The 23rd Section: Hao Qiang Falls into the Enemy's Formation and Rushes Up

  The person in charge of this grain transportation mission was Shen Fu, the hundred-man captain. Yu Jin, a newly surrendered general, served as his assistant and set out with him. Both were from the same background of provincial troops, so their relationship was relatively closer than others.

  Arriving at the earthen fort fifteen miles outside of Lone City, the outer perimeter of the fort had already prepared four thousand bushels of grain with four pecks to a load. However, this method of transportation was short-handed.

  Hao Qiang's steward rushed to Shen Fu's side and consulted with him, asking if he could dispatch 200 soldiers to help transport the grain. As they spoke, a slave beside them brought over wine and water for the Tianping Army to drink.

  Upon seeing the wine and water brought up, some of the soldiers could not help but want to go up and take a sip. Yu Jin saw this and shouted loudly:

  "Liu Lao Qi!"

  Scolded by their superior, these soldiers who had just witnessed the punishment of the commander-in-chief immediately remembered the military regulations and obediently returned to their ranks, not daring to drink anymore.

  Shen Fu, who had been repeatedly warned by Zhang Kuang, politely declined the steward's request. He only agreed that the remaining grain that couldn't be transported could be left here for now and transported next time. Between the lines, it seemed that he was confident in this wealthy family and didn't worry at all about them embezzling these grains.

  The housekeeper said a few words and handed over a bag of money, but still couldn't, so he had to leave dejectedly. Yu Jin watched the housekeeper's back and smiled slightly coldly.

  Eight hundred civilians carried their loads and set off on the road to Danfu City. Shen Fu urged on the two hundred-man squads, a four-hundred-strong troop, following closely behind at a steady pace. Less than five miles from the fort, suddenly, a loud battle cry erupted from the rear, a Han army county soldier squad, with an aura of killing intent, charged forward!

  The porters, in an instant, became a chaotic mess. Many of the porters dropped their loads and turned to run away. Logically speaking, Shen Fu should have immediately divided his troops to protect the grain transport team. However, the actions of the Tianping Army caused the Han army soldiers who rushed up to be very puzzled.

  For four hundred days, the Ping army had been watching the chaos of the grain transport team, and they had formed a circular formation on their own. The soldiers on the periphery held small shields in one hand and gripped ring-headed knives in the other. The second row of soldiers grasped long spears with spearheads pointing outward. And many soldiers in the middle took out crossbows from their backpacks!

  The so-called "crossbow with a horizontal bow" refers to that kind of crossbow machine that uses arm strength to pull the string.

  At this sight, the Han military officer who rushed up had only one thought in his mind:

  These moths, unexpectedly had precautions?!

  Who leaked the secret?

  "Halt!"

  The general loudly gave orders. These county and national soldiers were obviously well-trained, at the sound of the command, they immediately stopped quickly and began to form an array.

  The two armies approached each other to within a hundred paces. A Han military officer emerged from the formation and loudly called out to the Heavenly Peace Army officers:

  "Ignorant thieves! You are already surrounded by the Han army! In a moment, General Dou will personally lead the troops to kill you! You innocent soldiers, quickly surrender and avoid death!"

  Shen Fu looked at the "Bao" character large flag struck by his opponent and asked Yu Jin:

  "Whose troops are these Han soldiers?"

  "It should be Yu's former superior, General Bao Xin."

  Yu Jin's face didn't show any fluctuations as he mentioned these things.

  "General Bao Xin is strict in governing the army, with a reputation similar to that of 'Wu Huangdi' and General 'Cheng Bu Zhi'. The troops are well-trained and have great combat effectiveness. It's just that there are many new recruits, which has caused some drag."

  "So it's still a tough nut to crack?"

  Shen Fu's face was filled with solemnity, and he muttered a sentence:

  "When will our reinforcements arrive?"

  Not far away, the Han army's military envoy shouted a few words at the enemy, only to find that the other side was completely unmoved. He felt puzzled in his heart, but couldn't show it, and retreated back into the army formation, giving orders:

  "Crossbowmen! Deploy, three rounds rapid fire!"

  Shen Fu gazed at the Han army in the distance, estimating that their forces were around 500 strong, slightly more than his own. Over 50 crossbowmen emerged from the Han army's formation and ran to the front, forming two rows. Shen Fu let out a cold laugh:

  "Doesn't your family have a crossbow?"

  The Han military crossbowmen had just strung their bows and were about to launch a collective shot when suddenly, from the distant enemy ranks, an arrow flew in with a "whoosh" sound and pierced the neck of one of the crossbowmen, passing through his body!

  The crossbowman who was loading the arrow, suddenly fell to one side, and his hand inadvertently triggered the mechanism. With a "clank" sound, another nearby crossbowman was hit. The injured crossbowman let out a loud cry, falling to the ground, rolling around in agony. The surrounding Han soldiers were shocked and lost their color, many of them tightening their grip on their crossbows, accidentally triggering the mechanisms.

  Dozens of crossbow arrows shot in all directions, not only did they fail to cause any casualties among the enemy, but also mistakenly injured one of their own. When the Han army's military officer rushed over with a red face to check on the two crossbowmen who had been hit by arrows on the ground, these two unlucky men had already stopped breathing.

  "Hundred Dragons Shot!"

  The soldiers of the Heavenly Army saw their leader shoot out an arrow and unexpectedly caused two deaths and one injury on the other side, and they burst into loud cheers.

  Shen Futon held a powerful crossbow that could reach five stones, using the foot's strength to draw the bowstring. His body stood stiffly in place. He didn't expect that this arrow would have such an unexpected outcome, and he was stunned for a moment until he heard the soldiers' joyful shouts, then recovered from the gaze of dozens of scorching eyes.

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

  Due to the stimulation of this extra event, the morale of the Tianping Army suddenly surged. It was unclear which soldier shouted first, but immediately afterwards, other Tianping soldiers also responded in unison with loud voices.

  On the other hand, the morale of the Han army clearly declined. Faced with this ominous sign, even the old soldiers began to wonder if they should retreat first and come back next time to capture these Yellow Turbans?

  Soldiers who have been on the battlefield for many years often have an inexplicable superstition about pre-war omens. Therefore, in many cases, before a military expedition, some comforting flag-raising ceremonies are held.

  Having led the army for many years, Han Jun did not know how his own morale was already low. However, he received strict orders to defeat or hold off the enemy and wait for the arrival of the main force to annihilate this small-scale Yellow Turban grain transport team. Only in this way could the next battle be launched.

  If the next step of the deception plan is successful, the defeated Yellow Turban army, which has fled hundreds of miles from Yingchuan County to Jiyin County, will inevitably be annihilated.

  So, General Jin forced down the discontent in the army and ordered the crossbowmen to continue with three consecutive shots.

  "Hmm... thud thud thud..."

  Over a hundred crossbow arrows, divided into several batches, slammed into the defensive formation set up by the Tianping Army. The miserable cries followed, and more than a dozen unlucky Tianping soldiers who did not hide well were injured under the flying crossbow arrows.

  It's okay, as the distance is over a hundred steps, the power of the crossbow arrows has been greatly weakened. Moreover, these Han army's crossbows are all below three stones, and the injured Tianping Army soldiers are not seriously injured, and no one has died.

  Several soldiers of the Heavenly Army with white cloth strips sewn on their clothes pulled the wounded soldiers to a place with cover and started treating these wounded men. This was yesterday's suggestion by Yuanqi to Zhang Kuang, utilizing the healing abilities of the "Taiping Dao" preachers to establish a "military doctor" in the army.

  These Taiping rebels with some medical knowledge put a wooden stick into the mouth of the wounded, and instantly eliminated the painful cries that were originally very damaging to morale. Other Taiping soldiers found that even if they were injured, they could receive effective treatment, and their courage in battle became even more abundant.

  At the same time, the Han army's crossbowmen also suffered a second wave of casualties. The Tianping Army had defeated small groups of Han troops several times in previous battles and had captured over a hundred crossbows. This time, Shen Fu's 100-man team brought along twenty large and small crossbows. Under the cover of these crossbows' concealed counterattack, nearly ten Han soldiers were shot down.

  He is a hard bone...

  The Han army's military commander saw that the crossbow arrows were not effective, and immediately changed his tactics. He arranged for his subordinates to form a "trap array" of fifty men at the front. These so-called "trap array soldiers" were the elite of this Han army unit. The military commander had obtained approval from his superior, "Commander Bao", to offer a reward of 8,000 coins per person to these "trap array soldiers", and only then was he able to select a team of fifty men.

  Shen Fu and Yu Jin, both being familiar with the Han army's tactics, also hastened to deploy their troops in preparation for a fierce counterattack against these ferocious "crash troopers". The two men understood that if they could repel this wave of "crash troopers", the enemy forces before them would no longer be a concern.

  But this wave of attack is not so easy to repel.

  The leader of the "陷阵士" was a tall and robust man, over eight feet tall, with a full beard and mustache, between 30 to 40 years old. This man, along with more than ten Han soldiers in the front row, temporarily put on an extra layer of leather armor to increase their defensive power. Apart from this, the big man held a hook and a ring-headed knife in his hands, with excellent equipment, and his martial skills were also impressive.

  This type of hook and shield combination was a common composite weapon during the Han Dynasty. It had hooks on top and bottom, with a small iron shield in the middle that had a handle at the back, serving three purposes: defense, hooking, and pushing.

  Of course, such a complex function requires extremely strict training to use well. However, on the other hand, those who can use hooks and stitches well must have excellent martial skills.

  Fifty "trap array soldiers" stood silently in front of the formation, each holding their weapons at the ready. The Tianping Army's warriors, after all, were insufficiently trained, and seeing the Han army form up like this, they became tense for a time. These "trap array soldiers", without even truly attacking, had already regained the momentum that had been lost not long before!

  "Han army! Brave and mighty!"

  The leading strong man, loudly roaring, held the ring knife in his hand high above his head. With this loud shout, the other Han soldiers responded together:

  "Han army! Brave and mighty!"

  "Kill!"

  The mighty Han general swung his sword forward, and his body began to move, running swiftly, leading the "trapped soldiers" to advance. The Han army soldiers in the rear pushed forward with small steps, and their cheering shouts grew louder.

  Under the slogan of "Han Army! Mighty!", fifty "Trap Array Soldiers" moved in silence, maintaining a uniform speed, forming a small cone-shaped array, pressing against the simple circular array of the Heavenly Balance Army.