Yellow Turban Zhang Jiao · Chapter 14: The Strong Army Begins to Show Its Head

  Le Jin was savoring the wheat cake in his hand, but he didn't even spare a glance at the person who had handed it to him.

  Because of the dryness and hardness of the food, Lejin had to take a sip from his leather water bag every time he took a bite.

  After finishing eating the biscuits, Zhang Kuang, with a smile on his face, finally spoke up and asked:

  "Anything else?"

  Delighted to enter, but no answer.

  "You have a word, called Wenqian?"

  Le Jin was startled and looked up at Zhang Kuang, his eyes filled with suspicion.

  "This guy, how did he know my name? I've never told anyone outside before?"

  Zhang Dasheng's cane led the way through a secret passage, and he once again began his own talent poaching plan.

  "Don't worry. You were destined for this position by heaven's will, originally sent by the Heavenly Emperor to assist the commander and achieve great things."

  Le Jin let out a cold laugh and said:

  "You demon, again with your demonic words deceiving the masses! I'm not a three-year-old child, to be bewildered by your ghostly tricks!"

  Zhang Kuang also let out a cold laugh and said with his words piercing each other:

  "Ignorant little brat! What virtues or abilities do you possess, worthy of my personal visit to deceive? If it weren't for the timely reminder from the Southern Immortal and the Heavenly Star above, your life would have been ended by the hands of my Yellow Turban soldiers!"

  Lei Jin's face turned red with excitement, and he shouted loudly:

  "I'd rather die than be a coward! Take my life if you want!"

  Zhang Kuang's face turned red with rage, but suddenly he became calm and composed again. This sudden change of expression left Le Jin bewildered.

  "Your father was a good fighter, originally serving as the commander of the Han army garrison. Seven years ago, he followed Xia Yu, the 'Wuwan Colonel', to attack the Xianbei, but unfortunately suffered a great defeat and returned. He was demoted to a soldier due to his crime and died two years ago from illness. You were enlisted in the Northern Army as a good family son under your father's quota. Although you excel in martial arts, because of your humble origin, you are not favored by Yang Kong, so you are suppressed and only serve as a squad leader."

  Le Jin sneered after hearing this:

  "You have nothing better to do, and you're quite clear about what you've found out."

  "But your 'Wen Qian' character, no one knows what it means."

  Lei Jin was somewhat perplexed by this point. His "zi" (courtesy name) was given to him by his father before he passed away. According to custom, it should not be used until Lei Jin turned 20 years old. Therefore, prior to that, no one in the army knew Lei Jin's "zi".

  But just this point is not enough to shake Lejin's will.

  Since he couldn't answer, Le Jin simply kept silent.

  "Alright, you're not willing to talk, it's too boring. Instead, I'll tell you some folk anecdotes that have happened in the Central Plains over the years."

  Zhang Fei knew that Liu Bei's loyalty to the Han Dynasty was not something that could be shaken overnight, and there was no need to rush. Since even Liu Xuan De (Liu Bei) could "visit the thatched cottage three times", it wouldn't hurt for him to come several times to persuade surrender.

  Then Zhang Kuang told some miserable things about the refugees to Le Jin, and also let two soldiers with good tongues spread more about the ugly deeds of the Han dynasty. Le Jin was only 17 years old at that time, his thoughts had not taken shape yet, and there was still room for carving. As one of the "Five Elite Generals" under Cao Wei's command, Le Jin's value was absolutely worth this effort.

  Next, Zhang Kuang still had to deal with something even more troublesome than persuading Le Jin to surrender. That was how to properly handle the newly reorganized Yellow Turban soldiers who had been defeated under his command.

  The camp, which accommodated over 2,000 people, was somewhat embarrassed due to inadequate preparation. This place is too close to Changsha, and in one day, Zhang Kuang has gathered another 3 or 4 hundred scattered soldiers. For the collected Yellow Turban defeated soldiers, Zhang Kuang showed off his skills, using both soft and hard tactics, successfully making most of the Yellow Turbans surrender to him.

  The only thing that made Zhang Kuang somewhat regretful was that the highly anticipated Guo Daming refused to accept his recruitment. In the end, he still took more than 100 Yellow Turban soldiers who were unwilling to stay and went to find the whereabouts of "Bo Cai Shuai".

  For these people, Zhang Kuang didn't insist on keeping them. The current harvest has already made him very satisfied. His current situation is somewhat like "snake swallowing an elephant", if he is too greedy, he might burst his stomach.

  It's not suitable to stay here for long.

  This is the consensus of several important departments.

  It's probably because the fire at Changsha was too brutal, and it even burned away the courage of those defeated Yellow Turban soldiers. The current camp is filled with a terrifying atmosphere. If not for the dozens of Han army heads piled up at the entrance of the camp, which silently intimidated them, the mental state of these defeated soldiers would probably be even more unbearable.

  This is the most common problem with the poorly trained Yellow Turbans:

  Victory is possible but defeat is not.

  It's okay to win a battle with the wind at your back, but once you lose, the Yellow Turbans will be truly defeated like a mountain collapse. Zhang Kuang wants to really integrate these defeated soldiers, still needs to put in some effort.

  Fortunately, Zhang Kuang still had an ace up his sleeve that could re-mobilize the Huang Jinjun soldiers. That was:

  "Immortal Master's Envoy".

  Not even waiting for Zhang Jiao's orders, the original "old guards" of the Yellow Turbans had already automatically embellished Zhang Jiao's series of incredible feats and spread them among the newly arrived defeated soldiers.

  The organization of the Yellow Turbans was originally heavily dependent on the "myth" and "worship" of their leader. With the addition of Zhou Cang, Dian Wei, He Manzi and others as living examples, verifying these "miracles". The defeated soldiers of the Yellow Turbans became his ardent followers at a speed that even Zhang Jue himself found astonishing.

  They rested in place for two days, made a preliminary organization of the troops, and sent out scouts who were skilled in riding to investigate the battle situation at Changsha and Zhang Yue's future movements. They already had a rough plan.

  The original Yellow Turban Army had a very disorganized military system. Each of the leaders, almost at will, organized their own subordinates. Some adopted the Han dynasty's military system, while others independently compiled a new set. In the face of the chaotic origins of his subordinates, Zhang Jue adopted the most straightforward and easy-to-understand numerical organization method.

  In Zhang Kuangjun's army, the smallest combat unit was the "ten-man team", with one "team leader" added to make a total of eleven men.

  Four "Decuriae" make up a "Centuria", with one "Centurion" and one deputy.

  Four "fifty-man squads" formed a "hundred-man squad", with one chief and deputy "hundred-man leader" each, and each could be equipped with two personal guards.

  Four "hundred-man squads" formed a "thousand-man squad", with one chief and deputy "thousand-man leader" each, and another twenty-man "bodyguard squad" was set up for the purpose of transmitting orders and guarding.

  As the team was newly established, Zhang was not yet familiar with his subordinates' abilities and personnel, so he cautiously took on the role of two "thousand-man leaders" himself. The rest, such as Zhou Cang and Dian Wei, only obtained the position of "hundred-man leader". This way, on the one hand, it avoided some subordinates being too powerful and difficult to control, and on the other hand, it also left enough space for the promotion of his subordinates.

  Above the "thousand man team", there is no longer a regular formation.

  Zhang Kuang established the positions of "Xiao Wei" and "Du Wei" to govern the "thousand-man teams". Each "Xiao Wei" and "Du Wei" did not have a fixed jurisdiction over the "thousand-man teams", and could be adjusted flexibly by Zhang Kuang according to combat needs. Moreover, given the current number of people under Zhang Kuang's command, there was no need for organizational units above the "thousand-man team".

  Even later, when Zhang Kuang's troops expanded, he did not plan to increase the upper-level organization. According to later experience, doing so had a great advantage, which was that it could effectively suppress large-scale rebellions that might occur in the future.

  It is worth noting that in the late Cao Wei period, several local military units stationed far from the central government had repeatedly launched large-scale rebellions. In addition to the lessons of the Tang Dynasty's warlord separatism at the end of its reign, Zhang Kuang could not help but secretly keep a low profile.

  After the formation was determined, Zhang Kuang didn't even have time to catch his breath before Zhou Cang brought up another important issue.