Chapter 27: The Yellow Turbans Uprising

  In the 183rd year of the park, Zhang Jiao's disciple Tang Zhou was captured in Luoyang and confessed to the inner response Feng Yu and Xu Feng. Feng Yu and Xu Feng were torn apart by carts, and government troops arrested and killed thousands of believers in the Taiping Tao faith, implicating over a thousand people, and also ordered Ji Province to pursue Zhang Jiao.

  At this time, Zhang Jue established the Taiping Taoist sect, which used religious means to win people's hearts and minds, establishing prestige among poor farmers, with followers already numbering in the tens of millions. Zhang Jue utilized his authority in the eyes of the common people to divide the followers from eight provinces - Qing, Xu, You, Ji, Jing, Yang, Yan, and Yu - into thirty-six divisions, each division having over 10,000 people, with smaller divisions having around 6-7,000 people. Each division had a leader, who was under Zhang Jue's unified command.

  Zhang Jue called himself "Heavenly General", Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang were respectively "Earth General" and "Human General". They started an uprising in the northern Ji Province. They burned down government offices, killed officials and soldiers, and looted everywhere. Within a month, wars broke out in seven states and twenty-eight counties across the country. The Yellow Turban Army was unstoppable, and the states and counties were lost, with officials and soldiers fleeing in terror, shocking the capital.

  Emperor Ling hastily appointed He Jin, a relative of the imperial family who had merit in capturing Yellow Turbans, as Grand General, to command all the troops of the Han Dynasty and be responsible for eliminating the Yellow Turbans. After He Jin took office, he ordered Lu Chao and Vice-General Zong Yuan to lead an army to take charge of the northern front line against Zhang Jue and Zhang Bao. The second route was led by Huangfu Song and Cao Cao with more than 40,000 soldiers to eliminate the Yellow Turbans in the Yingchuan area. The third route was led by Zhu Jun to attack the Yellow Turbans in the Nanyang area.

  "General, take a rest, we've been marching all night, my brothers are used to it, but you're a scholar, when the lord ordered me to lead the troops, he told me to protect you well, if anything happens to you, Cao Chun will be held responsible." In a dense thicket, a burly man with a tiger's back and bear's waist carefully spoke to a young man.

  This young man was Zhang Rui. The second army, Huangfu Song, appointed Cao Cao as the riding officer, leading 5,000 elite cavalry to advance first. On the way, Cao Cao suddenly received a distress letter from Puyang. It turned out that in history, the Yellow Turban general Ma Yuan Yi, who should have died early, was preaching in the Puyang area at this time. The Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, and Ma Yuan Yi gathered more than 20,000 people to respond to Zhang Jiao's call to attack Puyang.

  That Puyang governor was just a scholar, and the soldiers of Puyang County had only a thousand people, and they had not been trained for a long time. They were no match for the Yellow Turbans. The governor of Puyang fled with his family that night, taking silver and valuables with him. Fortunately, Zhang's Qingquan was well-respected in the local area, leading the crowd to defend the city of Puyang. Zhang Qingquan prepared for battle and tidied up military affairs while sending someone to ask for help from Cavalry Colonel Cao Cao.

  Cao Cao was appointed as the Riding General, leading 5,000 elite cavalrymen. He then appointed Xun Yu, Xun You, and Zhang Liao as his military advisors, and Cao Chun as a general. They set out towards Yingchuan. Upon receiving his father's plea for help, Zhang Liao was anxious and asked Cao Cao for permission to lead 500 cavalrymen to rush to Puyang overnight. Cao Cao agreed and ordered Cao Chun to protect Zhang Liao well.

  "Thank you, General Cao. Actually, Rui is not the weak and bookish scholar that General Cao thinks he is. This distance Rui can still endure. At this moment, his father is surrounded, Rui's heart is burning with anxiety. If he has to wait for all his brothers, please ask General Cao to wait a little longer."

  "What did the military advisor say? If Pure Old Father were surrounded, he would definitely be more anxious than the military advisor. Since Meng De let a certain family protect the military advisor well, even if it means sacrificing that family's life, he will not let the military advisor suffer any harm." Cao Chun said.

  Cao Chun is indeed a loyal and dedicated person, no wonder Cao Cao would let him lead the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Currently, Cao Cao has no other great generals under his command, but when Zhang Liao said he was going to come to Puyang, Cao Cao immediately assigned Cao Chun to himself. What card is Cao Cao playing that Zhang Liao wouldn't know? This is all about human relationships.

  "Report, General. Fifty miles ahead, a large Yellow Turban camp has been discovered. The camp stretches for several miles and there are at least tens of thousands of people." the scout said.

  "The letter says that Ma Yuan Yi has 20,000 people surrounding Bo Yang City. It's saying that with these 500 men, we want to get into the city, but we need to think of another way." Zhang Rui said thoughtfully.

  "General, don't worry, I'll clear a bloody path for you and guarantee that you'll enter Puyang City before nightfall." Cao Chun said with a solemn oath.

  "General Cao, please don't be impatient. With your exceptional bravery and strength, taking the city by force would naturally be no problem. However, we only have 500 men, and it's inevitable that there will be casualties. My brothers followed me to rescue our father, how could I let them lose their lives? This time, we must use strategy." Zhang Rui said.

  "What's this clever plan of yours?" Cao Chun asked.

  Yes, what kind of clever strategy would make Zhang Rui think that with only 500 cavalry, he could get the enemy to unknowingly or automatically give him a path into Puyang when they had an army of 20,000?

  Zhang Rui looked ahead, and all he saw were trees. Ah, why didn't I think of that? Zhang Fei's segment where he scared off Cao Cao. Haha, now they can easily enter the city of Puyang.

  "General Cao Chun, I have a plan. Quickly order your soldiers to cut some branches and tie them to the horses' tails. Have them run back and forth to stir up massive clouds of dust, creating the illusion that our main cavalry force is approaching. Ma Yuan will think we are the main force and will withdraw his troops surrounding Puyang to engage us in a decisive battle. This way, we can enter Puyang city without losing a single soldier."

  "General's plan is indeed a wonderful strategy, I will order it now." Cao Chun happily went to give the orders.

  The Yellow Turban army's large camp, General Ma Yuan Yi is inside the camp looking at the sand table thinking of a countermeasure. Although the soldiers in Pu Yang are few, the money and grain from various families are sufficient, and the civilians in the city are also helping to defend the city. The Yellow Turbans lack siege equipment, so for these two days, he can only order his generals to stop attacking the city and build siege equipment.

  "Report, General, a large number of Han army cavalrymen have appeared thirty miles ahead of the main camp, with dust filling the sky. It's estimated to be at least ten thousand men." The scout said.

  "Ten thousand men, cavalry, it must be Cao Cao who has arrived. Our army does not have any cavalry, and this place is also flat, I'm afraid that even one charge of the enemy's cavalry cannot be withstood. Pass on the order to the whole army, retreat thirty miles, set up camp, and set up a defensive barrier at the entrance to resist Cao's attack." Ma Yuan Yi waved his hand.

  On the city gate, Qingquan Lao Ye received the news of the Yellow Turbans' retreat and led the gentry of Puyang City to watch from the city tower. They saw that the Yellow Turban army was like ants, carrying supplies and retreating thirty miles to a gentle slope where they set up camp.

  Everyone was overjoyed, the Yellow Turbans withdrew their siege, retreated and regrouped, setting up defensive barriers. This meant that the main force of reinforcements had arrived, everyone's loved ones were safe, and Puyang City was secure. At this moment, a large cloud of dust appeared in the southeast, as if a large cavalry unit was passing by. On the flag at the front, it was written "Cao". It was clear that Cavalry Commander Cao Cao had arrived, and everyone's morale was greatly boosted.

  "Hurry up and pass on the order, strike the east gate, and welcome General Cao's arrival." Old Master Qingquan shouted.

  The gate creaked open, and as Zhang Rui and the others approached, the crowd on the city wall was stunned. There were only 500 people, 500 cavalrymen, with branches tied to their horses' tails. These 500 people had scared off the 20,000-strong Yellow Turban army! And look at Zhang Rui, he's winking at Old Master Qingquan!

  My second child is really different now. Zhang thought that perhaps after returning home, he should hand over the thing to him, and it would also fulfill this wish of the Zhang family.