Chapter 18: Defeating the Yellow Turbans, Meeting in Mourning

Bo Cai had never seen such a sudden turn of events since he assumed the position of Yellow Turban leader!

The Han army, which had been cowering in Changshe City, suddenly grew bold and ventured out to fight under the cover of night and starlight, abandoning their previous passive defense.

Fortunately, he was not entirely unprepared for this.

After all, this place was close to the heart of the Han Dynasty, and if the Han army still had a breath left, they would never yield an inch in the defense of Changshe.

He had earlier speculated that they might try to exploit the lax discipline of the Yellow Turban army, inciting chaos to seize this opportunity.

With a grim face, he immediately ordered the messenger to gather the troops, while he carefully climbed up to a watchtower.

From his vantage point, he could see the fires burning in Changshe City, cursing inwardly at the sight, before turning his gaze back to his camp.

Despite the many distractions, he could see clearly that the attackers tonight were not many.

It was just that with a brave and skilled general on each side, combined with the element of surprise, this situation had occurred.

Tiger generals, huh…

Bo Cai smirked slightly, showing a hint of disdain.

Although tiger generals were fierce and useful in the current situation, they were still human and would get tired!

Realizing that these two generals were far superior in martial prowess, Bo Cai decisively adopted a strategy of surrounding them with sheer numbers.

As the central coordinator of the Yellow Turbans, he did not need to personally engage in combat.

He only needed to ensure that, based on the reports he received, both generals were surrounded by hundreds of soldiers.

And indeed, his calculations were correct.

Among the Han forces attacking the camp, only two posed a significant threat to him.

One was Huangfu Song’s bodyguard, Sima Fu Xie.

His initial actions of setting fires and firing guns successfully triggered a wave of chaos within Bo Cai’s army as they sought refuge and evacuated towards Liang Zhongning’s camp.

After confirming that Qiao Yan had arranged the undercover agents properly and had led them away, diffusing the atmosphere of panic, he immediately turned his horse back.

Following Huangfu Song’s arrangements, he headed towards Zhu Jun’s side, hoping to join forces with both sides before the Yellow Turban forces led by Bo Cai and the reinforcements from the city arrived, to deal with the wave of Yellow Turbans.

Despite facing many obstacles on the way, Fu Xie’s face remained calm and composed.

Bo Cai had previously caught a glimpse of the situation and now, after coming down from the watchtower and hearing about the results of those who had gone to fight, knew that they were not easy opponents.

However, it was not Zhu Jun who was being referred to.

Zhu Jun was indeed a brave warrior.

Otherwise, he would not have been able to unite thousands of soldiers, and suppress the Liang Long rebellion while serving as the Inspector of Jiaozhou. But now, there was another fierce tiger in his army.

A general known as the Tiger of Jiangdong.

“Wen Tai!”

Fu Xie caught sight of Sun Jian’s figure in the crowd.

The surrounding Yellow Turban soldiers gradually regained their composure after the initial confusion.

Because of their large numbers, they were no longer afraid of the fiery clouds on the horizon.

More and more of them gathered, intending to annihilate the Han army here.

This undoubtedly made Sun Jian, who could easily break through the encirclement, particularly conspicuous.

Sun Jian had joined Zhu Jun’s forces a month ago.

Unfortunately, the young men he had brought with him were just a drop in the bucket compared to the Yellow Turban army.

In his position as a junior military officer, he clearly had little autonomy.

Therefore, tonight’s battle, starting from a sneak attack, also gave him a few extra moments of enjoyment in displaying his prowess.

To kill was his goal!

This was his chance!

The future Little Conqueror, Sun Ce, inherited Sun Jian’s bravery. Of course, at this time, Sun Ce, along with his mother, was left behind by Sun Jian in Shouchun, only nine years old.

What Fu Xie saw was still the imposing demeanor of this tiger father.

Fu Xie swept away the swords and spears attacking Sun Jian with a spear, leaped into the crowd, and met him in a place.

Afraid that Sun Jian was too engrossed in the fight to hear him, and fearing that if he revealed Zhu Jun’s position, it might bring trouble, Fu Xie did not care whether the title was inappropriate, and asked loudly, “Where is Gong Wei?”

“Where is Zhu Jun, Zhu Gongwei?”

Although Sun Jian was fierce in his attacks, he hadn’t reached the point of killing.

Moreover, for some unknown reason, these Yellow Turbans completely defied his previous experiences.

Despite having already driven back many of them, they showed no intention of retreat.

This undoubtedly calmed Sun Jian down from his fervent attack state.

Now, upon hearing Fu Xie’s question, he immediately pointed his spear in a certain direction.

Through the dense crowd, Fu Xie caught sight of Zhu Jun.

His mount had been injured by someone, making it difficult to maneuver, and had become a burden.

However, this Right General chose to dismount and fight on foot, quickly forming up with the men who had come out this time.

There was probably no danger for the time being.

Fu Xie thought that with the combat power of Zhu Jun and Sun Jian, plus his own troops arriving, breaking through a gap to escape should not be too difficult, so he relaxed a bit.

However, taking advantage of the opportunity when Sun Jian relieved some of his pressure, Fu Xie looked around and saw Bo Cai, the leader of the Yellow Turbans.

They were clearly not pleased to see that even after creating such chaos, he could still escape calmly.

As the enemy raised their hands to command, the ground shook as the armored Yellow Turban soldiers, armed with weapons, attacked amidst the flames, displaying a more fierce and wild demeanor.

Fu Xie had excellent eyesight and happened to see the unmistakable killing intent in Bo Cai’s eyes as he looked towards him and Sun Jian.

This didn’t make him panic, but it did make him subconsciously grip the spear tighter.

He realized that, given Sun Jian’s talent in combat, he would not be unaware of the signal.

Just as Fu Xie shouted “go” to Sun Jian, Sun Jian swept his spear horizontally, creating a space for a quick retreat, and followed closely behind Fu Xie, heading straight for Zhu Jun.

Bo Cai’s orders were only a step too slow, and the archers by his side either hit nothing or hit their own men.

“Commander, we can’t shoot arrows!” His deputy quickly advised, “Even with the light from the flames, the night vision is limited. If the two armies were engaged, it would be fine, but with so few enemies, friendly fire is inevitable.”

Even if he didn’t say the following words, Bo Cai could guess roughly what they were.

If it were a disciplined army, a few friendly fire incidents would be acceptable to achieve their goal.

However, this was a team that had just suffered a defeat in a siege.

Casualties among their own ranks would undoubtedly shake the army’s morale.

Gritting his teeth, Bo Cai ordered the archers to step back.

It was precisely during this change in formation that Fu Xie and Sun Jian arrived by Zhu Jun’s side.

As Zhu Jun’s junior military officer, Sun Jian immediately offered to give his mount to his superior, but Zhu Jun refused, saying, “Wen Tai’s riding skills are excellent, and he has the power to break the enemy. At this moment, don’t worry about the difference in status; focus on the bigger picture.”

Bo Cai could see their positions, and Zhu Jun could easily distinguish Bo Cai’s position from the enemy’s formation.

He squinted, confirming that he had not mistaken the person, and asked, “Wen Tai, are you confident in taking the enemy’s head amidst the chaos?”

Zhu Jun realized that he couldn’t rely entirely on Qiao Yan.

After relying on the other party’s intelligence to choose the location to break into the enemy’s camp, he confirmed the other party’s ability to observe details.

However, the Yellow Turbans’ lack of coordination probably wasn’t just a problem on Bo Cai’s side.

Whether that child could do what she said in her letter, Zhu Jun also wasn’t entirely sure.

Unfortunately, he did not receive a definite answer from Sun Wen Tai.

“I’m afraid not,” Sun Jian replied.

With the current numerical difference between the two sides and no real opportunity for a battle, Sun Jian was still somewhat rational and wouldn’t say something like, “I will sacrifice myself as a junior officer and take Bo Cai’s head to present to you.”

Zhu Jun couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

However, before he could even think about this plan to decapitate the enemy leader, along with the slight feeling of disappointment, a sudden change occurred in the situation.

A figure, whose face could not be seen and was completely covered by armor, suddenly appeared and charged straight towards Bo Cai.

This didn’t seem like one of Bo Cai’s men.

As he approached, the soldiers around Bo Cai showed signs of alertness towards this unexpected visitor.

However, he had not yet approached the range of melee combat, and from a distance…

Not to mention that Bo Cai had just switched his archers and the troops behind them because the arrows were ineffective.

Even if he hadn’t made this switch, with the penetrating power of his archers, it would be difficult to pose any threat to this strange fellow.

At most, they would turn the person he was carrying into a hedgehog.

Due to the decrease in the fire, Bo Cai did not immediately see that the person being carried was none other than Liang Zhongning.

He also would not know that Liang Zhongning had been carried as a tool in this way before.

The last time he was treated like this was during the attack on Tian’s Fort.

But at that time, the one carrying him was the butcher under his command disguised as a fake Dian Wei.

Now, the one carrying him was the real Dian Wei, which showed some progress.

But if Liang Zhongning still had consciousness at this moment, he probably wouldn’t want such progress.

It’s too embarrassing…

Dian Wei, on the other hand, showed considerable bravery.

With his heavy weight, wearing thick armor, running such a distance while carrying a person, he did not show any signs of embarrassment or exhaustion.

Thinking of what Qiao Yan had said to him before putting on the armor, such as having high hopes for him, he temporarily put aside the fact that he was still a temporary worker, and diligently carried Liang Zhongning all the way, listened carefully to find his position, and just before crashing into Bo Cai and the others, suddenly changed direction and ran towards the depths of the camp.

“…?” Bo Cai was somewhat puzzled by Dian Wei’s actions.

This was clearly not the direction to escape from the camp!

But he soon didn’t have time to think about where this person had run out from.

The next moment after Dian Wei ran out of sight, he suddenly heard a sound that should not have appeared at this time, approaching in his direction.

As this sound merged with the sound of footsteps and became clear, Bo Cai heard the words “eliminate the thieves.”

Eliminate the thieves?

Bo Cai was stunned.

Who were the thieves?

Naturally, it was him, the thief!

When Dian Wei appeared, Sun Jian was stopped by Zhu Jun and took a defensive posture, as did Fu Xie.

After consolidating the impact of their offensive expansion, this group of people appeared like a stone in the torrent in front of the well-equipped Yellow Turban army.

In the eyes of the Yellow Turbans from Yanzhou who were chasing after Dian Wei, the shape of the armor of these people was somewhat difficult to distinguish in the night, so they simply ignored them.

On the contrary, what caught their attention was Bo Cai, who was surrounded and protected by soldiers with spears and halberds in the middle.

Under the flickering light of the campfire, the confident expression of Bo Cai was clearly reflected in their eyes.

They wouldn’t know that this expression was directed at the Han army attacking their camp, not at them intentionally.

All they knew was that the enemy intended to sneak attack at night but failed because of Qiao Yan’s early preparations.

In their desperate situation, Liang Zhongning, who could feed them, was taken away!

So these people didn’t give Bo Cai a chance to ask or explain. In the outbreak of “meeting the enemy,” they rushed towards him.

Even though Zhu Jun had already learned about Qiao Yan’s plan from her beforehand, when he saw the scene in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel that the situation was too absurd.

The reports of the battles that had reached the central government since the Yellow Turbans rose up were enough to make Liu Hong determined to lift the restrictions on the party and gain the support of scholars at this critical moment.

One can imagine the state of affairs.

The Yellow Turbans fought against local county officials, the Yellow Turbans fought against the powerful landowners in the forts, and after the army marched out of Luoyang, it was the Yellow Turbans fighting against the regular army of the Han Dynasty.

And now…

Zhu Jun felt that he was probably one of the lucky ones who had seen the Yellow Turbans fighting each other firsthand.

If it could be said that earlier Bo Cai had the upper hand by surrounding and enclosing them, then now this advantage had almost disappeared.

The origins of the Yellow Turbans in Yanzhou and Yuzhou were not significantly different, so there was a similarity in their physical fitness and combat training.

However, the former had grown up in the armed forces armed by Qiao Yan in Yanzhou and had become more orderly in their combat due to the simple marching orders and formation arrangements, making them more competitive than the latter in combat.

Moreover, the Yellow Turbans from Yanzhou had a clear target and their military advisor supporting and commanding in the rear, while the Yellow Turbans from Yuzhou failed to realize at the first moment of their appearance that these were not reinforcements coming to assist them in capturing and killing the Han army after hearing the commotion, but their enemies!

That’s the difference!

Bo Cai’s mind was full of thoughts—have these people gone mad?

But before he could finish his sentence, it was already drowned out by the footsteps and the slogan of “exterminate the traitors” coming from the approaching enemy.

At this moment, the two sides were indeed in contact, and theoretically, crossbows could be useful.

However, changing formation was not as simple as advancing or retreating, and it could not be solved just by moving one’s mouth, especially when one side was approaching with such momentum.

If one person in the other side showed any intention of retreating, the efficiency of the entire process would be greatly reduced.

Almost at the same time, Sun Jian and Fu Xie exchanged a glance and saw each other’s calculations.

To directly cross this heavy protection and kill Bo Cai on the spot, there must be tacit cooperation and backup manpower.

But not being able to do this didn’t mean they couldn’t make a move now.

For example, they could go around to the rear to deal with these crossbowmen!

As these two tiger generals set off with Zhu Jun’s permission, the sound of horse hooves they heard made them subconsciously look in the direction of the sound, only to see a young boy and a middle-aged scholar riding towards them, looking in their direction and sending a greeting gesture from afar.

Obviously, it was Qiao Yan and the Cheng Li she mentioned in her letter.

Although they couldn’t see her face clearly at the moment, they inexplicably felt that they could see a pair of clear and cold eyes, acting as the mastermind behind the scenes, enjoying the final outcome of this battle.

“This is how a son should be…”

Currently in Changshe City, Fu Gan just saw off Huang Fusong and Cao Cao leading the attack, while Sun Ce, who was praying for his father’s safe return with his mother in Shou Chun, was still unaware that their father had suddenly had such thoughts.

However, this kind of sentiment was fleeting.

With the onslaught of the Yellow Turbans from Yanzhou, it was inevitable that they would be negligent in intercepting them.

This allowed their plan to break through the encirclement and bypass the enemy to proceed exceptionally smoothly.

The rear assaults of these two and the sudden attack by the Yellow Turbans from Yanzhou undoubtedly became the last straw that plunged Bo Cai into panic.

Originally, no matter how chaotic the camp was, the manpower he could deploy was still there.

It shouldn’t have allowed the Han army to launch a fatal blow.

At the very least, he could know the enemy’s intentions and have some certainty. But now?

He had no idea where the sudden attack by the Yellow Turbans from Yanzhou and their slogan of “exterminate the traitors” came from!

Why did these people coincidentally choose the same time as the Han army to attack? He didn’t know either!

When the first row of axemen was cut down by the enemy, Bo Cai hurriedly retreated, cold sweat breaking out on his back.

So, realizing the danger of the situation, he abandoned those behind and ran.

If he didn’t run, it would have been fine.

At least among the Yellow Turbans from Yuzhou, he was undoubtedly the one to give orders, the true commander chosen by the virtuous and wise teachers.

Anyone around him would protect his safety.

But now that he had retreated, he did so in a seemingly desperate manner.

In a situation that already resembled an internal conflict among the Yellow Turbans, this seemed like a manifestation of their own guilt.

The Yellow Turbans from both regions faced a dilemma at the same time.

In the absence of their commander on the scene, should they fight each other?

The troops from Yanzhou subconsciously looked towards their military advisor, intending to get some guidance from this “wise man” who had never made a wrong plan. But they found that he and Cheng Li had disappeared without a trace.

And the next moment, amidst the blazing fire and the dust and the neighing of horses, they heard a series of loud shouts, calling for the enemy to surrender.

When they saw the attire of the leader, both sides, already greatly weakened by the fire, realized a terrifying fact.

The story of the snipe and the clam fighting each other while the fisherman reaped the benefits was not just a story, but a reality happening right now.

The arrival had appeared before them during the battle of Changshe, and it was none other than the highest commander of the Han side, Huangfu Song!

While they might not know the saying “A rich man’s son does not sit in the hall,” it was not difficult to infer some common sense.

Those figures who only appeared in rumors were often in the rear.

How could they do something as dangerous as this unless—

Unless the current situation posed no danger to him at all.

In addition to the confidence displayed by the other side, these Yellow Turbans heard another shocking proclamation, “The bandit leader has been captured, the remnants should surrender quickly.”

“If there are a few among these people with tactical acumen, they will realize that the third party arriving at this moment doesn’t even number half of them.”

Although Qiao Yan and Cheng Li had walked out of the sight range of those Yellow Turbans from Yanzhou, they hadn’t gone too far and were still in a position where they could observe the battlefield.