Chapter 50: The Great Victory Over the Yellow Turbans' Vanguard

  More than 30,000 troops attacked from three sides, the rebel army's vanguard was defeated like a mountain collapse, the killed bodies were scattered all over the ground, blood flowed into rivers, only less than 10,000 remaining defeated soldiers left, with no fighting spirit at all, fleeing in all directions.

  "Ahh!"

  In the chaos of the battle, Xu Chu's eyes turned red with rage. He had just beheaded several Yellow Turban bandits when a horseman suddenly appeared before him, riding at full speed. On the horseback was a tall and robust man with blood-stained armor, wielding an ancient broadsword. As he charged forward on his horse, the Yellow Turban rebels parted like waves, those who were killed cried out for their fathers and mothers.

  In a flash, the robust man had already broken through the enemy lines and was now within ten steps of Xu Chu.

  Xu Zhu's eyes had long since turned red, and seeing the burly man rushing over with unstoppable momentum, he didn't even have time to determine whether the man was a Yellow Turban bandit or not. With a loud roar, his nine-ring elephant-nose knife transformed into a flowing light, chopping down with the force of thunder and lightning.

  "Are you looking for death?!"

  Zhuang Han's eyes flashed with a shocking killing intent, and he let out a cold roar, suddenly raising his knife to block the way.

  Right!

  Hiss!

  In the midst of a thunderous crash of steel on steel, a wild power surged back in reverse.

  The two men's war horses were unable to withstand the pressure, and suddenly they let out a loud neigh in unison. In an instant, they reared up on their hind legs, and then their front hooves struck the ground fiercely, producing a dull thud. Amidst the sound, both men simultaneously retreated over ten paces before finally bringing their horses under control.

  Xu Chu's right arm went numb, and in an instant his eyes revealed a stern expression. This fellow's strength is by no means small.

  Sun Jian was greatly shocked, and only felt his right arm numb and weak, unable to exert any strength. For a moment, he couldn't even lift his sword. It wasn't until then that he clearly saw the cavalry officer in front of him wearing an official military uniform, but he didn't know who he was or what kind of bravery this was.

  "Who is coming?"

  Xu Chu glared with wide eyes and let out a loud roar, his killing intent soaring.

  "It was Sun Jian of Wu."

  Sun Jian also glared and shouted: "Who are you?"

  "Xu Chu shouted: 'I am Xu Chu of Qiao County in Pei State!'"

  Sun Jian said loudly: "If you are a friendly army, why don't you join hands with me to kill the enemy?"

  Xu Chu loudly replied: "It should be so."

  The two men turned their horses' heads and rode into the midst of the Yellow Turban rebels.

  Cao Cao and Zhou Jian immediately ordered their troops to attack and kill them.

  Zhou Jian led a cavalry charge forward, his spear flying about like pear blossoms, and there was no enemy in front of him that could withstand him.

  Dian Wei followed closely behind with ten followers, knives and halberds flying, killing the Yellow Turbans, blood splashing everywhere, fleeing in all directions.

  In the twinkling of an eye, Zhou Jian had already pierced through the enemy's formation.

  He hastily reined in his horse and saw that Xu Chu had already returned to his side, with Dian Wei attending him on the left and right.

  Not far away, Cao Cao also led Xiahou Dun to break through the enemy's array, and the battlefield was in chaos, making it impossible to maintain formation.

  As for the vanguard of the 20,000 Yellow Turbans rebels, they had thoroughly collapsed and scattered in all directions, with several thousand Yellow Turban bandits even rushing towards the middle army of the Yellow Turbans rebels that had just been reined in.

  Dian Wei glanced at Cao Cao, who had just broken through the enemy lines not far away, and hastily rode forward to ask: "General, there are only over a dozen of Cao Cao's personal guards by his side. Shall we take this opportunity to get rid of him?"

  Zhou Jian secretly thought that this was indeed an opportunity. As long as Dian Wei and Xu Chu could hold off Xia Hou Dun, he himself would only need three breaths of time to finish off Cao Ang, and then turn back to join forces with Dian Wei and Xu Chu to take down Xia Hou Dun.

  I'd rather not say I can defeat all the heroes in the world with my martial arts skills, but when it comes to killing people, I'm still confident.

  As for Cao Cao's more than ten personal bodyguards, ten followers were enough to easily kill them all.

  Of course, there are also considerable risks involved, and if things go wrong, it will be troublesome.

  However, opportunities can be encountered but cannot be sought after, and missing them would be a pity.

  Zhou Jian's mind turned rapidly, and in an instant he made a decisive battle plan. His eyes gleamed with the fierce intent to kill, and just as he was about to give the order, he saw Sun Jian also break through the enemy lines from over a hundred paces away, with several hundred infantrymen following close behind him.

  "Hey!"

  Dian Wei swung his large iron halberd fiercely and said with a stifled tone, "He didn't come early, he didn't come late, Sun Jian that scoundrel actually arrived at this time, and we missed an opportunity."

  The killing intent in Zhou Jian's eyes dissipated, and he let out a long sigh.

  To be honest, this is really not the best time to get rid of Cao Cao. Even if Sun Jian didn't come, it's hard to guarantee that other government soldiers wouldn't see it, and the risk is just too great.

  Fortunately, there is still a long way to go, and there will be opportunities in the future.

  However, the remnants of the Yellow Turbans' vanguard fled to the rebel army's central camp, which presented a good opportunity to strike and defeat the rebel army's central camp.

  The battlefield changes in an instant, and victory or defeat often hangs in the balance of a single thought.

  Whether or not they can seize fleeting opportunities depends on the commander's excellent insight and reaction.

  Zhou Jian hastily urged his horse to welcome Cao Cao, who was rushing over. He said urgently: "General Cao, the rebel vanguard has been defeated and the remaining troops are fleeing towards the rebel main army. Our army only needs to take advantage of the situation and launch a surprise attack, which can cause chaos in the rebel main army and break through it with one blow."

  Cao Cao's eyes showed approval and he said loudly: "Good! Let's follow General Zhou's plan, issue the order, and have the whole army take advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack."

  "Understood."

  The orderly bellowed out and immediately passed down the military order.

  Yellow Turban Rebel Army General.

  "General, something's gone wrong."

  One of the Yellow Turban bandits pointed ahead and shouted, "We're defeated! The vanguard has been killed by the government troops!"

  "Shut up."

  Bo Zai's face turned iron-green, the Yellow Turban bandits' leader was no different from a piece of oil on fire at this moment. Upon hearing this, he fiercely whipped the back of the Yellow Turban bandit leader with his horse whip and cursed: "No need for you to remind me, I also saw it."

  "Uh..."

  Huang Jin's rebel leader took a deep breath of cold air, gritted his teeth in pain, but didn't dare to make a sound.

  A Yellow Turban rebel general said: "General, the central army has already been rounded up. Why not swing our troops to attack and destroy these two routes of government troops in one fell swoop?"

  "Idiot."

  Bo Zhong glared at the general, scaring him into shrinking his neck and not daring to speak again. Then he said: "Although our vanguard has already retreated, but the rear army is in a hurry and it's difficult to retreat, and we can't win against the government army. Moreover, the scattered soldiers of the vanguard are fleeing towards the front of the central army, if the government army takes advantage of the situation and launches a surprise attack, then we will be doomed."

  "The general is wise and brilliant."

  The generals under his command suddenly realized and hurriedly chorused in praise.

  Bo Zhai's eyes flashed with a fierce glint, and he shouted: "Pass the order, the defeated vanguard troops are to bypass the main army's front line, passing through from both sides. Absolutely do not charge into the central camp, but if anyone disobeys orders, kill them without pardon!"

  "Shooting an arrow at one's own people..."

  Several tens of Yellow Turban rebels were shocked and shot arrows at their own men. This could lead to a mutiny in the entire army!

  One of the rebel generals hastily said: "General, you can't! Shooting arrows at our own people will only cause chaos among the brothers. Please reconsider!"

  Bo loudly shouted: "Don't you go and pass on the order?"

  "Understood."

  The attendants had long since received their orders and immediately turned their horses' heads and galloped away.

  Bo Zhong turned to the dozens of generals beside him and scolded: "You also go down and restrain your troops. These brainless fools, they dare to charge towards my central army, if we don't shoot arrows at them, my great army will be in danger of being defeated. Whoever's soldiers disobey orders and dare to cause chaos, I'll cut off their dog heads."

  "Got it!"

  The generals' hearts skipped a beat, they hastily acknowledged the order and immediately dispersed to their respective posts.

  The imperial army was in the rear.

  Zhu Huan wore a suit of armor, his battle clothes stained with blood, and rode his horse to the center of Huangfu Song's command flag. He cupped his hands in respect and said, "I have seen the general."

  Huangfu Song also cupped his hands and asked: "Is Duke Wei well?"

  Zhu Ling replied: "Alas, the enemy's momentum is too great, I can only lead the army to retreat and temporarily avoid their edge."

  Huang Fu said, "It's indeed the case. I didn't expect the rebel forces of Yingchuan to be so powerful. The five armies of the Northern Army are the elite troops of our great Han dynasty, but they are outnumbered and outmatched. Now, most of our troops are new recruits, if we engage in a decisive battle with the bandits, I'm afraid there will be heavy casualties, which would not be beneficial to our overall strategy. We should avoid their strong points for now and wait for an opportunity to annihilate them, that's the best plan."

  Zhu said with a flourish: "Now that the rebel vanguard has been defeated and fled to the central army, our army can take advantage of the situation to pursue and attack, and we will surely defeat the bandits in one battle."

  Huangfu Song smiled and said: "I had exactly this intention."

  "General, look quickly."

  Just then, the deputy officer suddenly pointed forward and shouted: "The Yellow Turbans are shooting arrows, and they're actually shooting at their own people!"

  "Huh?"

  Huangfu Song turned his head to look, and indeed saw the scattered remnants of the Yellow Turbans fleeing into the rebel army. At that moment, the rebel army fired a thousand arrows at once, instantly shooting down the scattered Yellow Turban soldiers, causing them to fall off their horses in disarray. In a panic, they retreated from the front line and fled in all directions from both wings.

  The central army of the Yellow Turbans was thrown into a brief turmoil but quickly suppressed.

  Zhu said with a sigh: "I didn't expect that this bandit would also know military tactics, it seems I underestimated him."

  "General, what shall we do now? Shall we continue to pursue the remaining Yellow Turbans?" Deputy General hastily asked.

  Huangfu Song said, "The remnants of the Yellow Turbans will surely flee and surround us. Our army can only engage in a decisive battle with the rebel forces. In this case, even if our army can defeat the rebel forces, we will inevitably suffer heavy casualties, and future expeditions against Chen Guo and Nanyang Yellow Turban rebels will be hindered. It is not necessary to fight to the death with Bo Cai's rebel forces now. We should retreat back to Changsha first and look for opportunities to annihilate the enemy later."

  The deputy let out a sigh of relief and hastily said: "Your Excellency is wise."

  Huang Fu Song immediately said in a loud voice: "Pass on the order, the army will stop pursuing and retreat to defend Changsha."

  "Got it."

  The general roared with anger and immediately issued a military order.

  At the same time.

  Cao Cao and Zhou Yu also noticed the change on the battlefield and promptly ordered their troops to stop pursuing.