Chapter 46: Slaughter

  In the narrow city gate, hundreds of Yellow Turbans gathered, each with a knife in hand, all sturdy men, not a single old, weak, woman or child, at a glance, it was clear that their combat power was much stronger than those mobs on the city wall who were only holding farm tools.

  The arrow shot from the bow has no return.

  "Kill!"

  Dian Wei and Xu Chu charged into the city gate like two tigers descending a mountain, their large blades chopping and iron spears flying about. Not one of the enemy generals dared to confront them face-to-face. The 200 elite soldiers behind them were inspired by their bravery, and their initial fear of battle dissipated. They followed closely behind Dian Wei and Xu Chu, killing the Yellow Turban rebels in the city gate tunnel until they abandoned their armor and fled in disarray.

  The Yellow Turban bandits may be robust, but they are just a mob of rioters, without even a single complete suit of armor.

  Two hundred elite soldiers, with men like Dian Wei and Xu Chu leading the charge, if they still can't scatter a few hundred Yellow Turbans, then they should really cut their own throats.

  Knives and halberds dance in the air, blood splatters everywhere.

  The mournful wail, the shout of slaughter, almost shattered one's eardrums.

  Two hundred soldiers holding war knives and shields, closely followed by Dianwei and Xu Chu on both sides, like a rolling knife meat, every time the war knife is raised, it will splash out a few blood lights, quickly killing into the city gate.

  "Boom!"

  Just then, a loud crash, the city gate shook violently, and the gate tower was severely shaken several times, with dust falling down like it had been hit by a tank.

  Dian Wei strode forward, his twin halberds dancing in the air. Several halberd blows shattered the iron door hinges and the thick wooden gateposts. More than a dozen robust soldiers rushed up to join forces and pull open the gates. Just as they did so, the battering ram had barely crashed into the gateway.

  "Quickly, withdraw."

  Diǎn Wēi's wolf howled loudly and squeezed into the city gate tunnel, being hit by a battering ram was no joke.

  Two hundred soldiers immediately changed from the rear team to the front team, quickly withdrew from the city gate tunnel, and stubbornly guarded the entrance of the city gate tunnel, mechanically strangling wave after wave of Yellow Turban bandits who rushed up, their arms had long been numb.

  "It's bad, the government troops have entered the city."

  In the chaos, someone among the Yellow Turbans shouted loudly, and the momentum of their counterattack was immediately halted.

  Close on the heels of the siege engines, a contingent of heavy infantry burst in, and the Yellow Turbans gathered at the gate were instantly slaughtered, their horses overturned, wailing filled the air, and the last vestiges of resistance were crushed in an instant, countless Yellow Turbans threw down their weapons and turned to flee.

  Changsha West Gate

  Xiahou Dun led four hundred strong men to climb up the city wall and engaged in a bloody fight with the Yellow Turbans on the wall.

  "The government troops are coming!"

  "Run quickly, the government troops are coming!"

  Inside Changsha City, the Yellow Turbans rioted in a chaotic mess, their cries of anguish rising and falling in waves.

  The Yellow Turbans on the city wall heard that the government army had already entered the city, and their morale was completely gone. These untrained refugees didn't have any discipline to speak of, so they threw away their weapons and turned around to run in a panic.

  Xiahou Dun led his elite soldiers in a surprise attack, killing the Yellow Turbans and making them cry out for their fathers and mothers, wishing they had two more legs to run away.

  "Has the city been breached by a large army?"

  Cao Cao, who was directing the attack outside the city, heard the shouting of the Yellow Turbans inside the city and his eyes suddenly showed a stern expression. He furrowed his brow and said in a low voice: "This must be Zhou Jian breaking through the north gate. I didn't expect that this first achievement would be snatched away by Zhou Jian."

  "Ah!"

  Just then, a loud crash was heard. The suspension cables of the western gate bridge were cut off and the heavy bridge crashed to the ground.

  Soon, with a "creak", more than ten strong men joined forces to push open the city gate.

  Cao Cao's eyes gleamed with excitement as he shouted "Good!" and immediately led his troops in a fierce attack into the city.

  The battle lasted for two hours before it gradually subsided.

  The city gate was broken, and the Yellow Turbans inside Changsha City lost their will to fight, throwing away their weapons and surrendering. Only a small number of them continued to resist stubbornly, but they were soon killed by the government army.

  In this battle, more than 3,000 enemies were beheaded, and more than 5,000 were captured. The scattered Yellow Turbans were less than 1,000.

  Changsha North Gate.

  Zhou Jian rushed down from the city wall and asked Jiang Qin who was coming towards him: "General, what are our casualties?"

  "More than 90 people died in battle, more than 20 were seriously injured, and over a thousand were lightly wounded."

  Zhou Jian furrowed his brow, "So many injuries!"

  Chiang Qin hastily said: "Although our army has been trained for a long time and has also cleared out bandits, this is actually the first time we have gone into battle. However, most of those who died or were seriously injured were among the 500 new recruits from Luoyang, with over 100 of them being lightly wounded. As for my own recruited soldiers, casualties are around 200, with only a little more than 10 deaths, and most of them are lightly wounded."

  Zhou Jian finally let out a long sigh of relief. The casualties were light, with fewer than 100 wounded or killed, which was still acceptable.

  Fortunately, after this real siege war, these new recruits will gradually become old soldiers, especially the 200 well-trained Jiujiang water thieves and the private soldiers recruited by Ji Wu, who will be transformed into a truly elite force in the continuous fierce battles.

  War is always the best way to train soldiers.

  Having gone through this baptism of blood and fire, casualties should decrease afterwards.

  Zhou Jian asked: "What about the casualties of your 290 brothers?"

  Jiang Qin's face turned gloomy as he said, "Three people have died in battle, and two others are severely injured and cannot fight again."

  A faint pain flashed in Zhou Jian's eyes, two hundred water bandits were all elite, not only were they well-equipped, but also loyal to him, and yet just one battle had resulted in the loss of five men, by the time the Yellow Turban Rebellion was completely pacified, he didn't know how many would be left.

  The Yellow Turbans in Changshe were not numerous and the battle was not very fierce.

  Yu River, Nanyang, Chen State and other places have tens of thousands of Yellow Turbans. It can be imagined that the future battles will not be few, and after several fierce battles, the casualties will not be small.

  "Let the brothers who died in battle be found and given a proper burial. Those who were seriously injured and can no longer fight, wait until the Yellow Turbans are pacified, I will give you a large sum of silver coins, grant you land, and let you marry several wives to live a stable life!"

  "Thank you, General."

  Jiang Qintiger's eyes showed gratitude and he went to make arrangements.

  The two water bandits had been with him for many years, and their friendship was as deep as that of brothers. Zhou Jian treated them so generously, how could they not be grateful? Even if they were to die on the battlefield in the future, it would still be worth it.

  Jiang Qin and the two hundred pirates were all hot-blooded men. For him, death was not scary, but what mattered was whether the death had value or not.

  For these hot-blooded men struggling at the bottom of society, sometimes perhaps only a sentence of concern is enough; as long as they feel valued, they will go to great lengths and shed blood for you.

  Zhou Jian treated his subordinates so generously, and although the remaining water bandits did not express it, they all felt warmth in their hearts.

  Chengnan Campus

  On the high platform, Huangfu Song stood with his armor on, holding his sword and standing upright. The other generals were lined up on both sides, standing solemnly.

  More than 5,000 Yellow Turbans with disheveled hair and clothes that barely covered their bodies were led down, including the elderly, women and children. These Yellow Turban bandits had faces as pale as death, eyes filled with despair, some looked numb, while most of them showed intense fear.

  "Come on up."

  Huangfu Song waved his hand, and a thousand halberdiers immediately brought up the five hundred Yellow Turban captives. The soldiers who had just gone through the baptism of war were all killing intent, with their sabers already raised high.

  "Cut."

  Huang Pu's face was expressionless, he waved his hand and said in a deep voice, as if these prisoners were not five hundred living lives in his eyes, but five hundred insignificant ants that could be spared or not, without the slightest softness.

  "Wait."

  Just as the executioners were about to behead the five hundred captives, Zhou Jian could no longer bear it and shouted loudly, hastily stepping forward to advise Huangfu Song: "General, these Yellow Turban rebels are all Han citizens; why not just execute their leaders?"

  Cao Cao also hastened to persuade: "I, the inferior general, also agree with General Zhou's view. Although these rioters are guilty and should not be spared, they are ultimately still subjects of our great Han dynasty. If we were to execute them all, I fear it would harm the harmony of heaven. I hope you will reconsider, General."

  Huangfu Song said in a deep voice, "There is no need to say more. If these rebellious officials and treacherous sons are not all beheaded, the court will have no prestige, and if those who commit great crimes of rebellion are not executed, the people of the world will inevitably follow suit, and how can the imperial army still quell the Taiping Rebellion?"

  Zhou Jian and Cao Cao remained silent, what Huangfu Song said was right, but that's more than 5,000 lives!

  "Cut!"

  Huangfu Song gave a low order, and immediately 1,000 executioners raised their swords and cut down together. Hot blood splattered everywhere, and 500 heads fell to the ground.

  Zhou Jian and Cao Cao exchanged a glance, neither of them had expected the other to come out and dissuade him. Instead, they felt a few points of understanding for each other, knowing that Huangfu Song's mind was made up, and it was probably no use trying to persuade him, so they retreated back.

  Soon after, more than 5,000 captives were beheaded, the school grounds were filled with blood and corpses.

  Half an hour later, in the main tent of the central army.

  After Huangfu Song's case, more than a dozen officers and men stood under the hall with their swords drawn, lined up on both sides.

  This time, one battle broke Changsha, and nearly 10,000 Yellow Turban rebels were defeated. The first battle was a victory, and the military merit naturally couldn't be lessened. It's no wonder that these generals who yearned to make achievements and establish their careers couldn't hide the joy between their eyebrows.

  As long as the Yellow Turban rebels are pacified, promotion will naturally follow.

  Huangfu Song glanced at the various generals below the hall, and found that many of them had joyful expressions. Only Cao Cao and Zhou Jian's faces were calm and composed. He couldn't help but think to himself that these two generals were indeed talented individuals who remained unflappable in the face of honor or humiliation, and did not become arrogant due to minor achievements. Given time, they might just become excellent generals. In comparison, the other generals paled in significance, at most possessing the talent of a company commander.

  Huangfu Song looked around at the various generals and said, "This time we defeated the rebels at Changshe, Zhou Jian's unit was the first to capture the city gate, this should be recorded as the first achievement. The military achievements can be recorded for now, after the Yellow Turbans are pacified and we return to the capital, we will report to the Emperor and reward those with merit."

  Zhou Jian hastily cupped his hands and said: "Thank you, General."

  Huangfu said, "The other generals also have military achievements, let's record them first and wait until the troops return to the capital to discuss their merits and rewards together."

  "Understood."

  The deputy officer hastily responded and took charge of recording the merits of war, which was naturally done by the deputy officer himself.

  Huangfu Song's face suddenly sank, and he shouted: "Where is Chunyu Qiong?"

  "The end will be there."

  Jun Yuqiong hastily stepped out and stood in the tent, his face still somewhat pale, his eyes darting back and forth, not daring to look at Huangfu Song.

  He didn't return to the army until after Changshe Town was broken, and Emperor Huangfu was busy arranging military affairs, so he didn't have time to deal with him. Chunyu Qiong also knew that Emperor Huangfu would not easily forgive himself, so he had been nervous for a long time.

  As for why I've been having stomachaches these past few days, it's just inexplicable and all I can do is sigh at my own bad luck.