Insufficient balance

  "Ahh~"

  The horse leaps up and raises its hooves towards the sky, letting out a loud whinny that echoes through the clouds.

  "Ahhh~~"

  At the gate, Pei Yuanshao was the first to react. He clenched his fists and pounded his chest, throwing back his head and letting out a mournful howl. The corners of his eyes were already moist, although he hadn't seen clearly what had happened in between, but the result was obvious: Guan Hai had lost, Ma Chao had won!

  "Waaaahhhh..."

  The Yellow Turbans in Liu Bei's camp finally reacted and followed with a loud howl, the kind of frenzy that burst out after being overly suppressed, making heaven and earth lose their color. On the other hand, the thousand elite Yellow Turbans brought by Guan Yu had already lost all morale, everyone hung their heads down, even the invincible war god in their hearts was defeated, what else could be said?

  Guan Hai gazed coldly at Ma Yue, his voice low as he asked: "You've won, kill me now."

  Ma Yue said calmly: "You lost because Ma Shi's front hoof slipped, don't you feel wronged?"

  Guan Hai shook his head and said: "On the battlefield, there is only victory or defeat, never a need for reasons."

  "You're a good man!" Ma Yue put away his steel knife and said calmly, "However, I won't kill you because you saved me yesterday."

  Guan Hai glared at him, then after a moment, he flipped over and crawled up from the ground, saying to Ma Yue: "You can still regret it now."

  Ma Yue smiled faintly and replied: "I never regret what I've done."

  Gan Hai's gaze turned stern, he took two steps forward and turned his head to say: "Ma Yue, next time we meet on the battlefield, I won't show any mercy."

  Ma Yue said: "Me too."

  Guan Hai Chong Ma jumped up and nodded his head, saying loudly: "We will meet again."

  A moment later, Guan Hai led the thousand Yellow Turbans away with low morale. Ma Chao returned to the military camp amidst the cheers of Liu Bei's Yellow Turban bandits. Pei Yuanshao was the first to rush up and punched Ma Chao in the chest, which happened to hit his wound. Even Ma Chao couldn't help but frown.

  Pei Yuanshao burst out laughing and said: "Boqi, well done!"

  Liu Bei, surrounded by Du Yuan and several other Yellow Turban leaders, came down from the gate of the camp with a smile all over his face, and said to Ma Chao: "I didn't expect that there would be such a brave warrior in my army, it's really delightful."

  Du Yuan's eyes sparkled as he asked, "The warrior is surnamed Ma and is from Liangzhou. May I ask what relationship does he have with the great Han general Fubo, Ma Yuan?"

  Ma Yue was taken aback and replied casually: "It is indeed the ancestor of Bo Qi."

  Liu Bi's face changed color and he involuntarily said: "It turns out that Bo Qi is the descendant of a famous general, no wonder he is so brave and fierce, I apologize for my disrespect."

  Ma Yue's face was sweating, but his hands were still clasped together in a gesture of respect. He turned to Liu Bi and said, "General, the most urgent task at hand is to prepare for battle. Although Gong Hai has been defeated, I reckon that Zhao Hong will not be willing to give up easily and will soon lead a large army to attack."

  Liu Bi heard this and became very angry, saying: "Zhao Hong is a thief who deceives people too much. I will not let him off easily. Where are Pei Yuanshao and Du Yuan?"

  Pei Yuanshao and Du Yuan stepped forward, responding loudly: "Your subordinate is here!"

  Liu Bei said: "Prepare many arrows and golden spears, get ready for battle."

  ……

  In Zhuo County, Zhu Yue was just raising the curtain and pointing to the map when a scout rushed in to report that the Yellow Turbans had already risen up in rebellion, and the government army was taking advantage of the situation to take action.

  Dong Zhuo.

  "The end will be there."

  "Order you to lead the Iron Cavalry to encircle and attack Xihuang's side and rear, cutting off Xihuang's retreat route to Wan Cheng, while also blocking the Yellow Turbans' rescue route from Wan Cheng to the north."

  "Yes."

  Yuan Shao, Cao Cao.

  "The end will be there."

  Yuan Shao and Cao Cao emerged at the same time, standing proudly in their tents.

  "You each lead your elite troops as the left and right wings, blocking the western Hubei Yellow Turbans' escape routes from both sides, driving them towards Baidi Mountain."

  "Roger!"

  "Sun Jian, Liu Bei, quickly mobilize your troops and follow my main force into battle. Each unit will assemble at Baima Village to complete the encirclement, we must annihilate the Yellow Turban rebels in one fell swoop."

  ……

  As expected, Zhao Hongyin was furious when he heard that Guan Hai had been defeated. He personally led a large army to launch a surprise attack on Liu Bi's camp, vowing not to stop until he had seized the grain and fodder in Liu Bi's camp and forced his sister, Liu Xian, to surrender.

  ZHAO Hong's forces numbered as many as 500,000, while LIU Bi's forces were less than one-tenth of that. The difference in strength was too great, and if the two sides clashed head-on, LIU Bi would have no chance of winning! Seeing the situation was critical, LIU Bi was busy preparing for battle on the one hand, and hastily sent an envoy to report to GONG Dou on the other. GONG Dou and LIU Bi were from the same hometown, and the two had been close friends since childhood. Upon hearing that LIU Bi was in trouble, GONG Dou quickly joined forces with his sworn brother SUN Xia, and led his army to come to the rescue.

  Zhao Hong, on the march, learned that Gong Dou and Sun Xia led troops to rescue Liu Bi, and he hastily sent an envoy to report to his ally Han Zhong, inviting him to come and assist.

  Xī èr, wǔ fāng rén mǎ yíng tóu xiāng yù.

  Translation:

  In the west of Er, troops from all sides met head-on.

  Ma Chao's worst fears had finally come true, and at this point, if there wasn't a strong external force intervening, the conflict between Zhao Hong, Han Zhong's group and Liu Bi, Gong Dou, Sun Xia's group was inevitable! Zhao Hong, Liu Bi and their ilk were all short-sighted, for the sake of small gains they would stir up trouble, they absolutely wouldn't think that the internal strife among the Yellow Turbans could only lead to self-destruction, and would only benefit Zhu Jun's government army.

  Now, the only one who can stop both sides from clashing is Zhang Mancheng of Wan City! Only if Zhang Mancheng steps forward will the two opposing sides be deterred and not dare to act rashly.

  Ma Yue anxiously looked towards the south. Long before the battle with Guan Hai, he had already anticipated the current situation, so he let Liu Yan rush to Wan City to inform Zhang Mancheng of the emergency. Unless Zhang Mancheng was an idiot, he would not sit idly by and watch a conflict break out between the Zhao Hong group and the Liu Bi group.

  The situation in Xī è is already on the verge of eruption, Zhao Hong and Liu Bi are now mutually abusing each other at the front line, their words becoming increasingly fierce, the emotions of both men are about to lose control, but in the south direction of Wǎn City, it's still calm and peaceful, without any signs of a large army appearing. Mǎ Yuè sighed silently in his heart, as the saying goes "man proposes, God disposes", he has done all he can.

  As for the Southern Yang Yellow Turbans still being unable to escape internal strife and being defeated by Zhu Huan's official army, that is not something that this humble knife shield hand can control.

  ……

  Wancheng 20 miles north, the Yellow Turbans army led by Zhang Mangcheng was slowly advancing northward. However, Zhang Mangcheng did not come in person and instead sent his general Zhou Cang to lead 5,000 soldiers to escort Liu Xian to Xi'e. In Zhang Mangcheng's opinion, sending Zhou Cang was already a sufficient show of respect; who would dare not give him face?

  Liu Yan's expression was anxious and worried, her heart had already flown back to Xie'e. She was concerned about Ma Yue's injury and worried about Liu Bi's safety. She really wished she could fly back with wings, but Zhou Cang was not in a hurry, the army was marching north slowly and leisurely, as if they were on a sightseeing tour.

  "Zhou Cang, big brother, can't you walk a bit faster?"

  Liu Yan couldn't help but urge him on.

  Zhou Cang smiled and said, "Miss Liu, don't worry, trust me, nothing big will happen."

  Seeing Zhou Cang's calm and unhurried demeanor, Liu Yan knew that saying more would be useless, so she could only sigh and suppress the anxiety in her heart.

  The army marched north for several more miles, when the sky suddenly cleared up. The long-awaited sunset finally broke through the clouds, revealing its pale old face. Zhou Cang stretched out his hand and pointed at the sunset in the sky, laughing loudly: "How about it? I didn't lie to you, did I? Even heaven is smiling, your brother will definitely be fine, Zhao Hong wouldn't dare do anything to him."

  Zhou Cang's laughter had not yet subsided when a faint rumble of thunder was heard, Zhou Cang turned his head in surprise and looked into the distance. Suddenly, he saw that at the end of the horizon where the sky and earth met, there was a faint black line slowly moving. Zhou Cang thought he was seeing things and rubbed his eyes hard before looking again carefully. Suddenly, he found that this black line seemed to be thicker than before.

  The distant thunder grew louder, and not only Zhou Cang, but all the Yellow Turbans heard the sound, turning their heads to gaze westward. At this moment, the black line had transformed into a surging, billowing black giant wave, carrying with it an aura of crushing everything as it swept towards the Yellow Turban army's formation. The terrified Yellow Turbans were shocked to discover that even the earth beneath their feet was trembling...

  There is a dazzling cold light shining brightly in the distant sky, that is a snow-bright saber!

  Zhou Cang was shocked and let out a shrill cry: "Enemy attack! Form ranks, form ranks quickly!"

  The 5,000 men who followed Zhou Cang were the elite of Zhang Mancheng's unit, but even among the elite of the Yellow Turbans, there was no tactical discipline to speak of. No one could turn a group of peasants into well-trained soldiers in just a few short months! Zhou Cang shouted until his voice was hoarse, but it only resulted in the Yellow Turbans' formation becoming more chaotic and disorganized.

  The Yellow Turbans in the middle had stopped in their tracks, while those behind continued to advance, soon crowding the central army into chaos. Only the vanguard of the Yellow Turbans, led by Zhou Cang, charged forward to meet the cavalry, shouting and screaming, unaware of the ferocity of the Western Liang Iron Cavalry.