Chapter 9: The Final Battle!!

  In the summer of 189 AD, it was finally time for the final battle between the Great Han and the Yellow Turbans. Zhang Jue had been fighting day after day and was now at his last gasp.

  As night fell, the cold wind howled, bringing with it a bloody smell that stimulated the morale of the Han soldiers. In contrast, the Yellow Turbans were trembling with fear as they witnessed the madness of the government troops, and the most terrifying among them was a young man named Sun Ce. He wielded his spear with ease, killing his way through the crowds, and in the eyes of the Yellow Turbans, he had become a god of death! The lanterns on the city walls shone brightly like daylight, but time seemed to pass slowly for the Yellow Turbans as they wondered how much longer they could hold out. They had already suffered heavy casualties, and the southern city gate had changed hands several times. The inner city gate was also badly damaged from Sun Jian's attacks. The government army of over a million soldiers was truly a formidable force, with troops that could be rotated in and out to maintain a relentless assault. In contrast, Zhang Jue's Yellow Turban forces on the city walls were exhausted. The Han government army had surrounded the city like a watertight seal. Among the warlords, Liu Bei had deployed the most troops. He knew his own abilities, so he let Li Yu lead the final attack. He believed that Li Yu would get the job done and that he himself would receive credit without even asking for it. Indeed, Li Yu had already thought of this and was now enjoying a leisurely evening in his camp fifty miles north of the city gate, drinking wine and chatting with Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and others while Wang Yue gave him a massage.

  At this time, the city of Guangzhou was in chaos. There were only 220,000 troops left in the city, how could they compare to the Han army's million-strong elite forces and their fierce generals? Zhang Jiao stood on the city wall, worried, waiting for reinforcements, the last reinforcements! Just as Zhang Jiao was worrying, a scout came to report that Gongsun Zan had defeated Pei Yuanqing's relief troops!

  "What!" Zhang Bao shouted! But the house leaked just as it encountered a continuous rain at night, and bad news always came more easily than good news! Another messenger reported that Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu brothers had scattered General Zang Ba's 700,000 relief troops!

  "What!" Zhang Jiao was really panicked this time. Pei Yuqing didn't think much of him, but Zang Ba's troops were the most crucial reinforcements!

  Cao Cao, Liu Biao and Sun Jian led their troops to start attacking the city. Other lords also formed a final siege against Guangzhou City, making it a solitary city. Zhang Jue shouted: "What? The 170,000 relief army and my 400,000 grain supplies are all gone?" He spat out a mouthful of blood. His subordinates rushed to rescue him just in time. Meanwhile, Zhang Jue convened an emergency meeting with Zhang Liang, Zhang Bao, and Deng Ai.

  Zhang Jue said: "Now the enemy is several times stronger than us, how can we resist? You must come up with a strategy for me now." Zhang Bao said: "For now, the only way to save big brother is to break through the encirclement. As long as big brother is alive, there will be opportunities for revenge in the future. Leave the green hills and don't worry about not having firewood! Big brother!"

  "Alright! It has come to this! My younger brother's plan will be carried out!"

  Zhang Bao continued: "I have a plan, we can order Deng General to lead the army to cut off the rear, Zhang Liang to lead 50,000 elite soldiers to break through the front, the lord to lead 50,000 soldiers in the center, and I will lead 50,000 soldiers in the rear. If the city is broken, Deng General can lead the main force to meet up with me. Big brother, do you think it's feasible?"

  Zhang Jiao listened to the current situation and could only do so. He ordered everyone to go down and prepare. Zhang Jiao was sitting on a stool at this time, but in his heart he thought: I, Zhang Jiao, have been dominating the world for many years, and the members of the Taiping Teachings are all over the world. I have the Taiping Yao technique, but I ended up with today's scene. Alas! Time! Fate! Luck!

  At the third watch of the night, Zhang Bao and other generals made preparations, the soldiers had a full meal, and one by one they were waiting to set out. They also knew that rushing out now was a matter of life and death, no one wanted to die here! As the saying goes, "It's better to live in shame than to die with honor."

  Zhang Jiao arrived and saw the Yellow Turban soldiers, with tears in his eyes, and said emotionally: "Brothers, I am sorry for you! I originally wanted to overthrow this corrupt Han Dynasty, but because of my carelessness, I was betrayed by traitors. Today, I still let you brothers suffer with me! All of this is my fault! If today we fight our way out together, and each of you will be promoted and share the empire, do you think it's good?"

  Zhang Bao Zhang Liang said: "Obeying the big brother's order!"

  The people below said, "Obey the order of General Tian Gong!" (Zhang Jue was born in 184 AD in Julu, Hebei Province. He was the leader of the peasant uprising army "Yellow Turban Army" at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the founder of the Taiping Taoist sect. After receiving the book "Taiping Jing" from Daoist Yu Ji, he took it as his mission to save the world through religion. Using some religious concepts and social and political ideas in the book, he organized the masses and began to spread his teachings around 168-172 AD. In the first year of Zhongping (184 AD), Zhang Jue used the slogan "The blue sky has died, the yellow sky should be established, the year is Jiazi, and the world is greatly auspicious" and called himself "General Tian Gong", leading the masses to launch an uprising, known as the "Yellow Turban Uprising".)

  Zhang Liang asked Zhang Jue: "Brother, which direction should we break through? I am willing to be the vanguard and clear a bloody path for you, ensuring your safe passage!" Zhang Jue pointed north with his hand and said: "Now that three sides of the city are surrounded, only the north gate remains. Until now, I haven't seen Liu Bei's army, I think Li Yu's tactics shouldn't be like this, could it be that he is waiting for us on this road?! However, from a high vantage point, no enemy troops were spotted, nor was there any smoke rising from cooking!" (Of course, Li Yu didn't even allow cooking to avoid being discovered by Zhang Jue's army. From Liu Bei and him as the commander-in-chief, they only allowed dry rations.)

  Zhang Bao replied from the side: "Big brother's place is now a dragon's lair and a tiger's den, we've also been there before, maybe there's no absolute way to heaven!"

  "Alas! It has come to this, there is no other way. If I encounter Liu Bei's army today, I will definitely behead Li Jue and use his head as an offering to my deceased brothers! Without him, the siege of Zhuo County would not have been broken, my generals would not have been recruited, the battle of Qingzhou would not have been lost, my three brothers would not have been injured, and the long-tongued devil would not have attacked, causing my second and third brothers to be caught off guard. What is most hateful is that in the Battle of Guangzhou, just as we were about to behead Dong Zhuo and win the battle, he led his army back to reinforce and stabilize the camp, blocking the roads and making it difficult for us to advance even an inch! If I don't encounter him, so be it. But if I do, I will not coexist with him! Bring me my three-pointed two-edged sword, I want to meet him once!"

  Zhang Bao said: "It can only be like this now! Only so now! Elder brother, heaven will surely help us!" Zhang Jiao said: "Good! Let's set off!"

  Zhang Liang took his double axes and led 50,000 soldiers as vanguard to open up the path, leading the way out of the city!

  Zhang Jue held his treasured sword in the center and commanded an army of 50,000.

  Zhang Bao led his troops of 50,000 with his golden spear in the rear to suppress and calm.

  Leave 50,000 to Deng Ai to guard the city! The longer they can hold out, the higher their chances of survival will be! At this time, Zhang Jue also knew that this might be his last battle in his life!

  Let's not talk about Zhang Jiao's thoughts, but just say that Zhang Liang killed his way through this route so easily, taking no more than two watches to emerge victorious. As soon as the cannons sounded twice, the eastern camp was lit up like daylight, and Zhang Liang was shocked and lost color. At this time, he didn't know that Guangzhou had been taken down by Cao Cao and Sun Ce, and Deng Ai led the remaining less-than-30,000 troops to reunite with Zhang Bao. Sun Jian and Cao Cao were also desperately chasing after them! It's really worth saying that Zhang Bao had great foresight, leaving ambushes along the way, although it caused heavy casualties for the Han army, but couldn't change the outcome of defeat! However, the Han army officers and Cao Cao's men, including Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Sun Jian, Sun Ce, Han Dang, Cheng Pu, Zu Mao, Huang Gai, etc., were also tightly pursuing and killing without mercy. On the other side, He Jin was also mobilizing his forces, personally leading a large army to chase after them, while the various lords were also leading their troops to pursue, preparing to surround Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban Army from all sides. This time, it really was the moment to capture Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban Army!

  Two flowers bloomed, each telling a story. Zhang Liang led his troops to the main tent of Li Yu's central army and said with disdain: "Is this all that Li Yu is? Haha! Although there are ambushes, can they stop our thousands of soldiers?"

  At this moment, however, the sound of the qin and se (a type of zither) was heard. The qin's melody was sometimes like a mountain stream, and sometimes like a vast ocean. As everyone looked in the direction from which the music came, they saw that it was none other than Li Yu playing the qin, with Wang Xue blowing on a flute beside him. The husband-and-wife duo played in perfect harmony, as if their music had been rehearsed to perfection. If this were not a battlefield, I think Zhang Liang would also have stopped to appreciate this beautiful music!

  But now Zhang Liang didn't have the heart to do so. He was excited for half a day and couldn't say anything, and after a while he said: "Who can kill Li Yu, reward 100,000 yuan!"

  The so-called "heavy reward" was actually a trap, but they never expected it to be a ploy. As soon as their soldiers stepped on the ground, they heard a loud crash and fell down, while in front of Zhang Liang, archers appeared, aiming at Zhang Liang's army and shooting arrows like rain. The arrows flew everywhere, and Zhang Liang's army lost thousands of brothers in an instant! And the worst part was that just then, they heard the sound of killing coming from both sides of Zhang Liang's troops. On the left, Guan Yu led his army out, and on the right, Zhang Fei led his army out! Both of them led their elite troops, which had been fighting in the south and north, and killed the enemy like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. It was as if Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were invincible, killing Zhang Liang's army until they retreated in disarray. But before they could take two steps back, suddenly, soldiers appeared in front of them, wearing the same uniforms. Zhang Liang asked, "Is that Zhang Jue's army?" The other side replied, "Yes, is that General Zhang Liang?" Zhang Liang replied, "That's right!" The other side said, "Our lord was worried that you three generals might have an accident, so he sent us to come and support you!" Zhang Liang said, "Good! We'll go back and fight again!" As soon as the man finished speaking, he walked closer, raised his spear, and stabbed at Zhang Liang. Zhang Liang raised his axe to block it. Then the man said, "I am Cheng Yuanzhi, and I will not kill those who surrender." Just then, Guan Yu appeared behind him, swinging his Green Dragon Crescent Blade at Zhang Liang, and with a loud crash, blood splattered everywhere, and Zhang Liang's head flew far away, landing on the ground still rolling. It was clear that Guan Yu's blow had great power! The soldiers of Zhang Liang's army saw their general die and also surrendered. Then, Liu Bei gathered all his troops, including the newly surrendered ones, totaling 200,000 men, and personally led them to attack Zhang Jue's army.

  Zhang Jiao rushed forward, and Li Yu came towards him, still not fast enough!

  In less than a moment, the Liu Bei army and Zhang Jiao army met. Li Yu led his troops to the front of Zhang Jiao, with Li Yu holding the Fang Tian painting halberd, wearing a purple gold armor, and a purple gold boot, with a jade dragon sword hanging from his waist, and a commander's golden helmet on his head, looking majestic and powerful. Zhang Jiao took one look and indeed saw a heroic figure. Zhang Jiao opened his mouth and said: "Is the comer the General Li Yu of the Han Xing Wang Liu Bei army?" Wang Yu said: "It is I, and are you Zhang Jiao, the Zhang Tian Shi?" Zhang Jiao said: "I am." Wang Yu said: "Zhang Tian Shi, I think you are a hero, I don't want to kill you. Why not surrender? If not for yourself, consider your tens of thousands of brothers behind you! I'll tell you clearly, your third brother Zhang Liang has already been killed by my second brother with one slash of his sword! If you don't surrender, the consequences are already set!" Zhang Jiao laughed loudly and said: "General Li Yu, please see for yourself. I am determined to die rather than surrender. Today we will see who dies here!" After finishing speaking, he shouted to those behind him: "Brothers, kill! Charge out and we win!" Then Zhang Jiao personally led the charge, killing towards the Liu Bei army led by Li Yu!

  Look at the two armies fighting! Only to see that the killing is changing the color of heaven and earth, and the sun and moon are losing their light! Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei are like Yan Wang, crazily harvesting the lives of Zhang Jiao's soldiers! Three top-notch generals, how can they be resisted? The Yellow Turban soldiers are dead if they encounter Lord Guan's Green Dragon Crescent Blade, lost if they encounter Zhang Fei's Snake Lance, and a bloody flower if they meet Zhao Yun's Dragon Gallbladder Spear!

  Indeed, Zhang Jue is considered a good fellow, but he can't be compared to others. He only sees that Zhang Jue's killing is blood-soaked and his whole body is stained with fresh blood, it's unknown whether it's his own or someone else's. He rushes towards Wang Yue on horseback, while Li Yue is now in a different league, having surpassed Zhang Jue through frequent battles against Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and others. Now he can be compared to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as a top-notch general, the others are no match for him!

  Li Yu Fang holds a heavenly-painted halberd in his hand, with an aura of invincibility that shakes the world. Who can withstand it?

  Zhang Jiao is also a man who would sacrifice his life, and can defeat ten thousand enemies! Who dares to stop him!

  Li Yu saw Zhang Jiao approaching, and with a flick of his wrist, the Halberd of Heaven's Gate changed direction and struck towards Zhang Jiao. As he arrived in front of Zhang Jiao, it was just an ordinary three-move greeting, but Zhang Jiao barely parried it. Then, taking advantage of the momentum, Zhang Jiao came at Li Yu with a powerful slash, his large blade whistling through the air. Li Yu didn't even look, relying solely on instinct, and as he heard the sound of the wind, he countered with an Iron Overpass, just in time to hear the clash of their two weapons.

  At this point, Zhang Jiao realized how formidable Li Yu was, and Li Yu also knew that Zhang Jiao was no ordinary opponent. The two of them clashed on horseback, exchanging blows in a flurry of activity, each one landing with precision. As they fought for twenty or thirty rounds, Li Yu thought to himself that he needed to end the battle quickly.

  With gritted teeth, he launched a hidden attack, using his halberd to deflect Zhang Jiao's large blade. Immediately following, he used both hands to execute a swift and precise strike, aiming directly at Zhang Jiao. Zhang Jiao was caught off guard and hastily dodged to the left, but Li Yu had anticipated this move.

  As soon as Zhang Jiao dodged, Li Yu seized the opportunity to grab the bronze reins of Zhang Jiao's horse and, with his left hand, struck Zhang Jiao's head with a crushing blow. The sound of the impact was like thunder, and Zhang Jiao's skull burst open, his brains spilling out.

  Thus ended the heroic life of Zhang Jiao, a man who had started a new era, one that would be marked by chaos and upheaval. Though he died in defeat, his legacy lived on, paving the way for future generations to follow in his footsteps. History is a cruel and unforgiving place, where only the victors are remembered, their triumphs recorded for posterity.

  Yet, even in death, Zhang Jiao's heroism was undeniable. He had sparked a revolution, one that would change the course of history forever. His bravery and sacrifice would be remembered for eternity, inspiring future generations to strive for greatness.

  Li Yu sighed for a moment, then ordered: "Take him down and give him a grand burial. Don't use his head to take credit! He was after all a hero of his generation, and even in death he deserves honor! And have someone erect a monument and write an inscription for him!" This was indeed a bold move that no one else would dare to make at that time! But Li Yu dared, because Li Yu was someone who recognized heroes and valued heroic deeds.

  Li Yu saw that Zhang Jiao was dead, and the Yellow Turban Army was still desperately resisting. He shouted loudly: "The leader of the rebels, Zhang Jiao, has been killed by my hand! You should surrender quickly, those who surrender will not be killed! But those who dare to resist the heavenly army will be executed!" Then, some people began to kneel down, and there were also loyal and righteous people who took their own lives. Some people continued to fight desperately to the death. This was a tragic scene! Li Yu ruthlessly suppressed the last rebellion, and soon the battlefield was cleared.

  Li Yu led more than 200,000 troops of the Liu Bei army to attack Zhang Bao from two sides with He Jin's army, causing Zhang Bao to die at the hands of Zhang Fei's snake spear.

  The three brothers of the enemy leader fell one after another, and the Yellow Turban Rebellion was finally put down. However, the chaotic era of the Three Kingdoms began from this point on! Many heroes started to take the stage!

  Afterwards, He Jin discussed the merits and rewards, but he was still dissatisfied when he heard that Li Yu had buried Zhang Jiao. However, Li Yu took great credit for himself and attributed most of the merit to General He Jin. He couldn't vent his anger, so he ordered a grand reward for the three armies to win over people's hearts!

  However, the great chaos has already begun! Li Yu also knew that although Liu Bei's current strength was sufficient, it was still unknown who would ultimately die in whose hands. Li Yu's heart was also secretly calculating his own plans. Since Li Yu chose Liu Bei as his master and Liu Bei, this elder brother, listened to his younger brother's advice, Li Yu had long made up his mind to be loyal to Liu Bei, using Zhuge Liang's words, it was "to dedicate oneself to the death". This was Li Yu's idea for Liu Bei, even if heaven's will could not be changed, he would still learn from Zhuge Liang and fill in with one hand.

  Today is so lonely and annoying, who knows my heart? The last two paragraphs of each chapter are written for the woman I've loved for almost three years! Hope she'll see it! Maybe she won't! Don't mind the annoyance!

  You're not with me, I'm left alone to think of you, longing for you is like thinking of nothing else!