Chapter 56: The army advances eastward, marching into Chen State

  In the seventh year of Guanghe, at the end of April, Bo Cai, the leader of the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan, led a force of over 100,000 and besieged the armies of Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun at Changshe. Under cover of night, with the wind at his back, Huangfu Song set fire to the enemy's camp and defeated Bo Cai's forces, beheading more than 60,000 rebels.

  After a night's rest, Huangfu Song and Zhu Hui led their troops westward the next day. They defeated the remnants of Bo Cai's rebel army in a battle at the south bank of the Ying River, ten miles south of Yangzhai, beheading nearly 50,000 rebels. Bo Cai was also shot dead by Zhou Jian, the vanguard of the central army, amidst the chaos.

  From then on, the Yellow Turbans of Yingchuan were pacified.

  After the war, the Yingchuan Plain was filled with blood and corpses, countless villages were destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes, had no food to fill their bellies, could only dig up grass to eat, and even resorted to cannibalism, staging a tragic drama.

  The army rested in Yingchuan for several days, waiting for the imperial court to send grain and fodder. Huangfu Song immediately ordered his generals to lead their troops out of several routes, and within ten days, they recaptured counties such as Yongyang and Xiangcheng. By the end of April, he set out with his entire army, advancing eastward and attacking the Chen and Ru states.

  The great army marched swiftly, advancing several hundred miles in five days, and by May they had reached a point twenty miles west of Changping.

  It was night, with a bright moon and sparse stars, and the curtains were quiet and still.

  Zhou Jian was inspecting the barracks when one of the attendants suddenly rushed over and whispered, "Young Master, Li Qi's brothers have arrived from Nanyang, bringing news about Zhou Wu and the latest developments in Nanyang."

  "What's the latest news from Nanyang?"

  Zhou Jian's eyes lit up with joy, being in the military camp has many inconveniences, especially when leading troops under someone else's command. It was not easy to get news from Nanyang, and he had not received any news from Nanyang for nearly half a month. This time, Zhou Wu sent Li Qi personally to report to the army, it must be very important intelligence.

  "Go, hurry to the military tent."

  Zhou Jian's mind quickly turned, and he immediately swung his cloak, rushing back and forth.

  Li Qi was waiting in the military tent and saw Zhou Jian coming in, so he hurriedly went forward to pay his respects, "I've seen you, young master."

  "You're excused."

  Zhou Jian waved his hand and asked: "What is the situation in Nanyang?"

  Li Qidao said: "After Wan City was broken, Zhang Mancheng forcibly recruited civilians to join the rebels. Now there are tens of thousands of people, and the main force of the rebels is stationed in Wan City. However, Zhang Mancheng has to send troops out every day to plunder grain, which can barely sustain the consumption of over a million rebels."

  Zhou Jian said in a deep voice: "What about Zhang Mancheng? What plans does he have?"

  Li Qidao said: "Zhang Mancheng is a useless person. After breaking through Wan City, he thought his strength had increased greatly and no one could do anything to him. He didn't even put Zhang Jiao in his eyes privately, and he didn't have any ambition to make progress. He just wanted to occupy Wan City as a warlord."

  "He's indeed an incompetent mediocrity."

  Zhou Jian coldly laughed and said, "The Han dynasty's empire has not yet fallen, thinking of dividing a region to become the boss, which is not that easy! Even I now have to follow the imperial court's orders, Zhang Mancheng this fool if wants to occupy the city as king, the time of his destruction is also not far."

  Li Qi hurriedly said: "As for what to do next, please instruct me, young master."

  Zhou Jian asked: "How many soldiers are still under your command?"

  Li Qi replied: "Still eight thousand, and no further expansion of subordinates."

  Zhou Jian paced back and forth in the tent, his hands clasped behind his back. He stopped suddenly and said in a deep voice: "After the imperial army defeats the Yellow Turbans at Ru Nan and Chen Guo, Huangfu Song and Zhu Huan will surely lead their troops westward. Although there are over 100,000 Yellow Turbans in Nanyang, they are merely a mob, and Zhang Mancheng is incompetent. They will be defeated by the imperial army sooner or later. However, among these 100,000 Yellow Turbans, although they are just a mob, there are many young and strong men. If they were all killed, it would be a pity."

  Li Qidao said: "The young master means..."

  "Population is the most important resource, especially the young and strong. Tens of thousands of Yellow Turbans, even if only five or six million, are still a significant force. Nanyang is also a place I intend to take, it can't be completely wiped out by Huangfu Song. When you return, tell Zhou Wu that not a single old, weak, sick or disabled person should be left behind, and try to expand our strength as much as possible, especially those robust men. Get as many as you can for me, and wait until the imperial army defeats Peng Tuo's rebel forces before making further plans."

  Li Qi responded with a "yes" and continued: "Young Master, the Cao family of Pei State and the Xiahou family have come to us."

  "What?"

  Zhou Jian's expression turned stern, and he asked in a deep voice: "Who came, what was the outcome?"

  Li Qi said: "It was Cao Ren, Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan who came. They were wounded by us and escaped."

  "Tell me in detail."

  Li Qi said: "Cao Ren, Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan led fifty men to sneak into Wan City. They took advantage of Zhou Wu's brother leading us on a tour of the camp defenses to launch a surprise attack. The three men's martial arts skills are still above ours, but we joined forces to repel them, and they were all seriously injured. Unfortunately, in the end, we couldn't keep the three of them, and they managed to escape."

  Zhou Jian asked in a deep voice: "Are there any casualties among you?"

  "There were no casualties."

  Zhou Jian finally let out a sigh of relief, "That's good."

  Twenty attendants devoted their entire hearts, although they cannot be among the top-notch fierce generals, compared to themselves and Dianwei Xu Chu, they are not as good as each other, but they are all in the middle of Jiang Qin, and losing one will make him heartbroken.

  Fortunately, none of the ten attendants who went to Luoyang were injured, which is a blessing.

  The only regret is that Cao Ren, Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan were not beheaded in Wan City, which is truly a pity.

  To know, these three people are all the clan generals that Cao Pi relies on to start his family in the future. If they can be eliminated at once, it will greatly weaken Cao Pi's hidden power and eliminate some obstacles for the future competition for the Central Plains.

  The sound of footsteps echoed outside the account.

  A follower strode in and said, "Young master, General Huangfu Song has summoned a military council at the command tent."

  "Alright, I'll go now."

  Zhou Jian did not dare to delay, and after explaining a few words to Li Qi, he immediately went to the central army commander's tent.

  The Grand Imperial Tent.

  All officers above the rank of lieutenant have arrived, and more than 20 generals are seated on both sides, sitting upright.

  After Zhou Jian entered the account, he found that there was actually one more person in the account, and a civil servant was dressed, not a military general. This man is over 40 years old, with a good appearance, sitting under Huangfu Song, looking at the various generals in the account one by one.

  "Who is this person?"

  Zhou Jian's expression remained unchanged, but he had doubts in his heart.

  Huangfu Song looked around the tent and said, "Alright, everyone is here. I'll introduce you all first."

  He pointed to the official sitting at the lower head and said: "This is Qin Tong, the new governor of Nanyang, who recently went to Nanyang on an imperial edict. Now, Zhang Mancheng, the leader of the bandits in Nanyang, has more than 100,000 followers, and the bandit forces are vast, with the people facing a great danger. The generals should unite their efforts, and after defeating the rebels along the Chen-Guo and Ru-Nan lines, they will march westward to defeat the bandits in Nanyang and recover the lost territory."

  "I will obey orders."

  All the generals obeyed in unison.

  A flash of terrifying light flickered across Zhou Jian's eyes, and then quickly disappeared, with an inexplicable murderous intent boiling in his heart.

  Unexpectedly, after assassinating Chu Gong, it turned out that Qin Yong had benefited from it.

  Nanyang was the first place where Zhou Jian planned to settle, and he had to get it. Now the court has appointed Qin Yong as the governor, how can he not kill him quickly. In any case, if Zhou Jian wants to dominate Nanyang, he must kill Qin Yong.

  It was just unexpected that Qin Hui actually came to Huangfu Song's army.

  Under the gaze of the public eye, it is simply impossible to kill Qin Wei.

  We can only wait for Peng Tuo's rebel army to be defeated, and then we'll make further plans after arriving in Nanyang.

  ;