Chapter 47: Training Troops on the Sandy Battlefield

  Huangfu Song gave Chunyu Qiong a cold glance and asked sternly, "As a general in command of the army, how dare you leave your post without permission? If this delays our military operations, I will have no qualms about beheading you as an example to others. Do you know your crime?"

  Jun Yuqiong hung his head and said in a mournful tone: "I am willing to accept punishment."

  Huang Fu Song said coldly: "Since you know your crime, that's good. You can go to the rear army and be in charge of transporting the luggage."

  "This..."

  Sun Yuqiong's face turned pale and she felt extremely resentful.

  "Huang Pu Song said in a low voice: 'Still not retreating?'"

  "I will obey your orders."

  Jun Yuqiong did not dare disobey orders, and had no choice but to hastily retreat, his face quickly turning bitter like a bitter melon.

  Huangfu Song said again: "Chun Yuqiong's two camps of soldiers and horses can be led by Cao Cao and Zhou Jian, each leading one camp, without any mistake."

  Cao Cao and Zhou Jian hastily stepped forward, clasped their hands together in a salute and said: "Your subordinate obeys your orders."

  Huangfu Song waved his hand, and the two of them hastily retreated back to their ranks, secretly rejoicing in their hearts.

  The more soldiers and horses in one's hands, the more opportunities there are for meritorious service, and the more spoils of war will be obtained; no general would keep a large number of idle soldiers under his command.

  The army rested in Changsha for one night, cooked at the third watch the next day, and set out at the fifth watch to rush to Yangdi to support Zhu Huan's army.

  East of Yangdi

  On the desolate plain, the sound of killing shook the sky and startled the wilderness.

  Zhu Huan led a large army to Yangzhai, and Bo Zao, with more than 100,000 troops, launched a fierce attack on Yangzhai but failed to capture it. He had no choice but to regroup his forces to confront Zhu Huan's army.

  The two armies fought on a plain ten miles east of Yangdi, opening up chariots and horses to kill each other.

  Over 100,000 people wearing no clothes to cover their bodies, holding hoes and iron shovels and other farming tools, the Yellow Turbans launched a crazy attack on the 20,000-strong Han army with red eyes. The attack of these rioters was lawless and there was no military formation. Under the leadership of the leader, they rushed forward in a chaotic manner, waving their crude weapons and engaging in a fierce battle with the government army.

  On the vast Yuanchuan Plain, as far as the eye can see, there are dense and numerous Yellow Turbans everywhere.

  Between heaven and earth, apart from a few cries that seemed about to shake the heavens, no other sound could be heard.

  A massive war involving over a hundred thousand people, with scenes so grand they can't be described.

  Twenty thousand government soldiers were like a small boat in the midst of a raging storm, on the verge of being engulfed by the crazy counterattack of over a million Yellow Turban rebels, and the front line was already precarious.

  "The blue sky has died, and the yellow sky should rise!"

  "In the year of Jiazi, great auspiciousness fills the land!"

  Over 100,000 Yellow Turban bandits shouted slogans and launched wave after wave of charges against the government army. Although they were poorly equipped and mostly consisted of old men, women and children, these fanatical followers continued to throw themselves at the wall of swords and spears with their bodies.

  Although the casualties were heavy, they also caused considerable casualties for the government army.

  "Kill him!"

  "Down with these corrupt government troops!"

  "Capture Luoyang and behead the dog emperor's dog head."

  Countless Yellow Turban bandits wielded their farm tools with all their might, charging towards the government army's main camp with reckless abandon.

  Pffft! Pffft! Pffft!

  The dull thud of blades slicing through flesh and the mournful cries of the Yellow Turbans played out a symphony of death, as wave after wave of rebels charged forward only to be cut down by hailstorms of arrows before they could even reach the government lines, falling like wheat before a scythe. Only a handful managed to stumble into range, where they were ruthlessly speared by soldiers hiding behind shields.

  However, the Yellow Turban rebels had over a million troops, which was more than five times that of the government forces.

  After paying a heavy price, more and more Yellow Turbans charged forward under dense arrow fire, finally reaching the front line of the government army, engaging in a bloody battle with the officers.

  Bang bang bang......

  A government soldier had just beheaded two Yellow Turbans, when over a dozen more Yellow Turbans charged at him in a frenzy, their iron hoes and rakes dancing wildly as they struck down the soldier, quickly battering him to pieces until he was no longer recognizable.

  Not far away, a knife shield who couldn't dodge was beheaded by a ferocious Yellow Turban bandit with one slash of his sword, and hot blood splattered everywhere.

  As more and more Yellow Turbans rushed to the front of the formation, the vanguard of the government army had become precarious and on the verge of collapse.

  The imperial army was in the rear.

  Zhu Huan stood tall on his horse, a hint of coldness in his eyes. The stubbornness of the Yellow Turbans had exceeded his expectations; he had thought that an army of 20,000 would be enough to defeat these ragtag troops with one blow, but instead it had turned into a chaotic melee.

  Once the battle situation develops into a melee, the situation will become very unfavorable for the government army.

  The Yellow Turbans have over a million troops, which is five times more than the imperial army. If they cannot be defeated in one blow, a million troops will rush forward and the two armies will be completely entangled together. The 200,000-strong imperial army will no longer be able to maintain an effective formation, and at that time, all advantages will be lost.

  Once thoroughly transformed into a mixed array, not only could they no longer defeat the Yellow Turban rebels, but the 20,000-strong army was even in danger of being annihilated.

  If the two hundred thousand strong army was that elite northern army which had once conquered the south and fought in the north, Zhu Huan would have enough confidence to defeat these one million Yellow Turbans with one blow. After all, although the number of Yellow Turban rebels is large, at the end of the day, they are just a mob.

  However, among Zhu's 20,000-strong army, more than half were new recruits.

  Less than a month's training was far from enough to make these new recruits who had never been on the battlefield as fearless of death as those iron-blooded veterans. If Zhu Ling didn't dispatch elite veteran soldiers to serve as low-ranking officers, firmly controlling the formation, these new recruits would have dispersed long ago and it would have been impossible for them to hold out until now under the crazy counterattack of over a million Yellow Turban rebels.

  To turn an army into a truly elite force, a price must be paid.

  Zhu Huan deeply understood the military situation and keenly discovered the underlying crisis. Seeing that the front was about to collapse under the repeated impact of the Yellow Turbans, he immediately drew his sword and led the charge, shouting: "Pass on the order, the whole army will attack."

  "Understood."

  Dozens of riders on fast horses immediately galloped away, quickly passing down military orders.

  Knock knock knock...

  The earth-shaking war drum sounded again, and the 10,000-strong army of the rear army, which had been waiting in formation for a long time, immediately moved forward, led by the leading officers, forming a conical charge array, pressing forward fiercely.

  "Hurray for the Chinese army!"

  "We will win if we fight."

  "Hurray for the Chinese army!"

  "We will win if we fight."

  In the midst of a deafening roar, a full 10,000 government troops charged forward under the leadership of their officers, exuding an aura of menace as they trampled ahead. Just as the vanguard was on the verge of collapse, they arrived in time and crashed into the Yellow Turban bandits' formation like an armored tank.

  The Yellow Turban rebels were in high spirits, and Zhu Huan did not expect the 10,000-strong rear army to defeat the more than 100,000-strong Yellow Turban rebels head-on. His goal was only one, which was to let the more than 10,000 new soldiers under his command get their first taste of battle through this war and gradually become seasoned veterans.

  Only war can produce real elite soldiers.

  Even if there are casualties, it is worth it.

  "Ah!"

  In the midst of a mournful cry, a government soldier was hit in the face by a Yellow Turban rebel's hoe and immediately covered his face while letting out a mournful wail, retreating in disarray and even dropping the horse-slaying sword in his hand.

  "Those who retreat at the critical moment shall be beheaded!"

  One of Du Bo's men let out a loud roar and rushed forward at a rapid pace, striking down with his sword and beheading the soldier who was about to turn around and flee.

  "Calm down, hold on, damn it, hold on for me."

  "Hold up your shields, pay attention to coordination, and whatever you do, don't mess it up!"

  On the chaotic battlefield, the low-ranking military officers such as squad leaders, platoon commanders and company commanders were shouting at the top of their lungs, trying to steady the panicked new recruits. Once the formation lost control, the consequences would be disastrous.

  These new recruits were on the battlefield for the first time, facing this brutal carnage, no one could remain calm.

  To view death as nothing is easy to say but hard to achieve.

  Only those elite veterans who have rolled in the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, with an astonishing capacity to endure gore and death, can overcome their fear of death and gore, put life and death out of consideration, and seek survival in death.

  Under the sky, the endless Yingchuan Plain almost became a slaughterhouse of flesh and blood, with people dying every moment.

  180,000 government soldiers were advancing forward in the midst of a counterattack by over 1 million Yellow Turban rebels, like a small boat on a stormy sea, struggling to move forward amidst towering waves, with the danger of being overturned at any moment.

  Soon, the momentum of the rear army's attack on the Yellow Turban rebels slowed down, as if it had fallen into a quagmire, becoming difficult to move forward. The strict formation of the two wings had already shown signs of small-scale collapse and was in a precarious situation.

  Once both wings collapsed, the five thousand archers in the center would face a frenzied counterattack from the Yellow Turbans.

  Without the protection of the halberdiers, the five thousand archers would surely suffer heavy casualties under the counterattack of the Yellow Turbans.

  A small hill outside the village.

  "Hey!"

  Zhu Ling swung his right arm fiercely and said with a hint of regret: "If I had three thousand cavalry under my command, I would have cut into the rebel army's left flank and defeated them in one blow."

  "General, our two wings have already begun to collapse, let's retreat quickly, or it will be too late!"

  Zhu Huan saw it early on, but was extremely unwilling in his heart, and immediately ordered the retreat.

  After the military order was given, the government army immediately changed from a rear guard to a vanguard and quickly withdrew from the battlefield. The Yellow Turban rebels followed closely behind, with as many as 3,000 archers shooting out a dense and oppressive rain of arrows, instantly knocking down a large number of Yellow Turbans.

  Yellow Turban Rebel Rear Guard

  Bo was standing on a small hillside surrounded by dozens of Yellow Turban leaders, mounted on horseback and observing the battle.

  "The government troops have retreated!"

  "Yes, our army won."

  "General, the government troops have been repelled, shall we pursue?"

  As soon as the government troops retreated, a dozen or so leaders of the Yellow Turban rebels immediately became excited and shouted loudly.

  Bo Zhongmu's eyes flashed with excitement, and he swung his right arm fiercely, shouting: "Want to run? There is no gate, pass the order, the whole army will pursue immediately, don't let the government troops escape, I will definitely wipe out these 20,000 officers."

  "Understood."

  A dozen of his personal guards shouted in unison and immediately galloped off on horseback to deliver the order.

  ;