Chapter 55: The Great Victory at Guangyuan Yellow Turbans

  Zhou Jian glanced at Cao Cao's receding back and immediately said to those around him: "Follow the general."

  "Roger."

  Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Jiang Qin and others hastily shouted loudly, each leading their troops to follow Zhou Jian as they left.

  Under the inky night sky, the 40,000 government troops dispersed in units of battalions and fiercely charged into the chaotic rebel camp.

  In an instant, the cries of killing and wailing rose in a frenzy under the night sky.

  "Meng De, Zhou Jian has also come up."

  Cao Cao was galloping on horseback when he suddenly heard Xiahou Dun's muffled groan beside his ear, and he jumped in fright.

  He hastily reined in his horse and turned around, only to see Zhou Jian leading his troops of four thousand soldiers rushing up from behind at incredible speed.

  Cao Cao was startled in his heart. When Zhou Yu galloped up close, he composed himself and asked: "General Zhou, how did you end up here?"

  Zhou Jianlang replied: "I have come specifically to join forces with General Cao and kill the rebels."

  Cao Cao's eyes darted back and forth quickly as he burst out laughing: "Just what I wanted, I wouldn't dare ask you to do it."

  Zhou Jianlang laughed and the two of them rode into the chaotic army together, with 8,000 troops gathering behind them.

  Cao Cao kept a distance from Zhou Jian while hastily saying to Xiahou Dun: "Yuanrang, do not leave my side half a step."

  Meng De felt relieved, someone knew.

  Xiahou Dun responded with a "yes" and rode his horse closely behind Cao Cao, not daring to leave his side by half a step, and did not go after the Yellow Turban bandits.

  Zhou Jian's eyes were clear, and he couldn't help but think that Cao An was being overly cautious. It seemed that tonight would not be the night to find an opportunity to kill him in the chaos of battle. With a squeeze of his horse's belly, he charged forward, brandishing his iron spear and sweeping it horizontally, striking down anyone in his path. The Yellow Turbans, already in disarray, were like wild grass blown by the wind, their limbs severed and heads broken, with no one able to stop him for even a moment.

  Cao Cao's eyes gleamed with a stern light as he thought to himself, "This young man is indeed a matchless warrior, not inferior to Yuan Shu. I must be cautious and on my guard."

  Xiahou Dun's eyes gleamed with a fierce light, his chest heaving with battle intent, and the five fingers of his right hand gripping the iron spear tightened unconsciously.

  Night is no different from day, but at night people's panic psychology is more likely to spread.

  Huangfu Song took advantage of the wind to set fires, borrowing its momentum to sweep across the great plains and easily break through the Yellow Turbans' rebel camp. More than a million Yellow Turban rioters hardly resisted before their camp was quickly destroyed. At this moment, not even Bo Cai could have turned things around, let alone Sun Wu if he were reborn.

  The army dispersed in pursuit and was unable to maintain its formation at all.

  Zhou Jian led his troops of four thousand soldiers, directly inserting into the rebel army's central camp, and came to kill Bo Cai.

  It was impossible to see clearly in the dark of night, and by the time he had rushed into the rebel army's camp relying on his impression, Bo had already disappeared without a trace.

  The massacre lasted for a whole night until dawn when Huangfu Song ordered his troops to withdraw.

  Endless plains, the withered and yellow plain has been burned into scorched earth by the great fire. As far as the eye can see, there are bodies of Yellow Turban bandits everywhere, some were killed by government troops, others trampled to death by each other.

  Huang Fu Song didn't bother to clean up the battlefield. After the army gathered, they set up camp on the spot and rested, burying pots and cooking food.

  After a night's rest, at dawn the next day, Huangfu Song immediately led his troops westward to pursue and attack the remaining rebel forces.

  As for the more than 30,000 prisoners, they were all beheaded and killed.

  Zhou Jian once again witnessed the murderous intentions of people living in this era, a full 30,000 people, not even batting an eyelid, saying kill and killing, as if they were not killing humans, but more than 30,000 sheep.

  When Huang Fu Song was appointed as the Governor of Beidi, although he treated the people with kindness, when it came to killing people, he did so without any hesitation.

  Bo Zhong fled to the south of Yangdi, ten miles outside the Yu River, and gathered his rebel army. Only then did he discover that after a night of chaotic fighting, more than a dozen of his major generals had been killed, with less than 60,000 remaining soldiers, leaving him so angry that he was jumping up and down like thunder.

  However, before Bo could regroup, Huangfu Song had already led his troops to attack.

  He Zuocang hastily led his troops into battle, but the Yellow Turban rebels were disheartened and had no will to fight. They were defeated by Huangfu Song in a single blow.

  "Hold steady, hold steady for me, don't retreat."

  The Yellow Turban rebels were in disarray, and Bo Cai exerted himself to the utmost, waving his arms wildly and shouting loudly, ordering his personal troops to kill over a hundred soldiers who retreated in fear after being defeated, but he was unable to stabilize the morale of his army, which only served to rouse the fighting spirit of the Yellow Turban rebels.

  "Hurray for the Chinese army!"

  "We will win if we fight."

  In the midst of a thunderous and earth-shattering shout, a full 20,000 imperial infantrymen charged forward to crush the rebels.

  Iron armor dense and thick, guns like a forest of spears.

  In front of the official array, Zhou Jian had already dismounted and was fighting on foot (the war horses were being taken care of by the logistics team), rushing forward at a rapid pace, Dian Wei and Xu Chu holding halberds and swords closely followed him on both sides. Suddenly, they found themselves less than 100 paces away from the rebel army's front array.

  "Stop—"

  Zhou Jian raised his knife and shouted loudly.

  The advancing infantry phalanx suddenly halted its offensive, and the heavily armored infantry in the front row quickly crouched down.

  "Archers, up."

  As soon as the infantry reassembled in formation, a centurion immediately let out a loud shout.

  Five thousand bow and arrow soldiers immediately divided into five teams, the first team directly crossed over the front row of heavy infantry, quickly opened their bows and drew arrows, a dense rain of arrows like a swarm of bees, heavily poured down on the rebel army's vanguard within a hundred steps.

  A loud and mournful howl rose on all sides, men were frightened and horses became unmanageable.

  The rebel vanguard without shields was shot and fell over, immediately becoming chaotic.

  The first team of archers shot all twenty feathered arrows from their quivers and immediately retreated to the rear. Taking advantage of the chaos in the rebel army's front ranks, which were unable to organize effective defense or counterattack, the second team of archers immediately emerged from the crowd and began pouring down another rain of arrows.

  By the time the third contingent of archers and crossbowmen moved forward, the rebel vanguard had completely collapsed and began to flee towards the rear army and both wings.

  "Cut down the general and break the enemy, it should be done at this moment."

  "Order the archers to retreat after firing, then have the long spear soldiers form a phalanx and charge!"

  The bowmen of the rear army quickly withdrew, and eight thousand long spearmen swiftly passed through the front row of heavy infantry. Under the shouts of the commander and the military governor, they formed a halberd array, with Zhou Jian's two thousand spearmen as the arrowhead, heavily pressing towards the rebel army.

  The arrowhead formation is a common infantry charge formation in the cold weapon warfare era, where the entire army is lined up in an arrowhead shape, with the main general at the front, suitable for brave generals with high combat effectiveness, and is the most commonly used impact formation.

  Zhou Jian rushed forward at the forefront of the vanguard, with four other generals commanding 2,000 halberdiers in the center, rear and two wings. The 8,000 halberdiers surged forward like a sharp arrow, fiercely piercing into the rebel army's front line.

  "Hurray for the Chinese army!"

  Zhou Jian swung his sword and knocked down three Yellow Turban bandits, then raised his sword and let out a loud shout.

  "We will win if we fight."

  Eight thousand soldiers shouted in unison, charging forward with guns, instantly tearing open a bloody gap in the originally already dispersing rebel army's front line. Under the leadership of Arrowhead, they directly pierced into the rebel army's central force.

  At this moment, the 10,000-strong army that had been waiting for an opportunity to strike also launched a fierce attack on both wings of the rebel army from the south and north.

  After the vanguard of the rebels was defeated, they directly disrupted the central army.

  The eight thousand gunners quickly broke through the enemy formation, breaking through the rebel army's central force. The scattered Yellow Turbans were like headless flies, crying and shouting as they rushed towards the rear of the rebel army. The Yellow Turban bandits who fled to both sides were also killed by the five thousand government troops on both wings, with corpses floating everywhere and blood flowing like a river.

  Zhou Jian pierced through the enemy formation and quickly swept his eyes across the battlefield. With a swing of his sword, he led the vanguard in another charge against the rebel army's rear lines.

  The imperial army was in the rear.

  Huangfu Song, under the guard of hundreds of his personal soldiers, stood on a high earth slope, watching as the Yellow Turban rebels' defeat became apparent. The 8,000-strong gun battalion formed a sharp arrowhead-shaped formation and charged straight at the rebel rear army. At that moment, he couldn't help but nod his head in praise, saying: "The rebel rear army has been disrupted by our vanguard troops. If we launch a full-scale attack now, we can surely break through their defenses in one battle. This young man is not only brave and skilled in combat, but also quite perceptive of the battlefield situation. With some further nurturing, he will become a pillar of the imperial court in the future."

  Zhu Huan also showed a look of intense admiration, saying: "The general's words are indeed correct. I have observed the various generals in the army, and only Cao Mengde and Zhou Jian's son seem to understand military strategy and tactics; Sun Wentai is brave, but his bravery is excessive, and he often loses sight of wisdom and planning. The rest are all mediocre."

  Huang Fu said, "What Gong Wei said is quite right. However, the bandit forces in Chen and Runan are very powerful, almost like a rolling tide. The most urgent task at present is to quickly defeat the bandits under Bo Cai's command, and then lead the army eastward to quickly quell the bandits under Peng Tuo's command. If we delay, it will be too late."

  Zhu Huan said: "Now that the rebel army's rear formation is in disarray, we can order three thousand iron cavalry to encircle and attack from the side and rear, and we will surely be able to defeat them in one battle."

  Huang Fu said: "The general has always had this intention."

  Lang's voice shouted: "Where is Zhao Rong?"

  Zhao Rong, the Yuezhi Commandant of the Cavalry, hastily rode forward on horseback and responded loudly: "Your subordinate is here."

  "Huang Fu Sang loudly said: 'Take three thousand iron cavalry out to attack, surround and strike the enemy from behind, break through the rebel army's rear array.'"

  "I will obey your orders."

  Zhao Rong loudly acknowledged the order and immediately turned his horse's head and galloped away.

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