's order.

  ……

  Zhu Huan divided his troops, preparing to launch a final attack on the Yellow Turbans in Nanyang. Qin Jue obtained an order from Zhu Huan and hastily returned to Jiuyang, arranging for various righteous and brave soldiers to assist the government army in fighting against the Yellow Turban bandits. The cunning Qin Jue had already anticipated that after the Yellow Turbans outside the city encountered the government army's attack, they would inevitably flee southward. Zhu Huan's order was to defend Wan City with Han Zhong, and he would not send a large army to pursue and kill them. This merit could not be attributed to anyone else but Qin Jue and the various righteous and brave soldiers of Nanyang.

  The grand hall of Ci Yang County, where heroes gather and strong men from all sides converge.

  After Wan City fell, in order to show the imperial court that he would fight the Yellow Turbans to the end and never retreat, Qin Ping set up a temporary county government in Juyang County, which is less than 100 miles away from Wan City. He also relied on the three righteous and brave armies of Huang Zhong in Juyang, Zou Jing in Yuyang, and Wei He (Wei Yan's father) in Yiyang (which was not yet a prefecture at that time), forming a horn-shaped formation to support each other, stubbornly holding on until Zhu Huan led the main force to come and quell the rebellion.

  In the great hall, Qin Hui sat with ease and composure, his expression carefree and relaxed, the depression that had lingered after losing Wan City a few months ago having long since dissipated.

  In the great hall, all the generals gathered together. Huang Zhong and Wei Yan were both matchless warriors. Zou Jing was a man of both literary and military talents. There was also General Cai Mao from Nanjun, who led one thousand local soldiers under the order of Xu Shu, the governor of Jingzhou (the local defense troops, similar to today's armed police). Even Wen Pin, Qin Ping's younger brother-in-law, only nineteen years old, looked spirited and eager for battle.

  Qin You's expression turned solemn, and he stood up tall, saying in a loud voice: "By order of the Left Middle General of the Great Han, Zhu Jiang."

  Huang Zhong and others stood up with a clang, standing solemnly to listen to orders.

  "Huang Zhong obeys orders."

  "The end will be there."

  "Order you to lead 500 brave soldiers of the main force to set an ambush at Laohegou, and after the Yellow Turban bandits pass by, raise fire as a signal, and then lead the army to follow up and wipe them out."

  "Wei He obeys orders."

  "The end will be there."

  "Order you to lead 500 brave soldiers in ambush at Hei Shu Lin, with the fire at Lao He Gou as the signal, and then lead the army to attack from the east."

  "Zou Jing, listen to orders."

  "The end will be there."

  "Order you to lead 500 brave soldiers of the main force to set up an ambush at Fenglin Du, with the fire at Lahe Gou as a signal, and then lead the army to attack from the west."

  "Ts'ai Mao obeys orders."

  "The end will be there."

  "Order you to lead 1,000 elite soldiers and 500 Nanyang soldiers to wait for orders in Jiyang. When the fire on Mount Xiong'er starts, lead the army to besiege Jing Mountain."

  "Listen and obey."

  "The end will be there."

  "Order you to lead 50 soldiers to ambush at the top of Ling Mountain, when the enemy retreats to Jing Mountain, then set fire as a signal."

  Qin Ming's troops have been deployed, and his heart is filled with a strong desire for victory. This time, he must annihilate the remaining Yellow Turbans in Jing Mountain, completely reversing the loss of Wan City, and only then will his career flourish once again, earning him recognition from the imperial court.