Chapter 54: Taking Advantage of the Night and Wind to Set Fires

  Changshe, military camp drill ground.

  A 4,000-strong army is rushing to practice formation, with heavy infantry in the front and gunners in the back. In units of tuan, 2,000 gunners and 2,000 heavy infantrymen are interwoven, advancing and retreating, attacking and defending, focusing on the coordination between the two types of troops.

  The way of the warrior is absolutely one of the most profound subjects.

  The form of the battlefield changes in an instant, and tactics are also changing rapidly.

  To win on the ever-changing battlefield, you need the most suitable tactics to match. The coordination between different troops is crucial, and this requires time to practice and slowly become familiar.

  After the change of guard, Zhou Jian gathered his troops for drills and didn't dare relax for a moment.

  Sweating now is better than bleeding on the battlefield later.

  Zhou's cold and stern gaze swept over the soldiers in training, recalling the several bloody battles of the past few days, only to discover that there were still many problems with the soldiers' equipment. The shields of the heavy infantry were too small and not thick enough, their defensive capabilities were far from ideal.

  Although a three-foot-long wooden shield is flexible to use, its defensive surface is not wide enough. It can withstand a few flowing arrows, but if more than 2,000 bows and arrows are fired at the same time, the effect may not be good.

  More importantly, such light shields were useless against cavalry charges.

  To resist a cavalry charge with heavy infantry, at least a shield wall of the size of a door panel is required.

  Moreover, the iron armor of the heavy infantry also had defects, only covering the upper body, and the head, face, arms and lower body were not wrapped in the armor. Once a soldier was injured on the battlefield, it meant that combat effectiveness would be weakened.

  The consequences of weakening a soldier's combat effectiveness are self-evident.

  Zhou Jian originally created this branch of troops without a clear concept of the type of soldiers, at that time he just thought that the better equipped the soldiers were, the better, and didn't think much about tactics or types of soldiers.

  It wasn't until after this campaign against the Yellow Turbans, and several battles later, that I gained a preliminary understanding of how different types of troops should be coordinated.

  No one is born a great general, real generals are forged in the fire of fierce battles.

  It is said that a seasoned general comes from a hundred battles; without a hundred battles, how can there be a seasoned general?

  No matter how talented a general may be, if he has never been tested in war, he will always be a mere theorist.

  Some things, without personal experience, can't be found out their problems.

  It's just like never having planted crops before. No matter how clearly it's written in books, you absolutely can't imagine how the crops grow.

  Zhou Jian repeatedly thought back to the several fierce battles over the past few days, and many inadequacies gradually became clear in his mind. However, now was not the time for improvement, after all, being under someone else's command meant that many ideas couldn't be put into practice.

  "General Zhou..."

  Not far away, a horse galloped swiftly and arrived at the bottom of the commanding height, where the rider reined in his horse and bowed to Zhou Jian, saying loudly: "Huangfu Song has an order for you, General. He orders you to come quickly to the central army tent to discuss military affairs."

  "He then went ahead."

  Zhou Jian responded with a sound, immediately got off the stage, mounted his horse and rushed straight to the commander's tent.

  Chinese military commander's tent.

  All commanders above the rank of lieutenant had arrived, and there were more than twenty people in the hall.

  Huangfu Song was just about to speak when a strong gust of wind suddenly swept in, and the flagpole at the camp gate snapped with a loud "crack".

  "This wind is really strong."

  All the generals frowned, only a few leaders first frowned and thought, then smiled.

  Huang Fu rose to his feet and strode out of the commander's tent, checked the wind direction, then struck his fist and exclaimed: "This wind is rising just in time! I already had a plan to defeat the enemy, now with this strong southeast wind, it will help our army to crush the enemy once and for all."

  Zhou Jian hastily said: "We can take advantage of the night and the favorable wind to set fire to the enemy camp, and we will surely defeat them in one battle."

  Cao Cao also said: "This plan is excellent."

  The rest of the generals finally reacted and showed their approval, hastening to concur.

  Huangfu Song glanced at Zhou Jian and Cao Cao with a look of intense appreciation, saying: "Not bad, the general has this intention."

  Zhu Huan said: "We can send Sun Jian, a military officer under our command, to lead three hundred brave warriors to set fire to the city."

  Huangfu Song said: "Good, quickly summon Sun Jian."

  "Understood."

  The trusted general received his orders and left. Sun Jian's rank was too low, so he didn't have the qualifications to participate in military discussions above the level of a regional commander, therefore he wasn't present at the central army commander's tent.

  Not skilled in martial arts, Sun Jian wore armor on his body and came with big strides.

  "I will pay respects to the two generals and then meet with all of you generals."

  Sun Jian hastily ran to the front of the commander's tent and bowed his hands in salute to Huangfu Song, Zhu Huan and the other generals.

  Huangfu Song's hands were clasped behind his back as he said, "Wen Tai, you don't have to be polite. Now, there is an important matter that I want to entrust to you. Are you willing to accept the order?"

  Sun Jian said loudly: "What are you afraid of? Please tell General."

  "Huang Fu Song Lang said: 'Alright, Wen Tai can lead three hundred brave warriors under his command to sneak out of the city at dusk and set fire to the rebel army's camp with the wind in their favor, assisting our main force in a surprise attack. We will surely defeat the enemy in one battle.'"

  Sun Jian said loudly: "The end will obey orders."

  Huang Fu said: "You can go quickly."

  Sun Jian bowed again and strode away with large steps.

  Huang Fu Song Lang said: "The various generals can each lead their own troops and horses, and wait until nightfall to exit the city and launch a surprise attack on the enemy camp."

  "I will obey orders."

  All the generals obeyed in unison and immediately went to prepare their troops and horses.

  In the dead of night, the south wind is blowing fiercely.

  The west gate of Changsha slowly opened, and a team of 300 light-armored soldiers holding torches quietly exited the city gate.

  Sun Jian marched swiftly on foot, and after leaving the city, he waved his hand, and three hundred soldiers immediately rushed towards the distant Yellow Turban rebel camp in the dark.

  Afterwards, a team of officers and soldiers also came out from the west gate of Changsha, neatly and orderly arrayed outside the city walls.

  After the Yellow Turban rebels failed to capture the city, they retreated ten miles and set up camp. The military camp of over a million people stretched for tens of miles, forming a magnificent sight. However, the Yellow Turban rebels were ultimately just a group of rioters, without enough tents, and the vast majority of the Yellow Turbans slept in the grassy hills.

  Even the camp is messy and disorderly.

  Bo Zhong had read a few military books, but after all, he was not a seasoned general, and he had no experience in setting up a large army camp.

  Apart from setting up the commander's tent in the midst of the rebels, the Yellow Turbans surrounding them were completely disorganized. During the day when they were fighting, they could barely maintain their formation, but as soon as night fell and they relaxed, they became utterly chaotic, revealing their true nature as rioters.

  "What the devil! It's the middle of the night, how can there be a fire?"

  On the gate tower, a night watchman of the Yellow Turbans suddenly discovered that a fire had been lit fifty steps away and couldn't help but curse in a low voice.

  But soon, the Yellow Turbans' eyes widened in surprise.

  "Look, someone is setting fires."

  The Yellow Turbans were shocked and widened their eyes, only to see that the group's kung fu had already ignited hundreds of fires more than 50 steps away, and soon they merged into a piece, borrowing from the strong wind, quickly spreading towards the main camp.

  In the spring, the weather is dry and things are withered. Although the withered grass on the plain has begun to show a hint of green, it is still extremely easy to catch fire.

  The tall weeds over a foot high, once ignited, and with the help of the wind, are very difficult to extinguish.

  In the distance, countless torches lit up under the night sky and quickly moved towards this side. The faint sound of thunder was accompanied by the moving torches, and any veteran who had been on the battlefield would think of what that sound was.

  That is the sound of cavalry charging.

  "Bad, enemy attack!"

  The bandits in yellow turbans were shocked and finally reacted, opening their throats to let out a shrill loud shout.

  "Enemy attack."

  "The imperial army is coming to kill!"

  The yellow turbans who were guarding the gate of the city began to shout loudly, one after another, and ran around in all directions.

  Soon, panic and chaos began to spread within the rebel camp. The Yellow Turbans who were sleeping in the grass, still dazed, opened their eyes confusedly, and before they could figure out what was happening, they felt a red glow in front of them, as if it had dawned.

  Right next to his ear, he heard a thunder-like sound of horseshoes.

  The great fire quickly burned down to the gate of the camp and swept into the rebel army without hesitation.

  "The fire is coming, run quickly!"

  The Yellow Turban bandits, who had lost their minds, faced with this disaster that was beyond human resistance, immediately revealed their true nature and ran around screaming, fleeing in all directions to escape the burning fire.

  However, this escape did not end well and caused even greater turmoil.

  The people in the back did not know what happened, seeing the people in front fleeing over, the Yellow Turbans who lacked basic military training could only rely on their instincts and subconsciously ran to the back as well, the entire camp suddenly erupted into chaos.

  Just then, the government troops who had launched a surprise attack under cover of night had already reached the outer walls of the camp.

  Huang Fu saw the rebel army's camp in disarray, and immediately shouted loudly: "Take the camp as a unit, all generals can lead their own troops to intercept and kill the rebel soldiers, and must defeat the rebel army in one battle."

  "I will obey orders."

  The generals thundered in unison, and immediately each turned their horse's head and galloped away.

  Kill the enemy and gain merit, it should be done at this time.

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