Chapter 6: The Battle Rages On!!!!!!!!!

  Li Yu ordered Guan Yu to lead 20,000 troops as the vanguard, with 10,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. He ordered Zhang Fei to lead the left wing with 20,000 troops, 15,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. Zou Jing and Cheng Yuanzhi led the right wing with 5,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry. Jian Yong was appointed as the grain officer, leading 30,000 troops to form the rear army. Deng Mao led 5,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry to respond to emergencies. Li Yu, Wang Shuofu, and Liu Bei led the central army with 50,000 troops, 10,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry. The five armies advanced in a square formation, maintaining a distance of 30-50 kilometers between each other. In case of an emergency, they would immediately provide support.

  The mighty army marched on, not stopping for a single day. Ten thousand men passed by like an endless tide, one hundred thousand stretched across the land and touched the sky. The grandeur of the 160,000-strong army was awe-inspiring! Along the way, they did not harm a single civilian, while Li Yu continued to spread rumors on the road, drumming up support for Liu Bei.

  They marched for nearly ten days and arrived at the residence of Lu Zhi in Guangzhou. Lu Zhi personally led his troops out of the camp to welcome them from afar, and had Liu Bei, Li Yu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others enter the main tent of the central army!

  Arrived at Lu Zhi's military camp, entered the account and paid respects. Liu Bei explained his intention: "I heard that my benefactor is in Guangzhou with the Yellow Turban bandit leader Zhang Jue's army for a decisive battle, I came to assist!"

  Lu Zhu was overjoyed and said, "Xuande's disciple, I didn't misjudge you! Your achievements on this journey are astonishing - 20,000 defeated 50,000, 40,000 annihilated 200,000! Who is the person behind you, Li Yu or Li Hanxing? Let me meet him!"

  Behind Liu Bei stood Li Yu and his wife Wang Xue, while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei stood on either side. Liu Bei pointed to Li Yu and said: "This is my fourth brother, Li Yu, also known as Li Hanxing. Beside him is his wife, and on either side are my second brother Guan Yu and third brother Zhang Fei!"

  Li Yu and others came forward to pay their respects to Lu Zhi, who took Li Yu's hand and said: "Great talent, heavenly talent, outstanding talent! With such talents, the great Han Dynasty can be revived! The Yangtze River waves push forward, a new generation replaces the old! I will write a memorial to report our victory to the capital immediately, recommending you all! You don't have to hurry, stay in front of the tent and listen to my orders!"

  Liu Bei and Li Yu, etc. thanked and left. In fact, before Lu Zhi, Liu Yan and Qingzhou Governor Gong Jing had already written a memorial to Emperor Ling of Han to report their victory! They recommended the Liu brothers! And explained that Liu Bei was a close relative of the Han imperial family! Moreover, rumors on this road also entered the palace! At this time, Emperor Ling was also preparing to issue an edict. In just a few days, he unexpectedly received Lu Zhi's memorial! Emperor Ling was foolish and incompetent, but he was not bad towards his relatives. After all, at this time, there was finally a Han imperial relative who gave him face! Moreover, Li Yu had long since sent a large sum of money to the eunuchs as a bribe! This made Emperor Ling very happy! This decision satisfied both the courtiers and the eunuchs, who were all praising his wisdom! He wrote down the edict with a flourish. Originally, he wanted to make Liu Bei a marquis, but now he was so pleased that he directly made Liu Bei the King of Hanxing, with Sichuan as his territory! He made Li Yu the Marquis of Hanxing, Guan Yu the Marquis of Zhongyi, and Zhang Fei the Marquis of Hanshou! He appointed Li Yu as the Front General, Guan Yu as the Left General, and Zhang Fei as the Right General! He ordered Liu Bei to be the General-in-Chief, He Jin to be the Grand Marshal, and Li Yu to be the Deputy Marshal, to exterminate the Yellow Turban bandits! The edict was sent together with the memorial to the front line in Guangzhou.

  At this time, the Guangzhou front-line Zhang Jiao's thieves originally had 150,000 people, and after recruiting remnants from various places, they became 350,000. Lu Zhi had an army of 50,000, and they confronted each other at Guangzong, engaging in a decisive battle with no clear victory or defeat. At this time, the imperial edict arrived, and Lu Zhi led Liu Bei, Li Yu, Wang Xue, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zou Jing, and others to come out and receive the edict.

  Lu Zhi was overjoyed and said, "Our emperor is wise! He has reused such a loyal and righteous hero as Xuande. The destruction of the Yellow Turbans is imminent, and the great Han dynasty will surely be revived!"

  Liu Bei and others were overjoyed. Liu Bei was now the renowned King of Hanxing, not just a man under whom millions of people looked up to!

  Li Yu was also greatly surprised, didn't expect that with such simplicity Liu Bei would declare himself king and his two brothers as marquises!

  Lu Zhi cupped his hands and said to Xuande: "Pay your respects to the King of Han!"

  Liu Bei hastily bowed and said: "Master, spare your disciple! It should not be like this!"

  Lu Zhi burst out laughing, it's clear that Lu Zhi is extremely loyal to the Great Han! He saw Emperor Ling of Han entrusting Liu Bei with such importance, and his excitement was beyond words!

  Lü Zhi smiled and said to Li Yu, "Now that the noble nephew is the deputy commander, our combined forces total 2.1 million, which can be said to be evenly matched with Zhang Jiao's 3.5 million troops in Guangzhou! However, Zhang Jiao is stubbornly defending Guangzhou City, so I ask the deputy commander, what should we do?"

  Li Yu waved his hand and said: "I have now surrounded the enemy here, and Zhang Liang, the younger brother of the bandit, has been defeated by me. He has surrendered to Zhang Bao in Yingchuan and is facing off against Huangfu Song and Zhu . I think we can lead our troops to go to Yingchuan to gather information and set a date for the capture. What do you think, Uncle Lu?"

  Lu Zhi said: "I also think so! My worthy nephew and I are of one mind!"

  Li Yuda was greatly surprised! It's no wonder that he is a famous general of the late Han Dynasty, and he can see through such a big thing so clearly!

  Li Yu said: "I'll lead the troops there right away, I'll leave 50,000 soldiers here for Uncle Lu as support! What do you think?"

  Lu Zhi smiled and said, "My wise nephew has underestimated me. I can neither win nor lose. I'll stay here and guard this place. After you've won, immediately return and we'll join forces to attack Zhang Jiao together! There's no need to leave any soldiers behind! Go!"

  Li Yu feared there would be changes and said: "It is absolutely not permissible to rashly send out troops!"

  Lu Zhi smiled but did not speak!

  Li Yu ordered Guan Yu to lead the vanguard with 20,000 troops, including 10,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. Zhang Fei was appointed as the left-wing general, leading 20,000 troops, consisting of 15,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. Zou Jing and Cheng Yuanzhi were assigned to the right-wing general, commanding 5,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry. Jian Yong was ordered to be in charge of logistics, leading 30,000 troops as the rear guard. Deng Mao led 5,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry as the reserve force to respond to emergencies. Li Yu, Wang Shuofu, and Liu Bei commanded the central army with 50,000 troops, consisting of 10,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry. The five armies advanced in a square formation, maintaining a distance of 30-50 kilometers between each other. In case of an emergency, they would immediately provide support and march to Yingchuan overnight.

  At this time, Huangfu Song and Zhu led the army to resist the Yellow Turban bandits Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang's troops. The Yellow Turban bandits fought hard but were at a disadvantage, so they retreated into Changshe and set up camp in the grass. Huangfu Song and Zhu planned: "The bandits are relying on the grass, we should use fire to attack them." So he ordered the soldiers, each person bundled a handful of grass, secretly hiding. That night, a strong wind suddenly rose. After the second watch, they simultaneously set fire, Song and led their troops to attack the bandit camp, flames filled the sky, the bandits were shocked and panicked, horses without saddles, people without armor, scattered and fled in all directions.

  The two armies clashed and fought until dawn, when Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao were defeated and forced to retreat with their remaining soldiers. As they fled, they suddenly saw a group of enemy soldiers blocking their path, waving red flags and led by a general who was seven feet tall, with small eyes and a long beard. He introduced himself as Cao Cao, a native of Qiao County in Pei State, whose real family name was Xiahou but had been adopted by the eunuch Cao Teng. Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, had originally been named Xiahou Cheng, but had changed his name to Cao after being adopted by Cao Teng. Cao Cao was born with the nickname A Man and also known as Jili. As a child, he loved hunting and music, and was cunning and resourceful. He had an uncle who often scolded him for his misbehavior, which made Cao Song angry at him. One day, when his uncle came to visit, Cao Cao pretended to have a seizure and fell to the ground, pretending to be ill. His uncle rushed to tell Cao Song, who was shocked and hurried to see his son. But Cao Cao quickly recovered and said that he had never been ill before, but had only pretended to be so because he missed his uncle's love. Cao Song believed him, and from then on, whenever his uncle criticized Cao Cao, he would not listen. As a result, Cao Cao was able to do as he pleased. At the time, there was a man named Bridge Xuan who said to Cao Cao, "The world is about to be thrown into chaos, and only a hero can save it. Are you that person?" Another man, He Yu from Nanyang, saw Cao Cao and said, "The Han dynasty is about to collapse, and the one who will bring peace to the world must be this man." Xu Shao from Suining was known for his ability to judge people's characters. When he met Cao Cao, he asked him, "What kind of person am I?" Xu Shao did not answer at first, but when Cao Cao asked again, he said, "You are a capable minister in times of peace, and a hero in times of chaos." Cao Cao was overjoyed to hear this. At the age of 20, Cao Cao was appointed as a Filial and Incorrupt official, and later became a Gentleman of the Imperial Guard. He was then appointed as the Magistrate of Luoyang's North Ward, where he set up five-colored rods at the four gates of the city to punish anyone who broke the law, regardless of their social status. One night, he even arrested the uncle of the eunuch Jian Shuo for carrying a knife, and punished him with the rods. As a result, no one dared to break the law again, and Cao Cao's reputation as a strict and fair official spread far and wide. Later, he became the Magistrate of Dunqiu County, but soon resigned to join the army when the Yellow Turbans rebelled. He was appointed as a Cavalry Commandant and led 5,000 soldiers to fight against Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao in Yingchuan. Just as they were about to defeat the rebels, Cao Cao arrived with his troops and blocked their path, killing over 10,000 enemy soldiers and capturing many flags, drums, and horses. Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao managed to escape after a fierce battle. After meeting with Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun, Cao Cao led his troops in pursuit of the rebels.

  Liu Bei and Li Yu led their 160,000 troops to Yingchuan. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and other generals had just arrived when they heard the sound of killing and saw flames rising high into the sky. Liu Bei hastily ordered Guan Yu to lead his army to attack, while he himself stood in the central command tent. Guan Yu led his army out to attack, but the enemy was already defeated and scattered. When Liu Bei arrived, Huangfu Song and Zhu came to pay their respects. Now that Liu Bei had become the King of Han, they had to come to pay their respects. Liu Bei explained that he wanted to join forces with Lu Zhi to attack Zhang Jue in Guangzhou. Huangfu Song said: "Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao are exhausted and have no choice but to flee to Guangzhou to rely on Zhang Jue. Your Majesty can immediately set out at night to provide assistance. We will wait for the arrival of the great general, then join forces to go to Guangzhou and engage in a decisive battle with Zhang Jue's Yellow Turban rebels!"

  Liu Bei saw this and ordered Li Yu to lead the army back. When they reached halfway, they only saw a group of soldiers and horses escorting a prison cart. The prisoner in the cart was none other than Lu Zhi from Guangzhou. Liu Bei was shocked and dismounted his horse to ask what had happened. Lu Zhi said: "I surrounded Zhang Jiao and was about to defeat him, but he used sorcery and I couldn't win immediately. The imperial court sent Huangmen Left Feng to investigate, asking me for bribes. I replied that 'the army's food is still lacking, how can there be extra money to entertain the heavenly envoy?' Left Feng held a grudge and reported back to the imperial court, saying that I was lazy and slow in battle, which made the imperial court angry and sent Dong Zhuo to replace me as commander of my troops and take me back to the capital for punishment." Zhang Fei heard this and became furious, wanting to behead the soldiers escorting Lu Zhi to save him. Liu Bei hastily stopped him, saying: "The imperial court has its own laws, how can you act rashly?" The soldiers were about to take Lu Zhi away when Guan Yu said: "Lu Zhonglang has already been arrested, someone else is leading the army, we might as well go back to our fief in Yi Province!" Li Yu heard this and said: "It's not possible, this battle is the last one for the Yellow Turbans! We must win!" He came before the prison cart, drew out his precious sword, and chopped it into pieces, saying: "I am the former General Han Xing Hou Li Yu, now because of military needs I specially appoint Lu Zhi to follow me in battle! If there's any blame, I'll take full responsibility!" The official escorting Lu Zhi said: "You, a minor general, dare to defy imperial orders? Don't you know how to die?"

  Liu Bei angrily said: "I am the Great Han Revival King, General-in-Chief of the entire army! I will once again use my power to protect Lu Zhi! Do you see if it is enough or not!"

  That official did not dare to speak!

  Li Yu angrily said: "The bandits who broke the yellow scarf are nearby, don't do things that bring pain to loved ones and joy to enemies! I am the deputy commander of the entire army, and military orders outside have their own rules! After breaking the bandits, we will definitely go to the capital to apologize for our crimes!"

  The official scurried away in fright.

  Lu Zhi was moved to tears in the prison cart!

  Li Yudao said: "Uncle Lu had a heart of loyalty, but was framed by treacherous sons!"

  "Damn it!" Zhang Fei cursed, "I'll go chop down his door right now!"

  Liu Bei blocked his way: "It's not right to act rashly, after all, he is a recipient of the imperial edict!"

  Cheng Yuangui and Deng Mao were also furious, just because of the incompetence of the imperial court that they rebelled, but did not expect that the current imperial court is still like this!

  "Where is Guan Yu?"

  "Here is the junior general!"

  Li Yudao: "I order you to abandon the infantry and lead all 50,000 cavalrymen back to the main camp immediately! You must arrive before nightfall!"

  "Understood!"

  "Guān Yǔ raised his great blade in place of a military order and said: 'All cavalrymen follow me immediately!'"

  Liu Bei did not understand and asked: "Fourth brother, what does this mean?"

  Li Yudao said: "Big brother, I'm afraid something has gone wrong with the main account!"

  Li Yu said to the messenger beside him: "Order the whole army to return to the camp immediately, march quickly, maintain combat formation! Be prepared for battle at all times! If Zhang Jiao has a mind, he should attack the main account now! Don't let Zhang Jiao know that Lu Shu was caught, sneak into the camp!"

  The two armies will immediately return to their respective camps and withdraw!

  The rapid march was not long, when suddenly the sound of killing was heard. Li Yu did not hesitate and made a decisive decision. He immediately ordered Zhang Fei to go out on the left wing, Cheng Yuanzhi and Deng Mao to go out on the right wing, and he himself led the central army to come and fight. As expected by Li Yu, after Zhang Jiao learned that Lu Zhi was captured, he immediately led his troops to attack. Dong Zhuo suffered a great defeat. Fortunately, Guan Yu, also known as Guan Er Ye, brought his troops at a critical moment and suppressed the enemy's momentum. However, Dong Zhuo did not know how to fight to the death and retreated with his troops, causing Guan Yu to be surrounded. Guan Yu was fighting to the death with his troops, but fortunately, he had high martial arts skills and led a cavalry army that was as clean as a single color. This cavalry army followed Li Yu in battles all over the country and had already become an invincible iron army. Guan Er Ye led them to charge left and right, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, coming and going like the wind. Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban Army could only sigh in admiration for a while, but they couldn't do anything about it!

  Li Yu did not explain or hesitate, and immediately took out his deputy commander's token, taking command of the retreating troops. Liu Bei was even more ruthless, immediately stripping Dong Zhuo of his military power and beating him out of the camp with a stick!

  At this time, a loud shout came from behind the mountain. Li Yu immediately ordered Zhang Fei to lead his troops to block the way. Zhang Fei and Zhang San led their horses up to the high ridge to fight. It turned out that Zhang Bao saw the Han army was greatly defeated, and the Yellow Turbans were coming in droves from all directions, covering the entire mountain. The flags read "Dì Gōng Jiāng Jūn" (Earth General). Li Yu was shocked that Zhang Bao had arrived and quickly ordered Deng Mao to lead his troops to support him! On the left wing, the Yellow Turbans came pouring in, their flags reading "Rén Gōng Jiāng Jūn" (Human General). Zhang Liang also arrived. Guan Yu was surrounded by the enemy army. Li Yu urgently ordered Cheng Yuanzhi to lead his troops to support him! Li Yu single-handedly wielded the Halberd of Heaven, leading his troops into battle against Zhang Liang! Before long, the Yellow Turbans killed more and more people, and in the distance, a large flag fluttered with the words "Tiān Gōng Jiāng Jūn" (Heaven General)! Liu Bei was shocked: "This is Zhang Jue! What can we do?" Wang Xue ordered the archers and gunners to take cover at the back, while those in front formed a shield wall, ordering Jian Yong to immediately set up camp and organize resistance!

  Originally, Zhang Jiao saw the killing of Dong Zhuo, and his heart was depressed. He thought that Lu Zhi had resisted his advance, which led to this defeat. Now that Lu Zhi has come with Dong Zhuo, Zhang Jiao did not hesitate and immediately ordered his two brothers to organize their troops for a decisive battle. Zhang Jiao also took advantage of the situation, but unexpectedly encountered Li Yu's army. Zhang Jiao's troops attacked the main camp, but Wang Xue's bowmen and spearmen cooperated tacitly, and several attacks failed, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.

  On the left, Zhang Liang saw that Li Yu led his troops to kill him, and he did not dare to fight back. He was killed by Li Yu's charge, and his formation was broken, with countless deaths and injuries!

  Zhang Liao was seen on the mountain, unable to deploy his battle formation, and was repeatedly defeated by Zhang Fei!

  Guanyu, the second lord of Guan, who was trapped in the formation, after Cheng Yuanzhi led the team to volunteer, the pressure suddenly decreased, and he had already started a large-scale counterattack. With a big knife dancing like the wind, he crazily harvested the lives of Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban bandits!

  Zhang Jue saw this and hastily ordered his two brothers to quickly gather around him!

  And they were like Zhang Jue relying on the tower, while Zhang Fei and Li You were ambushing from behind. The troops of Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang suffered heavy casualties. Seeing this, Zhang Jue feared that Li You would surround him, so he ordered his army to retreat back to Guangzhou!

  Li Yu made a decisive decision, and Fang Tian painted a halberd to replace the military order. The whole army launched a surprise attack! Turning the tide of defeat! Pursuing Zhang Jiao's army for more than 50 miles, Zhang Liang's army was also defeated. Zhang Bao's army was chased for over 50 miles, which was simply a game of cat and mouse for Zhang Jiao, with countless deaths and injuries, and corpses piled up like mountains. However, Liu Bei's army led by Li Yu also suffered heavy losses in this battle, with nearly 20,000 casualties. Lu Zhi's 50,000 troops were left with less than 20,000. Although some prisoners were captured, the military comparison was still in Zhang Jiao's favor, with more people and a stronger momentum, while the imperial court was weak. There was only one option: to wait for He Jin's large army to attack Zhang Jiao together. Zhang Jiao now understood that attacking Li Yu was unrealistic, so he immediately sent out orders to seek help everywhere and prepared to fight a decisive battle with the Han Dynasty in Guangzhou!

  Fortunately, the main account of the Chinese army is still there. Li Yu can command the four camps to be set up. Guan Yu is in the front camp and leads an army of 20,000 men (10,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry) as the vanguard! Zhang Fei is on the left wing and sets up a camp, leading an army of 10,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry to form the left-wing army! Lu Zhi leads Cheng Yuanzhi on the right wing, leading an army of 10,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry to form the right-wing army! Deng Mao leads 10,000 cavalry as a response team, stationed in front of the main account of the Chinese army!

  Jian Yong led the grain transport team with 30,000 soldiers to station at the rear camp of the army. Li Yu led 60,000 soldiers to station in the middle army, forming the central army corps! If either side encounters changes, they can quickly support each other and stand firmly on the ground of invincibility!

  Li Yu saved Dong Zhuo and returned to his camp. Dong Zhuo asked the three of them what positions they currently held and what authority they had to relieve him of his military power.

  Liu Bei said: "I am the Han Dynasty's Revival King."

  "Former General, Deputy Commander of the Expeditionary Force against the Rebels, Marquis of Hanxing, Li Yu!"

  Dong Zhuo was shocked, and he knelt down on the ground, continuously kowtowing! Xuande was furious and wanted to kill Dong Zhuo. Zhang Fei was also furious, saying: "My second brother risked his life in battle to save this scoundrel, yet he is so rude. If we don't kill him, it's hard to quell my anger!" He wanted to take out his sword and enter the tent to kill Dong Zhuo. Li Yu also wanted to kill Dong Zhuo because many of his sworn brothers had died in a foreign land! However, if they killed him, who would stir up trouble for the Han? Li Yu stopped Zhang Fei and ordered that Dong Zhuo be beaten with rods and expelled from the camp, never to be used again.

  The fragrance of the flowers attracts bees and butterflies.